Sugar

This was a bit of a tough week. All I wanted was sugar, sugar and more SUGAR! And I have to admit that I gave in a couple of times. No it wasn't my free day and yes I lost points. But I still had a small loss of about 1/2 a pound...

By the way, I round to the nearest pound or half a pound, so I'm counting this as 167.5. I hope that's not cheating. :)

And, I ran 6 miles this week! On Saturday. Yay for me!

Anyone have any ideas on how to combat my want for sugar?

Deprived and moving on

So I've accepted the fact that I'm not going to win this competition. I had a little breakdown about it last weekend and I almost quit and gave in and ate sugar even though it wasn't my free day. At Sunday dinner everyone else was enjoying cheesecake and I felt deprived. My sugar-free fudgesicle just wasn't cutting it.

I moped about it for a day or two and then got over it. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I really wanted some cheesecake and I was annoyed that I had already used my free day and I didn't get to have some. And I was annoyed that I hadn't lost any weight last week. Anyway, the point is that I didn't give in and got over it.

And it paid off this week...I'm down another pound. To 168. And I ran 5 miles! I haven't done that in a LONG time.

How do you get over feeling deprived (or frustrated) when everyone is eating cheesecake and you feeling sad because you are having a sugar-free fudge bar that just isn't hitting the spot and you're frustrated that you're not seeing the results you're hoping for?

Some people in my competition group shared some ideas. One friend said she looks at her "before" pictures and realizes that even if you're not losing that week, at least you're not gaining. Another said she doesn't think about the results, but more about the process and how far she has come and how much healthier she is.

My sweet new ride

For Christmas I asked for a gift card to Salt Lake Running Company so I could get a sweet new ride...aka...some new running shoes. I finally went and used it last night and got these babies...

The Brooks Ravenna 4. Don't they look awesome? I have had 2 pairs of Brooks shoes before and loved them. I used the Defyance 2's to run my marathon and loved them. Anyway, I've never been disappointed with Brooks and so I hope I will like these ones. I went for a 4-miler this morning and they felt pretty good. I was able to run for 40 minutes with only stopping to walk twice for 1 min! There was a little weird feeling in my big toe, but I'm not sure if that was the shoe or because I went harder today or because they're not broken in yet or what. I'm going to give them a couple more shots this week and see if it persists.

And if you've never been to Salt Lake Running Company and you're in the market for new running shoes, I highly recommend them. They are awesome! They tape you running so you can watch how your feet strike down and your stride and what shoes would be best for your particular foot strike and stride. And they want you to get something that you love, so if they're not working you can go exchange them for something else. Good shoes are expensive (around $100) but they are worth it!

What is your favorite running shoe? or store?

Holding steady

I'm holding steady at 169 this week, which means no weight loss. I'm disappointed. Maybe it was my Mother's Day splurge or maybe I need to cut down my nursing calories since Zach is eating more solids. I'm not sure. It still feels like he nurses the same, but maybe I should try it. It's recommended that you eat an extra 500 calories for exclusive nursing. I've been giving myself 400 extra calories since he started solids, but maybe I should try 300 this week and see how it goes.

I'm also holding steady in 4th place, and it looks like there is no way I'll ever catch up to the leader unless he gets sick or something and can't exercise. I kind of wish I didn't know how many points the leader has so I would still feel like I had a chance to win.

But, on a positive note, in my yoga class we've been doing headstands. I haven't been able to do one, but I tried last night and I did it! (for a few seconds anyway).

Halfway

We are halfway through the health challenge, and after 4 weeks I am down to 169! That's 2 pounds this week, and 6 total since I started. Good riddance to the 170's!

And at the halfway point, I took my measurements again.

Waist: 32.5 (-.5")
Hips: 42.5 (-.5")
Chest: 33 (-1.5")

Total inches: -2.5 (and total since post-baby is 8.5)

I am happy with how this is going. It really has been motivating. As far as I know, I'm still not winning, but I keep trying to do better each week in hopes of creeping up in the standings. My hope when I started this was to lose 10 pounds in the 8 weeks of the competition, and I'm over halfway there.

This weekend is going to be hard though...I've got a wedding today, family BBQ and birthday party tomorrow, and Mother's Day Sunday. I already had to pass up cookies, donuts, pie, and Kneader's pancakes. Sigh...

I read a post recently about things we can be proud of when working on weight loss and healthy living. The one that stuck out the most was "Here's to you for EARNING it when others don't have to." Sometimes I get frustrated about how some people don't have to work at it to be skinny. I see them eating their cookies and fried chicken and not sweating during their "workout". I know I shouldn't judge, but sometimes it's frustrating. Granted, I'm sure they struggle with other things that may come easily for me. But still, it made me feel better to know that I am working hard and earning it. (I hope that doesn't offend anybody. I don't mean for it to.)

And...I also hit the halfway mark in my weight loss goal since I started this blog. 21 pounds down, 19 pounds to go!

Shocked

Last night I had the most delicious steak I have ever had. Seriously it was SO GOOD. We had a gift card to Longhorn steakhouse and I got the parmesan crusted sirloin. And let me tell you, it was amazing.

And it was ONLY 320 CALORIES!!!! I thought for sure it had to be more with that creamy, cheesy topping on it. But no. I got the 6 oz steak and had a sweet potato (no butter) and a salad with it and I was stuffed. I may have to frequent Longhorn steakhouse more often. Seriously yummy.

Non-scale victories

I'm still in 4th place. I really need to send some cheesecake or something to the top 3 so I can pull ahead! But despite that, I have a few victories that I wanted to share.

1. I am up to 5 min jogging and 1 min walking for 40 minutes. And this morning during my run, I felt like it wasn't hard! Usually I'm dying by the end of my "run" period and can't wait for the walk break, but this time I was ok!

2. I have started counting calories using My Fitness Pal, and it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I've made better choices because of it. Like I wanted to have a Costco muffin yesterday, but I looked it up before eating it and it was like 650 calories! So I didn't. And I'm loving my tablet.

I really think it's important to acknowledge the good things you're doing and take pride in those rather than focusing on the numbers on the scale (or the fact that you're in 4th place). Sometimes that's easier said than done, but I'm trying!

New eating plan & chocolate milkshakes

So at the end of Week 3 of the competition, I am down another pound, bringing me to 171. I've lost 4 pounds so far in the competition, which I am happy with. Although I think some people lost more than that the first week! Oh well. And I'm 19 pounds down from when I started this blog.

So I mentioned that they are changing the rules for this thing and now we get points for following an "eating plan". I am choosing to count calories using My Fitness Pal. I debated between that and Sparkpeople and BabyFit (a program for nursing or pregnant moms). We'll see how I like it. I chose it because although it doesn't have as many features as the others, it seems a bit simpler to use.

But the best part about having an "eating plan" is that I got THIS BABY to keep track of it all:

Yes, I totally got myself a tablet. One of the minis. So far I am loving it. It was hard for me to track anything online because my computer is in the basement and it just wasn't possible to run down there every time I ate something. But I can keep this in the kitchen and just hurry and enter stuff in.

And I also made my own "chocolate milkshake" today that was pretty tasty, so I thought I'd share. It had 1 frozen banana, 1 cup milk, 1 Tbsp cocoa, a small handful of ice, and 1 Tbsp flaxseed.

It could have been a little sweeter. Next time I may try adding a bit of honey. But really, it was pretty excellent.