Big sigh of relief

I have stuff to post but very little energy. For now:

I passed my Project Management Professional certification. That's a HUGE stressor and time suck off my plate.

Lost 0.6 pounds this week, for a total of 3.5 this month.

Enjoy your weekend. I think I will collapse.

IIFYM

I was reading an article the other day about counting macros.  Given the speed (or lack thereof) of my current weight loss, tracking calories doesn't feel sufficient. Maybe I will give this a go, although a part of me is like "Ugh! That just smacks of effort!"

Other than that, sale old same old.

Take care.

Happy day (Friday!)

Happy happy Friday, it's been a weird week - looking forward to the weekend.

So yesterday's post prompted some discussion! And no, not planning to do Medifast. I found the discussion interesting because 1) that's where my husband's mind went and 2) I thought about it for more than 2 seconds. :-)

Yesterday I went to Planet Fitness before work to walk on the treadmill for half an hour.  According to my Fitbit, that workout burned 187 calories. (According to the treadmill, I burned 160). After work I went to Masters Fitness and did a kettlebell workout.

Two rounds of Turkish get ups (2 per side). This is an extremely challenging exercise (which I love). If you aren't familiar, here is a video. This exercise is the bomb and it's way harder than this guy makes it look!

Next up:

5 swings followed by 7 goblet squats (4 rounds)
5 swings followed by military presses - 3 per side (4 rounds)
5 swings followed by cleans - 3 per side (4 rounds)
5 swings followed by snatches - 3 per side (4 rounds)

I used the 31 pound kettlebell for these swings.

Next was a sequence where you squat, curl, stand, do a dead lift, then put the bell down - 2 sets of 7 rounds. I used the 26 pound for this.

Lastly you moved to another board which had 2 15 minute swing workouts - I did 20 minutes, 400 swings, using the 26 pound bell.

The total workout took me 45 minutes and according to the FitBit burned 324 calories, which does not count the afterburn. Most of the workouts at the gym I do are more CrossFit style, but sometimes I enjoy just focusing on the kettlebell and really powering through it. It was cold and I really didn't want to have to leave the house, but I had to anyway so I followed it with a trip to the gym and I am so glad. In related news, I have graduated from physical therapy and am now doing everything and am ready to rebuild strength lost when I was unable to do some shoulder exercises.

Food today is pretty usual, but lunch is seafood tacos on lettuce with salsa and homemade guac.

If you are curious, I ate my pb & pecan overnight oats again for breakfast - I love it! Here's the "recipe":

Put 1/2 c. oats, 2/3 c. plain unsweetened almond milk, and 1 tsp. chia seeds in something with a lid and stick it in the fridge overnight. Next morning stir in 2 Tbsp. PB2 powder and 7 g (6-7) pecan halves, broken up. 285 calories, tastes amazing.

Have a great day!

The old calorie calculation mystery

I read a pretty good article yesterday about estimating your caloric needs. It's not just written for weight loss and discusses the pros and cons of a couple of different methods. Whatever method you use, really you need an estimate of your body fat percentage. Without that you are going to be off the mark as lean body mass components and body fat use fat for fuel at very different rates. Being a numbers geek, I thought it was interesting.

Speaking of interesting, I had an interesting conversation with my husband at the breakfast table.  He and his ex did Medifast and both lost a significant amount of weight. He gained the bulk of his back, but she kept hers off for quite awhile before regaining some when they divorced. Anyway, I expressed my frustration at the snail's pace of the scale and he offered to order me Medifast for a month. He said he felt like I could take 10 pounds off, although he admitted I'd probably regain a few when I went off it.

Price aside, would it be worth it? Do something radical to get off those final 10 pounds? Then go back to the way I am eating now? I dunno.

Semper Gumby (always flexible)

Good morning. Time got away from me and I didn't get to the kettlebell gym yesterday. That's okay, I did an awesome kettlebell workout at home! While there's plenty to love about the gym, sometimes it just doesn't work with my schedule and when it doesn't I appreciate having a fallback plan.

I try to keep a plan "B" both for food and exercise - that's why I try to keep 2-3 meals available in the freezer if we need a quick dinner, a couple of healthy choices for snacks on hand, and some prepped breakfasts in the freezer for T. That way when we do go out, it's because it's something we want to do and not just a quick way to get some food.

I know I sound like a broken record, but IMO planning and planning a backup is critical to success in anything you do.

Take care!

Choices

Sunday night we wanted to go out to dinner - a date night. I wanted something enjoyable but also somewhere I could make a healthy choice. I love going to local restaurants, but that does require a bit of planning if you intend to stay "on track" (whatever track you're on). This wasn't a special occasion - just wanted to go out together.

We ended up going to Bonefish Grill, which is a chain. I was able to choose a seafood entree and sides that I really enjoyed and were well within my calorie and carb parameters. It's easy to go over in a restaurant - the roasted brussel sprouts with ham side vegetable had over 600 calories! That's more than I had for my entire meal!! That's the plus side of going to larger chain restaurants IMO.

I have really nothing of interest to say. Meals for the week include:

B: overnight oats
S: yogurt & fruit
L: quinoa with cauli rice bowl with shrimp and salad
S: Boiled egg

Dinner tonight is a seafood lasagna. I went to PLanet Fitness this morning and am going to the kettlebell gym this evening. I have a load of gym clothes to wash. Also, I guess clothing makers think women that exercise have no hips. I need a large in workout tops (usually), but they are always way to baggy in the under arm area if I want them to fit in the hips. SO I end up having to put darts in them. Sigh. No matter how much weight I lose, finding clothes that fit my figure (at least in some departments) remains a challenge!

Have a good day!

Non scale boost

Now that the losses are slowing to a crawl, sometimes finding those little boosts to encourage me to keep going can feel challenging. Yesterday we went to Kohl's - I had a 30% off coupon and I was looking for some gym socks and underwear. (It was a no go on both.) I did find a cute pair of fleece PJ bottoms (with dogs) for my husband. As we were ambling toward to the front of the store and the checkout, I noticed a T-shirt display.

A few years ago my husband bought me several T-shirts for my birthday. Some we got at Target and some at Catherine's. (I'm guessing it was 2017). I love having a nice, soft, comfy T-shirt to wear in the spring & summer - not your usual white tee with some graphic on it, I mean a woman's T-shirt that is flattering, but not too tight. As I lost weight those no longer fit and I haven't found any suitable replacements, although I've looked around a lot. Luckily I found 2-3 in my tubs of too small clothes (with tags!), but now even those are a little large. I picked one up - just what I was looking for! I grabbed a large and started toward the fitting room. Then I turned, and said I should probably grab a medium as well "just in case." Well, you know which one fit, right!? So now I'm pretty well stocked up on T-shirts come spring. :-)

As far as the scale, I am actually 0.1 pounds less today than I was Friday. It always feel good to come out of a weekend not having put on weight (even if it's just bloat from a salty meal or something). Weekends can be a challenge, but I try to make smart choices and keep it between the proverbial rails.

Have a good day!

One man's trash is another man's treasure

I thought of that saying yesterday morning as I headed for PF for 30 minutes on a "dreadmill."  Yeah, I despise fasted cardio and the drive plus walk between building and car & scanning in & wiping down equipment etc. all adds up to 50 or so minutes I could be doing something else in place of a "workout" where my heart rate will top out at less than 120. What's the point? For me it's a way to set my intention for the day. I'm up, dressed (albeit in workout gear), out of the house, and active - all before work!

I've also found with everything going on in my life right now, exercise is my island of sanity in the midst of a lot of stuff. It helps to keep me anchored to self care, and it helps my perspective.

Breakfast and lunch were the same, AM snack was the infamous triscuits and a slice of cheese, afternoon snack was skipped. Dinner was beef vegetable soup and a salad.

Today is the same old same old for food. Down 0.6 pounds this week. Remember what I said about being in workout gear most of the day? Yeah, got home from running errands and realized I was wearing this:

No wonder I got some funny looks!

Have a good weekend!

Double time

I didn't take a picture, but accountability for food:

AM: Usual 2 cups of coffee and 2 prunes
Breakfast: 2 baked corn tortillas with refried beans, salsa, and guacamole.
Snack: Plain yogurt with blueberries
Lunch: spicy Asian salmon bowl. It's got salmon with matchstick carrots, marinated cucumber, avocado, cilantro and sesame seeds with a spicy mayo over a bed of cauliflower rice and quinoa.
Snack: boiled egg with 1 T mayo
Dinner tonight is black beans, baked chicken, and a salad.

Yesterday I went to Planet Fitness for 30 easy minutes on the treadmill early in the morning (before work). After work I went to the Kettlebell gym and did a short but intense workout. I will likely replicate that same workout at home Thursday rather than going to the gym (in the interest of time). T has the staff meeting and I'll need to get home to feed the dogs.

Both workouts were relatively short so please don't think I'm overtraining (HA!), think of it as a 1 hour workout broken into 2 parts. :-) In any case, it helps keep me focused and keep my energy up. I am taking today off since I am using my lunch break to get a much needed haircut.

Have a good day!

Back to normal

Since I am working at home today and I have food in the house I can actually take the time to prepare my food and get back to my regular eating routine. I love travelling, but my stomach doesn't always enjoy it, if you know what I mean. I ended up taking a famotadine and Tums yesterday when I got home. Thankfully it seems to be back to normal today.

The unseasonably warm weather is creating havoc around here - thunderstorms and tornadoes. Yes, walking on the beach Saturday was great but this isn't good. It should be winter, not tornado season.

Take care!

Beach trip!

We had a great trip - the weather was awesome and I had a great time visiting with my old boss & his wife, long time friends, and of course my family. We got home later than planned, but managed to run out and grab most of the groceries. I am eating a tv dinner for lunch today (it's an Amy's organic, so not total garbage). I will catch up this evening & tomorrow. No regrets.

Now back to reality - which includes studying.

Have a good week.

Tracking works

Good morning and happy Friday.

I lost 1.5 pounds this week, so yay me! I'm at 146.7 this morning - the lowest I've been in many years. Tracking and being consistent with my exercise has helped not only my weight loss, but my mood as well. Yes I am still stressed, but T's schedule is getting back to normal now that the holiday insanity is over and I am beginning to feel like I might pass this D^%$ exam at the end of the month. :-)

We are going to the beach this weekend. Yeah, there's plenty I could do around the house, but I need a break!

Food yesterday:

AM: usual coffee with 1/2 1/2 and prunes (100)
Breakfast: breaded chicken breast (280)
Snack: 1/2 cup black eyed peas (100)
Lunch: the Greek chicken thing I've been eating - 345
Snack: slice of cheese, slice of salami, 3 triscuits (160)
Dinner: 2 of the meatballs that were leftover, 2 homemade manicotti (made with lowfat cottage cheese) and steamed broccoli (550)
Snack: half ounce cashews (80) and a diet ginger beer with a twist of lime (0)

I did assisted pull ups at the gym last night for the first time since my injury and they felt fine!

Have a good weekend!

Another day

Good morning.

I am working at home today. After 3 days of oatmeal I felt like something different for breakfast today, so I had a breaded chicken breast (280 calories). Other than that I had my usual coffee & prunes (don't judge me!). :-) Lunch will be the same that it has been. Not sure yet about snacks.

Even though I am going to the gym this evening for weight training, I did go to Planet Fitness this morning for a 30 minute walk. On the treadmill there I typically walk so that my heart rate is between 110-120. When I work out like I did yesterday at lunch, I use the elliptical and may have hills and speed changes - my heart rate is generally in the 130s-140s. I just wanted to get in some movement before the workday began.

Not too much to say - I will wrap up physical therapy on my shoulder in the next couple of weeks. It feels like it's pretty much back to where it was before I fell. I plan to start taking a good joint supplement and do some of the PT exercises ongoing.

It's chilly but sunny, so I hope to get the dogs out for a walk after lunch.

Have a good day!

Food

Good morning. Yesterday was a busy day. When I am at home I sometimes will vary my snacks a bit or have leftovers for lunch instead, but yesterday I stuck pretty close to plan.

Tuesday:

AM: 2 cups coffee w/ 2 T half n half, 2 prunes - 100 calories
Breakfast: peanut butter & pecan oatmeal (oats, almond milk, PB2 powder, pecans, flax seed) 300 calories
Snack: slice cheddar cheese and 3 triscuits (leftover from the holidays) 140
Lunch: Greek chicken rice bowls, adapted from Skinny Taste. I used quinoa in place of rice and added raw spinach and adjusted measurements a bit. 345 calories
Snack: deviled egg - 100 calories
Dinner: chicken thigh and the world's smallest chicken leg, skin removed. Green beans. 3 bites of a biscuit, half a cookie. I was at church, tired and really hungry. You see what happened. Ugh. Simple carbs were available and I mindlessly went there. Luckily I stopped myself and threw the rest of the biscuit and cookie in the trash!

Wednesday:

AM: 2 cups coffee w/ 2 T half n half, 2 prunes - 100 calories
Breakfast: peanut butter & pecan oatmeal - 300 calories
Snack: plain Greek yogurt & mango - 130
Lunch: Same Greek chicken rice-less bowl as yesterday. 345 calories
Snack: deviled egg - 100 calories

Dinner tonight is leftover seafood chowder I made Sunday and a spinach salad. Soup and salad will be roughly 400 calories, which will put me around 1400 for the day, leaving me room for a small after dinner snack.

Workout today is elliptical at Anytime Fitness at lunch - either 30 minutes at a pretty good heart rate or HIIT for 20.

Take care.

No sleeping in

Yesterday since I went into the office, I struggled when the alarm went off at 5, hitting snooze twice and feeling like a zombie. Naturally since I am working at home today AND T is at home (he is sick), I couldn't sleep late, waking up and laying there until conceding defeat and getting up at 5:30. I cleaned the kitchen, had a cup of coffee & 2 prunes, fed the dogs, and headed off to Planet Fitness for 30 minutes on the treadmill. My neighborhood is fine for walking but that early it's dark and cold, so I am just not feeling it.

Not 100% sure what I am eating today since I'm at home so I will have to report back tomorrow. I hope you have a good day!

Monday, fun day

Good morning. It was a productive weekend. Saturday morning I went to the gym and did my workout, then I helped with the "learn to swing" class, then we filmed a short video. Yes, there are going to be some videos posted on the gym's web page. I will share a link when they start going up.  I also did my grocery shopping and some studying.

Sunday I went to Planet Fitness to get in a 30 minute brisk walk. They know their  demographic well - the "PF" channel on the tv shows music videos, primarily from the 1980s. I am obviously their target audience age! LOL After I got home I studied, ate lunch, then spent the next several hours cleaning the house! By the time dinner rolled around I was exhausted!!  I also took the dogs for a walk since it was a sunny day - they really enjoyed that.

So today I am whipped, but feel like I got a lot done.

I said I wanted to lose weight in January and that means going back to tracking my food! So in the interest of accountability:

This is a photo of what went in my lunchbox. I had 2 cups of coffee with 2 T each of half and half + 2 prunes (100 calories) at the house, followed by a bowl of oatmeal with protein powder, chia seeds, pecans, and mango (340 calories).

Pictured:
1 boiled egg (I will add mustard and maybe mayo, so call it 100 calories)
1/2 c plain full fat greek yogurt + raspberries (135 calories)
Lunch: 3/4 c protein plus spaghetti noodles (165) + 3 Omaha steak meatballs (280) + marinara (35) + cooked zucchini
Baby carrots, a large carrot if the baby ones aren't fresh, and a few cherry tomatoes

Dinner tonight:
Leftover stir fry - 4 oz chicken breast (110) + stir fry veg (70) + oil to saute (100?) + 1/2 c rice (120) + 3/4 c cauliflower rice (25)

That puts me at nearly 1600 calories, which is right around where I like to be, so I'm not going to plan an after dinner snack. If I am genuinely hungry I will look at something less than 100 calories.

Since I am donating blood at lunch today, I did a 30 minute kettlebell swing workout this morning. 30 minutes, 600 swings with a 25 pound bell.

Here's to forward progress!

Take care.

New year, same me

We started off the new year by (finally) celebrating Christmas with my in-laws yesterday. It was a busy day running errands, which I hated because I know T would have loved a day of doing nothing - he is whipped. But it was good. Made stir fry at home last night and picked up hot & sour soup to go with it. Down a half pound this week. Hitting the gym tomorrow morning where I will work out and then attend Elle's "learn to swing a kettlebell" class - gotta support!

Decorations are pretty much down - planned to just do a little and just kept going. Agenda for the weekend: STUDY. Gah. I feel like this torment will never end.

Take care.

Happy New Year

Well, I ended the month at the same weight I started it. Given my stress levels I guess that's not too bad. I lost a little over 21 pounds this year. Not great but not terrible. But I'm ready to wrap this up. Goal for January 6.5 pounds. We'll see.

Happy New Year!

Keeping it real

Just to keep it real, coming off those Christmas carbs SUCKS.

Home again

Well, it was a lovely Christmas. I'm back home. I think the hub and I are going to exchange gifts tonight - we'll see how he feels when he gets home. :-)

It was a nice trip, but now it's time to hit a couple of big goals: passing my PMP and hitting 140 on the scale. And since there is no time like the present I am starting today! Yes, we are eating Christmas dinner leftovers tonight (which I will enjoy), but I will eat a reasonable amount and I am going to walk the dogs and hit the gym today. The rest of the day is business as usual food wise and I have 2 study sessions planned in (I've already completed 1 this morning). Go me!

Happy holidays!