Week 1, Day 5 - January 6 (Saturday)

Workout:
BodyFlow

Diet:
Breakfast: Fruit smoothie - 1/2 c. strawberries, 1/2 c. mango, 1 c. skim milk
Lunch: 1/4 c. hummus, 1 small whole wheat pits, baby carrots, cherries
Dinner: 1/2 goat cheese ravioli appetizer, pork medallions w/polenta, 'mini' key lime dessert, glass of pinot grigio

I had such a great start to my weekend. I did the treadmill last night, had a healthy dinner, and watched several episodes of my Office Season 2 DVD. Today I worked up early to go to the 8 a.m. BodyFlow class at my gym. It's a mix of tai chi, pilates and yoga. It was my first time to do this class and I really liked it. It got me up and going and really started the day off right.

My husband and I are going to a new restaurant tonight (well one we haven't been to before). It's called Seasons52 and their menu is based on fresh, healthy food. All of their entrees are under 500 calories and they all look so great! I think it's such a great concept, rather than having to search for the few healthy items on a menu - we can have anything. I'm trying to keep my calories low the rest of the day so we can split an appetizer and even have dessert!

Week 1, Day 4 - January 5

Workout:
Treadmill - 21.5 minutes walking, 8.5 minutes running 1.9 miles

Diet:
Breakfast: balance bar, banana
Lunch: stuffed green pepper
Snack: pear
Dinner: 1/4 c. hummus, 1 small whole wheat pita, carrots, celery
1.5 Tbsp. natural peanut butter, 1 apple
Snack: cherries, individual bag of popcorn

Great day yesterday and today! I'm ready for the weekend!

Week 1, Day 3 - January 4

Workout:
Treadmill - 21 minutes walking, 6 minutes running, 1.7 miles

Diet:
Breakfast: 2 eggs with cheese and ham, banana
Lunch: stuffed green pepper
Snack: grapes
Dinner: 2 crab cakes (from Dinner A'Fare), roasted cauliflower, cherries
Snack: 1/2 c. blueberry sorbet

We got up a little late, but still made it to the gym! I love doing my workout in the morning, even though it's a struggle for me to get up. It gets me going and I feel good all day. It also makes me want to eat healthy during the day because I'm already invested my time in working out. The cauliflower was really good, roasted with a little bit of olive oil in the oven.

Week 1, Day 2 - January 3

Workout:
Fitness magazine workout

Diet:
Breakfast: Balance bar, banana
Lunch: 2.25 oz fresh pasta, 1/2 cup bolognese sauce
Snack: None!
Dinner: Stuffed Green Pepper (from Cooking Light), cherries
Snack: individual bag light popcorn

Dinner was SO good and we have left overs. We haven't cooked much lately and it was really fun. I didn't really realize how much I missed it. Tomorrow morning is a gym day - no excuses!

Week 1, Day 1 – January 2

Workout
21 minutes walking, 5 minutes running on treadmill – 1.7 miles

Diet
Breakfast: Balance bar, banana
Lunch: ¼ c. hummus, 2 small whole wheat pitas, 8 baby carrots, 2 celery stalks, pear
Snack: none!
Dinner: 2.25 ounces fresh pasta, 1/2 c. bolognese sauce
Snack: individual bag of light popcorn, cherries

What a great first day! We woke up early and went to the gym to use the treadmill. I had a great diet day too. I'm really trying to focus on the right portions rather than cutting out certain foods entirely. I ended up a little low on calories at the end of the day, so I added a bag of popcorn (100 calories). I'm really proud of my good start.

Week 1 Mini Goals (January 2-January 7)

1) Walk/Run 3 times at gym for a total of at least 5 miles.
2) Maintain healthy diet each day.
3) Complete Fitness magazine workout (cardio/strength) at least once.
4) Complete Pilates DVD workout (or BodyFlow class at gym) at least once.

New Year, New Start, New Goals

No time is better to kick off another round of healthy habits than the New Year. I’m very optimistic that I’m going to be successful for several reasons:
1) I have the best partner, my husband, who motivates me and is trying to meet goals along with me.
2) I have realistic, attainable goals.
3) I have two huge motivations – the first is a cruise that my husband and I will go on to reward ourselves if we attain and maintain our goals as of June 30th. The second and most important is that we are considering trying to start a family sometime next year (2008) and I want to be as healthy as possible at that time.

My goal is to maintain a healthy lifestyle throughout 2008. In order to do that I will:
1) Lose a total of 22-25 pounds. I’m currently at 170, so that will put me between 145-148. I’m 5’9”, so this is a healthy weight for me. I also think it’s something that I can maintain. I’d love to be 140 again (my lowest adult weight, which lasted for all of two months or so), but I’m not sure that would be realistic and maintainable. I’m giving myself a range because fluctuations happen and I don’t want to be obsessed about every pound.
2) Exercise 4 times a week. Our plan is to go to the gym 3 mornings a week and do some exercise (gym, hike, tennis, etc) on the weekend. If we miss a morning, we’ll have to go that night – no excuses! We’re starting at 30 minutes of cardio each workout, but I’d like to increase that to at least 45 minutes of cardio and add in weight training.
3) Train to run a 5K. Even when I was working out regularly, I could never run more than a mile and a half without stopping to walk. I’d like to be able to run a whole 5K without walking. I don’t have any ambitions of being a marathon runner, but this seems like a good goal and one I would enjoy accomplishing. To help us, my husband and I each got a Nike+ kit for our ipods. It keeps track of all kinds of statistics about our running (each individual session and total).
4) Keep track of my diet and exercise through this blog. I’d like to blog every day, but at a minimum I want to post daily results even if I don’t do it on daily basis. This means I will keep track of everything I eat and each workout I do. I’ll also add mini goals each week to keep me on track and motivated.

I’m excited about being healthy. I know I can do it and with the motivation and support I have, I have no doubt I will succeed!

Blogging every day has been really hard. Sometimes I have lots of time at work (some of the work I do involves programming and when I have to wait on the computer to run my programs, I usually have some time to put together an entry), but that's not always the case. I would like to get in the habit of posting regularly again, so it look's like I'm going to need to take a few minutes at night to do it. The accountability of the blog is important to me, even if I'm the only one who reads it.

My husband and I have been not eating well lately. We had a great plan to make our meals for the entire week on Sundays, but we have been so busy that it hasn't happened for the last two weeks. So basically we've been eating out almost every night. Definitely not a good plan. I don't want this holiday season to turn into an excuse to eat badly for a month and a half, which is usually what happens. I don't want to be on a 'diet' either. I want to use control and moderation and just be healthy.

Tonight I'm going to go grocery shopping so that I have healthy options at home and we can put an end to eating out every night. I also want to do 30 minutes of cardio at the gym. We've been setting our alarm to go in the morning lately and not getting up to do it. I'm going to make plans to go to the gym on certain days and if I don't get up in the morning, I'm going to have to go at night. No more excuses.

I've been eating okay the last two weeks, not outstanding, but much better than I had been the past few months. We had a party last Friday and of course since my husband and I both love to cook and entertain, we went all out with the food. And of course we had a ton left over. One thing I have never been able to do well is to resist good food that's sitting around. That's why you'll rarely find bags of cookies or chips in my house. If it's there, I eat it, so for the most part I just don't buy it to begin with. So I did eat a lot of the leftovers, but they lasted longer than the normally would have.

We're going away for the weekend to the mountains with my family and there will be tons of good food. I'm not going to deprive myself, but I will try to use moderation. And I'd like to go for a long walk tomorrow.

So I said I was ready to get back committed to losing weight, but obviously I wasn’t. For the next few months I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and gained a few more pounds. We did join a gym, and went several times a weeks for about a month. Then I started a new job and that stopped. Several weeks ago my husband and I both decided that we needed to make a change, not just because our clothes weren’t fitting well and we felt ‘blah’, but because we want to be healthy. We’re planning on having kids in a couple of years and I want to be as healthy as I can before I become pregnant. We want to be good influences on our kids and teach them how to make the right choices, which will be a lot easier if we start and maintain a healthier lifestyle now.

We decided to wait until after our anniversary trip (to Disney World) to start and the day we got back, we began a healthy meal plan. I found a company that delivers healthy, portioned, gourmet meals to your house. I got the 1200 calorie a day one and my husband got 1700 calories a day. We supplemented that with healthy snacks and began our new lifestyle. The food was good and the best part was that we didn’t have to think about it. It was delivered twice a week, we put it in the refrigerator and knew exactly what and when we were going to eat. We quickly got used to the portions and saw results quickly. After two weeks, we decided to implement our own meal plan. On Sundays we’ll cook 3-4 different healthy recipes. We’ll put them in single serving containers and eat those most days for lunch/dinner. We started that this week. On Sunday we made Banana-Oatmeal bread for breakfasts and Tamale Pie and Honey Broiled Pork Chops with Gorgonzola Cheese Grits on the side, all from Cooking Light. The food has been great and we’ve stuck to our plan for the week. I’ve been snacking a more at night, I think I may not be eating enough during the day. I’m snacking on fairly healthy things, sugar free popsicles, healthy popcorn, but I think I need to try to cut back on that and eat a little more during the day.

The next thing we’re going to do is start back going to the gym. The last day we went was the first day of my new job (almost two months ago!). We were going before work and I actually really enjoyed doing that. I’m definitely not a morning person, but once I got myself out of bed I was fine and it was great to know that I had already accomplished something. And I didn’t have to worry about going after work. It was like I just found an extra hour in the day. And since my husband and I were both going, we motivated each other to get up. My goal is to go 3 mornings during the week and once on the weekends. I’d like to start taking aerobics classes again, I’m just not sure if I’m in good enough shape to do them. I’ll probably stick to the elliptical machine and weights the first couple of weeks and work back up to classes.

I’m currently around 160 (down 7 pounds from 3 weeks ago, when we started!) and my husband is around 200 (down 9 pounds). I want to lose 15 more pounds and more importantly, feel good. My goal is to lose 10 pounds by the end of the year (I think that’s realistic in 2 ½ months, even given the holidays coming up!). That would be a great way to start the New Year.

So there you have my update and plan. My husband is going to be out of town this weekend, so I’m pretty much on my own Sunday. I already have a few things picked out to cook (jambalaya, white chicken chili) and I’ll look for one more in my Cooking Light magazines. I also plan to update this blog at least a few times a week (if not daily) to keep myself accountable.

Okay, so after a month or so of really good results, I completely went off track for the last month. But, I'm back and ready for a fresh start. I did end up gaining 5 pounds back, so I'm starting at 165. Not good, but at least I did not gain back everything I had lost!

My friend's wedding was this weekend and my husband and I spent the weekend in Greenville. We had a great time and ate a ton of great food. I think brunch yesterday made me realize how ready I was to get back to eating healthy. I was so full afterwards, it was uncomfortable. So, starting now, I'm making a commitment to keep track of what I'm eating again and to try to eat healthily (okay, I don't think that's a word, but I know what I mean!).

We're planning on going to the DeKalb farmer's market tonight to get started. They have such good, fresh produce and meat there, for the best prices. It's my favorite place to shop!

Breakfast: Balance bar, banana
Lunch: 2 wedges Light Laughing Cow cheese, 1 serving wheat thins, watermelon, yogurt
Snack: Balance bar

My diet has veered off course, but I'm determined to get it back on track, starting today! I'm starting with a clean slate and moving forward. My goal is to exercise 4 days this week and make smart choices (and watch my portions!). I have a mini-goal of getting to 155 before my friend's wedding in 4 weeks (originally it was 150, but I'm trying to make sure I'm realistic, given that I haven't made any progress in the last couple of weeks). I'm right around 160 now, so this is definitely doable.

Here's my food journal for today:
Breakfast: balance bar
Lunch: 2 wedges laughing cow, wheat thins, yoplait light yogurt
Snack: balance bar
Dinner:
Dessert:
Water: 60 ounces

I'm not quite sure what was up with desserts last night, I just wasn't satisfied at all. Evenings are definitely my hardest time, I think it's partly because I am bored and maybe because eating less during the day catches up with me. I didn't have any problem in the beginning of the diet though, so I think it's more mental/emotional than truly being hungry.

Here's my food journal for today:
Breakfast: balance bar, peach
Lunch: 2 wedges laughing cow, wheat thins, yoplait light yogurt, canteloupe & strawberries Snack: balance bar
Dinner:
Dessert:
Water: 60 ounces

I took a couple days off from blogging and apparently from my diet too! It seems like I've been eating a lot more lately, but I think it's still less than pre-diet. I am really ready to get back on track and I plan to do so today. I've stalled on my weight loss (right around 160), but I haven't gained any back, which is good. I've been doing this 4 weeks, so I think 10 pounds is just about right. I'm going to a friend's wedding next month (5 weeks away) and I'd love to lose another 10 pounds before that. It's good motivation, because I'll be seeing a lot of old friends and maybe it's shallow, but I really want to look my best!

Here's my food journal for today:
Breakfast: balance bar, peach
Lunch: 2 wedges laughing cow, wheat thins, yoplait light yogurt,
canteloupe & strawberries
Snack: balance bar
Dinner: argentian flank steak & black bean vinegarette (dinner a'fare), green beans
Dessert: canteloupe & strawberries, cherries, 1 girl scout peanut butter cookie, 1/2 bag single serving light popcorn
Water: 60 ounces

Here's my food journal for Sunday:
Breakfast: strawberry-mango smoothie
Lunch: chicken sandwich w/provolone, little mayo
Snack: chips and salsa
Dinner: chicken/beef kabobs, veggies, rice pilaf
Dessert: lime cake (from Cooking Light), homemade strawberry ice cream
Water: 60 ounces

Here's my food journal for Saturday:
Breakfast: balance bar
Lunch: wheat thins
Dinner: chips and salsa, 1/2 order of chicken nachos from On The Border (6 nachos)
Dessert: 1/2 fruit tartlet, cake batter/filling tastes
Water: 60 ounces

Here's my food journal for Friday:
Breakfast: balance bar
Lunch: 2 wedges laughing cow cheese, wheat thins, Yoplait light yogurt
Dinner: chips and salsa, veggie taco, fish taco from Taqueria Sundown
Dessert: 1/2 fruit tartlet
Water: 60 ounces

Here's my food journal for Thursday:
Breakfast: balance bar, banana
Lunch: chips and salsa, Mexican shrimp soup
Dinner: regular Jersey Mike's turkey & cheese w/lettuce, little mayo
Water: 60 ounces

I don't know what was up with me last night, I just kept snacking. Nothing too bad, but that's definitely my weakest time of the day. I did finally work out though, it felt great to get back into it. I'm planning on doing Yoga tonight. Tomorrow we're doing Dinner A'Fare again, I wanted to give my husband a chance to experience it. We're getting 12 meals and delivering 6 of them to my sister-in-law. With two little ones, it should be good for her. Plus, she's going back to work from maternity leave in a month!

Here's my food journal for today:
Breakfast: balance bar, banana
Lunch: 2 wedges laughing cow, 1 serving wheat thins
6 ounces Yoplait light blackberry yogurt
1/2 canteloupe
Snack: Balance bar
Dinner: edamame, ebi, kaboom roll
Dessert: Dairy Queen chocolate silk pie blizzard
Water: 60 ounces

The difference between now and before is that even when I'm 'splurging' I'm much more aware of what I'm eating and I try to balance it out or at least control the amount. Last night I got dinner at KFC and took it home to eat. Before I ate, I looked online at what I had gotten and let that guide what I ate. I only ate 1/2 the buscuit and potato wedges and 2 of the 3 chicken strips. Before I would have just eaten it all because it was there.

Here's my food journal for today:
Breakfast: balance bar, banana
Lunch: 2 wedges laughing cow, 1 serving wheat thins
6 ounces Yoplait light blackberry yogurt
1 c. fruit salad
Snack: Balance bar
Dinner: Peanut chicken with Pad Thai noodles (dinner a'fare)
Dessert: 1/2 canteloupe, 3 mint things, single serving bag of light popcorn
Water: 60 ounces

Exercise: Slo-robics video

This is the longest I've went without blogging so far - 3 days! I've tried to write down everything still. It wasn't the best weekend foodwise, between the yard sale and our nephews staying with us for 2 nights. I did work hard though, getting ready for the yard sale, so hopefully it all cancels out.

I'm working from home today, my car wouldn't start and had to be towed to the shop.

Here's my food journal for today:
Breakfast: balance bar
Lunch: poppyseed chicken casserole, rice pilaf, 1 c. fruit salad
Snack: banana
Dinner: 2 KFC chicken strips, 1/2 biscuit, 1/2 serving potato wedges, green beans
Dessert: WW chocolate cake
Water: 60 ounces

Here's my food journal for Sunday:
Breakfast: balance bar
Lunch: 1 slice thin crust pepporoni pizza, reduced fat ruffles
Dinner: poppyseed chicken casserole, rice pilaf, 1 c. fruit salad
Dessert: 1 serving chocolate mint gelato
Water: 60 ounces

Here's my food journal for Saturday:
Breakfast: Chick-Fil-A Chicken minis (3 pack)
Lunch: 6 inch publix italian sub, reduced fat ruffles, 1 Thin Mint
Dinner: 2 steak/chicken fajitas, chips and salsa
Dessert: 1/3 flan
Water: 40 ounces

Here's my food journal for Friday:
Breakfast: balance bar
Lunch: ham sandwich (with swiss) and banana
Dinner: Veggie Taco, Memphis Taco, chips and cheese dip
Dessert: Dairy Queen strawberry shortcake
Water: 40 ounces

I splurged a little yesterday. I ate out twice - Mexican for lunch and Vietnamese for dinner. I think I did okay overall though. I'm definitely still inspired, but I'm a little less focused. I'm going to try to make today a really good day.

We sent in our preliminary application for The Dinner A'Fare and I'm hoping to hear back from them soon. My boss announced yesterday that he is leaving the company, whcih I'm really disappointed about. He has been great to work for and has taught me so much. I'm doing completely different things now than I was even 6 months ago. There are several possibilites up in the air though, so I excited to see what the next few months holds for me. Hopefully I won't be pushed to 'stress eating' though!

Here's my food journal for today:
Breakfast: balance bar, banana
Lunch: 2 laughing cow wedges, 1 serving wheat thins, Kroger Lite yogurt, balance bar
Snack: peach, grapes
Dinner: 2 slices thin crust ground beef pizza
Dessert: 1/2 serving cinnamon pizza dessert
Water: 60 ounces

People are starting to notice that I'm losing weight. I'm below 160 now. This has been such a great change for me and one that I feel like I can keep up. I really don't feel deprived on a day to day basis. I could see this being a long term way of eating, just adding in 'splurge' meals on occasion.

We're having a yard sale this weekend, so I won't be exercising this week, but it will take a lot of work to get the sale ready. We're having it Friday and Saturday, hopefully the weather will be nice. It's been so hot lately, summer's definitely here!

Here's my food journal for today:
Breakfast: balance bar, banana
Lunch: chips and salsa, chicken soup (chicken, broth, pico de gallo, avocado, rice - YUM!)
Snack: peach, grapes
Dinner: 1/2 pork spring roll, 2 1/2 grape leaves with beef, flat rice vermicilli
Dessert: cherries, 1/2 piece chocolate cake, milk
Water: 60 ounces

My clothes are fitting so much better! I went shopping with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law Saturday and it was fun to try on clothes again! And I wore a bikini yesterday at the cookout and did not feel very self conscious (huge accomplishment!). I think it was partly actually losing some weight, and partly just feeling better and healthier in my body. What a great feeling - it's enough to keep me going!

The desserts were good yesterday, everybody seemed to like them. I also gave away most of the leftovers, so they're out of the house.

Here's my food journal for today:
Breakfast: balance bar, banana
Lunch: 2 wedges laughing cow, 1 serving wheat thins
6 ounces Dannon light 'n fit raspberry yogurt
Balance bar
Snack: peach
Dinner: 2 fajitas, rice, beans, chips, salsa
Dessert: cherries, 1/2 piece chocolate cake, 1/2 cup 1% milk
Water: 60 ounces