From the ER to the Finish Line!

Those of you that have been following my blog for a while know that I have been running for a few months now and have overcome some obstacles along the way. I was planning on running the 5k for the SLC marathon last month, but could barely walk, let alone run. This weekend, I am in Utah to run the Running with Angels 5k with my mom. I was so excited for the race and really looking forward to it. I have felt great running the last few weeks and was confident that my sciatic pain wasn't going to get in my way this time.

So yesterday I had a nice day out with my mom, went to the mall, and I even got fitted for some new running shoes. At about 6:45 pm, I went to pick up my sister from a school activity and on the way home as I was pulling into their driveway, I had a little bit of a stomach ache. By the time I got into the house, I was on the floor doubled over in pain. It was SO WEIRD. I couldn't explain the pain, and it didn't feel like anything I've ever felt before. The closest I could describe it was to my kidney stone pain, but not quite to that level. I tried everything to relieve the pain, but nothing seemed to help. By about 9:45pm, we decided to just go to an emergency care center. On the way there, I had severe severe pain and got sick in the car. My mom said "I'm taking you STRAIGHT to the hospital." It was kinda scary.

We get to the ER and the pain had subsided somewhat, but was still present. I sat down with the nurse and he took all my vitals. He took my blood pressure and said it was as close to perfect as you can get, and then took my pulse and said "Holy cow! You have a really low pulse, you must be an athlete!" I LOOOOOOOOVE it when you can tell that I'm an athlete by my vitals!! It means that it's true! Lol. So I responded by telling him that yes I am in fact, I'm supposed to be running a race in the morning. He said "ohhhhh well we better get you better then!"

Anyway, to make a long story short, they did an ultrasound on me (so not fun when there's no baby to look at!) and found stones in my gall bladder. Super. So apparently I have to have surgery to have it removed. BUMMER. I guess it's caused by pregnancy and totally unrelated to my kidney stones, which blows my mind. As the doctor was giving us our "exit" instructions, I asked him if I felt alright in the morning, if I could run a 5k. He looked at my like I was NUTS. I was on some narcotics, lol, but I was very serious. I was NOT going to miss my run! (Remember this is at about 12:30am, race starts at 8am and is 30mins away). He said that I could run however he couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't have another pain flare up again, and it was just a risk I would have to decide if I wanted to take. I took it.

My mom was SHOCKED to find me awake and ready to go a 6:15am, only 5 hours after we had gotten home from the ER. She came down into my room as I was getting ready and said, "Are you SERIOUS?!" and I said "Heck yeah, we're doing this!"

It was a BLAST! I'm so glad I didn't wuss out. It was such a beautiful morning and I had an amazing run. I didn't stop once and ran it in about 28 minutes, which met my goal of running it under 30 mins! I even passed my mom, which is a big deal since she's been running more than me (however, she is also 23 years older than me, so I guess that's not saying much, cause she was right behind me!). I ran with my hospital admittance bracelet on just to remind myself how strong I actually am!

I'll let you know when I'm having surgery...

Results...

My offiicial time: 28:18.55

Place: 204th out of 1010 :)

Age group (W 19-24) place: 10th out of 78

We didn't bring our cameras to the race, so this was the only shot we got at the race with my moms phone.

Yeaaa Mommy!!!

Woo hoo! We did it! Now we're going for a 10k in the fall! (notice my bracelet)

BEFORE AND AFTER!!!

Wooo hooo!!! Feels so good! I'm headed to Utah tomorrow for some R&R--and of course to run my booty off! My mom and I are running a 5k on Saturday and I'm super excited. My goal is to do it in less than 30mins, probably should be able to do. Check out some more pics...

Chasing that pound

ONE STINKIN' POUND AWAY! Are you kidding me?! Sooo annoying! Ugh, I think my body is hating my low carb crazy diet, so I'm going to go back to my calorie counting.
My new goal is to de-fat my arms. My arms have ALWAYS been my trouble spot. I have never had nice arms. But I REFUSE to believe that I am destined to have big arms. I just refuse to believe it. If all of the fat is off my arms, then I will accept them as they are, but there is still fat on them and I'm going to melt it off with tons of cardio. I'm running 2.5 miles now, and I'm running a 5k on Saturday, so I'm working my way up there! I've been really proud of myself for my runs every morning. It is getting HOT out, and I always plan to wake up really early and run before it gets too hot, but of course I don't, so I lather on some sunscreen and get out there! Luckily there is a little restaurant on my way (hmm maybe I should stop and get some pancakes... jk) so I can stop and get water if I absolutely have to (I still keep movin' though!). Anyway, so I keep pushing myself to run farther, longer, harder.
So I had my photoshoot yesterday, it was AWESOME! I had SO much fun, it was great. Here is a peek.... more to come....

SO CLOSE-- I'm an athlete!

This is my size 4 pencil skirt that I wore to church on Sunday. My hubby was really bummed that he had to stay home with Eli (getting over a cold) and he couldn't accompany his "trophy wife" to church. Haha. It felt AMAZING!!! I went from a size 13 to a size 4 in 4 months! The funny thing is now I'm starting to not be able to fit into my skinny pants...they're too big!!!! I am SO close to my goal, only 2 pounds away. I'm sticking to my crazy meal plan for 6 more days and I will pass my goal putting me in the 120's!!! CRAZINESS!!!
I haven't been that thin since my sophomore year of HIGH SCHOOL. I think I may have dipped down there my freshman year of college when I was working out like no body's business, but it was very brief. I have a "photo shoot" on Monday so I'm excited for that!! Still not happy with my arms, so it's going to be lots of running and LOTS of arms this next week! I will be posting a 130 pic on the day that I hit it! STAY TUNED!!!!!!

Oh also... checked my body fat percentage today, I'm 18% body fat!! At that percentage, I'm considered an athlete! Thats freakin' awesome!!! I'm so excited! I've lost 10% body fat! Love it!

HOME STRETCH!!!

WOW! I'm only SIX pounds away from my goal! SIX!!! I can't believe it. I'm 136 right now. Crazy. I haven't been this thin since my wedding. I'm ten pounds UNDER my pre-baby weight. While it's very exciting, I still don't feel like I'm where I want to be, a little strange I know, but it's true. I thought that when I was this weight I'd be so excited about my body, don't get my wrong, I'm excited that I've come this far, but still not where I want to be. Which is good I guess since I am still 6 pounds away from my goal--so I will keep on going. I think the big thing for me is my arms. Everyone has that "problem" area-- you know the first place you gain it and the LAST place you lose it. Well for me, it's my arms. It always has been. Never in my life have I worn a tee shirt and liked the way my arms looked. Well that will be my goal when I get to my goal, to LOVE my arms. I CAN have amazing arms and I will!!
So I'm on this crazy meal plan for these last 2 weeks. I eat: egg whites, oatmeal (plain-- no sugar no milk no nothing), almonds and a protein shake for snack (a protein shake with water, eww), chicken breast with lettuce for lunch, almonds and protein shake for pm snack, then chicken and broccoli for dinner. That's what I'll be eating for 2 whole week. WOWZERS! Considering that my meals haven't been SUPER strict like this my entire "journey" I can suck it up for two weeks. Then I'll get my "after" pictures taken and I'll look lean and mean!!
I think I'm most excited to go shopping for a really great pair of jeans and some really cute new --"CHECK OUT MY SEXY ARMS" tops! :) AND I'm excited to be done with this. I'm looking forward to maintaining and being able to go out to dinner and order something besides a salad--dressing on the side. Anyway, I'll keep you updated!! Wish me luck, enjoy the yummy food you're eating--cause I'm sure not having any!

SKINNY SKNNY JEANS!!! AND 136

WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO
First of all, I broke 140 a few weeks ago, I know, I know, I didn't blog it. Sorry, this month has been craZy!! My parents came out (and my lil sis) and then it was my bday, then Boyd's bday, then his mom came out, then lots of work work work. Anyway, I'm blogging now to update y'all! Hope you haven't given up on me!
I broke 140 and that was fun. Then the other day I was looking at my "skinny skinny jeans" on my wall (I haven't tried them on since I tacked them on the wall) and they fit!! WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!! It was so fun! I bought them my senior year of high school! I think I'm actually in better shape then I've ever been in. The bummer is that I still have yucky flab on my belly from having a baby-- but oh was he ever worth it!!! He's the BEST!!! :) And that'll come off in a few pounds...
Anyway, this weekend I was 136.5!! The skinniest I've been since my wedding! I think I was about 134 ish at my wedding. Crazy crazy, I'm so excited to be 130, I'll probably have to buy some skinny skinny skinny jeans lol. I'll be posting pics of my skinny skinnys (with me in them!) soon!
Oh ya ps, another fun thing... ALL of my clothes fit. I have so many more clothes now! It's awesome!

Mixed feelings

TEN MORE POUNDS TO GO!!!!

161 151 140

Ten more pounds will be even better! Oh ya and I got a new bodybugg...I'm not too bright and got in a hot tub with my other one...yeeeeeahhh not waterproof. ;)

This time I think the biggest change is on the "backside" picture. I can tell I've lost a lot of weight in my love handles (duh) and also in my upper back.

Well taking these pictures makes me feel a little better. But I'm in a bad mood ecause I haven't been able to run in a week. My siatic nerve has been bothering me since I had Eli, but in the last week it has been consistent pain and I can barely walk let alone run OR do classes or even have a good workout. So that's gotten me really down. My 5k is in two weeks and I don't even know if I could walk it. I have a ticket out to Salt Lake, but I might have to re-book it for May and just run the Running with Angels 5k. But hopefully with some physical therapy, yoga, and stretching (I've been trying that tho) I'll be able to get it worked out. It's so frustrating....!!!!!

I have a lot more to say but I'd better get in bed, I have a full day tomorrow begining with training! Yikes, go easy on me Mike I can barely walk...

My list...

Yesterday was a terrible day. I missed my run and then I had to leave BodyAttack early because of my stupid siatic nerve pain. Then the whole day was just a downward spiral for a lot of reasons. But today was a brand new day and I had a great run and a great workout. Just got back from a walk with Eli (mr. cranky pants this morning) and I think I'll go for another run today because I REALLY want to get to 140 tomorrow-- that will be a big deal. Basically that will be the LAST day of the 140's for me. SO exciting!! I love trying on "new" clothes from my closet, haha, I tried on a cute pair of editor crops that I bought last year. They're a size 4 and I think they were a little tight when I bought them. I bought them cause they were a killer deal and I thought "hey I'll get these as motivation to lose weight" and then I found out I was pregnant shortly after. Anyway, that was fun to put them on, I'm excited to wear them!!
So I received a very sweet email yesterday from a friend of a friend who started her own fitness blog after reading mine. It is so encouraging to know that you all are counting on me to inspire you for your own fitness goals! It keeps me going for sure!!! In light of that, I thought I would post some of my "tricks" and "tips" that have really helped me lose 20lbs these last 3 months...

• Cardio, cardio, cardio, CARDIO!! This is huge. If you want to lose fat, you have to do cardio every day. I do at least an hour of cardio everyday. Get to the gym, do a class, walk for an hour, if you get bored, do "short" cardio blasts like I do: 5 min on the stair mill, 10 treadmill, 5 stair mill, 10 elliptical, repeat. Can't afford the gym? Or don't have time? Go for a run/walk outside. Too cold/wet to do that? Spend $15 on a workout video and do it at home. Still don't have time? Buy one of the "10 minutes to fitness" videos and do TEN minutes of cardio-- it will take you longer to get to your goals, but at least you did something! You just have to do a little cardio everyday. The more the merrier.
• Nutrition. Nutrition is 80% of weight loss. I think it's a little funny that on The Biggest Loser they never show any of their nutrition that they're doing (well rarely) but really that is making a huge difference. It is important to remember that you HAVE to eat. When you eat too little calories, it has a reverse affect and you actually don't lose weight because your body goes into "starvation" mode and doesn't burn the fat. So find your "right" calorie intake amount and stick to it.
• Over estimate your calorie intake and underestimate your calories burned. Even with my bodybugg, I still am off. I am off by about 300 calories on average-- the bodybugg is 97% accurate, which means I'm eating more than I think I am, and I measure EVERYTHING on a digital scale. So eat a little less than you think you're eating and work a little harder than you think you're working.
• MEASURE OUT YOUR FOOD. This is huge. If you actually measure out 1 serving of cereal, it's such a tiny amount. I think before I was measuring my food, I was having about 3 servings of cereal! With milk that's like 400 calories! INSANE. I don't care how cheap or fancy your scale is, use it. It makes a big difference. Oh and use a scale, not measuring cups.
• Eat chocolate every day. :) This is a good one, but an important one for me. I can't deprive myself, it just doesn't work. I can for a few days, then I'm like a beast going through my kitchen eating anything and everything that tastes even a little bit sweet. So even if you're eating a crazy small amount of calories everyday, build some room for a little dessert. A Hershey Hug only has 25 calories! Those are my favorite. Other favorite desserts are: skinny cow ice cream sandwiches, skinny cow truffle bars, mini-cheesecakes (see recipe below), and Oreo Mini Cakesters (amaaaaaaaaazing). The trick is self control. You cant have 15 hugs, or 5 skinny cows, but one or even 2 if you really need it are enough to satisfy you're inner "chocoholic." If you're not a sweet person, and you crave salt, then buy 100 calorie packs of your favorite potato chips. You must indulge just a small amount to get you by.
• Make meal time a time to enjoy yourself. Don't eat while standing up, driving, walking, running, etc. Sit down, take some time for yourself and really pay attention to what you're eating. ENJOY IT! If you are busy doing something else while you're eating, a short while later, you'll forget you even ate! This is especially true when you're "indulging" live in the moment and enjoy it.
• Buy a weight-watchers (or something like it) cookbook. OR spend some quality time on google looking up recipes. You can pretty much make a low-calorie version of anything, it just requires some time, and creative thinking.
• Water. I'm not as good with this as I should be, but the more water you drink, the less hungry you will feel, and it helps to get all the toxins out of your body (plus like a million other benefits)
• MOVE IT! Using my bodybugg, I have found that if I am constantly moving throughout the day, I burn A LOT more calories. Now you might be thinking "duh" but you wouldn't think that something like folding laundry would really rev up your calories, but doing more throughout the day really does make a difference-- not to mention I get a lot more done! If you have a job where you have no choice but to sit, then do things that you might not normally do such as: take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away, go talk to a co-worker instead of sending an email or IM, sit on a fitness ball instead of a chair (this will also improve your posture), take short breaks and go for a 2 minute walk or go up and down the stairs a few times. Find creative ways to fit in just a few extra calories. If you burn 10 extra calories every hour, that means about 120 calories more per day, that's an extra pound every month!
• Take pictures and measurements. Make sure to take "before" pictures. This will help with motivation as you go on your "journey." Make sure to take milestone pictures (about every 10 pounds is good) to remember how good you're doing. Measurements will help to track inches in addition to pounds.
• Put your before pictures somewhere where you will see them EVERYDAY. Mine are hanging up in my bathroom so I see them every morning. I also have quotes and motivational phrases to help keep me motivated and on track. Looking at my pictures every morning helps me to remember that although I've come a long way, I still have more to go. I also have pics of what I want to look like, always keeping the "big picture" in mind.
• BLOG! Whether you blog for the public or just for yourself (primitively known as "journaling" :) ) You need some sort of venue to relay your accomplishments, frustrations and ideas. I find that as I'm blogging, things come to me that I didn't think of before.
• My favorite foods:
• Lean Cuisines-- great "on-the-go" meals, stock your freezer with them for emergencies, that way you'll be less inclined to eat out, or snack because there is nothing to eat. Also good for variety.
• Skinny Cow's, if you've been reading my blog, you know how much I love these. Try the new 100 calorie truffle bars, FANTASTIC!
• Pounded out chicken breast with seasonings. SO EASY! Low cal, low fat, low carb. Get some "grill mates" or other seasonings, flatten a chicken breast, season, and throw on a George foreman grill. Voila, yummy meal in minutes.
• Squash. Too delicious to be called a vegetable. A whole squash is only about 80 calories. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then sprinkle with a TINY bit of brown sugar for a delicious side dish.
• Sweet potatoes. You need to be careful with these because they can rack up calories and carbs quickly, but they are yumm-o!
• Special K Protein Plus, a yummy cereal low in calories, carbs, and fat, and lots of protein. Add blueberries for a delicious breakfast.
• Egg beaters. When you have more than 1 real egg per day, it really cranks up your cholesterol intake, so I mix 1 egg with some eggbeaters, then add garlic, fat-free American cheese, bell pepper, onion, spinach, and tomato for a hearty and delicious meal. Only about 150 calories!
• Sara Lee Whole Wheat low calorie bread. 45 calories per slice! You can have a whole sandwich for less than the calories of 1 regular slice of bread. Sweet! (be careful with deli meat as it has a lot of added sodium)
• Popcorn. You can have a lot of air popped popcorn for a small calorie price. It's cheap, easy and makes a great snack. Add 1 tbs. of butter and a little bit of salt for a little bit of flavor, just don't add more than that, it really doesn't need a whole lot. Going to the movies? Pop some popcorn before hand and put it in a ziplock bag, bring along some hugs and kisses for a little treat, and you won't be tempted to pay a visit to the snack bar! (plus think of all the money you'll save!) DON'T be fooled into thinking that the popcorn at the movies is as low-cal as your home-popped. You'll be about 1,000 calories off! YIKES!
• Cauliflower mashed potatoes, so yummy and good substitute for high calorie high carb regular mashed potatoes.
• Turkey burgers, low-calorie (and healthier all around) alternative
• Club soda-- fills that "carbonation" craving without the sugar from regular soda or aspartame from diet-- also free at restaurants ;)

Hope you got something out of this post!

I can put my hands in my pants! :)

Okay so I don't condone putting your hands down your pants...ever. But check this out...

Yep those are my pre-pregnancy jeans and yes, my hands are down my pants (but only for pictures sake :) ). I'm so excited. My PRE pregnancy jeans are getting to be loose. How exciting is that?! I'm almost to the 20lbs mark... crazy. I've never lost this much weight before. These last pounds will be the toughest mentally for me. I've been in the low 140's since I got home from my honeymoon (all-you can eat resorts are just not a good way to start a new life ;)) and part of me feels "complacent" here. I'm in good shape, I can wear a lot of my clothes. I feel good. But is this where I want to be? No. I don't want to be "on a diet" forever. I want to be not just happy with my weight, I want to be ECSTATIC with my weight. I want to love my body and be so proud of it. Have you ever worked for something SO hard in your life and been SO THRILLED when you achieved it? Like a college education, you spend a lot of time, money, blood, sweat and tears for that. But do you wear your degree on your shirt everyday? No. Or maybe you have kids that are grown, you worked really hard to raise them, but the person in line behind you at the grocery store doesn't know that! Getting to your "ideal body type" is like wearing your proudest accomplishment on your sleeve, that is something that you and everyone else sees, and I want that! I asked Boyd to give me a pep talk last night and he said the best thing he could have said, "The only thing I want is for you to have the body that YOU want." Is he excited that I'm losing weight? Heck ya. Would he still love me and be attracted to me if I didn't lose any more weight? Of course. But he wants ME to be happy with ME and that is what I'm going to do. Woo hoo, I can do it! He also pointed out that I have such good momentum going right now that to stop would really be a bummer, it would be so much harder to start back up. So I'm pumped and motivated...130 (hey maybe 125??) here I come!!! Plus I can't stop, my trainer would hunt me down, and oh yeah I'm running a half marathon in 10 months!

Cheesecake...

How many calories do you think is in this cheesecake? Couple hundred maybe? How many times have you been on a diet and said, "I think I'll have a cheesecake." Not too many right?
Well my friends, thanks to my new love for cooking and modifying foods so they are healthy, here is a delicious cheesecake that is..........................(drum role)........................................................
145 calories! (that's less than a bowl of cereal)
I found a recipe for cheesecake in the weight watchers cookbook (fabulous by the way) and I decided to try it. The recipe is for a cake which should be cut into 16 slices. But honestly who cuts a cheesecake into 16 slices? I knew that if I made a whole cake 1 serving would really be like 2. So... I bought some cupcake liners and put them in a muffin tray, then made individual cakes. They are SOOOO YUMMY!!! (and super easy to just pull out of the fridge and enjoy!) It's so fun to create things like this! I HAVE to have variety and I have to have desserts, so I found a way to do it. Here is the recipe...

Delicious Mini-Cheesecakes

12 graham crackers (this is equal to 6 "boards" of the crackers, 12 squares) made into crumbs

2 cups fat free cream cheese (don't even think about using regular, it TRIPLES the calories!)

1 cup fat free sour cream (dito)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 large eggs

2 tsp. grated lemon zest (would also be good with lime, or orange)

LITE cherry pie filling (I actually liked it better without this and hey bonus, less calories!)

• Preheat oven to 325, put 16 cupcake liners in a muffin tray, spray liners with non-stick spray
• Press graham cracker crumbs into bottom of cups (about 1 spoonful in each cup)
• In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
• Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed until blended
• Stir in the lemon zest
• Spoon batter into each individual cup (about 3/4 of the way full)
• Place muffin tray on a cookie sheet or 13x9 pan (something with a lip or a side)
• Pour boiling water in outer tray/pan
• Bake until almost completely set 30-35 minutes
• Turn off the oven and prop door open, leave the cake in the oven for 30 minutes
• Cool completely, then refrigerate
• If you would like, spoon 1 Tbs. LITE cherry pie filling over tops of cakes (without pie filling, calories = 128 per serving)

Nutrition info:

Calories: 145 (without pie filling = 128), Fat= 6g, carbs = 14g, protein= 5g, weight watchers points = 5

HAPPY EATING!!!!

I FEEL SO GOOD

I am feeling so great! There is definitely something to be said about getting in shape, you just FEEL so much better. I love the feeling when I wake in the morning and my body feels just so fantastic. It really helps motivate me to get to the gym. I feel like I'm making a huge lifestyle change. Not that I was super unhealhty before, but cooking at home, eating healthy and getting my body in shape is just so vital to the way I feel. I am happier, I have more energy, I get A LOT more done during the day. Using my bodybugg, I figured out that on day's when I'm doing things all day, I meet my calorie goal. Days that I take long naps, watch TV, or just "mope" around, I have to do like 2 extra workouts! So I make it a priority to move move move throughout the day. I don't have to do anything drastic, but even things like folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen, putting toys away, burn a lot more calories than just sitting. Now there are days that I do have to work at my computer, but as long as I get some movement in throughout the day, I'm fine. This makes such a huge difference in my household chores--things get done!

Another thing I've found that ruins my calorie goal is sleeping in. I rarely do this as the mornings are my favorite time to work out, but on the occasion that I do sleep past 8:30 or 9, WOW does it make a big difference, I really have to make up for it. This in turn also makes my day more productive.

I'm also eating a lot better. I have found things to cook that are healthy and yummy at the same time. Before this year, Boyd and I were eating out almost every day, sometimes twice a day. Not only was this unhealthy, but EXTREMELY expensive as well. Last month we only spent $50 in eating out!!! I was shocked and amazed at this! And my grocery bill wasn't even that much either. You can eat good for less, it's possible. I'm eating a lot more fruits and veggies. I'm not a huge veggie fan, but I've found clever ways of disguising vegetables. Like cooking spinach with garlic and adding it to a whole wheat pasta, or cutting sweet potatoes (which are delicious) into strips and then baking them like "french fries", or my new favorite: caulliflower "mashed potatoes"-- here is the recipe, they are so yummy! (although I didn't fool Boyd, he still thinks they taste like caulliflower, darn)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/george-stella/mock-garlic-mashed-potatoes-recipe/index.html
I am also not depriving myself. I eat chocolate everyday in some way or another. Whether it's a skinny cow (their new truffle bars are AMAZING, only 100 cals and 12 carbs) or a few Hershey Hugs (only 25 cals each!), I fit in a treat somehow, and I am still losing weight. The secret really is moderation.

As you may know from earlier posts, I am "training" to run the SLC 5k with my Mom on April 18th. Those of you that have known me a while know that I am NOT a runner. I did Swim Team and Golf in high school--because you don't have to run in those sports! But I've always wanted to be a runner, runners typically have long lean bodies which I want. So in getting ready to run this 5k, I've been gradually running. I started out just doing 0.5 miles on the treadmill, then outside, then a mile on the treadmill, then outside...and so on. I noticed on my bodybugg that I burn the most calories when I run, i.e. more weight lost. Today I ran a mile and half outside, no stopping. I felt GREAT!! I kept thinking about the 5k that I'm going to do and how good it's going to feel. I am really enjoying running and am excited to take it further.

My friend Loni did the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Fran last year and she was telling me how cool it is. I've been checking their site to see when the one this year is because I was thinking about training for it. Well I checked it yesterday and registration was already over! BUMMER! However, I found out that there is a 1/2 marathon in Disney World next January (2010). I'M GONNA DO IT!!!! I am SO excited about this! I have 10 months to train for it, and although I've never been a runner, I have complete faith in myself that I can do this. Boyd said that he's going to do it with me too, and so is my mom (yep that's right, now you're officially committed Mom!). The race is through Epcot and the Magic Kingdom and it looks like a total blast. I think it will be a great goal to have. I need to always have something that I'm working towards to keep up with my fitness routine. Anyone else that wants to join us is more than welcome! The more the merrier! It's going to be a fun weekend in Walt Disney World!!! Here is a link to the website, I'm going to register soon because it's filling up!

http://disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/events/eventDetail/detail?name=WdwMarathonDetailPage


Yep that's me on the right. Except when I run it, I'll have a better body than the one in this picture, lol. Can you envision yourself in the pic too? :) I hope so!
After I meet my weight loss goal, this blog will become my "running" blog... so stay tuned!!

PRE PREGNANCY JEANS!!!

3/18 Weight: 143lbs total pounds lost: 18lbs, 13 more to go
Body fat %: 21.8% total body fat % lost: 6.2%


WOO HOO!! This was a big deal for me. I actually fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans last Saturday, but I am just now getting around to taking a pic. Ever since I started my "fitness journey" on Jan 1, I have been trying on these jeans--about every week. When I first started, I couldn't even get my legs into them. Then it was "I can get my booty in", then it was "okay now I can pull them all the way up" then "ok now I can button them....now I can zip....now I can zip and button, but man they're tight...now I can actually walk in them..." and NOW I can actually wear them with a tight shirt. Sweet!! I'm very excited as this means that I'm basically back to where I started pre-pregnancy, so I can fit into about 75% of my wardrobe now, THANK GOODNESS! Now from here on out will be getting back to "pre-wedding" and then some!!
I was kind of bummed last Saturday, as I didn't meet my goal. But that just gives me more motivation to work even harder. I can't believe I'm already down to 143... I feel a lot bigger than I did before I was pregnant, and maybe that's just because I'm in "fitness" mode and I want to be in really good shape--which I was definitely NOT in shape before I was pregnant. In fact, I was just looking at some of my past body fat percentages, and even back in 2006, I was at 23%. So I am at a lower body fat % than I was when I got married, that is AWESOME! That just means that when I do hit the low 130's I will be even more toned than I was at my wedding.
I'm really excited to get to my goal. I'll be taking more pics in a little bit when I hit 141 so that I can do another "comparison" pic after losing yet another 10 pounds!

A few of my favorite things...

Hi everyone. Apologies for a blogging break. Things are good. I had a terrible weekend. I was up very late on Thursday night due to a small "emergency" and I was playing catch up on sleep. Needless to say I missed my favorite, Saturday workout, and although I did workout later in the day, it just isn't as good. I am a totally different person when I work out in the mornings. It just is such a great starter to my day, that when I miss my morning workout, yikes, I am unpleasant. Mostly because I'm upset with myself for sleeping in and missing my workout. Anyway, I redeemed myself and had a great workout Monday.

Tuesday was a great day because even though Boyd had a meeting in the morning, and I wasn't able to go to the gym, I did a workout video and then went and ran a mile outside (yep a whole mile this time!) and I burned just as many calories as I did at the gym. It was good to do that to know that even when I can't get to the gym, I can still push myself and get in a good workout.

So my jeans that I bought when I was about 2 months pregnant are now getting too big, and although I can fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans, they are still a little too tight to wear all day. So I put on one of my cute belts that I haven't worn in a really long time, and it looks great! Nothing hangin over, haha. So that was pretty exciting! I'm hoping by next week my pre-pregnancy jeans will be "wearable."

As I was watching The Biggest Loser last night (and doing jumping jacks during commercials to burn the extra calories I needed to meet my goal) they had a little part on how many calories, fat and sodium were in different fast food items. It's frightening. Especially since Boyd and I lived on fast food practically our entire marriage. Now you may think that that's how I was raised, but on the contrary, we hardly ever ate out growing up. I guess it was just easier especially since I was in school, and Boyd was working, and it's such a social thing for us. But since January 1, the only eating out we've done is Subway once or twice a month and Cafe Rio (salads) once or twice a month. I don't think we've ever gone this long without Taco Bell or Domino's. I think we're really on the right track this time. Cooking at home is getting easier and easier and actually pretty fun. I like discovering new things to make.

In addition to that, there are a few things that are my "saving graces" they help me stay on track. I thought I'd share them with you...

My bodybugg. Unfortunately, I have the bigger version (I want this new smaller one), but it still does the same thing. It is AWESOME. Just last night, I checked it at 11:30pm, and I still had 130 calories to burn (before 11:59) in order to meet my goal. So I did jumping jacks during the commercials during The Biggest Loser. Without my BodyBugg I wouldn't have done the extra work because I would have thought that because I worked out, I did enough...but not so. I love my bodybugg!

So even though I'm doing better at cooking at home, there does come times where I don't have everything I need to cook, or time is short, so we need something quick. Subway is the answer! I love that I can have a full sandwich and I know exactly how many calories are in it. Subway is great.

If it weren't for Skinny Cows, I wouldn't be eating good still. Is it included in the "perfect meal plan"? no. But it's a dang good alternative to eating desserts. For 140 calories, you can have a big, yummy ice cream sandwich. ONE cookie has more than 200 calories in it, that's just one small cookie, but I can just have one of these and stay within my calorie budget, but still feel satisfied. I love them!

Weigh of Life digital scale. This scale is AMAZING. If you are not measuring your food, I guarantee you, you're eating more than you think. When you really start measuring out your food (not in measuring cups, but on a scale), you really start to see how small portions really are, and how many calories are really in what you're eating. This scale comes with a little booklet with hundreds of common foods in it. So you put your food on the scale, punch in the code for the food you are eating, and it tells you the EXACT nutritional info for the amount of food you're eating. For foods that aren't in the book, you can just measure how many grams are in your food, then look it up on calorie-count.com. You HAVE to measure your food if you want to really count calories. A digital scale makes it easy too. If I'm having oatmeal in the morning, I make my oatmeal, then but the bowl on the scale before I turn it on, then turn it on and it starts at zero. Add what I want, turn off, turn on, zero again. It's great. Love love love this scale!!

George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grill. This grill is awesome. Pound out a chicken breast, put on some Grill Mates seasonings, throw on the Foreman, voila, yummy chicken in about 5 minutes to eat plain, or put in a salad . I also cook turkey burgers on it. It's fab. If you don't have one of these, you should. You can also make grilled sandwiches in it, one of Boyd's faves.

BodyCombat. I know I've said this before, but I LOVE this class. It is so fun, I feel like I'm not only burning tons of calories, but I feel strong and powerful while I'm doing it too. Plus I honestly feel like I'm learning a little bit of self defense at the same time. GREAT class.

So my sister-in-law introduced me to this trick. I don't drink diet soda, but I love soda. Dilemma. So I've started to drink seltzer waters (I like the lemon or lime flavored ones best) and it really gives me my "soda" craving without any sugar or aspartame. I love the carbonation, it just satisfies me enough. Now if you're used to drinking coke or even diet coke, this stuff is pretty nasty. But if you go straight from water to seltzer, it's pretty yum-o. I love it, it helps me a lot.

Presto PopLite Air Popper. I love popcorn. Popping it airpopped is the best way to do it (healthiest). So I'll have this for a night time snack, and I put just a teeny bit of butter on it (not even a tablespoon) and then shake some salt on there, and have a Perrier to drink, soooo good! I feel like it's cheating, but it's not. You can have a lot of popcorn for a little bit of calories. I even pop it and put it in a ziplock before I go to a movie, then bring my own Perrier, and I don't even feel tempted to go to the snack bar (not to mention I save about $10!). Airpoppers are the best! And no mess to clean up either. LOVE IT.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my favorite things, maybe you'll try them and like them too! I really think that with any diet routine, you have to have some tricks to get you through. It's all about preparation!!!

Love

Sarah

Milestones

YES! I broke 150 this weekend! Hallelujah! Goodbye to the 50's. Hopefully I can get the 40's over within a few weeks too. My goal for Thursday is 148, which is exciting because before I was pregnant (a year before) I was 148, so after I hit that I can no longer say I'm the biggest I've ever been! Then 2 weeks from Thursday, I'll be back to pre-pregnancy weight (144) so that's exciting too.
Also, I wore a fitted pre-pregnancy dress this weekend! It was very exciting as it is really fitted around my torso, and I remember trying it on fairly early in my pregnancy and it didn't fit. Now it does!! Woo hoo. I also ran a mile today and have been increasing the levels on my cardio machines. I'm feelin' good!!

Goin for a record...

Tomorrow is weigh in day... and I am just hoping that I break 150. I've GOTTA do it. I'm sick of being in the 150's and ready to get the 140's out of my way too. :) I just checked my calories burned and I've already exceeded my target, so I'm going to go for a record and try and burn 400 more cals before midnight to make today the most calories burned in a day thus far (the most I've burned is 3100). I've already done BodyCombat, 1/2 mile run, 1.5 mile walk, and a 20 minute workout video today. I bought 2 new workout videos since Boyd has been working a lot and getting to the gym in the evenings for my second workout is tough, so I'm going to try out The Firm and see how it goes.
Those of you that have known me for a while know that while I am a decent cook, I don't do it much (now baking, I love...but I've had to say bye-bye to that for a while). I'm not sure why this is...well actually I guess it's because in the past I've looked at cooking as more of a chore than anything--too time consuming. I like doing it for parties or for company but cooking for two everynight? Way too much work. Well being on a strict calorie limitation and making a vow to get healthier, I have developed a new found love of cooking!! I'm discovering new recipes, modifying them to be low calorie, and mixing up different things for creative concoctions-- in addition I've found a few tricks to make it go faster and not be so time consuming. I've found inspiration in my friends Jayme and Loni, they seem to always be making yummy and healthy food and I get a lot of good ideas from them. It is a little challenging as Boyd is still a little weary of home cooking (he thinks it is "too much work" for me) and is also kinda picky, but he's doing good. I tell him that I'll make enough for him and if he doesn't want it, he can have a Lean Cuisine and I'll eat his for lunch the next day--- but he's eaten everything I've made thus far. Tonight I made these AMAZING coconut chicken fingers. I found a recipe online and modified it to make it lower cals, it was fantastic, I got an A+ from Boyd! Woo hoo! Here's the recipe:

Sarah's Fantastic Coconut Chicken Fingers
Cut 1 chicken breast into chunks (or strips, however you like it)
Mix together in a bowl: 1/4 C. coconut, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1/8 tsp garlic powder
Beat 1 egg in a bowl
Dip chicken in egg, then coconut mixture, place in baking dish
Drizzle 1 Tbs. melted Smart Balance (or butter if you don't care about low cal) over chicken
Bake in oven at 350 for 25 mins

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:
Mix 2 Tbs honey with 1 Tbs. dijon mustard

So yummy!!
Well I gotta get my groove on and break my highest calories burned record!

WOAH! Half-way point pics!

So I decided to do half-way pictures tonight, and HOLY COW. I'm super amazed at how far I've come. Now I still do have a lot more to go but it was nice to see the comparison and see that I'm getting my booty back and I no longer look pregnant! Lol. I can't believe how I still look preggers in my side view start pic! Here they are... (this is why I braved posting my start pic, because I knew there would be progress pics!!)

What a difference 10 pounds makes! It's exciting to me to think about what the end pics will look like... in 20 more pounds!!

I cannot even believe how I still look pregnant in this start pic! I'm so glad I took it because I would have never thought that I looked like that! And look at me now! I'm getting a booty again! lol!

Here is a fun pic, testing out the self timer on my camera, yep it works! Next time you see pics of me, I'm gonna have a rockin' bod! (And maybe I'll brush my hair next time too, hahaha)

This Is What It Takes...

So today was kind of a bummer, I weighed myself and I was a pound more than I was Saturday (even though I didn't have ANY sweets or dessert on Valentines day), but my weight does tend to flucuate throughout the week, so I'll get it back. I'm determined to work my booty off this week (literally!) in order to break 150,I've gotta do it.

This is what it takes to reach my goal...

I elevated my heart rate FOUR times today in order to reach my calories burned goal (and exceed it by a little bit). Normally you would think that doing an hour of cardio and working with a trainer for half an hour would be PLENTY in order to lose 2.5 pounds per work. Nu uh. I basically did 4 workouts today and I BARELY made it. I guess most days I am fairley sedentary, working on my computer and just hangin out with Eli, so I really have to make a consious effort to move throughout the day. Whether that's a walk (thats what I did for my 2nd peak today) or cleaning the house (hey two bird with one stone!) or whatever, moving is really key.

I'm training for the Salt Lake City Marathon 5k. lol I know that sounds funny "marathon 5 K" but they do a marathon, half-marathon, and a 5k. I am NO WHERE near being able to do a half marathon, so my mom and I (and any one else that's wants to join, Laci?) are going to run it. WHen I was working out with Laci, I ran 1.5 miles in about 13 mins (correct me if I'm wrong Laci), so if I can do the 5k in 25mins, I'll be excited.

Day 44 (halfway)

Whew! I haven't done my Saturday workout in a while! I was out of town, and then before that I was sick, so today was a big shocker. I did NOT want to work out this morning (as usual) and was even kind of hoping that my hubby would ask me to stay because he was too tired to watch Eli. But being the wonderful supporter he is, he didn't. So I had to go to the gym. Pump was great and I pushed myself harder than I ever had with more weights, so I really got a good workout (even though my legs were killing me from all those lunges Mike made me do yesterday). Then Combat started. It's so funny to me that I love Combat so much when I'm not doing it. When I'm doing it I think to myself, "what are you DOING?!?!" Every combat class without fail, I think "Ok I give up, after this song, I'm leaving." But then I tell myself that I've never left a class early, and I've even done it while I was sick, so I can't give up. Then of course the next song comes on and I'm like "okay this one is a little easier, I can handle it." Then the cycle continues until the class is finally over. lol. I guess whatever gets you through right? But it is definitely a GREAT feeling leaving the gym feeling AWESOME! Anyway that's my day today...
I was pretty frustrated at my training session on Thursday. I didn't lose ANY weight over vacation, which may sound like a good thing, as I didn't gain any weight. But I tried really hard to workout and eat good. Oh well. Today I weighed myself and I was 151, it would be awesome to break 150 before next Thursday!

So sorry!

Hi All
Okay so I'm a terrible blogger. Sorry! I hope you all haven't given up on me...
A quick update: last week totally STUNK, I only lost 0.8 pounds, and I was sick. I had a cold for almost two weeks and then it ended up turning into a sinus infection. Loads of fun.
Right now I am on vacation in California. But I'm staying strong and have been eating good, as well as squeezing in a workout everyday. It hasn't been as rigourous as my at home routine, but at least it's something. Loni will kick my butt at the gym tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that!
I got on Jayme's scale--which she says is pretty accurate, and it said I was 150! Now I'm hoping that is true, that will help catch me up and get back on track. We will see!!

A conscious effort

A big "sorry" goin' out to all of you faithful blog followers who keep checking my fitness blog only to find out I've been slacking in the "posting area." Sorry! I will tell you that I most definitely have NOT been slacking in the weight loss area! After my big "victory" last week, I actually got even sicker and had a pretty crummy weekend--I even missed my beloved double-duty Saturday workout! Thank goodness for my bodybugg, I was able to see how far off from my deficit goal I was and divide that by the remaining days I had left in the week, which turned out to be 260 calories each day. So yesterday, today, and tomorrow, I have to have an additional defecit of 260 cals. I did it yesterday, I did it today, and I'll do it tomorrow! Woo whoo. Let's just hope my good pal Mr. Scale agrees.
2.5lbs per week doesn't seem like that much to me--or at least it didn't in the past, but I am working my BUTT off to get there! Holy cow, it is NOt easy! I am putting in anywhere from 1.5-3 hours in the gym EACH DAY (except Sundays), and then on top of that extra movement throughout the day. It really is important to move A LOT during the day. Especially since at home I'm usually just working on my computer = NOT a whole lot of calorie burnin' goin on. I have to make a conscious effort to move move move all the time. Which can be pretty tiring, thus the extra workouts. It is a decision though. Each and every day I decide to eat good, I decide to workout, I decide to be healthy. And you know what? I LOVE IT! :) Night night.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS

Weigh-in day today. And the result? I lost 3.4 pounds!!!! YEAAA!! I'm so excited. I think a lot if it is attributed to the fact that I really cut back on my sodium intake. It can really sneak up on you. For lunches I was eating just plain deli turkey and carrots. What I didn't realize was that the deli turkey has A TON of sodium in it (I knew there was a reason it tasted so good!). So after not meeting my 2.5lb goal for the last 2 weeks, I switched my lunches to eating turkey tacos. They're super yummy. All I do is brown some lean ground turkey in a pan, then add 1/4 c green chile enchalada sauce and a little bit of cheese. Then put those into 2 corn taco size tortillas. A yummy lunch for only 330 calories. Not to mention much less sodium.
I still feel kinda yucky, but that doesn't stop me from getting my workouts in. I actully think working out helps me to get better faster. I didn't go to BodyCombat yesterday morning for sake of "taking it easy." But I did still meet my calories burned goal. I also purchased a Billy Blanks Tae Bo video to do at home at night when I still need to burn more calories. This is great since sometimes getting to the gym is hard for the SECOND time during the day. So I can just pull out the video and burn those last 400 calories. I'd like to get a couple more videos so that I don't get bored with them.
Small victory: I can put on my pre-pregnancy jeans! These aren't my "skinny skinny" jeans, but they're the ones I was wearing before I was pregnant. I can't zip them up yet, but it was exciting to see that I can at least put them on! lol. It was not too long ago that I couldn't even put my legs into them. I will keep trying them on, I'm thinking another 6 pounds and I'll be able to wear them again. I'm only 8.8 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight! Then 15 more to go after that for my pre-wedding weight!!! :)
So Boyd and I are watching The Biggest Loser. It's a really great show, and it keeps us going. If those people can do it, so can we!!

UGH

Hi all,
Ugh today sucked. Boyd is sick, I think he has the flu, and was up late coughing, and then Eli decided to wake up at 6am and cry until 8am. Needless to say I missed my morning workout due to feeling tired and have a sore throat/sick feeling of my own. I got to the gym around 3 and did BodyPump, 30mins of cardio, and then RPM and I STILL did not meet my calories burned goal. In fact, I missd it by 400 cals. GRRR. I burn way more calories throughout the day if I workout in the morning. Good to know.
I felt awful after leaving the gym and now I'm in bed with chills. Great I think I have the flu.
I'll keep you upated...

Day 15

Well so I didn't make 156, but I stil lost 2 pounds this week, so thats a good thing. Here is an updated pic, I'm still not lovin' the way I look, but it is an improvement over a month ago. I can really tell a difference in my stomach, that's where I've lost the most weight (which makes sense seeing as that is where a lot of the baby weight is!).

I'm going to make sure I meet my calories burned goal every single day, and if I haven't met it by 8pm, then I will head to the gym and walk on the treadmill until I do meet it. Once I start sticking to that, I should be able to meet my 2.5lbs goal.

I've been doing RPM (spin) about everyday and it's going really great, such a good workout!

Eli has been sleeping really good at night so that is helping too, in fact, last night, he slept the whole night--woo whoo! Makes it nice when I get a full night's sleep without any interruptions.

The best part about all this is how I feel. I may not look strong, but I am starting to feel stronger and stronger each day. I can push myself a little harder at each workout and I love that feeling! Thanks to all of you reading this keeping me accountable!!

156...156...156...156...

156. That's my goal for this week. That's all I'm focusing on. Honestly, I don't know if I'm going to get there. But I'm sure going to try. Today was a double workout day. Tripple really. I did BodyPump, then an hour of cardio, then I did RPM (spin class), actually if you count taking Eli on a walk to the post office, I guess it was like a quadrouple workout day. Whew, I'm pretty tired. But you know what? It feels good. I have to figure out some sort of activity to do on Sunday's because I really get behind on Sunday's. I don't even meet my defecit goal by half! Perhaps Boyd will agee to go on a long walk with me and Eli on Sunday's.
So in addition to keeping track of how may calores I burn, my bodybugg also keeps track of how many steps I take throughout the day. My target is 10,000 steps each day. Today (as of 9pm) I have taken over 16,000! WOAH! That's pretty good!
Eating is going good. Tell me something, why oh WHY do grocery stores have to put the yummy bakery items in the very FRONT of the store? I literally have to walk around the pink frosted cookies when I go to Safeway after my workouts. SO ANNOYING! It should be illegal, seriously. Thank goodness I am determined to lose this weight, otherwise I might have succombed to the allmighty pink cookie!! :)
Happy workouts everybody!
Love
Sarah

Day 9

Okay so a few things. I will now refer to the stairmill as "the torture machine" which I guess makes me a masochist (someone who derives pleasure from pain). If you are unfamilair with "the torture machine" it is definitely NOT your average stair master. No siree, picture in your mind walking up a flight of stairs. Now picture that flight of stairs being 80 stories high, or bett yet, neverending. That my friends is the stairmill. Yep a never ending flight of stairs. Woowee does it work your booty though! :) I work in 4 sets of 5 minutes during my cardio routine. I love it I love it I love it. lol
Second thing, have you ever seen the music video "Buttons" from the Pussycat Dolls? If you haven't it's actually quite inappropriate, very riskay. Well it came on at the gym yesterday and although it is riskay and definitely NOT appropriate for children (or any guy for that matter), those girls ARE IN AMAAAAAZING SHAPE!! And I will strive to be in that good of shape! :) I guess if you danced like that (or wore what they were wearing--or weren't wearing really) you'd have to be in good shape! Regardless, that is my ultimate goal. (probably after I'm done breastfeeding though cause I can't be too lean right yet)
Okay moving on. Last night Boyd's mom took us all out to dinner for Cameron's (Boyd's brother) birthday. Boyd and I suggested our favorite "eat out good" place, Cafe Rio where we can get a yummy salad, omit the rice, tortilla, and salad dressing. But since it was Cameron's birthday, it was his choice. He and Alicia suggested California Pizza Kitchen. Let me tell you a little something about myself if you aren't aware of this already. If you truly are what you eat, then I am one GIANT piece of pizza. Yep I LOVE pizza. I ate it almost every day throughout my pregnancy. Not only do I love pizza, but I ESPECIALLY love California Pizza Kitchen. So... I know what you're thinking... I totally caved and ate a 1,500 calorie pizza last night for dinner... WRONGO!!! Nope, I, for the first time in my life, ordered a salad at California Pizza Kitchen!! And guess what?! It was SUPER YUMMY! lol! Suprise suprise. Not only did I order a salad, but I ordered a HALF salad with dressing on the side--and water mind you--another hard thing for me.
Now I know what you're thinking "she's insane! she tortures herself on the stairmill, wakes up early to work out when she's been up with the baby in the night, AND now she's resisting pizza?! That's gotta take willpower!" No my friends, not willpower, MOTIVATION. My house is a motivation gala. I have phrases, pictures (skinny skinny jeans) and other motivators around. My family, friends, and all of you are motivating me. At the gym, I just envision myself toned, lean and fit. I LOVE the way I feel. Leaving the gym is the greatest feeling in the world. Every morning, EVERY MORNING I wake up soooooooo tired and think "ugh I am NOT going to the gym this morning." But then I hear my sweet little boy making noises in his crib, and I'm up. Then I think "okay I'll just feed him in my bed and go back to sleep." But I conquer my deamons every morning and get my workout clothes on, drink my pre-workout drink (yerba matte, its FAB), get in my car, turn on some pumpin' tunes and drive to the gym. Then I gotta stick it out cause the hard part still isn't over. I just keep telling myself at the gym, "just keep going, just keep going, you're already here, make it count."
The other thing that works really well for me is not thinking about the 30 pounds I have to loose, but rather, the 2.5lbs each week. That is all I care about, it's all I focus on. Just get to my goal each week, and week by week I'll make it to 30 pounds lost!
I cooked dinner 6 times this week!!!! For most people this would be nothing to brag about, but for me, it's huge. My hubby and I are compulisve "out-to-eaters" and we have been since we got married. This is probably why we both have weight to lose. So we are really trying hard to eat at home and you know what, it's working! He actually said to me the other night "It's great that we can eat good food and still be losing weight!" We have some great recipes, but I would love more! Email me if you have any low calorie, yummy recipes to pass along my way. Here is our current favorite:
Chicken Marsala

• Pound out 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts to about 1/2" thick. Dust lightly with flour and marjorum (about 2tbs flour, 1 tsp marjorum).
• In a large skillet, sautee sliced green onions and mushrooms in 1 tbs butter (use I can't Believe It's Not Butter for lower fat and cals) (I don't use mushrooms tho b/c Boyd doesn't like them)
• Remove onions and mushroms from skillet, and brown chicken in 2tbs butter (or fake butter)
• Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1/2 cup marsala cooking wine (or Dry Sherry, but marsala is better)
• Add in onions and mushrooms
• let simmer until chicken is cooked and sauce is somewhat thick

This is soooooo yum and about 300cals per chicken breast. We love it. We usually eat it over 1/2 cup of rice with some steamed broccoli.

Well I'd better go get some things done...like a shower! I did double duty today again--BodyCombat and BodyPump back to back. I think I will refer to BodyCombat as "BodyInsanity." For those of you wondering what those are, they are aerobics classes from Les Mills, which is an AWESOME aerobics class program, taught at gyms around the country. Click here to see classes available in your area. Anyway, Pump is a weightlifting class and Combat is like kickboxing but WAY intense. You feel so empowered during it!

Thanks to all of you who are checking my blog and keeping me on track!!

Day 7-Weigh-In Day!

I was acutally nervous going in to the gym today! I was really hoping I would meet my goal of 2.5lbs this week. I got on the scale...and...159.2-- so 2lbs lost, which was 1/2 pound lower than I wanted, but that's okay, 2lbs is still really great! I will just have to make up for it this week to stay on track! The best news today was that since December 8th when I first met with my trainer, I've lost 2 inches off my waist and I decreased my body fat by 2%!!! Wooo hoo!!! That was pretty exciting! It's so great to see results. I'm so glad I took my measurements and body fat % in addition to my weight so that even when my weight isn't decreasing like I hope, I can still see progress. It's a great way to keep me motivated.

So I replaced my chair at my desk with a fitness ball. This is a grea way to burn extra calories. I can actually feel my back muscles being a little sore from it already! It'll be interseting to see how many more calories I burn. Even if I burn 1/2 more calorie per minute, that's 30 more calories per hour, times 4 hours at my desk= 120 more caloroies burned! It really is so easy with my bodybugg, makes it just a simple math equation.

Training today went good, ugh I did some crazy oblique exercise on the fitness ball-- it was rough, I'll get better at it though!

So this is a pic of my bodybugg graph to give you a visual of what I look at everyday... this is from Saturday when I did a crazy double workout:

Day 5: Game On!

Today was great! I'm still super sore (stupid body combat! haha jk I love it!), but I pushed through my workout this morning and completed my hour of cardio in addition to my training session with Mike. I've basically told myself that working out and getting in shape is my job for the next three months, I'm that committed!
That being said, I couldn't do any of this without the help and support of my wonderful husband, who is also getting in shape with me! Without his help, I wouldn't be able to workout like I do, or I'd have to go at like 4 am! And he encourages me so much and helps with the baby so that I can meet my goals. Thanks babe, I love you!
My eating was great today. It's nice to be able to eat good food without feeling like I'm being deprived, but also not feeling yucky. It's amazing how much better I feel when I eat good and how physically yucky I feel when I don't eat good. It seriously affects me so much. I love going to bed at night not feeling bloated and gross.
I LOVE my bodybugg. Those of you that know me know that I'm a total gadget geek, so how perfect is it that I can constantly look on my computer to see how my progress is throughout the day. When I first was introduced to the bodybugg program at the gym I worked for 4 years ago, I thought it was cool, but I didn't need to lose as much weight as I do now so I wasn't as motivated and never really got into it. Now I'm so glad that I kept it and am able to use the program. It's actually a lot of fun. It really is like a game to me which makes it even more fun. I just hope I can keep all this enthusiasm up...
I pulled out my skinny skinny jeans today! There are skinny jeans, and then there are skinny skinny jeans, and I tacked them to my wall in my bedroom! :) So I will see them every morning as added motivation! Goin to bed now...

Day 4

Okay today not so good. It was Sunday which is my "day off" but I need to be better next Sunday as far as taking a "day off." We went to Boyd's mom's house for Dinner and I wasn't as rigid as I should have been on my eating. Tomorrow's a new day though and I will get back on track and even be stricter tomorrow to make up for today.
I am SO sore today too! It hurts like heck, but it's also a great feeling, knowing that my body is getting back into ship shape! I could barely even carry Eli's car seat. And lifting my arms over my head is killer! Good thing today was Sunday and my day off of working out!!
Tomorrow I'm going grocery shopping for my new meals plans so I can eat better!
Well I'm going to do a few "laps" up and down my stairs and then take a hot bath to soothe my sore muscles. I'm training tomorrow morning--hopefully I will not be as sore!!!

Day 3

I rocked it at the gym today! Bodypump (weightlifting class) and Bodycombat (kickboxing) back to back! Whew! It was tough but I hung in there. I really wanted to leave Bodycombat halfway through because I was exhausted, but I stuck with it. Hopefully as the weeks go on, I'll have more endurance and energy. I was proud of myself for sticking with it though. I exceeded my calories burned goal by 114% today so that was great too!! I've gotta go to bed, I'm beat!

Day 2

Today I supassed my calories burned goal! I woke up really tired and did NOT want to go to the gym. Thankfully Eli keeps me from going back to sleep and I took him on his morning walk and then I was ready to go. I pushed myself at the gym today and did an hour of cardio, whereas before I'd be doing just 40 minutes. I also did 20 minutes on the stairmill--which if you've done the stairmill you know it's not easy to do 20mins! So I was pleased with myself about that.
As hard as it is somedays to get to the gym, I just love the feeling I have when I leave. I may be tired and/or sore, but I just love the "endorphin" high and even the feeling of sore muscles! I really did miss it those long 9 months!!
My eating was pretty good today too. It was another all water day, no soda! That's hard for me but I did it! I also met my daily calorie intake goal and didn't go over, also a plus. I bought some carrots to eat when I'm hungry but don't have many calories left, they're not my fav, but hey they're good for me and they are low in calories.
Well I'd better get to bed so I can be ready for my workout in the morning!!:)