Nothing Exciting Today - Stayed on Track

Stayed on track with my meals today and because I did 45 minutes on the elliptical I was even able to have ice cream for dessert and still be under budget!

This was supper.  The stuff beside the pork roast is fried cabbage.  It was pretty bland.  I won't be making that again.

Food Log:

Last Day With My Trainer - Results Of The Last 1 1/2 Months

Today was my last day with my trainer.  Now I will be doing it on my own.

On the first day working out with her she had me step on a machine that measures body composition.  Today before my workout I stepped on the machine again.  These are the results of 6 weeks of workouts.  The changes seem small but my trainer said that the results were very good especially the fat %.

Now that I am working out on my own I think I will start going to the gym on the way home from work rather than working out after supper.  I also really like the kettle bells so I think I am going to do some circuits with those and see what kind of results that I get.

I kept on track with my food again today.  I am happy about that!  The reason I have weight lifting listed twice is because the kettle bell workout uses the whole body and burns more calories than the other routines.

Food Log:

OMG My Trainer Is Trying to Kill Me!

Super hard workout tonight but very satisfying!  After some stretching I alternated between 2 kettle bell exercises - 5 sets of 15 reps each.

The first exercise was the kettle bell swing with a 10lb weight.

The next exercise was sumo squats with a 35lb kettlebell.

To end the night we did alternate sets of medicine ball throw with 30 second planks.

Food log:

Well That's Annoying!

Weight and measurement day today and there is absolutely no change from last week!  That is so annoying.

I didn't do any cardio today.  I was just to busy with life.  Diet was on track though.

Only 2 more sessions with my trainer and then I am on my own.

Stepping Up the Cardio

Not much to write about today.  With the addition of 45 minutes on the elliptical today I was under budget for calories eaten.  I will be doing 45 minutes cardio on the days that I don't go to the gym.  I put on one of my saved TV shows and work out while watching.  45 minutes is how long a one hour TV show is without the commercials.

On a Slippery Slope

For the last 6 weeks I have been very good at keeping within my daily calorie budget.  One or two weeks I went over my calorie budget one day during each week but was right back on track.  This week though I have gone over my budget 4 times and it all started with the cookies on Tuesday!

Tuesday, I had the cookies and rice.  That put me over budget by 189 calories.

Thursday I went out with friends and even though I worked out for an hour on the elliptical after I got home I was still over budget by 51 calories.

Friday I had 1/2 a brownie at our afternoon tea at work.  It was a workout day but I was still over budget by 37 calories.

Today I did good all day but tonight I made a barbecue pork roast and it look so good that I had 5 ounces.  That put me over budget by 239 calories for the day.

Those cookies on Tuesday started me down a slippery slope where I started eating foods that I hadn't touched in 6 weeks - cookies, cake, brownies, sweet alcoholic drinks.  Obviously my weakness is sweets!  Even the pork roast can fit into that category because it has a brown sugar barbecue sauce.

I will really have to stop myself from eating sweets more than once per week otherwise I just keep wanting more.

At the gym today I didn't work out as hard as usual.  I wasn't feeling well today and didn't have any energy.  I was doing OK but then we realized that the exercises that I was doing that was suppose to target my butt wasn't working.  That led on a 25 minute quest to find the exercise that would work those muscles.  We tried 5 different exercises but I couldn't feel the burn with any of them.  In the end, the "sumo squat" did the trick but I had to up the weight I was holding in order to actually activate the muscles.

Food Log:

Only 3 More Sessions With My Trainer

I am so sad.  I only have 3 more sessions with my trainer.  The last couple of sessions she has been giving me circuits to do in preparation for when I am working out on my own. 

Tonight I did 4 circuits of:  10 reps TRX lunges, 10 reps medicine ball squat throws, 10 reps one arm dumbbell row and 12 reps bird dog.

One Arm Dumbbell Row

Bird Dog Exercise

Food Log:

Worked Out After a Evening on the Town

Thursday I joined some coworkers for supper and drinks.  I had made healthy choices for lunch and even supper.  Lunch was deli sausage, cheddar, cucumbers and grape tomatoes. 

For supper, we went to the Irish Times Pub in downtown Victoria.  Instead of having nachos or a big juicy burger and fries, I chose a steak and mushroom salad.  Here is the description from the menu: 

5oz Flat iron steak, sauteed wild mushrooms, on a bed of baby Arugula , tossed in a lemon vinaigrette with grape tomatoes , parmesan and crispy onions

 It was very good!  I am definitely going to look for a recipe for the lemon vinaigrette.

I also had 2 alcoholic drinks and that is where my will power wavered and I decided to have dessert.  I ordered the Banana Sticky Toffee Cake (Spiced banana cake with toffee sauce, banana fudge and vanilla bean ice cream).  It was amazingly good.  Yummy!

I got home at 8 pm and entered my food into my LoseIt app.  OMG that night out put me 662 calories over my daily budget.  So, I got on the elliptical and worked out for an hour.  I was still over budget but only by 52 calories.

I Really Shouldn't Have Had Those Cookies!

I was feeling tired and had a headache at lunch today so I reached for the comfort food.  I had a Spicy Italian Sub and 3 Macadamia nut cookies.  That blew my diet for the day.  Then I went to my mom's for supper and she had pie for dessert. So my diet sucked today and I haven't made anything for lunch tomorrow so I don't know what I am going to have that is carb free.

On the plus side, I did 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical before I went to the gym then did another 15 minutes at the gym.  My trainer also really stepped up my workout today.  We did some circuit training using the medicine ball then going into squats with a kettle bell and finally doing an exercise called bird dog.  We did 4 sets of 12 and I really worked up a sweat.  I was an awesome workout!  We ended the session with planks.

I really loved the medicine ball exercise.  It is deceptively hard.  By the end of the 12 reps I was sweating and puffing.

Food log - I really think I burned more than 153 calories with my workout tonight but since I really don't know how many I burned I will leave it as is.

Losing Weight but Not Inches

I am happy to say that I lost another 2.4 pounds this past week but I am frustrated that my body shape hasn't changed very much.  It makes want to work out crazy long to force my body to lose the inches.  I know that isn't safe or healthy but I want to see changes now!

Weight:  213.6 lbs (-2.4 lbs)   Total Weight Loss to Date:  11.4 lbs

Chest:  45"(no change)

Ribs:  39"  (no change)

Upper Arm:  13" left - 14" right (no change)

Waist:  43" (+1") 

Hips:  47"(no change)

Upper Thigh:  25" left - 24" right (no change)

Calves:  18"  (no change)

Food log for today:

Yes, I Ate Vegetables Today!

One of the questions I keep getting is "why aren't you eating vegetables?".  I love vegetables when they are part of a recipe but I find steamed veggies are either boring or disgusting.  I am not going to force myself to eat platefuls of vegetables just because I am on a "diet".

That being said, I did have a huge plateful of zucchini tonight.  It was a new recipe that I tried called Zucchini Shrimp Scampi from the website Damn Delicious.  This recipe has only 191 calories for 3 cups!  It was very good.  It has a lemon and chicken sauce with red pepper flakes for a touch of kick.  I would definitely make this again.

For exercise today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical.  With the exercise I was 415 calories under budget which is way too low so I had a ice cream sundae :D

Adding More Cardio

I haven't been doing any exercise outside of the gym since I started with the trainer.  The only exercise I have been doing is the 3 days a week that I go to the gym.  Starting today, I am going to add in cardio on my non-gym days.  I did 15 minutes on the elliptical but I think I will up it to 30 minutes per day.

 Today, I made Hearty Hamburger Stew for lunch.  This is an old favourite recipe that I have been making for years.

I have to admit that I cheated on the low-carb rule today.  I bought chocolate chip cookies for my son and I couldn't resist having a couple.

Leg Day Is Such a Killer!

Today was leg day at the gym.  It is always a killer but I can really see how much progress I have made in just 1 month.

When I first started doing step-ups it was hard to keep my balance and I was only able to do 10 reps at a time.  Today, I did step-ups while holding weights.  I did 3 sets of 15 while holding a 7.5 lb weight and then I did a 4th set holding 10 lb weights.  I had no problems keeping my balance or finishing the exercise!

We ended the night with TRX squats and lunges.  Man, I love the TRX!!  It is such an awesome workout.  I can really feel the burn but I don't get stiff. 

On track for my food today.  Went  a little but over but not much.

Felt Awesome After the Gym Today!

Today was one of the first days that I felt totally awesome after the gym.  We didn't really do anything different but this time I wasn't tired afterwards.  I like that feeling.

Today I am 322 calories under budget but it is not because I am starving myself.  I am just really full.  I had tortellini with mushroom soup sauce for supper and it filled me right up.  I toyed with the idea of maybe having some cheese and crackers for snack but I really don't feel like eating so I am not going to!

1 Month - Weight and Measurements

It has been one month since I started this journey to get healthier.  I am starting to see some real changes. The numbers in red are the total amount lost since I changed the way I was eating and started going to the gym.  It is a good start!

Weight:  216.4 lbs (-8.6 lbs) woo hoooo!

Chest:  45" (-1")

Ribs:  39" (-1") 

Upper Arm:  13" left - 14" right  (no change)

Waist:  42" (-2") 

Hips:  47" (no change)

Upper Thigh:  25" left - 24" right (no change)

Calves:  18"  (no change)

 

Food log for today:

Back on Track

After a disastrous day calorie wise yesterday I am back on track again.  Salad for lunch.  Salmon steak and vegetables for supper.

1,550 Calories Over Budget and I didn't Even Have a Beer

I went to Ribfest today.  I ate 3 beef ribs, 6 pork ribs, coleslaw and cornbread.  That put me a full day's calories over my budget.  I had also planned to go to the beer garden and have 2 - 3 beers but I decided to stay home instead.  If I would have had those beers that would have added approximately an extra 450 calories.  I have to admit that because I knew I was blowing my calories for the day I also had 3 pudding cups because at that point it really didn't matter how many extra calories I ate.

I am not sorry that I got the ribs.  It is a once a year treat that I am not going to pass up but this really shows that you got to pick and choose which events are important enough to blow your diet for.  This also shows why it is so important to track the food that you consume.
 
I really don't like seeing all that red on the chart today!

Everything Was Achy Today!

Today was day 4 at the gym this week and my body sure was feeling it.  My back was really tired and twingy.  My ankle hurt.  My knees hurt.  My calves hurt.  Everything was twinging!

My trainer spend most our time just trying helping me to loosen up my muscles.  It worked and I don't hurt anymore but it is kind of a waste of my training time.

Other than that, the vitamins seem to be helping.  I had more energy today that I have had in a long time.

Still stuck on my baloney sandwiches. Had one for lunch, supper and snack. LOL.

Tomorrow, my community has something called Ribfest.  There are 6 Ribbers who cook beef and pork ribs, pulled pork and chicken out of large food trucks.  The combination of smoke and sauces make for amazing ribs!

Don't care about the diet tomorrow!  I am going have me a full rack of beef ribs with all the fixings!  Then I am going to go to the beer gardens and have quite a few beer.  The diet is definitely going to be blown tomorrow but it will be worth it for a once a year experience.

Food Log

Started Taking B12 and Emergen-C Multi Vitamin

I have been so tired lately that I had to try something to get more energy.  Vitamin B12 was suggest and I personally like Emergen-C multi vitamin drink crystals.  It contains 1000 mg of vitamin C plus a bunch of different vitamins and minerals.  It always seems to help boost my immune system.

I seem to have more energy today but that could just be wishful thinking :)  I will see how I feel going forward.

Today I had my new standby for non-carb days - Mexican beef and beans.  It is ground beef, black beans, diced tomatoes, chopped onion, kernel corn and Tex-Mex seasoning.  I also added diced jalapeno and yellow/orange/red peppers.

Lunch was Mexican Beef and Beans on lettuce.  Supper I had it with spaghetti squash.  Because it is fairly low calorie and filling I was able to treat myself tonight to 3/4 cup butterscotch ice cream.

Really Exhausted Lately but Still Kept My Gym Appointment

All week I have been completely exhausted!  I mean like bone tired.  I talked to my trainer about it and she thinks that it could be that I have made such drastic changes in my diet and lifestyle that my body is still getting used to it.

Up until 3 weeks ago, my diet was 60% + carbs but now it is 25% .  My body is used to having all those carbs to burn for energy so it is going to take time for  it to adjust and "learn" a new way to get energy.  It sucks but at least I am still pushing through it.  My workout was good but it really didn't help my energy levels at all.  My next day at the gym is Friday.

I have no idea how many calories I ate today because for lunch I had a huge half order of Nachos Libres from the Taco Justice food truck.  OMG!  They were amazing!  They had  a layer of waffle fries topped with ground beef, huge chunks of tomatoes and onions (both white and green), cheese and some kind of sauce.  I tried to estimate high in my calories but I really don't know.

They looked something like this picture but with chunks of tomatoes.

For supper I had a baloney sandwich - I am back on that kick.  I haven't had baloney in years now I can't get enough of it.

Gained a Pound This Week - Time to Switch Things Up a Bit

Today was weight and measurement day.   I gained a pound from last week which could just mean that I built some muscles.  I also lost an inch around my upper body/chest - we have been working  a lot on strengthening my back muscles so everything tightened up a bit.

No change in any other measurements :(

1st week - lost 5lbs

2nd week - lost 2.5 lbs

3rd week - gained 1 lb

The first week my daily calorie budget was 1,363 but then, on the advice of my trainer, I upped it to 1,463.  I am going to drop it back down and see if that makes any difference for this week.

Working with a trainer has been valuable.  My back and legs don't hurt anymore and I feel stronger and more flexible.  I am learning how to do the exercises correctly so that I am working the proper muscles.

We haven't been doing much cardio so I  am going to show up at the gym and get an extra 15 minutes in before training starts.

Food Log - on target today.  Made good choices.

Staying Within My Calories But . . .

I forgot to post yesterday but there really wasn't anything to say.  I stayed within my calories for the day but I didn't eat that healthy.  I had 2 deep fried samosas for lunch and a chocolate bar for a snack.

Today I ate healthier and tried a new recipe but still felt hungry.

The recipe I tried was Spaghetti Squash with Mushrooms and Parmesan from Pickledplum.com  It sounded like it would be so good but I didn't like it very much.  I not going to add it to my recipe page because I wouldn't make it again.  I want my recipe page to be really good recipes.

I ate a LOT of protein today.  All I had for lunch was a bunch of meatballs with cheese.  They were good but I think I would prefer my meal to be a bit more balanced and include vegetables and/or beans.

The Force was Weak in Me Today

Every Friday at work we have "tea time" for 1/2 hour at the end of the day.  Someone will bring in baked goods and we will sit around and talk.  Today, my coworker brought in these absolutely fabulous Chocolate Chip Cranberry Toffee cookies.  I could not resist and ended up having 2!

Then I made spaghetti and meatballs for my son for supper.  They smelled so good that I just had to have a taste.

Finally, sitting down after my workout I started watching Game of Thrones and the popcorn was right there beside me.  I meant to only have a handful but ended up finishing the bag.

On the plus side, my workout was very tough today.  We did a lot of leg work and used the TRX again which totally kills me.  My legs are really feeling it tonight.

It is getting close to 3 weeks since I started this new diet and exercise regime and this is usually where I start to slip a bit.  I have been working hard and watching what I eat.  In 19 days I have only had 3 days that I was over my calorie budget.  That's pretty good but it is too easy to use that as an excuse to overeat.

The rest of the weekend should be OK.  I have healthy foods all ready to go.  The only thing I am planning to eat that I shouldn't is a chicken samosa tomorrow for lunch because it is the last week that I will be at a local craft market and there is a vendor there that makes the best homemade samosas.  Supper tomorrow night will be left over chicken with peppers and onions (chicken fahita mix without the fahita).  Sunday will be spaghetti squash with meatballs.

Completely Exhausted

The last 2 days I have been completely exhausted.  I come home from work and immediately go for a nap.  I have no energy at all for anything!

I don't know if it is the low carb days or just the fact that the weather has turned cool and rainy but it really sucks.

Calories were under budget today and I ate healthy foods . . . well except for the bag of gummies that I had at lunch :D