Improvement Needed

I am learning a lot from the book but still need to put it into action. I need to eat more natural foods and cut the crap out of my diet. I have been a little better at working out but could be much better. I have started running at 6 am with a friend every other day. I need to incorporate strength training into my routine. The bottom line is I need to take better care of my body and only put things into my body that it needs. I need to stop feeding it stuff that can harm the delicate endocrine system and mess up the balance of hormones. I am learning that when your hormones are off balance it can cause all kinds of problems with how you feel, your energy levels and how you metabolize your food. If I was made of money I would go through my house and get rid of all the bad stuff and replace it with healthy alternatives. But I am not, so this is going to have to be a process that takes place over time. Most of all I want to do this for my kids so that they can be as healthy as possible.

Rededicate

I got a little, actually a lot of track when I went on a month long vacation. Enough said about that. Now it is time to get back to where I should be. Let me just say that it is not fair how hard it is to get the muffin top off compared to how rapidly it reappears. I do have a new book that my wonderful husband ordered for me through Amazon to get me motivated again, maybe it's a hint;). I have also been put in charge of the fitness mini group at church, so I think that will motivate me as well. Wish me well.


This is the book that I am starting to read. It has great ratings. I will keep you posted on how I like it.

Swimsuit Season Here I Come

So, after maintaining my present weight for over a month now I have decided that I need to try to tone and maybe lose a few more pounds. Swimsuit season is right around the corner and I need a little help. I have turned to someone I really look up to for help. Unfortunately, she could not train me in person, so I am going to have to turn to one of her DVD's that has really good reviews, "30 Day Shred." I love watching Jillian Michaels train people on The Biggest Loser.
Today was my first session with Jillian. The DVD has 3 levels and I thought that I would start with level 2 since I am in okay shape already. Wow, it was harder then I thought and it didn't help that I had a 2 year old and a 5 year old join me half way through. I am definitely going to try to stick to this for 30 days. Joey (5) already informed me that my abs almost look like Jillians after just one session.

Maintaining

For the past few weeks I have been trying to maintain the new weight that I am at. I could be happy at this weight so I wanted to see how my body liked it. I feel that sometimes you work super hard to lose weight and get to a number on the scale that sounds good in your head but may not be so good for your body or the lifestyle that you want to lead. Then once you get there you find out that no matter how hard you try to maintain the new weight your body wants to weigh a little more so it is torture. For example, you have to work out way more then you have time for and keep your daily calorie count at a number that is just to much of a struggle. At this new weight I have been able to eat an amount that I feel happy about, I eat reasonably sized portions but don't ever feel hungry, I also don't ever try to feel full, just satisfied. I feel at this weight if I miss a work out or two that my weight won't go up as long as I just get back on the treadmill as soon as I can. For example, last week I was sick and didn't work out a single time. When weighing myself this morning I was happy to see that I was at the same weight as last week and the week before. I think my body could be happy with this weight and I can too. Of course I would like tighter abs and a little more off of my gut and a more shapely back end but I think that will come in time as I continue to work out and add more strength exercises to my routine.

I Will Not Give Up

I didn't post last week because I had some miscalculation issues. I thought I had lost another pound in a half the week before last but when I went to add up the numbers it just didn't come out right. So, I am starting over with my current weight of last Monday and will start weighing again every Monday and actually right it down instead of try to keep the numbers in my head like before. So last week I lost a half of a pound. I would normally be discouraged by that number but I think that is a fair number. I did really well working out, I worked out every day but Sunday. My work outs were mainly low key. They got me breathing hard and my heart pumping but I was not dying, except for one day when I decided to see how fast I could run a 5K and after running that 5k I was motivated to sign up for an upcoming 5k in our city, it will be March 28th.

Now, why I'm not surprised that I only lost 1/2 a pound

Lunch with the kids after running errands.

Valentines day lunch at a great local Chinese Restaurant, they had great sweet and sour chicken.

Sandwich place on Valentines Day.

Amazing Custard with peanut butter and brownie pieces mixed in. It is like silk on your tongue. I love Culvers frozen Custard. Again this was a Valentines Day splurge.

Moral of the story is that you just have to work out and burn the calories that you consume. I like to splurge every once in awhile so that means I have to work out extra hard to make up for it. Today I ran over 5 miles and will continue to try to stay on track to lose my last 13 pounds.

Progress Report 4

I lost three pounds last week. After gaining one pound the week before I was happy to see that this was the biggest loss in a seven day period for me. It seems to be getting easier for me to make the right choices when it comes to eating. We went out to eat once last week and I really wanted the fries that came with my chicken sandwich but opted for fruit to take it's place. We had a Super Bowl party as a family and I ended up making a few things that were appetizing, healthy and low calorie (considering what they were). It also helped that we hadn't eaten all day up to that point, so I felt I could consume more calories then I normally would in a single meal.
On the menu was pizza made with whole wheat crust topped with olives, mushrooms and banana peppers, I also made pigs in a blanket using organic chicken hot dogs and wrapped them in whole wheat dough. Joe and the kids put together a healthier version of 7 layer dip with fat free refried beans, tomatoes, a thin layer of homemade guacamole, olives, a thin layer of fat free sour cream and a sprinkle of 2% cheddar cheese. I guess that would make it 6 layer dip.

Here is a picture of our little Super Bowl Spread.

We also had one of these to drink, they are pretty good for only 10 calories each and you can get them at Costco.

Progress Report 3

The La Quinta resort and Spa (where we stayed last week)

Well, I knew it would be a hard week last week. Being on vacation and away from my normal routine always makes it hard. Before leaving on the trip I told myself that I was going to be good on this trip. I did get one good workout in while there and one nice long walk in but besides that I blew it. I indulged in one to many In-N-Out burgers. I did hold the sour cream on the Del Taco burritos, asked for light mayo instead of the usual full fat mayo on my #24 turkey avocado sandwich from Togos and never ordered desserts which is good but clearly was not good enough. I gained 1 lb. last week and now I have to work to get off an extra pound that should have already been gone for good.
I did get back on the treadmill this morning and ran a 5k. I was very excited that while I was running Jillian Michaels my favorite trainer from the Biggest Loser was on the Today show. Listening to her inspired me and I am ready to do what I need to do to reach my goal weight.

Progress Report 2

Okay, I am doing my progress report a day early because I weighed myself yesterday after my workout instead of my normal Monday morning. I knew that Monday would be a busy day with Mom and Dad Kewish in town and Joe and I getting ready to go out of town. I can't wait to leave this cold weather behind for a few days and hang out in Palm Springs. This past week I was not sure about how much I would lose because I was not as good when it came to keeping track of my calories. I was still very careful with what I ate and counted the majority of my calories but was not as maticulous as the week before. I was good about working out for at least 45 minutes 5 days a week which is my goal but my heart rate monitor is not working so I was not sure about how many calories I was actually burning. So, when I stepped on the scale yesterday I was not sure what number I would see. I was pleased that I did better last week then the first week and lost 2 lbs. The true test will be how I do next week. I am worried that I will blow it with eating out. I do plan on doing a few outside runs while I am there and will just have to make sure that I workout enough to burn the extra calories that I may eat.

Craving

I have this craving and I just can't get it to go away. This craving isn't like my usual cravings. I usually crave dark chocolate, peanut butter and chocolate or a thick hand dipped milk shake. You see, this time I am craving something that is very healthy, it is all organic with omega 3, omega 6, vitamins, calcium, protein and fiber. The only problem is I have only had this once and it was a sample that Joe's friend Kendall, who does ProBars social media marketing, gave him to try when he was in town. After trying this amazingly yummy bar I looked them up on line to see where I could buy more and realized that they are not sold at just any grocery store. You can buy them on line or be lucky enough to live close to a retailer. There is a retailer about 35 minutes from our house called Sunflower Market. The other problem is they are about 3 bucks a bar. But since it is a meal in a bar, tastes really good and has a lot of good nutrients in it, I might consider splurging on it every once in a while. As I was checking out the ProBar web site I noticed that they also have many other great sounding bars like, Kettle Corn, Cherry Pretzel and Cocoa Pistachio. The one I tried was called SuperFood Slam. Okay, my mouth is watering now because I really want one but not enough to go out into sub zero temps. and drive for 35 minutes to get to that store.

Superfood Slam is a nutritional powerhouse. Our organic acai berries, pure raspberries, dark chocolate and live greens are blended together with PROBAR's 15 signature whole food ingredients for a bar that is good for you and tastes SUPER.

One Of My Favorites

I love spinach, especially when counting calories. Did you know that spinach only has 10 calories per two cups? I have been buying the prewashed organic baby spinach leaves from Costco for awhile now and just love how easy it is to throw a salad together or put a handful of the leaves on my sandwich wrap. Spinach is very filling and packed with nutrients for only 10 calories. Since the spinach only has 10 calories you can load your salad with other tasty things as well. Today I added nuts, dried cranberries, and a little light cheese then sprayed it with dressing and had a huge plate full of food for about 300 calories.

Progress Report

I have officially been trying to lose the muffin top for a week now. I plan on weighing myself once a week and posting it on my blog. This morning I was down 1.5 lbs. from last Monday.
After watching the Biggest Loser premier earlier this week my weight loss seems so minimal but I do realize that I don't have nearly as much weight to lose and that the 1.5 lbs. that I lost is a healthy amount to lose in a week for me. By counting all the calories that I put into my mouth and counting all the calories that I burned, and by working out, I figured that I would lose between 1 and 2 lbs. So I am right on target and will try to continue doing what I have been doing.
This has not become a habit yet and I have to convince myself to work out many mornings and I always feel better when I do. Last week I went 3 days with out working out, so there is room for improvement. I also had a moment of weakness and made a Toll House pie for dessert when Joe's mission buddy Kendall was in town and had dinner with us. After eating two pieces of it on two separate nights I decided to look up the calories so I could log it. I usually have wiggle room at the end of the day for a light dessert--sometimes as much as 400 calories worth (I know that means I should be eating more during the day). But after seeing that one slice (1/8 of a pie) has a whopping 565 calories, I swore off that pie and we tossed the rest in the trash and both Joe and I immediately started doing crunches and other exercises to help burn some of those calories off.

The Aroma of An Orange

Today while I was on the treadmill I was feeling a little tired from the start and told myself that I needed to go for at least 30 minutes. After about 15 minutes my nose was tickling so I rubbed my pointer finger under it to stop the itch and something magical happened. My nose was filled with the aroma of fresh oranges and my body was filled with energy. For breakfast I had peeled a few oranges for the kids and me and the smell was still on my fingers. As I ran I continued to sniff my fingers every once in awhile to keep my energy up. By the time I was done I had done a full hour of cardio. Maybe it had something to do with the scent on my fingers.

Twenty One

So they say that 21 is the magic number when it comes to forming new habits. When starting to work out again I told myself that I needed to stay on track for at least 21 days. That way all proceeding days would just be a habit and it would be much easier to stumble out of bed to work out or to use my precious alone time while the kids are napping to get a quick run in. Well my plan has been foiled by this little annoyance of being sick. So, today is day two of not working out and I keep thinking that maybe later in the day I will feel well enough to work out but as the day goes on my low energy and the fact that my body doesn't want to keep anything in it continues. I guess I should be happy that I am not gaining any weight with this sickness but I feel like it is a bit of a set back in forming the new habit.

It's All In The Shoe

A while back my brother Greg and his wife Jessica were telling us how much they liked the Asics gel running shoes. We have never spent very much money on running shoes and I always figured it wasn't worth it to spend more then 40 bucks on shoes. Joe was doing so much running at the beginning of last year that we decided to get him a pair of the Asics. He loved them and was able to run without any pain in his foot, which he experiences when running in other shoes. So, I decided to give it a shot and Joe scored Asic Gel Kayano 14s for both of us on line for a great price. Now that I have run in these shoes I don't think I will ever be able to wear anything else. I love these shoes!

What's With The Name?

I have decided to do a weight loss journal in blog form. This way I can easily see my progress and also have a place to write my daily thoughts and frustrations while trying to reach my goal.
When thinking about a name for my blog I decided that this would be perfect since this is exactly where I feel I need the most work. If you don't know what a muffin top is then watch the video below. If you do know what a muffin top is then watch the video below anyway.



I feel that 20 lbs and a lot of core work should smooth out my muffin top.