Struggling

I gotta be honest, I am struggling with adding a new post each day. Sometimes I have more time than others, but it’s tough. Especially to take the time to recount my entire day and to add everything that I have eaten. I don’t mind being held accountable, it’s just a time factor.

But I am going to keep trying to plugging on. A friend at work told me that my blogs are helpful and have offered a few ideas for me to market it to different people. I’m going to give it another shot. I hate to admit it but it helps to know people are reading what you write. I think I am getting to hooked on the stats of who is reading my page and then dwelling on who is not reading. I’m very results oriented and this 1 person or 3 people a day just isn’t cutting it.

Standing taller

I think I am standing taller now.  I feel like I walk with my shoulders back and I am starting to feel better about myself.  I even thought that I really liked my haircut after I exited the bathroom today.  It’s been awhile since I have thoughts such things and I think part of the reason is that I am starting to feel better about myself, my body, who I am.  It’s really true that exercise can really enhance your overall health.

I was really shocked when I got up a few minutes before 5:00am on my own.  No help from Sawyer or from my alarm.  I thought for sure I was going to be exhausted.

I decided to try out some new workouts today.  One was Kim Kardshian Upper Body Abs and then I did a leg workout with Nicole Stewart.  I enjoyed them both, but neither got me sweating.  Though I have to admit, I was kind of hoping for some targeted exercises today and that’s what I got.  I worked out a total of 30 minutes.

Breakfast
1/2 c oatmeal
3 boiled egg whites
3 slices of turkey bacon

Mid-Morning
1 c. Low fat organic yogurt
1/2 c. sliced strawberries

Lunch
1 2/3 c of lettuce
2/3 c of turkey meat
1/4 c tomato
1/8 c onion
1/4 c cheese
1/4 c salsa
1 tbsp low fat sour cream

It’s rubbing off

As I sit here catching up on my blog, my husband is on the floor doing ab exercises with Gilead on Exercise TV.  He told me that he wants to stop eating so many processed foods and start eating healthier.  YEAH!

We went grocery shopping today and I picked up a few items that I’d never tried before but were suggested to me from my friend, the trainer.  I picked up egg less, mayo, made with soybeans. It’s organic and it’s delicious.  I had it in my tuna at lunch today and it was really good.  I also picked up some brown rice snaps, which were essentially thin crackers made without any wheat.   They weren’t the best crackers I ever ate, but they will do great for something to eat with tuna or hummus.

So here’s what I’ve eaten so far today:

Breakfast
Left overs from last night
turkey and spinach omelet (207 calories)
turkey sausage (65 calories)

Lunch
2.5 oz tuna (82 ounces)
1 tbsp of mayo (35 calories)
tomato (22 calories)
8 brown rice snaps (60 calories)
2 boiled egg whites (33 calories)

After lunch, I worked out for 45 minutes. And burned 425 calories.

I then had a protein shake. (120 calories)

I’m off to start dinner. We are having turkey tacos, as we refer to them. Though they are not tacos. I think it’s the alliteration that makes us stick with it. But I’ll have some organic blue chips, turkey meat with taco seasoning, lettuce, tomato, some no fat mild cheddar, and salsa..maybe even some guacamole since I need the calories and I think I am doing okay with my fat today.

I’ll have to eat another meal after this one since i got up late today and I won’t come close to my calorie intake. I’m at 714 calories right now with my fat at 22.3g and my carbs at 42.6. So I’ll probably load up on the turkey meat and I can splurge on a few extra chips.

Off to start dinner.

It’s starting to all pay off

YEAH!!!  I am so excited I just did my measurements and I lost inches!!  Okay, I’ll stop yelling at you now.

Let me share with you what I have lost:
Waist 2.5 inches
Thighs 1 inch
Biceps 1 inch
Bust 1 inch

Everything else stayed the same: chest, hips, and calves.

I did a bit better on my eating yesterday:

After I worked out and had my protein shake.  I got a shower and then went out for lunch with a friend.  We went to Panera.  I am sure glad I have my iphone app because it helped me figure out what I could and couldn’t eat there.  I ordered the Asian chicken salad and made some modifications to it.

Lunch:
3 c of lettuce  (30 calories)
1 chicken breast  (190 calories)
1/8 c of almond slices (78 calories)
cilantro (0 calories)
Dressing (90 calories)

Tip: Ask for your dressing on the side so you can control the portions. Also, I often dip my fork in the salad dressing and then put it in my salad. You’ll find that that is all you need to give your salad some flavor.

When I got home I had enough time to grab a little snack so I had 2tbsp of peanut butter. It’s a great way to have a snack that has some calories, lots of protein and a little bit of fat. I use natural peanut butter from Jif. I also grabbed a 100 calorie pack of almonds for our drive there.

We ended up going out for dinner since I needed to go grocery shopping. This time we went to Bob Evans, who I must say does a great job on offering some healthy options and has the calories, fat, and sodium intake on the menu for you. I again chose from the menu and made some modifications.

I got the turkey and spinach omelet. I asked for egg whites and no cheese. I also told her no potatoes or biscuits and asked for turkey sausage instead. When my meal came there was cheese inside, but I figured it wouldn’t kill me. I decided I would eat half and only one turkey sausage link. I saved the rest for breakfast for today.

Dinner:
3 egg whites (50 calories)
1 slice of Monterrey jack cheese (104 calories)
tomatoes (5 calories)
spinach (1/4 cup)
roasted turkey (45 calories)

turkey sausage link (65 calories)

By the way, I highly recommend this meal. It was delicious. I enjoyed it just as much the second day. So much so that when I went grocery shopping I decided I would pick up some spinach and tomatoes to make it at home.

I was starving a bit later and had forgotten to add in my turkey sausage so I thought I had some calories left, so I ate 1 tbsp of pb for 100 calories.

Total calories: 1494
Total calories burned: 461
Fat: 81.4
Carbs: 67.2
Protein: 126g

My fat is still a bit high and my calories were a little higher but I am not too concerned about the calories since I haven’t come close all week.

Rainy, rainy saturday

Yuck. It’s rainy and dreary outside. Sawyer had us up at 5:00am, guess he didn’t realize it was the weekend. OH well. I got him up and gave him a bottle and then put him back to bed. He woke up again around 7ish and I still wasn’t ready to get up, so I brought him back to bed with us and he fell back to sleep until about 8:15am. At that point, I decided I’d get up and get him some breakfast.

After he ate and I had him playing, I went in to make my breakfast.

Breakfast
1/2 c oatmeal (159 calories)
3 egg whites (50 calories)
3 turkey bacon (108 calories)

I put Sawyer back down for a nap to do my workout. I have decided that on the weekends and the days I feel like I am able, I am increasing my workout time to 40 minutes. So I started that today with an Exercise TV workout that was VERY intense. It was with Stephanie somebody for about 42 minutes and it was a mix of cardio, core, and strength training. OH MY GOODNESS! That was an incredible workout. I think I am going to try that one again tomorrow or I found another one that is 44 minutes and I may try that one out. We’ll see.

Workout: mix of strength and cardio (461 calories burned)

Protein shake: (120 calories)

Yesterday’s Menu

I wanted to make sure that I gave an overview of what I ate and did yesterday.

Yoga for 40 minutes: burned 70 calories
Strength training for 10 minutes: burned 58 calories

Breakfast
1/2 c of oatmeal (159 calories)

Walked the stairs: burned 27 calories

Mid-Morning
4 boiled egg whites (67 calories)
3 strips of turkey bacon (108 calories)

Tip: Boil your egg whites instead of cooking eggs everyday. They taste the same, I actually think better, and it will save you time in the morning. I did a whole carton of eggs in 20 minutes. You can leave what you don’t eat that day in the fridge.

Lunch
Leftovers from last night
grilled eggplant (about 5 slices) (39 calories)
grilled tomato (chopped about 3-4 quarters) (22 calories)
1/4 c of ricotta cheese with some garlic powder mixed in (86 calories)
(make sure you reheat all parts of this)

Late Afternoon Lunch
3 ounces of Salmon (127 calories)
celery (34 calories)
2 tbsp of hummus (46 calories)

Dinner
chicken breast (142 calories)
2 c of lettuce (20 calories)
4 tbsp of salsa (20 calories)
1/8 c monterey jack cheese (53 calories)
tomatoes (8 calories)

Snacks
14 almonds (97 calories)
2 tbsp of peanut butter (200 calories)

SO here are my overall stats:

Calories supposed to consume: 1455
Food calories consumed: 1228
Calories burned: 155

Carbs 79.2g *just right
Fat 55.2g * alittle high, but easier to burn than carbs
Protein 105.7g *should be higher

Finding the balance

More protein, less carbs, and more calories

I’m struggling with trying to find enough protein to eat in each of my meals.  I did a really great job yesterday keeping down my carbs but I ended the day a couple hundred calories lower than I should have. I ate well yesterday, just not as much as I should have.  So it’s going to be striking that balance for me.  Finding a way to consume more protein, which will increase my calories while not eating things that have lots of carbs in it, so that I stay in my range.

Some of my pants are starting to fit a bit looser so I am getting a bit excited to see my measurements tomorrow.  Honestly, I care about the weight on the scale, but I care more about getting back into my size 6 pants again.  I’m just tired of wearing my pregnancy pants and the same old clothes over and over again.  I’m going to feel like I have a whole new wardrobe when I finally can fit into my new clothes again.

My other struggle

So lately I have been having this internal struggle going on.  I want more kids, we want more kids.  I am not getting any younger at 35 and we would like to get pregnant again, but I don’t want to do that until I have lost this pregnancy weight.  But lately I have been feeling like I don’t want to just lose it, I want to be able to enjoy it for awhile and still exercise the way I have been.  I know that is completely selfish of me to think that, but it’s the way I’m feeling.  I guess, there is not much I need to do about it at this point, but I wanted to share.  Is there anyone out there that feels the same way?

There is an app for that

Before I tell you about the app that I am now using on my iphone, let me share with you about how my day went.

Got up at 5:00am with Sawyer.  He was so pleasant today.  I gave him some breakfast and then stuck him in his jumpy.  He enjoyed watching me torture myself to Holly Perkins yet again this morning.  The backs of my legs are still killing me and it’s 8pm.

I then made myself some breakfast.

Breakfast
3 egg whites
2 pieces of turkey bacon
1 c of milk

I got in the shower and afterwards stepped on the scale.

Zero.

Not my weight, but rather the pounds that I lost and the pounds I also didn’t gain. UGH!

I was pretty frustrated. But once I regrouped, I decided that this was all worth it and perhaps I may have lost inches rather than weight. I’d be okay with that.

So I texted my friend, the trainer, and shared with her what I’d found out.  She said we’d come up with a strategy, that I may need to be eating more calories.

So now I am doing a 60/20/20 method.  60% protein, 20% carbs and 20% fat. We’ll see how it goes.  So how do I track this you ask?

Well, there’s an app for that called “Lose it!”

I’ve had it on my phone for awhile now, used it once before but now it’s going to come in handy again.  I can record everything I eat, search for calorie information, it calculates the nutrients of the food according to what I select, and it sets my goals.  We’ll see how it goes, but it has been helpful to know how many carbs I am eating, even though I haven’t had any bread, pasta, or other snacks today.

Speaking of, what I did eat today:

8am meal
oatmeal – 1 instant packet

Snack
10 almonds

Lunch
salad with grilled chicken and balsamic vinegarette

Mid-afternoon snack
1.5 c carrots
1 tbsp hummus

Dinner
grilled eggplant – 4 slices
grilled tomatoes
1/4 c of ricotta cheese with garlic powder

NOTE: Dinner was a Bobby Flay food network recipe and if you like eggplant parmagna this is a great spoof on it. It’s absolutely delicious.

I then ate a tbsp of peanut butter to try and up my calories. But I finished the day with 1136 calories. Not high enough. I am supposed to be at 1455. Hopefully I can get there tomorrow.

Wednesday, comes before weigh-in day

Funny, how you can think about the days of the week.  I now look forward to Thursdays, weigh-in day.  Though I do realize that looking forward to this day does not make the weigh in any better or worse, for that matter.

However, I am feeling better today.  My legs feel stronger, I feel a bit thinner, hips seem thinner to me, but my arms are still flabby and I am still working on firming up my abs.  But I am getting there, one day at a time. 

Working the Stairs

I’m really trying to get myself in the habit of taking the stairs at work, more than I used to.  Believe it or not, it’s actually a really hard habit to break.  The elevators are right by my desk and the stairwell is around the corner past the elevator so sometimes I don’t realized I missed the opportunity to use the stairs until I’m on the first floor.

Tip: Use the stairs whenever possible.  If you have to, choose to wear flats if that will encourage your daily stair climbing.  It’s always a great way to get in a bit more exercise.

Turkey Chili

This is my third day of turkey chili. I’m so over it.  I froze what was left and maybe in a month I’ll eat it again.  Ugh.  Next time, I think I’ll follow the Food Network recipe rather than making it from memory.  Maybe it will taste better the next time around.

Dinner last night:
Chicken from the night before
asparagus cooked in light oil, lemon juice with roasted pine nuts

This morning

I was ready to go this morning. I don’t know what was wrong with me but I woke up at about 2am, thinking it was 5am ready to go workout. I made myself go back to sleep. Then I woke up on my own at 4:54am before my alarm went off. What is happening to me?

I tried a new workout program on Exercise TV. Holly Perkins, who is a fitness trainer to the stars. I really enjoyed her workout that was actually very similar to Jillian’s 30 day shred. It was 20 minutes of strength, cardio, and some abs. Not enough for me, so I did a 10 minute ab workout. Apparently the one I chose was left over from the 80s. You should have seen their outfits!

Breakfast
3/4 c of oatmeal
15 almonds on the way to work
1/2 c of grapefruit when I got to work (basically I ran out of time at home)

Mid-morning snack
1 c of yogurt

Lunch
2 c of turkey chili
about 10 almonds

Well, I need to head back to work now. I’m going for a mid-afternoon smoothie run with a friend from work. Very exciting stuff. Very exciting.

Ahhhh….

Today is my day of rest. And of course, Sawyer woke me up at 2:30 in the morning missing his pacifier. My alarm going off at 5:45am came too soon. So, of course, I rest it to 6:00am. In some ways it felt strange to just get up and get dressed, eat breakfast, take care of the dogs, and feed Sawyer. I kept feeling like I was missing something.

Breakfast was simple: oatmeal. I somehow didn’t have time to make any bacon only my lunch and snacks for the day. Guess I traded my sleep for time to cook.

I had a mid-morning meal around 9:30am since I needed to teach a class at 10:00am.

Mid-morning meal:
1 c of vanilla low-fat yogurt
7 blackberries

Lunch
2 c of turkey chili
grapes

I am struggling today. I have a short sleeve shirt on and I wish I would have taken a bit more time to analyze in the mirror this morning because I think they look fat. I can’t wait until they are trimmed and tight. And the sweater that I am wearing hangs on me in a way that makes me feel a bit wider than I may actually be. So though I am wearing the sweater to cover up my bulge I think it’s actually having the adverse effect on me because I am appearing wider. Stacy and Clinton would have a few words to share with me today. As they probably should.

Back to work for me…