Typical Foods on a Workout day

On days when I am planning on hitting the gym I usually plan my foods rather carefully. I want to maintain a good deficit without starving my body post workout. I usually start with my daily diet latte, and then I add some fruit and cottage cheese, which brings my breakfast up to about 400 cals. Then I have a big salad and a protien bar for lunch, this tends to be around 500 cals, 200 for the bar and 300 for the salad (I don't like diet dressing so I go for less of the real thing and enjoy it more, my new favorite is a sweet vinegar and olive oil mix that will take the bitter out of fresh spinach its a gift from god, and only 70 cals for 2 tbsp.)

My Workout Day Salad Today

1 Cup romaine
1 cup spinach
2/3 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup feta cheese
2 tbsp dressing
I grab a handful of nuts or seeds right before the workout and try to drink at least 24 ounces of water during the course of the workout. I do an hour of activity and then on my way home I have some more fruit, frozen grapes are great at cooling me off and they make the ride home lots of fun.

For dinners on workout nights I usually cook something fresh, since I have all that energy after working out... no really, I do. I usually tackle some huge chore after working out to take advantage of the energy boost, which usually makes my deficit even higher :P I try to add lots of protien in with some good carbs, like chicken and brown rice, or whole wheat pasta.

On workout days my deficit which is usually right around 600 goes up between 1000-1200. I don't do this intentionally but I refuse to eat when I'm not hungry, and I think it has been working so far.

Me Post Workout, goofing off in my kitchen

De-railed...kinda

Does it count as off track if you are doing it intentionally, with a definite end in sight?

I went out of town this weekend and ate horribly, but as I said, it was intentional. I decided I have been diligent since May 17th and I deserved a weekend away from it. Well I came home and tracked And I still didn't go over by much, I guess my stomache has shrunk. But what I did eat was mostly delicious garbage.

Mother Nature has paid me a visit, so I'm up about three pounds, most of which Im sure is water weight, but I have been working out, even though it 102 degrees outside. I'm bloated and bitchy but still giggling thanks to the newest FHP (feminine hygiene product) commercials. I totally visualize my cycle as that annoying woman in the suit holding the little gift box. And anytime I need a chuckle I remember that commercial making fun of all the other FHP commercials, "Sometimes I just feel the need to spin in a circle..." hehehehehehehe.

Ahem, I went to a family reunion type thing with my mothers side of the family and we had a blast, mostly because there was pie. Oh sweet heavens there was pie, it was pear pie made with port and spices and the crust had BUTTER in it with Gruyere cheese...great, now I'm drooling. I seriously ate half a pie, and I don't even feel that bad about it.

I found that while stuffing copious quantities of junk, goldfish crackers, pie, bratwurst, eggs, pie, bacon, hasbrowns, pie, biscuits, gravy, did I mention pie? I felt awful, I felt like my energy level bottomed out and my whole body went into sloth mode.

Lesson of the day: Good food makes me feel good. simple math, even I should be able to manage this.

In Related news, my older Munch turned four yesterday, Happy Birthday Hannah Banana!

Mean, Mean Workout Machine

When I added workouts to me new life plan I thought I would A.) HATE them, all through school I despised gym glass. I have no hand eye coordination and all the sports they made us play just showcased my incredible badness. B.) Give up and decide that exercise was just not my cup of tea. However, some surprising things have come about in the last four weeks.
1.) I am sleeping better, more restful sleep, not as tired during the day...
2.) I want to exercise, when I go three or four day without exercising I start to feel rotten.
3.) I feel better in my skin, my balance has improved and my body does not seem as sluggish.
4.) My clothes seem to fit better, even when the pound difference is not that significant.

My tri-weekly workouts generally consist of 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, which has a glute program that is literally kicking my butt! 15 minutes of weights, I use 10 pound hand weights, bands and a weight machine with a leg press(which is like heaven) and then i finish up with about 10 minutes of streching and yoga poses which help me relax and get my heart rate back down. Additionally, doing the Yoga at the gym is much more relaxing than doing it at home, its loud at my house!

WTF??? and FTW!!!

Today's WTF??? News:
Yesterday I put on pair of work pants that fit me at the beginning of last year but have not been able to zip since last Christmas. They zipped up and were even a bit loose. Which was good until, over the course of the day, they began to grow!!! The size 18 pants became as loose on me as if I had been wearing a pair of 22's.
The crotch of the pants was hanging to my knees and I actually had to hold the band of the pants to keep them from falling down! It was horrifying, I felt like such a lunatic running errands while holding up my pants! So I decided that trip to the goodwill was in order. Which brings us to...

Today's FTW!!! news:
I tried on several pairs of size 16 pants at the resale shops and most of them were either too big, or just unattractive. I also grabbed a cute pair of Gap size 14 khakis, just to see, and they nearly zipped! I had to buy them, they have become my goal for the end of the summer, I want to be in a comfortable size 14 by the end of September.
I did find two pairs of brown and one pair of black pants that will do well for work, I needed something that looks professional but didn't want to spend lots of money(because I don't plan on wearing them for that long!!!)

Me in one of the new outfits
Did you ever notice that a size 16 at the Goodwill often fits like a 14 does in the store? Its a phenomenon I have often puzzled over.

Incentives

I put on a pair of size 14 jeans this morning and while they were not really "comfortable" they zipped, and I could sit in them, I am thinking that 4-5 pounds from now they will fit well and I will have a skinny jean party!

Until then, as a reward for this massively awesome change(getting to 210) I am going shopping later. I am going to purchase some more tools for making the delicious body healthy foods that are allowing me to change my life and feel good about myself.
My shopping trip will result in a mandolin slicer, mortar and pestle and really good knife, maybe one that comes with sharpener...

My incentive plan is rather ambitious, these are all things I really want and they are worth the extra effort of working out and waiting, besides maybe I'll be able to find good sales on some of these things...

220-Workout clothes
210-Kitchen gadgets
200-Food processor
190-Clothing
180-Going off Birth control (We want another munchkin)
170-Stand Mixer
160-Glider Rocking Chair
150-New wedding rings

You will notice there is a page called incentives here on my blog, I will be posting photos of the incentives as I earn them, and any new ones that come up along the way.

210, yes that's right, 210

Today my weight is 210, which means I have lost 22 pounds since may 17th. I am starting to think I am going to make it to my goal. My personal goal being to get to 180 by January 1st, 2011. The BMI meter and "experts" say I should be shooting for 140, but honestly if I get and stay anywhere around 160 at some point, I will be ecstatically happy.

While weighing in today a coworker told me that she thought I was around 160??? Is it even possible to look so much thinner than you are? I wonder if she was just being nice?

While watching weight loss shows I have seen people who weigh the same as me look way worse than I ever did. I never felt as bad as they say they do, I always felt flexible, strong and pretty okay...

I guess you might say I'm a little more dense than most, which is good and bad. Good because I can look better than than the scale suggests I ought to and Bad, because I will not see results as quickly, at least in the mirror.

I sort of wonder if I have a lot of muscle, if so, it will make this whole endeavor much easier, after all muscle burns fat more quickly and makes your body healthy.

Me, 7-26-2010

9 Weeks In, 19 pounds down

Today I am feeling rather emotional. It's been a hard week, lots of hormonal roller-coastering and leaking(crying, which I hate doing) There are some days when all I can do is sit on my couch and think of how much I would like to eat nachos, cupcakes, pasta, basically anything bad for me. I resist, because I know that my body is just looking for a way to ease stress. My daughters must have some form of esp because they always seem to know when I am feeling down, they come and ask for hugs and tell me they love me, those babies are amazing!

I'm feeling kind of dried out, so I am going to increase my fluids to feel more hydrated. Plus, water makes your body work, right?

Ready for a before and after??? It's amazing, really.

Me, February 13th, 2010


Me, July 14th, 2010