RFSC Week 6 complete. Doing great! Feeling GREAT!

My week 6 goals were:

Weight Loss:   .8 lbs  (I'm certain I did - probably more.  Weigh in is Tues morning and I'm psyched!)

NSV:  PRE-PLAN MEALS!  Try a quinoa recipe, cut more bread from diet.  Yes, I pre-planned almost all my meals.  I love MyFitPal and how after I work out bfast, lunch and snacks, I can sit at my desk mid-afternoon and play around with dinner ideas and see how they impact my nutritional and calorie totals for the day, keeping in mind what workout mood I'm in and how many calories I'm likely to burn off.  MyFitPal is really enabling me to feel in control of things.  

Haven't made quinoa yet, but I did decrease my bread intake a bit this week, with some effort and clever pre-planning.

Fitness:   Keep mixing it up -  strength and cardio, indoors and outdoors, lots of variety.  Play tennis and hike this week.  I planned twice to hike, but the weather didn't cooperate.  My workouts were all varied this week though - just the way I like it.  I'm adding more strength work in w/ the cardio.

GOALS FOR WEEK 7:
Weight Loss - .8 lb again.  144 by next Tuesday's weigh in.  
NSV/Nutrition: Keep pre-planning meals and come up with some new salad concoctions.  I came up with an excellent one this past week - romaine lettuce, grilled chicken pieces, halved grape tomatoes, corn, black beans, lots of cilantro, lime juice, tsp of e.v.o.o. and some shredded cheddar.  No bread needed.  EX-CELL-ENT!  
Fitness: Still at 14 push ups, max.  I'd like to get to 16 this week.  

Yesterday's report:

Your Daily Summary

529

CALORIES REMAINING

Goal	Food	Exercise	= Net
1210	1511	- 830	681

Exercise:  An hour and 10 min of tennis, and a few hours walking in the city.


Today's report:

Your Daily Summary

65

CALORIES REMAINING

Goal	Food	Exercise	= Net
1210	1486	-341	1145

Exercise:  Jillian Michaels Buns & Thighs level 2

Motivation:

Week 12 Weigh-In, Silliness, Happiness & Self Worth

Last Tues: 147.4
Now:  146

No Snoopy happy dance today though, because the Tuesday before last was 145, and I don't know how or why I let that slip through my fingers.  I'm happy I lost weight since then, and I know my other progress counts and blah blah blah, but to be honest, I was hoping to see 145 again today so I could chalk last week's 2.4 lb gain to just a bad bloated morning.  I know I'm giving the scale # too much power over my frame of mind.  I just can't believe that gain was legit - and this morning's weigh in pretty much proves it.

And this is precisely the type of mind games Enyonam refers to in her last comment.  I understand it, recognize it, know I should get over it...but here I am refusing to post my Snoopy happy dance after losing 1.4 lbs this week.

I feel that this kinda thing needs just as much focus and adjustment as my diet, weight, flab and muscle tone.  I don't expect to reach goal weight and fitness level and then stay there unchanged for the next 30+ years.  I'm going to have minor gains and getting back on track over the course of my life.  I'll likely have phases where exercise isn't a priority.  I don't think I'll ever get WAY off track, but who knows...with a health issue or something like that, who knows what could take over my focus and change my path.  I don't want my flabbiness to equal discontent with life, or muscle tone to be a requirement for me to feel like I'm succeeding at life.  Come to think of it, last week's mini-challenge to Pay it Forward couldn't have come at a better time for me, with these thoughts going through my mind.  Diet and fitness have their place...but I don't want them dictating my self worth.

That being said, I still don't want to post the dancing Snoopy because I'm 1 lb higher than 2 weeks ago.  Yep.  That's silly and it's why I need work at this.

Sore in weird places

Wow, tennis is a whole different workout for me, and I'm feeling sore in the oddest of places.  The top of my arm, between my wrist and elbow.  (!!??!!)  My ribs - mainly my right side.  It feels streteched out.  Unusual feeling today.  I wish I was feeling it more in my leg muscles.  I don't really care to develop muscle definition between my wrist and elbow.  

Today's report and motivation (edited late PM, after my workout, because I didn't finish.  Had to add back a bunch of calories to daily total.  Oh well...)

Your Daily Summary

-130

CALORIES REMAINING

Goal	Food	Exercise	= Net
1210	1679	- 339	1340

Exercise:  Tae Bo (not to end), Firm Abs

This'll be me by summer. :)

Workouts should be sorta ugly

Ooh, so I tried that smashed chickpeas & avocado sandwich (from 2 posts down) tonight for dinner and it was EXCELLENT!!!  I added more cilantro and lime than the recipe called for because I like things zesty like that.  I also finally tried the roasted cauliflower - a basic one with just olive oil, lemon, garlic and parmesan cheese.  It was good, but I'm going to try some of the other roasted cauliflower recipes to find a more distinct flavor -one I'll crave and want to make again and again.  This one - tasty when in front of you,  but nothing that memorable that I'll be eager to rush and make again.  I ate great today!

A woman I work with said today that I'm looking thinner.  :)

Your Daily Summary

18

CALORIES REMAINING

Goal	Food	Exercise	= Net
1210	1410	- 218	1192

I'm trying out my Firm Fitness DVD set of twelve 22-ish min HIIT workouts.  I know there's something to the HIIT thing that burns a lot of fat, but I just can't imagine HOW these workouts could help me achieve better results than my harder, longer workouts.  I end them more revved up than I was when I started.  Shouldn't I be exhausted after an effective workout?  It's too short and too easy.  I'm giving it my all, but the bursts are supposed to be the hardest parts, and they're not anywhere near challenging enough, even giving it my all.  So I think I'm going to designate these workouts as back-up home workouts on days when I know I'll be active with other things - swimming or casual hiking or something else that isn't a full blown workout, but helps make a dent in my calorie burn.

OK then - Motivation Pic time:

This is supermodel Adriana Lima, who oh-so-cool-y posted a photo of herself post-workout to show how sweaty and gross a great workout can/should leave a gal.  I love this, and really admire her for posting it on the internet for all to see.  I've been doing workout videos for so many years that I have gone through quite a few of them in which the women are apparently instructed to keep dumb phony smiles pasted on their fully made-up faces.  The old Firm workouts were the WORST for that....every women in a different pastel colored leotard, and those creepy, incessant SMILES, as if it was somehow wrong for them to grunt, grimace or sweat while working out.  WHY?!?!  Who the heck wants to workout with the Stepford Wives??  I want to feel (and look) like this during/after my workout:

(I also would like to have some fans on the side during my workouts, like these folks here, to cheer and clap and urge me on.  That would be quite nice!)

Week 10 Wrap-Up

Today wraps up 10 weeks of my weight loss/fitness endeavor.  It really just started off as a dietary improvement/weight loss endeavor, but it's morphed into a lot more than that now, and I no longer see any deadline looming ahead.  Yes, I still want to lose the 10 lbs I set out to lose, but my top goal now is to  implement permanent changes into my daily life that will help me burn this excess flab off and keep it off.  To be knowledgeable about and in control of what I eat.  I realize my initial goal of losing 10 lbs in February was pretty moronic.  I'd never be able to maintain the habits I'd have needed to implement to make that happen.

Reading many of your blogs has helped me feel more accepting of my "bad days".  Such is life.  I'll have days where I want to just eat a lot, or there will be a lot of foods I love that I don't usually get to enjoy, so I have more than I probably should for hunger/nutrition sake.  This is going to happen periodically in life, and I may as well learn how to work around them. So I'm not beating myself about Easter weekend.  I may not lose any weight this week.  Oh freakin' well.  I had a great Easter.  I have implemented a lot of great new habits in recent weeks.  I'm improving, even if the latest improvement isn't a weight loss one.

That being said, I am weighing myself in the morning and OHMYGOSH I WANT A LOSS!!!!  
(if I can't be painfully honest here, what's the point??)

My target calorie intake for losing .8 lb per week is 1210 cal per day (without factoring in exercise).  For 1 week, that's 8,470 calories.
I consumed 11,572 calories this week.  That's 3,102 excess calories which, ideally, should have been worked off.

Exercise:  In 4 1/2 hours of exercise this week, I burned off 2,102 calories.  (How in the hell did that work out so perfectly, with the "02"?  I've triple checked my math b/c this seems like a mistake, but no - it worked out this perfectly.)  This brings my weekly calorie total to 9,470 -which is 1,000 calories over my target.

So I can't really expect a weight loss at weigh in tomorrow.  Of course, this is all math and calculations, and who knows what else is at play.  (TOM last week adding to my weight, weight work this week increasing my metabolism even if my HRM couldn't calculate that during my workout.)  So I'm still hopeful.  I reallllllly want the scale below 147.

Your Daily Summary

-108

CALORIES REMAINING

Goal	Food	Exercise	= Net
1210	1651	- 333	1318

Motivation:

Summer Challenge: Week 2 Report, Week 3 Goals

Last week's goals - report:
Weight Loss Goal:  .8 lb
(I weighed on Tues and had put on .4 lb, but it was the heaviest, most bloated TOM day for me.  I resisted re-weighing later in the week though, and will wait for Tues morning again.  I may as well accept the fact that bloating and girly-issues affect my weight regularly, and there's no point acting like they don't exist.)


Nutrition:  keep fat intake at recommended level at least 3 days.
I succeeded in this, if I count last Sunday as day 1 of the 3 days.  

Fitness goal:  6 hard workouts this week, incl. two Insanity.  12 push ups on toes by next Sunday.
NEW VEGGIE/RECIPE (double up on it.  I'll try two.)
I only got 5 good workouts in this week, and only one of them was Insanity.  I am up to 10 and a half push ups last I checked.  New veggie recipes were actually credited to my sister:  dry roasted kale chips w/ sea salt and a spritz of olive oil, and grilled bell peppers & zucchini w/ fresh (sister-made) basil pesto. Scrumptious!
Haven't tried my baked cauliflower yet.  


WEEK 3 GOALS:


Weight Loss:  .8 lb

NSV:  Water & Sleep.  More of both.  6 cups of water or more.  In bed before midnight.


Nutrition:  I need a social gathering, and I need to exert self control.  I have a fancy party next Saturday, and I will mentally prep myself during this week to show up there CONFIDENT that I won't go apesh*t over the champagne and hors d'oeuvres.  I'll budget my calories ahead of time so I can indulge there without ruining my week, but I have to know where to draw the line when I'm there, and not blame the party for taking control out of my hands.  I AM IN CONTROL.


Fitness: Take it outside.  It's getting warm and Springy out.  I want to bring my workouts outside and vary it up more.  Hiking/rock climbing, biking,  & tennis - which I suck at, but it's still a good workout.
Push ups - complete TWELVE or more in a row!!!


Motivation:

Day 64: Back to the Fat Funeral

So I weighed myself today to stick to my schedule.  I thought I'd see a loss despite it being my worst day of the month.  I didn't.  I weighed 147.4, which is .4 lb gain since last week.  I'm kinda annoyed that it's not lower, and even more annoyed at myself for being annoyed when I should know better. It's all silly.  I know it.  I'll get over it.  I think I am over it already - just needed to say it aloud.

So just keep going.  Another week....Here we go.....

10

CALORIES REMAINING

Goal	Food	Exercise	= Net
1210	1579	- 379	1200

*You've earned 379 extra calories from exercise today.
The Firm Aerobics & Weight Training - 53min.

Week Two Mini- Goals

Summer Challenge - Week one progress:

Weight Loss: UNKNOWN. (Weigh-in Tues morning)
Nutrition: SUCCESS. Pre-planned most of my meals. Switched to calorie count rather than WW points, and logged everything into myfitnesspal.com.  It's actually fun!
Fitness goal: SUCCESS. Got my HRM.  Worked out 35 - 60 min, 6 days this week.
Push ups goal: Did 4 in a row last Sunday. Did 8 today.  (And loathed every single one.)
New veggie recipe:  didn't do yet.  I intend to try roasted curried cauliflower - a veggie I RARELY eat.  I'll add that on to my to-do list for early this week.

Other than the veggie challenge, I met my weekly mini goals.

Week two goals:
Weight Loss:  .8 lb (again)
Nutrition:  My fat intake has been higher than the daily recommended each day, even when my calories were under.  I want to change that this week - keep it at recommended level at least 3 days.  This will be difficult since that total ends up high even when I think I'm eating super-healthy.  I'm not sure how to cut it.  I need to experiment, which is why I'm keeping my goal realistic - 3 days or more this week.  Baby steps.
Fitness goal:  6 hard workouts this week, incl. two Insanity.  12 push ups on toes by next Sunday.
I just purchased a new Tae Bo DVD a few days ago, and I always tend to mix up my workouts to avoid  my body falling into routine that doesn't require as much focus/energy.  So rather than focus on that goal this week, I'm going to stick to last week's NEW VEGGIE/RECIPE challenge, and double up on it.  I'll try two this week.

GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!!!!!  

Have a great 2nd week!!

My motivation pic:

Day 60 - Don't want to work out, ate like hell, blah.

I ate 712 calories over my daily goal today.  The last 400 or so weren't even b/c I was hungry, but because I was stressed, sad, and/or hormonal.  My 14 yr old daughter was on a flight (alone) to her dad's 1,000 miles away for Spring Break.  I HATE watching her walk down the gate onto an airplane and take off into the sky without a parent or even a familiar face on board.  It makes me sick, actually.  But I have to allow it - court rules.  I got home from the airport at 9:30pm and was hungry since I'd only had a small 4:30pm dinner and refused to stop for fast food.  So I proceeded to consume 760 calories of oil-drenched broccoli rabe, and goat cheese ravioli w/ butter & oil, and about 6 cloves of garlic - so that I can have lovely breath along w/ my bulging belly.

And I don't feel AT ALL like exercising tonight.  NOT AT ALL.

OK - now that I got that out....I'm going to exercise and come back and note it in my journal.  Hmph.  Blah.  Whatever... Gotta just do it.


Alright - I did an old easy workout tape, w/ Denise freakin' Austin instructing.  Talk about a blast from the past.  She's so peppy it borders on lunacy, and she has NO rhythm at all.  You can see her backup exercisers struggling to find a balance between staying with the actual rhythm and following her.  I imagine they can get fired if they make her look bad.  It's all pretty amusing, so even though the workout is quite lame - just very, very basic elementary aerobic moves w/ dumbell work in between sets - at least my mind can become engaged in the whole sub-plot of the back-up people not being allowed to stay in rhythm, or risk being replaced by a better Denise Austin follower.  :)  It's a workout, it's a comedy, and it's a drama, all wrapped up into one.

Your Daily Summary

-417

CALORIES REMAINING

Goal	Food	Exercise	= Net
1210	1922	- 295	1627

My motivation pic for the day - GREAT toned legs: