3d30Day10: Haven't gotten my "Shred On"

Ok, so I didn't get up this morning to Shred. I had a 10 am training session scheduled, and I decided to give myself a break. I still have my workout outfit on (I know, gross, but I'm planning to wash the car with the kids after lunch, so I may as well wait to shower and change...) so, there's still a chance that I'll get my Shred on, but I'm only doing Level 1!

Today's training session was led by Nick. It's official, I think Nick knows what he's doing better than Aaron. By my calculations, I only have 3 more sessions left in my package, so I need to decide what I'm doing. The price jumps up significantly now that I'm no longer considered a "new client," and I just don't know if I can afford it. I need a job, is what it boils down to. Our trip to Mexico is 3 weeks after we get back from Norway. I'm thinking that I'll have to purchase one more set of 8 sessions and go 3x per week. If I purchase additional sessions, I'm going to tactfully ask that the majority of my sessions are with Nick, or at least, I'm going to have to tell Nick that I need Aaron to "step it up." Not quite sure how to handle that situation, but it's my money and my body, so I better figure it out.

Now, onto the Flat Belly Diet portion of the post.

Breakfast: I woke up in a decent mood. I allowed myself a little extra sleep, so that's always a good way to start the day. My kids all woke up in good moods, too, so that's a bonus for mom, also. Happy mom = Happy kids = Happy mom.

Hunger before breakfast: 0
Hunger after: 3

Lunch Mood: I had a great workout session with Nick, and it's translating into a decent mood for the afternoon. My son came off the bus still in a good mood, so all is well.

Hunger before: I drank one of my protein drinks directly after my workout, so I wasn't as hungry as I normally am at lunchtime. I'll say I'm at a 1.

Hunger after: I ate more than I thought I would. I mixed in a few craisins with the sunflower seeds, and it was pretty good...3

Will update dinner later.

Dinner: We are still in decent moods as the evening begins to roll in. It's another gorgeous day here. The kids spent much of the afternoon playing with their friend across the street while I washed the car.

I'm not all that hungry for dinner again, but the problem is, I can't really wait to eat until later. I have to eat when the kids eat or at least close to their time. I pushed the dinner hour back a little bit, I know they were hungry from all of the running around outside.

I am now done with dinner, and I am satisifed; not too full. I'm hoping I can convince the kids to go back outside for a short after dinner walk around the block.

3d30Day8: Destined to fail, determined to try again

Ok, so starting the flat belly diet on Thursday was never a good idea knowing that we had guests coming over for dinner on Friday night and a Red Wings Game on Sunday. You knew that and I knew that. I just really wanted to get started and not make any excuses that would lead me to "start on Monday." For me, there's never a good time to start a diet, any diet. I like to eat, I like to go out to eat, I like to have friends over and cook for them, I like to drink adult beverages when I'm out with friends at hockey games. I did really well with the diet on Thursday and Friday, but there isn't much room for error on the 4 day anti-bloat jumpstart portion of the flat belly diet. I tried to keep things going on Saturday and Sunday, but the wheels finally came off completely on Sunday afternoon during the Wings' game. I won't recount the gorry details, but there were Captain and Diet Cokes involved and half of a Qdoba Burrito.

I did get my exercise in, so it wasn't a total loss, but for me, exercise alone does not help me lose weight, I must eat right, too.

So, today is a new day. I am starting over with the flat-belly diet's anti-bloat jumpstart program. We have a busy week this week, but I should be able to keep up the diet Monday through Thursday and also be on track for the weekend.

Next week, will be a problem as my husband and I are headed to Norway, but I can certainly think of worse places to try to eat healthy. I know I won't be able to follow the flat-belly diet exactly, but I'm sure I can at least do decent job of eating healthy. I'm taking my Kindle with me, and I already loaded the Flat Belly Diet Book on to it, so I can study it on the plane, and be prepared. I know the timing is bad for this trip, but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity for me that I couldn't pass up. I also didn't want to put off starting the diet just because of the trip. I'm sure I'll start again with the anti-bloat portion of the diet when we return. But, at least for this week, I'll see how well I can do.

If I bake it, I will eat it

I hosted a Mother's Day brunch on Sunday. I intended to keep the brunch simple and healthy, but as with most of my best laid plans, I got caught up in the idea of hosting the Best Mother's Day Brunch Ever. I ended up making more of a feast than I intended: I made (1) a quiche-like egg bake with asparagus, red pepper, and 3 kinds of cheese, (2) a cheesy ham and potato dish, and (3) my mother's special chocolate chip coffee cake. I managed to cut up some fruit (oranges, grapes, cantalope, honeydew, and strawberries) for a healthy option, but with all other fattening choices what did it really matter at that point. I do not fancy myself a gourmet cook by any means, but everything turned out really, really, good.

Per usual, I had tons of food left over. I sent as much of the coffee cake home with my guests as I could, and I pawned off some of the quiche and potato bakes as well, but I still had plenty left for my own fridge.

After eating a helping of the quiche and the potato bake for breakfast this morning, I decided to add up the points in the recipes. Man, that was a mistake. Sometimes, it's better not to know. I belive I did it correctly, and where I was unsure, I rounded up.

Here's the damage:

The Red Pepper and Asparagus Quiche totaled 60 points, and the recipe was supposed to make 12 servings, so at 5 pts per serving, that dish was certainly not the most offensive.

The Cheesy Ham and Potato bake totaled 96 points and came out to 8 pts per serving. Not great, but compared to the last one... not horrible.

And finally, the Chocolate Chip Coffee cake came out to a whopping 16.5 pts per serving. Yikes, and to think, I had at least 2 servings yesterday, one in the morning, and one later in the evening. This morning, I found myself eating the coffee cake right out of the pan. I ended up throwing it away because I knew I would finish it and then regret it.

2d30D15: Mostly

For the most part, I followed Natalie for the third day in a row of Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred. I did my push up sets (for the 100 push ups challenge) yesterday, and my shoulders were really sore this morning, so I allowed myself to do the modified travelling push-ups. I did do Natlaie's version of the walking plank and the strength move where you're in a plank position, on your weights, and you lift one arm, then one leg, and then the other arm and other leg (I wish I knew the name for that exercise), so all in all, I followed Natalie as best as I could. Oh, yeah, I just remembered, I didn't do the Rock Star Jumps, I substituted "butt kicks," but I held onto my weights, so that has to count for something!

I'm still afraid to step on the scale. I've been working so hard, I know I faltered in the eating department a few times last week, but I'm trying really hard to keep my portion sizes down. I just want the scale to reflect all my hard work, and if it doesn't I know I'll get discouraged.

Right now, I'm just going by the fact that my clothes fit well. With the warm weather we had over the weekend, I was forced to pull out some shorts. In years past, when I've pulled out shorts after a long winter's hibernation, I've had to run to the store to buy new shorts, but this year, everything I have from last year fits just fine. So, that's a good sign...

I need some vegetables!

What a terrible weekend... at least it was in the "making healthy choices in the eating department." I should say the last 24 hours of the weekend have not been so great. It all started when we decided to take advantage of the glorious 80 degree weather by hanging out with our neighbors. I had good intentions, really, I did. For my contribution to the party, I cut up some veggies and made some fat free dip. My plan was to munch on the veggies and use the dip sparingly. I was going to allow myself 2 or 3 glasses of wine.

Well, needless to say, I didn't stick to my plan. The wine tasted too good, and the veggies just weren't cutting it compared to the spinach and artichoke dip, the chips and salsa, and the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

If that had been the end of my weekend binge, I probably wouldn't be writing about it. No, we decided to try out this new burger joint near our house called "Five Guys Burgers and Fries." No matter how many good choices you make for topping a burger (mustard instead of ketchup and mayo for example), it's still a burger loaded with a ton of calories. I also had intentions of not ordering fries, which I did stick to, but that didn't keep me from eating the unclaimed fries in the bottom of the bag or from eating them off my daughter's plate.

Again, if that were the end of my poor meal choices for the weekend, well, that would not be noteworthy, either. The penultimate poor choice came this evening.

My husband noticed that we had a coupon for a local ice cream shop that was set to expire at the end of the month, of course we had to use it. Driving over to the shop and even walking through the doors straight to the cooler where the sorbets were supposed to be, I intended to order a single scoop of one of the sorbets. However, the sorbet choices were not in the same spot as they were last year, and of course, I spotted a flavor that I really wanted to try... Raspberry Chip Cheesecake. I should have stopped at the teeny-tiny taste that I asked for, but no, I ordered a single scoop on a cone. I was going to stop eating once I got to the cone part, really, I was. And, just as I took my first bite into the cone, my son dropped his not even half-eaten cone of Superman Ice Cream on the floor. Like any loving mother, I swooped in and gave him the rest of my ice cream. I'm not sure he enjoyed Raspberry Chip Cheesecake ("It doesn't taste like cheese, does it mom?" he asked.) as much as he was enjoying his Superman flavor, but he was thankful for the ice cream, and I saved myself additional unncessary calories. So, I guess it was win-win for both of us.

Tomorrow, back to making healthy choices.

I heart chocolate!

This week is Easter Week. When I was growing up, the week after Easter meant I could pig out on chocolate and not feel guilty. As a child and even as a young adult, my Lenten observance usually involved giving up chocolate. So, on Easter Sunday, the Easter Bunny filled my basket with nothing but chocolate. Not much has changed over the years. I may not get an Easter basket filled with chocolate anymore, but it is funny how the Easter Bunny mainly brings my kids the kind of candy that I like, chocolate. Oh, sure, the bunny brought some "Bumpy Nerd Jelly Beans" that I don't like, so at least I won't be eating those.

Unfortunately, I bought way too much chocolate this year. One day last week, on a pure whim, I took the kids to the Morley Candy Factory, which is a stone's throw away from our house, and well, let's just say I went a little crazy in the chocolate department. I love their chocolate eggs, and I just couldn't resist the mini foil-covered molded bunnies. I bought marshmallow eggs covered in chocolate and peanut butter eggs covered in chocolate. The kids each picked out a solid chocolate bunny. And, the piece de resitance?!? While we were standing in line, a lady was offering those of us in (the long) line, chocolate samples. I ended up buying a box of Pecan Torties, caramel and pecan covered in, you guessed it, chocolate. Those are mine, all mine!

I think I have written before that I am not the kind of person who deprives herself. If the kids are having a small dish of ice cream, then I will have a small scoop as well, just to "taste." I'll eat cake if I'm at a birthday party, and I'll certainly have a small piece or two of chocolate occasionally. I don't hoard stashes of chocolate in my nightstand drawer. I simply try to eat in moderation. That will be put to the test this Easter given all the temptation that's made its way into the house this week. Hence, I've replaced my "snack log" side bar with a "candy tally," at least for this week.

Day 22: Gym workout

The kids and I had a very busy day today. It started at the rec center. I had hoped to be there right at 8:30, but M slept in a little later than usual, so we didn't get there until 9:15 or so. I'm glad that I decided to have R be at the child care area with M for the first time, because M pulled her usual, "mommy, don't leave me" act. I'm hoping that she'll be fine if I decide to go back there again next week. Once again, I did 25 minutes on the treadmill, alternating 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking. I could definitely do more, but the plan I'm following says to start slow and not to jump ahead, "even if you feel like you can." Now, that's advice I can follow. I then followed up the cardio with about 30 minutes of strength training. I wanted to do more, but I had to get back to pick up the kids. But, in general, I was happy with my efforts today.

I didn't do a very good job with food today, though. Between the baby shower and the birthday party, it was hard to make good choices. I declined cake at the shower, but I couldn't resist the cake at the birthday party. My mom is having us over for dinner tomorrow to celebrate Easter because they're leaving for D.C. to spend Easter with my sister's family.

Snack Log

Fri, April 3:
10:40 Soy Joy Bar, 130 calories
11:20, the Soy Joy bar didn't do it for me, so I'm snacking on celery with salsa. I'm hoping that the spiciness of the salsa will keep me from eating too much.
3:00 a few handfulls of popcorn while we were at the movie
4:00 Cereal bar 100 calories

Days 18 and 19: Slipping...

I can feel myself losing steam. I didn't get up to work out yesterday or today. I did meet with the personal trainer yesterday afternoon for my assessment. He had me walk one mile on the treadmill, do 12 "real" push ups and as many crunches as I could in 30 seconds. He also had me use some sort of leg machine and arm machine and rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how hard the exercises were. I'm hoping to start next Thursday. My schedule will be Tuesdays at 1 pm and Thursdays at 9:30.

I ate terribly yesterday. I just kept snacking. I was trying to make decent choices, but at some point, even if you're eating carrots and celery, you're still just eating calories that you don't need. I had a taste for "something," I'm not sure what it was, I thought I wanted something sweet, so I kept eating handfuls of yogurt covered raisins, but nothing was satisfying to my palette.

I may try to get some sort of workout in this afternoon, but we'll see.

Day 16: Yoga

I only had time for 45 minutes of Yoga this morning. In the hopes that an offer comes through on our house, we are off to look at a few houses later this morning with our agent. I'm fine with 45 minutes of Yoga. I worked out hard for the past two days so the deep stretches felt good.

Had a great dinner last night at Ocean Prime. I ordered Salmon which was prepared with a soy butter sauce and ginger snap peas. I also had the house salad with the honey mustard dressing on the side. I had two small spoonfuls of potatoes and 1 small spoonful of creamed spinach. I drank 3 glasses of wine, too. Oh, and I just remembered my two bites of chocolate cake. By my calculations, the entire meal was around 1300 calories, a bit high, but not terrible. I'm happy with my choices. Obviously, I could have cut calories by not drinking wine and skipping the salad, and one of spoonfuls of potatoes, but I'm not the kind of person who deprives herself when it comes to food. I like to eat, I just need to be mindful of my portion sizes.

My meeting with the personal trainer

I met with a personal trainer today. I'm pretty sure I want to do this, it's just a matter off when to start and what days I can commit to training and finding a baby sitter. I'd really like to get down a few more pounds on my own before I start. I'm not really sure why, I just want the sense of accomplishment that comes with losing weight on my own.

When I told him that my goal was to get down to 120 pounds by mid-June to coincide with our anniversary vacation he didn't seem to think that was an unreasonable goal. I told him all about my previous experience with a personal trainer, and he said he thinks he can do better. I scheduled up an "assessment" for next Tuesday at 1:00.

He encouraged me to drink more water and to incorporate a protein bar into my dailyy routine. I've been working on drinking more water for the last week or so, I suppose I can try the protein bar. He says it will help me build muscle.

Day 5: food

Breakfast: yogurt w/ high fiber cereal; 1/4 of a donut = 4 pts
Lunch: veggies and dip = 3 pts.
Dinner: Cajun Chicken Lasagne = 12 pts (I'm rounding way, way up as I don't know for sure)
And a piece of homemade apple pie with apples picked by the kids yesteday w/ gram and papa, so there are virtually no points!!! (0r maybe 6 pts, give or take)

About yesterday

Yesterday was one of those days that is typical of why I can't seem to lose any weight. The day started out just fine. It was a Saturday, and the plan for the day was to take the kids to my inlaw's house for the day, head to Ann Arbor for tailgating and a football game. As I mentioned, it's always hard for me to use self-control at the tailgates because of the scrumptious offerings of tailgate food, and yesterday was no exception. I did all right only eating a few veggies and a turkey brat with mustard. I did sneak a sugar cookie or two adorned with maize and blue "chocolate gems." I drank two Michelob Light Pomegranate beers and two bottles of water before we headed into the game.

We sat in our seats for the first half debacle of Michigan football (what a disaster that was), and left at halftime. And, no, I do not feel one ounce of remorse for having left early even though the team mounted the biggest comeback in Michigan Stadium history during the 500th game at the Big House. I take solace in knowing that the team's fortune would not have changed had I stayed to watch the rest of the game. The first half that I watched was atrocious!!

On the drive home, we made plans to go out to dinner with friends who also left the game early. We settled on a steak house in B'ham called Fleming's. While we were driving, Michigan was mounting its comeback, and by the time we reached our house, we turned on the television to watch Michigan win the game. So, now we had an excuse to "celebrate."

At Fleming's, I ordered a wedge of lettuce with bleu cheese dressing (4 pts), a petite filet (4 pts) with pan seared scallops (1 pt ). We had cheesy, jalapeno potatoes (3 pts), asparagus in olive oil (1 pt), and creamed spinach (3 pts) as our sides. I'm sure I drank at least 5 glasses of red wine over the course of the evening (8 pts). That meal alone was 24 points! More than my entire daily point allowance.

The meal was excellent! I don't regret eating it, but it's meals like that that set me back in my weight loss goals.

Day 1: Food log

I realize that exercise alone will not get me to weight loss goals. Since July, I have been following Weight Watchers' points program. I plan to log my food and points on this blog as well.

My daily points allowance is 21.

Breakfast: high fiber yogurt mixed with high fiber cereal= 2 pts
Lunch: Tuna cakes = 7 pts
Dinner: Italian Smothered Steak = 10
Snack: Ice cream=4 pts
Activity points= 2, bringing dpa=23

Total for day: 23