I'm down 3 lbs this week already!!!!! Woohoo to the jump start!!!!! Goodbye plateau!!!!

I've been eating alot of fresh salads this week and staying away from bread. Our Winn Dixie has a new awesome deli, with a wonderful salad bar and wing bar, so I've been going to the salad bar to load up on alot of fresh selections.......keeps me from buying packages of stuff that I eat once and let go to waste. This way I can put together a pound of veggies and toppings that I know I'll eat and then take it home and add my own lettuce and enjoy multiple salads from it. Love it. Michael is enjoying the options and variety as well. :-) He is more than halfway to his goal already and I'm proud of him. He had way less to lose that I did when we began this journey, but I know he will continue to work out with me and maintain his weight, as means to continue encouraging and supporting me. :-)

Alright, my plan to go to the gym the past 4 days didn't pan out. I did however go to the gym today for an hour and even took my mom along for her first visit to our gym. She wants to join and be my workout buddy in the evenings, since Michael and I cannot go at the same time due to the kids. That would give me someone to be accountable to and someone to keep me company in there at night. I noticed that they have a Total Body Makeover Weight Loss Challenge starting on March 1st through March 31st. They will weigh us, take our measurements, measure our body fat percentage, etc.......the prizes are 1st prize $100 cash & a 3 day 2 night Getaway, 2nd prize is $75 cash and 3 months of free membership, and then 3rd is $50 cash and 3 months of unlimited tanning. I'm seriously considering it as an all out, last month before I turn 30 years old kind of challenge. 30 days of weightloss before turning 30. My original goal was to lose 10 lbs by my birthday.  I have 6 weeks until my birthday on April 6th, so I'm completely wanting to accomplish this small 10 lb goal. If I did this challenge, I have no doubt that I would reach and exceed that goal! 10 lbs divided into 6 weeks is like 1.66 lbs per week....totally able to do that!!! I want to join the challenge for the reason that I will get to meet with a personal trainer at the gym, to get weighed, measured and to learn some helpful advice for setting up a good workout program for the 30 day challenge. My goal when I go to the gym is to do 30 minutes of cardio and 15-20 minutes of strength training, but I seem to never do the full duration in either cardio or strength. One of them always gets short changed, because I get bored.

 

Here is my new plan:

5 days cardio / 3 days strength training

Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday I will do combined cardio & strength

Tuesday & Thursday will be cardio only

Monday & Friday REST days.

 

Mondays I am busy with work and then girl scouts until after 730pm, so I will continue to take Mondays off.

Fridays because we normally are rushing to ball practices, driving to Jax to pick up the girls, or hurrying to take everyone to AWANA at the church.

 

Between now and March 1st I'm gonna practice sticking to this new routine, so that I will be in full swing come March 1st !!!   GOOD BYE 10 lbs!!!!!!

Well I've been at a plataeu, but Michael is still losing. I believe he said he's around 191 lbs this morning. I haven't lost or gained for 2 weeks, so at least I've maintained.

I haven't been as faithful to the gym either. I've let Michael being gone out of town be my excuse for not leaving to go to the gym, but without anyone at home to watch the kids-its difficult. Our gym doesn't have child care. Lastnight I was gonna go, but I honestly just was too tired and worn out to care. I'm upset with myself for being lazy  lastnight, but at the same time, I think I really just needed some low key down time to relax. My goal for the rest of the week is to go to the gym Wed, Thurs, Fri & Saturday. 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of circuit training.  

I haven't forgotten about our page here or the current competition, life has just been busy lately.

I lost 4.4 lbs last week and that was very exciting! Michael lost 3 I believe. We changed our routine up a bit this week.

In the mornings, we are drinking a Juice PLUS+ COMPLETE Soy Protein Shake  that is simply made with 1 scoop of vanilla or chocolate powder added to our normal 8 oz of skim milk. Its 200 calories to start our day off, and we normally pair it with either an egg or turkey sausage or fruit. This mix alone is 13 gr of protein, and that is helping me to keep full and not feel like snacking so early in my work day.

We haven't been to the gym as much this week (only twice)due to the rainy cold weather, and our daughter being sick for 2 days, then breaking her wrist as well. Tomorrow I'm starting clean with the new week. I plan to go on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and either Fri or Sat. 5 days is my goal.

 

On a better note, while doing laundry tonight, and puttin clothes away, I tried on some older clothes and I'm down 2 sizes!!! GO ME!!!!

When I began my journey at the gym, my goal was to work my way up to a 60 minute workout and burning 500 calories in a workout. I succeeded in that goal tonight, with my 4th visit of the week to the gym.  I did 21 minutes = 1 mile on the treadmill for 138 calories burned, 20 minutes = 1.5 mile on the EFX = 161 calories, and 19 minutes @ 13.2MPH=3.5 miles on the stationary bike for 223 calories=522 calories burned total tonight. I'm so happy and proud of myself. I had to face a demon from my childhood tonight as well. In middle school and high school there was one boy that always made it his mission to tease me, ridicule me and just make my life miserable. If he wasn't teasing about my weight, he would find some excuse to tease me. Well the downside of still living in my hometown, some 12 years later is that he is a member of the same gym and he was there tonight. At first it made me nervous, but then I decided to use those childhood fears to fuel the fire behind my workout. I succeeded and won my own battle, and on my way out I made sure to walk right past him with my head held high and just smile. Making sure not to let his presence intimidate me.

I'm feeling really good right now about my accomplishments!

Well, we've done good this week so far. We joined the gym on Sunday and have both already been 3-4 x this week. I'm feeling a bit tired, but not sore. I know I'm not doing as much cardio as I should be, but I'm working my way up in duration. I managed to do 1.0 on the elliptical and 2.0 on the bike lastnight, before stopping. Michael has been going to the gym around 630am the past 2 mornings. I'm still holding at a 4 lb loss since Jan 1st, but I'm losing inches cause my pants are all getting lose. I can even pull a few pairs off without unzipping or unbottoning them! haha

I made it to the gym this afternoon and walked 1 mile on the treadmill, .76 miles on the elliptical and 2.0 miles on the stationary bike. I wanted to finish a mile on the elliptical but my knee was hurting and I didn't want to overdo it. I believe that I'm probably low in my amount of daily calories, because I just haven't gotten enough fruits and vegetables in today. I had one tangerine for a snack this morning and then 1 cup mixed veggies with dinner and that's all.

We survived the first week, I managed to lose 4 lbs so I am really happy. On Sunday we began our couples membership at Anytime Fitness, so thats an added bonus in our decision to Get Fit and Healthy. On Sunday, I did 20 min (1 mile) on the elliptical and 20 min (3.1 miles) on the stationary bike at 11mph, and then 5 min (1/4 mile) on the treadmill to cooldown. When I plugged in my activities on www.caloriesperhour.com I learned that I had burned 407 calories in those 45 minutes of cardio. Not too shabby! Michael also did his workout Sunday, with a 20 minute walk on the treadmill and upper body circuit training. He went back on Monday night and did 30 minutes on the elliptical. Monday's are my rest day due to work and my Girl Scout Leader volunteer duties in the evenings, and I really missed not being able to get into the gym. Today or tonight I will be back in the gym though. Aiming to do enough cardio to burn off 500 calories today. :-)

We have made it a full week with healthy food choices and activity. Today is an exercise day and I'm trying to decide between bike riding with the family or popping our Biggest Loser DVD Workout in. Its 65 degrees outside today, so its a good day for a bike ride. :-) Gotta go put air in my tires first though. I'm managing to stay between 1200-1600 calories per day and according to the scale I'm down 3 lbs this week. Go Me!!!

We're both doing really good so far. We've both managed to keep our calories down and learn better options for our meals. Jenny-O turkey breakfast sausages (like they featured on BL4), and a microwaved scrambled egg for breakfast for me, Michael paired his up with a Thomas Multigrain Muffin. My lunch was a Hillshire Farms Chipolte Chicken Wrap (Really good!) and apples for my snacks at work. For dinner, we came home and experimented with a new recipe. Jenny-O ground turkey, seasoned with a bit of Tastefully Simple Salsa Seasoning, black beans & corn kernals, and brown rice, all cooked together and then 1/3 cup put on a whole wheat tortilla for a healthy burritto. They were VERY filling and tasty. Michael doesn't normally like brown rice, but he loved this recipe. Eating healthy means that the two of us spend more time together preparing and planning our meals, so its a win-win situation for both of us. :-) After a short rest from dinner, we put on our Biggest Loser Workout DVD and did session 1, low intensity cardio. I believe its a 5 min warm up, 25 min cardio, and 10 min cooldown. Bob Harper kicked our butts! Great workout though. Squats, lunges (which I hate!), jumping jacks, kicking, punching, etc. An all over great workout. I haven't been brave enough to watch the other 3 workouts yet, but I'm aiming to move into the bootcamp session in a few weeks. First I have to test Bob's theary about this workout being great for your butt & waistline! I feel sore, but nothing really painful. Michael is sore as well, and not so happy with Bob right now. :-) 

 

 

 

 

We want to lose weight and lead a healthy lifestyle, so that our children grow up with the right foundation for healthy lives.