Slow and steady

So my "new beginning" was 4 weeks ago, and it's mostly been good. I've had a few hard days, but for the most part, I'm getting in my exercise, water, fruits & veggies and I have not missed a day of tracking my food!

I still need to work on eating better and staying within my calories for the day. I do well on the weekdays, but I still struggle with weekends.

I've been exercising 5 days a week again too, and that feels really good. I really do love the Chalean Extreme program I'm doing again.

Anyway, I'm getting better. Still room for improvement, but at least I'm re-developing these healthy habits and not being lazy anymore.

Lunch

Stocked up on tons of fruits and veggies today and made this homemade version of the Zupas Summer Chicken Salad. Delish!

Lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, feta and chicken with a strawberry vinaigrette dressing. Mmmm.

I've been doing great this week at getting my Daily 5 checked off and I am feeling so much better. I've started over at the Chalean Extreme program too and I'm so sore! But I feel good. And I went to poolside yoga this week and it was awesome! And I haven't stepped on the scale at all.

Let's be honest

So I have not been in a good place for the past several months, and my weight loss progress and my health have really taken a backseat. I have been struggling A LOT with some personal and family things. I've been under a lot of stress. I have felt very alone with little help and support. It has been a really hard 2014.

But I have got to dig myself out of this hole. I cannot keep letting myself spiral downward. I'm starting over TODAY. I need to be healthier. I'm not going to worry about the number on the scale anymore. I'm going to worry about being healthy and feeling good.

I'm going to focus on doing more healthy things rather than avoiding unhealthy things. If I'm focusing on developing more healthy habits, there will be less room for the unhealthy ones. I have 5 daily goals: water, fruits/veggies, exercise, food journal, and scriptures. I made a daily checklist and I'm going to strive to check off those 5 things every day. AND, I'm going to work on loving and accepting my body for where it's at.

Here's to new beginnings!

40 miles

I did the 40 miles. And it was great! Love Goldilocks.

I need to ride my bike more often...I really like riding my bike.

I won!

I won a free entry into the Goldilocks Bike Ride that is this Saturday! So I took these two for a little training ride.

I am not in very good biking shape, so I'm shooting for the 40-mile distance and hope I can finish it!

My jogging buddy

Today I did 5.2 miles with a little jogging buddy.... can you see his little feet poking out?

It's been a long time since I've done a run with the jogging stroller...but Zach and I had a lovely time. :)

How to lose 5 pounds in 5 minutes

You chop 10 inches off your hair!

12 weeks, 13 miles, 13 pounds

I am going to run a half marathon on June 14. It's called the Drop 13 half marathon, and you can earn 2 extra medals if you a) beat your best 1/2 marathon time by 13 minutes. and b) lose 13 pounds while training. I want to do both!

My best half marathon time is 2:29, so I'd have to run it in 2:16. I started this 12-week training program this week (with a few modifications).

.
Here is the link
to the training plan.

I also started using my Fitbit and tracking my food again on My Fitness Pal. I can do this!

Kale Salad

The kale salad I made last week was pretty good. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

9 cups bite-size pieces kale leaves*
Juice of 1 medium orange, divided
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 teaspoons honey
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sliced strawberries (or blueberries, blackberries or raspberries)
¼ cup dried currants or raisins
¼ cup slivered almonds or pine nuts, toasted
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese, if desired

Directions

Combine kale, half of the orange juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt in a large bowl. Massage kale by scrunching small amounts with your hands, then releasing and repeating. With massaging, kale will soften, somewhat deepen in color and become more fragrant.
Make the dressing by whisking remaining orange juice, orange zest, honey and pepper in a small bowl. Gradually whisk ¼ cup olive oil into the juice mixture to combine well. Set aside.
Pour the dressing over kale. Add strawberries, currants and toasted almonds. Toss gently. Let salad ingredients marinate for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. If desired, top with goat cheese.
*Note: Remove and discard center ribs and stems from 1 large bunch kale leaves. Tear kale leaves into bite-sized pieces.

Yes, I know it's been a month

I haven't posted recently because I don't really feel like I have anything to say. I'm still exercising regularly. I'm getting faster at running and I'm getting stronger (I can do a pull-up with the pull-up assist band now). I'm trying to eat better. Sometimes I do great, and sometimes I eat too many cookies.

But I am not making any visible progress. I weigh the same, my measurements are the same. Which is frustrating. But I'm struggling with some other things, and so not eating cookies is not my #1 priority right now. I'm just doing the best I can and trying not to get discouraged with my lack of results.

But I'm trying out a new kale salad recipe and an acorn squash soup recipe tonight...hopefully they'll be yummy! If they are, I'll post them here.

Check-in

I just wanted to give a quick update on P90X3. I'm really enjoying it. I'm running or biking 2-3 days a week at the gym and doing P90X3 at home the other 2-3 days. The workouts are short, fun (lots of variety) and even though some of the moves are tough, they always show you a modifier and how to work up to the full-fledged move.

So far I've done the following workouts (most of them at least twice) and I've enjoyed all of them.

-Yoga
-The Challenge (push-ups and pull-ups)
-The Warrior (military style workout)
-CVX (cardio moves with a light handweight)
-Agility (lots of jumping and balance moves)
-Total Synergistics (core + strength training)

I haven't even gotten through all the different workouts yet (there are still 10 more I haven't done!), but so far, so good!

Sleep

I have read a few articles about how sleep is directly related to weight-loss. It basically says that when you don't get enough sleep, your body goes into stress and starvation mode, which keeps you from effectively burning calories.

I don't sleep well. Here's my sleep tracker from my fitbit from last night:

I'm only averaging about 5 hours of actual sleep a night. Even though I'm in bed for 8 hours. Now, I know I can't control the times when I'm woken up by the kids (much to my dismay), but I feel like maybe there is something I could do to help me to not be so restless all night.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get a better night's sleep?

Pull-ups

Matt got a pull-up bar for Christmas. One of those ones that fits in your doorway. I attempted to do a pull-up and could not even get 1/4 of the way up. So I made a New Year's Resolution to be able to do one by the end of the year. And then I tried a chin-up. I could do one!



I'm going to be practicing these babies a few times a week. So watch out for me in December cuz I'm gonna be strong! :)

The in-between

The first time I lost a bunch of weight, I got rid of all my "too-big" clothes. With the idea that I was never going to need them again. Good idea....YES! Until you get pregnant and it takes you a really long time to lose the weight. And now sometimes I miss those old "too-big" clothes that I got rid of. They would come in handy right now.

So I bought some new pants. Although I can zip up most of my pre-children pants (size 8) they are not comfortable. I have some size 12s that someone gave me that I've been wearing, but they are now too big. I was hoping to just not buy a size 10 and shrink back into the 8s comfortably. But it just wasn't happening quick enough. And I felt like a scrounge in the bigger pants, but like a muffin-top in the smaller ones. So I bought some size 10s.

And you know what? I am happy that I did that! I feel a lot better about myself wearing pants that fit. Even if they are a size bigger than my pre-children pants.

Do you do that? Wait to buy new pants til you get to your goal size? Or do you have an in-between wardrobe?

Next up....

So I decided what I am going to do next....



P90X3. I did the original P90X a few years ago, and although I liked some of the workouts, I didn't like all of them and they were just too long. So, I'm going to try this version, which is only 30 minutes and focuses on more than one muscle group at a time (the original was crazy...biceps for a whole hour...yuck!)

Anyway, I will be doing this at home 3 days a week and going to the gym 3 days a week. I'm going to start doing interval training at the gym with a couple of my neighbors. They are WAY faster and WAY more fit than me, but I'm excited to work out with them and push myself to get better.

Meal Plan Monday

Here's my 2-week menu plan (for dinners anyway):

M: French dip sandwiches
T: pesto chicken with broccoli
W: steak with potatoes
Th: tostadas
F: meatballs
S: out
S: Shepherd family dinner
M: spaghetti bake w/ salad
T: Shepherd's pie
W: salmon w/ sweet potatoes
Th: sweet & sour crockpot chicken
F: fettecine w/ chicken & broccoli

What are your favorite dinners?

Chalean Extreme: A Review

Since I just finished this program, I wanted to do a full review on it. Overall, I really liked it. I've never really done much strength training and so it was fun to try something new.

The program has 3 phases, each one lasting a month. There are 3 weight-lifting workouts for each phase. You are supposed to do 3 weight-lifting workouts each week, 2 cardio, 1 abs, and 1 yoga. Throughout the whole 12 weeks, you are supposed to do the same cardio, abs, and yoga.

I did my own cardio and yoga. (And I only did abs for about the first 6 weeks or so...whoops!)

Things I liked about it:
-you only had to do the same strength workout 4 times total
-you moved onto a new phase each month, so I didn't get bored
-Chalene was really upbeat, but not in an annoying "aerobics-instructor" way
-I felt like the people in the videos were real people with real lives, not just crazy gym addicts
-I liked that I could do my own cardio
-It was a reasonable amount of time (30-45 min.)

Things I didn't like:
-The warmup was the same for EVERY single workout. I got bored of it.
-I wish the ab workout would have been tacked onto the end of the strength workouts and not a separate one.
-The music wasn't that great.
-That Laylie wasn't in the second 2 phases...I liked her!

Overall, I really liked the strength-training part of the program. I didn't like the cardio workouts, but I just replaced them with my own. Which worked out better anyway, because then I could go to the gym or outside on cardio days and not be stuck at home. I really enjoyed getting into strength-training, and I'll definitely be doing that a lot more in the future.

As far as the challenge group I was in, it was pretty good for the first few weeks, but then I felt like most people in my group weren't very active in the group after that. Maybe I just was expecting more from them, but I felt like it could have been so much more than it was.

I may try another challenge group and see if it's different. I'm not sure what's next for me. I'm contemplating trying P90X again for my home days. We'll see. I'll let you know!

Chalean Extreme: Final Results

So I completed the 12 weeks of the Chalean Extreme workout program. I must admit that I'm a little disappointed with my results because I don't really see too much of a difference, but I did like the program. I'll post a full review later, but for now here are my results:

Weight: 164 (-6 lbs)
Body Fat %: 29.6% (-2.5%)
Waist: 30.5" (-1")
Hips: 40.5" (-.5")
Abductors: 41.25" (-.75)
Chest: 32.5" (-2.5)
Arms: 12" (-.5)
Thighs: R-23.5 (-.75) L-24 (-.5)

So, it was a total loss of 6 lbs and 7 inches. Here are the pics. (Before on the left, after on the right.)

I do see a little less rolls in my waist & hips and a little more definition in my arms, so I'm happy about that. And I do want to say that my eating habits were not the greatest in the last month. With it being December and Christmas and going on vacation, I really did not do so good on eating. But I did do every single weight lifting workout every week for the 12 weeks, except I missed one. I did not do the cardio workouts from the program, but I did my own cardio workouts (running, biking, eliptical, etc.) I also did not do the ab workout for the last half of the 12 weeks and I did my own yoga workout for the first 8 weeks, but not for the last 4.

So, all in all, I really liked the program. I think I would have had much better results had I done better with my eating in December, but even with all the treats, I still managed to lose weight and inches (even though it wasn't much, it was still a loss).

2013 Exercise Stats

Run/Walk: 228 Miles

Bike: 128.3 Miles
Swim: 5 Hours
Other: 98 Hours