Week 6, Day 7

WOW!  I feel like I've been run over by a truck tonight.  I started my planned workout and had to stop.  My back is killing me and I have no energy.  Here are my thoughts about why this might be:

1) A ridiculously busy day yesterday and a husband who left for 8 weeks in the middle of last night.  As a result, I had clean-up to do today (between errands in the city yesterday and a husband who left after packing for 8 weeks ...), I had the stress of knowing it was just me and kids for the next while, and I was just generally exhausted after being on the road all day yesterday and being up in the night last night.

2) No Super Pump Max tonight.  I've been consistently taking this supplement each evening right after supper (except for rest days).  I started using it because I found I didn't have much energy for my workouts after dealing with a day of teaching and family life and Peter already had some in the house.  I wasn't sure it was doing anything, but after tonight I'm more certain it was helping!  I talked to Cory about it on Saturday morning and he wasn't happy about me taking it (his exact words started with 'you're an adult and can make your own decisions ...'  Whenever he starts that way it means he doesn't think it's a good idea), but at this time in my life I think it's going to be use it or not work out.  I'd prefer to work out :)

3) Because I missed my workout, I didn't get the energy burst that I usually get afterward.  Thus, I've been dragging all evening and feel like going to bed right now!  Still have some prepping to do, though.

Today has been pretty much a straight struggle on the whole SFL front.  I haven't eaten great (nothing crazy, but not perfect), little water, too much Diet Coke, and no workout!  Ugh ... taken together that sounds pretty awful.  The funny thing is that, prior to SFL, I would have thought today was pretty good.  I didn't eat anything too bad (had a pita with supper - carbs - and had 5 arrow root cookies with Nutella tonight), and had more veggies and water today than I ever had before I started.  So, I think I'm going to give myself a break tonight, chalk it up to one bad day, and get ready for tomorrow.  I'm hoping my back feels better by tomorrow.

Now on to prep ...

ETA: I purchased tickets today to take Hannah and Nathan to see Toopy & Binoo live later in the month.  I'm so excited - that's their favorite show right now!

Week 6, Day 5

The weeks are just flying by lately.  Each week I get to Thursday and I can't believe that much time has passed!

Recently I've been reading a few different things that have focused on living with thankfulness and joy, regardless of your circumstances.  My sister and I have been reading 'One Thousand Gifts' by Ann Voskamp.  Some of my thoughts & quotes I liked from the first 6 chapters:

• God is ultimately good.  We can trust that, even when we don't understand our circumstances.
• Does the way I spend my time reflect my priorities?
• "Habit is overcome by habit" (p. 49) & "change takes intentionality" (p. 43).  If I want to change things in my life, I can just stop doing something, I must replace it with something else.  A life of gratitude won't happen by chance - I must be intentional about it.
•  Being thankful for the good things will help us be thankful during hard times.  It's a habit or practice to put into my life.
• I need to slow down and be in the moment.  I'm so often rushing ahead in my brain even if I'm physically present somewhere.  I've found this has made a huge difference in my life already.  I'm enjoying the kids so much more when I remember to do this.  "Life is not an emergency" (p. 73) and 'hurry always empties the soul' (p. 67).

Another thing I've been reading lately is the Finding Joy blog.  I started doing her 10 days of intentional parenting, but I'll admit I only got a few days in.  I'd like to revisit it after my internship when I have more flexibility in my day. 

As far as today went - another day, another workout.  My eating has been so-so this week - I'm interested to hear what Cory says when we have our consult in the morning!  I have been cutting down the Diet Coke, but it's not cut out completely yet.  Hopefully soon.

Tomorrow we're heading to the city to stock up on groceries.  I'm completely out of fruit and pretty much out of veggies, too!  I can't wait to fill up my fridge with healthy foods.

And, another picture of the kids for good measure:

From the first day of Kindergarten

Week 6, Day 4

Today I got some unexpected exercise in!  I knew we were doing the Terry Fox Run at school this morning, but I didn't realize it was 4 miles long.  Had I known, I would have brought my running gear.  As it is, I'm glad I at least brought my sneakers ;)  Since I had on my dress clothes I just walked, but it was a nice brisk walk.

Tonight we had a BBQ at Nathan and Hannah's school, so I had hot dogs with white buns for supper.  Definitely not on-plan and I am paying for it tonight - I'm starving.  I'm really noticing when I eat foods that make my blood sugars jump and crash.

I didn't entirely cut out Diet Coke yesterday - I had probably the equivalent of a can.  I had about half a can today, and am hoping for none tomorrow.  I only had one cup of tea this morning, but still had my 'Super Pump' drink tonight (I imagine that has a bit of caffeine in it).

Thoughts from the rest of my life the past two days:

• I think I won the worst mother award two nights ago.  Hannah and Abigail were awake from 11:30 pm - 1:30 am.  I was not pleasant or patient with them.  I really need to learn how to give them grace even when they're driving me crazy.  I've read lately how it's easy to live a thankful life when you're all by yourself and I can so see that!  It's when we have to rub up against other people's lives that the ugly starts to come out.  One tip I've read (from the book One Thousand Gifts), is to give thanks out loud in these situations.  Now if I can only remember to *do* it!
• Hannah runs to meet me each day when I get home from school and often tells me how much she misses me.  It breaks my heart and makes me even more thankful that this is a temporary season for us.
• Mom taught Hannah the song 'I love you, a bushel and a peck ...' while we were home earlier this year.  She must sing that song every night and there's nothing more special than singing it with her - her eyes dance while she sings.
• I'm more used to my classes now.  I had to teach a new one today and it was so much more stressful!  It almost felt like coming home when I had my period 5 class that I've had since the beginning of the semester.
• My students all told me that I smile a lot in class.  That made me feel great - I'm glad I come off confident and happy.  I asked them if they could tell that I was terrified the first week that I taught them and they said no way.  I was also told that I was a way too awesome teacher to fail my internship by one student today :)
• We took some family pictures this afternoon after I got home.  I love them all and will likely share more in the coming days.  Here's one to start:

It's getting late so I'd better end here for tonight!  I can't wait to post my workout calendar for September - it's very colourful :)

What in the world??

So, I had started another (number 3!) blog to chronicle my current weight-loss journey, but I found myself wanting to write other posts related to our family.  Since I figured it made more sense to keep everything in one spot, I imported all those posts into this blog tonight.  I apologize to anyone who is subscribed to the RSS - you may have received a bunch of notifications!

Most of my posts will probably center on this weight loss journey, but I'm really hoping to restart chronicling little moments in our lives - it is so nice to read back through older posts.

Week 6 (wow!), Day 2

I'm still shocked that I've been consistent with anything for 6 weeks.  To be fair, the money has probably been the strongest motivator.  If this were a free program, I probably would have tossed in the towel, or at least loosened up a bit, long ago.  As it is, I'm sitting here post-workout, eating my greek yogurt and berries.  I can't wait to pick up some new Kirkland greek yogurt this weekend.  This Superstore stuff is so gross.  But, I'm almost done the two containers that I bought - one more night should do it.

Speaking of workouts, I finished the third week of Insanity tonight.  I'm kind of sad that I only have two more run-throughs of most of the workouts before I have to switch.  Weird, I know!  I'll be taking tomorrow night off and then Saturday night, as we're staying overnight in the city.

So, tomorrow is going to be the start of Diet Coke freedom.  I have my mint green tea at the ready :)  I realized today the headaches have been slowly coming back, and I'm wondering if that's related to my consumption of Diet Coke as well.  Hopefully it is, because that would be a strong motivator to stay away from it.  I hate headaches.

We celebrated Abigail's 2nd birthday tonight, complete with cake.  I did have one piece, but that's it.  I really wanted more at the time, and it's still sitting in my kitchen, but I'm oddly not tempted by it right now.  Hopefully this is the start of a new trend - one called self-control ;)

I'm actually sitting down before 8:30 tonight.  Of course, my kitchen is a disaster, but Peter's off tomorrow, so I'm hoping he can take care of that for me.  My goal for the rest of the evening is to sketch out a unit plan for the next unit in my science class.  So, I'd better get at it!

Week 5 Weigh-In

Finally a happy weigh-in day!  This morning's weigh-in was the lowest weight I've seen thus far on the scale.

So, here we go:

Starting weight: 140.4 lbs
Current weight: 133.6 lbs
Goal weight: 120 lbs

Left to go: 13.6 lbs!

I'm down 3 lbs in the last 2 weeks.  Woohoo!

Week 5, Day 7

Weigh-in day tomorrow!  I can't believe it's been 5 weeks.  In some ways it feels like it's been forever, while in other ways time is flying by.  I imagine for the remainder of my internship time will be flying, which is good.

I've decided to postpone dealing with Diet Coke at all until our company leaves.  I just can't add another thing in right now.  He leaves on Tuesday night, so it's not like it's a long time to delay.

I played around tonight and put my starting photos beside my four week photos.  I'm not brave enough to post them online but I was very pleased with the difference!  The only thing I wasn't happy with is the side view - my stomach almost seemed to stick out more in the after pictures.  I'm guessing I was just sucking it in more in the first set of pictures, because I know objectively I lost three inches in my stomach in that time frame.  Only another three weeks until more measurements. 

I'm not looking forward to another crazy week but ready or not, here it comes ... I'm going to finish up a bit more prep work and then read for a few minutes before bed.

Week 5, Day 6

I had a consult this morning, so of course I have lots to report:

1. I really need to cut back on the Diet Coke again.  I didn't go over this in my consult (was I hiding it?  Not consciously, but probably sub-consciously ;) ), but this week I've been drinking less water and more and more Diet Coke.  My goal for this week - cut it out entirely.  Yikes!  I foresee my consumption of green tea going up drastically.  I'm not saying I'll cut it out forever, but I think I need to prove to myself that I don't need it.
2. I get to have mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving!!  No gravy or dessert, though, if I can help it.  Potatoes ... I can't wait!
3. He's very pleased with my weight loss to date.  As of this morning I was at 134.0 lbs, so according to him (he has my starting weight as 141 lbs), I'm down 7 lbs in just under 5 weeks.  I'm impressed that I'm still losing at a relatively steady pace of over a pound a week.  Normally my weight loss definitely would have slowed down by this point.  However, that said ...
4. I talked a bit about my 'wall' weight of 128 lbs.  I have successfully made it there and kept my weight there many times over the past 10 years.  However, I can never seem to break that barrier.  He told me he just had a woman breeze past her 'wall' weight, so I'm hoping I'm like her :)
5. I took an extra rest day this week.  I really feel like I need to crash on Friday nights.  So, unless I have another night I have to miss, I'll probably try and take two rest nights per week, one of them on the day suggested by Insanity, and one on Friday night. 
6. He wasn't overly upset about my few deviations from plan this week - in fact he hardly even mentioned them.  He always just talks about making 'optimal choices.'  *sigh*  Sometimes I just want the 'okay' choice ;)
7. He strongly alluded to the fact that many of the foods now very limited or 'forbidden' on my plan will be added back in once I get to my goal.  I am very encouraged by this.  While he did say that this is a healthy way to eat long term, he said that once I get to goal we'll work together to figure out which foods are triggers for unhealthy eating, and which ones I can re-incorporate into my diet.  I can't wait until I get to that point!

That's about it from me.  I keep logging my workouts and looking at month two of Insanity on the calendar.  In month two I will be doing the 'max' workouts.  I haven't even taken a peak at one of them, but the name alone is intimidating!!

Overall I'm feeling like this past week was probably my toughest one (for several reasons), but I'm feeling re-motivated for the upcoming week :)  I'm excited for my official weigh-in on Monday!

Oh, I'm also looking at buying some new workout clothes next weekend.  I really need some more if I'm going to be working out 5 - 6 days a week!   And I've already informed Peter that my reward for getting to my goal weight is a $500 clothes shopping spree (better make a budget category for it ;) ).   He's made me promise to buy myself a nice pair of jeans with part of that money.  Whenever he asks about buying jeans I always say I want to wait until I'm at a weight I'm happy with. 

Week 5, Day 4

I've determined that chili is the absolutely best pre-workout supper for me right now.  I've had it twice this week and each workout afterward has been amazing.  Peter did pick up some more Super Pump for me this week, which probably helped (it's basically a low-calorie energy drink to take before your workout), but I've had it other days where it didn't have that kind of effect.

I truly cannot believe tomorrow is Friday.  It feels like it was just the weekend.  I can see time speeding up as I get more comfortable with teaching.  I'm starting to worry about getting all the units into the course in the allotted time, which is a good feeling.  Last week it felt like my teaching time was stretching into eternity ;)

Today I had 5 arrow root cookies with Nutella.  I know, definitely not on plan, but I decided I was having them anyway.  They were my afternoon snack and they were delicious. 

I'm still working through the Insanity program (day 16 today).  I am really starting to see a difference in my stomach.  It's still flabby (a little less so now), but I can tell that underneath is getting more firm.  I don't think my abs have ever really recovered from the trauma of three babies in 3 1/2 years!

I am not foreseeing a good weigh-in on Monday.  I'm still showing heavier than I weighed in last week.  My weight loss seems to go in fits and starts.  It's very strange ...

Week 5, Day 3

I realized I haven't taken any pictures of my food lately, so I figured I'd better post one.  I asked Cory about sweet potatoes because they are on the list of approved vegetables but it says to ask your consultant about them. He said I can have them either at lunch or supper, and gave me specific amounts and number of times per week.  It was so good to have something similar to a potato at supper tonight!  It made for a much more satisfying meal.

I did a new part of the Insanity system tonight - Cardio Abs.  It was definitely an intense ab workout!  I couldn't do the moves for very long, but I'm sure it will be effective once I can.  I have to do it on days that I do another cardio workout, and I think next time I'll do the ab portion first, and then do the cardio part.  Tonight I was pretty tired after the cardio part and I didn't feel like I was able to give a good effort to the ab part.

My next two evenings have plans so I'm going to have to figure out a way to get my workouts in.  Tomorrow I think I'll put Abby down for a second nap when we get home from school (she's been having her naps cut short and she's exhausted).  I'll let the kids watch some tv and I'll get my workout in then.  Friday Peter will be home so it will be easier to take the hour.

I made salsa tonight.  I think I made it a bit spicy - oops!  Unfortunately I really only love salsa on nachos, and I'm not having many of those these days, so I won't be eating much of it. 

I found out what other classes I'll be teaching today, and which units in those classes, so I'm quite excited about that.  I don't deal well with uncertainty.

Peter comes home tomorrow - yay!  Unfortunately only for a week and then he's gone for 8, but we'll make it through.  I'll be leaning heavily on God and friends for those weeks.

I found this verse this morning - hadn't read it in the Message before:

"Why is everyone hungry for more? "More, More," they say. "More, more.". I have God's more-than-enough, more joy in one ordinary day". Psalm 4:6

Insanity Fit Test #2 (Week 5, Day 2)

Since I took my rest day a day early, I figured I should do my two-week fit test for Insanity before I started back into the week of exercising.  I did it tonight and I'm quite happy with the results:

I felt *much* better this time around doing the exercises, even though I was still exhausted at the end of each minute.  For those unfamiliar with Insanity, the fit test is basically doing each of the above exercises for a minute and trying to do as many as possible during that time.  I didn't let myself see my previous results when I was doing this fit test.  I think next time I'll let myself see before I start so I know what I'm aiming for.

I'm very proud of my 17 push-up jacks :)

I spent an hour tidying up the house (yes, it was that bad!) after I got home from school today.  It made such a difference in my mood!  The good thing with Peter being away is that, since everyone leaves the house in the morning, it won't get messy during the day.  (I'm not saying it's Peter who makes the mess, but when he's around the kids stay home with him ... hence the mess.)

It was picture day for Nathan at school today, and Hannah's is tomorrow.  It will be interesting to see what kind of expressions they have on their faces!  First school pictures for both of them - fun!

I just finished my yogurt and berries (I do not like the PC brand of Greek yogurt as much as the Kirkland brand - yuck!), so I'd better go hop in the shower.  Thankfully I don't have any prep for tomorrow to do, but I want to get working on the next section (periodic table - yippee!).

Week 5, Day 1

Ugh, it's been a struggle these past few days to stay on-plan!  It all started with that weird timing of brunch on Saturday and I've basically been craving and starving ever since.  I'm not sure if it's due to what time in the month it is, but I am so hungry all the time.  I also wonder if it could be to the increase in my Diet Coke consumption and decrease in my water consumption.  I've been finding it difficult to get my water in at school and I've been really wanting a Diet Coke after school.  Then, of course, I still want one after the kids go to bed, so I've been having two most days.  I guess I'll have to be more strict with myself.

Without sounding like I've been struggling too much, I did skip my workout tonight (oops!).  Peter goes away tomorrow for a few days and not long after that he'll be away for 2 months, so I wanted to spend the evening with him.  My rest day was supposed to be tomorrow night, so I just took it a night early.

There's not too much else exciting going on here.  Just putting in one day at a time of teaching.  By the end of next week I'll be 25% done - that feels like a substantial portion behind me.

I was, of course, delighted with the weigh-in this morning!  1.8 lbs in a week is decent, if I do say so myself :)  And 3" off my stomach in 4 weeks, that was very exciting!  I had Peter take pictures of me last night.  He had done the same thing in the spring, and I can see big differences already.  I can't wait to get rid of this tummy flab! 

Week 4 Weigh-in

Finally the scale was kind to me (although I'm still almost a pound higher than I saw last week).  Here are the numbers:

Starting weight: 140.4 lbs
Current weight: 134.8 lbs
Goal weight: 120 lbs
Waist: 33.5" (3" down - yay!)
Hips: 39" (1" down)
Thigh (r): 23" (0.5" down)
Bicep (r): 11.5" (0.5" up - must be the push-ups ;) )

Left to go: 14.8 lbs!

I passed the 5 lbs lost mark this week!  It sounds much better to say I want to lose 15 lbs than 20 -  I'm not sure why.  I did see 148.0 lbs late last week, so hopefully I'll be below that by the end of this week.

Week 4, Day 6

One more day in week 4!  I had a really overwhelming day today.  I was out until mid-afternoon, and didn't have control over all my food.  We had 'brunch' around 10 and basically the options were hash brown casserole and then they had one fruit tray and one veggie tray for 40 people (I didn't feel it would be very polite to grab 2 cups of veggies ;) ).  Oh, and there were muffins.  I took a small piece of hash brown casserole and a few veggies.  As a result of the screwed up eating (or at least I imagine that's why) I have been starving all day! 

One good thing from today is that I surpassed my previous record with Insanity.  I did day 11 today.  It was the 'recovery' day, which includes squats and lunges held forever.  Some recovery!  I much prefer the high intensity cardio.

The rest of the day was chaotic because the kids were *wired*!  I don't know what was going on, but they were really hyper.  I was exhausted by the time they went to bed.  I'm still feeling really tired tonight, as you can tell from my incoherent ramblings ;)

Time for bed!  I'm praying that all my kids sleep through the night tonight.  Last night Abigail was up over half the night, which is probably why I'm so tired today.

I cannot wait to take measurements on Monday.

Week 4, Day 5

Phew!  Made it through week 2 of teaching.  It is so much more work behind-the-scenes than I ever thought possible. There is a total of 16 weeks in the internship, so I'm 12.5% done.  I do enjoy the teaching part, it just makes life very hectic right now.

The scale was kind to me again this morning - hoping the trend continues over the weekend or at least that I can stay at this weight.

I checked my Garmin Connect calendar tonight and I've worked out for 12 days so far this month.   That has to be a new record for me! 

Eating has been uneventful.  I'm basically sticking to grains and fruit for breakfast, veggies and protein for lunch and supper.  Tomorrow for lunch I'm eating at the church so I'm not sure what will be available.  I'll just make do with trying to grab a veggie and protein.

I found a blog I'm really enjoy reading: http://rachelmariemartin.blogspot.ca/

I am exhausted tonight - I think I'm going to take Friday nights off of pretty much everything.  A nice reward for making it through another week!  Back to work and prep tomorrow afternoon :)

This blog is getting quite boring - sorry ;)  I'm sure I'll fall off-track at some point to make it more exciting.

Week 4, Day 4

The scale was kind to me this morning :)  Now if only it can stay there until Monday!

I managed to prep quite a bit of stuff today for class and we're doing labs next week, along with a test.  Should be a relatively easy week for prep.  I should try to get ahead ;)  I'm so excited to be done my second week of teaching.  Fourteen weeks to go.

Today was a good day eating-wise.  It was my first day with no grains after breakfast and, honestly, I didn't really notice a difference.  It's so strange.  I did eat *real* peanut butter on my toast this morning, although I got a recommendation for a good natural one from a friend later in the day.  Unfortunately I think the brand she likes may only be available in the US. 

I did day 9 of Insanity tonight.  If I can finish tomorrow's workout and then one more day I'll be past my previous point in the program.  I'm really enjoying it so far and, even better, the time I've carved out seems to work really well in this crazy schedule.

I'm going to shut this down now so I can spend a bit of time with Peter before bed!  Yay for a semi-early night.

Week 4, Day 3

Week 4 - really?  Wow! 

I was grumbling to Peter just before supper because the scale still isn't moving (grrr for still being heavier now than I was last week at this time!), and he remarked that I'm quite impatient about the whole process.  I started thinking about it and he's absolutely right.  The whole reason I signed up for SFL is because it would commit me to changing my eating habits for six whole months.  In the past, I'd be really strict and exercise like a maniac for 6 weeks to lose 10 lbs.  Then, when I stopped doing those things, I would gain it back because I would swing too far in the other direction.  So far I've been treating this whole thing like a sprint - hence being super strict and stressing if I couldn't eat *perfectly* each day.  However, if this is really something I want to live with I have to give myself a bit of a break in the short term so I don't burn out.  So, if I end up going out to dinner and don't eat the perfect meal (i.e. spaghetti and cake at a friend's house last night - I did skip the bread, though!), I can't stress about it.  I can't let this process of getting to the weight I want interfere to that extent with living life.  I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's what's running through my head tonight.

As far as the nitty gritty, I did eat a piece of cake last night (and spaghetti - so yummy!), but I didn't let that throw me off-track.  Today I started off with my regular breakfast and ate fine all day.  I tried a new recipe for supper tonight that was surprisingly good (I was skeptical and in a grumpy mood - see above ;) ).  It will definitely go on the keeper list.  Tomorrow will be my first day with grains at breakfast and not at lunch.  I'm a bit nervous about that, but doing it on a work day should help.  I don't have time to think about eating as much.

The greek yogurt and berries is growing on me as an evening snack.   I'm into my second week doing Insanity and it's good.  I have two more days and then I'll be at the last day I've ever gotten to in the program. 

Next Monday is a big day for me - I'm going to do my second fit test for Insanity (you basically do 8 different exercises for a minute each and count how many times you can do them).  I'm hoping for improvement in the numbers there.  It's also weigh-in day (obviously), but also measurements day.  I'm really hoping for improvements there, too.  I noticed yesterday that my fall jacket is much looser around the stomach and hips than it was in the spring :)  Progress!

The teaching is insanely busy - I can't get over it!  We've just settled into our first unit (we started off with a week working on their term project), so I feel a bit better about that.  It's Atoms & Elements, which should be fun to teach.

I am starving tonight, but it's 10:30 - I can make it to bedtime!

Week 4, Day 1

I'm not going to talk about the weigh-in except to say that it was so disappointing (on top of being the first day in another ridiculously busy week) that I was ready to eat just about anything today and skip working out.  However, I did neither of those two things, and I'm feeling slightly better tonight.

I finished my first week of Insanity tonight - yay!  The last time I attempted the program I got to day 10, so I'll be happy to pass that point.  I am very much looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.  I decided to count my push-ups during tonight's workout, since they're billed as cardio but there are a ton of bodyweight exercises in each workout as well.  I managed to eek out 31 push-ups in addition to lots of plank work.  I'm quite happy with that :)  I figure if I could stick with the people on the screen I'd do about 60, so I do have some work to do.

I'm hoping to prep the rest of my classes for the week tonight so this post will be rather short.  I hate going in to class knowing that I don't have tomorrow's class ready.  Running out of things to do would be my worst nightmare!

We have a birthday party to go to tomorrow night and I'm not sure if I'm going to partake in the cake or not.  It's mighty tempting, and definitely justifiable, but I'm worried that if I eat one thing off-plan I'll end up going crazy and losing it.  I know I have to overcome it at some point, but I'm not sure I'm there yet.

My second quandary is that we have company coming for one night this week and for almost a week starting next week.  I'm not sure how to make sure I continue my workout routine when Peter's on nights and I'll feel like I need to entertain ...

Week 3 Weigh-in

Once again my "official" weigh-in day was disappointing.  All week I've been settling somewhere between 135.8 and 136.2 lbs on the scale.  So, when I stepped on the scale this morning and saw 136.6 lbs, I was not happy!  Oh well, I guess I'll take it.  Hopefully tomorrow I'm back down again.

So, here we go:

Starting weight: 140.4 lbs
Current weight: 136.6 lbs
Goal weight: 120 lbs

Left to go: 16.6 lbs!

Week 3, Day 7

Sitting here eating some Greek yogurt mixed with berries - my after-workout evening snack.  I'm still not a huge fan, but the berries make it much more palatable than just plain.  And you can't beat the nutrition!

Just finished Insanity, Day 5.  I went back through my calendar and I worked out every day this week (Monday - Sunday)!  Yikes!  I'm really looking forward to a rest day on Tuesday.

I made it to Moose Jaw today and tomorrow I start my new menu plan.  I'm still not sure what I think of it, but I'm going to make the best of it.  I'm really interested to see what number is on the scale tomorrow morning.  It's been hovering right around 136 ... it would be great to 135.x tomorrow (I've seen it once this week).

I am determined this time to stick with this and make it work until I get to my goal weight.  Another goal I thought of (other than weight) is that I want to be able to see my ab muscles!  I know I'll develop them doing Insanity, but I haven't lost enough flab to be able to see them since Nathan was born.  I never used to carry extra weight in my mid-section and it's driving me a bit insane.

Not too much else going on today.  Poor Nathan hit his head really hard on a post at the playground, so I watched him a bit more closely tonight.  I think it's just about time to shower, prep some more food for the week (have I mentioned there is a lot of cooking / chopping on this plan?), then do a bit of YNAB work and head to bed.  I lead such an exciting life!

Week 3, Day 6

It is weekly consult day *and* I got a new menu plan today, so I have lots to get out of my head.

First, the most important thing!  I've been avoiding wearing jeans for the past couple of months because they were just so uncomfortable (I would *not* go out and buy new jeans because I had gained 10 lbs).  Anyway, last night I laid out some jeans, since it was calling for a cooler morning.  I put them on this morning and have been wearing them very comfortably all day (with a belt, no less).  That is huge for my self-confidence!  I'm sure there's still some muffin-top action going on (hopefully not for long), but at least it doesn't hurt to wear my jeans anymore.  This is especially important with fall approaching ;)

Here are some quick points I took from my consult this morning:

1. He said I'm more active than most people he works with.  That boosted my mood.  I'm very much someone who needs positive feedback when I'm doing something like this, and a comment like that is encouraging.  I asked about having no energy at night to do my workouts and, while he didn't tell me to eat carbs (sigh), he did change my after-workout snack to a protein instead of fruit.
2. He emphasized I really can't skip any food on my plan.  I missed probably 7 or 8 snacks in the past week, which is dropping my calories too much.  I have to get everything in, space my food out over the day while still eating the bulk of my calories in the earlier part of the day, and don't go more than 4 hours without eating.  That is my challenge for next week.
3. Here's the kicker - on my new menu plan, I only get to have one serving of grains a day!  That is insane to me.  So, 4 days a week I'll have a grain at lunch, and 3 days a week it will be at breakfast.  I guess I already had 4 days a week with just the grain at lunch, but I'm scared of the days with no grains past breakfast time.  This is such a huge adjustment to me - grains (and starchy vegetables like potatoes) used to be the backbone of my diet!  He said it's only a drop of about 300 - 400 calories a week, but that it should force my body to adapt to a change.  I told him I was nervous about this change but that I would give it a shot.  I remember from a previous consult that this menu plan is supposed to last for a month.
4. The recipes on the new plan look much more like 'diet food' than the last ones (i.e. cauliflower 'rice,' and more beans in the recipes).  I'm not overly happy about that.  The good news is that I'm still allowed to keep using the old recipes, so I've picked 4 new ones to try in the upcoming week and the rest of the time I'll stick with what I've been eating.  I did notice the veggies are incorporated into more of the meals, so I hopefully won't have to come up with my own veggie side dishes as much.  That will be a welcome change.  The meat is the same way - more of the recipes are complete meals that incorporate the chicken and veggies into them.

I'm hoping to get to Moose Jaw tomorrow to pick up the groceries for the week.  I don't need a ton of things, but there's enough produce there that it warrants a trip up (I'm not even sure you can buy things like bok choy in town).

It's almost supper time and then it's time for Insanity again ... 

Week 3, Day 5

I fear these daily posts are getting a bit repetitive, but it's all about accountability at this point for me, so I'm going to keep typing them!

My whole family made it through the first week of back-to-school.  I was thinking about it and it's really our first year doing the whole thing (last year Nathan started Pre-K in November once they had found enough kids for a class).  So, considering three of us had to get to school this week (me, Nathan, and Hannah), I think we fared quite well.  The mornings were a bit harried at some points, but we all made it where we needed to be on time.  Both kids are loving their classes, so that's wonderful.  Next week will be the first time both of them get dropped off together (they had staggered start for Pre-K this week).  Peter will enjoy some mornings with just Abigail!

This weekend is pretty wide open.  Peter's working nights, so I have my evenings to do my regular stuff - work out, work (YNAB), and then prep.  The fun never ends!  It's 11 p.m. right now and I'm just finishing up that stuff.  Hoping to watch the newest episode of Rookie Blue and then turn in for the night.  I have my consult with Cory at 8 a.m., so there will be no sleeping in around here!  Planning to do that and then take the kids grocery shopping so Peter can sleep a bit longer.

Looking at my meal log it hasn't been as good as the previous two weeks as far as the timing of my eating.  I missed my afternoon snack several times and a few times went almost 6 hours without eating - yikes!  My maximum is supposed to be 4 hours.  The good thing about this week is I only ate food that was on-plan.  I didn't have to eat any restaurant or catered food. 

I was also much more consistent with working out.  In fact, I'm going to ask Cory if I should change my activity level if I'm doing the Insanity plan, since it's intense workouts 6 days a week.  It's technically not strength training, but there are push-ups, squats, and multiple other strength training moves in each video, so I think it counts.

I realized tonight that I can redo measurements in another week - that's pretty exciting!  I so rarely stick with any health resolution for a whole entire month (yes, I'm that flighty).  I'm hoping to see some change, especially in the waist measurement.  Ugh.

Well, off to fold laundry and watch a show!  I'm unbelievably glad I don't have to get up and rush out the door tomorrow morning :)

Week 3, Day 4

If you want to figure out how many ways they can 'sneak' jump squats into a workout, just do Insanity's Plyometric Cardio Circuit DVD.  Seriously - it's crazy!  My legs are exhausted after that one.

I've tentatively decided to try to do the 60 day Insanity program (which isn't actually 60 days - argh).  I'm not sure if I should ask them to up my food intake if I'm going to be doing the program.  I guess I can ask about it at my next meeting on Saturday morning. 

I'm also hoping to get a new meal plan for next week!  I'm getting a bit bored of the current meal options.  I'm also getting very bored of my veggie and fruit options.  I'm going to have to expand my horizons on those types of foods.

The weirdest thing has been happening to me lately.  I'm just not hungry sometimes when I'm supposed to eat.  I'm eating so little, but I can't make myself eat some of my snacks.  It is so out of character for me.  That said, some days I would give almost anything for a carb-y snack in the evenings!  I really miss my popcorn and arrow root cookies.  I know - weird - but it's true.  Those things are haunting me ;)

The nerves are finally getting better with teaching, so that feels good.  They're starting to feel like 'my' kids.  I gave a quiz to one class today (I'm a mean teacher - a quiz on the third day of classes!) and they did well.  It's the first time I've ever given a formal assessment to students when I've been the one who taught them the material.  I'm glad they didn't totally flop!!

Gotta get to bed ... I'll be glad to get the first week under my belt!

Week 3, Day 3

Day 2 down - 74 to go!

Today went better than yesterday, although I was still nervous in front of the class.  I did manage to drink more water (on bottle number 4 now, before supper) and I'm planning to have 2 Diet Coke today.  If I can stick to one I will, but I'm not going to beat myself up if not.  Thankfully I don't have any real prep tonight.  I just want to review what we're doing tomorrow, but it's all ready to go (yay for independent work period in one class tomorrow).

Eating-wise I also did better today.  I got my two snacks in at reasonable times.  We're having salmon for supper and I'm hoping to do an Insanity workout tonight.  I'm not sure which one, but maybe not the most intense one.  I'm still toying with the idea of doing them in order but I haven't made a decision on that yet.

Not too much else new on the eating front.  I guess I'm just distracted by the rest of life - what I eat has become much less important.  I think that's a good thing!

Well, I should go get changed into my workout clothes.  I'm trying to do that right after school so I have no excuse after the kids go to bed.

ETA: I had about 1/3 of the second can of Diet Coke.  Not bad!

Week 3, Day 2

It's the first day of school here!  For my family this year, that meant Nathan started kindergarten and I started my teaching internship.  Talk about a busy day.  Nathan had a great first day!  They only go every second day to kindergarten here and tonight when I was tucking Nathan in, he asked if he could please go to school tomorrow because he liked it so much.  Too cute!

I think I had a good first day teaching.  It was all a blur once I was in front of the classroom, but overall no major disasters.  My cooperating teacher said it went well.  One thing I found was I could do a lot more in an hour than I thought!  I thought I might be rushing, but my CT (cooperating teacher) said the speed was good.  So, I had to come home tonight and rearrange my day for tomorrow.  I only have to teach one class tomorrow - yay!

I'm finding that these changes are affecting my ability to eat when I should.  I haven't eaten anything off-plan, but I've missed 4 snacks since Sunday.  I hate doing it, but I just can't necessarily eat when I want these days.  I also didn't get my water in today at all - I only finished two bottles instead of 5. 

Final confession: I had three cans of Diet Coke yesterday and two cans today.   And I don't even feel that bad about it!  I'm doing so well with my eating part, and the extra ones were how I dealt with this ridiculously stressful couple of days.  I know, I shouldn't need to 'treat' myself with something to eat / drink when I'm stressed, but that's the honest truth.  Planning to get back on the water wagon tomorrow. 

I'm going to ask Cory about switching out my afternoon snack with my lunch.  So, my day would look like this:

Breakfast
Snack
Snack
Lunch
Supper
Snack

Then I could eat lunch around 4 when I get home.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but it would make things simpler for me.

Tonight I just did some simple body weight exercises - push-ups, lunges, and squats.  Since I didn't finish prepping for tomorrow until 10 pm I consider that to be pretty good.  Planning to do an Insanity DVD tomorrow.  My goal for the semester is to do something workout-related just after the kids go to bed Monday - Friday.  I'm hoping that will pump up my brain to work for the evening.  That's how I timed it tonight and it didn't seem too bad.

(So, I weighed myself this morning after my measly one pound loss yesterday, and I was down another .8 lbs!  Yippee!  I know, I know, it can go up and down, etc ...but it still feels good to be in the 136 range.)

1 day down, 75 to go (for the internship)!  I enjoy the teaching part, it's just arranging life around the teaching that's the pits.

Week 3, Day 1

I'm feeling better now than I was earlier about the weigh-in. Although it was only one pound, it was a crazy week with little exercise. And, even if I keep losing one pound a week I'll get to my goal eventually!  My concern mostly stems from what happens when I get closer to my goal - I would think the last 5 - 10 lbs are going to come off more slowly.

Confession / win time:  This morning after my weigh-in I was making the kids' toast. They were having regular peanut butter. I was also having toast, but was supposed to have either natural peanut butter or double fruit jam. I hate natural peanut butter so I've been having the jam option for the past couple of weeks. This morning I just really wanted the regular (light) peanut butter. It's even fewer calories than the natural stuff!  I went as far as making the toast and putting the peanut butter on it. But I couldn't make myself eat it!  I gave that piece to Abigail (she was ready for seconds) and made myself a fresh piece with jam. Win!

After breakfast I headed out for a run. I decided to set a time for this run and discovered a really cool feature on my Garmin. I had known it was there but hadn't been able to indexing it before. I set the time and pace. Then, the watch showed me a screen with two avatars - one for me and one as my pace avatar. It was really cool. At the end of the run it told me I won (since I finished ahead of my goal pace). I think I'll keep a record of my pace for that run and use that as my goal next time.

I guess here is as good a place as any to record my run. Today I ran for 45 minutes at a 6:33 min / km pace, for a total of 6.88 km. My goal pace was 6:45 for the run.

I'm on track for eating today and feeling pretty positive about the whole process.  The nerves are definitely kicking in - I teach two classes tomorrow!!

Week Two Weigh-in

Just a quick check-in this morning to post the weigh-in results:

Starting weight: 140.4 lbs
Current weight: 137.2 lbs
Goal weight: 120 lbs

Left to go: 17.2 lbs!

I'm not overly happy with that result, since I know I was at 137 on Thursday.  Oh well - it's still going in the right direction!  I know my eating was a bit messed up this week with three days having to choose from food that was prepared for me.  Hopefully I can stay completely on plan this week and get more exercise in.  Heading for a run in a few minutes!

Week 2, Day 7

Today has been a very weird day eating-wise.

I decided to make pancakes for everyone else this morning so I didn't eat my breakfast until 9:40.  Of course, we had church from 11 - 12:30, so I forgot to eat my morning snack.  Then, I fed the kids, got them into rest time / naps, and by the time I sat down it was 2:30 pm.  That's the longest I've gone between meals all week!

I had couscous for lunch and I've found that to be the most filling of all my meals.  So, when 4:30 rolled around I wasn't hungry at all.  I decided to just wait and eat at supper, so I had that at 6:15, then had my snack around 9:30 p.m.  I didn't mean to skip two snacks today, it just kind of happened.  I wonder what will happen in my weekly consult.

I spent much of the day in the kitchen today and plan to spend more time there tomorrow.  I really need to get some food ready.  So far I have about 3 weeks of lunches in the freezer and one main meal of suppers.  I'm going to try and make a bunch of meatballs tomorrow (along with muffins for Nathan's lunches).  That should give me a good head start on lunches for the school year.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day - yay!  Two weeks in I'm starting to get the hang of this thing.  I am really looking forward to my new meals once I'm finished the 'cleanse' phase.  I have a friend who is three months ahead of me and she assures me they're awesome :)

Planning for a run outside tomorrow.  It's been way too long since I got out for one.

Throwing wide the gates ....

Okay, so that might be a bit melodramatic, but I just opened up this blog so that I don't have to explicitly add people's email addresses in order for them to read.  It was just too confusing.

However, it's still not visible to search engines and I won't be posting it on my Facebook page or anything ;)  Maybe after I reach my goal weight!

August Workout Summary

I'm so bummed!  I thought by getting my run in today that I would hit my 3-workout minimum goal.  But, I just checked and it looks like I only got two in this week.  Oh well, not much I can do about it now.  ETA: Phew!  I was sure I had done more this week.  I reviewed my meal log for SFL and found I had forgotten to track one of my workouts.  I feel much better now :)

Here is what my workout calendar looks like for August:

 It's not too bad overall.  All the blue are running, yellow are swimming, and purple are DVDs.  Hopefully next month will be even more colourful!  The only scary part is that gap this week is when I was working.  I need to get into some sort of routine.

 In good news, I think my new sneakers will work out okay.  I don't like them as well as my Triumphs, but they'll have to do since they're not making the same model I like anymore.

Workouts by the numbers:
Running: 6 activities (30.34 km)
Swimming: 2 activities (2.75 km)
Strength training: 3 activities (1:00)
Insanity: 1 activity (0:41)

Week 2, Day 6

Whoops!  I missed a day journaling.  Oh well - this is still the most consistent I've been in years.

Yesterday was another busy day of meetings.  I left around 7:45 and got back around 5:30 (yes, I know that's what you guys do every day!  lol).  I had to drive to Moose Jaw again and lunch was catered again.  This time it was steak (I couldn't believe it either), salad, and the only option for carbs was white bread sticks.  I wasn't sure what to do, so I grabbed one small (~4") bread stick.  I did have an extra piece of fruit with me so I wonder if that would have been a better choice.

I forgot to eat my afternoon snack until 5 pm yesterday, so lunch must have stuck with me!  We had a new fish recipe for supper last night.  It was just average.  I would eat it again, but I might try some other way of cooking white fish instead.

So far today I've spent a couple of hours at the school and I'm finally feeling organized for next week.  I feel like once I get past the first few days I'm going to want to stop classes and take another couple of weeks to prepare again.  I just need to get those first few days in.  I did find out yesterday that they have no science subs at all, so the teachers at the school said I could sub as much as I wanted once I'm done.  Something to think about ...

I'm hoping to get a run in later today in my new sneakers (unfortunately I'll probably do it on the treadmill in case they're awful).  Exercise was lacking a bit this week, but if I go today I'll still reach my minimum of three workouts a week.  

This afternoon I'm going to prep several lunches and suppers to put in the freezer.  I'm going to do a huge batch of meatballs and a large batch of vegetable couscous.  I'm also hoping to cut up some veggies for the next several days.

That's about it for today!  Still on track, starving today for some reason, but lunch isn't too far away!  I would definitely love some sugar ;)  I'm interested to see how they ease that back in once you're on maintenance.