Wednesday Weigh In: Week 11

Yes- I realize weeks 9 and 10 are non-existent, but they weren't very pretty in weight loss terms and honestly I was too embarrassed to post!  Yikes!  Bridal showers, bachelorette parties, road trips, and birthdays will get the best of you!  HOWEVER - since I started this blog to write about my 'journey' through the good and the bad, I will try to be more consistent with writing even if my scale isn't going in the right direction.

On to the Weigh In(s)!

Initial Weight: 194

Week 8:  186

Week 9:  187.2

Week 10 (Last week): 186

Today: 184

Total: -10

I feel back on track and in control!  Moderation is still my friend as long as it goes hand in hand with calorie counting..  I have had a big bowl of monster cookie dough dip (to die for!) in the fridge that I've been nibbling on all week, but I've been doing pretty well with keeping it portion controlled.  In the past I've binged when sweets like this are in the house but this week I feel pretty good!

Highlights from the past few weeks:

Breakfast still looks like this pretty much every day (sometimes dinner too)!

Chicago road trip ended up with The Cheesecake Factory..  I need to order fish tacos more often.  Yum!  (Bonus points for not clearing the plate and saving enough for lunch the next day!)

And the chocolate, peanut butter, caramel cheesecake to top off the night.  Yes, I did eat it all as I was curled up comfy on the couch at the end of the long day.  

I ended up eating pretty bad that while weekend, and I could totally 'feel it' once the weekend was over.  My face broke out and I was bloated and sluggish.  Definitely a rude awakening after eating fairly well for so long leading up to this weekend!  Feeling crappy was good motivation to get back to eating good and hit up boot camp to sweat out all the yuckies!

And another 'win' for me when I ordered this DELICIOUS salad at the pizza place and then had only two small slices of pizza instead of half the pizza like I have done in the past!  (Cheese ordered on the side- I love my cheese but nobody needs that much on a salad!)

Aaaaand this NSV: holding a crow pose at Yoga by the river this past week.  I have tried yoga several times in the past and never really liked it..  But this evening was gorgeous and I was just really feeling it!  I've never tried this pose before but I felt so strong and amazing afterwards!!

Wednesday Weigh In: Take 8

Disappointed...

Initial Weight: 194

Last Week: 185.2

Today: 186

Since Last Week: +.8

Total: -8

This will be a short post as its late...  Gained almost a pound this week and don't really know why..  I did have one 'off' day with a bridal shower and bachelorette party (aka cupcakes and alcohol)...  But the rest of the week was pretty good.  

I do wonder if I'm not working out as hard as I was when I first started this journey..  I feel like I am but my body used to be sore all the time and now rarely is.   The only thing that consistently hurts is my knees, and that's something I'm actually a little concerned about.

However, looking back for food pictures to post for the week, I see that I have only one!  

Lemon/butter/garlic cod with brown rice and broccoli..   One of the only healthy dinner that Ryan and I both love..!

I think when I first started this I was much more diligent about taking pictures of almost everything I ate and then trying to post almost daily.  I'm not saying that I didn't do well this week, because looking at my weekly summary on MyFitnessPal, I was only over my calorie goal one day. However, I think my goal for this week will be to try and take more pictures and most more which will hopefully make me more mindful of what I'm eating.   I will stay focused for the week but if I don't see a loss next week, I think I am going to be very disappointed..

Wednesday Weigh In: Take 7

Initial Weight: 194

Last Week: 186

Today: 185.2

Since Last Week: -.8

Total: -8.8

Another small loss..  I did see 184 on the scale once this week so in my mind I'm telling myself that I'm down 10 pounds ;) 

My sodium intake was a little high the last two days (but still had a calorie deficit), so I'm looking forward to seeing what the scale shows over the next few days!

I took some measurements today and have lost about an inch and a half off my waist, and inch from my hips, and a half an inch off my arms..  That is definitely exciting :)

Today:

Coffee when I woke up

Cookie Monster protein shake from Thrive

Luna bar (s'mores!)

Zucchini w/ marinara and a sprinkle of mozzarella 

Homemade penne rosa from this recipe (I replaced the mushrooms with broccoli!)

This past week was relatively uneventful. I did have a bridal shower on Saturday and ended up getting a little carried away..  The party had a make-your-own mimosa bar, a taco bar, and plenty of desserts.. Basically my three favorite things!  Yikes!  I really need to figure out a better strategy for going into parties like this.  However, I did take a picture of my food so that I could track it all when I got home (only to find out that I used my entire daily allotment of calories at the shower alone).  While I am still struggling to keep myself under control in party settings, I'm still considering this day a success because I didn't just write off the entire day as ruined, and I instead finished the day out with a really light, low calorie, filling dinner that night.  In the past I have struggled with carrying the over-eating over from one meal to the rest of the day (and often the rest of the week!).  In starting to learn that is is absolutely possible to have one 'bad' meal once in a while and still lose weight!

This past week's workouts included boot camp, corebar, kickboxing, rollerblading, and a long walk or two.  Boot Camp on Monday was HOT and its even hotter tonight so I did choose to take a rest day.  I adore boot camp, but i did not feel well after Monday's class!

Some highlights from the week:

Super satisfying snack after long, hot rollerblade trip along the trail.

Me dying after boot camp in the 95 degree heat!

Dinner the day of the bridal shower. (PS I could do some variation of taco salad for every meal for the rest of my life and be happy).

This little dinner I whipped up one night.. 6 ounces of grilled chicken and zucchini covered with a little olive oil, marinara, and mozzarella.  My eyes were a little bigger than my stomach while making dinner, and I only ended up eating 1/2 of the zucchini and saving the rest for lunch the next day!

And finally this is what happens after a day of light eating and a killer workout... it's all about moderation, baby!  ;)

Wednesday Weigh In: Take 6

Initial Weight: 194

Last Week: 186.6

Today: 186

Since Last Week: -.6

Total: -8

Well, down a half pound for the week.. I'll definitely take it though considering I had a few days that were a little off track.. 

However, successes for the week include actually tracking those super high calorie days and getting right back at it the next day (and thus not letting one bad day turn into a bad week!)

I've been at it for about six weeks now and I am honestly so proud of myself.  8 pounds in 6 weeks may not seem like that much to some people, but I've been consistent and definitely don't feel like I have been deprived at any point do far on this journey!  

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Recap of today (a great day if I do say so myself!):

Off today so I slept in and just enjoyed a big cup of coffee when I woke up..  After getting ready I ventured over to Thrive for a Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake shake (280 calories, 25g of protein, de-licious!)

Ryan and I went frisbee golfing with and old friend..  While we go at a leisurely pace, the hills on that course are wicked!

Farmer's Market for dinner where Ryan had a wood fired pizza and I had a carmelized veggie flatbread with zucchini, onions, and peppers and a side of sundried tomato bowtie pasta..  All I have to say about that is YUM!

After the farmer's market for probably one of the toughest boot camp classes yet this summer.  Each 'round' of exercise had us sprinting, shuffling, or back peddling 6 times across the field and then doing various dumbbell exercises for however long it took us to complete the sprints.  Tough stuff!  I was definitely sweating from my eyeballs and it felt amazing (afterward anyways!)..  We ended with some ab work and then it was off to join Ryan and our Little Brother at a baseball game.  LB and I each had a dilly bar and Ryan indulged in some cheese curds.  

After getting home at 10:30 I realized I was physically very hungry and whipped together a quick turkey and hummus wrap to finish the night off.  This was an interesting experience for me,because it was one of the first times (ever??) that I was hungry late at night, actually had extra calories to spare, and didn't end up having a bowl of ice cream or something else sweet.  I really think my body is starting to consistently crave healthy, nutritious foods, and that is so awesome!

Anyways, I am feeling great about not only today but also the past 6 weeks!  I'm now off to bed and looking forward to kickboxing and volleyball tomorrow!!   :)

Tough Week

This week had definitely been the most difficult week of my journey so far.  With the holiday and several days off work, I wasn't able to plan out my days ahead of time.  Today especially I really felt like my 'old self' and did a lot of mindless eating. We attended our best friends' gender reveal party and there was a lot of snacks sitting out all day.  These situations are what I struggle with most and I really should have went into today with a little more of a game plan...  Between the monster cookie dip, chocolate covered pretzels, margaritas, cupcakes, and spinach artichoke dip, I ended up going WAY over my calorie goal again for today.  While I did have a great time and enjoyed spending time with friends and celebrating their little unborn baby girl, I wish I could figure out how to balance that fun and happiness with not overrating.  I didn't get a workout in today and now I'm laying curled up on the couch feeling stuffed and yucky.  

I'm glad tomorrow is Sunday and not Monday because I am not ready to go back to work.  Although I'm regretting not having a plan for today, my plan for going forward is to get a great workout in tomorrow and really get back to the basics of healthy eating for the next week.

The gorgeous layout and decorations at the gender reveal party!

Naughty cat trying to steal my sushi this evening..   :)

Wednesday Weigh In: Take 5

Initial Weight: 194

Last Week: 188.8

Today: 186.6

Since Last Week: -2.2

Total: -7.4

Woohoo!  I just knew if I kept going strong it would show up on the scale this week!  

After Saturday's crazy day of eating, I attempted to get back on track right away the next day and did so-so..  My intake for the day was still pretty high but I did play about three hours of volleyball to offset some of the extra calories..  

Most of Sunday was a pretty normal day, but we did end up going to Ryan'd parents house for a little Sunday night Mexican fiesta.  Usually I do pretty well eating well with DIY-fajitas, but my dad (who is way into cooking fancy desserts lately) added this to the party: 

No idea what it's called or how many calories are in it..  But it was cooked with butter and covered with ice cream and caramel so I'm certain every minute of volleyball was used to work this off!

The remainder of the week was pretty uneventful..  We have had zero groceries all week and usually that triggers daily binges for me, but overall I've done pretty well staying on track despite not having my staple foods in the house.  We (finally) got to the grocery store today, but the last few days I pretty much survived off of subway and frozen salmon filets.    

One night I was having a MAJOR chocolate craving and instead of gorging into a gallon of moose tracks froyo, this was able to happily satisfy my sweet tooth:

One last success for the night was dinner tonight.  One of Ryan's favorite dinners is frozen raviolis, and I usually end up going way overboard with a giant bowl of nothing but cheese stuffed carbs..  Tonight when he suggested we have a ravioli night, I initially panicked and wondered how I could include raviolis into my new lifestyle..  However, I remembered the recently replenished produce drawer in the fridge and reminded myself of a beautiful concept called 'portion control'!  I roasted some squash, asparagus, and kohlrabi and paired that with half the amount of raviolis that I would have normally eaten. 

I was so satisfied physically and mentally after dinner and I am still sitting here feeling great ..  I had a slight craving for some kind of dessert a little while ago, but I reminded myself of the froyo splurge I had this afternoon and realized that I absolutely do not truly need any more sugar today.  Craving eliminated.  :)

MyFitnessPal informed me today that I have logged in to track for 40 days in a row now, and I am ready to take on the long holiday weekend in front of me!

So. Much. Food. [and a new way to think about this]

Today involved a baby shower, a housewarming party, a date night, and a 3,500 calorie day.   This was my attempt at starting the day healthy, and I'm blaming those delicious little sprinkle balls on the feast that commenced over the remained of the day.

Yikes!

BUT - I'm thinking about this positively for a few reasons:
1. This has been the first day in over a month that I had day or eating everything and anything in sight.
2. I tracked every last calorie that entered my mouth today (usually on a day like this, tracking goes out the door by 10:00am.
3. I feel really positive right now.  Usually I feel really guilty and depressed after a day like this, but today I somehow still feel very much in control and ready to get back to business in morning.  I'm excited to wake up to an egg beater omelette and a good workout!

Despite the un-exciting weigh in this morning, the scale did drop the next day and I'm hoping if I can start fresh tomorrow I can still be excited about next Wednesdays weigh in!

If anything, today showed me that I can still take an [occasional] day to eat carefree like the rest of my friends, but getting back on the wagon tomorrow will really help solidify in my mind if this 'healthy-lifestyle-and-not-just-a-diet' is here to stay!