Friday, December 31, 2010

Day 4

Today didn't go as well, although I did stick to 1200 calories. It was a little tricky counting calories for home cooked meals, since I ate leftovers for dinner, but I'm pretty sure it equaled out to about 1200. I didn't go to the gym today. My morning was interrupted by a phone call from the hospital asking if I could come in for my MRI today. I decided to do it, and the experience left me feeling a little strange the rest of the day. I grabbed some food on the way home and then watched joe play the new assassin's creed. Then I played WoW for a bit and read some Count, before making leftovers and relaxing and watching two movies. I mean it was a good day, a very laid back day (oh and I took sasha to the dog park) but not very productive. I didn't workout or work on cleaning the house, so I'm feeling a little down on myself. Tomorrow's friday, and it's my last chance to get a good workout in before the weekend. I'll have to try extra hard to get a good workout to make up for these last couple of days.

I'm also stuck with another problem right now, which is that I don't think I ate enough for dinner, and I actually think I'm below my calorie intake. I want to grab something small before bed but I'm not sure what I can eat, so I'll have to think about it before making something. It's midnight now, and now that I've been trying to eat better, my mind has been kind of... re-activated. I've been thinking about other things I could do, like doing more artwork, sketching, writing regularly and starting another long term story. I'm getting a little too eager I think. Let's focus on getting one thing right for a while, and then the others can follow. Tomorrow I really need to focus on my workout, and then if I have the energy, it'd be nice if I could finally clean the kitchen.

Feeling a little deflated, I guess I'll try to sleep. Tomorrow is another day.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Starting image

I probably won't post this update on FB because it's kind of embarrassing. I think if I stick with this, this image will make a good before image, so hopefully I won't be as embarrassed then. :)  This is me! I look so happy in the picture, I was kind of focused on getting in the right spot for the camera timer I forgot to smile like a normal person. We can do one of those "omg she's so sad cuz she's fat and now she's smiling cuz she's thin" transformation things. Anyway here it is. yay.

Day 3

Today was much less easy than my previous two. Joe and I went to the zoo, and as usual walking with my injured knee is not always a good idea. I can't wait to find out what's wrong with it, the swelling still hasn't gone away and the longer it's like this the more worried I get. I burned about 200 walking around the zoo, and I had a good time, but waiting until later in the day to workout was a mistake since I didn't do it. I was supposed to do 20 minutes of cardio on top of my "alternative" workout, but I couldn't find the motivation. I ended up relaxing at home, thinking it was better to let myself cut some slack than to feel too strained with the workouts so early. I think I made the right decision, but lesson learned, working out in the morning is much better.
I also slipped with my eating habits just a little. Overall I had a good day, but I ate sushi for dinner, and all that rice so late is probably a bad idea, and I was eating spoonfuls of cool whip throughout the day. I LOVE whipped cream and it may sound gross to eat it on it's own, but since I'm dieting, I'm getting my sugar cravings again and it was just a little too easy to eat. Definitely not healthy, I'm thinking about throwing away the tub tomorrow. I originally bought it for the pumpkin pie on christmas, and now the pie is gone (thank you joe) so there's really no reason to keep it.
The good news is, we got paid, which means I can go grocery shopping soon (after I clean the kitchen) and that will help a lot. I need to buy more food for breakfast and lunch and less for dinner. I need to start looking up smaller portion, healthier dinners so I can eat more for breakfast and less in the evening. The only trick is that I'll have to pack joe a lot of food for work once I start making him meals, because otherwise he'll be really hungry when he gets home and I'll be ready for a very light meal.
So I think over the past three days I've learned that eating a big breakfast helps. Also, listening to my stomach is better for me than going off a diet plan. Some people eat every three hours or whatever when they diet, but I find I can eat fewer calories a day if I just wait until I'm hungry again, which is closer to every 4 hours or so than every three. And last, working out first thing in the morning is the best plan, and gets me to keep going to the gym.

Stats: 1294 calories
burned 200 at zoo

The zoo here is not very big :( but I did get some great pictures! OMG! I forgot to take a picture of myself hahaha. I'll do it right now, and post it. Ciao!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Day 2

I got through a second day! Imagine that... it's an improvement from previous attempts, and I think I have this blog to thank. I ate 1248 calories today too, which is fantastic! Those extra 48 are actually from an oreo I ate while making dinner. I was starving, and actually started to have stomach pain that felt like I was going to throw up. I grabbed an oreo because it was quick and available. So that wasn't too smart, a carrot or some fruit juice or milk would have been a better choice, but it's ok it's not to bad as far as slips go. My workout this morning was 30 minutes of upper body cardio, and at first I felt like shit, but quickly got into the rythm and hit that happy state you get during a cardio workout where all the endorphins hit you. So that was a very nice reward, thanks nature :) I always forget you have to really work to get to that, but it's always so worth it.
Eating today was a little easier as well. I ate a bigger breakfast, although it looked much smaller. It was higher calorie, and then had my snack, which was a bagel with cream cheese and some blueberry juice. That was perfect for my workout, so I made a good decision on that one. Dinner was a recipe I've wanted to try that came out AWESOME. It was delicious, AND it was super healthy. How healthy? 100 calorie healthy! (per 1/6 of the recipe without rice) It's called Moqueca. It's a Brazilian fish stew that's pretty easy to make. I was quite happy with it. Click here for the recipe.

So I got through my second day, and it wasn't as tough as the first. Tomorrow will definitely be easier, because I'm going to try to go to the zoo, and having an activity has always made it easier for me to eat healthy. I'll be trying to pack snacks and healthy food just in case the park doesn't have anything good to eat (and to save money) and I'll have my cardio trainer on to track how many calories I burn. If it's over 200, I'll count that as my alternative workout for Wednesdays. If not, I think I can pair it with yoga and get the right amount.

The stats:
ate 1248 calories
burned 372 in workout

Oh btw, I weighed myself today, although not in the morning, so I'll probably have a pound or so advantage in weight loss this week, but I was at 149.6 I figured I can drop the .6 and say that's time of day gain, and really I'm probably more around 149. No picture yet :) Tomorrow I'll try to. I think I'm putting it off for obvious reasons...Until tomorrow!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Day 1

Day one is always my first threshold. I would say that I've quit after one day most of the times I attempt to diet. Usually if I last through the second day, it's after the first week that I start having trouble, but we'll cross that problem when we get to it. Tomorrow, I'll have to deal with my first big obstacle, which is continuing this plan without the exitement that comes from a new change.

So today I ate relatively healthy, but the Christmas dinner leftovers aren't helping my cause. My husband has been however, and I'm thankful for his high metabolism for once. The mac and cheese casserole is almost gone, and the pumpkin pie is down to one slice, so all that's really left is the ham. I ate 1400 calories today, 200 more than i wanted, but it's still not too bad. I need to eat a bigger breakfast tomorrow, I think I had an intense loss of energy during my workout that came from not enough calories to burn, so a bigger breakfast and smaller dinner will have to be the adjustment. If I remember correctly I ate a 183 calorie breakfast and a 350 calorie dinner, those can be reversed. Cutting the 200 extra won't be too tough since the pie is almost gone, and pumpkin pie is my favorite kind. We still have oreos in the house, but since I ate quite a few of them during the holidays I'm not having any trouble staying away. I definitely need to get a bar of dark chocolate. Paired with a glass of wine this desert combination has served me well in past dieting experience.

And for my workout I did 20 minutes of upper body cycling, and attempted my weights, getting through 3 sets of ten of the rowing machine before deciding to stop. It's never good when your stomach growls during a workout. Again, lesson learned. Bigger breakfast, smaller dinner.

The stats:
1400 cal
burned 300 in workout



Tomorrow is going to be my first challenge, and distraction will serve me well. Hopefully I can get some stuff done tomorrow so I won't be so focused on hunger. Until tomorrow!

Oh btw, I'll be weighing myself tomorrow and taking a picture so I have a starting image, but mondays from now on will be my official weigh in day. Ciao!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Introduction

I'm going to be trying to lose weight, get healthy, and hopefully later I'll be trying to tone up and be a little more fit. Like many women I've tried losing weight many times before, and I've turned into one of those "yo-yo dieters." As a result I've made myself much more unhealthy, and I've gained more weight, instead of keeping it off. This time I want to stick with it and make it work, and this blog is dedicated to tracking my process. In this first entry, I'm going to lay down my plan.

Current Goal: to eat 1200 calories a day and workout at least three times this week, and lose between 1 to 2 pounds by next monday.

Long Term Goal:  To lose 30 pounds by the end of April, putting me at around 115. This goal weight may change depending on how much muscle I build and what my fitness level shows me is my healthy weight. This should be a good weight to shoot for, since it's a healthy weight for my age and size.

Mondays: 20 minutes of cardio, 20-30 minutes weights
Tuesdays: 30 minutes of cardio
Wednesdays: 20 minutes of cardio, alternative workout (yoga, aerobics, etc...)
Thursdays: 30 minutes of cardio
Fridays: 20 minutes of cardio, 20-30 minutes of weights


This is just for this week. If I can stick to this and do my workouts, I may change them next week since I'll be getting better and my cardio will be improving. For now I think this is a good start. Later today I'll post pictures of myself and put in my diet for the day and my workout. I'm hoping this blog will help me make this stick!