Monday, December 13, 2010

Week 2! Yes, we made it!

Barely made it... 
This morning it was unbelievably hard to wake up. This weekend really took it out of both of us, him more than I. We stayed up really late (for us) on Friday and had 2 soccer games on Saturday morning/afternoon. While I ran errands, he stayed and reffed 2 more soccer games. We both got home and got ready for the Christmas Party. By 10:30 I was ready to go home and crawl in bed, so we did, although I wish I could have stayed later because it really was fun. Sunday we got up sort of early and ran our errands and played ANOTHER (our 3rd for the weekend) soccer game. This time in 38 degree weather with winds of 20mph, so it felt like it was 20 degrees out. It really took everything out of me and I felt awful because Nick had to stay and ref another soccer game in that weather. I went home and crawled in bed with my big warm dogs on either side of me and I was still so cold. I finally warmed up after sitting in a hot bath for about 30 minutes. At this point I had no desire to cook dinner. We opted for Olive Garden. 
I originally planned on skipping the bread sticks and getting soup and salad, but I failed. By the time we got there I was so hungry I could have eaten a small child. Kidding. Kind of. But I practiced a tiny bit of restraint. I only had 1 bread stick and 2 helpings of salad. But I went all out when I ordered my entrée. I got the Lasagna pasta rolls, I don't remember the exact name but it was delicious. Lucky for me I only ate less than half of it and with my small calorie intake throughout the day I still came out roughly even. Now did I eat good calories, probably not, but it's the small steps in life. 
Tonight's menu sounds delicious though. 
Pecan encrusted white fish
Brown rice or redskin potatoes (haven't decided yet) 
Oven roasted veggies 
and a protein drink. 


Tuesday 
Grilled Chicken

Brown rice or redskin potatoes (haven't decided yet) 
Oven roasted veggies 
and a protein drink.

Wednesday
Pan Cooked Fish with a delicious dill sauce
Brown rice or redskin potatoes (haven't decided yet) 
Oven roasted veggies 
and a protein drink.

Thursday
Pan Roasted Chicken 
Brown rice or redskin potatoes (haven't decided yet) 
Oven roasted veggies 
and a protein drink.

Friday
Sirloin stir-fry wraps

I will eventually remember to post recipes and photos. 

Currently Listening To: Winter Song (Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Starting Over... Kinda

So... We went home for Thanksgiving and we worked out 1 of the 5 days we were gone. Fail. We just had SO much going on, 2.5 days of driving, plus 2 family's to visit with, dress shopping (successfully might I add!) and finding time to rest between all of that, well it was impossible. So (last) Sunday night we drove home, all 14 hours of it, I had almost 7 monster energy drinks, which canNOT be healthy but it was about survival at that point. We get home late on Sunday evening and I feel terrible. Immediately go to bed and wake up feeling even worse. I decide to sleep through my alarm to try and fight off impending sickness. Unsuccessful. Monday I am wiped out and sick. We both get home, who knows what we had for dinner, all I know is I was in bed by 8pm that night. This routine continued until Friday and Nick even had to stay home from work one day he was so sick.
So at this point we're more than a week behind and we make a pact to start fresh again on Monday. Saturday morning comes and with that over 2 hours of soccer as well. Needless to say, it was a ROUGH day. We were both still barely recovering from being sick and we go and play 2 soccer games, one with no subs. Needless to say, I was in bed before midnight on Saturday and slept a solid 10 hours if not more.

So Monday morning came and my alarm never went off. I was so depressed. Not only did I have work to finish at home that night, we had an evening appointment to make, plus dinner, and an hour of working out. UGH! So we skipped our Monday night workout and started on Tuesday. We also have decided to double up our workout on Friday so we can have Sunday as a day of rest and instead of doing Kempo X on Saturday we're replacing it with our soccer games on Saturdays and sometimes Sundays. We also have a friend doing the same program with us so that's an extra motivator but really, I am going to lose 20-30 pounds and it's going to happen in the next 3-6 months. That's final. And luckily we're going home for an entire week over Christmas so that won't interfere with any workout plans we have. *phew!*

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Success... Well kinda

Today marks day 1 of WEEK 2 of p90x. I couldn't be happier. I made it through an entire grueling week of intense workouts and strict eating plan and I'm ready for week 2. This week will be a little tough. We are driving to and from Michigan which will cause a couple days of inadvertent rest plus it will be Thanksgiving on Thursday and really, how am I supposed to NOT eat like that. So I have a plan since there really is no way that I'm going to take a delicious holiday away from myself. Portions, Portions, PORTIONS. I'm going to focus on what I'm eating, skip the chip dip well at least cut back A LOT, small portion of starches, lots of veggies, lots of lean turkey, no gravy (not that I normally eat it anyways) and since I'm going to be eating like this on Thursday I plan on cutting calories from other places to make up for it. The bad thing is that we're also taking Thursday off from working out because of travel plans, it will change our routine a bit but I think we will be okay. 
We have changed one thing though, we're not making the crazy 4 burner, stove, & blender dinners and lunches anymore. We're still following the outlined amount of calories, fruits/carbs/proteins/veggies but we're just eating what we enjoy eating and going from there. I'm trying not to restrict myself from anything because I'll go crazy about it.. A friend had McDonald's the other day, I ate a single french fry to satisfy my craving and actually left it at that. 


So on to progress, I'm feeling stronger and more energized, that is until about 8pm and then I get sleepy and most times am asleep by 9pm. I actually have not stepped on a scale since starting this program but I can already see that I'm losing weight, it's just the opposite of how I want to lose it. I'd love my legs to slim down before my upper chest does but all that matters is that it's happening and will continue to happen. I'd recommend this to anyone who is ready to make changes in their life and continue those changes. 


Listening to Lily Allen F*** You

Friday, November 19, 2010

Week 1 p90x

So this week we started p90x and let me tell you, it's not as miserable as I thought it would be. Now saying that, I believe that I can push myself harder in the weeks to come. We didn't start until Tuesday because silly me got into a car accident.. See below. My poor girl. I was in a fair bit of pain in my back on Monday and part of Tuesday and Wednesday so my first 2 days I didn't go full force which makes me think that my next 3 weeks will be a lot more challenging. 




The worst part I've found so far is following the complex eating plan. Not that I'm having trouble eating healthy and hitting certain food groups X amounts of times per day. That's not hard at all. For me personally the amount of food I'm "supposed" to eat on a given day is most times too much food for me. I don't think I've finished an entire meal more than once. Most dinners involve soup of some kind, a sauce to dip your meat/fish in and veggies. So you're making soup, making a sauce, making rice, making veggies, and cooking meat at the very least. (that's at least 3 burners and a blender/food processor plus an oven or grill) If you're lucky you have a big enough kitchen to cook all of this at once and enough counter space to have everything you need out whenever you need it.
So we have decided to continue to follow the eating plan this week and then the following weeks use the eating plan as a guide for what we need to eat. I have no problem having an egg white veggie omelet or protein shake for breakfast. Having a protein bar and recovery drink for a morning snack. Or salads for lunch. I really don't mind having chicken and fish be the bulk of my meats for dinner with veggies and a healthy starch. My issue is that I'm spending the bulk of my evening cooking dinner, eating it around 8pm and then going to bed an hour later. It has just gotten to be a defeating process at this point. 
Aside from that one issue I'm very happy I'm doing this. We get up at 5-ish in the morning Tuesday-Friday and workout together before work then on the weekends we'll work out when we roll out of bed, which is amazing. Sundays though, we do need to be at church by 10:30 so there might be an afternoon workout or an alarm set. It's made the week fly by and I feel like I'm starting to feel results, not really see any but feel them. We both lose weight from top to bottom and gain from bottom to top so I'm excited to finally start to see those results. 
Mostly the biggest change we will continue with is our eating plan, we will stop eating like crap whenever we want to and make it an occasion if we ever want to. I know it's only been 4 days and we have 2 more days to do until we have a "finished" week but I'm confident that in 3 months I will be able to say that I have completed p90x and yield great results and continue those results right down the aisle. 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Bwhaha

I super failed this week. Like SUPER failed. All I've done this week is bake, drink, cook, eat, drink, and spend time with my love.
He is honestly the WORST influence sometimes. He's all, I'm going to enjoy this last week and be awful before we start P90x on Monday and I say OK I wanna play this terrible game too. I'm an idiot. 



So our friends come in today which will consist of a weekend of drinking, eating, and more drinking, little sleep and poor life decisions. Monday is going to come early and punch me right in the cooter about 3875827365 times and I'm pretty sure I deserve it. 

Monday, November 8, 2010

Staying on Track



So I made it through week one. Not P90x week one but walking 5 days during the week for at least an hour. I did it! I know it's such a small accomplishment but it's an accomplishment no less. Monday I walked almost every culdesac in our subdivision which is a little over 2 miles. Tuesday I did every culdesac in our subdivision which is just under 2.5 miles and Tuesday night my fiance and I also took the dogs for an evening walk, which lasted roughly a half hour. Wednesday I was sent to a trade show for work and ended up walking over 30 minutes to and from my car, plus the walking at the actual trade show. Thursday I was sent back to the trade show and again, did over an hour of walking throughout the day. I took Friday off and treated myself to some sushi and a pedicure, then a night out with my love. I felt it was well deserved. I still had one more day of walking to do and lucky me, I got invited to power shop with a few of my girlfriends. So Saturday I got in well over an hour of power shopping coupled with some good walking.

This week may end up being a little tougher to walk 5 times because we have company coming in for the weekend on Thursday. I plan on walking after work today, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Then I'm hoping I can get a pre-football game walk in on Saturday morning around 10am. We will just have to play that one by ear but I'm very hopeful I will stick to my guns.
Either way, my life is ending come next Monday because I'm starting P90x. I have such a fear that I will not be able to complete it. I did make a pact with my fiance that he would not quit on me and also not let me quit. I really want to complete it. I think it would be one hell of an accomplishment and lifestyle change.

I will post before and after pictures as well as weekly updates on progress and pitfalls. Here goes nothing!!



Currently Listening to - Ke$ha - D.I.N.O.$.A.U.R


Dinner
Monday - Chicken & Broccoli
Tuesday - Whole Wheat Spaghetti
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Fish & Redskin Potatoes 
Friday - Sunday Who knows, we have company coming so everything is up in the air

Monday, November 1, 2010

So much for taking it slow....

So I started my walking. Mission started :) 
On Saturday I took both dogs for a walk, which proved to be almost impossible. One pup has walking issues sadly, so half way though we turned back but not to be defeated. I put him away and went back out with just the  one dog who loves to walk and can do so at a faster pace. I walked for an entire hour, including the first trip out and it felt great. I'm sadly proud of myself for starting on a Saturday. But I made some bad decisions this weekend in regards to Halloween candy :( just ate toooo much. And what's worse is Sunday we had ZERO trick or treaters, which meant so much left over candy. I had the fiancé take it to work today to get it completely our of the house, which is the best defense for us both. 
Yesterday we had soccer practice which ended up being just short of a 2 hour scrimmage. When you get back into a sport you realize how much better shape you USED to be in. But at the same time, this is what I'm doing all of this for, to get back into that shape, or at least close to it. 
So this morning I mapped out a few 2 mile loops in my neighborhood, I figure it'll take me an hour to walk 2 miles and that's perfect. 2 miles, 5 days a week, which is 10 miles a week. Go me! So here's to staying on track. 


So back to my title... So much for taking it slow... 
My fiancé ordered P90X last night. This scares the baahhjeezes out of me. I mean it sounds great and the results will be great but it's going to be the most challenging 3 months of my life! Which makes me realize that once we start this program my daily walks are going to be harder to complete because I will be designating at least an hour to P90X each day for 3 months. Is doing P90X and walking doing too much? Will I be stretching myself too thin? Or will I be just fine and be in the great shape? Oh and on top of this P90X, I have soccer practice on Sundays and coaching on Wednesday and Sundays, so much for having time to relax. But I'm finding that the more things I have going on the better I am at relaxing because I make time to do it and realize that I only have a short time for it, not an entire afternoon. 
So I have 2 weeks to walk until P90X arrives. Here goes NOTHING! :) 


Today my scale probably reads somewhere around 165, I hope to be at 130-135. I honestly don't really care about how much I weigh when I'm finished, I just want to fit comfortably in my clothes. I want to look sleek and sexy in my wedding dress. 


Currently listening to - The Fear by Lily Allen


PS Tonight begins a healthy eating regimen... I'm very excited. Tonight's dinner is going to be grilled chicken and roasted broccoli. 

Friday, October 29, 2010

Lazy Days... ARE OVER

So I fell apart. We went on vacation and I got sick when we returned. Started to feel better and went home on vacation again right after that. Came home and got sick again, this time really sick. But in between all of this I had some days where I felt fine and was just completely lazy when it came to working out. Honestly, this is no longer acceptable. I work until 3pm everyday and I have almost 3 hours until my fiancée comes home from work so there really is no excuse for not at LEAST going for an hour walk. 
Honestly I'm fed up. I'm sick and tired of being a lazy ass. I really am not unhappy with my life or anything going on in it. I have been so happy but I have neglected myself. And yes, I have a man who loves me unconditionally but what happens if I start to not love myself because I keep doing this to myself, will he stop loving me then? Regardless, I'm doing this for me and for us. I cannot stay this unhealthy. That's all there is to it. 
So I've decided to start taking small steps towards getting into shape instead of going full steam and quitting. I've been in shape most of my life, these last 2 years I have just fallen apart and it's not okay. The worst part about it is that I'm happy. I'm not necessarily happy with how my body looks or feels but as a whole I'm very happy and I think that's part of my obstacle in getting into shape. Plus, I've been making terrible decisions on what to eat. Candy bar here,  french fries there.. I have to realize that I simply cannot eat whatever I feel like eating ALL the time. There has to be some restraint in my life, I have to control myself at times. 
Although I'm still fairly sick, when I kick this I WILL start walking for an hour a day at least 5 times a week. This is an accomplishment that I know I can handle. I will workout with weights at for 30 minutes at least once a week but hopefully twice a week. I'm going to set small goals and as I attain them I will set new ones and continue to build on these small goals. 
I once read someone's goals that were along the lines of each day running to a further street lamp. In most neighborhoods that's not terribly far but I understand that it's the small milestones that keep us going. 

So goal #1 - Walk for an hour, 5 days a week & 30 minutes of weights at least 1 day a week. 




Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Week 9/27 Workouts...

Monday - Nothing
Tuesday - 5.4 mile bike ride in the morning, alone this time. It was so hard to get up alone this morning as my fiancé and the dogs stayed in bed sleeping but I went at it and am really proud of myself.
Wednesday - Got up alone again today and went for a .75 mile run. I figure if I can do this run twice a week for 2 weeks straight I can move up to a 1.10 mile run. Plus as soon as I put on my running shoes my one dog knows it's time to go and how can I deprive him of that? Hopefully tonight I can get some weight training in since vacation starts tomorrow night and I don't know how much working out I will get in.



I'm not seeing any progress on my scale but I am starting to feel tighter and that's better than any scale could tell me.

Brick Chicken Recipe - Amazing

I made this Brick Chicken on Saturday and it was honestly the juiciest chicken I have ever had and super simple to make. 


Ingredients

  • 3 bone in chicken breasts
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil 
  • 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 4-5 sprigs of thyme
  • Salt & Pepper
Directions

  • Heat a large skillet (cast iron is recommended) over medium heat. Wrap a smaller skillet in foil and find a brick, something equally heavy or 3 heavy cans. Season the chicken with salt & pepper on both sides. Place the olive oil & butter in the skillet to heat. Take the chicken breast and place skin side down in the oil/butter and scatter the thyme around the chicken. Take the foil wrapped skillet and place it on top of the chicken breast and place the brick in the skillet. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes and then check and adjust the chicken to ensure equal cooking of the skins. Cook like this for another 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is 3/4 of the way cooked. Flip the chicken over and cook on opposite side for 8-10 more minutes uncovered or until fully cooked. Remove chicken from skillet and let rest for 5-10 minutes then serve and enjoy!!! 


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Week 9/20 Workouts...

Monday - Overslept like a bum and didn't do anything... laaame
Tuesday - 5:30 am - 5.35 mile bike ride, average speed 11mph
Tuesday - 5:30 pm - 30 minutes of circuit training with weights
Wednesday - 5:30 am - 1st run in months, ran .74 miles in 7 minutes, I'm a little happy about that time. (I've mapped a few new routes in my neighborhood as well, once I'm semi-comfortable with this route, I will up it to 1.11 miles, then 1.5 miles and so on until I can get a solid 5k finished)
Wednesday - 6:00 pm - I get to coach soccer for an hour
Saturday - 9am - .74 miles in 8 minutes, my body was very exhausted, I could tell that I had taken too many days off in a row.


A little about what is going on... I have recently peaked at a weight I am unbelievably uncomfortable with so I have signed up for MyPlate on www.livestrong.com and began tracking my calories and workouts in order to help me lose weight. I would love to lose 30 pounds in the next 6 months. Anything more than that, I will consider a blessing but I am going to be working to drop 30 in 6 months so I will be posting healthy recipes and meals that I have made as well as posting my workouts to keep myself honest.
Any questions or comments are always welcome as long as it's positive criticism.

Green Beans with Browned Butter and Lemon

I stole this recipe from Cooking Light and we absolutely love it. Just about every time we have green beans now, this is how I cook them. 

Ingredients
  • 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cleaned
  • 1.5 tablespoons of butter (we use Fleischmann's Olive-oil spread)
  • .5 teaspoon grated lemon rind
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • .25 teaspoon kosher salt
  • .25 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cook the green beans in boiling water for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain the beans and plunge into ice water. Drain well. 
Melt the butter in a skillet on medium-high heat, cook for 2 minutes or until the butter is browned. Add the beans to the pan, cook for 1 minute or until heated, stir in remaining ingredients. Yields 4, 1 cup servings. 


*We personally use a little less lemon rind and a little less lemon juice because we aren't lovers of citrus but you can tweak this as necessary. This is a super simple and quick side-dish.*

Rough nutrition estimates 
Calories - 74
Fat - 4.4g (sat 2.7g)
Sodium - 155mg


Currently listening to Dispatch - Even