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