Conquering Sugar

I've always heard people say that if you can give sugar up for a while, you eventually stop craving it.  I'm not going to say that I have kicked my sugar addiction, but eating healthier and having less treats really has made saying 'No' to sweets much easier.  Tonight we went for froyo after dinner and I was able to resist the chocolatey, peanut buttery, delicious toppings.  Usually, my bowl consisted of a combination of cake batter, chocolate, and peanut butter froyo with peanut butter cups, brownies, cookie dough, chocolate fudge, and whatever other cookies or chocolate candy was there.   I know that froyo is way better for you than regular ice cream, but I always end up going topping crazy.  I've always told myself 'next time I'm going to just get vanilla with a bunch of fruit', but I always end up caving once I get in line and go with the usual 'death by chocolate'.  HOWEVER..  Tonight I was able to successfully feel good about getting froyo and having it fit into a successful part of my weight loss journey.  Tonight my froyo looked like this: 

And it was delicious!!  Cheesecake froyo with strawberries and raspberries with probably 1/2 tbsp mini chocolate chips and less than a tbsp of strudel crumble.  (Plus two brownie bits out of Mom's bowl that may have snuck in there too) ... YUM!!!

As for the rest of the day..  Nothing too exciting.  Breakfast was the usual, and lunch was leftover fajita chicken and peppers over spinach with some fresh strawberries.  

Dinner was a successful night of going out to eat..  I ordered a Santa Fey salad which had grilled chicken, peppers, onions, tomatoes, corn, and salsa.  I ordered the cheese on the side because damn that was a lot of cheese!!  I probably sprinkled about a tablespoon of that onto my salad and threw out the rest.  Ahh, self control :)

Didn't have time for an intense workout today, but I think that my body was due for a rest-ish day anyways.  Mom and I went out for a late night walk that ended up being just short of 3.5 miles.  Our pace wasn't too fast but it was so nice out and just felt good to get a little bit of activity after a big dinner.

I am just so proud of how long I have stayed on track so far, and I can't talk enough about how good I feel about being in control of my sweet tooth!

Change of Plans

Today was the first day that I really veered from my plan for the day.  First off, I was planning on waking up early for 5:45am Boot Camp, but it was cold and rainy this morning and I didn't get much sleep last night so I ended up sleeping in.  Breakfast was the usual omelette.. However,  for lunch I had planned to have some leftover fajita chicken and peppers over spinach, but a co-worker decided to order Jimmy Johns and I caved and got a Beach Club.  Mmmm... turkey and avocado <3.  I did look at my food diary first to make sure that JJ's could be adjusted into my day.  

After work I hit up Kickboxing with my FAVORITE  fitness instructor ever.  Her energy and passion for fitness is so inspiring and motivating.  I haven't been able to take her class regularly in a long time because of my coaching schedule, but now that I cut back to only one day a week I will be able to hit up Kickboxing more often!  

Came home after boxing and grabbed some leftover penne rosa and eventually headed to my volleyball game.  After vball we stuck around for a while and played a few extra games.. Extra volleyball = extra calories burned!

I ended the day with an apple, peanut butter, and a few mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.  My favorite sweet treat right now!

I forgot to snap pics of anything food or workout related, so instead you'll just get to see the darlings that run our household:

Wednesday Weigh In

Initial Weight: 194
Today: 190.4

Total: -3.6


I'm very happy with those results for the first week!  I feel thinner (at least not so bloated!) and feel like I have more energy in general.  Feels great..  Can't wait for more!

Today was another great day.  Despite feeling like I got hit by a truck, I still made it to Boot Camp this evening.  An hour of circuits outside in the rain felt great!

Eating was good today as well.  I slept in this morning so just had coffee when I woke up, but then we went to Ryan's parents house for lunch (and to see our sweet nephew!).  We had steak fajitas and homemade guacamole.  I had my fajitas over a lettuce salad instead of in the tortillas, and I used a little self control to only have a 1/2 cup of guacamole.  Guac is probably one of my favorite foods and I could eat a gallon of it at once.  This was an awesome accomplishment for me.  Also, Ryan's parents always have freshly baked homemade chocolate chip cookies and these are usually a big trigger for me as well.  Once I have one I usually end up having 5, so today I just didn't have any!  For some reason it was a lot easier to 'Just say No' than I though it would be.  I feel so silly for being so proud about not eating a cookie, but anyone who knows me knows that I have a wicked sweet tooth and am especially weak-willed around baked goods.

Ran a bunch of errands today and cooked some homemade Penne Rosa.  It was supposed to be a healthy version of the dish sold at Noodles & Co.  It was pretty good and low calorie, but not quite  as tasty as the real thing.  However, it was definitely a satisfying dinner after boot camp!

 

The plan for the rest of the night is a little relaxation, probably a banana with a little peanut butter, and early to bed so that I'm ready and raring to go for a long day with lots of fitness fun planned!

Two-a-days

Ow.  Ouch.  Ooh. Ow.

Basically what I sound like right now.  Started the day off right with Sister at 5:45 am Boot Camp..  That was an awesome workout..  60 minutes of sunshine and jumping over fences and onto tires, climbing up hills and over picnic tables, and throwing boulders down a hill.  The pain feels SO good!  Sister and I stuck through it by thinking about how delicious coffee would taste after the cool morning workout.

If 5:45 am Boot Camp wasn't enough, I hit up a Core Bar class for the first time and will definitely be feeling that in the morning!  Core Bar essentially reminds me of cardio kickboxing except that you're holding this bent bar over your shoulders or behind your back the whole time.  Apparently the class targets your core (hence the name), but its also suppose to address your posture while you workout. Great news as I tend to be a sloucher!

Eating went well again today.  I don't remember the last time I felt this motivated and felt so in control.  

B- egg beater omelette, coffee, banana

L- tuna wrap, cottage cheese, leftover squash/zucchini, and strawberries

S- string cheese

D- homemade fajita chicken and bell peppers over a huge bowl of spinach

S- banana with 1/4 c mini marshmallows, 1/2 tbsp mini chocolate chips, and 1/3 tbsp of peanut butter

Today presented me with only two temptations, co-workers ordering Chinese food for lunch and the nectarine pie in my refridge that Ryan's mom sent over.  While I label both situations as temptations, it is also important that I point out that neither thing was actually even that tempting to me!.. 

Finished the evening off watching Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss, and wow is that show inspiring!  However - I can never wrap my mind around how once the contestants drop below my current weight, they always look way heavier than me!  :(

My apologies for no pictures today, but breakfast and lunch were nothing new or exciting, and by the time I got my fajita salad made for dinner it was 9:30 and taking a picture of my dinner was the last thing on her mind!

 

Oh Monday.

Monday, Monday.  Back to work after a relaxing weekend.  Today marked the last day of the first week into my weight loss journey, and today was also the first day I had a little unplanned treat.  I did so great resisting cupcakes on Saturday at volleyball, but I wasn't strong enough to resist them again today at work.  However..  I did have to successes on relation to that delicious little (very little!) orange dreamsicle cupcake.  Normally, I honestly probably would have eaten 3 (or more!), but instead I was able to only have one.  Also, I loaded up my calorie tracker to examine the day and make a few modifications before I decided to have the cupcake.  Knowing that I was going to eat an extra treat also gave me extra motivation to not only get to the gym tonight but to push hard at Boot Camp.

Boot Camp rocked.  I just love that style of workout, and my legs and arms still feel like jelly.  Can't wait to see how I feel tomorrow.  

And speaking of tomorrow - I'm planning on waking up [way to] early tomorrow to hit up boot camp again at 5:45..  Hoping Sister will join me and we'll have a ball!

The scale has been holding pretty steady the past few days, but my workouts weren't as intense over the weekend and my calorie deficit was a little smaller as well.  I'm hoping that getting a week full of more intense workouts and being a little more aware of my eating choices will help the scale drop again some more and keep me motivated!

Today's Food Log:

B- the usual egg beater/veggie link omlette

L- taco salad with leftover taco meat and a Greek yogurt

D- lemon pepper salmon and roasted squash, zucchini, squash, and green beans

S- dreamsicle cupcake and a 'banana s'more' ...  See picture below for details on this delicious bedtime treat :)

Boring [rest] Day

Today in summary:

1. Lazy rest day
2. Season 4 of Prison Break
3. Meal planning
4. Grocery shopping
5. Homemade chicken enchiladas
6. Walk with a good friend

:)

Feeling good heading into this new week.  Boot Camp classes will start tomorrow and my meals are planned out for the week (roughly).  I've dropped about 4 pounds so far, so I feel like that has helped to keep my motivation high.  I think I will do weigh-in posts every Wednesday, so look for that later this week!

The First Unplanned Day

Rolled out of bed at 7:30 this morning with plans of being at the first day of Boot Camp by 8:00.. But when I woke up my knee was still killing me!  I was mad but figured resting my knee and skipping boot camp would be better for my overall success for the rest of the week.   So instead of blasting fat doing burpees and hills, I spent the morning laying on the couch, icing my knee, and eating mango.

After skipping boot camp I met my mom and sister at the Y to help them coach 1st and 2nd grade volleyball.  I'm used to getting a workout while coaching gymnastics, but I forgot how great of a workout I could get from coaching volleyball too!  Bonus!

It was the last day of the session for volleyball, so Mom and Sis brought cupcakes for the girls..  This presented me with my first challenge {and success!} for the day.  Those cupcakes looked so tasty but I resisted and reminded myself that they were just made from a boring old box mix and store bought frosting.  If I'm trying to cut back on sweets and treats, these would have not been worth the splurge!  I honestly think I got more happiness out of the satisfaction I got from not eating the cupcake then I would have gotten from eating it.  Shocking!  :)

Today was the first day this week that I didn't have all of my meals planned out ahead of time.. I did know last night that we were going to Panera for lunch, so I just ate a little fruit for breakfast so that I could use more calories during lunch to order my favorite!  

Today looked like this:

B- mango 

L- 1/2 of a roasted turkey and artichoke panini, cheesy broccoli soup, and a french baquette side 

D- taco salad with lean ground turkey, spinach, salsa, black beans, peppers, and a little bit of sour cream and cheese ..  also some homemade guacamole and a half serving of tortilla chips

S- 1/2 cup sugar free/fat free cheesecake pudding with cool whip, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries

My knee was feeling pretty good by the end of the day, so I got out for a 4.25 mile walk with Mom.  We found a rose laying in the road at the end of our walk and I scooped it up and brought it home.  A simple pleasure but it gave me a little smile to end my successful day!

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I've dropped a few pounds already, but I'm hoping to get an initial numbers post up tomorrow!  :)