Friday, May 31, 2013

Overwhelmed!

I knew my friends would respond, but I am a little overwhelmed at it still! I even figured out how to make a private group on Facebook, which I named Suzanne's Rocks, because these people are my rocks, so I can let them know when I have blogged. Speaking of blogging, my dear friend Suzzanne (she totally spells her name wrong but won't change it) told me yesterday about a Blogathon that starts tomorrow. It is a challenge to blog every day in June. I signed up, so more on that tomorrow.

I slept in a little this morning, not till 10:00 but till 8:15. Next week I will not have this luxury. I start my summer grad school class on Monday and have to be in Cookeville by 9:00. It takes me about an hour and tem minutes to get from my house into the classroom. The biggest challenge of the next three weeks, besides getting up, going to the gym and showering before class, is going to be taking my lunch and not eating out. You know Blue Coast Burrito? Yeah, they have one in Cookeville. I am thinking I need to specifically plan a day or two to go there. That way I'm not torturing myself for 3 weeks.

Tomorrow is my 1st weigh in since I committed to only weighing on the 1st and 15th of the month. The scale plays opposite games with my mind. When I weigh too often it looks something like this....
Step on scale for initial weight....strict till the next day.
Step on the scale.... if I gained anything my mind says it didn't work so you can cheat today. (even though I know all the science behind it).  If I lost, my mind gives me permission to cheat as well. This is just a 6-week commitment so I can change the frequency if I want to, but I want to see if this helps.

I have kept track of my food intake today, including calories. I am within range for the day! Of course that meant having a kiwi for dessert instead of ice cream and hot fudge. I made a wonderful soup for dinner, it is not necessarily super healthy, but really good! It's a copycat version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana soup. It's kinda healthy....it has kale, onions, potatoes, Italian sausage, and heavy whipping cream in it. Pretend you don't see a couple of those ingredients.



I am going strong on my 3 commitments! Hopefully, you will be greeted tomorrow with very good news, aka a loss of poundage!

Today's question.... Do you enjoy anything for dessert that isn't typically considered dessert?

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Motivation vs. Determination

I have been reading a blog I heard about on a podcast (I am getting so technology savvy it is scaring me) called Runs for Cookies. It is written by a lady in Michigan that has lost 125 pounds and kept it off. I think we are related. We both chew ice, are closet Eminem fans (guess not anymore), crochet, sew, and that's just a few of the things I can relate to reading her blog. I've never met Katie before, but she is the reason I am on this journey again. When I reach my goal, I am going to have to meet her! (I am not a stalker, I promise!) Anyway, I have started reading at the beginning and read several posts each day. It is always what I need to hear! Today was no exception.

I was in Kentucky last night for a graduation and didn't get home until almost 2:00 am and didn't get into bed until 3 am. Needless to say, I did not get up and go to the gym at 7:00! I got up around 10 and had my protein shake and vitamins. I was NOT in the mood to go to the gym... AT ALL! So I opened my computer and started reading her blog. This is the link to the post I read today. READ IT!It was exactly the kick in the pants I needed to get out the door and go to the gym! I had ZERO motivation, but only I can decide just how determined I am to lose the weight!. I am determined!! Determination trumps motivation....if you have it.

My food intake was better today, probably because I slept most of the day. (I got up at 10 and took a nap from 1:30 to 5:00.) But I had tuna fish with just a tiny bit of Miracle Whip and cheese for lunch, and for dinner..




That would be a filet cooked medium rare with herbed butter, mushroom couscous with parmesan and roasted asparagus with parmesan. Okay, I went a little overboard with the parmesan. I was within my calorie goal according to Sparkpeople....then I had ice cream and homemade hot fudge. Yeah, that put me a couple hundred calories over for the day. But today was the first day I actually recorded everything I ate and it isn't a commitment to keep track or to stay within a range so I am good with it!
I'm still going strong with my no soda commitment!

So, obviously few, if any, people are reading my blog, but I'm not broadcasting to my Facebook friends that I am writing it. That is about to change. I desperately need some readers! I might as well be writing all of this in a journal!

Please do click the links to Katie's blog! (I'm referring to her like I know her or something.) She is brutally honest and inspiring!

Daily question: (something for you to comment on when you have nothing else to say;))
Are you a "closet" fan of anyone?

Happy Thursday!

Suzanne

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

I Can Cook Again!

It's fixed! Thanks dad!



Of course, I didn't cook like I should have. Instead my dad asked me the most dangerous question, "Where do you want to eat tonight?" It is physically impossible for my mouth to form the word "home" when he asks that question. I ate an entire calzone, with mushrooms, black olives, onions, pepperoni, and extra cheese, which could have easily made 2 meals. On a positive note, I drank unsweetened tea. Today makes a whole week without soda. Actually, it's a week and a day. And I went to the gym this morning. I stayed above 80% of my max HR during each burst and I was able to stay at higher resistances longer. I'm still on the bike. I thought I'd change it up this week, but I'm happy with the bike for now.

Still feeling a bit guilty about the calzone so I'm going to sleep!

Suz
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Monday, May 27, 2013

Yield Not to Temptation...Drink Water

Today is Memorial Day and, of course, my family got together and had a cookout. What goes better with a juicy burger topped with pickle and onion than a cold, fizzy.....sigh, I mean than water. (I did have a cup of unsweetened tea, too.) The cokes were there, taunting me. Ignoring them was difficult. But I did. I comforted myself by eating a whole bunch of sweet, juicy watermelon!

It's less than a week till my first weigh in. (I'm only weighing on the 1st and 15th of the month.) I really need to watch my sodium intake the next few days.

I wrote down a rough menu for this week. I'm going to try to stick to it but my oven isn't working. Hopefully we can fix it tomorrow.
Friday night I was getting ready to cook some chicken and wondered why my oven was taking so long to heat up. This would be why...



Of course they made it where I'll have to pull the whole stove out to fix it.

Finally, this evening I ate 3 of my very own strawberries! They were little, but delicious!


And yes, I washed them off before I ate them. Washed them of dirt, no pesticides on these beauties!

Protein shake, vitamins, and water are ready for tomorrow. Hopefully the gym won't be as crowded as it was this morning!

Happy trudging along!

Suzanne

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday, May 25, 2013

5 In a Row!

Woo Hoo! I started this whole thing seriously on Tuesday and I have been to the gym every single morning since then this week! I got a heart rate monitor yesterday (thanks dad for my early birthday gift) to make sure I am working out at the HR range I need to and I am! More on that when I blog about metabolic training, I guess I want to see results before I talk too much about it. But heart rate monitors are expensive! I finally found a pretty basic one for $45.00! That was the cheapest one!

Food wise, yea, lets not talk about that. Here's a picture that sums it all up...



They just opened a Blue Coast Burrito in Mt. Juliet. This is NOT good, but yet it is oh so good!

I bought some strawberry plants today. Organic strawberries are $5.99/lb at Kroger! No thanks!! I bought 4 plants for $6.52, tax and all! I may go back for more....



My dad is a big compost nut, so I have them in great, nutrient rich soil. Now let's see if I can keep them alive. I don't exactly have a very good track record with plants. I keep aloe vera alive because I forget I have it.

I'm 5 days perfect in my commitments. It's really hard not to order a Coke with lime or a Pepsi. They taste so good with certain foods!! I drank 2 liters of water today and 2 glasses of unsweetened tea. I even had tea with my burrito. Sigh, not the same.

Well, tomorrow begins a new week. Let's see how I do!

Suzanne

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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Legs of Jelly

March 23, 2013
I'm posting a day late, such is life.

Legs of jelly....While they do jiggle some, that is not what I'm referring to. I'm referring to barely being able to walk after my metabolic training session this morning. They aren't quite as bad as yesterday. I'm not sure if that's a sign I'm getting used to it now or that I didn't work as hard. I went up to 9.0 resistance at first and worked my way down.

My sisters asked me to join them for lunch at Wendy's. I'm sure I could have made a better choice from their menu...but I didn't. I did stick to my no soda commitment and had unsweetened tea and I didn't get a Frosty so I'm counting it as a success.

I rubbed elbows with important people for dinner tonight (State Representative Mark Pody). I took a picture of my food :). (See below).

Well, I resisted soda at a fast food restaurant today, kept to my exercise commitment, and didn't binge on sweets...good day!

Food and exercise log:

Shaklee Cinch protein shake made with dark chocolate almond milk

Exercise: metabolic trading on the bike

2 boiled eggs

Sargento Colby jack cheese stick

Wendy's single w/ cheese, ketchup, pickle, and onion
Small fry
Unsweetened tea

And my dinner...




Everything's set out for tomorrow!

Here's to another day...
Suzanne

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

A New Beginning

So....yeah, it's been a while since my last post. Needless to say, I've been off track....WAY off track! I've gained all that I lost back and then some! I'm not ready to post my weight just yet. Maybe I should. One day maybe I'll come back and edit this post.

I'm back to attempt yet one more time. This blog helps me be accountable, but only if people read it, and I need some hint that people are indeed reading it! (Hint, hint...leave comments!)

My commitments:

I commit to going till the end of June without soda (except on June 11th, my birthday, when I can have Mexican Coke that's made with sugar and not high fructose corn syrup).

I commit to doing metabolic training (more on that in another post) 6 days a week till the end of June (5 days this week since I started on Tuesday).

I commit to weigh myself on the 1st and 15th of the month ONLY! I will not be a slave to the scale!

That's enough commitments till the end of June.

My "like to do but not committing to do"s (these may be my next set of commitments):

Write what I eat down in my blog daily for all to see.

Eat at least one clean main meal each day.

I was talking to my dad about the need for a reward if I kept my commitments. I love fabric, but I can't afford the fabric I love, till I get a real job again. So dad said if I keep these till June 30th he'll give me $50 to by fabric with! Sounds like a reward I want to earn!

Daily intake and exercise log:

Shaklee Cinch shake made with dark chocolate almond milk (yes the almond milk has cane sugar in it, but it's the only one I like)

Exercise -metabolic training 12 minutes cycling

1 egg white with sea salt
1 colby jack cheese stick

I had 2 BBQ sandwiches :( but it was homemade BBQ and so so good
A helping of potatoes au gratin
A helping of baked beans
1 brownie...ok, 2 brownies but one was really little

I ate at church for dinner....
Green beans
Mashed potatoes with gravy
Pork chop
Dinner roll with a little bit of butter
Thankfully I didn't like any of the desserts they had tonight!

Daily water intake: 2 liters + 1/2 glass unsweetened tea


I'm all set for tomorrow. My vitamins are set out, protein shake is made, water jug is full, and I'm basically wearing most of my work out clothes to sleep.

Here I go again....

Suzanne

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