Week 3 Results

Gosh, I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted.  I guess I didn't have too much going on - nothing new in my world!  Still eating lots of healthy foods and have not had one cake, cookie, or sweet treat, and haven't ventured out to try a new recipe in awhile.  However I have one planned for tonight, so if all goes well and it is delicious, I will for sure tell you about it.  And still working out with Shaun T. each morning.  Just 3 weeks left of Insanity for me!  I might have to reward myself with a nice pedicure or something when that happens...as for my day-to-day happenings, the kiddos and I are just playing lots, going to the park, the pools, etc.  We sure love summer!


Ok, so this morning was the completion of my third week.  It feels like a lifetime ago that I began this.  Has it really only been three weeks?  My healthy eating choices just feel like second nature to me.  I don't even think about it anymore, I just do it.  And I wake up each morning and don't even have to try to talk myself into working out, I just do it.  Can this really be a lifestyle change that I stick with and live with for good?  I'm thinking so!


So you wanna know my weigh-in results?  Two more pounds lost and four more inches overall!  Woohoo!  For those of you that aren't stellar mathematicians like me, or who haven't ready some of my previous results post, I'll do the math for you:

Week one 6 lbs. lost + Week two 1 lb. lost + Week three 2 lbs. lost = 9 TOTAL POUNDS 

!!!

I don't think I posted about my measurements after week one.  I didn't measure week two, but did today.  A total of about 10 inches gone overall!  And I'm definitely starting to notice a difference.  I put on a smaller size bra the other day and it FIT!  (Sorry if that is TMI for you...) 

I'm sticking with it, and thank YOU all for sticking with ME!

Insanity

This is Shaun T.  I work out with him every morning.

I've gotten used to doing crazy moves like this over and over and over and over again as fast as I possibly can until sweat is dripping in my eyes and I'm panting like a dog.

Today I did an INSANE move like the one you see below.  A diamond jump.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  And you want me to do this over and over and over and over again as fast as I possibly can until sweat is dripping in my eyes and I'm panting like a dog?  I could barely get my feet off the ground, let alone high up in the air like that. 

Hardest thing I've ever done.  

Babysteps.

I Like Exercising

I like to exercise.
I like how I feel after I exercise.
I like it when I am dripping sweat in my eyes and down my face.
When I sweat a lot I know I'm pushing myself hard.
I love how a nice long drink of ice cold water feels in the middle of my workout.
I like the challenge that exercising gives me.
I like it when I can hardly do a move the first time, but as I get stronger, I notice the move gets easier.
I like running.  (NEVER did I think I would say that!)
I like breathing in the cool, crisp morning air on an early morning run.
I like pushing myself just a little bit further each time I run.
I like staring my day with a good workout.
After my workout is done, I feel energized and motivated to make the most of my day.
I like waking up the next morning after a good, tough workout and hurting all over.
It's a good hurt - let's me know that my body is getting stronger.
I like to exercise.

Week 2 Results

Well to sum up this week, I can think of one word...BLAH.  Is that really even a word?


I hated my Insanity workouts.  I hated that it wasn't as high intensity as I'm used to.  I hated that it was the SAME workout 6 days straight.  I bet my body needed the rest, as I'm feeling revved and ready to go for the last half of Insanity that I will start tomorrow.  I'm actually very excited to see what the first workout in the MAX series of workouts has to offer!


The food this week was nothing new either.  Pretty much snacked on the same things, ate the same salad almost daily, at the same dinners and lunches for the most part.  However, enough variety where I'm not bored of any of it yet.  And hopefully I won't be.  I did make my avocado feta dip (I blogged about it here) which was new for me, and fabulously delicious.  And I also went to a BBQ party on Friday night where I had this amazingly awesome spinach blueberry salad.  I got the recipe, so I'll be making that soon, and I'll probably blog about it and let you know what it is so you can enjoy the amazing awesomeness of it too!


Speaking of the BBQ I went to (which was a super fun time, thanks Patty!) reminds me of all the things I avoided this week.  I'm going to stop for a minute and give myself credit for all the unhealthy options I passed up.  First of all - a 3rd birthday party today where I avoided some super cute monster-decorated cupcakes.  A BBQ Friday night where I avoided potato salad, yummy summer pasta dishes, brownie pudding, cookies, cake, and alcohol.  McDonald's for the kids' lunch one day and I had salad at home.  Dinner guests on Wednesday night and they brought yummy brownies and chocolate chip cookie bars that I didn't touch.  The hubby's birthday on Tuesday where I made him a homemade chocolate cake and only had the tiniest of tastes.


So here's the thing.  Even after all healthy choices I made and workouts I did, just about a one pound loss on the scale this week.  A little bummed about that, but I'm not going to let it get me down.  A pound is a pound, and I'll take it!  I'm thinking with the more intense workouts this week, I'll see some different numbers come next Saturday.


Hope you all had a great week - I keep thinking tomorrow's Monday already, but I still get one more day with the husband and kids before that happens, so yay!  I even cleaned the entire house this morning, so I don't even have that to worry about.  Double yay!  Thanks for following my friends, and see you next time!

Nothing new

Are you bored with me yet?  Nothing new to report.  Worked out, ate healthy, that's about it.  Feeling good and ready to keep going!  I'll share with you my dinner tonight.  Awhile back I found this Asian Stir Fry mix at Sam's club.  A giant bag of frozen veggies that comes with a sauce packet.  I heat the veggies in my wok, put the sauce packet on top, and add chicken.  Serve with brown rice, and it's one of my go-to meals.  Easy to make and good for you - one serving (one whole cup!) of veggies with the sauce only has 50 calories!  

 We've been doing a lot of dancing this week.  By "we" I mean Leah.  She had her first dance camp, and she LOVED it!  They danced, at snacks, and worked on a secret craft all week.  Turns out they were making tutus and crowns, which they wore on the last day for their zumba lesson!  SO CUTE!  Here are a few pictures of her week at camp.

Two Observations

My biggest downfall in my past attempts at dieting was eating at night.  After dinner, nothing else to do, feeling lazy and just wanted to watch TV, read a book, waste time on the computer, and EAT.  Almost every single night.  I would do great during the day, eating as healthy as I possibly could, then just blow it at night.  It was a mindless task that I wouldn’t even think about.  I wasn’t hungry, and didn’t really want the food, but would just find whatever treat I could and eat it.  Tonight, for the first time since starting this venture, did I feel like that.  It was about 7:45 or 8:00 p.m.  I just wanted to get up off the couch, grab some food, and eat.  I didn’t, but I sure wanted to.  And I would have, had I not made this commitment to you all and to myself.  Another babystep concurred! 

So then I tried to ask myself “Why?”  What was I feeling, or what was going on, that made me want to do sabotage all of my hard work for today and blow it?  Was I bored?  No.  I had 2 kids to bathe and a bedtime routine to get started.  Was I hungry?  Not in the least.  So what brought on the feeling?  I have no idea.  Something I’ll have to ponder more about.  If I feel this way again, I’ll try once more to really think about what was going on and figure it out.  Have you ever felt this way??  If so, do you know why?

Another revelation I had today had to do with my workout.  While I like routine and can handle repetitiveness pretty well (like teaching the same class 4x a day…), I don’t really like it when it comes to exercising.  I need to change it up on a daily basis.  This doing the same workout for 6 days in a row is not something I am liking this week.  Probably why I skipped it yesterday and went for a good long walk instead.  Twice more of this same, boring, monotonous workout, and then I can start mixing it up again.  I’m looking forward to Sunday when that happens!

Happy Birthday Hubby

First of all, happy happy birthday to my wonderful husband!  Rather than starting my morning with a workout, I started my morning by baking a made-from-scratch chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting.  I had a little helper, and she was very good and “cleaning” the beaters. 

Not once did I lick the batter, the beaters, the spatula, or the frosting.  It wasn’t hard to resist it, and I kept thinking to myself “If this were 2 weeks ago I would have eaten two spoonfuls of that frosting, easily!”  I did die a little inside when I just rinsed the extra down the drain, rather than sticking my head in the bowl and licking it up.  (What, you’ve never done that before?  Oh, you think that’s weird….?  Hmm…)

The family enjoyed the chocolate cake after dinner.  I had one teeny tiny taste, to see how my made-from-scratch cake turned out.  It was just ok, not fabulous as the reviews from the website said.  Oh well, I’m not going to eat it so it doesn’t matter.

But, let me tell you what I did make today that was absolutely the.most.delcious.thing.I’ve.ever.eaten.  Period.  I think I have a new obsession with avocado and feta cheese paired together.  I’ve used this combo on tuna sandwiches and thought it was good.  I had them with my leftover pork in a tortilla last week, and that was really yummy.  But this salad today was to die for!  Once again, inspired by a recipe found on Pinterest (click here if you want to see the original).  I modified it to fit the ingredients I had on hand, and to eliminate the ingredients I don’t care for.  (Like dill….I HATE dill.  I vividly remember a dinner my mom made when I was a kid.  Some sort of Hamburger Dill Casserole.  She MADE my sister and I sit at the table and eat until it was gone, and I cried and cried and cried because I hated it so much.  I will never eat dill again.)  My recipe consisted of 1 avocado, ½ a chopped red pepper , some chopped red onion , ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese, some chopped up cilantro, and a few generous squirts of lime juice.  I ate it for breakfast with Kashi Fire Roasted Vegetable crackers.  Then I ate it again for lunch with my leftover tilapia.  I ate the entire batch by myself, and probably would have eaten it again for a snack and dinner if it wasn't already gone.  Good thing I have more ripe avocados ready to eat, as I plan to make some more tomorrow! 

For dinner I had a BBQ pork sandwich, homemade coleslaw, and an apple.  Overall a yummy day!  My workout today just consisted of a nice long 45 minute walk on the treadmill at the gym (while I watched LOST…I like to multi-task).  I listened to my body today and took it easy, as I’m still feeling a bit sore and tired from all the intense workouts.  So I gave myself a bit of a break today, yet still got in a little cardio.  I did some inclines and such, so I am still happy with what I accomplished today.  Plus I’m thinking that from picking strawberries last week, I didn’t just overwork the muscles in my back, I think something is a bit out of line, as I’m still sore and not in an overworked muscle kind of way. 

Back to the grind tomorrow!

Cajun Pulled Pork Tutorial

I've mentioned that I've eaten and used pulled pork for many of my meals last week.  I thought I would share with you my all-time favorite recipe that is super quick and easy to make, and tastes divine!  Don't let the "Cajun" scare you - it's really not that spicy!  

Buy a pork tenderloin.

Mine was about 6 lbs.  I cut it in 1/2 and wrapped the rest in tinfoil to freeze for another time.  

This is my bean pot.  It's magic.  Cooks food like you wouldn't believe.  A crock pot would work fine too.

The cast of spices:  1 T. brown sugar, 1 teaspoon each garlic salt, onion salt, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes, and cumin.  Funny how it's called "Cajun" Pulled Pork, but doesn't use Cajun seasoning?  I've used it before in the recipe, but didn't this time.  

Dice up some onion.  I cut my pieces big, so the hubby can pick them out.  He's had years of practice doing this, and is ready to be a surgeon in his next life....he can find the teeniest tiniest piece of an onion in ANYTHING...

Put your pork in the pot.  Add 2 cups of water (sounds like and looks like a lot, but trust me, you need it!).  Mix up your spices, then throw them in, with the onion.  Put the lid on. 

Cook at 350 degrees for about 4 hours, give or take the size of your pork.  It will look like this when it's done.  

Take 2 forks and shred it.  You will be amazed at how it just falls apart!  You can serve on buns with our without BBQ sauce, eat with some rice, make my own special version of a taco (found in this post), or make pulled pork enchiladas, which I plan to do tomorrow with the leftovers!  LOVE IT!

Mangos?

About 2 years ago, a student of mine asked me if I liked mangos.  I had to honestly answer that I had never had one!  Well today I did for the first time.  Ehhh…can’t say I loved it.  First off, I don’t think it was ripe enough AT ALL.  I was afraid I wouldn’t even know how to find one at the store when I went shopping.  Thankfully they had them clearly marked and labeled for idiots in the mango department, like me.  Then I didn’t know how to cut it…it was just short of an all-around disaster.  But I salvaged what I could to make a fruit salsa for this Tilapia Fish Taco recipe that I made for dinner.  My overall review was that it was kind of bland and I didn’t care for the salsa.  The tilapia was good.  Now I have lots of leftover fish and plan to try a few different versions to find one I like.  As always, I can thank Pinterest for some different recipes to try!  I’ll update you if I find one that’s better.

Nothing new in the area of my workout today.  Same as yesterday, minus the run.  Breakfast was a smoothie, lunch a salad with chicken, snacked on yogurt, almonds, and string cheese.  Then dinner was my tacos.  No sweet treats yet again today, even when Lindy was sharing some M&M’s with the kids.  Now don’t get me wrong, part of me wanted to put my hand out for some too, but my willpower is still going strong!

Here’s a cute picture of Leah at dance camp, which started today.  She was SO excited for it, and had a blast!  The first thing she said to me when it was over was “Mommy, can we come back again?”  Good thing we’ve got 3 more days of it!

Hope you all had a Happy Monday, and have a great week!

Happy Father's Day

 

First of all, I have to tell you about the most delicious lunch I’ve ever had!  Yesterday, I used some of the left over pulled pork to make a different version of a taco.  Inspired by this recipe here for Fat Tire Pulled Pork Tacos, however tweaked and made very simple for a quick and fabulous meal!

2 corn tortillas

Leftover pulled pork

½ an avocado, sliced

Feta cheese

Red onion slices

This morning I hit the workout HARD.  Went for a 2-mile run.  Not even sure how long it took me this time, as I forgot to start my watch timer until about 3 or 4 minutes (I’m guessing) into the run.  Oh well, what matters is that it felt GOOD.  There is a hill on the path that I usually take where I always stop and walk.  Not today!  Ran right up it and didn’t even feel like walking!  Then I came home and did the Insanity Core Cardio and Balance workout.  I didn’t know what to expect – it was as high intensity, but it was still hard, that’s for sure. 


Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast for the family...Special Hy-Vee Donuts for Father's Day

My breakfast:  2 eggs, scrambled, whole wheat English muffing with homemade strawberry jam.

Lunch was the usual salad and cottage cheese.  Today I snacked on a banana, pumpkin seeds, and raisins. 

A delicious dinner!  Corn on the cob, BBQ ribs, avocado, and pineapple.  

Leah and I crafted this gift for Lindy for Father’s Day.  All his favorite treats in a 6-pack.  Gum, Honey Roasted Peanuts, Skittles, Hot Tamales, Gummy Bears, and M&M’s.  Can I tell you that I didn’t even eat ONE SINGLE PIECE of any of it!  I wasn’t even tempted.  You know why?  Because I knew that if I did, I would have to tell you all about it.  And I’m not giving in!  And yesterday I made strawberry jam and strawberry bread.  So I do need to tell you that I did try the strawberry bread, after resisting it more than once.  However, the bite that I tried was MAYBE ¼ inch wide – the tiniest taste I could imagine.  I have to assume that it is good, considering my husband nearly ate the entire loaf himself. 

Hope you all had a great weekend!  Thanks for reading, supporting, and cheering me on!  

Week 1 Results

Well today’s the day!  Start of week 2 and first official weigh-in after working my butt off all week.  I woke up excited and anxious to step on the scale.  (I know, weird isn’t it??)  I went into the bathroom and was overcome with feelings of nervousness and anxiousness.  (Gosh, what is going ON?  Who feels like this when getting weighed?)  I took a deep breath, thought skinny thoughts, and stepped on…

Remember this post about my motivation marbles?  Can you see how many are in the “pounds lost” jar?  Look harder…..count them up….can’t you tell?  No, you can’t?  Ok, I’ll spare you the drama…SIX!  Six pounds lost!  Woohoo!  6.2 to be exact.  I could not be more thrilled, happy, proud, ecstatic, you name it!  Now the pessimist in me is saying “Well how much of that is water weight?”  “Is it really 6 pounds of this?” (see fat picture!) And “That much weight will never come off in one week again.”  But I’m just going to push those thoughts aside and celebrating a good first week by NOT WORKING OUT TODAY!  That’s my reward to myself.  After 7 straight days of exercising, and a sore back from picking strawberries yesterday, I’m giving my body a rest today.  And I’m going to enjoy it!  (P.S.  I updated yesterday's post with some cutie-patootie pictures of the kids at "Strawberry Land" as Leah called it!)

I realistically do not expect to lose as much as 6 pounds in a week every week.  I know that won’t happen.  My goal this week is another 2-3.  I would be happy with that for sure.  My workouts this week will be a bit different, however.  If you know anything at all about the Insanity program, there is a calendar you follow that tells you which workouts to do on which days.  Last week for me was week 4 of Insanity.  Even though it was only week 1 of my 100% commitment to eat right and lose this weight, I had started Insanity the first week of summer.  And I wasn’t going to re-start it (for the 4^th or 5^th time!) just because I was finally ready to make this commitment.  So I just kept it going.  Week 5 of Insanity is six days straight of Core Cardio and Balance.  I’ve never made it this far in the program before, so I’m not sure what that workout entails.  I have a feeling it won’t be as high-intensity, so my plan right now is to jog on three of those days and get some weight training in on the other three, in addition to doing that workout.  So here’s to a great week 2!!

Hope you all have a grand Saturday.  My plan is to mix up some strawberry jam, strawberry bread, and possibly a strawberry torte.  Go to the gym (just for some hot-tub/sauna/steam room relaxation), do some grocery shopping, go to Sam’s club, hang out with my friend Jill and go for a walk…did I mention all without kids?  Lindy is taking them to see the grandparents today, so I get a day to myself.  I'm thinking of it as another little reward to myself for a job well done last week!  See you all tomorrow, and thanks for reading friends!       

Day 7 Feeling Lazy

I'm feeling lazy today...haven't wanted to keep up with chores, dishes, or pick up toys around the house.  No laundry done, and barely had enough energy to make a decent dinner.  Needless to say, I still woke up and did my Insanity workout this morning first thing.  If I don't work out right away in the morning, I'll never do it!  After getting myself and the kids ready to go, we went to a berry farm this morning with grandma and picked fresh strawberries for about an hour and a half.  Maybe that's why I am so lazy today - feeling worn out from that, as well as 7 days straight of working out.  And if I wasn't feeling so lazy, maybe I'd post some cute pictures of the kids picking strawberries, but my camera is all the way down stairs.  Sorry, not gonna happen - not today at least. 


Food today was once again, nothing new.  Lots of fruit, yogurt, lettuce, low-fat cheeses, high protein meats, nuts, and veggies.  And lots of water.  I'm anxious for tomorrow's weigh-in.  And excited to post the results.  Is that weird??

The tractor ride to the fields - Leah and Grandma

"I think I'll have one!"

"Wait a minute......"

"Oh yum, I like it!"

"Here Mommy, I picked you some flowers!"

Hope you are all having a more eventful Friday night than me.  I'm gonna dink around on the internet, watch an episode or two of LOST, and go to bed.  See you tomorrow morning!