Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 15

I know most of you are probably tired of these posts. But, these are for me. It keeps me accountable.

1. Height: 5'9'' 140lbs.

2. Your fitness challenge(s) for this week: Follow my 'training to train' schedule. I'm seriously considering a marathon in November. I have 12 weeks to make my decision.

3. Your health challenge(s) for this week: I will probably have to increase my calories to follow my schedule. I'll have to change what I'm eating as well. I've been eating fruit for breakfast but whole grains and proteins (this can come from peanut butter...not meat) is going to be important. I found a website called the no meat athlete. I'll be checking out his site to see how I can maintain a mostly meat-free diet while pushing my body to an extreme.

4. How well did it go: I may need to start logging my calories again. I've gone a few weeks with no change in weight so somethings not right.

5. Failures and slip-ups: Well, tonight is going to be bad. I've got a bachelorette party to attend. I plan to break all my diet rules. Bite me.

6. Weekly challenge wisdom: Exercising is about more than managing weight. It's about managing life, stress and the aging process. Sitting around doing nothing can literally make you lose your mind. Getting your blood pumping increases oxygen to your brain. So, if you don't want to get goofy as you get older...exercise now. Also, in my case the stress of life makes me goofy. I can literally put on a pair of running shoes and run away from the stress. It falls off behind me on the road and I leave it there for the next person. Who needs it!

7. Advice to fellow GET FIT members: See above. My advice and wisdom are the same this week.

Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 13

Your weight (if you don't feel comfortable sharing this, you don't have to): 139. 4 pounds from my 135 by Chloe's birthday goal.

Your fitness challenge(s) for the week: Continuing to hit the gym. Weights 3x a week and cardio 5x.

Your food challenge for the week: Keep on trucking with the veggie diet.

How well did it go: This past week was a disaster. I snacked too much. I'm not sure why but I felt so hungry all week.

Failures and slip-ups: Snacking and not on the things I should.

Weekly challenge wisdom: (directed at myself) Sometimes you need to do things you don't want to do. It's part of being an adult. Working out is one of them. Grow up.

Advice to fellow GET FIT members: Having trouble finding motivation to work out? Sign up for a 5K. Mark signed us up for one on Mother's Day. I'll be damned if I'm gonna go out there and run without working out for a week. Knowing I have the race forces me to put in the cardio work.

Your Magic Selfie (optional but strongly encouraged): I attempted the selfie. It was terrible. I need to get a remote. 

Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 12

Your weight (if you don't feel comfortable sharing this, you don't have to): I've been fluctuating between 138 and 139 all week. I think it's fair to say I'm in the 130s now! I've been waiting for this. I'm soooo close.

Your fitness challenge(s) for the week: Continuing to hit the gym. Weights 3x a week and cardio 5x.

Your food challenge for the week: Keep on trucking with the veggie diet.

How well did it go: This past week went pretty well. Mark was out of town for most of it. I found it difficult to cook with Chloe and no help so I ended up having take-out one night. It was tofu pad thai (my favorite).

Failures and slip-ups: Same as above. I missed the gym on Thursday and Friday. 

Weekly challenge wisdom: Yes you can. 

Advice to fellow GET FIT members: Don't become complacent. This week I've struggled with complacency. It's a dangerous place to be. I'm happy because I feel like I've made a lot of progress, I fit into clothes I haven't been able to wear since college (some are too big) and it's easy to start slacking off. Remember your goals and continue to push toward them. Each week that I slack off is another week added to the length of time it will take me to reach my goal.

Your Magic Selfie (optional but strongly encouraged): No selfie but check out Chloe's Easter pictures on the post below!

Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 11

Your weight (if you don't feel comfortable sharing this, you don't have to): I'm writing this on Friday. I'm at 141. Looks like Vegas caught up with me.

Your fitness challenge(s) for the week: Continuing to hit the gym. May change up the weight lifting routine. I need some more lower body work outs and also back circuits.

Your food challenge for the week: Going back to the vegetarian thing. I read Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet (Thanks, Julie) and while I'm not ready to make the vegan jump, she convinced me that veggie is the way to go.

How well did it go: I didn't get to the grocery store until Thursday so my diet suffered horribly. I sat down to prioritize my week and it was a mistake to put working out before the grocery store and meal planning. Live and learn.

Failures and slip-ups: Monday through Thursday was a disaster. I'm back on track now and focused.

Weekly challenge wisdom: "He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skill of the physician." -Chinese Proverb found in The Kind Diet

Advice to fellow GET FIT members: I'm not trying to get anyone to go vegetarian, but take a serious look at what you eat. You eat 3 times a day 365 days a year (give or take a missed meal), what you eat is supposed to replenish your body. You are going to get back what you put into your body. If you don't feel good, your tired, sick and just plain unhappy, think about what you're eating. If it's junk. No wonder you feel like junk.

Your Magic Selfie (optional but strongly encouraged):

My life in a nutshell

(Mark panicked when we saw this. Don't freak out...I'm holding her on the railing...I just airbrushed myself out...Geez)

Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 10

1. Height: 5'9'', weight: 140lbs

ok. I'm not upset by the weight. I'll say that nearly two weeks off my strict regiment with no weight gain is a tremendous success. But enough is enough. My goal weight is 135. It's time to hit it!

2. Your fitness challenge(s) for this week: Starting tomorrow...Tuesday...I'm getting back in the gym. I got back from Vegas on Sunday. Today, Monday, was a much needed day of rest.

3. Your health challenge(s) for this week: I have to get to the grocery store for some fresh fruits and veggies. Mark gets back from San Francisco (he had to make a pit stop on the way back from Vegas...I didn't get to go) and he and I will talk about how we want to move forward with our dinner menus. We may be incorporating two days of meat into our diet. Most likely chicken and fish.

4. How well did it go: It went wonderfully awful. I ate and drank to my hearts content in Vegas and it was delicious. But, Mark and I were both bitching about how gross we felt. haha.  I think the only thing that saved me from gaining weight was the amount of walking we did. 

5. Failures and slip-ups: I ate a big, fat, juicy burger with avocado and chipotle sauce two days in a row. I drank Miller Lite AND I had chocolate chip cheesecake (Mark and I split it). We ate pizza (mine was veggie pizza) at New York, New York Casino.

6. Weekly challenge wisdom: Sometimes it's worth it. Sometimes it's not. You have to decide what's important to you and where your priorities lie. You need to think about this in the short term and the long term. 
7. Advice to fellow GET FIT members: You can't wish for weight loss. 

Also, I like Elena's advice this week:

"Motherhood is NOT an excuse for being unfit, out of shape and unhealthy. It’s THE REASON to be better.  Are most of you REALLY ok with looking and feeling the way you do now that you have a baby? It doesn’t take THAT much effort to shed those extra pounds. It’s as simple as a healthy diet ( lifestyle) and just a little bit of exercise."

8. Self Portrait: Coming later

Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 9

Height: 5’9′, weight:  140 (no gain; no loss)

2. Your fitness challenge(s) for this week: Get back in the gym. This past week was rough. I was out of town until Tuesday and had appointments that kept me from the gym every day but Thursday.

3. Your health challenge(s) for this week: Get back on my 'diet.' Keeping with mostly vegetarian meals. I think the husband is getting tired of eating only vegetarian foods so I may sneak some fish or chicken into the mix during the next few weeks. 

4. How well did it go: This past week went as I expected. It wasn't pretty but I'm not disappointed because I prepared myself mentally. I'm not beating myself up over it. Although, I DO notice some bad effects from my laziness. I visited my hometown with my mom. I hadn't been there since May of 2009. There were a few favorite meals that I wanted to eat that didn't fit into my diet plan. I decided before we left that I was going to enjoy myself...I have no idea when I'll be back to have my childhood favorites again. That being said, I did try to have a tofu pad thai at one of my local favorites (the tofu was TERRIBLE). Let's just say that Amarillo, TX doesn't do vegetarian. Not that I expect them to. In Amarillo, the eleventh commandment is "Thou shalt eat meat, particularly beef, at every meal." 

5. Failures and slip-ups: The only workout I got was on Thursday. I ate mexican food, a hamburger and fries, ice cream and thai food while in Amarillo. I enjoyed it but let me tell you I noticed a HUGE difference. It's something that I wouldn't have notice a month ago. This last week (I'll argue as a result of my poor diet) I was tired, cranky and achy. The tiredness could be a result of the travel and some of it probably was. BUT, when I'm eating well I don't feel run down at 2pm. This past week was the first time in a while that I felt like I needed to take naps in the afternoon. Also, I have noticed that when I eat junk I get achy. Particularly my angles, knees and wrists. It almost feels like flu symptoms. But, when I eat good it goes away. Like I said, I would have never noticed this stuff if I hadn't started 'cleaning' up my diet.

6. Weekly challenge wisdom: Enjoy yourself. But, understand that there is a tradeoff for EVERYTHING you do. This week I chose eat like crap and feel good in the moment that I was eating the food, the tradeoff was that I felt like crap the rest of the week. Was it worth it? Yes. But not in the long term. It was a short term tradeoff I was willing to make. That being said, sometimes these things can be a slippery slope. Be careful. 
7. Advice to fellow GET FIT members: Enjoy Yourself. Be Careful

8. Self Portrait: Bokeh 

I'll have to do the portrait later. We are busy, busy, busy getting ready for our VEGAS trip this week!

Ok. So it's a bit off. I had the shutter speed set too slow so I got washed out, too. It's the best I could do it the 15 minutes I had to do this project.

Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 8

First, I have to share. My sweet husband, who usually never says anything even close to mean to me, came home from work this past week. I was washing dishes and wearing some capri pants that fit me before I got pregnant. He stood there for a moment. When I asked him what was going on...he kindly informed me that the pants I was wearing were too big and not very flattering. They are now in the Goodwill pile. Kind of a back handed compliment but it MADE MY DAY! Thanks, Funky Bunch!!! XOXO


Your weight {if you don't feel comfortable sharing this, you don't have to}: 
Still sitting at 140. I would be bummed but I'm 100% sure I stayed within my calorie limits. I nervously watched the scale go up this week and then go back down. So I suspect that either/all of the following is happening: 

1. retaining water? Blast and bless the female cycles.
2. gaining muscle and losing fat
3. hit a plateau...not sure that's possible when you are working with calorie deficits.

I lean towards two because I have been working on toning/building muscle.

Your fitness challenge(s) for the week: 
Got all my weight routines in this week plus a few extra moves to work on the arms. Cardio was awesome. It's been a good week.

Your food challenge for the week: 
I'm still doing the vegetarian menu and loving it more every day! This next will be hard but that's all I can say about it. Wish me luck. I'm really going to need it.

How well did it go: 
I finally settled into the vegetarian thing. I know I've settled into it because I'm starting to crave the fruits and veggies over other things...like Big Macs and French Fries.  I'll still consider myself a flexitarian because I WILL be eating the very occasional hamburger...yummmmm. But, I love the way I feel. I've never been a big fan of cooking with meat. Makes me feel dirty. Even eating meat was difficult when I was young...I gaged on meat all the time! 

Failures and slip-ups: 
I should have had more water. Shame on me. I'm sure I'll be able to write a novel here next week. ;?

Weekly challenge wisdom: 
It's good for you to have to work hard for some things. "Consider the example of the man who found a new butterfly struggling to crawl out of its cocoon. After carefully cutting an opening and extricating the butterfly, this small beauty died. Why? Because it is the struggle to get out of the cocoon that forces blood to pump through its veins and strengthen its wings. When robbed of the struggle, the butterfly died. And so do people." ~The Diva Principle for Everyday Living

Advice to fellow GET FIT members:
Keep going. Don't quit. I know even when I don't see the results on the scale or on my body that my insides are benefiting from this. Our bodies have to have time to heal from the damage we've done to them. In my case, the weight crept up on me. Why should/would I expect it to go away over night? This takes time.

Before/After: I still have some work to do but the results thus far are promising. I'm not ready to show my stomach yet but soon. I can see a difference in my waste (haha) waist...that's the most obvious one. I can also see a difference in my legs. And if I look close, I can see that my shorts are getting baggier. 

day 1*****day20*****day 41

Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 7

Week 7:


Your weight {if you don't feel comfortable sharing this, you don't have to}:
140 (down  a disappointing 1 pound from last week) I'm really struggling with being okay with this number. Logic tells me that after losing over 15 lbs. that I should be proud. My irrational self is PISSED that I didn't get into the 130s. But I know, it will happen. I will hit my healthy weight to put my BMI at an acceptable and healthy percentage.

Your fitness challenge(s) for the week:
After missing my weight routines this week, I am determined to get them into this next week.

Your food challenge for the week:
Ah, I think a big reason for the 1 lb weight loss this week was that I started drinking diet coke again. Bad, bad, bad. Meredith made the comment that (I'm paraphrasing) that it made her feel hungrier than she should. I agree. It made me want to eat more junk.

That being said my challenge this week is to cut out the diet coke again. I'm going to continue on the vegetarian menu. I feel like it's working and I have so much energy now.

How well did it go:
I worked out really hard this week. Nothing less than 45 minutes of cardio a day. I'm starting to notice a physical difference. My back fat is nearly gone which means I'm almost ready to share my before and afters. Yippeee!

Failures and slip-ups:
Damn to hell the Cadbury Bunny and his blasted delicious eggs. I may have eaten one this week. Ok. Maybe it was two.

Weekly challenge wisdom:
Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right. ~Henry Ford
My wonderful husband said this to me the other night when I was beating myself up. Love that man of mine.

Advice to fellow GET FIT members:
Please don't beat yourself up. I told myself negative things all week starting with the photos I took of myself for the selfie project. You have to be a positive influence in your own life before you can be a positive influence in someone elses. I (for sure) don't want Chloe growing up thinking it's okay to constantly tear yourself down. There are plenty of other people that will do that in her life time. Be your own advocate.

Your Model Eyes Selfie ( optional but strongly encouraged):

I hated this project. I pushed through it because I really need to work on having some sort of photography skills but I find it very difficult to look at picture of myself. (This goes back to my childhood when I was made fun of by someone I love for looking at myself in a mirror.) I did find it very hard to not look pissed of or crazy making model eyes. I'm pretty sure i still didn't succeed. Whatever.

Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 6

1.  Height: 5’9", weight: (didn't get to weigh myself today but last I checked) 141 from 144 last week

2. Your  fitness challenge(s) for this week:  Continue weight training routine. I have only been able to get 45 minutes of cardio two days a week so I'd like to find time to squeeze in cardio at least one more day a week. It's been difficult for me to get 6 days of workout...because weekends call for home improvement projects and family time with hubby.

3. Your health challenge(s) for this week: Continue on the vegetarian menu once I'm back home...visiting parents over the weekend.

4. How well did it go: I didn't eat meat all week (until last night)! I felt unbelievable. I have only had 3 diet cokes but I'm about to ruin that this weekend...and I don't care. I'm really proud that I was able to eat  no meat for more than a day. I'm not a vegetarian convert yet but I will be GREATLY reducing the amount of meat I eat. I attribute the three pound weight loss to the meatless diet. I haven't seen 141 on a scale since college and I can't wait to get to the 130s. 

5. Failures and slip-ups: I'm visiting the parents right now and have pretty much abandoned the vegetarian diet for the weekend. I'm still trying to make healthier choices but I'm trying NOT to drive my parents crazy with my OCD diet. And, I want to enjoy myself.

6. Weekly challenge wisdom:  I'm going to go back to this one: Be disciplined or get disciplined. Nothing is going to happen if you don't do it yourself...sounds cynical but it's true. Nobody can force feed you healthy food or make you workout. YOU have to do it.

 
7. Advice to fellow GET FIT members:  Don't be afraid to try something new...be it food, an exercise or a new hobby. 

8. Self Portait: Clones

haha...not very original but I was in a time crunch.

Get Fit. Get Healthy. Week 5

Week 5:
Your Height: 5' 9"

Your weight {if you don't feel comfortable sharing this, you don't have to}: 144 from 156

Your fitness challenge(s) for the week: Gym 5 time a week and pushing for a 6th day. Incorporate a total body weight routine (3xs a week) to increase metabolism and pull all the loose junk together. Mission=condense the flab!

Your food challenge for the week: Switch to all all vegetarian menu for the week? Possibly the month? We'll see. Drink 8 glasses of water a day and reduce the diet coke to 3 a week.

How well did it go: Was able to be at the gym 5 days this week for good, hard, sweat-tastic workouts! Hit my goal of being at or below 145 by the end of the week. (Although, I'm not sure where the weight came from because I'm pretty sure I look exactly the same...boo. I can tell a slight difference in my back fat...gross.) Thinking of switching to a 30 day vegetarian menu....we'll see. I'll decide by Sunday evening.

Failures and slip-ups: None. Seriously. I did everything I said I would this week. I think I may need to up the ante a little and challenge myself some more this week. I'm going to shoot for only drinking 3 sodas this week...if you know how much I love my diet Coke...you understand how impossible this will be. Bring on the caffeine headaches.

Weekly challenge wisdom: Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat. ~Ann Landers (found this on the web...it applies to so many things.)

Advice to fellow GET FIT members: Your weight loss is going to be 80% what you eat. You've heard it before...journal your food! You might be surprised to find that you are going way over or under your daily calorie needs. Mark and I were easily eating over 3000 calories a day before...I have no idea how we don't way 400 pounds. I use sparkpeople.com to log my food. I know each and everyday how many calories I consume. I also get a rough estimate of how many calories I burn so that I know my weekly calorie deficit.

**For a fantastic explanation on calorie deficit and changing your diet go to The Art of Making a Baby. She goes into a lot more detail about it.

Self Portrait, Capturing your Inner Child:

excuse my terrible photo taking skills
I was just impressed that my 28 year old ass could do this!

**added later

Vegas Baby...and a Get Fit Challenge?

I stumbled upon this Get Fit Challenge through First Time Mama:First Time Blogger's blog (which I love and her daughter is just too cute...with cheeks to match Chloe). Since I've been working out and trying to lose 9% body fat for the past few weeks, I decided that this challenge might help keep me motivated. 

I NEED to stay motivate BECAUSE...Mark and I are going to Las Vegas in April! I would like wear my bikini and I don't want to spend money on a one piece so I must get this chubby tummy in shape. Therefore, I'm linking to {shutter}mama and The Art of Making a Baby for my first week in this fitness challenge.

Week 4:
Your Height: 5' 9"

Your weight {if you don't feel comfortable sharing this, you don't have to}: 146 from 156

Your fitness challenge(s) for the week: Continue hitting the gym a minimum of 5 days a week and push for the BONUS 6th day. Incorporate more weight training into the cardio work for a more toned physique. Drop below the 145 mark on the scale. That's one pound...you can do it!

Your food challenge for the week: Continue creating and sticking to your healthy family menu. Drink 8 glasses of water each day.

How well did it go: We'll see on Saturday when I update.

Failures and slip-ups: Last week I was unable to go to the gym on Wednesday and Thursday due to a sick infant and then a sick me. This week I had to cut my Monday workout short because Chloe had a dirty diaper in the nursery and the gym does not change diapers (not that they should).

Weekly challenge wisdom: Be disciplined or get disciplined. 

Advice to fellow GET FIT members: Try not to focus on the scale but the changes in your body...the way your clothes fit your and your self portraits. Also, note how much easier your workouts get with time and challenge yourself by making adjustments and push yourself. 

Your arms length portrait (optional but strongly encouraged): 

need to get better at self portraits