here it is

here's the address of the new blog...http://lovinlosing.wordpress.com/

Please change your readers and blog rolls!

New Blog Address

Sorry I've been away so long! I am moving this blog to WordPress, which has a much more user-friendly interface especially when it comes to inserting media like pictures.

Expect a post within 24hrs with the new blog address.

Thanks!

Return of the Blogger

Sorry for being gone so long. I've been trying to finish up work on my part-time job before we leave for the cruise. Can you believe it's only 3 days away! We leave for New Orleans on Friday, the cruise goes S-TR, then we return from New Orleans on Saturday the 26th!

So...what have I been up to?

A little of this...1/2 can of Amy's black bean soup with 1/2 packet of Uncle Ben's Vegetable Harvest microwaveable rice.

And this...a huge salad with romaine, spring mix, black beans, chick peas, broccoli, carrots, ham, egg whites, and ranch dressing.

And of course some of this...a trip to the park.

I had personal training yesterday evening and this morning. Yesterday morning I did week 5, day 3 of the couch to 5k program. This one consisted of 5 minutes of walking, 20 minutes jogging, 5 minute walking cool-down. I am very proud to say that I only stopped twice. Once at the 10 minute mark for 1 minute and once at the 4 minute mark for 30 seconds. Using MapMyRun I figured out that I did a total of 2.55 mi.!!! Woohoo!!

Before personal training yesterday I did 30 minute on the upright bike. Yesterday's training session was going to be circuits with running interspersed. But, since I mentioned I ran that morning, here's what we did:

1. narrow squats with ball on wall
2. wide squats with ball on wall
3. bicep curls with the body bar (1 set of 12)
4. upright rows with the body bar (1 set of 12)
5. push ups (1 set of 5 modified)
6. shoulder press with the body bar (1 set of 12)
7. 20 crunches on the ball (1 set of 12)
8. Lay on mat and hold body bar straight above chest. Keep arms straight and lower them over head. (1 set of 12)
9. Jackknife on ball (1 set of 10)
10. Repeat steps 1-7
11. hold medicine ball b/w legs w/ heels touching floor. Crunch whole body together and take ball with hands. Reach arms straight back with ball and touch heels to floor. Repeat (12 times)
12. flutter kicks (1 set of 12 each side)
13. Legs straight in air. Hold medicine ball and crunch to touch feel w/ball (1 set of 12)
14. hold medicine ball b/w knees w/ legs @ 90 degree angle. Let knees fall to one side (1 set of 12 ea.)
15. wrap arms around knees and lift shoulder off ground. Extend arms to ea. side while at the same time extending legs straight out w/o touching the floor (1 set of 8)
16. lie on back with legs in air. Reach above head to hold something stable (a person's ankles). Lower legs half-way and bring back up. (1 set of 10)
17. Get in push-up position and then bring knee to chest and back. (1 set of 10 ea. side)

Wow! That was a long one!

For breakfast TODAY I had a strawberry smoothie: FF milk, vanilla 0% Greek yogurt, ice, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 c. strawberries, and a bunch of fresh baby spinach.

I had personal training at 7:30 AM. Here's what we did:

1. wall sits (6 sets of 10 seconds)
2. bridge lifts on ball (3 sets of 12 holding for 2 seconds
3. one leg bent and the other leg straight up. Lower extended leg down to side. (3 sets of 12 ea. side)
4. triceps on machine (2 sets of 12)
5. Pull-ups on the machine (2 sets of 8, 1 set of 10)
6. use ball like roman chair to do oblique lifts (2 sets of 12 ea. side)
7. Chest press (3 sets of 12)

I know I've got to be missing something with the one above, but we got a late start and finished a couple minutes early, so who knows. Afterwards, I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the treadmill.

The smooothie held me over until lunchtime when I had a grocery store version of Shrimp Tempura Sushi. I don't know why I waste my money on these. It never tastes like the real thing. :( I also had an orange mango Honest Tea and a packet of peanut M&Ms (I ate half at lunch and the other half around 4PM).

Dinner was baked spaghetti. Whole wheat pasta covered in lean ground beef with tomato sauce, garlic, italian seasoning, mushrooms and 2% cheese. I had 2 pieces of garlic bread with it.

Dessert was a serving of Edy's Light Slow Churned Vanilla with Peanut Butter Cups.

On another note! I received my sample of Kashi cereal today. The website was a little misleading about the size (though perhaps I wasn't paying attention). I placed it next to the Ibuprofen bottle (large bottle) to help demonstrate the size. I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know how I like it.

I remembered!

I remembered to take a picture! Yay!


At lunch I went to the gym and did Wk5, Day 2 of C25K (for the 3rd time) and then did 10 minutes of elliptical. (+3 points) I wanted to do 20, but I still had to grab lunch and get back to the office for a workshop.



My lunch consisted of a salad with romaine lettuce, cucumber, mushrooms, carrots, egg whites, broccoli, and a little ranch dressing. They didn't have a single light dressing available! I also got some pineapple and cantaloupe on the side. (salad = 3 pts., fruit = 1 pt)

I had a chocolate chip cookie provided at the workshop, too. (guesstimate is -5 pts.)

I took a pictures of my snack, but for some reason it didn't save. It was an apple with a little almond butter (total = 2.5)

For the day, I now have 9 pts left.

Assessment Day

Morning!

Today was my the assessment to evaluate my progress over the past 6 wks or so of personal training.

My body fat percentage went down 1 percent, the circumference of my waist and thigh stayed the same. My hips went down 1/4 inch. I did 3 push ups instead of 1, and 8 sit ups instead of 4. My weight went down 1/4 lb.

I can't say I'm particularly pleased by the results. :( But, I have no one to blame but myself. As you've read here, I've started WW a couple of times only to not follow through. It's high time, I stop making excuses and get it together. It's an unfortunate time to decided to re-commit with the cruise coming up next week. But...it's important to eat right all the time, not just when you're at home, so it will be a good challenge for me. :)

I also plan to ramp up the cardio to more 45-60 minutes sessions rather than 30 minutes.

Now, here's today's workout.

• narrow wall squats with ball (2 sets of 12)
• wide wall squats with ball (2 sets of 12)
• lunges (2 sets of 5 each leg)
• leg press (2 sets of 12)
• bicep curls (2 sets of 12)
• tricep kickbacks (2 sets of 12)
• shoulder press with free weights (3 sets of 8)
• jackknife on ball: feet on ball and arms in push-up position on floor, bring knees to chest (1 set of 8)
• crunches on ball (1 set of 20)
• chest press (3 sets of 12)
• plank (hold for 20 seconds)
• side plank lifts (1 set of 10 each side)

I'll do my best to remember to take pictures of my food today!

For breakfast I had two pieces of toast (2 points), B&B butter (.5 pt), and some tea (2 pts.).

Finding your niche

Here's last night's workout. I first did 27 minutes of cardio on the elliptical and upright bike. I get bored easily so I like to switch it up. Sometimes I'll do three different machines in a 30 or 45 minute period.

• lat pull down (3 sets of 12)
• 1 arm row (3 sets of 12 each side)
• back raises on ball (3 sets of 12)
• crunches on ball (1 set of 20)
• upright rows (3 sets of 12)
• jackknife on ball (1 set of 10)
• straight leg lifts w/ reverse crunch (1 set of 12)
• bicycle (1 set of 20)
• flutter kicks (1 set of 10)

Today would be my day to finish week 5 of the C25K program, but my legs are KILLING me still from Wednesday's workout. I thinking I'll do the cardio machines for 30 minutes along with a 1 hr. yoga stretch class.

Tomorrow I'll jog outside before going to my massage (OMG, I can't wait!). There's a massage school in Virginia Beach so I'm getting one hour for $40 and it's a graduate, not a student.

Now, on to what prompted the title of this post...

As you have probably noticed in the blog roll on the right, I subscribe to a lot of health eating blogs. I enjoy reading them and learning about different people's habits. Some eat mostly raw and don't eat white anything, some are vegetarians, some try to eat healthy most of the time and indulge for special occasions.

I have to say that my favorite blogs are Carrots N' Cake and Roni's Weigh. These are just regular women who do their best to eat healthy, but occasionally veer off and make mistakes. They recognize this when it happens and get back on the right track.

I think that's the niche where I'm the most comfortable. If I make eating healthy too hard, it will end up backfiring on me. I want try to eat healthy most of the time without beating myself up every time I crave fast food or sweets. That's not to say I don't want to stop trying to improve my habits, because I will.

What about you, where are you at in your journey?

hungry, hungry hippo

Good afternoon! First things first I'll try to remember yesterday's workout. It was mostly legs and I am hurting today.

• lunges on the Bosu ball (3 sets of 12 each leg)
• squats w/ a body bar (3 sets of 12)
• calf raises (3 sets of 12)
• calf raises w/ toes pointed out (3 sets of 12)
• calf raises w/toes pointed in (3 sets of 12)
• Wall sits while holding out medicine ball (3 sets of 10 seconds)
• bridges on the ball (3 sets of 12)
• hold ball b/w feet and squeeze legs together (2 sets of 10)
• flutter kicks (1 set of 12)

As usual I feel like I'm forgetting something. If it comes to me I'll update the post.

For breakfast this morning I had raising bran w/ granola clusters and FF milk.

Lunch consisted of one of these...
...with a salad (romaine, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and ranch dressing).

I had a handful (7?) peanut M&Ms also.

Around 2:30 I was starving so I had Oikos greek yogurt with a nectarine, blueberries, and some Bear Naked cereal. I've got to make it through personal training again tonight and some cardio!


QOTD: I'd love to hear if any of you have tried some of the workouts I've posted! How'd you like it!?

Free Stuff!!

Good Afternoon!

I had the exact same breakfast this morning as I did yesterday. 0% plain Oikos Greek yogurt with blueberries and BearNaked cereal.


Around 11:30 I went to the gym and did week 5, Day 2 of the couch to 5K program. Only a couple more weeks until I'm up to jogging for 25 minutes straight.

After the gym I cam back to the office to have lunch which consisted of V8 tomato soup and a salad with romaine, cucumbers, shredded carrots, tomatoes, grilled chicken and one boiled egg. I had ranch dressing with it.

Of course, this is me, so I forgot to take a picture, but here's what it looked like afterward...


I've got personal training at 5Pm and Ill let you know tonight or tomorrow what the workout consisted of.

And now what you've all been waiting for.

Free Samples:

• BearNaked is giving away free samples of their cereal.
• Kashi is giving away a free BOX of their cereal.
• Quaker Oats is giving away samples of their chewy granola bars.
• Nature Valley is giving a nut cluster sample, trail mix bar sample, and coupons if you sign up for their Eat Better American newsletter.

Have fun!

Good afternoon

First things first, I'm going to try to remember yesterday's PT workout:

• shoulder press w/ body bar (3 sets...12, 10, 8)
• front lifts w/ body bar (3 sets of 12)
• bicep curls w/ body bar (3 sets...12, 10, 8)
• lying down, body bar straight up (hands facing front), drop arms (straight) above head (3 sets of 12)
• narrow hands on body bar, hold straight up, touch forehead with bar (3 sets of 12)
• oblique leg drops with medicine ball b/w knees (2 sets of 12 each side)
• flutter kicks (2 sets of 10)
• oblique medicine ball touches (2 sets of 12 each side)

Today I had to unexpectedly teach a workshop so I had to rush through breakfast. I had a single serving of plain oikos (can you believe I found it at Wal-Mart) with blueberries and cereal.


After the workshop I had a leftover half of a burrito from last night's dinner. I got it from a locals place called Machismo. Here's what was in it:

• Roasted Chicken
• Wheat Tortilla
• Black Beans
• Brown Rice
• Enchilada Sauce
• Pinto Beans
• Baby Spinach
• Lime Squeeze
• Medium Salsa
• Romaine Lettuce
• Yellow Corn

Here's what it looked like:


Right now I REALLY want to go get some frozen yogurt b/c I feel like I'm coming down with something. You know a little chilled, scratchy throat, etc. But classes have started back up and I'm scared I won't get my parking spot back. :(

Friday, Friday, Friday!

Whew! What a busy week! I don't know how those full-time bloggers do it in addition to their regular jobs and lives. Next weeks promises to be just as busy. I don't mind, though, because the faster the weeks go by, the faster the cruise gets here. :) Three weeks from today we'll be in New Orleans!!!!

I had personal training last night, so I will try to remember what we did.

• Lat pulldown (3 sets of 12)
• Obliques on the roman chair (3 sets of 10 on each side)
• single bent over row with free weight (3 sets of 12 each side)
• upright row (3 sets of 12)
• crunches on the ball (1 set of 20)
• obliques on ball (1 set of 20)
• heel touches with reverse crunch on mat (2 sets of 10)
• flutter kicks (2 sets of 10)
• lower back lifts on the ball (2 sets of 12)

I have been counting points this week and it's been an adjustment. I'm already out of weekly points and I still have to get through the weekend. :( The longer I keep it up, though, the more I'll remember some of the techniques from back when I first started and was so successful.

Tomorrow, we're hosting a party at our house for the pastor, her husband, two other young couples, and their 5 kids (under age 5). Tonight and tomorrow promises to be full of cooking and cleaning!

For today's breakfast I had a smoothie. We're out of spinach, though, and I forgot to put yogurt in it.

It had 1/2 c. of FF milk, 1/2 frozen banana, frozen berries, 1/2 packet of strawberry Spirutein, and ice.



I'll give you an update after lunch if I have time. I made chicken salad!

Back to It!

I can't believe I took 3 days off! Sorry. :(

As I said before, I'm not much for being on the computer on the weekend if I can help it. Yesterday I spent all day filming a video for a course and then I had personal training and part-time work to do.

Last night's work out consisted of:

• leg press (3 sets of 15)
• leg lift (3 sets of 15)
• leg curl (3 sets of 15)
• bench press (3 sets of 12)
• lat pulldown (3 sets of 12)
• straight leg lifts on the ab stand (3 sets of 10)
• pull ups on the machine (2 sad sets of 8ish)

If these workouts sometimes seem short to you, remember they are only 30 minutes sessions and there is rest time between each set.

I had a follow-up dentist appointment this morning to have the temporary filling replaced with a permanent one. On the way I had half a bottle of Honest Tea.

Once I made it into the office I had fruit salad (strawberries, blueberries, and banana) with Vanilla Chobani.

I'm probably going to go work out at lunch for some cardio and try out my new armband for my phone. :) I have personal training again at 5PM so I'll let you know how that goes.

Daily Points = 22
tea -1 = 21
yogurt -2.5 = 18.5
fruit -1 = 17.5

Almost time to go home

I had a seriously sweaty workout at lunch with a one hour step class. I rebelled at the end when the instructor wanted us to do push-ups and plank. I already did them today! :)

I was VERY hungry and ready for lunch when I got back to the office. Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich with light mayo on whole wheat bread with baked cheetos and a 100 cal. coke.


(Do they put crack in coke? I read an article today talking about how you could use coke to clean rust off of tools. Does this change my addiction to coke at all? No.)

Dessert was three Hershey's kisses.

P.S. I REALLY want to stop for froyo again after work. Give me a reason not to!

UPDATE: I forgot I ate a nectarine around 3:00 or so. YUM!

Friday!

What a morning! I overslept and didn't have time to eat anything before PT, so I threw a bagel in my bag to eat on the way, which I then promptly forgot about until my PT told me she was going to have me run laps today between strength training sets. LOL

1. Wall squats with the ball (1 set of 15)
2. run 1 lap
3. 5 modified push-ups
4. run 1 lap
5. wall sits (squats on wall while holding a medicine ball straight out--4 sets of 10 seconds)
6. run 1 lap
7. upright rows with the body bar (15 reps)
8. hold body bar at chest level in the horizontal position and push straight out (15 reps)
9. run 1 lap
10. 15 crunches on the ball
11. 10 oblique crunches on the ball
12. run 1 lap
13. plank (2 sets of 15 seconds)
14. repeat 1 & 3
15. run 1 lap
16. repeat 5, 7, & 8
    
17. run 1 lap
18. repeat 10, 11 & 13

I'm pretty sure that's right. I was just trying to get through it. I was rocking my new jogging skirt, though. LOL!!

I had planned on doing Wk 4, Day 2 of C25K, but since I hadn't eaten and we had such an intense workout I just did 15 minues at level 7 on the elliptical machine and tested out my headset. Two thumbs up!

I'm going back at lunch to do a step class.

Once I finally made it into the office I had a blueberry Chobani, raspberry white tea (80 cal.), and half a whole wheat bagel with PB on it.


Lunch is going to be a ham and cheese sandwich with light mayo on whole wheat bread with some baked cheetos and a 100 cal. coke. I'll try to take pictures before I eat it. ;)

Great Birthday!

I'm blogging from my phone in bed.

I had a wonderful birthday thanks to all my friends and family. I received a card in the mail from my mom and she generously included a check which I promptly went out and spent. ;)

I bought some new workout tops and bottoms. Some of them will be going back because I was in a rush and couldn't try them on.

I bought a running skirt but I'm a little self conscious to wear it because I'm not a fan of my legs, plus all they had was a medium so I've got a little love handle action going on. We'll see. It pretty much looks like the picture below only with lavender instead of black.

Another awesome present was the Motorokr S9 bluetooth headset for my phone. It's pretty awesome and easy to set up. The only feature that doesn't work is voice dialing and that's a limitation of the phone.

This was a gift from my awesome husband who got me exactly what I wanted. Thanks, honey!

The only thing I have left to get is an armband holder for my phone (the T-Mobile HTC G1).

Sushi lunch

Okay, I was bad and forgot to take pictures until I was done eating. I was SO hungry!

I went online and found some pictures so you get the idea. I had two shrimp tempura rolls and one spicy California roll plus a house salad with ginger dressing.




My friend Kim came along and ended up treating. :) Thank, Kim, for a great birthday lunch!

29

That's how old I am today! :)

The first person to wish me HB today was my sister-in-law calling from Malaysia! Now, that's commitment! LOL

Next was my mother-in-law in South Carolina, a bunch of people on FB, and my good friend Catherine in Florida. Thanks everyone!

Moving on....

First thing, I'm going to try to remember yesterday's workout.

• chest press (3 sets of 12)
• bicep curls (3 sets of 12)
• tricep kickbacks (3 sets of 12)
• shoulder press with body bar (2 sets of 12)
• lie on back and hold body bar up at chest level, drop bar above head and then bring back up to chest level (2 sets of 12)
• Hold body bar straight out in front vertically with two hands. Move it in a circle 4 time to the left and 4 to the right, repeat.
• ab crunches on the ball (1 set of 20)
  
• Oblique crunches on the ball (1 set of 20)

At dinner last night, I didn't take a picture because I felt self-conscious with so many people around. It wouldn't have come out well, anyway because the lighting was so dim.

I had two pieces of focaccia bread as an appetizer. Someone else ordered it, but I was happy to help them eat it.

For dinner I had a turkey burger with a few different types of nuts in it. On the side were roasted potatoes. I ate about 1/2 the burger (it was pretty blah) and 3/4 of the potatoes. I also had 1/2 a piece of ice cream cake. I didn't eat more because I had plenty of sweetness with my froyo earlier (refer to previous post).

For breakfast I had a seriously Green Monster. It had vanilla almond milk, vanilla greek yogurt, half a scoop of Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Spirutein, 1/2 frozen banana, a tray of ice, and a bunch of spinach.




I'm treating myself to sushi for lunch so I'll make sure to include pictures for you.

frozen yogurt

Who doesn't love dessert before dinner?

"Birthday " Celebration

Quick post before heading home for the day. We're celebrating a friends b'day tonight. :)

Last night we went to Abuelos. It's a chain, Mexican restaurant that considers itself upscale.

While we waited for our food, I had chips. A bunch. I was SO hungry. I should have taken a few out of the basket and savored them. They were very thin and light.



I ordered chicken medallions with chorizo and beans inside. It came with rice and pinto beans. I didn't enjoy it very much because the outside was very dry and only a few of the medallions had any filling. :( I think I ate 4 pieces, 2/3 of the beans and rice, and then I ate most of Josh's tamale.


We had a coupon for a free entree, but we had to get another one and two beverages. I got the Sangria Swirl. I enjoyed it, but all that food combined with the alcohol made me very lethargic.


We didn't want to be rushed for dinner, so we skipped the free movie (I have more free tickets for next week) and went to see District 9 instead. I enjoyed it, but oddly enough the husband didn't.

Tonight we're headed to a local Italian place to celebrate a friend's birthday. It's not one of my favorite places, so it shouldn't be too hard to be good. I might have to get some Frozen Yogurt on the way home, though to beat the heat.

I'll post tonight about today's food choices and early morning workout.

Good morning (barely)!

It's a new day!

Before I left the house today I picked up a banana (2 points) to eat on the way to personal training at 7:30 AM. Here's what she had me do today:

• Squats against the wall with the ball (2 sets of 12 narrow and then wide)
• Bridge lifts on the ball (2 sets of 12)
• Lying leg lifts with the body bar (2 sets of 12)
• Lunges on the Bosu ball (2 sets of 10 each leg)
• calf raises (2 sets of 12)
• heel tap crunches (1 set of 12)

I definitely feel like I'm forgetting something. If it comes to me I'll update the post. I did 15 minutes on the upright bike afterwards.

For breakfast I had Bear Naked cereal with 2% milk (it's all I had) and a 110 calorie OJ (8 points total).


I had plans to go do another 30 minutes of cardio at lunch, but it is scorching out and I have to teach a workshop at 1:30.

Instead I'll make up for it with a light lunch. Romain lettuce, carrots, black beans, chick peas, and hummus (3 points). On the side is half a bottle of Honest Ade (1 point).


I think we're going out for an early celebration of my birthday tonight. I have free tickets to Adam and we have a free entree at Abuelos.

I want a re-do

What is it they say the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

Label me insane. Every day I do well until dinnertime. Tonight it was the "something went wrong so I deserve it" excuse.

I am so bloated and frustrated. I dont want to put all this work into training and exercising only to sabotage it again and again with poor eating habits. I want to enjoy my cruise in 32 days without hiding from the camera.

It's time to stop thinking negative thoughts about the foods that are good for my body and appreciating their benefits.

Tomorrow is a new day and even though we're going out a lot this week I won't let it be about the food but about the people and the celebrations.

Like my 29th birthday is Thursday! Woo hoo!

Bad Food Blogger!

I'm going to try to describe yesterday's training workout.

• Lat pull down (2 sets of 12)
• Seated row (2 sets of 12)
• Don't know name, but here's a video. (2 sets of 12 each arm)
• Obliques on the Roman Chair (2 sets of 12 on each side)
• Abs and lower back on the Roman Chair (2 sets of 12)
• 20 crunches on the ball
• straight leg lifts in the lying position. Our gym has a raised table with a mat on it. She had me reach above my head and hold on to the edge of the table while doing this. (2 sets of 12)
• bicycle crunches (1 sets of 12 each leg)
• bended knee oblique drops (1 set of 8)
• Modified plank for 30 seconds
  

I was bad and didn't take any pictures of food yesterday. I DID, however, keep track of my points and ate much better than the day before. It's difficult getting used to counting points again.



This morning for breakfast I had a single serving of Cheerios with 2% milk and a 110 cal. box of OJ.


See you later!

What a mess!

Yesterday did NOT turn out as planned. More on that later.

Here's what we did at personal training:

• Leg Curls (3 sets of 12)
• Leg lifts (3 sets of 12)
• Calf raises (3 sets of 12)
• Chest press (3 sets of 12)
• Ab crunches on ball (1 set of 20, 1 set of 15)
• Bicep curls (3 set of 12)
• Tricep kickbacks (3 sets of 12)
• shoulder presses (3 sets of 12)

I feel like I'm forgetting something...hmmm...I'll let you know if I remember.

The area I live in floods really bad when it rains really hard or for a really long time. It took me 1.5 hours to go the 8 miles from work to Olive Garden. I had to turn around 5 times due to high water. If you want to see pictures, go to http://hamptonroads.com/2009/08/rushhour-rainfall-swamps-region-flooding-roads.

I was starving by the time I got to the restaurant. I started well, but if you see the tracker below, you'll see it didn't end well. The wine added a lot of points AND contributed to fuzzy thinking when deciding to get a Frosty. Lesson learned.


I'm still a little self-conscious about taking pictures of food at restaurants when out with other people. The only pic I got was of the Pasta Fagioli. What you see if what I didn't finish eating.



Today, all I've had so far is a banana and it actually held me over pretty well. We're having a farewell lunch at work and it's going to be at a Mexican restaurant. I JUST found out about it. Now I have to plan out what I'm having so I don't have to have lettuce for dinner. LOL.

I'll take suggestions. :)

Luckily I'm doing a 45 minute step class at 5:15 and personal training at 6:00 so I'll get some activity points in.

Treat Night!

We're going to Olive Garden tonight and I've been looking forward to it for days. I mean who doesn't love their salad and breadsticks!?

A friend's e-mail today made me want to pay a little more attention to how much I'm eating, not just what, so I'm going to try to go back to counting Weight Watchers Points.

My daily allotted points are 22.

I had a banana this morning before going out to do Week 3, Day 3 of C25K. On my way to work I picked up a bagel and....a pepsi. I know, I know! Soda, and at 8:30 in the morning. I just love it SO much. You can tell me until I'm blue in the face about how bad it is for me, but I love it. I was so thirsty and it looked so good.




We had no computers for a long while, so I went over and did a Yoga Stretch class at 11.

Lunch was V8 tomato soup, a Babybel cheese, and some water with raspberries in it.


Around 2:30PM I had a banana and then at 4 I had half of a Gingersnap Larabar. I need to stay fueled for Personal Training at 5PM.





Here's the point breakdown/plan for the day. Sorry it's so small. If you click on it, it should get bigger.

Yum!

First things first...Ouch! I am sore! But...I love being sore. I love feeling like I've done something. :)

It's been a pretty good food morning.

I had a Green Monster (this is what I call any smoothie I add spinach to) for breakfast. It had 2 things of brown cow Greek yogurt (1 strawberry and 1 vanilla) because the expiration dates were up and I didn't want to waste it. Also included was a mix of frozen peaches, mangoes, and strawberries along with 1/4 c. vanilla almond milk, 1/4 c. V8 Splash, handful of spinach, and some ice.


Looking at this ingredient list, I'm thinking it's time to cut back on the sugar. Plain yogurt instead of flavored and plain almond milk instead of vanilla plus cutting out the V8 splash.

Here's lunch which I'm eating as we speak. Black forest ham on a piece of French baguette with light mayo, 1 Babybel cheese, an Honest Tea (Orange Mango), and half of a chocolate muffin.

This bottle of Honest Tea is 100 cal., but it isn't carbonated, it's organic, and it provides 100% DV of Vitamin C!

:)

Delicious New Finds

Evening everyone!

Here's the rundown for the day. I finished the Larabar after lunch and had a Starburst and Hershey's miniature while sitting in a meeting.

About 4PM I knew I needed to eat something before I went to the gym at 5, so I had a 100 cal. bag of popcorn, 110 cal OJ, and a piece of toast with almond butter.

It was really too much. I felt pretty full when I started Week 3, Day 2 of Couch 2 5K.

Afterwards I had my meeting with the personal trainer. I'll try to be descriptive and accurate, but this was a rough workout and it was extra tough since I'd been out of commission for nearly a week. I wasn't too focused on the number of reps, just getting it done.

• Lunges on the Bosu ball (2 sets of 10 reps per leg)
• Turn Bosu ball over. Hold the sides while in plank position. Alternate bringing knees to chest. (2 sets of 10 reps per leg)
• Side arm lifts (2 sets of 12)
• Front arm lifts (2 sets of 12)
• Hold weights together around pelvic level and then lift in a "v" (2 sets of 8)
• Leg press machine (2 sets of 12)
• ab lifts on an ab stand: straight out, knees to chest, obliques (1 set of 8 each)
• triceps machine (2 sets of 12)

UPDATE: I forgot one exercise...

• Turn Bosu ball over and hold sides in plank position with feet together. Alternate tapping each foot out to the side. (1 set of 10 per leg)
  

I was really struggling today and was frustrated with myself. It was a combination of recovering from the past week paired with harder moves. I was really sad on the ab stand. I felt I was using my arms more than my abs.

I stopped by the grocery store on the way home. I was going to pick up some of my triple berry granola when I noticed this instead.

Check out the difference in Nutritional Information.

Farm Fresh's Organic brand: Wild Harvest Triple Berry Granola

Bear Naked Cranberry Raisin Cereal


Check out the difference in fat content and calories and then look at the serving size! Granted, the Bear Naked cereal has a lot more sodium, but other than that, not bad. Now, for those who think I'm comparing apples to oranges, here's the NI for Bear Naked's Triple Berry Granola.

Dinner was a strange combination but it sounded good to me. I had a piece of French baguette with a Salmon burger, tomato slices, and an egg on top. It was good, but it needed something. Salsa or cheese maybe.


Dessert was an exciting find!


Notice the 100% Whole Grain part! :) I substituted half of the oil for 2 tbl of organic, unsweetened applesauce. They turned out awesome! I had two with a glass of Stoneyfield's organic milk. I'll save one for after lunch tomorrow and put the rest in the break room. They'll be gone lickety-split!


Nighty night!