The results are in

Down 1.0lb!
I always want more... but this is my 'bloated' week, so I should be happy with any loss! I will admit though... I have been thinking about my food in the last few weeks (aside from the terrible week a month ago). I think I am starting to slack on my whole 'only healthy food' thing. It was supposed to only be Thursdays I eat anything unhealthy... it's stretching into weekends now. I'm going to try NOT eating anything unhealthy (except tonight) this weekend and see how it helps next week. This weekends 'treats' will be restricted to larabars/balls and popcorn. This could be very challenging though... given I have to make/decorate a baby shower cake this weekend!! It'll be worth it though!

Hello, lover...

Ahhh. Unhealthy food. I tried a small bag of these at Subway a few months ago. You could ONLY find them at Subway and only in the small bags. Imagine my surprise when I came across them at Walmart yesterday. Of course, I had to buy a bag. I had them in my hand and asked myself 'what am I doing? I vowed to only eat healthy foods'... then I remembered Thursdays ARE my cheat night, when I do eat unhealthy foods. However... I have decided to save these chips and let Alex eat them on Saturday while he graces my couch to watch the UFC fight (while I work hard and bring home the bacon).

Now... good luck for tonight. I think at this point I should expect to stay the same... don't know that I can pull off a lost... won't be surprised with a slight gain or staying the same. I'll try to get in my 'last chance walk' today at lunch... and got in a 45min jog this morning... but last week would be tough to beat (given my total lack of appetite the day before weigh in last week). blah. I just want that ticker to get to its goal already... and feel like I'm doing what I can (although I am sure I could work out HARDER)... maybe it's time to kick myself a little more.

3:30pm... back to add that I went out for my walk at lunch, but decided to turn it into a jog!! For the first time EVER my shins didn't bother me one teeny bit jogging on pavement. Praise the jogging lord!! I managed 5K in 35min (40min if you count the 5min I stopped to talk to the best many from Stacey and Colin's wedding. Haven't seen him in 9 years but ran into him on the side of the road where he was digging up an old well. Crazy! Stacey and Colin are still friends with him and his wife... but I haven't seen them since the wedding!). Hopefully my last ditch effort pays off... I sweated up a STORM.

PS...

THAT is my final thought for the day.

Happy Hump Day

Actually, this is not a true representation of how I'm feeling today. I got less sleep last night (6.5hrs) than I did Monday night (7.5hrs), yet today was much easier to wake up and get going. I bounced out of bed and enjoyed a 45min jog before work. No walk at lunch today. It was raining and I didn't feel like walking in the rain or the mall... so, off to Walmart I went to buy some stuff for Vegas. When I got home it was time for the ten minute challenge!!

Here's how it looked today:
10 push ups, 20 squats; repeat
26 bicycle crunches, 26 reverse crunches, 20 lunges; repeat
15 chair tricep dips, 60sec wall squat; repeat
finale: 55sec plank
Total time: 11min!
I shaved a minute off and did a few more crunches today! I still have serious work to do on my abs though!!

Now, here's what I ate today...
Breakfast: banana (2) w/ PB (2), pumpernickel toast (2)
Snack: green monster (3)
Lunch: edamame salad (1), yogurt (1), avocado (2)
Snack: cocoa almonds (2)
Dinner: veggies (0), chicken (1), laraballs (2)
Total: 18
Water: 4L

Now... I won't be making any predictions about tomorrow. Food has been pretty good this week... exercise is pretty good... unfortunately this is my 'bloated' week, which means the scale is NOT safe. Hmph. (note to self: think positive, think positive...). I finish off with a classic...

Day of Rest?

I don't know what it is. I got lot's of sleep last night... but today I could barely get moving. I'm just really tired. This happens during my PMS week usually, so I shouldn't be surprised. I think I've worked pretty hard the last few days and I may give myself the day off from activity (except my 1hr walk at lunch). I feel like I could go to bed already... so, I might just enjoy a night of relaxing and kick it harder tomorrow (last chance workout, hello!). Maybe after some rest I'll feel like doing something (DVD or jog) at 7ish... but likely not.

Here's what I ate today...
breakfast: ww toast (1), PB2 (1)
Snack: shake - minus protein (2)
Lunch: salad w/ tuna and cheese (3), EVOO/balsamic dressing (2), 1c fruit salad (1)
Snack: luna bar - chocolate peppermint (3)
Dinner: chicken breast (4), veggies (0), daraballs (4)
Total: 21
Water: 4L

Yeah... I'm resting tonight, except perhaps some thigh master!

Happy Hump day!

I have NO ABS

Ten minute challenge day! I have realized I have ZERO abs... crunches are the death of me. The good news is that it makes me want to do more and actually GET some abs!

Check in for the challenge:
Circuit 1: 10 push ups, 20 squats, 10 push ups, 20 squats (at least I did more push ups today)
Circuit 2: 26 bicycle crunches, 25 reverse crunches, 20 lunges, 26 bicycle crunches, 24 reverse crunches, 20 lunges (I was dying by the end of the 2nd reverse crunches. I also changed the lunges to jumping lunches a la Biggest Loser Cardio workout. Don't know why I prefer them)
Circuit 3: 15 chair tricep dips, 60sec wall squat, 15 tricep dips, 60sec wall squat
Finale: 30sec plank (yep, down from the other day... like I said, abs were killing me!)
Total time: 12min again (working on getting that down)
I have also done 300 reps on thigh master and 300 reps of using thigh master for chest presses. I attempted to do more cardio tonight via the Core Rhythms DVD... but I got lost. Got 15min in though. I'll try it again another day but go back to the first DVD where it teaches you the steps. I did get a 45min jog this morning. I did not get a walk in. I totally forgot I had said I'd go out to lunch with one of our admin ladies. We went for sushi. YUMMY!!!!

Well, speaking of food... here's what I ate today:
Breakfast: 1c kashi golean (3), 1/3c puffins (0), 1/2c skim milk (1)
Snack: green monster (3)
Lunch: 12 small pieces of sushi (6), miso soup (1)
Snack: banana bread larabar (4)
Dinner: arctic gardens thai veggies (0), chicken breast (3)... with 1tbsp jack daniels bbq sauce
Total: 21
Water: 4L

Today's only food photo... dinner

I already have tomorrow's lunch made and the dishes done. All that's left is to relax and watch the Bachelorette and retire to bed at a decent time!

Tara... how exactly do you make your green monster? I keep looking at the Amazing Grass stuff (plus, I want their plastic bottle!). Any idea how it's different than the Greens+ we can get here?

Ahhh, I love Sundays off

Well, what a busy day... but I loved it. I accomplished almost everything on my list.

The day started out with...Ten minute trainer! I did the abs and the cardio. This was followed by working the thigh master (300X) and using the resistance band to work my triceps (3mins) and the thigh master for chest exercises (200X).

Next, I made some more "Daraballs" (this is what I have decided to call them... they are dates/larabars/balls.

I made cashew cookie, cherry pie, peanut butter cookie and chocolate peanut butter.

I managed to get some cleaning done (I think I actully do LOVE washing the floors. I don't know why I love clean floors so much) AND some relaxing tv time on the couch.

This evening was capped off with a nice 45min jog and preparing lunch for the next 2 days. Tomorrow has to start a bit earlier because my new work hours start (8:30 to 4:30).

Here's what I ate today...
Breakfast: egg (2), ww toast (1)
Snack: green protein shake (3)
Lunch: flatout wrap (1), 1/4c ff refried beans (0), cheese (2), lettuce (0), salsa (0), daraballs (4)
Dinner: Salad w/ cheese (2), avocado (2), salsa (0), daraballs (2)
Total: 19
Water: 3L

Some photos from today...
Tonight's salad
Today's lunch
And... since I didn't get around to it before... some photos from the last few days..
Friday night's BBQ chicken pizza
VEGGIES!
Edamame salad (from Wednesday - so good and have put it into this week's menu!)
Canada Day salad!! (heavy on the red)
Now I'm off to bed. I'm still sore from the challenge yesterday... wonder how I'll feel tomorrow. Can't wait to do more of the 10min challenge tomorrow night!!

What a day already! And it's not over. It started with the grocery store, then home to put away groceries and have some breakfast... THEN it was time for the CHALLENGE! Tara issued a challenge and I had no option but to accept it. I honestly thought it wasn't going to be too hard... let me tell you, I felt it (and am still feeling it).

Here's how it went...
8 push ups
20 squats
10 push ups
20 squats
25 bicycle crunches
25 reverse crunches
20 lunges
25 bicycle crunches
20 reverse crunches
20 lunges
15 chair tricep dips
60sec wall squat
15 chair tricep dips
60sec wall squat
45sec plank

The whole thing took me 12min (I needed a break at the crunches). I have learned my legs are much stronger than my abs and arms... but my triceps are stronger than my biceps.

I also decided to try the ever web-popular green monster... all I did was add spinach to my regular protein smoothie. Didn't taste the spinach at all, that's all I cared about... so, why not add it to add the nutritional benefits?

Crap... I have to go to work. Lost track of time (after my nap! I was tired at the thought of going to work today).
Here's food photos...


I'm going to have to update more tomorrow... I have more food photos from this week and I'll update what I ate today!!

The results

Down 1.6lbs. Not the 2 or 3 I hope for every week... but considering the scale had not been my friend until today, it's okay. I think having ZERO appetite yesterday is what saved me.

Now I am off to eat my subway and a few candies... Portion control still! I already have to worry about next week's weigh in after all!

For the record... I have lost 72.8lbs in total now. My ticker is representative of when Tara and I decided to rededicate ourselves and I decided to eat healthy... the 10lbs left is not my goal weight... but is my goal by VEGAS!!! (aka swimsuit D-day!)

It's about that day again

It's Thursday!

I can't believe I didn't post for 2 days! I guess when I think nobody is actually reading the blog... I don't bother posting as much. I can't recall why I didn't post on Tuesday. I can tell you I decided to make my own version of Larabars (but made them into little balls and affectionately dubbed them 'laraballs')... and ate a few tooooo many right before bed.

Yesterday was a day of stress for me. My car was having issues... bottom line is it appeared to be the batter/alternator. Yesterday was a holiday. I have to work today. I wasn't sure if my car would make it to work on the highway (FYI - 401 is a busy hwy in the morning through Toronto. Luckily I got AGAINST traffic). I concluded I had to try to drive my car out to my dealership (which is close to work) and call Roadside if I broke down on the hwy. I have also concluded that STRESS/ANXIETY makes me lose my appetite. I eat mindlessly when I am sad/bummed or bored. Yesterday was stress... which meant no appetite... which came in handy the day before weigh in!

I got my car to the dealer this morning and decided to walk the 3.2KM to work rather than take their shuttle. I did it in 25min (and worked up a lovely pre-work sweat thanks to the fact that there was ZERO breeze outside).

That is my story. I will hear from them at some point to tell me what's wrong with it... and then they say they should have it fixed by the end of my work day. Yay!

I will be back with results later! Wish me luck!