NSV!!

Yesterday my 8 yr old daughter came up to me and put her arms around my waist to hug me and talk to me. She paused, gasped and said "Woah! Mom!" and I said "what?" and she said "You are getting so skinny Mom!!" I love it! My children can be brutally honest, and harsh. So hearing this made me feel awesome, I am pretty sure I was beaming from ear to ear!!

Seeing stars

So this week, week 7 of couch to 5k, there are no more intervals. It's all straight runs from here on out. I do not at all feel ready for this. On Monday I was so exhausted from the weekend and then first thing that morning, my oldest broke her hand, so I spent all day at dr.'s. By the time evening came, I was just done and decided to skip the gym. (Mondays are generally a run day- Monday, Wednesday, Friday).
Tuesday I was up at 2:45am for work and couldn't go to the gym after, as I spent all afternoon at the orthopedic hand surgeon. I ended up going to the gym with my husband that night, at like 7:30pm. I'm not a fan of going to the gym that late, ever, but figured I needed to go. By that time, I was utterly exhausted. I tried to run, I think I managed about 10 minutes, but I just didn't have it in me. I was pretty bummed, but whatever... at least I went to the gym and at least I sweat. Better than not going at all, right?

So today, i was determined to get my run on. Breakfast was oatmeal with cranberries, and for lunch I spotted a lean cuisine- spaghetti and meat sauce in the freezer. I made a big salad to go with it. Well, the lean cuisine was disgusting so I was going to throw it away but my youngest (garbage gut) ate it. I had caved to a "light" blue cheese dressing at the grocery store and put that on my salad..ew ew ew. It was gross to, so I threw that away. So needless to say, I ate maybe 4 bites of lunch. I drank a good amount of water through out the day though.

So I headed to the gym, around 2:45. My schedule said 5 min warm up walk, and 25 min run, and 5 min cool down walk. I started running about 4:30 because I was feeling good and ready and the song on the ipod had me motivated. I ended up having to pause for about 30-40 seconds a couple of times but jumped right back on and ran. I made it!! :) I was pretty happy but dang it is still hard. Like when is this going to get easier for me? I'm still only at just over 2 miles in my 35 minutes, so running a 5k in a reasonable amount of time seems pretty unattainable still. UGGGHHH.

So this is where my day got interesting. Right about when I wrapped up my cool down walk, I started seeing white spots all around my vision, yah, like seeing stars. I felt light headed and just weird. I started guzzling my water and decided to get the heck out of there. I went to the gas station right by the gym and grabbed a G2, thinking maybe I was low on electrolytes? I had no idea what was going on, but my vision was all weird and I felt really really off. I was starting to worry I was going to pass out. I didn't know what to do. Managed to get myself home and was feeling a bit better, but still OFF.

Googled my symptoms and according to this
http://www.livestrong.com/article/372473-what-does-seeing-spots-colors-after-exercise-mean/

I'm thinking it was low blood sugar. I wondered about low blood pressure too? So crazy and I did not like how it felt at all. I will from now on make sure I eat more before I go to the gym. If anyone has experienced this...please advise. It was pretty scary.

Tonight I'm feeling achy and really tired. Hoping I'll feel good as new after a good night's sleep. Hope you all had a good day!!

Week 11 Weigh In

Alright... so this morning I stepped onto the scale hoping to see a number less than 220. Last week I weighed 220.9 and I really wanted to break the 220's. I stepped on and saw 220.1 and was frustrated. Really scale, you just messing with me now?!! I was just wearing shorts and a tank top, but thought, huh, what the hell and shed my clothes. Stepped on the scale and it read 219.7 I could not be more elated this morning!! :)
I have been officially on my journey since Feb. 21 and since then (11 weeks) I have lost 24.9 pounds. I did do all of my measurements on January 4, and so now I'd like to share my stats since then. Since January 4 I have lost 26.8 pounds. I have gone down from a 40DDD bra size to a 36D. (ya boo..my boobs are seriously deflated now..I need a push up bra! I think 36D is still respectable though!)
1" lost from my neck.
6" lost from my waist.
3" lost from my hips.
2" lost from my thighs.
2" lost from my upper arms.
I feel amazing this morning, this smile on my face isn't going anywhere and now I am off to the gym to kick some ass on the treadmill. 25 minute run on tap today and I GOT THIS.

C25k Week 5 day 2

.killed it.

YAHHHH!!!! w5d2 was the one I attempted 2 wks ago and was not able to do, and then fell off the proverbial wagon for the 4 days, and started c25k on week 4 again. Today I was scared to death but kept telling myself positive things "You are strong, you are more fit than you were 2 months ago. You are strong. You can do this. You are a runner. Go get it!!" and lo and behold...I did it. :) I'm so happy.

I for some reason have a sore throat today, my glands feel a bit swollen. As the day is going on, I'm feeling kind of achy and tired, and a hot shower didn't relieve the achiness. I am afraid I'm fighting something. dang it. :( So taking some Emergen'c and planning to go to bed early tonight and try to fight it. I do not want to get sick. How dumb would that be, considering I'm taking such good care of myself?

Today I had vanilla greek yogurt for breakfast with fresh sliced strawberries on top, and some coffee with Truvia.

Lunch was a big salad with veggies, a hard boiled egg chopped & thrown on top, pepperoncinis and some shaved parmesan, with FF balsamic vinegarette on top. yum.

Just finished making my snack, a toasted everything bagel thin spread with a garlic & herb WW cheese wedge and a couple slices of sliced deli turkey. I just brewed a cup of raspberry tea too.

Hope you are all having a great hump day!!

Weigh In

It's been a very busy few days! April is such a crazy month for our family with 3 daughters birthdays, my husbands birthday and then another daughter on May 1. It's a birthday party, food, cake, busy family time extraordinaire!

I weighed in this morning and am quite pleased with what the scale said. My official weigh in this week, down 4lbs exactly from last Monday's weigh in. I will take it!! :)

Plan this week is to stay focused, complete week 5 of Couch to 5k and eat good!!

Thursday I'm trying Hot Yoga for the first time, that should be interesting. :)

Have a great day ya'll!

Food pics :)

Today's lunch (above) was a salad with leftover turkey taco meat, jalapenos, grape tomatoes, some mozzarella cheese, light sour cream and pico de gallo. (245 calories)

This was last night's dinner (pictured above) a 4oz portion of broiled salmon with a bit of teriyaki sauce, salad with FF balsamic vinegar, and veggie chinese fried "rice". (350 calories)

My lunch yesterday...so yummy. 1 egg fried in a pan with non stick spray, on a toasted everything bagel thin, spread with WW brand garlic & herb cheese wedge and 3 slices of lean ham. 236 calories and worth every single one.

Scale Victory

My official "weigh in" isn't until Monday, but I snuck a peak at the scale this morning. How happy was I to see a weight that is 5 lbs less than it was on Monday?!!! VERY HAPPY. That motivates me so much, to see progress. Hit the gym every day this week, re did days 2 &3 of week 4 of Couch to 5k. I feel great. Now tonight is a baseball game with my honey and then tomorrow is a bbq party at our house for our daughter's 15th birthday. I want to stay on track to maintain that 5lb loss through until Monday, or even increase it.

I have been taking a picture with my cell phone of my toes on the scale when I weigh in, and a friend of mine suggested today to put today's picture as my background on my phone for the weekend to help me through the weekend. Everytime I pick up my phone I will see it, and remember what is important. Great idea.

Tonight we have food vouchers that we won with our tickets to the baseball game, good for 1 hotdog, 1 bag of chips and a soda. I am thinking of taking a snack in my purse and forgoing the chips. Eating the hot dog and a diet soda and then having a bottle of water and whatever snack I bring. Ugh, I want peanuts!! How many calories in peanuts??

Tomorrow I bought turkey burgers in addition to the beef burgers. Planning on having one of those, no bun because I want a piece of sharp cheddar! lots of veggies, lots of water. No birthday cake for this girl. The thing that will be tempting and hard will be steering clear of the dips, chips, deviled eggs and salads. Sigh..Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!

So the question is....are YOU ready for the weekend? What are your plans? How do you plan to stay on track??

"My Healthy Living Alphabet"

Over at Fit Mom..In Training she has this My Healthy Living Alphabet

http://www.fitmomintraining.com/2010/11/my-healthy-living-alphabet/

awesome. :)

Lunch today

I broiled a frozen portioned (4oz) salmon fillet with a sprinkle of teriyaki sauce on it. Threw that on a large salad with grape tomatoes, cucumbers, blue cheese, avocado and a bit of dressing made from olive oil, rice vinegar and teriyaki sauce. SO good and so filling. :)

Chinese Fried "Rice"

This is today's lunch. Chinese Fried "Rice" with shrimp. It was delicious. Here is the recipe!!

1/2 head raw Cauliflower (grated to make 3 1/2 cups)
3 green onions, chopped and seperated- white and green part
1 Garlic Clove, minced or 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp Ginger (we didn't have any so we didn't put it in)
3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
3 eggs, beaten
Olive Oil
Cooked chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, turkey-any mixture of your choice
In a wok or large flat skillet, heat enough oil to cover bottom of pan. Fry minced garlic (or garlic poweder) with finely diced white part of onions for approximately 1 minute. Add grated cauliflower and fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add soy sauce, ginger, diced green onion tops, and pre-cooked cubed meat or baby shrimp. Stir to mix well and brown a bit. Push mixture to one side of pan. Add more oil if necessary and scramble eggs in empty side of pan until done but still moist. Stir eggs into "rice" mix and remove from heat. Stores and re-heats beautifully.

Ok, I used the entire head of cauliflower, and used 1/2 cup of eggbeaters and 3oz of cooked large shrimp (80 calories). I used 1/2 Tbsp olive oil. I have calculated 260 calories for the whole pan (shrimp 80, olive oil 60, soy sauce 60, eggbeaters 60) Cauliflower is such a small amount I'm not counting it, as I don't count most veggies. This is delicious!! Next time I'm adding some frozen peas and carrots!

Correction:

it was a whole entire pound I gained. Not a half. damn.

Hello? Where'd you go?

Hey! That motivation and focus and determination that was so so strong just a week ago?! Where did it go? Seriously...it's been a crappy like 4 days and I'm struggling to find my way back on track. Weird because I just joined a challenge too. The only thing I can blame is my own self. Old habits die hard. Stinkin' thinkin'. My son deploys today to Afghanistan and I talked to him Wednesday and Thursday...I just fell. I laid in bed Thursday night not feeling too well, and then ate mashed potatoes for dinner. huh? I also skipped the gym Thursday.

Friday brought a girls' day with my kids, and I ate fish and chips for dinner. Mind you, I didn't eat anything else the entire day (which is also bad, but at least I kept the calories within reason), but still..fish and chips people. I did manage to drag myself the the gym Friday night, but put in a half assed walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes, but I get its better than nothing.

Saturday, my family and I attended the UW Women's softball game. I ate peanuts. Then we went to Dick's burgers. Yep, we sure did. It's our thing when we go to Seattle. I had eaten a granola bar and yogurt so far that day, so I indulged. I didn't mess around- a Dick's Deluxe, fries with tartar and a coke. It tasted so good, but a salty fatty caloric induced coma followed. I felt awful within 10 minutes, holding my stomach the rest of the way home. No gym, although we did walk quite a bit from the parking to the game and back.

Sunday I ate fine, within my calories and healthy, although I skipped the gym again.

Yesterday, oh yesterday. Well I woke up determined to get back on track, although you know how when you are off more than 1 meal, every meal and every day off track you start losing sight of the big picture, losing sight of your goals? It was weigh in and I was up a half a pound. Not good.

I started off good, but I was stuck home without a car all day. I might have made mac and cheese and hotdogs for my kindergartner and then proceeded to eat a big bowl of it, cursing myself the entire time. Dinner was a low calorie egg scramble and a bagel thin. Then, I wanted chocolate. I grabbed a chocolate dipped granola bar (210 calories) and then.... I dipped it in peanut butter. ACK. and washed it down with chocolate milk. *gasp*. WTF is wrong with me? I celebrated a gain on the scale with ensuring more of a gain?! Am I an idiot?!

I'm so disappointed in myself. I can think of a million things that got me headed in the wrong direction. My attempt at day 2 of week 5 of couch to 5k last Wednesday was disappointing, I couldn't finish the 2nd 8minute run. So I didn't even attempt day 3. My sadness and worry about my son. The frustration of being 7 weeks into being healthy with virtually no cheats and starting to feel deprived and wanting to just be normal. It all adds up. It adds up to 4 days of CRAP. 4 days of almost no exercise, crappy meals, not journaling, not blogging, not facing what I was doing. Sorry I was hiding from you all... I guess I was trying to ignore what I was doing. I have been feeling so phenomenal, I don't know why I would want to feel like this. :( Like I said, old habits die hard. I wish they would DIE already.

Time to put on my gym shoes and get back on track, seriously. I can't let myself down and I can't let all the people watching me down. Today is a new day!!! There is only me to hold accountable and I will do so.

Keep on keeping on.

Wrapping up my 6th week of being completely in the game. It feels better and better every day. I am staying under 1200 calories a day, going to the gym 5-6 days a week, and not even really feeling tempted to do anything else. I feel great. I have so much more energy and am feeling smaller every day. I hope the scale is kind to me this week!

Last night hubby and I went to our favorite Applebee's for dinner as we found ourselves without the 2 youngest girls and we wanted to try something off the new "Under 550 calorie" menu. We both chose steak: I had the Signature Sirloin with Garlic Herb Shrimp and hubby chose the Asiago Peppercorn Steak. Both came with steamed herb red potatoes and steamed seasonal veggies. DELICIOUS!! We haven't had a steak in a while so it was just what the doctor ordered. The potoates were a nice treat and the fact that we had a flavorful, fresh and delicious dinner for 500 calories or less was awesome. Thanks Applebee's, as always for an amazing dining experience.

I made chicken enchiladas tonight, and managed to make them pretty low cal. I'm quite pleased with myself. They ended up 155 for 1 enchilada. I also made Uncle Ben's Whole Grain White Rice Taco flavor and some FF refried beans. The whole meal was 355 per serving, but I skipped the rice for only 255 calories. boo yah!!

I also am amazed at how small my portions have become in comparison to what I used to it and I'm completely satisfied all day. I am working at eating more whole foods and less carbs, less processed food, less crap. Trying to eat more fruits, veggies, dairy, lean protein.

Keep on Keeping on my friends. Healthy is where it's at!

Inspirational Words.

"The most sacred place dwells within our heart, where dreams are born and secrets sleep, a mystical refuge of darkness and light, fear and conquest, adventure and discovery, challenge and transformation. Our heart speaks for our soul every moment while we are alive. Listen... as the whispering beat repeats: be...gin, be...gin, be...gin. It's really that simple. Just begin... again."
- Royce Addington

Lazy Sunday

Well I was super sore yesterday after hitting the gym hard twice on Friday and I did weights on my upper body, and apparently over did it. It was a blah day and I didn't get much accomplished other than working in the morning. Ate well though, actually under my calories for the day with only 880 consumed.

Today has been a very lazy day, other than folding laundry and going to Costco. I didn't eat lunch but I'm gearing up for a delicious dinner...my bff, his mom and her boyfriend are coming over tonight for dinner. They have an amazing family recipe for spaghetti sauce and he's making that. I bought whole grain pasta and salad. There are 2 loaves of garlic french bread on my kitchen counter but I will be skipping that. I might treat myself to a glass of wine.

Weigh in is tomorrow!! Couch to 5k Week 4 starts tomorrow. I am excited to kick some butt this week.

I'm going down...

in my caloric intake. I had been sort of watching what I ate and then after meeting with Arthur, he advised me to shoot for a target of 1680-1800 calories a day (based upon my current weight and BMR). So I have been logging all my food this week and counting calories, generally struggling to eat around 1600-1680. That is having to add a snack at night time of usually 200-300 to meet that. Arthur has now asked me to go to 1200 calories a day. I was like WHAAAT??! but now I'm thinking that shouldn't be too bad, considering I'm eating around 1300-1400 naturally right now. It's just cutting out a little bit. I can and will do that, no problem. :)

Yesterday I borrowed my daughters iPod for the gym and holy cow what a difference listening to music makes! I jumped on the elliptical as it was my day off from running, and managed to stay on there for an hour, on a random program (intervals of different levels) and I was sweating buckets. I also was sore last night. My inner thighs are soooore. Run today, so hopefully I can push through the soreness. It's my final day of week 3 of the Couch to 5k. Next week its on to week 4 and 5 minute runs...who would've thunk?!

Have a fabulous day ya'll! Remember this today...
"Excellence is not an act but a habit. The things you do the most are the things you will do the best."
– Marva Collins

Workout music

I am going to finally joining 2011 already in progress and getting a Droid phone. Yay!! I'm so excited to be able to download the C25k app and some good workout music to listen to! So any suggestions for good workout music would be helpful. I like just about everything, but seem to respond more to rock and hip/hop for exercise and getting my energy level up. Anything with a good pounding beat that makes me want to move.

Thanks in advance readers. :)

Had my breakfast, now off to the gym!

and the soup was amazing :)

Well it has been a busy day so far. I just came home and wrote down my breakfast and lunch and counted up my calories. I had lunch at Applebee's with a couple of old friends and struggled with the menu (note to self: so much easier to check menu & nutritional values online at home first and plan out what you are going to order. They have a great new (and very delicious looking) under 550 calorie menu, but those are huge dinner portions and dinner prices. I wanted a lunch. I checked out the "Pick n Pair Lunch Combos". I have had the grilled shrimp & spinach salad before and it is good. The server told us the soup of the day was broccoli cheese (my fav!) so I went with those 2, thinking the servings were small so it shouldn't be too bad, but thinking the soup was probably pretty high. Well, after consulting their nutritional info online, it was 530 for my lunch. Not too bad!! I'm so happy to know that I actually made a decent choice and didn't "blow" my lunch.

At the gym, I did 5 minutes on the stair climber and 30 minutes on the elliptical. I had to go to a work meeting or I would have stayed on longer.

I bought some more healthy things at the grocery store and also picked up a digital kitchen scale today, which I think is going to help me with getting my portions accurate.

"You have powers you never dreamed of. You can do things you never thought you could do. There are no limitations in what you can do , except the limitations of your mind."

word.

Couch to 5k Week 3 day 1

Last night began Week 3 of Couch to 5k, and I did it! I was a little (ok, a lot) intimidated when I saw 3 minute runs but I told myself all the way to the gym that I could do it. I would do it. So I did it. It wasn't easy for sure, but I did it. When my breathing starts to get labored I get panicky and that makes it more difficult. But if I could just even out my breathing, I think I'd be doing so much better. My hip is hurting a bit and my shins, but nothing I can't push through.

I'm only running at like 4.3 on the treadmill, but I'm running. During my last 3 minute run last night I bumped it up to 4.7 for the 2nd minute and 5.o the 3rd minute and 5.4 the last 30 seconds. I was dying at the end but felt pretty accomplished.

Just ate my oatmeal with some dried cranberries, a touch of brown sugar and some cinnamon. My 5 yr old was a little slow this morning and when we walked out the door, I heard the bus, so we full out ran to the bus stop and then I ran back. YAY! I would have never done that a month ago, I would have gone back in the house for my keys.

So I'm off the gym now! I think I will take a magazine and spend some time on the elliptical today. I hope that you all have a great day!

Follow the yellow brick road...

Welcome to my journey. It has already begun, when I joined the gym a month ago and decided to kick my ass in gear and do something about all the weight I've packed on in my adult life.
In the last month I have developed a gym habit (5-6 days a week), changed my eating entirely, increased my water consumption, began the Couch to 5k, and lost 13 lbs. GO ME. I have a long ways to go and every day is a battle to make the right choices but I am so determined to get there.

This past 3 days have been awesome for my motivation. I had the opportunity to meet Arthur from this season of the Biggest Loser. I didn't just meet him, I hung out with him. I danced with him. I even did a jager bomb with him. ;) Talking with him was just what I needed to confirm the path I am on and remind me that I am not only worth it, but I am capable and I am going to kick some ass.

I am excited about this journey. I can't even begin to imagine the places it will take me. I am going to be healthy. I am going to be fit. I am going to be an athlete. I am going to be a runner. Watch me.