Wow!

A whole week without a post!? Geesh, who am I?

This past week has been a revealing kind of week. I have had some weak moments. In-N-Out burger, 2 deserts, 2 times the proportion sizes...it was awful. On the one side, I did run 8 miles that day and needed the fuel. On the other, I could have fueled more properly.

I have decided to stick to a 1200 calorie diet on days I do just cardio.
I will eat 1600(plus 200 for powerade) on the days I run long distances.
I will track in a notebook all 7 days of the week.
I will start weighing 1 time a week, Wednesdays are the chosen days.
I will drink 120 oz of water everyday.
I will work on getting lots of fruits and veggies in every day.

My birthday is next Friday and I WILL be 122 if it kills me :)

I have no clue what I weigh right now. I really hope to still be at 124. Or even 123. We shall see in 2 days!

2 A Days....

Sunday afternoon I ran 6 miles in 1h 2m 08s beating my previous 6 miles by 2 minutes and 6 seconds! I am so proud. No knee pain either. I love this running faster thing!

Woke up at 5AM, got dressed, filled my water, and headed my cute ass to the gym. I walked for 5 minutes, and followed that up with a 10 minute stretch session, as I was still a little tight from Sunday's run. Then, hopped on the elliptical for 40 minutes(totally tried to talk myself out of it, but I pushed on). All in all a good day at the gym. I do like doing cardio for an hour though.

Well my best friend, Sadie, text me while I was at work and asked if I was going running(it is supposed to be a running day, but I skipped the gym yesterday). I said "No" and then I had a change of heart and said, "If you wanna run, I am down!" Her response, "Let's do it dude!". So, today I will be doing a 3 mile or so run with her. It'll be nice to have some company!

Do you get active with your friends or are you a "lone ranger"?

Best Thing About This Week....

I ran 3 miles on Tuesday! That's not the best thing, the best thing is I did it in 29m43s my best time yet. The first mile was 9m31s, the second was 10m41s, and the third was also 9m31s! I have never ran under a 10m mile. In fact, I don't think I have ever run a mile in under 10m15s. My knees felt great during, except when I was running slower. So, maybe I am just running too slow!? What do you think? I was soo proud of myself, I actually cried, because I am a dork.

Still at 124.6 this morning, which is nice. Hoping to see the 123 next Wednesday. Just going to keep on working harder and harder.

Hope you are all having an amazing week!

Luck of the Irish?!

Hi, Happy St. Patrick's Day :)

I didn't realize it was St. Patty's Day until I had left for work. No green on me today, oops!


So, weight this morning was 124.6! Ahhhh....haven't seen that number in, well, ever! I jumped right over it when I gained weight in jr. high. It gives me such a boost. Now that I am weighing, I do believe I will continue to lose it instead of up and down week to week. I feel great. Hey 110, I am coming to get you! Hoping for 122 or lower by my birthday, I think I can get there just fine.

I started journaling yesterday as well, just to give me an idea of how many calories I am consuming, what my workouts are, how much water I am drinking and my day to day weight. I am excited to be journaling. I plan on doing a food journal once a week starting soon. I really need more pictures around this joint!

Now, onto a little more substance. I have a confession to make! My sleeping habits are out of whack, and it is not because of Daylight Savings. I try to be in bed by 9:00 every night, because my first alarm goes off at 4:45AM. I feel that is an adequate amount of sleep. However, in the past month, it keeps getting later and later at night that I go to sleep. I have been getting in bed by 10, but don't fall asleep until 11 or so. Which is not nearly as much sleep as I should be getting. So, I have a plan to get my sleeping back on track.

• Hot Bath: I used to take a hot bath every night at 8:30ish and it totally winds me down from the day. Hoping I can start doing this again most nights.
• Hot Tea: I have heard tea helps when drank before bed.
• No More Laptop in Bed: My brain associates my bed with all the wrong things. For example, TV watching, Internet Surfing, and Reading. I need to break that habit and fast. 
• No Workouts for at least 2 hours before bed: I tend to do last minute workouts right before bed, which leaves me full of energy. So, from now on, all workouts will be done by 7PM.

Do you get enough sleep? How do you unwind before bed?

Have a fantastic St. Patrick's Day!

Refusing To Let The Scale Win.....

I loved reading all of your comments on yesterdays post. Keep looking "outside the box" and start noticing how you feel, rather than how you look/what the scale says! Ahhh...I love hearing all of the great things you are noticing!

Speaking of scales, I wanted to talk a little about what I started doing Saturday. So, I purchased a scale this weekend. I usually use the one at the gym, but my body fat changes anywhere from 25.5% to as low as 21% overnight and I can not trust it. So, I bought one that doesn't do body fat, it just tells me what the number is. I used to have a scale obsession and have quit diets many times because the scale wasn't cooperating and I thought I was "meant to be fat!". Not the case.

I weighed myself Saturday night and I was 127. Went out to see a friends band play and had a jager w/ redbull and a huge blue moon with 2 oranges. We stopped at McDonald's at 2:00AM(it was time change day so really it was 3AM), and I got a cheeseburger. Woke up Sunday and weighed 126. Hmmm....okay. I worked all day Sunday, but my eats were good.
B-yogurt w/ a little protein and fiber one cereal.
L-Subway 6'' Turkey on Honey Oat w/ lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, banana peppers, a little oil and vinegar.
Snack-BBQ Baked Lays potato chips
D-Wonton chips w/ sweet and sour sauce. I had a salad w/ broccoli and Olive Garden dressing.
Drank about 100 oz of water!

Monday I hopped on the scale 127.2. Did I get discouraged? NO! First, I had just woken up and done the #1, no #2 yet. Second, I had more sodium than I normally do the day before. So, I went to the gym and did an hour on the eliptical. Yesterday's eats:
B- 1/4c oatmeal, 1/2c water, 1/4 c raisins, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 tbsp agave nectar(best breakfast ever!) w/ 2 cups of coffee. The coffee contained a little Vanilla Soy Milk and 1 tbsp cinnamon vanilla creamer.
L-Salad w/ broccoli and balsamic vinigarette dressing. I also had 1 cup of Annies white cheddar shells(awesome for a mac n cheese lover like myself!). I had a banana shortly after.
Snack-1 slice 9 grain bread w/ 1 tbsp almond butter and 1/2 tsp agave nectar
D-Salad w/ broccoli, wonton chips, and black bean/corn salsa as dressing(sounds gross, but it was tasty). I paired that with 1 Strawberry Brown Cow Greek Yogurt w/ fiber one cereal in it and 5 raisins.

This morning I weighed 125.6. Which is just over what I weighed last Thursday(?).

Obviously, I hope Thursday to be in the 124 range, but if I am not, I will move on. I weigh everday because I am curious as to what my body is doing. How I weigh day to day.

We shouldn't be so concentrated on what the scale is saying, I mean really. My weight fluctuated 2 pounds in three days. That is not logical because I was doing things right. No overeating, no sweets, plenty of water, and lots of protein, veggies and fruits. I will continue to weigh and Thursdays will be the day that counts. If I don't start losing, then, I will reevaluate.

I just really wish we wouldn't put so much emphasis on what the scale says. It is so sad to read bloggers that say I gained x amount of weight or I only lost x amount. It could just be one of those days where you gain 2 pounds because of sodium or being "backed up"!

So, how do you stay positive when the scale doesn't tell you what you want it to?

Let's Talk....

So, this weekend I have really thought about a few things that have changed about my body and I thought I would share. Just a fair warning, this is a TMI post for just a minute, but not the whole thing and I promise not to be gross.

First things first, my energy level is quite amazing! I wake up happy, I workout, I go to work, I come home, I clean, I cook(or get takeout), and I go to bed. I used to take naps close to everyday, but now, I rarely take naps. Love took a 3 hour nap Saturday(he worked early) and I stayed up. I cleaned, stained cabinets, worked out a little and played with the dogs. We got up together at 6:30, but I had all the energy in the world. I am still surprised that I don't take naps. I deal with a touch of insomnia these days. I go to bed between 10pm and 12am and get up at 4:45am most days. So, I really need to work on getting sleep, so I have a plan. I will share this in a later post!

Secondly, I have never been *AHEM* regular in the potty department. It was normal to not poop for 3 days. I bet you I dropped the kids off at the pool maybe 2 times a week, 3 if I was lucky. Now, I drink 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning, I pack lots of fruits, veggies, and fiber into my diet. Plus, I drink over 100 oz. of water a day. Now, I go at least 2 times, if not 3 or 4 times a day. I love the feeling of not being "plugged" up like I used to. The down side to how regular I am is I have freaking gas pretty badly some days(okay, more like 4 days out of the week). Love always says,"Wow, that was lady like!!! I remember when you would try to hold it in, but now you just let it rip!" I always blame the dogs, but he doesn't believe me! Haha!

Last but not least, the food my body craves. I am currently going off of sweets and treats for 2 week, today is day 4 and it is not that bad. My body craves veggies, fruits and yogurt, which is a long ways from Quesadillas, cookies, and my all time favorite cheesy bean and rice burritos a la Taco Bell. Now, I still remember how much I love those burritos, but I have not had one in almost a year. I love me some banana, kiwi, salad, broccoli and my body craves those now. It is such a great feeling.

So, there you have it! What body changes have you noticed since beginning your journey?

Best Creation Yet.....

Last night, Love didn't get off of work until late, so I didn't eat until about 8:00. Love and I have such different eating habits. He is a meat, brown rice, potatoes, chicken, KFC, hamburgers, kind of guy. No veggies, but sometimes he will eat salad plain salad with lemons or Olive Garden dressing. I, however, love veggies and all sorts of other healthy foods. Like the one below!

This was a tomato basil tortilla(100 calories) with roasted pepper hummus. Then, I heated up some black beans and threw them up. I sauteed up red peppers, yellow peppers, orange peppers and broccoli in a little olive oil and topped the hummus and beans with it. Then, added a little peach and mango salsa to the top! So good, so feeling, and truly awesome creation :)

I don't find it extremely challenging to come up with great meal ideas even though Love and I's eating can be really different. If he wants cheese burgers, I am game. He doesn't actually like buns, so we eat them without them. There is some calorie saving we both do. Chicken and brown rice is a staple in our place. I have a salad or I will add some broccoli to the dish to give it some veggies.

NSV on its way! So, Love decided he wanted a shake last night(raspberry, peanut butter cups, and banana.). He is creative. So, I went to iceberg, where I love love LOVE their shakes and I ordered his shake. I didn't order one for me, not because I wasn't allowing it, but because I really didn't want one. Normally, I would have gotten one and just eaten it anyways, but last night I put thought into it and I want to get to goal. I don't want to have to work off all of the calories the shake had in it! Go me :) !!!!