keeping it real

I had a big cheesy slice of pepperoni pizza for dinner tonight.... I should have snapped a pic to post to show you all that I am human and eat more than salads. I was too hungry to grab the camera. My food diary is open & public on My Fitness Pal.. my MFP name is Momtobe06.  Liv ( my 8 year old daughter) has become very invested in my fitness journey this past year...she & John are so supportive. I have been trying to use it as a teachable moment to show her a healthy body role model and we have had so many discussions about healthy choices and living a balanced life. Enjoying treats in moderation and exercising because its good for our hearts.. She loves looking at my before & after pics. She is very interested to learn how I got myself that way. I explained that I did not even realize it, but before i knew it all my bad choices caught up with me and the extra fat had grown around my organs before showing up everywhere. I explained how one day I looked at a picture of myself and then realized how unhealthy I had become. I explained how fast food now & then is fine, treats are fine, but that I was eating too much of it before and now I am making healthier choices. Liv is very impressionable... I refuse to use words like " diet, fat, skinny, perfect".. I will not degrade myself or put myself down.. I may think it... but she has never heard me say it..ever.. I am very proud of that and I take my job as her role model very seriously. I instead say " healthy, unhealthy, fit, in shape, choices "... she will lift up her shirt and say " I'm so skinny right Mama?".. I cringe at that inside but tell her that she is an active healthy eight year old... tall & lean. I explain that God created people in all different shapes & sizes and I just want to be as healthy as I can be.. just the way God intended for me to be. She is my biggest cheer leader and my biggest reason for wanting to be in the best shape possible.I must be rubbing off on her because when glancing at family photos she matter of factly pointed out that " so & so sure is carrying around some extra weight". I could not have said it better myself.

Packing my lunch

We get lots of sweets donated to us at my office and I like to pack better options to keep at my desk. I still indulge here & there... but only a taste or a 1/2 of a portion. I love these Luna Mini's to stash in my purse... if I am held up at court I can discretely snack on one of these very quickly and they help tide me over until lunch. I always have one of these in my purse or a luna protein bar and they have saved me many times over. I tend to make poorer choices if I am not prepared and let myself get to that starving mode.


what does your typical lunch look like?

Dinner

Chicken sausage with peppers,onions and mushrooms

Lunch

Then and now

some days when I get down on myself.. looking at then & now pics is the only thing that keeps me continuing on this path.
I tried on a bikini and my body is not at the point where I will be confident enough to wear it... yet!... that is after almost a year of working my ass off. Its frustrating... but then I look at these pics and I can clearly see that I have made big changes in the shape of my body..its a process... I need to keep working... take it day by day.

Stairs

you all would be proud of me..... today during Liv's acting class instead of sitting and reading for an hour... I did 29 flights of stairs. what a workout. I always take the stairs..... I aim for 10 flights a day minimum.. my office is on the second floor, kitchen & copy machine is on the first floor so I usually get 8 flights in before lunch.

roll call

I have noticed I am getting more traffic on the blog.... yeah.. welcome...can I get you a cup of Tea? Look around... if you have not noticed yet this blog is dedicated to my fitness journey. I have been charting my weekly progress since August 2012, but I began my journey in May 2012. Its weird how it all began.. I stopped at a yard sale and noticed a nordic track for sale and had a Epiphany right then & there in a strangers driveway.. I envisioned myself creating my home gym and changing the way I ate... I envisioned putting myself first and what that would feel like. I brought that nordic track home and never looked back... since then I bought a treadmill, elliptical, weight bench, weights... kicked my daughter out of her room.. moved her to a different room and created a space of my own. Once I had the workout routine a habit, I decided to focus in my diet and make small changes. No more fast food or white bread.. more fruits & veggies.I am working hard to make this a lifestyle and I hope to inspire others to take it one small step at a time. If I can do it.. you can do it. Its hard to believe that I am coming on my one year anniversary of that epiphany.


Please be so kind as to leave a comment telling me how you found your way here.. I am guessing from My fitness pal... I am not used to this traffic. Please introduce yourself and tell me where you are on your journey and how you are doing.


Thanks for coming. I hope you come back

Week 49

Dinner...something new

This was really good.... a salad kit by lean cuisine. I picked the southwest chicken because I am a huge fan of taco salads. It was $3.69 and I had a $1 off coupon from my cooking light cravebox. You just add your own lettuce and I added green onion and a handful of cheese as well. You steam the chicken, corn, black bean, pepper packet in the microwave, thaw the dressing in a cup of water and then build your salad... yum. The chipotle ranch dressing was just spicy enough but not too spicy. I did not care for the texture of the peppers... but that is my only complaint. These would be good to have on hand when your getting bored of creating your typical salads..and I eat salads prolly three days a week.

I will stock up on these when I see them on sale. I think the total calories was around 300 and 9 grams of fat... not bad

week 49

 morning weight 134


I killed it yesterday with my workout.....45 min of cardio, 15 min of arms on NTC. Today I did the bare minimum a quick 30 min on the elliptical and I did not push myself.. that is how it goes some-days... but hey at least I did something. When I feel strong I push myself and vice versa. I am still sore from Saturday's advanced Nike workout.Nike training club advanced power up workout is the bomb... but I am not ready to do it again yet...I have to modify it. This one exercise in particular had my upper core abs & rib area so sore.. its called a plank arm row.. your on hands & toes in a plank position and with a 10 lb weight your lifting your right arm up quickly and then switching sides. Your balancing all your weight and engaging your core. I felt like I was in a bad fight the next day.. it hurt to laugh, it hurt to cough. I have never done an exercise that has engaged those muscles so good... prone jackknife gets the lower core. I tried doing it again today... Nope... My body screamed at me... not ready. I over did it on Saturday. If you are a beginner I would suggest no weights... I started with 10 lbs and reverted to just my body weight when it became to hard..can't wait to do it again but just a few at a time and working up to weights.


1 month away from my 1 year anniversary

Reward

This was my recent reward purchase... I have to go back to recall my last purchase. I reward myself once a month for working out. I got it new on ebay for a steal... well a steal to me anyway. I have been very spendy lately... 2 new pairs of jeans, 2 new tops.... those were more necessary expenditures because my other pants were falling off. I will probably start doing rewards every three months after my year anniversary. I still think it is important to reward ones-self for a job well done.

Ouch

I asked for it.. I put up a post on the MFP community about changing up my workout routine... basically in the past 11 months.. my routine has stayed the same and I feel as if my body has adjusted to it. A MFP member suggested Nike training club.. a really cool free app on my android phone. It's like having a personal trainer on your phone, they walk you through each exercise and you can watch a demo video. I tried it... picking the advanced workout in the strength category. It was called Power up.... it was very challenging.... and today my body is sore in places it has not been..I can't say its a good sore....lol.. cause I am hurtin... I know next time to start lower and work my way up.


But I think this just may be the change I need to rev things up.... today I sip on my protein shake and rest on the heating pad.

Sat night snack

Protein kick

Lunch today

week 48

weight 134


I worked hard this week.. really reined in my eating and worked hard on my diet. I had quite a few protein shakes and kept snacking to a minimum. I don't think I have ever eaten so much protein. I am sore today.. but it's a good sore. Going to try and do just as good next week. Try a little harder with my eating and push a little harder with my exercise to get the results I want. I have worked hard on my body...I know I am physically healthier and My butt has never looked better ;) My problem is fat on my arms & tummy & legs. I once researched somewhere that fat in general takes time& work to remove because first you must work off the stuff you don't see.. the stuff inside wrapped around your organs. I know that I have come a long way... but honestly I am not where I hoped to be working out 5 days a week for the past 11 months. I desire to get stronger & leaner... in the best shape possible for my age.

I do believe that if I rein in my diet, change up my exercise routine to challenge my body that I can achieve my goals. I just realized that I have not taken measurements in a while... time to do that. I love this fitness related advice..."Weight is a number, measurements are numbers, clothing sizes are numbers. Pick which number matters most to you and base your progress off of that".... for me that number is the scale.. without a doubt.... how about you?



updated to add measurements taken 4/19/13 134 lbs size 8/10-

Bust
fullest- 38 Band-34

waist
natural 33.5 navel 38

Hips 40

bicep 12

Clean eating tilapia

Trying to be a big girl and eat healthier fish.. instead of breaded.. this has 1 gram of fat versus the 9 grams of fat in the pre-breaded panko fillets I normally buy. I was not a fan of this Tilapia dish... baked with lemon butter and seasonings... I have three more pieces in the freezer I can try to get creative with.. maybe fish tacos or a different recipe. Do you all have any fish recipes you like?

Elliptical

did 45 minutes of cardio today... earned 10 petals on my fitbit.. feels good

Much less clean

I eat out only one day a week...so I was really wanting soup instead of a salad

med soup, 6 nuggets,4 crackers 370 cals and not bad on fat....but fried and high in sodium

Dinner

trying a protein shake for dinner.. I have never done that before... we will see if it is filling enough to substitute a meal. I used 10 ounces of 2% milk ( I prefer 1% over skim, but sometimes 1% is hard to find in the store) and a few ice cubes and 1 scoop of EAS soy chocolate powder and my blender bottle.I much prefer 1st step wellness whey chocolate protein powder as its less sugar and taste like a malt. I thought I would try a soy over whey this time. Once I use this up I will go back to my preferred brand


I was so proud of myself that I declined a bakery treat a coworker brought in... and had a banana instead. I have to remind myself that every good choice counts..it all adds up and besides I want to save my splurges for weekends and something I really want. I am really trying to eat more fresh fruit.

Clean-ish lunch

Whole wheat popped chips
Turkey on wheat,a little mayo
Grapes

Clean Lunch

weight 134 ( recent illness got me back on track)

( not pictured the slice of turkey I added at the last minute)



cals 386 carbs 33 fat 12 protein 41 fiber 4- this was more calories than I guessed in my head.. after tracking everything I eat for the past 11 months.. I am getting pretty good at guessing, but that is why I use My fitness pal... to be really sure... those calories add up quick. This filled me up.

I was reading somewhere that it is fiber and not protein that really fills a person up...but those fiber filled bars give me tummy troubles that are not work friendly.. you don't want to be tooting in a quiet court room. So I am trying Luna protein bars... because protein is good for losing fat or so i hear. I have been not doing my protein shakes so much.... prolly because I work out right before dinner instead of in the early morning... so I am usually working out from 4-4.45 and then I start cooking and then eat....so an post workout shake just seems like extra calories I don't need.. I will prolly change that up come summer when i start working out in the morning again. I used to drink a protein shake in the morning after my w/o instead of breakfast around 7 am and then have a greek yogurt around 10 am. Studies show that Ladies who drink protein shakes keep the weight off.



I really want to lose some body fat and get leaner.. its not about the scale but how my body looks.... I feel this has to come from my diet and not my workouts because I feel I am doing well with my workouts ( recent workout break due to strep)so I am going to try to rein in my diet a little and focus on eating cleaner & more protein.

stay tuned

a Room of my own

I did not get a ton of support in creating this room. My husband did not believe I would stick with it, he begrudgingly helped me pick up the items and move them into the house. My daughter was upset I was taking over her old room.. she wanted the best of both worlds and to have two rooms. I love having my own space to workout in. I wish it were bigger... it is a tight squeeze and I have to fold up my treadmill to have the space to stretch and do my other workouts. I would love a wall mounted TV w/dvd player so I could add some fitness dvds to the mix. This room makes me really happy... in this room I am all about taking care of me and that is good.

Week 47- arms

am weight 138

It takes work to change the shape of your arms.........WORK!!!!! I am not where I want to be yet... but I am working on it and hope to be there soon...... it did not help that my arms were pretty thick to begin with. It's a hereditary thing.. like I said I am petite in stature but not small boned. I come from hearty stock.  See attached picture where I am posing with my Mom on our family camping trip in June. I was just a few weeks in at that point. I am working so hard on shaping up my arms so that this is the year I wear a tank top with confidence.


My arm routine is using 5,8, 10 and 15 lb weights and a medium resistance band. I usually work my arms 3 days a week for about 15 minutes or so.I have injured my upper body more than anything (  upper back, shoulders, forearms,elbow).... My elbow is still not right.... but it is getting better. 10 lbs is to light, but 15lbs is to heavy..etc... I usually don't find that out until after I strained something and over did it. So I take time off, heal and then start up again.. but then I am nervous about getting hurt again. They tell you to increase your weights slowly and I have a decent selection of weights and a weight bench... what I need is the in-between weights of a set of 12 lb dumbbells

My weight was 138 this morning.. I nearly fell off the scale in shock... but who knows why? I am killing it with my workouts. Today I did  1 hour of cross training ( 30 elliptical, 15 treadmill and then 15 min of weights). I have been eating well but nothing too cray cray..... I can always improve. I count every morsel I consume on MFP . It could be anything... not letting it get me down.

how are your arms? ready for spring?

Week 46

WEEK 46

WEIGHT 135


Non scale victory- I bought my first pair of size 8' jeans.. bought two pairs. I love the way the Limited jeans fit me. I ordered a pair of slim boot cut and a cute pair of skinny cuffed jeans for the weekend. Things have been very stressful around the house... we took Liv off her meds and its spring break... so she is off her usual routine.... I find myself stress snacking. We just need this weather to break so she can get outside and out of my hair. I am trying to change up my routine a little... doing exercises with resistance bands instead of just dumbbells. Once the weather breaks I want to retrain the couch to 5 k outdoors.

My weight seems to be hovering in the 135/135 region...... with how I am snacking Its no wonder... time to really clean things up

Lunch

Up late packing tomorrows salad

Snack

Avoiding easter candy survival kit...luna  protein bar