The Days Following a Vacation...

As everyone knows, dieters like to take vacations from dieting. Well, I took a nice big "diet vacation" while skiing in Crested Butte. At least I was exercising most of the day.....

Things started off well last Thursday. Robert and I went early for a nice long run as my dad was in town to go skiing with us. We ran 6 miles and it felt wonderful. At that moment, I was completely committed to doing well while traveling. My resolve lasted about 3 hours. After that, the bordom of a long car ride set in and the Girl Scout cookies came out. At first it was just a couple and then I felt like such a horrible failure that I decided to eat even more. What's up with that? My dad was in the front seat say, "You gonna blog about that sleeve of cookies you ate?" I replied that I was going to write about it and that my writing would be cathartic. So there!

Skiing was amazing. I skied terrain that I had never been on before. The powder and bumps were a blast and I was pulled up to the top of the mountain on an old-fashion-style T lift for the first time. It truly was unbelievable. However, all good things must come to an end. While high up, I jacked my knee on a mogul. My knee swelled up like a grapefruit and I was unable to bend itl. BTW, it is very difficult to get on and off the lifts if you are unable to bend your knee. I toughed it out and skied some easy runs with my dad on Sunday. I was frustrated and angry and I expressed that by consuming large quantities of crappy food. Uuuggghhh! I haven't hopped on the scale yet, but will view the damage tomorrow morning.

Good news....went to the dr. today and he is not too worried about my knee. The swelling has gone down and my range of motion is returning. I am going to try to run and do a good core workout tomorrow. Hopefully, this will put me back on track for success. Dr. says if I continue to have problems that an ACL revision may be necessary. I am going to try to avoid that at all costs. Revisions are never as good as the first operation.

Tomorrow is a new day filled with wonderful things. I am going to embrace my failures, learn from them and begin again. Peace out.

Yeah!

Okay, I cheated and weighed today. I have been feeling so great these last few days that I just had to see what the scale read.....a wonderful 139.6! I am under 140 and so pleased.

I am blogging every other day as I am not experiencing too many frustrations right now. My eating is going very well and my workouts have been extremely challenging. On Monday, I squeezed in a fast run of 4 miles (my fastest run to date) and Tuesday I ran 2 quick miles in addition to completing an hour's worth of core and strength training. Today, I completed an interesting interval workout on the stationary bike. I warmed up in gear #7 for about 20 minutes. After that, I completed intervals of 30 seconds on, 90 seconds off.....goal was to keep RPM's above 90. I kept my gear between #12 and #14 for 20 minutes. Then came a 20 minute cool down. I was surprised by the difficultly of the workout. Tomorrow I am going to hit the treadmill for a six mile run. I am ready for the snow to melt so I can hit the pavement again. I am growing weary of the treadmill!

Down 4.1 pounds!

Woohooo! Down 4.1 pounds....now that's the way to start the week off right. I don't care whether it's all water weight or not! I thought this weekend was going to be tough because we we going to a friend's house for the Super Bowl. The weather was yucky, the boys were tired from having kids spend the night and Robert was on call, so we decided to stay home and watch the game. We had a nice dinner and I only made guacamole for snacking on during the game.

I think I am going to try the Shape interval challenge workout today and see if it is any less difficult. I am going to ramp up the speed a bit and hopefully, get another amazing workout in. I am continuing to see success with the consumption of 1600 calories. I think that is a great number for me.

This week I am going to be super strict and see if I can't dump 1.5 pounds over the seven days. When that happens next Monday....I will be under 140 pounds for the first time in 5 months. Another woohooo!

The Weekend

Let me start by reminding all those who read my blog to please make sure you eat a healthy, filling dinner before you go to the Monster Truck Show with 3 boys. Mistake #1....no dinner. Mistake #2....eating a lot of bad popcorn and Skittles (I really don't even like Skittles). However despite my eyes being puffy and joints swollen this morning, I got up early and ran a pleasant 8 miles. So, maybe I negated last night's nasty binge. Today I am on track for a successful day of consuming "good for me foods."I am going to weigh again on Monday in hopes that I am down another pound. The Shape Fitness Program slates me to lose 1 lb every 5 days....bet I'll be down 1 or 1.5. I can feel it!

My workouts have been challenging these last few days. I completed an hour's worth of core and strength training on Thursday morning. Friday, I mixed things up with jump roping , time on the Pilates Reformer for additional stretching and a series of Tabatta invervals on the stationary bike. I feel like my workouts are getting easier and I am gaining strength.

It is often difficult to stay focused and am thankful that I don't have 50 or 100 lbs to lose. I must continually remind myself of my long term goal. Baby steps....

Wonderful Day

Today's posting is 180 degrees from my last posting. I am down 4.2 (yes, you read that right) pounds and have a renewed energy and patience. My workouts are feeling easier and my runs are getting faster. Not to mention my jeans are fitting better. I am staying focused and choosing to blog instead of snack. Fabulous, huh?

Yesterday I went about 500 calories over my limit, but I ran 7.5 miles early in the morning. Listening to my body is key and not just eating because it's "time to eat." Today I am on track for a successful day.

Tomorrow I get the opportunity to bike Tabatta intervals which are all out sprints for 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off. There are 8 total. So, really it's like 4 minutes of super hard work sandwiched between an nice warm up and cool down. Very exciting! I think I will rise early and get my workout finished before the sun rises. Peace out!

Glad this day is over!

If I was an alcoholic, today would be a day where I would totally tie one on! However, in light of the troubling issues I had to deal with, I did not turn to food for comfort. I did have a Diet Coke which is a no-no, but it was better than consuming a large quantity of chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I finished my day under 1300 calories and am feeling very satisfied with my "plan." My gym work consisted of 2.5 miles of repeating quarter mile intervals and a full hour of core and strength training. I was pooped, but managed to have lunch with a couple of girlfriends.

Tomorrow I will rise and shine early to get 7 miles in before I have to get the boys ready for school. It will be nice a workout checked off my to do list at an early hour.

Today I am thankful for my patience, grace and the blessings God has bestowed on our family.

Giddy Up!

Well, I wish I could claim that some crazy glandular problem is causing me to gain weight....I weighed today and the scale read 144.2. THERE, IT'S OUT!

So, in light of that horrible news....I have decided to get in a good work out and begin a fresh start.

Today's workout was interval based and much more challenging than I expected. I ran an easy mile to warm up and then did 15 minutes on the bike in increasingly difficult gears and kept RPMs above 100. Next came the run....I thought this would be the easy part. Well, it wasn't. I ran for 15 minutes with speeds from 6.0-7.5 and varying inclines from 2-6. Man, it was tough running fast on a steep incline. Good news is that my workout burned around 350 calories.

Meals were great today and finished the evening at 1531 calories (69 calories short, not including the additional calories that my work out provides).

I made a wonderfully light turkey noodle soup with some leftover breast meat from a whole turkey my mom cooked yesterday. I also made an organic fruit crisp for dessert, but opted for a 100 calorie fudge bar.

I feel very empowered today...like this is going to be a piece of cake for me. Well, maybe I shouldn't use that phrase as there are no pieces of cake in my future. Peace out.

Another day without Diet Coke; however, I am still not liking the flavor of unsweetened-iced green tea.

Excitement Abounds!

I am very excited to begin things tomorrow. I watched a great movie today entitled Food, Inc. about the "manufacturing" and engineering of food these days. It is a very scary concept that one single company dominates the US soybean seed market (with genetically modified seeds that are patented so farmers can't "clean" their seed to re-use it each year) and that the 1,300 slaughterhouses of years' past have dwendled down to 11 which are now owned by three companies. Did you know that the ground beef your children consume is washed with ammonia several times to make the bacteria (mainly E.coli) count low enough to pass FDA inspections? I don't kow about you, but I really don't want my family consuming beef from these large companies. I want to KNOW where my families' food is coming from. I know Americans across the country are beginning to think about this concept. Yes, right now it may be cheaper to buy a burger at a fast food joint than it is to buy a bunch of carrots; however, it won't always be that way. Soon the government will get it's head out of its you-know-what and stop subsidizing the price of corn. Then, corn prices will escalate to a normal level and high fructose corn syrup will no longer be a cheap alternative sweetner.

Ok, I'm almost off my soap box...I want my children to make wise choices now about the foods they eat as I am not always going to be there to say, "Hey, don't you think that 6 slices of bacon is enough?" But, I will instill in them knowledge and a willingness to learn which will carry them through the years. BTW, we get our bacon from a local butcher who kills and processes his own meat. :)

Bring it Monday, February 1st!

Two Days and Counting!

Great interval biking/running workout today fueled by lots of crap I consumed this morning. My brain knows that things will change on Monday, so it is telling my tummy to eat marshmallows at 10:30 in the morning. Yikes....I'm in big trouble!

Monday it's green tea in the morning and a healthy breakfast around 300 calories....marshmallows are not in the picture. What is a marshmallow anyway?

The Low Down Part II

BTW, this info is for those of you who think I do not have the same tempations or distractions as you....well, that is not true at all. I am a 37 year old female that has three boys who can consume everything in sight and still stay slim as pencils. My boys love to eat home baked goodies, candy and chips and they are always ready for swimsuit season (unlike me who must prepare for months). I have tried many times to convert them to healthier snack options, but junk slowly sneaks back into our pantry. Our household has given up sodas and crappy beverages, junkie crackers like Cheese-its, and store bought pastries and cookies. However, we do like to eat out in restaurants, eat dark chocolate and ice cream. It is unrealistic to think that I am going to be able to cook every meal at home or tell the boys that they are never going to be able to have another chocolate chip cookie again. So all you nay-sayers....this is possible!

The Low Down

Last week while soaking in the tub and reading Shape, I made a very delayed New Year's Resolution (it's nearly February). I decided that I am frustrated with my lack of committment to fitness and healthy eating. Inside Shape was an article entitled "Finally, a diet you can stick to and love!" You see, I have a love-hate relationship with food and fitness. I am either on fire, running marathons, training for a 50 mile ultramarathon or eating only vegetarian fare. By the way, it is quite a challenge to be a vegetarian in the Panhandle of Texas, aka "The Beef Capital of the World."



Not only is the Shape diet personality and lifestyle driven, but it had a very realistic caloric intake of 16oo calories a day. This diet stated that one could lose up to 30 pounds before bikini season. Well, I am already a month late beginning the plan and I need to be in the best shape by the middle of May for a hike up to Macchu Picchu along the Inca Trail. I realistically only need to lose 14 pounds and am in decent shape already.



I am going to blog my weight loss, food consumed, exercise, wonderful recipes and musings.....I know this sounds boring, but this is the only way I am going to be able to truly lose the weight. I have many friends who struggle with gaining and losing the same ten pounds or whether to have some sort of plastic surgery to reduce their "problem areas". Well, this is my committment to all that I not going under the knife or the laser. I am going to do this the old fashioned way....hard work and actually consuming less calories than I expend (a novel concept). I am going to follow the Shape diet for the next 4 months and see where it takes me! Maybe I will post a photo or two along the way.