Week 5, Day 3 - January 31

Workout: BodyFlow

Diet:
Breakfast: banana bread
Lunch: Subway sandwich (club), banana
Snack: pita chips
Dinner: leftover chicken tikka/rice, steak, sweet potato fries, cherries
Snack: 2 wholesome junk food bites, milk

Veggies - lettuce on sandwich, sweet potatoes

I think I'm getting too many calories at night. I had small servings of everything at dinner, but I probably could have done without my nightime snack, or just had the milk. I think I need to work on that!

Week 5, Day 2 - January 30

Workout: Treadmill - 24 minutes walking, 6 minutes running, 2.0 miles

Diet:
Breakfast: banana bread, yogurt
Lunch: chicken sausage (spicy cilantro), terra chips, banana
Snack: 2 sugar free werthers, 1 sugar free jolly rancher
Dinner: Hilam (vegetable/lentil soup), chicken tikka, rice, riata (yogurt sauce), cheese naan
Snack: cherries

veggies - hilam soup, veggies with bangledash dish

Tonight was a tough workout for me. My knees hurt after running for just a little bit (I think it's from Spin class). I didn't want to push too hard and end up not being able to run later in the week, so I only ran 6 minutes. I still did 2 miles in 30 minutes, but it just didn't feel as good as normal. My plan is to do BodyFlow tomorrow night, take Thursday off and get back on the treadmill on Friday.

We had Bangledesi food for dinner tonight - a first! We saw a local restaurant (literally right across from our gym) on Food Network and decided to try it. It was SO good. It had great flavor. It was really different, but I'm so glad we tried it, we'll definitely be back!

Week 5, Day 1 - January 29

Workout: Rest day!

Diet:
Breakfast: balance bar, light yogurt
Lunch: chicken sausage (w/fontina/garlic), terra chips, banana
Snack: 2 wholesome junk food bites
Dinner: spinach salad (w/goat cheese, blueberries, almond slivers), sweet potato gnochhi, tomato sauce, grapefruit
Snack: popcorn

veggies - spinach, sweet potato, tomato sauce

Short/Long Term Rewards!

I've decided in order to stay motivated it will be helpful to have some shorter term rewards in addition to our long term reward of a cruise. Also, because our long term reward has changed slightly, we'll be planning and paying it for it in advance, so it's not necessarily tied to completing our goals (we're going regardless). However, it's still important that we meet our goals and I think the cruise will keep us motivated.

Here are my rewards for meeting interim goals:
165 - new workout clothes - DONE! (new yoga pants and long sleeve running shirt)
160 - Watch for running!
155 - Spa treatment!
150 - Designer jeans!
145 - Weekend away with husband!

Week 5 Mini-goals:

1) Workout: 1 run of at least 3 miles, 2 other runs.
2) Workout: Try new class (either BodyStep or BodyPump).
3) Diet: Get 2 servings of vegetables a day.
4) Diet: Pick out daily multi-vitamin and take it.
5) Other: Clean out closet (get rid of clothes I don't wear anymore and take inventory of what I hope to be able to wear in the next few months!).

I've decided that general working out and diet are no longer going to be mini-goals, they will just be a given. Each week I will strive to workout at least 5 times and eat healthy and drink lots of water each day. I am going to pick at least one specific mini-goals for each though, as well as one 'other' goal. I'll see how this goes for a week or two and then re-evaluate.

I'm so happy that I've stuck to this for 4 weeks and only missed one mini-goal (the first Spin class one). It definitely helps to look out over the week and think about what I can accomplish in 7 days instead of only focusing on my long-term goals.

Week 4 Recap:

Weigh-in: 164.0 (down from 165.2)
A good loss, I'm still not down to the 163 mark I saw several times 2 weeks ago, but I guess that was just a fluctuation. I've lost 7.6 pounds in 4 weeks, so I'm really excited about my progress. More importantly, I'm feeling really good and I feel like it's something I can maintain, I'm really not feeling deprived. My husband has went from 209.6 to 197.0 and I'm so proud of him! So, together we've lost 20 pounds in less than a month!

Mini-goals:
1) Workout 6 times - Done! - 3 runs (total 6.5 miles), 2 bodyflows, 1 spin.
2) Go to Spin class - Done! - I even made it through the whole class!
3) Maintain healthy diet (including water) - Done! - Overall good. I noticed in looking back that I was lacking in the vegetable area. We made a couple of meals that didn't really have vegetables in them, the side was rice, and I had those leftovers most of the week. I've been drinking hardly any soda (down to maybe 2 or 3 a week) and I don't really miss it.
4) Decide on ‘rewards’ for meeting interim weight goals - Done! - I'll put these in another post, but it will keep me looking forward to getting rid of the next 5 pounds!

Seriously the mini-goals are really important to keeping me on track. Thinking about them motivates me to keep moving and make it to my workouts!

Week 4, Day 7 - January 28

Workout: Spin class!

Diet:
Breakfast: 1 1/2 c. maple pecan cereal, 1/2 c. 1% milk
Lunch: 2 Tbsps natural peanut butter, apple
Snack: cherries
Dinner: spinach salad (spinach, goat cheese, almond slivers, dried blueberries, balsamic vinegar), kabobs (chicken, steak, peppers, onions), baked sweet potato fries
Snack: popcorn (individual bag), milk, snickerdoodle (1)

My diet was really odd today, I didn't eat much early in the day, but I definitely made up for it tonight. I know it's not the best way to eat.

On a good note, I made it to Spin class! It was fun, I'm glad I went, but I'm not sure if I'll go regularly. I'll definitely try it again though.

Week 4, Day 6 - January 27

Workout: BodyFlow

Diet:
Breakfast: chick-fil-a chicken breakfast burrito
Lunch: chicken fontina/garlic sausage, terra chips
Snack: grapefruit
Dinner: beef-rice taco bake, cherries
Snack: popcorn

I splurged a bit on breakfast this morning, going to Chick-Fil-A. It was really good and calorie wise, not too bad (410), but not a lot of nutrition. It was a nice treat though.

Week 4, Day 5 - January 26

Workout: Treadmill - 14 minutes walking, 16 minutes running, 2.20 miles

Diet:
Breakfast: balance bar, yogurt
Lunch: beef-rice taco bake, strawberries
Snack: 2 wholesome junk food bites
Dinner: gorgonzola ravioli (trader joe's) w/fire-roasted marinara sauce, fruit
Snack: popcorn

I have a weekend coming up with no plans! I love weekends like that, especially since we've been really busy since before the holidays.

We had a great dinner and it was surprisingly low in calories for cheese and pasta!

Week 4, Day 4 - January 25

Workout: Treadmill - 14 minutes walking, 16 minutes running, 2.18 miles

Diet:
Breakfast: Balance bar, light yogurt, coffee w/SF, FF vanilla creamer
Lunch: beef-rice taco bake, strawberries
Snack: banana, tea w/creamer
Dinner: chips w/salsa, Mexican chicken soup
Snack: 2 snickerdoodle cookies (organic, gluten free), milk

I had a great workout again. This was my first workout running more than walking! I am definitely improving.

Week 4, Day 3 - January 24

Workout: BodyFlow class

Diet:
Breakfast: banana bread (large slice)
Lunch: chicken fajita taco salad (no shell)
Snack: banana
Dinner: beef-rice taco bake (cooking light), cherries
Snack: popcorn

I LOVE BodyFlow! I really look forward to the classes. There's a great instructor at my gym and I feel so good afterwards. I am so happy that I'm back into working out.

Week 4, Day 2 - January 23

Workout: Treadmill - 15 minutes walking, 15 minutes running, 2.16 miles

Diet:
Breakfast: 2 small pancakes, syrup, pinaeapple, canteloupe
Snack: granola bar
Lunch: beef-rice taco bake (cooking light)
Snack: banana
Dinner: chicken szechwan (1 c. rice, 1 c. stirfry), grapefruit
Snack: SmartPop (individual bag)

I had a breakfast meeting at work and decided to eat there and just pick out what I thought were the best options. I had fruit and 2 small pancakes with just a little bit of syrup. I passed up the bacon, sausage, hash browns, pastery, etc., so I was proud of myself. There's almost always some healthy option, it's just making the right choice and of course watching the portion.

Week 4, Day 1 - January 22

Workout: Rest day!

Diet:
Breakfast: banana bread, coffee w/SF,FF vanilla creamer
Lunch: Chicken Szechuan (cooking light) - 1 c. rice, 1 c. stirfry
Snack: banana
Dinner: Beef-Rice Taco Bake (cooking light), cherries
Snack: SmartPop (individual bag)

Week 4 Mini-Goals

1) Workout 6 times (3 runs, 2 BodyFlow, 1 Spin).
2) Go to Spin class (missed this last week – no excuses this week!).
3) Maintain healthy diet (including water).
4) Decide on ‘rewards’ for meeting interim weight goals.

I really enjoy the mini-goals – they’re very motivating. It also gives me something to focus on instead of just the number on the scale. I’m increasing my number of workouts – I really want to keep 3 runs going and I enjoy BodyFlow so much, I’ve decided to do that twice a week. And, since I really want to try Spin, I’ve added that on too. I think its’ okay, because they’re all different types of workouts, so I don’t think it will be too much for me. At some points I want to add strength training in too, but I’m going to wait a few weeks for that.

I need to decide on some small rewards for meeting weight goals (probably in increments of 5 pounds). Our overall motivation is the cruise (and really just feeling and looking good), but I think rewards along the way will help keep me motivated. I’ve thought about it and haven’t come up with anything good, so that’s why I’ve added that to my mini-goals for this week. That’s a fun mini-goal to have!

Week 3 Recap:

Weigh-in: 165.2 (down from 165.6)
I’m a little disappointed in having such a slight decrease, but I think it’s just one of those days. Over the last week, I’ve weighed as little as 162.6 and had several days around 163. So, I think it’s just a natural fluctuation and I think I’ll have a bigger decline next week. It was a good diet and workout week and I’m feeling great, so I’m just going to focus on that!

Mini-Goals:
I ran 4 days (one day was only 1 mile though) for a total of 7.0 miles. I also got in 2 Bodyflow workouts. I had to double up BodyFlow and running to get all my workouts in, but it was good to workout for a longer amount of time and the workouts are so different I didn’t really have any problems with that. I missed spinning class due to scheduling changes, but I will add this to Week 4’s mini-goals and I will definitely meet this next week, no excuses! I ate well, definitely went over calories Saturday, but overall made good choices. I’ve been doing well with water, I only had 3 sodas last week! I also cleaned out the pantry yesterday. We didn’t really have a lot of junk food to get rid of, but it was good to get it cleaned out and now I know what’s in there!

Week 3, Day 7 - January 21

Workout: Bodyflow class, Treadmill - 15 minutes running, 11.5 walking, 2.0 miles

Diet:
Breakfast: Banana bread
Lunch: regular turkey sandwich (Jersey Mikes), orange
Dinner: Chicken Szechuan (cooking light) - 1 c. rice, 3/4 c. stirfry, cherries
Snack: 2 Wholesome Junk Food bites

I had the best treadmill workout so far this year! I had a class at 11:30 and I planned on doing 30 minutes/2 miles on the treadmill beforehand. I got to the gym a few minutes late, so I really pushed myself on the treadmill to get 2 miles done. It was great. I'm loving Bodyflow too! It's a mixture of Pilates, Yoga, and Tai Chi. I'm going to try to go twice a week.

Week 3, Day 6 - January 20

Workout: Bodyflow, Treadmill - 10 minutes walking, 5 running, 1.0 mile

Diet:
Breakfast: Banana bread, cherries
Snack: Pound cake batter
Lunch: half a turkey wrap from Whole Foods, chips, cheese samples at whole foods
Snack: 20 jelly beans
Dinner: Armenian food - monti, kufta, dolma, itch, yogurt
Snack: Armenian dessert - Kadafyi (shredded phyllo dough, butter, cheese, simple syrup), really thin piece of pound cake

We celebrated my father-in-laws birthday this weekend and made a meal with lots of Armenian dishes for him, it's been a tradition for several years. The food was all really good and relatively healthy. I had just a little bit of each dish and didn't go back for seconds, so I was happy with that. I did try the desserts we made, the Armenian one was a new recipe we tried and it was really good! I'm sure I was over my calories for the day, but not too bad.

Week 3, Day 5 - January 19

Workout: Rest day.

Diet:
Breakfast: Banana bread, yogurt, coffee w/vanilla creamer
Lunch: maple pork tenderloin, sweet potato wedges
Snack: 3 wholesome junk food bites
Dinner: Spaghetti Pomodoro
Snack: mini peppermint patty

I missed another workout this morning. My husband was sore from yesterday's run and didn't want to go, so I completely just slept in. I've got 3 workouts to get in this weekend (at least 1 running) and 2 others. I can't go tonight, because we have plans, but there are bodyflow classes at the gym tomorrow and Sunday, so I'm planning on those and then I'll run one day too. I think I'm going to miss out on my Spinning mini-goal this week. The only classes during the week that we can make are Mon-Wed and there is a class on the weekend, but the instructors are training this weekend, so most of the classes are cancelled. I'm disappointed to miss a goal, but this was a due to poor planning, not just because I didn't do it. Next week I'll make it for sure!

We went out to dinner with family tonight before going to see a show at the Fox. We went to a great Italian restaurant, Osteria 582 in the Highlands. They have a great pasta with Gorgonzola cream sauce, but I looked online before I went and picked what I thought was the best choice, Pomodoro sauce. It had fresh tomatoes, onions, basil. I think it was a good choice.

Week 3, Day 4 - January 18

Workout: Treadmill - 19 minutes walking, 11 minutes running, 2.0 miles (same mileage, slightly shorter time!)

Diet:
Breakfast: Balance bar, yogurt
Lunch: lemon shrimp, roasted squash, orange
Snack: 12 almonds
Dinner: maple pork tenderloin, sweet potato wedges with brown sugar glaze (both from cooking light), artichoke hearts, cherries
Snack: 2 'wholesome junk food bites'

We had to force ourselves to get up today, but finally got out of bed and got our workout in this morning. I'm seeing improvement in my running, but my husband is blowing me away. He's up to running 10 minutes at one time, 15 overall. I have to remind myself it's not a competition (because I'm super competitive and I hate to lose!). My plan is to be able to run two miles straight by the end of February and I'm on schedule for that. My only competition is myself.

I did well eating. I was really craving popcorn while I was watching TV, but I decided to wait (since I had already had a snack and wasn't really hungry) and then I forgot about it!

Week 3, Day 3 - January 17

Workout: Rest day.

Diet:
Breakfast: balance bar, yogurt
Lunch: chile rellanos casserole, 2 wholesome junk food bites
Snack: banana, granola bar
Dinner: tilapia (from Dinner A'Fare), roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus, Caesar salad
Snack: grapefruit

Today was an unintentional rest day. We were going to wake up and go work out, but didn't make it. Normally that would mean we would work out in the evening, but we had plans to babysit my niece and nephew, so that was out. I did however do a little bit of dancing around to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (for some reason that seemed to amuse the kids). We had a great time, those kids just make my day every time I see them.

I did pretty well at dinner, my sister-in-law made dinner for us (the tilapia was from dinner a'fare) and it was overall really healthy. The caesar salad was premade though, so I had more dressing than I would have liked, but all in all a good day.