I love Saturdays!

Well, it's Saturday morning, one of my favorite times of the week. (Friday evening is my all time fave). In true Saturday morning fashion, I am laying in bed playing on my computer. I was really disappointed in myself last night. I had all these wonderful plans to stay up and watch a few episodes of Smallville (thank you Mom!!!) and then play around on the internet, do a little reading, but no, I was out like a light at 9:30. Anyway, on Foxnews.com, they usually have a slideshow or two everyweek of different celebrities and shows. Everyonce in awhile, one tugs on my interests and I'll check it out. This morning I saw one of Kirstie Alley and her weight struggles. Ofourse, I immediately thought this could turn into a blog subject, so, I opened it up and took a look. It was as I expected, pictures of Kirstie showing her always fluctuating weight with the author's commentary of why she always gained the weight back. Kirstie pointed out that her constant weight problems stem from her love of butter. WHOA...Gaining 85 pounds (which she did) in a short amount of time must mean she REALLY REALLY loves butter. Well, that got me to thinking, what are some of the things I love that have either caused me to gain weight, or maybe not be able to lose the weight?

So, my little challenge for the weekend...I'm going to write down everything "bad" food, diet related, etc. that I find myself tempted by. I guess I should write down everything that I gave into. It will be interesting to see what obstacles I keep throwing in my way.

Work Can Make You A Loser

Ok, that title may be one of the cheesiest things that has ever been spoken by me, and trust me, I can be cheesy! But, it made me laugh and goes along with my blog of the day. So, I can home at a loss of what to do. Normally, to decompress from my day, I spend a little downtime watching an episode of my latest addiction, Smallville (who would have ever thought an extreme anti sci-fi girl like me would like that show). Anyhoo, to my horror, I ran out of episodes before my mom could mail the latest season that she smuggled from my brother's room. So, my decompressing time was spent surfing the internet, which turned out to be pretty produtive for me. I found an article that listed ways you could burn extra calories just doing your normal daily routine.
1. While you are brushing your teeth, balance on one leg. Do this for 30 seconds and switch legs each time you brush a different area of your mouth. Burns 10 calories.

2. While at work, when you go to sit down in your chair, stop, pause, and then stand back up (essentially doing a squat). If you do 15 throughout the day, this can burn 10 calories. Side note...I'm pretty sure I'd be getting some pretty strange looks at work for this one!

3. When you are sitting down in your chair at work, lift one leg at a leg and "draw" the letters of your alphabet while pointing your toe. The first time I heard of this one, I laughed thinking it wouldn't do anything. Trust me, you'll feel it by the time you get to XYZ.

4. While pumping gas, do calf raises for as long as it takes to fill up your car. Hey, you may look goofy to the person pumping gas next to you, but atleast you don't have to see them everyday like you do your co-workers! This can burn 10 calories.

5. This isn't necessarily a calorie burner, but a calorier saver. If you absolutely must eat from a fastfood place, and you choose McDonald's, order a Happy Meal. This can save you up to 390 compared to if you had ordered a Quarter Pounder with cheese...Ick...

6. Make your TV watching healther. Alternate doing pushups and situps during commercials. Yes, this can be a pain, literally, but it sure beats sitting on your bum all night wasting away watching television!

So there you have it. I'm curious to see what other ways I can find to add toning exercises into your daily routine. Any ideas?

A Day of Miracles

Ok, so maybe my title is a bit dramatic, but I have been known to dramatize things a time or two. This day was full a mini miracles. The first being that I was able to snap out of a really bad mood and enjoy my dad. Today was my day where I workout after work, so I was able to sleep in for an hour. Hooray! Actually, not really. Because I'm used to waking up around 4:45, I did so this morning, but I promptly fell back into a deep sleep. In the next hour, I dreamed that I was in Jamaica with Jason. I always have extremely detailed dreams, so I felt like I was litterally there in Jamaica with him. Needless to say, when my alarm clock started buzzing and very rudely disrupted my dream, I was none to pleased. I was so annoyed that I'm still surprised I was able to snap out of the bad mood. That was miracle number one.

Miracle number two was I went a WHOLE day without craving a soda, which is pretty amazing for me. I know I have said before that soda is my vice. I love it dearly. You might actually say I'm addicted to it, which is good enough reason right there to kick the soda habit. Normally, I have to fight myself all day and talk myself out of stopping to get a soda on my way home. Today, I realized, I had none of those internal battles. Even now, while writing about it and having my thoughts consumed of a soda, I'm not craving one...Amazing!!!

Miracle number 3...After my evening workout, I went over to my good friend Andi's home to be "evaluated" for the weightloss challenge I am entering. My weight secret is finally out, but she's the only one that knows...that's not the miracle though. While there, she made me a protein shake, which also substitutes as a meal replacement. My first thought was I felt guilty beacuse I still wanted to have dinner when I got home, but knew I shouldn't after drinking the shake. Well, the next thing I knew, I was full. And I mean FULL. No hunger pains, no tempation to eat when I got home, no food cravings...nothing! So, there you have miracle number 3. I know I've mentioned my love affair with food before. To me, eating isn't just a way to nourish myself, it's also a way to comfort myself when I'm bored, lonely, anxious, etc. I always joke around that it's "eating my feelings," but in reality, that's exactly what I do. And tonight was the first night that even though habit said I should eat dinner, the mind said no because I already had and was full.

Now, maybe the scale will give me a surprise in the morning and give me miracle number four!

My Magazine Obsession

When I first got engaged and knew I had a wedding to save for, one of the first things I had to do was take a hard look at my budget and see how I could cut some expenses. At first, I thought this was impossible. Money was already tight, so how in the world would I be able to save more? I ended up finding several ways. One of which was curbing my magazine obsession. I LOVE magazines. Actually, I just love to read, but as I have gotten older, and busier, I very rarely find myself with enough time, or the attention span, to sit down and read a book; hence the reason I love magazines so much. You can sit down and read for a few minutes, put the magazine down for a day or two, and pick up where you left off without having to refresh your memory. It's great! So, in my quest to cut some expenses, I had to drastically cut back the number of magazines I bought a month. I think overall, I saved myself on average $30 per month (pathetic that I spent that much on magazines, I know).

One magazine that I refused to give up was Self magazine. It's an easy read full of fitness advice, yummy recipes, and attainable workout plans. It's not for the ultra marathon runner, or the bionic-triathaloncrazyperson, but for the regular joe schmoe. So, this leads me to today when I got my latest issue in the mail. I haven't read through all of it yet, but what I have read has been pretty intruging, and helpful. This month, the fabulous writers & editors included the "Weightloss Shopping List!" YIPEE!!! I am a black & white kind of girl. I usually don't see gray. In otherwords, I like clear cut answers that don't leave room for error. So a shopping list right infront of me that will help keep me on track? I think that's fantastic! Obviously, not every "good & healthy" food is listed below. The list is pretty long, so I'll only include a portion of the items from each section. Read on and enjoy...and learn!

Produce

Apples

Asparagus

Baby spinach

Bell pepper

Banana

Garlic powder

Condiments & Spices

Black pepper

Cinnamon

Grounce ginger

Olive oil

Garic Powder

Bakery

Whole-wheat bread

Wada crackers

Whole-wheat English Muffins

Whole-wheat tortillas

Whole-wheat pita

Frozen Foods

Frozen cherries

Frozen Waffles

Meat/Fish/Dairy/Eggs/Poultry

Boneless skinless chicken breasts

Sliced aamonds

Hummes

Skim milk

Part-skim mozerella

All natural peanut butter

Salmon

Quinua

First Big Achievement

When you are trying to lose weight or get in shape, I think it's very important to set goals that don't involve the scale. The scale fluctuates so much, that sometimes it can be downright depressing, or deceiving. Yes, if you are trying to lose weight, in general you need to see that number on the scale go dowwwwwwwnnnnn, but you can't set yourself up for failure by only judging your success by the scale.

Many say that you should take measurements, so you can track your progress. I agree. However, I detest small and minute tedius details and having to spend half an hour every week taking measures to see if a I made a milimeter of progress? No thanks. I can guarantee that wouldn't work for me. So, I had to find other ways to track progress. I'm still trying to figure this one out. Sure the whole "are your clothes fitting you better" thing works great, but that tends to take a little longer to see.

So....while I haven't found a good way to track weightloss other than the scale and taking your measurements, I did however see progress yesterday!!! Yipee!!! First of all, I did manage to lose those yucky pounds I gained during my slacker week (and did lose an additional pound that I didn't gain), but what I was most excited about was the ever so slight microscopic hint of toning in my shoulders. You know that scene in Titanic where Jack and his friend are standing at the front of the boat (sorry, I am not up to speed on correct boat lingo) and his friend says he can see the Statue of Liberty and then in his very cute accent says, "It's very small ofcourse." That's kind of how I felt about the definition in my shoulders. It's very small and barely noticable, BUT I SAW IT! I don't think other people would notice it just yet, but then again, they don't stand infront of a mirror everyday critiquing my body like I do. :) I was just so incredibly excited to see the beginning of results from working out. I guess tomorrow when I'm doing more squats combined with military presses, I can't curse too much because I know they are starting to work!

So, here's to those victories that you gain off of the scale!

Making Some Changes

Tonight is one of those nights where I am so sleepy I can barely get my fingers to type, so I have a feeling this may be a farely short post. I decided to make some changes to the workout routine. As much as I love the 30 Day Shred, I don't feel like I'm getting enough of a cardio workout. It's great for toning muscles, but having toned muscles doesn't do you a lot of good if you're not burning fat. So, I decided to mix things up. Three days a week I will be doing the Shred in the morning and then three days a week I will be working out on the treadmill, elliptical machine, or the stationary bike for 30 minutes. After working out to Jillian's voice the last several weeks, it was nice to step on the elliptical machine today and completely zone out. I had forgotten how relaxing that could be. Well, I wish spending half an hour on the elliptical was physically relaxing...atleast it was mentally relaxing! I realized today that I'll be having to take a 4 week photo next week and I am not looking forward to that at all. Last week's pitty party really set me back. However, remember that I have to take that picture pushed me to workout harder today. I have a feeling I won't be seeing a change in this photo, but I'm determined to see a change in the next!

Stupid Pizza

All evening long I've had this nagging feeling I was forgetting something. I did a quick mental check of all the things I was supposed to do today and didn't come across anything I had forgotten. Finally it hit me...I hadn't blogged yet. Normally I am pretty excited to blog, but tonight I've been so tired, the last thing I wanted to do was look at a computer screen and think! Hmmm....maybe that's because I was feeling a little guilty and didn't want to have to confess my crime. I wasn't feeling very motivated to go home and cook today, so I went to my favorite fallback plan, Garbanzo. I love Garbanzo because it's a fastfood place I can get food from and not feel guilty. Well, I got home and after eating about half my meal, I realized I just wasn't into it. My usual Mediteranean loving taste buds were craving something a little bit more. Well, considering I haven't done any serious grocery shopping in awhile, I knew I wouldn't find much in the fridge. I should have been smart and stopped right there, but oh no, I went on a search for something better. And what did I find? Leftover pizza that my parents bought while they were here this past weekend. Yes, I was bad. I not only ate one pieces, but two. Oh the crime. What was I thinking? Not only do I feel horribly stuffed, but the guilt is feeling not so good right now. BLAH!

Normally I would say, "atleast I worked out today," but right now I'm thinking "wow...all that hard work this morning to be downed by a crappy night of splurging." But the best thing you can do when you fall off track is to jump back on. Thankfully there will be no more pizza to tempt me tomorrow. Whew. On a plus side, I decided to give up soda for the forseeable future. This is going to be HARD. I always joke around that soda is my one vice. I absolutely love soda. I've been trying to have it only on the weekends, but even then, I probably consume a week's amount of soda, so I decided to nix it all together. The last time I gave up soda, I lost 20 lbs. Hmmm....maybe there's something to that! lol Ofcourse, while I'm giving up soda, I might have to break myself of my horrible orange juice habit while I'm at it. That stuff is just as sugary, but it's so yummy.

Eat This Not That

You might have heard of the book "Eat This Not That" by David Zinczenko. In one of my many magazines that I devour each week, there is a short section of Eat This Not That. It's amazing how much of a difference small changes in your diet can make. Even more amazing is how some of the "healthier" choices are actually detrimental to your diet.

Last week, I came across an article called "10 Worst Sandwhices In America" written by the same author as Eat This Not That. Ofcourse, as usual, curiosity won and I decided to take a look and let me tell you I was shocked at some of the sandwhiches. Here's a short rundown of what I found out:

1. Subway Meatball Marinara Footlong

• 1,160 calories
• 46 g fat
• 3,060 mg sodium

2. Blimpie Special Vegetarian Footlong

• 1,184 calories
• 60 g fat
• 2,198 mg sodium

3. Quizno's Large Tuna Melt

• 1,760 calories
• 25 g saturated fat
• 2,120 mg sodium

This was just a short list compared to what was listed in the article. I think the biggest shocker was the vegetarian sandwhich from Blimpie. The damage in this sandwhich comes from the high doses of oils and dressings that are put onto the sandwhich to make it tasty, but I still couldn't believe the numbers! It really puts a new perspective on paying attention to what you eat.

I'm Baaaaacccckkkk

So, what did I gain, besides a few pounds, during the week I was missing? Well, I found out that I actually have readers following the blog! Several people asked me over the course of the week where in the heck I was and why wasn't I blogging. EXCITING!



I admit, I was a huge slacker this past week. There is no good explanation except for a lame excuse. And we all know what I think of excuses. So rather than go into details about why I was missing, let's just talk about how I'm going to get back on track.



Last week I was doing a little retail therapy. It wasn't a huge therapy session, due to the numerous "gotta save for this and gotta save for that" items. I was only treating myself to a $10 splurge. Those who know me know that I always have to get the best bang for the buck. I HATE the feeling of wasting money and some might say that I'm a little obsessed with finding the best deal out there. So, I was wondering through the rows of Target wondering what I was going to spend my $10 on. I found myself looking through the fitness section (curses) and found one of those cool metal water bottles that seem to be the latest rage, but that was $19.99 and above my retail therapy splurge level. So, I looked around some more and low and behold, guess what I found? The workout DVD section (double curses). Naturally, I zone in on one of Jillian Michaels DVDs (beings she and I are like BFFs now, well atleast through the DVD player at 5:00 a.m.). So, I picked up a copy of her Fat Blasting and Metabolism Boosting DVD and took it home and promptly put it on my shelf to collect dust....until this morning.



Honestly, the workout wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty challenging. The one thing that I was bummed about was that it didn't include pushups...at all. And dang it, I was starting to get pretty proud of myself for the increasing reps I've been able to do.



It feels good to be back on track! I spent a better portion of Saturday researching and comparing honeymoon sites. Beings the clock is ticking and I probably only have 10 months max until Operation Honeymoon, I can't waste a day...and note to self...no more feel sorry for yourself weeks. Uggg..the meeting with Mr. Scale this morning was not nice!



Oh, one quick thing before I sign off. After I finished the workout this morning, I was going through the bonus section of the dvd. In this section, there was an advertisement for http://www.exercisetv.tv/, so I decided to check it out (it said there would be free downloads). So, I go to the site and the first thing I see is a workout by the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. LOL Oh my...not sure if I'll try that one, but I sure got a giggle out of it!

Almost the weekend!

Well, this may be my shortest post yet! I had all of these wonderful intentions of writing something creative and helpful...and then life got in the way. I decided to make ceviche tonight, which is something I've never made before. You have to let it marinade over night (the acidity in the lime juice cooks the fish), so I'm curious to see how that turns out tomorrow. If it's a success, I'll post the recipe for you. If it's a failure, please feel free to send flowers to the hospital I'm recovering in. I have a feeling that making ceviche is something that should be left to the professionals!

Beings this post is so short, I'll make sure to come up with something dazzling to say over the weekend. Who am I kidding? I'll be so bored that I'll probably be excited to be posting all weekend.

On a very positive note, I weighed in this morning and was down a pound, so the overall total is down 5.5 pounds. Yipee!!!!!!

Morning Workout Bombed, Evening Workout Success!

Well, today was the first day that I didn't work out in the morning, but don't worry. Not all was lost! I got to bed a little later than I usually do, but not terribly late. Even with a 5 a.m. workout, getting to bed at 11:30 isn't unreasonable for me (I've been so blessed by the non-sleeping gene...please note the sarcasm!) Anyway, I actually managed to get myself out of bed when the alarm went off. So, I figured with the hardest part of the workout out of the way (getting the motivation to get out of bed) that it would be easy sailing. Not so much! I was barely awake through the warmup and by the time we got to pushups I was even more tired. By the third pushup, I realized I was not mentally there and was not putting near enough effort into things. So, what did I do? I went back to bed. Yes, sadly I went back to bed, which was a mistake. If I didn't have the energy to do a high intensity workout, I should have atleast done some pilates or yoga....something....anything but going back to bed because that set the tone for my entire day. I was so sleepy and couldn't wake up.

As my energy levels kept decreasing as the day wore on (not that I really had an energy level to begin with) I kept having to tell myself that I absolutely had to workout after work. Having an "off" day is not an option for me right now. I made the commitment to myself to workout, or atleast be active, everyday and I certainly didn't want to break that commitment on day 8...or is it day 9? Thankfully after telling myself and my co-workers a billion times that I intended to workout, I did it! So, mission accomplished. The day was not a complete failure in terms of "the shred." After I finished the shred, I even tested out my new Biggest Loser's weightloss yoga dvd. So far, I'm liking that as well.

So, funny story for the day. Last night I had a dream that I looked into the mirror and my arms were so toned. I just stared into the mirror in disbelief that the fit, skinny, and toned person looking back at me was indeed me. Ofcourse when I really woke up this morning and realized that it was just a dream, I was disappointed. Don't you just hate when you wake up from a really good dream? I'm a little irritated that I can't even escape the obsession of getting in shape. If it's now showing up in my dreams, we have a problem. hahaha

I decided today that I needed to set mini goals for myself. I decided to break them up into 10 lb goal increments. Ofcourse, whenever you accomplish a goal, you should be rewarded right? So, now I need to think of rewards. Ofcourse, once I have lost a significant amount of weight, new clothes will be one of the rewards, but I need something to look forward to until I reach my my weight and fitness level. So.....any ideas on what I can use for rewards?

Day 2 of Level 2 (Day 7 overall)

Well, after day 2 of Level 2 of "the shred," I'm realizing I had certain muscles in my shoulders that have been hiding out all my life. There was a time (once upon a time, long, long ago) when I was in shape and I had very toned shoulders, but even then I don't think I had any clue about some of these muscles. Holy cow, boy do I feel them now. It's like they are saying 28 years worth of hellos after hiding out for so long. Ouchers!

So, the dilema of the day...realizing that I was not physically strong enough to do the walk out-plank pushups. This morning (after doing a set of military press lifts) my arms were pure wiggly jello. After the third attempt and doing the walkout pushup and fearing that I was going to fall and dislocate something, I decided that I would spend another week or two doing pushups during that particular segment of the workout.

Now that I have gone through the boring workout recap, are you ready for some good news??? In less than 2 months, I get to see the hubby!!! Yay!!!!!!!! Now that plans are in the works, I'm so excited I can barely concentrate. Ofcourse, considering that the le rendevouz is still 2 months away, I need to find something to distract myself so I don't make the months go by slower than a snail.

Another Day, Another Workout

Mondays are always the hardest, especially when you were a slacker and didn't work out at all on the weekend. Yes, I was lame. Even though I knew I wouldn't be doing "the shred", as my husband calls it, while I was visiting my family, I had hoped to atleast get out and go for a walk, or atleast do some yoga when I got back home last night. But, Saturday went by way to fast and last night the hubby and I figured out that we can be on the webcam and play yahoo checkers at the same time! For those of you girls that complain because your significant other doesn't come up with creative dates, be thankful....you could be living thousands of miles away from your new husband and having to resort to playing checkers through the webcam! lol Actually, it was cute and fun and someday we'll be able to laugh about it, but right now, I really would prefer to play checkers in person....even though he royally can kick my butt (fyi, he's the only person that can!)

Anyway, back to the morning workout. I woke up this morning with zero motivation. Actually my motivation was probably hanging around at a -1...and that's dangerous stuff! You do not want to start out the week on a bad note! So, what did I do about this motivation? I stayed in bed and slept another hour! JUST KIDDING! I'm not that much of a slacker! Actually, I decided that due to my serious lack of motivation I should up the intensity and start doing Level 2 of the shred...5 whole days early! The moves were definitely more complicated and awkward to do, but the challenge was welcomed. Jillian incorporates a lot of plank work into Level 2, so I have a feeling that if anything, I will be seeing a difference in my upper body! Oh, and the killer of them all, the grand daddy of the "I want to punch you in the face Jillian for making me do this" move is the walkout pushups! Now, even when I'm out of shape, I've always had a lot more upper body strength than the typical female (just ask my sister...I laid her out with one hand once in a playful moment). However, I felt like such a wimp this morning. Those things are brutal! Just doing one made me feel like I had done 100 pushups. Ok, it's not that bad, but they are quite a challenge! I recently figured out how to add videos to the blog (yay me!) so maybe tonight I'll search around youtube and post an example of the walking pushups!

On a closing note, I read a quote this morning that I thought was excellent. I'm an avid quote collector, so don't be surprised if I start posting them like crazy! Marie Curie, who was a French chemist and physicist, as well as a two-time Nobel prize winner said, "Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance."