Sunday Slacker

Sunday was a rest day so no exercise. My calorie goal was 1400 but I went totally off the wagon. I was just ravenous and had no willpower whatsoever. So I decided the way to rectify this situation is to make yesterday a splurge day and sacrifice my spluge day this week. So this week's splurge day will be subsituted with a 1400 calorie day so it will all even out.

Overall, though, I did pretty well this past week with 5 days of solid exercise and I was right on dietary program for 6 out of the 7 days. I haven't weighed myself (I am going to try to limit that to once a month if possible) but there's definitely a noticeable change in the way a particular pair of dress pants are fitting. They were snug last week and this morning when I put them on they were feeling a little loose.

So all in all, I am pleased with my progress!

Saturday Success

Saturday was another good day for me. It was a scheduled rest day, but it was such a gorgeous day, hubby and me decided to go to a local park and walk . We walked about 3 miles so I certainly got some serious exercise in!

My calorie goal was 1800 and I did well. I had a protein shake for breakfast, some watermelon for a snack, a small fish sandwich for lunch, 2 Klondike bars and for dinner we had a BBQ. I had a veggie burger on 1 slice of bread with cheese, 1 corn on the cob with a dab of butter and a very small helping of mashed potatoes. Total calories just a little over 1800.

I'll tell you...there is nothing better in the summer than a perfectly ripe seedless watermelon and corn on the cob. Mm Mm good!

Fabulous Friday

Friday was a fairly easy day because it was my splurge day. For me, the diet part of this program is the most challenging. Working out isn't that bad, although of course it's been a little more challenging lately only because I am getting reaclimated.

Anyway, I didn't really feel like working out, but I forced myself. I rebounded while watching WHFN's Steamin' Cardio.

My diet was completely out the window but that's what splurge days are for! Pizza, ice cream, a nice dinner out! All those things I dream about on those dreaded low-cal days.

Successful Thursday

Thursday was a good day on the program and I was proud of myself because I REALLLLY felt like overdoing the calories (esp. after dinner), but I didn't. I think knowing that today (Friday) is my "spluge day" was enough to keep me on the ball.

I didn't feel like working out, but I mustered up enough motivation to do Michelle Dozois' Your Best Body Circuit. It felt a little more difficult to me than usual this time but I got through it. I rebounded during the cardio segments because I enjoy rebounding better than standard cardio.

My calorie goal was 1500 and I was right on target. I had a homemade Egg McMuffin for breakfast, a pita pizza topped with chopped veggies for lunch, a cup of chopped watermelon for snack (yum!) and I made a nice dinner of baked/breaded tilapia (used panko bread crumbs and fresh herbs in the breading which made it extra good), corn on the cob and a side of broccoli and carrots. My total was 1525 for the day.

Worn Down Wednesday

I decided to make Wednesday a rest day for a couple of reasons. First, I WAY overdid it on Tuesday. Not only did I do a workout in the morning, I also spent a few hours at work moving my office to a new office. I didn't move the furniture (I had a handyman do that for me), but I had to move boxes, computer equipment, files, as well as decorate, hang pictures, set up my computer, etc. In addition to that, I had to organize my old office (which is now a therapy room) and assist the handyman with organizing a third office that we had to borrow some furniture from.

I was so wiped out when I went home Tuesday night, I ate dinner and then crashed on the couch. I woke up Wednesday morning still feeling a little wrung out. I contemplated working out but decided against it because a real estate showing was planned and I needed to get a bunch of housework done in the morning so the house would be "show ready". So, although I didn't do formal exercise, I did do a lot of activity yesterday morning and felt like I got a workout!

It was a 1400 calorie day, so that was a challenge. I did well, though. I had a protein shake for breakfast, a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch and some pasta with marinara sauce and cheese for dinner. That's came to about 1385 calories. I definitely felt like eating more but I was able to exercise restraint.

Trying Hard to Stay on the Path

I've been doing pretty well the last few days, although I just haven't had time to blog. As far as exercise goes, I've been doing great. Last week I only missed one workout and that was only because I felt wrung out and like my body needed a rest, so I worked out 5 days of the week. As for the diet, I didn't do so great over the weekend, but otherwise, I did well the rest of the week.

Thinking back to last week, my biggest challenge was dealing with ravenous hunger. I am not talking about just WANTING to eat. I am talking about stomaching-growling hunger. I think my body is still in calorie reduction shock and it's rebelling. That's why I had a hard time sticking with my calorie levels every day last week.

I am going easy on myself because I realize there is a re-adjustment period and therefore I am cutting myself some slack. I am keeping in mind that I am moving into the right direction. The workout schedule is back on track and I am being conscious about trying my hardest to stick to the calorie plans.

Monday the goals were 2000 calories and strength training. For my workout I did FitPrime's "From the Ground Up" (one of my favorites). I had a shake for breakfast, pita pizza topped with veggies for lunch (plus a cup of soda), a couple popsicles for a snack and for dinner I had pierogies with steamed broccoli and fried onions. My total calories were right at 2000.

Yesterday was a 1500 calorie day, which was challenging, but I did well. I had a homemade egg McMuffin for breakfast, a veggie burger topped with fried mushrooms and onions for lunch, some cherries for a snack and for dinner I had some spaghetti with marinara sauce and the rest of the leftover baked eggplant I made last week. NO junk food yesterday. My total calories were about 1550. My workout yesterday was FitPrime's "GForce2" (a rebounding workout).

Thursday

Yesterday was a fairly easy day. It was a rest day, so no exercise. And it was a 2000 calorie day so I could splurge a little. I had a shake for breakfast, a pita pizza with baked eggplant for lunch and I had a crazy dinner...a bunch of junk like peanut butter and crackers and popsicles. Don't ask. I was just craving that stuff. My body is still in adjustment mode so it's been a challenge this week.

Toughing it out

Yesterday was a successful day for me. I did a really great strength training workout in the morning - FitPrime's "From the Ground Up". My calorie level was 1400 yesterday, which of course was a challenge, but I did well. For breakfast I had a protein shake. At lunch I had some leftover filling from the stuffed peppers I had made the night before (which I made from quinoa, veggies and a little cheese). I also had a handful of cherries (yum!). For dinner I made baked eggplant and had it along with side of pasta and marinara sauce. I had a single-sized fudgsicle for dessert. My total calories for the day was 1440 so pretty good!

My period is over today so I hesitantly got on the scale. I am ashamed to tell you this, but I am going to tell you for the sake of keeping myself honest...over the last 6 months I have gained back 20 pounds of the weight I had lost when I got down to my lowest weight on this program. Isn't it amazing how easily it piles back on if you are not diligent? Well, truthfully I was beyond not diligent. I was off the deep end, so that's the reason. Anyway, I am hoping that being really diligent on the program will get me back to my old level of progress and then move forward from there.

Rough Going

Yesterday was really rough going, diet-wise. I hadn't intended Tuesday to be my "splurge day" but I decided to use my splurge day yesterday because I was simply FAMISHED all day. I think my body is going into shock with this calorie reduction because even after I ate lunch, I was starving. On the way home from work, I was so hungry, I actually started to feel dizzy. This is ridiculous! So I listened to my body changed my splurge day from Saturday to Tuesday. There's really nothing going on this weekend, so it won't be a problem to make that change. I think easing myself back into the lower calories is the way to go. I have to give myself a chance to readjust.

I did a good workout yesterday. It was a cardio day, so I rebounded while watching WHFN's "Fast Cheetah" and did the ab section at the end. So all-in-all it was a good day. It's just a little hard this week readjusting. Oh, and getting back into regular workouts is a little rough too. I never totally stopped working out - but I definitely have not been as diligent the last few months and I haven't worked out at all the last couple weeks (although we did a lot of bike riding and some walking during our vacation). So getting back into it has been rough because the workouts feel harder and I feel a little sore.

It's amazing how if you don't use it, you lose it and QUICKLY!

Coming out from under my rock...

Well, I am coming out from under my rock and showing my face again. I am ashamed to say that the past few months have not been good for me on my program and much of the progress I made has reversed itself. First, it was school. I was so consumed by it - and by writing that damned masters thesis, that the stress of it derailed me until the very end when I graduated in May (yes, I did get my masters and graduated with straight As, so there are 2 good things that came out of my fall off the wagon!)

After school ended, my intention was to get seriously back on the wagon, but around that time another stressful situation arose...we decided to put our house on the market. This wasn't just a decision, it was a major stress-fest undertaking because we then had to get the house ready for sale which involved all kinds of projects. Anyway, once the house was all straightened out and on the market, we were gearing up for a week-long vacation (which we just got back from yesterday), so to summarize, it's been non-stop stress and lack of discipline for months now. I feel so badly about sliding backwards like I did, but the good news is that I am seriously back on the wagon today.

Talk about a shock to the system! I woke up and dragged my butt into our workout room to do my first workout in over 2 weeks. I decided to choose a relatively easy workout and did WHFN's Metaboost. I really enjoy this workout and it doesn't FRY me like some of the others in my collection.

My calorie goal was 1800 today which was manageable. For breakfast I had a protein shake. For lunch I made a grilled cheese sandwich and had a few cherries afterwards. For dinner I made vegetarian stuffed peppers (which turned out FABULOUSLY!) and then had some popsicles afterwards to satisfy my sweet tooth. My total calories were right at 1800.

Now I just have to concentrate really hard on keeping my focus and moving forward with my results and keeping a positive frame of mind.