Monday Status Report (On Thursday)

I should really start posting progress on Mondays. Or change the name of these posts...lol.

It was my baby girl's 2nd birthday on Monday, and my mom came to stay with us for a few days. So, I was completely off of my schedule.

You all read about my course correction...change of workout plans and increasing my calories.

Since April 17th, I am happy to report that I have logged my food EVERY DAY and been under my calories EVERY DAY since then!! This is a great win for me.

And, it appears to be working. Not a whole lot of progress in the inches department, but my weight is down.

Oh, and, I am LOVING running in addition to by strength training!

	Starting	This Week
Weight	214	205
Waist	40"	38.25”
Hips	47"	45.5”
Thigh	25"	23.5”
Bicep	14"	13.5”
Neck	14"	13.5”

Course Correction

Fitness is a process. Weight loss is a process. And, every process needs a plan. At least in my book.

And, as some famous general said, "No plan survives first contact with the enemy."

It really easy to see evolution of your fitness plan as failure.  You could tell yourself all kinds of things like "man, I never finish anything" or "I wish I could stick with it."  You know, all those self defeating things we say to ourselves.

I had posted here that I was going to be doing the Jamie Eason LiveFit program.  I made it through Phase 1...started Phase 2...and it just started to not work for me.

You can read all about the program here:  http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html

Phase 2 calls for 6 days of strength training a week.  I am a working mom, and there was always something that prevented me from doing 5 or 6 days.  I would get three or four days in, but then feel like a failure for skipping 2 or 3.

Also, I wanted to do something that was more of a balance of cardio and strength training...I still have that 5K goal looming out there.

So, I've adjusted my workout plan for the next month.  I'll be doing three days a week of the Couch Potato to 5K program and 3 days a week of lifting (modified from the LiveFit 6 day split). 

But, Marie, you say...that's still 6 days a week of exercising and you just told me that as a busy mom you couldn't fit that in.  It was the lifting I was having trouble with, since this requires going to a gym where I have access to equipment.  The C25K work is much easier to do since I can run around the neighborhood.

So, here is my current workout schedule for the next 6 weeks.  A couple notes...there are not a lot of rest days scheduled in...I'm going to take them as I need them. 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
4/21	4/22	4/23	4/24	4/25	4/26	4/27
C25K and Abs	Legs	C25K and Abs	Back and Shoulders	Arms and Chest	REST	Jazzercise
4/28	4/29	4/30	5/1	5/2	5/3	5/4
Legs	C25K and Abs	Back and Shoulders	Arms and Chest	Jazzercise	REST	C25K and Abs
5/5	5/6	5/7	5/8	5/9	5/10	5/11
C25K and Abs	C25K and Abs	Jazzercise	Legs	Back and Shoulders	C25K and Abs	Jazzercise
5/12	5/13	5/14	5/15	5/16	5/17	5/18
Arms and Chest	C25K and Abs	Legs	Back and Shoulders	C25K and Abs	C25K and Abs	Jazzercise
5/19	5/20	5/21	5/22	5/23	5/24	5/25
Arms and Chest	C25K and Abs	Legs	Back and Shoulders	C25K and Abs	C25K and Abs	Jazzercise
5/26	5/27	5/28	5/29	5/30	5/31	6/1
C25K and Abs	Arms and Chest	C25K and Abs	Legs	Back and Shoulders	C25K and Abs	Jazzercise

I have also recently changed my daily calorie goal.  I was working towards a 1200 calorie goal, but I was always over.  Maybe it was a mental thing, but at 1200 I felt too deprived and had too many days when I overate.  Now, my goal is 1560 and most days I am under.  Again, this could just be a mental thing, but we will see how it works out. 

I may have changed the battle plan, but I haven't given up on the war.

Stay tuned for progress reports...if this doesn't work for me I will reassess and update the plan again.

I Have a Clothing Addiction and Gwynnie Bee

I have a clothing/fashion/shopping addiction.

I actually think it may be related to my weight.  I have always wanted to look great...and since my body wasn't great, my clothes should be, right?  And, if you are the fat girl, you definitely don't want to be the dumpy fat girl.

So, for years and years and years, I would stare into my closet decided I hated all my clothes (which really meant I hated the body under my clothes) then go out and buy something new.  You can imagine this got a little pricey.

NOW...I am really trying to love by body for what it is.  Even as I try to change it.  Is that a contradiction?  Maybe.  But, I do love parts of myself now.  And, I can work on the rest.  No need to hate on myself so much.

I also recently discovered a way to have "new" clothes all the time.  Which is helping the shopping portion of this problem.

Gwynnie Bee (http://closet.gwynniebee.com/) is like Netflix for clothes.  When I found out about this I could NOT control my excitement.

So how does it work?  You sign up, pay a monthly fee, put a bunch of clothes in your virtual "closet", and Gwynnie Bee ships some items to you.  You wear them then return them in a postage paid envelope and get some more items shipped to you.   Gwynnie Bee does all the washing for you.

I have received 5 items so far.  They all came beautifully packaged and looked and smelled clean.  This is the first item I got (excuse the bathroom selfie):

Top:  Igigi via Gwynnie Bee

Skirt: Vera Wang from Kohl's

There were some hits and misses in the other 4 items.  But, that kind of goes along with the online ordering territory.

Pros of the service:

• They have some cute stuff.
• I basically get new clothes to wear every week.
• Shipping seems quick and efficient.
• The packaging is great.
• They offer a free 30-day trial so that you can see if you like the service.

The cons (because there is always some):

• They carry items in a size range from 10-32.  The site is specifically designed for "plus size" apparel.  But, if you are on the high or low end of that size spectrum, it might be difficult to find items.  I'm a 16-ish now, and I didn't have problems finding plenty of stuff.
• There is no way to prioritize your "closet", so you are basically surprised by the items you get each time.
• If they ship more than one item in a package, they only send along one return envelope.  So, you have to wait until you have worn all two or three items before sending them back, which slows down the turnaround time.
• If you are at all squeamish about wearing clothes that other people have worn...this service is probably not for you.

Overall, it's a great concept and I would recommend trying it out!

PS...I did not receive any compensation or freebees for this review other than the 30-day free trial that everyone is entitled to.

 

Monday Status (on Tuesday) and Weekly Eating Plan

So...I've been MIA a while. Not just from this blog, but from my eating and exercise plans.

The last few weeks have been HORRIBLE.  I missed two weeks of workouts.  And, my eating deteriorated right along with my exercise routine.

The good news is that I managed to maintain my weight at 208 and not gain back any more.

I really remain amazed at how easy it is to get off track.  And, I beat myself up so much when I do.  I need to remember that I can't be perfect all the time.  And, that this whole process is going to take time.

The other good news is that I did manage to start working out and eating well again yesterday.  My goal for this week is to just keep that up throughout the week.  I have a bad habit of looking too far into the future...imagining what 10 and 20 and 40 pounds lost will look and feel like.  I need to keep focused on today.

So, I am starting Jamie Eason's Phase II workouts over again.  I skipped so many of them that I just need a redo.

And, here is the eating plan for the week:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Breakfast	Cantaloupe with Cheese	Smoothie	Smoothie	Egg White Muffins	Egg White Muffins	Peanut Butter Protein Balls
Snack #1	Greek Yogurt	Peanut Butter Protein Balls	Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread	Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread	Peanut Butter Protein Balls	N/A
Lunch	Leftover Turkey Chili	Chicken Breast with Sweet Potato and Broccoli	Chicken Breast with Sweet Potato and Broccoli	Chicken Breast with Sweet Potato and Broccoli	Leftover Turkey Chili	Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
Snack #2	Apple	Egg White Muffins	Egg White Muffins	Greek Yogurt	Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread	Greek Yogurt
Dinner	Feta and Spinach Stuffed Chicken with Green Beans	Fish Tacos with Broccoli	Skinny Buffalo Chicken Strips over Salad	Broccoli Chicken Divan	Turkey Lettuce Wraps with Green Beans	??

And...some recipe links to go along with it...

Feta and Spinach Stuffed Chicken (OMG...we had this last night and it was delicious):
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/03/spinach-and-feta-stuffed-chicken.html 

Skinny Buffalo Chicken Strips: 
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2014/01/skinny-buffalo-chicken-strips.html

Turkey Lettuce Wraps:
http://www.marthastewart.com/338192/stir-fried-turkey-in-lettuce-wraps

Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-recipes-cinnamon-swirl-protein-bread.html

Peanut Butter Protein Balls:
http://nicsnutrition.com/recipe/no-bake-peanut-butter-protein-balls/

Hope everyone has a great week!!