Long time no see! Or read. Whichever you prefer.
Challenge Results
Wednesday, September 9th I submitted my challenge results. You'll have to wait to see the photos (since I'm waiting for offical Jack Kunkel snazzy ones), but I can tell you that I weighed in at 186.2, losing 11 pounds of fat in 30 days. I also like to think that I probably gained a pound or two of muscle, but you'll have to wait to see the photos and make your own opinions on that.
Rewarding Myself
What better reward than to have a week at Disney World directly follow the challenge. I will say, I did not overdo it! Although from my weigh in on Monday, you will see that I gained about 4 pounds *yikes*
I could have done this smarter, and probably should have. In the mornings, I was able to get a non-dairy strawberry banana smoothie from the hotel, then bring it back to my room and mix in my Mediclear. This was a great start to the day.
I also had no appetite for potatoes the entire trip, and tried to remember to ask for more vegetables instead, but quite often forgot, so just went without eating the startchy stuff.
Where I could have done better:
- Almost every meal came with a bread basket. Most restaurants I did indulge in a 1/2 piece. A couple I had more than that... I tried to convince Mom to ask them to NOT bring the bread basket at all, but she really wanted it... In the future I think I might take matters into my own hands and just tell them not to bring it at all!!
- Desserts. Man, they were so good! They came with our dining plan so I had no concern over dairy products on this trip. I also had cheese plates for appetizers at times, and milkshakes as my beverage!!
- I had intentions of working out every morning before the parks, but that did not happen. Well, it happened on the first day, but then after I had a full day in the parks, waking up early was no longer an option as my body needed the rest. I did a lot of walking, but could have done with some weights. Then again, if I had eaten better, I probably would have been just fine with solely walking around the parks.
In the end, the reward should have been the trip, and not so much the food. I kind of made it the food because we booked the trip with a Deluxe Dining Package, and that was well before I started my healthy living lifestyle. Luckily, by the following weekend we had switched hotels and our new hotel had a gym. We spent a good 2 hours in the gym on Saturday, working our entire bodies and getting our high interval cardio in. It was a great start back, but I still didn't do all that great throughout the rest of the weekend.
Monday morning I was back in the gym and ready to go. I was VERY sore from the Saturday workout, but persevered anyway. I've also been trying to be good with food this week, but have faltered a bit, with my focus on prepping for the NEXT 30 day challenge starting Monday 9/28! Cheers!
XOXOXO
I know I'm days late on my post. Fact is, Monday I spent the day doing stuff around the house (yay for a day off!), and anticipated being able to post on Tuesday, but work was unexpectedly busy; so here we are.
I had a lot of weak moments that I gave into last week and over the weekend. I still don't know what my problem was. It started last Thursday, and carried on until Tuesday of this week.
I was not happy with myself. I was absentmindedly shoveling food into my mouth that I shouldn't have been eating! Not thinking about it at all, just doing it. Of course, after I would shovel the food, then I would feel like crap!
When I reflected on it and told myself "OK, time to get back on track", then I was STARVING all the time! I finally was able to get back on track yesterday, and will continue to hold strong on my good nutrition track.
As far as working out, I've been able to keep up with that perfectly. I've been trying to push harder, increase some weights, go a little faster, and this week I've been constantly telling myself in my head, "You can do so much more than you think you can."
Next week I will not have a post, as I will be away on vacation with my Mom. We're going to Disney, and I can't wait to come back to tell you how I do there! While I won't have a gym available to me, I do plan on doing some morning body-weight workouts, and of course we will be walking EVERYWHERE. I have a pretty good plan of what I will eat everyday for every meal, and still plan on sticking to my eating times throughout the day. I'll even be bringing my Mediclear to put in a hotel smoothie, and my coconut oil and stevia to put in my hotel coffee every morning.
Til next time...
XOXOXO
I feel really good about this past week. In other words, my bounce-back from Disney went well!
I was a mess at the beginning of the week. Nothing was ready, I somehow forgot some groceries, dishes weren't clean and ready for me to prep. I got through Monday by going the "out to eat" route.
Blender was dirty so I ate an apple that morning before my workout.
I did end up having a smoothie for breakfast, from Tropical Smoothie, who I had conversed with on a previous occasion to confirm they were using fresh ingredients and that nothing more was added than what was listed on their menu.
Nuts and raisins for my snack.
Lunch was a strawberry poppyseed salad from Panera, with half the amount of dressing than they give you - chicken on the side and I warm it up and eat it separately (don't ask. I'm just weird when it comes to salad).
So I made it through the day pretty well considering I failed miserably at prep and was completely EXHAUSTED.
Oh yeah, bonus, I drove all the way to the gym that morning, to realize that I forgot my water bottle at home, and instead of using my brain and driving into the gas station next door, I drove all the way back home to get my water bottle.
Yeah, it was one of THOSE weeks.
Regardless of the beginning of my week, I still stuck to my nutrition and workout plans and was happy with my weigh in this morning. I'm still on the right track!
This was also a very stressful week, so that was a win as well - no emotional eating!!!!
Yesterday (Sunday) I went to spin class as usual, and hit my personal best, 186 Energy. Just wanted to bring it up because I was actually only shooting for 175 and obviously meet and went over my goal. Guess I'll have to shoot for 200 next week!
I've met my DietBet goal and am now patiently awaiting official weigh in day and to see how much money I'll get back from it.
Disney is coming up soon again! Mom and I will be going in 13 days. I've been researching the menus of the restaurants we have booked so I can make healthier decisions. The challenge will officially be over, but I still have more fat to lose! So I'll be continuing to follow the program!
Sorry for being so scatterbrained today. Here's to hoping next week I will be better ;)
XOXOXO
Well I realized last night that I completely forgot to update this past Monday. Oops.
Reasons for that:
1. I was exhausted from the Disney weekend.
2. I was extremely busy at work.
3. In general, I was not on the ball. I screwed up EVERYTHING on Monday. #fail
Anyway, I'll make this short and sweet since I'm still feeling the effects of 1 &2.
Stuck to my workouts and my nutrition plan last week, except in Disney. Cheated a little bit and paid for it. I'd like to use the excuse that I was on vacation and enjoying myself, but for the challenge, there are #noexcuses.
Also, didn't do my daily yoga routines, and I think it was because of that, I didn't see much of a change on the scale throughout the week.
I am proud of myself that I jumped right back into the gym on Monday morning, even though I was a mess and forgot everything under the sun that day.
I still haven't been doing my yoga routines. By the time I get home, do dishes, prep for the next day, and make and eat my dinner, I am going straight to bed.
After this weekend and catching up on my rest, I should be able to add back in a second workout after work. I'm considering doing my Yoga Booty Ballet DVDs instead. I used to really enjoy them and think they will be a great supplement at the end of the day.
Until next week,
XOXOXO
I'm trying to get this post in amidst a busy Monday at work (which I will [hopefully] get to at the end).
Let's just say that the Challenge came at the perfect time. I was "testing the theory" the week before, which really just mean CHEATING and I definitely needed something to get me back on track. The challenge definitely did it for me.
What's constantly motivating is that there are ongoing goals. I'm really loving them. Just when I finish one, I get another that I need to do and it keeps my focus.
Just a little overview of the things that I have done pertaining to the challenge:
Exercise
I decided to go with the Intermediate workouts through the challenge. I will say this, I WAS SORE ALL WEEK AND STILL AM!
But... I love it!
When I'm sore, I know that it's working!! The workout has 3 strength training days laid out, in which you also have to do either endurance cardio or HIIT cardio on those days as well. I choose HIIT cardio on those days to save on time. On my non strength training days, I do 45 minute spin classes. Spin is my new favorite cardio workout! I'm very intrigued to see just how much my stats improve by the end of the challenge!
I did take one day off in the past 7 days, and that was Saturday. For days I went back and forth about adding a workout that day or not. I ended up not making a decision, and therefore not doing a work out that day. I did however help a friend move, although this did not get me many steps nor much of a sweat. I should have planned for something, and will have to for Saturdays in the future.
I've also been "rewarding" myself after all of my weekday workouts by spending about 10 minutes in the sauna at the gym. It's been very nice to kind of "finish" sweating it out, and take some rest time before I have to get up and start getting ready for work.
Food
Nothing has really changed with my food intake (other than the fact that I've stopped cheating *yay*). I am finding that I get a little hangry in the afternoon sometimes, but have purchased some deluxe mixed nuts (no peanuts) and have a small handful if I need something to tide me over.
I did purchase some frozen dark chocolate covered bananas last week, but decided that once the box was empty that I wouldn't be purchasing them again. While they're terrible for you, I did notice that they have peanut oil in them, and I think that if I'm wishing for something sweet, a blended frozen banana will do fine and come out just like ice cream! I could even put some nuts on it, or drizzle some almond butter.
Future Planning
I spent all day Sunday prepping food for the week. Today and tomorrow I will most likely be staying late at work; so in addition to my usual prep of lunches, I also prepped all my dinners for the week. I will reassess at the end of the week how much this helps, and consider possibly doing it every week.
This weekend I am going to Disney to meet my best friend and her two boys. I will be leaving Friday after work to drive there, and then will return on Sunday in the early afternoon. I have planned out every meal that I'm going to have, and got extra apples and some raisin/nut mix to have while at the parks. I will also be bringing my coconut oil to put in my coffee. I even prepped an easy "finger food" dinner for Friday that I can munch on while driving (will heat it up before I leave the office).
In order to stick to my workout plan, I have decided that my workouts each day will be walking around the parks. I am also considering waking up extra early to walk/jog around the resort before our park plans. The only reason I have not set these plans in stone is because I have to consider that I will be staying with other people that will most likely want to sleep... I will bring it up to them when I get there on Friday.
That's all for now!
XOXOXO
