Veggies & New Workout Equipment!

This is the newest addition to our little apartment. We found this on a bulletin board at a local grocery store for $100! It came with 2 45lb, 2 35lb, 2 25lb, 2 10lb, 2 5lb, and 2 2.5lb weights! It also came with the floor mats, and the bars are a good heavy duty metal. Oh and a nice punching bag that we left outside in the rain... I don't know where we would have put that anyways. Our apartment is already full, and the only place we could think of putting it was in the dining room, which we hardly use anyway!

I am super excited about it though because I have always wanted workout stuff at home. So far I have only gotten as far as lifting the bar 5 sets of 10 reps, lol. But the bar is 45 lbs! Who is going to be strong? This girl right here! :)

I love food. So gosh darn much. I am trying to eat my veggies and get more protein in, and this meal was delicious! Salmon, zucchini, and Blood orange strawberry juice! What I wont tell you is what I had for dessert... bahaha... oh jeez. Hey, atleast I admit it! :)

PMS

So, being a girl has its disadvantages. Normally I enjoy being a woman. But when that time rolls around, I literally feel like a different person. This is something that I really need to work through, because too much junk food is consumed. First I get super tired. It takes all my energy just to take a nap. Last week I took hour long naps everyday and fell asleep between 11-midnight. Did I workout? Sure didn't. Then I get emotional. Little things irritate and frustrate me sometimes to tears. Cute little things make me tear up. Then I get cravings for all kinds of snack food (basically anything high in fat, salt, or sugar). I just want to constantly eat. NOT good for weight loss. Then I feel restless! I feel like I need to get out and do things, yet I don't want to go anywhere. Is there a period of time that is more frustrating than this? I seriously doubt it. This is one of my down falls. (I have a lot of downfalls, lol) I am sure that one day, when I have my children I will be grateful that my body has the ability to create them. But for now, it just causes frustration.
So I decided to google PMS and how to reduce the frustration. This is what I found:
1. Improve your diet. (what!? no....I don't wanna!)
2. Exercise. (ok seriously? seriously.)
3. Make sure you get your vitamins. (I think this may be partly the cause for extra tiredness, since your body is using extra nutrients)
4. Get enough sleep. (yay, I did one thing right!)

Those were the most important ones I thought. They had some other like medication, but I just don't really care about medication... But that's a different subject. So, I may have failed this round.. but now I know I will just need to buck up and try even harder! :) Yay for being a girl! Haha

Week 1

Week one of mission slimpossible is over! Wanna know how it went?

Here is the results!

1 lb lost! 

(woohoo!)

I tracked my food everyday and here is what I learned:

The weekends are hard to eat healthy as I didn't get my veggies and fruit in... :/ and ate pizza and hot dogs. oh and movie theater popcorn... haha! Which was okay, but I went over a bit too much on my calories on those days. So next time, I will try to plan those things in to keep better track. 

I did pretty well on reducing my sweets, which was SUPER HARD! I don't know if any of you, except maybe my family, know how much I love them! I let myself finally have a brownie (that I made with applesauce instead of oil)* with two small scoops of ice cream! I loved every little bite. 

How I got through is I bought the dove promises dark chocolate with almonds and allowed myself 2-3 everyday. Trust me, I wanted more than that! But it was just enough to get me through. I usually waited until the evening after all my meals have been eaten to have it so that I could brush my teeth right after and be ready for bed.

One other thing, I felt hungry almost constantly! I guess when all of the sudden you start working out and lowering your calories, your body freaks out and thinks it is going to starve! I asked what other people do when this happens and here are some good suggestions they gave me:

1. Drink lots of water! Sometimes we confuse hunger with thirst. If you are still hungry 20 min after drinking water, eat something with protein or carbs with high fiber.

2. Eat more veggies, nuts, and protein

3. Eat 300 cal meals 5 times a day so that your body always has food to digest.

4. Chew gum

As far are exercise goes, I learned something here too:

DON'T OVERDO IT! 

That is what I did those first 3 days and then I was so sore I skipped my workouts for the rest of the week. I tried to run 7 miles, and walk 2 in between days plus 30 min of abs and arms strength training in 3 days. 

That was a lot for my body to handle all at once, especially when one of those nights I was up until 4 am and then tried to run in the heat of St George the next day!! Not too smart on my part haha! 

I need to learn what my limits are and not push too hard this time! The thing is I am trying to train for a half marathon and I have to train hard in order to make it!! 

Also just a side note, I haven't switched up my running route yet and I can tell my mind and body is ready for something fresh. It's good to switch things up! 

I feel like overall it was a good week. I learned alot! I had my moments of frustration and disappointment, but this is only week one! I have found that I really enjoy taking pictures of this new lifestyle, especially when I am out running and watching the sunset!

The quote on this picture is from Walt Disney, and I think it is very inspiring! here is the full quote:

"Around here, 

we don't look backwards for very long.

We keep moving forward, 

opening up new doors and doing new things, 

because we are curious... 

and curiosity keeps leading us

 down new paths."

  

*btw, I am sure a lot of you have heard this but you can replace oil with applesauce in a lot of cake recipes. It was still pretty good with the brownie, but it did change the texture a little. Just replace the amount of oil with the same amount of applesauce and then add 2 tbs of oil to help the texture. I think it works best with cakes though!

Nutrition: Tracking, Portions, and Moderation

First off, I am here to tell you that I am nowhere near perfect at this weightloss stuff! 

One of the things I have been trying to do is track my food. 

Here is an example of one of my tracking sheets:

I also use the Sparkpeople website to log in what I eat. It is quite handy! You can map runs, add workouts, log your meals, log your weigh in, and it will give you feedback on what you've done versus what your goals are. You can also edit your nutrition goals to add in vitamins if you want to see what you might be lacking. Seriously, there is alot you can do on this website!

I have read in so many articles how important tracking your food and workouts are. Research has shown that those who track what they eat are far more successful with weight loss. 

It is also important to track EVERYTHING you eat. 

It is a bit tedious and obnoxious to do but it is good for several reasons:

1. You want an accurate count of what you are eating

2. It will help you see patterns in what you are eating and when, 

so you can spot trouble times and do something to conquer it.

3. It makes you want to eat less, because it sucks when you have to write in 

how many chocolates you've been eating!

4. It teaches you to be honest with yourself nutrition wise.

5. Since you can track nutrients, you can also see what vitamins you are lacking! (and find out what might be the cause of your tiredness or digestive issues!)

I have done it on and off through the years, and there are lots of creative ways to do it. I have heard of some people who take pictures of their plate before they eat it so that they can get a mental picture of what they are eating. The more colorful, the better! 

Here is an example of what your plate should look like:

for a clearer picture and a better description, click here

Half of your plate should be vegetables!! 

Who does that!? It hasn't been me! I am learning all this too, so don't worry! :)

I'll be the first to admit this isn't what I am used to nor am I good at it! I also am a firm believer that you have to include foods you love once in awhile, or you are going to be miserable. Learning moderation and balance is key. I think it is perfectly okay to have some pizza and ice cream once in awhile. What I need to learn is portion control. Have what you love, just don't eat the whole bag of candy or a whole carton of ice cream! 

When I took a nutrition class I was 

blown away at how small one serving seemed!

To give you some examples of what a serving size looks like: 

I am positive all of you reading this have heard these things many times! What I am trying to do is learn how to apply it to my own life! 

That is the tricky part! 

Track your food.

Track everything!

Learn portion control.

Eat in moderation!

Mission Slimpossible!

Alright, here is the part I dread. but maybe if I post my fat pictures it will motivate me more! 

I even edited them to show you just what I'm gonna do!

As you can see I have some work to do! 

This is me checking in at 200.2 lbs. 

Yep. That is THE MOST I have ever weighed ever in my life! 

I have gained 20 lbs since I got home from my mission in September 2011. 

What the heck!?! So frustrating. But I did it to myself! Now I need to fix it. 

A nice side view for you. Yep, gonna do everything I said in this picture. How you ask?

Training for a 1/2 marathon: 

4 days of running per week

Strength training and walks in between!

And my least favorite...

Yuck! You don't ever really see what your back side looks like, and its probably a good thing!

On top of making sure I get my exercise, I also need to revamp my diet.

I am NOT going to go extreme, but I do need to eat healthier.

I haven't totally made a diet plan yet, but in general:

Breakfast options: 200-300 cal

(an hour before I workout)

yogurt, fruit, and toast or bagel

whole grain cereal w/ milk

scrambled eggs with veggies

smoothie with toast/bagel

(basically anything breakfastee protein and carbs)

Morning Snack: 150-200 cal

(usually after a workout)

fruit w/ peanut butter

cottage cheese w/ fruit or veggies

string cheese & green veggies

nuts & dark chocolate/dried fruit

Chocolate milk (reduced fat) & banana

Lunch: 300-400 cal

1/2 tuna sandwich

1/2 pb&j sandwich

strawberry chicken spinach salad

lean burrito w/ salsa

healthy whole grain nachos

homemade pita pizza w/veggies

(carbs, protein, and veggies/fruit)

Afternoon Snack: 100-200 cal

(choice of previous snacks or:)

granola bar & fruit

yogurt with berries

smoothie 

veggie sticks & hummus

whole wheat chips & salsa

Dinner: 400-500 cal

Anything, just keep portion control decently healthy!

Preferably lean meat, veggies, whole grain, and fruit. 

Desserts: no more than 100 cal

(this will be my hard spot!)

1 small chocolate/hard candy a day or a very healthy fruity dessert!

Chew lots of gum to keep me away from sweets!

Total daily calories: 1200-1600

I will stick to this program 6 days a week.

The other day, probably sunday, will be my free day where I will still try to eat healthy but I can allow my mom's rolls and a good dessert! :) 

And it is the ultimate day of rest for my body too! 

I am excited and it is going to take some serious 

motivation, persistence, and discipline. 

I am going to keep this all updated as best as I can.

 I can do this!