Around and Around I Go...

And where I stop, nobody knows!

image courtesy of appliedunificationism.com

Okay, so vegetarianism did not work for me. I like meat too much, and it was hard getting in enough protein to satisfy my wellness coach.

South Beach did not work for me. I had headaches, and was just plain grumpy. Food cravings, etc.

Now, I do believe that each person needs to find the approach that works for them, and if it takes some experimentation, fine! So what am I experimenting with now?

Carb cycling.

I've been watching some old episodes of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition with Chris Powell, and so I looked up his books. I started with Choose to Lose, although I also have his Choose More, Lose More For Life on hold at the library. I like the fact that each journey (on the show) takes a full year, versus Biggest Loser (of which I also watch old episodes), where the contestants, who I think get about 6 months.

I started officially with the Classic Cycle on Monday, after allowing myself plenty of food on Sunday (I know, I know... so much of a "last meal" dieter mentality). So far, I've had two low carb days (Monday, Wednesday), and today is my second high carb day. Here's a brief run-down of a couple of days of meals (all breakfasts, by the way, have carbs, which is one of the things I love so far)...

Low Carb

Breakfast: Kashi GoLean Crisp with almond-coconut milk and vanilla protein powder; coffee w/milk; water with aloe and lemon

Snack: cottage cheese (2%) and celery sticks; water

Lunch: chopped cabbage salad with leftover grilled steak, Persian cucumber, and cilantro-avocado dressing; water

Snack: Strawberry cheesecake Quest bar; water

Dinner:  Baked tilapia w/a little Parmesan; roasted broccoli

High Carb

Breakfast: two pieces sprouted raisin bread toast w/cottage cheese; coffee w/milk; water with aloe and lemon

Snack: Greek yogurt w/a few raspberries, and a sprinkling of Kashi GoLean Crunch (honey-flaxseed); water

Lunch: Green salad with chicken, quinoa, black beans, Persian cucumber, and Bolthouse (yogurt-based) salsa ranch dressing; water

Snack: smoothie made with almond-coconut milk, a frozen banana, and chocolate whey protein powder

Dinner: Baked lemon-herb chicken; sweet potato w/lime juice and pepper; green salad

I'm also looking forward to Sunday. I weigh in first thing each Sunday for the weight loss challenge, and then I think I'll have a nice breakfast! I'm not planning on treating the day as a free-for-all, just a chance to work in a small treat or two.

Things I really like so far:

If I'm cravings carbs on a low carb day, I know I can have them the next day

Chris and Heidi's suggestions for eating within half an hour after waking up, eating every three hours, protein at every meal and snack, and drinking a gallon of water a day all completely mesh with my wellness coach's suggestions

Reward days

Carbs at breakfast. I love oatmeal, toast, some cereals, etc., so this makes it easier for me to get that first meal in!

And an update...

On the weight loss challenge. So far (as of last Sunday), I've lost 9.4 pounds, or 4.8% of my body weight! Not a ton of weight loss, but definitely a decent amount, and I've lost a lot of size too.

Pants that were much more "form-fitting" just 5-6 weeks ago!

Also, as of that weigh-in, I'm at 16th place out of 70+ challengers! I've lost a total of over 20 pounds since about January. And my coach says I am doing a fantastic job!!! 4 weeks to go after this one!

image courtesy of myperfectline.com

Another Fresh Start to the Week...

Sundays are always so promising... a fresh start to the week. I weigh in every Sunday morning, take a picture of the scale, and text it in to my coach. Here's this week's pic...

versus the original weigh-in...

Which is a loss of eight pounds in six weeks! A little slower than I would like, but at the same time, it is a respectful 1.33 pounds per week on average.

Which, believe me, is better than NO weight loss, or gaining weight.

And for me, the positive changes go far beyond the scale. I've dropped inches, gained energy, sleep better, feel better, and best of all... I have a confidence in this journey that I didn't have before.

Yesterday, I tried something new, and fell in love. This is how my coach lost her weight, so here she is, doing what I now really want to do more of...

Look at her awesome arm and shoulder muscles!

Yep, that's TRX, or "Total Body Resistance Exercise"

TRX is AWESOME! It really made me use my body-weight and muscles differently. And I loved how it felt doing it. Today, I can definitely feel what I did yesterday.

I want to do it again!

Besides trying out TRX, which my coach set up for me and a couple of other ladies with her trainer, I've actually been running this week. Sometimes outside, sometimes on the treadmill. I'm not using a program for this currently.. just running as much as I can. Friday, for example, I ran 4 out of 6 "laps" (1/4 mile) on the treadmill. The day before, I ran about half of 2.25 miles outside. It's hard—I won't deny it is hard—but how I feel afterwards is worth it. And sometimes I even enjoy it in the process of doing it!

Oh, and I know I'm technically "jogging", not "running", but with the effort I'm putting in, I'm sticking with calling it running, thank you very much.

As for food, I did pretty well this week, though I had a couple of slip-ups, namely some homemade cookies from my mom one day, and some peanut-butter filled pretzels another day when I woke up starving, and in a hurry.

So, goals this upcoming week:

At least 4 more runs (not jogs!)

Karate one night

TRX if at all possible... I will find a way!

Bowflex at least twice

NO junk food! Clean diet, which means preparation and planning!

Inspiration for the week's beginning:

image courtesy of shreddedbyscience.com

and

image courtesy of favim.com

Making Some Progress...AT Last!

First off, I have now passed the TWENTY POUND mark! Of course, it's taken me since December to do that, hence the name of the blog.

image courtesy of pinterest

 But, in the last few days, with some adjustments, I see the weight is coming off a smidgen faster!

Diet Adjustments

image courtesy of dietdoctor.com

I caved, and started up with the South Beach Diet, phase one. I know, I know... I said I would not follow a "diet" again, but it works, and is easy to follow. I can cook meals, add one thing for the family (or not), and be good. I'm not generally hungry. I did add a little extra protein, especially to snacks, to keep at the level my wellness coach recommended. And as I've been at sort of a plateau the last few weeks, I thought this might help me get past it. K recommended I change something up a little if I felt stuck, so cutting out grains/starches for a couple of weeks didn't seem too bad.

Exercise Adjustments

image courtesy of rundmach.wordpress.com

I've been running! Well, okay... jogging, alternating with walking. But it is something I am actually enjoying, and I feel really good afterwards. Most of the time, I practice this from home to a nearby park and back, a two mile round trip. On Thursdays though, while the kids are at derby/parkour, I practice on a longer route, at about 2.5 miles. I am hoping eventually to be stronger and faster at this, and to be able to log 2-3 miles at a steady pace most days. I am not interested in marathons, or things of that sort... just running enough for health and enjoyment.

I'll check in again on Sunday or Monday, after my next weigh-in!

Inspiration for today...

image courtesy of healthyplace.com

Exercise Ideas & Lunch Thoughts...

I've been collecting exercise ideas, since changing things up is one way I can keep motivated.

You've seen this link on my blog, and truly, these are good total-body, relatively quick workouts...

 The five day workout series from EatFitFuel

I've also come across these, which are more specifically targeted at different areas of the body:

If I really want to push myself, I could work these in (3 days abs, 2 days arms, 2 days squats) on top of the other exercises.

I don't know. I'm still figuring it all out, though I'm seriously considering getting up half an hour earlier to get some exercise out of the way!

Now, on to lunch thoughts.

image courtesy of shockinglydelicious.com

I am definitely a salad-for-lunch kind of girl (woman). But the salad has to have some heft—some protein, something crunchy, something chewy... I like a lot going on in my salad!

So I turned to Andie Mitchell, and her great post on planning a 400 calorie salad. I love the mix-and-match approach, with a healthy green base, some protein, a little fat, and some fun and tasty toppings!

I've been really good this week at pre-making healthy breakfast options for a grab-and-go type of day (I'm sure most of you are familiar with those mornings!), so now I need to work on setting up a similar system for salads. I've gotten better about cooking up a bunch of chicken breasts once or twice a week. Next on the agenda: prepping beans, hard-boiled eggs, and veggies.

I'm also totally in love with Bolthouse yogurt-based salad dressings. A ton of flavor (and plenty of varieties to choose from), low in fat, some probiotics... what's not to love? The cilantro-avocado and Caesar are delicious, though I'd also like to try the roasted garlic, mango chipotle, and salsa verde-avocado! And I think I need the creamy balsamic!

So, when I come up with some awesome salad combos, I'll be sure to share!

In the meantime, ponder this...

image courtesy of nutrillynutrition.com

Happy Monday!

Another week already, sheesh!

Workouts Done:

Did Thursday's, and Friday's, workouts from 

the five day workout series from EatFitFuel:

I actually even ran (okay, jogged) just over 3/4 of the mile from Friday!

And then, on Sunday, the kids, the husband, and I all hiked 7+ miles out at Mont Tamalpais State Park. Up to the peak, then around for another couple of hours.

On This Week's Workout Agenda:

Today: as much walking as possible, and Monday's workout from the link above, if I have time (I did do 25 incline pushups and 25 squats, so far, just in case... this is my 12+ hour day!)

And of course the rest of the workouts over the rest of the week, plus karate on Tuesday 

And maybe some Biggest Loser cardio, since I found a long lost dvd lurking in the back of the cabinet.

Food This Week:

I need to get more things made ahead, especially breakfast items! I'd like to tamper with some of my breakfast favorites, to up the protein a little.

And I'm still working out my meal/snack protein balance, but I'll figure it out!

My food focal points this week are to cut down on sugars overall, to keep green veggie intake up, and to watch my protein and fat intake!

Inspiration for the Week: