Philippians 3:12-14 (The Message Bible)

I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Day 2

I got a call this morning to see if I could teach the class before mine at the gym...so that meant that I taught a 45 minute pump (weights) class and then a 45 minute (cardio) boot camp class. I had full intentions of coming home and doing P90X Plyometrics afterwards...but to be honest, I was so physically spent and exhausted after those 2 classes PLUS sore as HECK from Chest & Back/Ab Ripper from the day before, that I decided to let myself off the hook. Honestly, trying to do 3 workouts in one day is a bit much anyway...so the classes I taught at the gym yesterday will serve as my Day 2 workout.
Eating wasn't great today ...but I knew that would be--even before the day got here. I had already made plans to have Rene over for her birthday for lunch and an afternoon cookie-baking-session. We had grilled chicken salad for lunch (YUM! and very good) but then I made a whole batch of White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut cookies and she made a whole batch of Walnut Chocolate Chip cookies. We each ate one of each. Now cookies are not on my "P90X Nutrition Plan" BUT....only having 2 is quite a victory, so I'm not gonna get all freaked out about it.
I made a very healthy dinner of grilled turkey tenderloin, baked sweet potato fries, salad and broccoli soup.
In all, I guesstimate that I had about 1300 calories today.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Day 1

So...here I am...P90X Day 1 (again).
Yes, I am starting a new 90 day run of P90X. I could give a zillion reason why I'm doing this and a zillion reason why I'm scared to death that I won't succeed at it...but I'm not gonna.
Today is Day 1, tomorrow will be Day 2 and so on. One day at a time is what I have to do right now. :o)
So...for anyone who's interested...here's how my day went:
7 am: Coffee
11 am: 1 Whole Wheat Tortilla (130 cal), egg whites, a few bacon bits, sprinkle of cheese
1 pm: P90X Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X. Did the WHOLE thing--which consisted of about a million push ups and pull ups. Owwwch!
3 pm: 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder (105 cal) , 1 small banana (70 cal) , 1 c. skim milk (90 cal)
6 pm: 6 oz. baked flounder, small red potato, 1 c. broccoli puree soup

In my guesstimation, I consumed approximately 1115 calories today. Actually less than I intended...but that's because I skipped breakfast (unintentionally).
Weight today was 144.4 (ohh mahhh gawwd!!!)

Friday, August 27, 2010

Workout Buddies

Here are a couple pix I snapped of me and Brooklyn after doing Insanity last week. We were both SOAKED! I love the one of the back of her hair....it's dripping wet!

Before (again) Pix

Ugh...This is accountablity. I really don't want to post these, but I know that if I'm ever going to hold myself responsible for the poor eating choices I've been making, that I'm gonna have to admit to myself (and everyone else) that I'm not the lean-mean-exercising machine that I was at this time last year. Oh well....life goes on. And besides, now that the kids are in school, I'm back to working at it. Here I am....at about 142. The goal isn't as much to reach any certain number on the scale...as it is to fit back into my jeans by winter! I'll let you know how it goes!









This last one is of me before Matt and I went out one night. I can't believe how much different my clothes are fitting because of this 10 pounds I put on. Everything is hugging my curves and gathering up in places it didn't use to. BLAH!

Monday, August 23, 2010

You don't really need to know....

So....
What happened on Friday, Saturday and Sunday...you don't really need to know. :o)

Let's talk about today...Monday...a new day. A fresh start RIGHT? :o)

Today I've eaten a whole grain English muffin with egg white, turkey bacon and shredded cheese on it (for breakfast).
A big salad with tomatoes, light sweet spicy French dressing and 1/2 c. taco meat on top and a small apple with 1 TBSP. natural peanut butter. (for lunch)
A small banana with 8 almonds and a Sunsweet Prune. (for snack)

When Matt gets home, we're all FOUR doing a P90X workout together before we have a healthy dinner of baked fish, brown rice and veggies-squash, onion, pepper, zuzzhini (for dinner).

Needless to say, I didn't weigh in on Friday like I had planned. This weekend was a DOOZY for me. PMS and cravings pretty much controlled my body and at one point I actually covered my own ears and screamed at the top of my lungs for as long as I could! Yes...it was bad.

TGIM...Thank God it's Monday! :o)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

If only...

As always....I find myself wishing that workouts were enough. If only I could just workout enough to compensate for my poor eating...but alas...I know the truth and unfortunately, this is not possible for me.
So this is the dealio: Last night when Matt got home from work I had set out a pound of ground beef. I know he's been less-than-thrilled with my cooking lately because I have been making quick, healthy food (ie. pre-made turkey burger patties, chicken breast, veggies-all on the George Foreman grill). Basically, it's quick and its healthy...but it's not tasty.
So last night, after a bit of a rough day, I wanted to make him something he'd enjoy. So I went through my recipes with him and he picked out "Hamburger Steak". This is a recipe card I was given by his grandmother at my wedding shower and I've never made. To me, it sounded gross. You take 1 lb. of hamburger meat, mixed with 4 Tbsp. of mayo, 1/4 c. flour and an egg. Mix all together and form into patties and fry in oil on a skillet. Gross. But...in the name of love...I did it. I also made some homemade fries with onions (from red potatoes) and Kraft Mac-n-cheese for the kids. Nothing healthy about this meal at all. He loved it. The kids like it. I endured it. Blah! I don't know why anyone would want to ruin a perfectly good pound of lean ground beef like that. Anyway, I was really happy to have totally satisfied him with that meal...but on the other hand I was really disappointed that I ate THAT. After all this good eating and working out I've been doing...blah! So what did I do? I made me a bowl of that delicious Edy's 1/2 cal. French Silk ice-cream and wallowed in guilt! ha ha (I only had a measured out 1/2 cup serving though)
Thankfully I went to the gym with Rene yesterday and we logged a few miles on the treadmills, a few miles on the stationary bikes and a good half hour of weights/abs.
Anyway, today I went to the gym again and took Shelley's class (bootcamp with weights) and then came home and just ate what I think was a fairly healthy lunch. (a lettuce wrap and then a bowl of raisin bran). Now I am stuffed. :o) Wish I'd have stopped a bit sooner, but oh well.
So that's where I am. Tomorrow I will weight and I'll see if the scale has budged any. I honestly don't expect it to be good. Even though I've upped my workouts CONSIDERABLY and been eating better, I've also done "not-good" several times and I'm thinking I probably won't see a loss this week. Blah! Oh well....better luck next time. :o)

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

progress report

So, Monday I ate good, lots of salad. I taught 2 fitness classes that night at the gym. 45 minutes of interval step/weights and 45 minutes of hardcore boot camp. It was EXTRA warm in there so everyone left completely SOAKED in sweat! :o)

Tuesday I got up and headed for the gym again to go to Shelley's ball/weights class and then I taught boot camp. I threw in some Insanity moves to up the intensity a bit and it was a great workout. I ate good all day Tuesday because I knew we were going out to Zio's Italian for dinner. I also knew that I had a coupon for a free appetizer and that we would order the Italian Nachos (my FAVORITE). Thankfully, since we were having dinner with some friends, I behaved myself and only ate a "normal" amount of the appetizer instead of hogging it and licking the plate before I let the waiter take it away! ha ha Matt and I shared a thin crust combo (supreme) pizza and I had 2 small slices. Not good by ANY means...but better than I would have done previously. It was my "cheat" day so no biggie.

The proof will be today...a very busy day for me...that I get in a work out AND continue back on my healthy eating. I've already had an inkling to just "throw caution to the wind" and eat something unhealthy...but I resisted the urge. I MUST not let a single cheat day completely change the direction of my path. It's like a speed bump and instead of going over it...I just turn and go down a different road (the road to eating junk again). Ugh! Live and learn, right? :o)

I will (plan to) weigh on Friday and see if the scale shows any progress. Even if it doesn't, I know I've made some VERY good choices over the past week and I'm proud of that. :o)

Monday, August 16, 2010

She's my girl!!!

So, I started out my Sunday by getting up and doing Insanity Cardio Abs before church. Since I didn't have time for a "real" breakfast, I just grabbed a banana and a Lara bar on my way out the door.
After church, we ate Oscar Meyer Turkey Smoked Sausage hot off the grill with a big salad and green beans. I "treated" myself and had 1/2 cup of Edy's 1/2 cal 1/2 fat French Silk ice cream (110 cal). YUM!
We spent the afternoon playing Mario Kart on the Wii (I beat everyone's socks off!) and then we began a new game of Monopoly (which will probably take 2 weeks to finish!) :o)

After that we went to the annual Ice Cream Social at our church where they were giving out free sloppy joe's and all the ice cream you can eat! I ended up eating 1 1/2 sloppy joe sandwiches but not a drop of ice cream! I put some gum in my mouth and refused all the wonderful flavors of creamy, sugary frozen treats!

When we got home from church (at 7:30 pm) the weather had suddenly turned BEAUTIFUL. Rather than hot, it was about 78 and breezy so we loaded up all 4 of our bikes and went riding for about an hour. It felt great to have my quads burning like that while going up the hills and then ahhh....feeling the wind through my hair as we coasted back down. When we got home, I actually felt revved up and ready to go....so...I decided to do something I've never done before :
Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning.
It was almost 9 pm so I told the kids they needed to get in their jammies and ready for bed--which they begged to not have to do. So I made a deal with them (secretly knowing they'd never last) I told them they could stay up for as long as they did this workout with me. HA HA HA I thought...they don't know what they're in for!
Well.....the joke was on ME!
Grant was in and out throughout the workout but BROOKLYN DID ALL FORTY SEVEN MINUTES WITH ME!
Yes...my 9 year old daughter hung in there and COMPLETED A MAX INSANITY WORKOUT. I'm still in awe.
Nothing against her...but seriously, I know very few adults that could even do that...let alone a child who hardly ever gets any exercise. By the time we were done, we were both DRENCHED in sweat (as Insanity promises you will be!)
Before we took a shower, I snapped a few sweaty pics of us together...which are so cute and I would LOVE to post them on here but DUMB BLOGGER won't let me! Grrr!
I guess I'll save them all up and eventually some day when my PC is working correctly again, I'll post them along with my "before" pictures I took.
Anyway, I'm proud of what I'm doing...and if I could reach, I'd pat myself on the back and give myself a MUCH NEEDED deep tissue massage because quite frankly I feel like my back is tied up in about a hundred knots. I'm OBVIOUSLY not accustomed to THIS much working out anymore! :o)
Today is Monday and I'm scheduled to instruct 2 classes at the gym tonight. I haven't checked yet, but I think one is step aerobics with some weight training and the 2nd one is boot camp (45 minutes of hardcore cardio). That'll be my workout for today. I am excited to get another day under my belt of healthy eating and maybe by Friday, I'll be back in the 130's with my weight! Woohoo!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Weight & Measurements

So, like I said, I was going to weigh and take my "before" measurements and post them. Blah! I did it..and I'm not happy...but this is OBVIOUSLY why I'm getting back to eating right and working out again, so at LEAST I'm not just sitting here being depressed, but doing something about it!

So...my weight was 141.6. AUGH! Last year at this time, I was at around 134...so that means I've put on about 7 pounds. (no WONDER why none of my pants fit!)
Here are my measurements (which I know is very boring reading...but it helps me to have a posted list of them so I can check my progress)
Waist (at bellybutton): 32
Chest (around largest part of boobs):35
Right and left thigh (around largest part of leg-about 1 inch from crotch): 23
Right bicep (not flexed): 11
Right bicep (flexed): 12
Left bicep (not flexed): 11 1/2
Left bicep (flexed: 12

I took "before" pictures for you...but I canNOT get blogger to let me upload any images!?! When I click on the "image" button...nothing happens. Anyone have any suggestions?

So far I've been doing good. Worked out at the gym on Thursday, did P90X Chest, Shoulders & Triceps yesterday. We went out for dinner and I ordered grilled Salmon and steamed veggies! Yay! Did have some low-fat frozen yogurt after the movie last night, but not too much, so no guilt. Today I got up and went to kickboxing, Zumba and abs at the gym so I feel like I'm off to a great start!

The overall goal is to workout daily, eat healthy and fit back into my jeans by winter! :o)
I'll try using Picasa to post the pix.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Chutes & Ladders

That's what my weight has been like lately. Up and down, mostly up :-(
But there has been an end in sight...and it was August 12th. The day that my kids go back to school and the day that I committed once again to getting "serious" about being MORE healthy and fit.
So as you know...that was yesterday and in normal fashion, stumbling blocks were in my way even before the day began. First of all was a birthday lunch for my cousin that I was invited to-at a Mexican restaurant. Ugh! Of all the places that I have a HORRIBLE time resisting...it's there. Chips and salsa/queso. Mmmmm! So I knew I needed a game plan before I even left the house. I looked up their menu online to hopefully get some nutritional info before I left, but sadly, they don't have it posted online (wonder why!!!) So, I determined not to even TOUCH a tortilla chip and to order something healthy-ish as I could. I ended up doing well, I think. I had a bowl of tortilla soup for my meal and didn't have a single chip. I drank water and forfieted my sopapilla. Yay! That's check mark 1.

My buddy Rene picked me up before lunch and we ran into town real quick for a bootcamp class at the gym which entirely kicked my butt...but in a good way. I told Shelley, the instructor, afterwards that "that was a miserably good workout"! ha..but really...it was about like doing Insanity for the first time and you start thinking WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO!!!!?? So check mark 2---I got my workout done!

Anyway, for dinner, since it was the first day of school, I let the kids pick out anything they wanted for dinner. I totally expected to hear "Pizza!!" but instead they requested my homemade fried chicken and mashed potatoes. I haven't made that since 2008 BEFORE we started P90X. It was difficult for me to "bread" my skinless boneless chicken breasts and then FRY them in oil...but I did it. I figured once every 2 years isn't going to kill anyone. Plus, I only made one piece for each of us, so we couldn't go overboard. I also made mashed potatoes and carrots with a big salad. It was a delicious meal and again, I think I did well. I had half a chicken breast, about 1/2 c. of mashed potatoes and lots of carrots and salad.
After dinner when everyone had chocolate chip cookies and ice cream, I ate my Sunsweet Prune for the day with 4 whole almonds and called it good. Check mark 3. Hooray!

My goal is to eat healthy (no more sweets, chips, breads, JUNK) and workout EVERY day. I'm going to try to post either daily or every other day so I can use this to hold me accountable. You guys feel free to "kick me in the butt" too if you see me slacking!
Tonight I will take my measurements, weight and such....so I can see where I'm beginning from. Eeeeeeeeek! (I'm SCARED!)