Finding Focus

I know. I'm late again. But let me tell you, I have been swamped at work. You're lucky you're getting anything this week.

Moving forward:

While I didn't do as well as I had planned/hoped last week with my nutrition plan, I will still able to bring the number on the scale down a bit. Looking at the past couple of months, it seems that since the Transformation challenge ended, I've been doing a lot of back and forth.

I could be so much further in my journey if I hadn't been slacking off so much, but here we are today, looking for more ways to get back the focus.

The plus side of all of this is that I have not missed a gym session. So I'm still right on track with that.

I've tried so hard, planning out my meals, cooking all my meals the weekend before; it just seems that I let my emotions and moods get the best of me. I make rash decisions and eat without being mindful of my stomach, or my wallet.

Oh yeah, the no-spend challenge, I did so well with it for the first 3 weeks then fell off on the 4th. Oh well. I did learn a thing or two from it though.

Back to my emotional eating...

I can sit here and say "I need to get a grip on this!" but the fact is that, those are just words, and no matter how much I want it, what I REALLY need is to get my mind right!! So here are my plans:

I do all the planning and cooking ahead of time, so all I really need to do is follow through. Remember that I have already spend all the money and time investing in healthy food choices, so all I have to do is go heat it up and chomp it down!

I also try to find motivational pieces to help get me through the hard times. Quotes that will remind me that there is another option for my emotional eating outburst, or that I need to bring myself back to being grounded on my plan. I like to look at theberry.com for this and their Daily Motivation section.

Lastly, I'm getting serious this time as I've signed up for another DietBet. Well, actually I signed up for 3 DietBets. So for the next 4 weeks, I have invested money into myself to lose another 4% of my body weight, and make sure that I get that money back for my hard efforts!! I know that I can do it, and I think this was the final straw of motivational pieces to get me focused!!

So for the next 4 weeks, expect DietBet updates!

Toodles!

XOXOXO

Embarrassment leads to a Weekend Full of Prep

I'm very disappointed in myself. I have no excuse. I just didn't do what I said I was going to do. I didn't follow through with my intentions last week.

I'm actually embarrassed that I gained so much weight. I was looking at my weigh-in trends and the last time I gained this much weight was when I went to Disney. This past week was not a vacation, and shouldn't have happened.

What didn't I do exactly? I didn't stick to my food plans. I gave in to temptation and wants. I didn't think about what I was eating. Yeah; there was a lot of not thinking/mindless eating.

I won't dwell on my flaws though. I did continue to go to the gym and work out. And I learned my lesson and am back on track this week.

Actually, with such a climb on the # scale, I decided to take my measurements again (finally). While they weren't as big of a difference as I had hoped, I am still grateful that I haven't completely demolished all of my hard work.

Weekend Prep

Knowing how terrible I had been all week and not looking forward to my Monday morning weigh-in, I already knew that I had to refocus and recommit myself to my nutrition.

Saturday I had absolutely no plans.

Ok that's a lie. Initially I had plans to attend a Health and Exercise expo, but in the end decided not to go because parking ended up not being included and I didn't want to pay for it (way to go for the no spend month). This was a bit of a bummer though because I actually got a free ticket to this event through work, at a $250 value. Maybe I should have just sucked it up and paid for the parking... but I did have a productive day instead!!

I slept in a little bit more than usual. Our AC went out on Thursday and something about the fresh air coming in the windows and snuggled up in my bed with the pup - I just didn't want to get out. Good thing I cancelled those plans ;)

After my usual morning coffee on the lanai, I put a plan in order for my day. First - wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen. Pick up the living room. Sweep all the floors. Do all the laundry. I set forth on my mission.

I did a couple little extra things here and there, such as washing out the AC filter (it's reusable), and finished at a reasonable time, only 11am! My "reward" for getting the house cleaned? Sit and watch Once Upon A Time while planning out my food for the week and making a grocery list. My grocery list ended up consisting of 5 vegetables. Grocery shopping was going to be cheap this week!

At noon I headed to the grocery store for my 5 vegetables. While I was there, I decided I wanted to use up a small container of homemade modinott sauce I had in the freezer. I settled on frozen stuffed shells, meatballs, and cheesy breadsticks. Yeah, you can now see why I was TERRIBLE last week!! Plus, the shells and breadsticks were both buy one get one free, so you know, I just HAD to get the deal...

Back at home I set forth with my 5 vegetables and the other components I had already in my fridge and prepped ALL my lunches and dinners for the week!!! Go. Me.

Once all of that was finished, I put together the shells and sauce, threw them in the oven, and plopped myself back on the couch to watch more OUAT; after all, I deserved it!

I spent a lot of time prepping and cleaning on Saturday, and it really paid off in the end. I felt at peace in my home because it was clean and tidy. I feel relaxed now because the only thing I will have to cook this week are eggs to have with my pre-made zucchini hash.

Sunday I decided to do even MORE prep, and purchased ziplock freezer bags. I prepped portions of my smoothie ingredients and put them into the bags. Every bag makes two smoothies. I now only have to dump the bag into the blender and add Mediclear and Almond Milk. No more dirty cutting boards and knives every evening!

I'm also trying to stay ahead of my hunger, as I noticed last week I did a lot of snacking. Snacking is ok, as long as it's SMART snacking!!!

I purchased a small tin of Deluxe Mixed Nuts (no peanuts) and portioned those out in 1/4 cup increments. I'm bringing one with me everyday to work, and they can be my salty snack if I'm feeling peckish.

So literally, the only thing I really need to "prep" everyday is my apples with almond butter.

Life got so much easier because I spent a few hours preparing this weekend for the week ahead. Let's see where it all gets me this time...


XOXOXO

Unhappiness.

I'm very frustrated with myself today.

I almost didn't want to post my results, but the only way to move forward and learn from your mistakes is to accept them.

I was doing so well last week. I've been on point with my workouts, and I was really sticking to my nutrition plan.

Then I got a craving. And I gave in to it. For like... 4 days in a row. Terrible! If I had just held off on the craving to begin with, it would have passed and I wouldn't have succumb to it the next few days!! Bread and cheese, you are my nemesis.

And I'm mostly mad at myself because in giving into my cravings, I undid all of the hard work that I put in earlier in the week.

I really need to work harder on the weekends. I've been planning out my meals and what I'll have everyday, weekdays and weekends -- I'm just not sticking to it as well on the weekends.

I need to work on this and get it down.

In other news,

I was actually very active all weekend. I painted my bedroom on Saturday, which involved lots of cleaning and moving furniture, and then the actual painting part. It came out very nice. I then spent Sunday re-arranging the furniture in the room and putting on my new bedspread set. The nautical theme is coming along very nicely.

And if you're wondering how this affected my no-spend month, it didn't. This was pre-planned into my spending budget as I had intended paint the bedroom over a month ago, and the bedspread was bought over the summer. Way to go me on the planning front.

Speaking of the no-spend...

it's actually going very well. While I was strapped for money to begin with and I'm still incapable of having enough money to actually save much (thanks a lot years of debt racking up), I am finding that I'm able to stick to my budget more effectively this way. This is huge for me, because it means that I'm not dipping into what little savings I have.



Time to refocus.
XOXOXO

No-Spending

Look at me, on a Monday with an update. ;)

Well, my nutrition challenge is to the pits. I mean, I didn't do terrible, but once I really dedicated myself to the no spend challenge, when Josh offered to take us out to TGI Fridays for dinner on Friday, I mean, how could I say no??

I didn't do terrible though, not at all! As you can see from my weigh in, I'm already back UNDER what I was before Disney. I call that an accomplishment and I am very happy about it. I'm continuing to work towards becoming leaner and stronger.

As far as my no-spend challenge goes, I've actually been doing very well with that. I got paid on Friday, and normally by now I would be poorer than poor already, trying to figure out how I will buy next week's groceries and gas, but I'm feeling good right now about my spending this weekend. I ONLY bought groceries and gas. I did have to stop myself from buying some unnecessary foods and a smoothie... but I made it through just fine. I survived, and I will continue to!!

Hah, yeah I'm a goof. Not a ton to report on unfortunately. Just steady as we go...

XOXOXO

New Challenges

Hi. My name is Melissa and I am a SLACKER when it comes to writing in this blog!!

Actually I've just been very busy, so can you really blame me? It's not like I get paid to do this or anything so... Priorities my friends.

So, last week I was telling you that I was getting back to the plan. Hah. I lied. I didn't. I sort of took another week off. I did get back into the gym though so that was a start, but we all know, the food is what really matters!!

So this past Monday I embarked on my own little challenge - to stick to my nutrition and workout plans through October 31st.

Combined with this, I'm also doing a No Spend Challenge as well - details at livingwellspendingless.com

Doing both of these together will definitely help me out. Committing to not spending money on frivolous things like eating out, stopping at the gas station for unnecessary bottles of water, or grabbing a smoothie instead of making one; will help me stick to my nutrition plan. Meanwhile, continuing to go to the gym will keep my body occupied (tiring it out to get to bed early every night), so that I won't even want to go out and spend money.

I did grab just a couple things before this no-spend challenge started. One was an adult coloring book and colored pencils. This is just another activity that I can do to occupy my time when I'm bored and want to go out somewhere. It will also be great for listening to good music, and calming the mind. Love coloring.

I also bought a new color of nail polish. I never used to paint my nails, but always went to the salon to get them done. I thought I sucked at doing it myself, but as it turns out, I'm not that bad actually. This saves a TON of money!!! It's not like I went on a regular basis, maybe twice a year, but I always LOVED the way they came out and the way I felt after they were done. Now I can do them myself, get that warm fuzzy feeling more often, and only spend less than $10 when I want a new color rather than almost $100 that I would pay someone else!!

In other news, I've been feeling very good about my workouts at the gym, and decided to up some of my weights again on Monday. The soreness feels good and productive.

I also had my cycle teacher tell me this morning that she can tell I'm getting stronger. This felt GREAT!! Cycle/Spin is something that I had never done before August 2015, so to have a teacher tell me that they can see I'm getting stronger is huge. She also mentioned that they might be looking for instructors at my gym, and to consider doing it. I'll think about it for now, as I could use a bit of extra money coming in...

Until next time...
XOXOXO

Challenge Results and a Reward

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

Week 4 Challenge Recap

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