100 Days to Summer Challenge- Week 2 review and Week 3 preview

As always first things first:
Starting: 219.6
Week 1: 218
Week 2: 216.6

Woot! Sure I would love to be knocking out 2 lbs a week but about 1.5 pounds a week is what is working for me right now and I'm happy with it.  (If anybody tells me I'm gaining muscle- I will come though the screen and beat you with my arm flab. No chance I am gaining muscle as quickly as I should be dropping fat.)

Nutrition:  5 pts
Pretty easy for me this week. I have always had a high fiber diet. I'm making my husband eat more fiber and we are all paying for it, but he'll be healthier in the long run. DH did plan a meal and it was technically healthy. It was completely uninspired but it counts. Baked fish and corn. I think he does that kind of thing so that I will think he is incapable of planning a decent meal and I will continue to have to plan every. single. mother trucking. meal for the rest of my life. But I digress.

Strength: 5 pts
That was a whole lot of crunchin'. But I did a million crunches and I rocked 'em all.

Cardio: 5 pts
Once again, I was doing videos at 9:00 last night but I got it all done. I don't like jumping. My vertical leap is miniscule and I literally cannot jump on 1 foot. These videos that require even minimal coordination are challenging for me. That's why I like running. Simple movements. I counted toddler chasing and wrangling as part of my 30 minutes of play since the toddler seems to think it is a game and laughs hysterically. I think I got 2,000 minutes of that in this week.

Balance: 4 pts
Same old story. Just can't seem to get the meditation done. I put it off until I have time to focus on it and then forget. I'm making it a priority this week.

Total Warrior pts: 19
Suck on that! Yeah!

Week 3
Wk 3 looks to be more of the same as far strength and cardio go (Seriously, I can't tell you how many times I have to retype strength before I get it spelled right, every single time. It's just one of those words for me.) Strength is focusing on upper body, which is great. My shoulders are beyond weak. They always have been.

I'm really excited about the nutrition challenge this week. Having to track every bite is exactly what I need. I am such a nibbler. A Triscuit here. A veggie stick there. Hopefully, the prospect of having to track it will keep me from those little nibbles.

In sum, bring it Snitches!

Crockpot Yumminess

As a working mother, I have a love affair with my crockpot. Not having to worry about cooking in the evenings while trying to spend some quality time with my daughter is the definition of happiness for me. And if the ingredients are few and easy, even better.

So I was delighted when I started browsing Sparkrecipes and found so many crockpot dishes. I hit save so many times I almost broke the button. To date, we have tried two of the recipes. The first was Slow-cooker Salsa Chicken http://recipes.sparkpeople.com
/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=
672711 , it was so good my family almost died of the deliciousness. The second recipe was Easy Slow-cooker Beef and Mushrooms recipes.sparkpeople.com/
recipe-detail.asp?recipe=5
09968
So delicious my husband hasn't stopped talking about it yet.

With both dishes I served it with some brown rice (a rice cooker enables my no effort cooking strategy) and some microwavable veggies. In warmer weather we have fresh, local, organic produce delivered but in the winter we make do with frozen.

I would have taken pictures but we gobbled it all up too fast.

The best part is that my family hardly even knows they are eating healthy. The only hard part is exercising some portion control. I can't wait to try out the next recipe.

1 year as a working mom

March 22, 2010 ranks in the top 5 hardest days of my life. That morning I woke up and for the first time in 13 weeks, I got ready for work. I had to put on my big girl pants and do what I had to do. And they were big girl pants. The week before, in anticipation of returning to work I had to go buy new pants because all the pants I had before pregnancy were too small (OK. Way too small). It was not a fun shopping trip and I just grabbed a size that I thought would fit and got the h3ll out of the store. The ended up being a little too big and I just thanked God that they weren't too small.

That day was awful. From the minute I kissed my 10 wk old daughter goodbye until the moment I had her in my arms again. I felt empty the whole day and I filled that hole with M&Ms. Seriously, I am ashamed to admit how many M&Ms I ate during those days. I was popping them like Vicodin.

1 year later and things are so different. While I still don't enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn and leaving my baby, she actually loves going to daycare and frequently rushes me out the door sooner than I would like. And truth be told, I relish my commute when I get to listen to my books on CD and have a little me time. The only books at home that I read are written by Dr. Seuss.

And the big girl pants? They got retired this weekend, when I discovered I could take them off with out unbuttoning or unzipping them. They were replaced with some smaller big girl pants and I can see a day when I'll be back in my old wardrobe.

100 Days to Summer- Week 1

First things first. At this mornings weigh-in, I was 218. That's a 1.6 lb loss this week. Pretty good but for several days last week I was below 218, I know all about fluctuations and water and that stuff but you always wish you could be at your lowest on "official" weigh-in day. But I'm happy. A loss is a loss. I'll work harder this week. I know a few areas in my eating that need to be tightened up.

Cardio- 5 points.
It came down to the 11th hour. I was dancing and doing the kickboxing video at 9:00 last night, but I got it all done. May I just say, I HATE the jumping video. I have a 2 mm vertical leap. Getting the miles in wasn't a problem and I did jumping jacks in my office during lunch. I really liked having this plan to get some extra cardio in, I need it.

Strength- 5 points
Honestly, this was easy peasy. I did the squats throughout the day at work and knocked out the other tasks in a single evening. Looks like things have been taken up a notch for week 2 which is awesomesauce, because I really need some toning.

Nutrition- 5 points
Another one that was pretty easy. I've said before, I have a healthy baseline diet I just have a bad habit of binging on crap on top of the healthy diet. None of the tasks were about restriction so I had no problems. I know a lot of people have trouble with the fiber. Here are some of my fave ways to get fiber.
Kashi Cinnamon Harvest Cereal
Lentil Soup
Triscuits
Morningstar Farms Black Bean Burgers
Raisins
Legumes, legumes, legumes!

Balance- 3
Ummm, not so great. I just didn't get the meditating done. I would forget or my mind would be too busy to even attempt a try. I will try again this week. This one should have been 4 points but I couldn't think of an action until after I had submitted my points and realized that night weaning my baby last week was a huge action towards my well-being. Now I will get some sleep!!! Oh well.

Monday Weigh-in
Last week: 220.2
Today: 218

That means I've met my first goal.



230 starting weight-1/12/11
220- 10 lbs- Jump start-3/14/11
209- 21 lbs- no longer obese
200- 30 lbs -prebaby weight
174- 56 lbs- no longer fat
160- 70 lbs-Healthy weight




Week 2 looks like it will be pretty similar to week one as far time goes. Scheduling this stuff out is key for me.

100 Days

100 days until summer. That's a lot of time to make some progress. That's what the Rants From Mommyland 100 days to summer challenge is all about. It starts tomorrow. I'm on the warrior team which means I am combining challenges from 4 disciplines: Cardio, strength, nutrition and well-being. I will also be "winning" at bad-a$$ness along the way. If you want to learn more about the challenge, check out the Rants team page.

My starting stats:


Weight: 220.2
Neck: 14.25
Chest: 40.25
Abs: 36.5
Waist: 37.5
Hips: 48.5
Left Bicep: 14
Right Bicep: 14
Left Thigh: 25.5
Right Thigh: 25
Left Calf: 16.5
Right Calf: 17




I'm hoping to end the challenge under 200 with about 5 inches off my waist. I won't be bikini ready but I would be able to skip the beach mumu. Along the way I'll be fitting in a couple of 5Ks.

Friday Weigh-in

Start- 230
Last week- 222.2
Today- 220.6

Not as big a loss as last week. I was hoping to get below 220 this week but I honestly didn't put in the work needed. I did good on working out but I went over my calorie goals too many days and on the other days I hit the top end of the range instead of the bottom.

I've been stuck at home with a sick toddler the last few days and I found myself just picking and picking, a nibble here, a nibble there. I have to tighten that up.

Hopefully, next week I'll be in the teens. I'm counting on the first week of the RFML 100 days challenge to help me out. I'm gunning for Ultimate Warrior.

Short and sweet tonight. I'm exhausted.

1 Month

1 month ago today, February 9, 2011, began this journey. I joined SparkPeople on January 12, inspired by the lovely Lydia at Rants from Mommyland. I had been "trying" to lose weight since last winter after my daughter was born. By trying, I mean wanting. I just couldn't get it together during that first year of motherhood though.

But on February 9, something clicked. I'm not sure what happened. I don't know what was different about that day than January 18 or February 2 or any of the days for the last year. I think it all comes down to just being ready. You really have to be ready to embark on a project like this. I was tooling around on SparkPeople and read a little about the Sparkdiet that said in the beginning to worry more about tracking food and less about calorie ranges. I decided that I could do that. I could track my food if I didn't have to worry so much about calories right then, I just wanted to get my binging under control.

I also decided to start trying to make the 8 glasses of water goal. I don't traditionally love water but I gave it a try. After a few days of tracking everything and drinking water, I was in like Flynn, baby. I was ready to count calories and start the C25K program. Once I went on that first run, I was revived - it felt so good to run again.

A month later, I am down 9 lbs as of this morning and finishing up W4 of the C25K. I've also been working in a little 30 Day Shred and been very amazed at how much progress I have seen on that. (Here is where I fight the urge to downplay and say that "well, it's easy to see progress when you are starting from such a low point).

The self-flagellating part of me wants to beat myself up for not getting going earlier. But I wasn't ready. There are many people who are ready earlier in motherhood, but I wasn't. Dealing with working full-time while trying to be a good mom took all of my focus.

The other negative part of me wonders if I'll be here to write a 2 month post. Like so many here, I've started and stopped many times in my struggles with weight. The answer: I don't know. All I know is I am here today and I'm pretty sure I'll be here tomorrow. There are a lot of things coming up that I need to be here for, The Virtual 5K, the RFML 100 days challenge (Bring it, Snitches!!!) and just continuing to get know some of my new friends. I love watching other peoples' progress as much as my own.

So that's where I am today. Here's where I'll be tomorrow. One day at time. One pound at a time.

Reason #766 to get back into running shape

Back when I was training for 1/2 marathons and 10 milers, I would do my long runs on Sunday mornings. On Saturday night to "fuel up", I would indulge in a Chipotle burrito. I love, love, love Chipotle but would only allow myself to eat it when I would burn it off the next day.

A recent development in my neighborhood has made getting back into that kind of running form an imminent emergency.



Hmmm, I don't know why that turned out with a black background.

Friday Weigh-in

Last weeks weight: 225.3
Today's weight: 222.2

I'm not surprised. I totally rocked it on eating this week. 3 lbs is quite a big loss but a) it is the beginning of the diet when weight tends to come off easier, b) being over 200 lbs burns a lot of calories. It's pretty easy to create a deficit. Easy in the physical sense, - independent of emotional eating and all that jazz.

I would love to see a similar number next week and get below 220, but I try not to set too specific deadlines for pounds lost. I know all too well that you can work out and eat right but if your body only wants to give up half a pound, that's all your getting.

I'm feeling great and feeling motivated, taking it one day at a time. Keeping my eye on my smaller goals rather than the big picture.

The first day of the rest of my life

March 1st. The beginning of my first full calendar month of this endeavor. I want to have a record of my progress. I love tracking and measuring. I get a little obsessive over Excel spreadsheets. I have one for everything including weight loss. It's only slightly less elaborate than my spreadsheet for cloth diapering.



Anywho... this is yet another way for me to track and measure.

As of March 1, 2011
Weight: 224.2 (BMI= 32.17)
Waist: 38
Most recent run: 1.5 miles in 21.5 minutes (C25K Week 3)



The picture quality is bad. My phone takes craptastic photos. And yes, that is the bathroom stall at work. Sometimes it is the only place I can have a moment of privacy.

Here's hoping for noticeable improvement on April 1!