9/29/10

Hello!

Another good day here back in the swing of things.  2 days back in and already I see myself flattening out again and the scale starting to go down. Very motivating!

I had a pretty low cal day today I think.  I don't really count calories anymore, but eat cleaner and keep my portions smallish instead. 

Breakfast:

2 hard boiled eggs

1 cup of strawberries

1 cup (measured) of orange juice

Lunch:

Romaine mixed salad (a good size bowl, two really big handfuls and a little more)

1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Dinner:

Grilled chicken breast 

1 cup of brown rice

Green beans

I wasn't too hungry today but I made sure to eat when I was.  Also drank 12 cups of water (about 3 liters)

Exercise:

PD1 with 15 reps per leg.  The butt workouts after the arm section KILL me even to do 10. It's always been like that.  I have always had trouble building muscle.  At one point I even tried personal training and lifting weights, and I did so every other day and barely got stronger.  In 4 months I went from curling 15 pounds to 20. And that was a struggle in itself.  I actually took a body type quiz and found out that I am a mix of an endomorphic type and an ectomorph type.  The endomorph causes me to have a slower metabolism, and the ectomorph part keeps me from building muscle to boost it.  Makes perfect sense.  I was slim for a lot of my life until I blew up in my early adult years. 

If interested, the quiz is here:

http://www.mybodymakeover.com/tools_for_success/body_blueprinting_quiz.aspx

As for cardio, this time I wasn't able to do QUITE as much (only 5 minutes, running late for class) but I really put my all into it.  When I enter it into my ipod app, I list it as vigorous rope jumping (At this point I'm doing mostly jumping jacks and jumps because my legs are really weak... Even after 5 minutes I'm on fire!) and it comes up as I burned about 100 calories.  I believe it. :)

9/28/10

Hello!!!

Today was a great day for me, workout wise and diet wise.  This morning I was feeling the pain of a sinus headache (the weather is changing here to autumn), so I slept until noonish and didn't feel like eating breakfast or lunch.  Ate a big but healthy dinner- recipe below.

Beef Stir Fry-

This either serves 4 sort of hungry people or 2 really hungry people. :)

8 ounces of beef (preferably steak, fat trimmed. I used top sirloin)

1 large red pepper

1 large green pepper

1 medium onion

1 carrot

8 oz of baby bella (small brown crimini) mushrooms

2 Tbsp of canola or olive oil

Soy Sauce (to taste)

1. Cut beef into bite sized strips and heat the oil in a wok.  Brown the beef in the oil, then add about 2 Tbsp of soy sauce.  Continue cooking until the meat is fully cooked.

2. Slice all of the vegetables into bite sized pieces. Add them to the cooked meat and cook, stirring frequently until onions are almost translucent.  Add more soy sauce while cooking, to taste. 

3. Serve with rice.

1/2 of this recipe has about 450 calories in it, and it's a pretty heaping amount.  I ate that, plus 1 cup of brown rice. 

Snack- Motza cracker

Exercise:

I did PD1 but I was quickly reminded how out of shape I am.  Taking two weeks off makes me feel like my body regressed almost all the way back to the beginning.  I am back at just 15 reps per leg movement, and I can't do the bridge movement at all anymore. Well, more to work toward!

I also did 10 minutes of full out dancing/jumping on the rebounder.  That worked me out MUCH harder than dancing on the floor. My legs were on FIRE and my heart rate was really up there, dripping with sweat, red faced, etc... WITHOUT the knee pain and noise that kept me from going all out on my floor.  10 minutes is going to be my new starting point, the goal to add 5 minutes a week. But, I DO love rebounding. If I wasn't so pooped out when I was done, I'd have done more. 

Alright, off to bed with me!!!

9/27/10

Hello!

It's been a reeaaally long time but I am back.  After having taken two weeks off due to a mix of not feeling good and, honestly, plain lazy, I'm glad to be back blogging again.  

I really regret taking this time off and slacking. Why?

Weight: 260.1 pounds.... This was the heaviest I have ever been. Argh.

Also I kinda flunked out on my diet today.  Started out really good until I came home from a long day, exhausted and craving like mad.

Breakfast:

Oatmeal with stevia

Snack:

1 cup of strawberries

Lunch:

Romaine salad with 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese

Snack:

3 bite size pieces of chocolate halloween candy (only 50 calories for all 3. I checked before I ate)

Dinner:

Grilled chicken stirfry with red/green bell pepers, mushrooms, onion, and 1/2 cup of rice

Dessert:

1 slice of Pecan Pie *the ruiner of my diet*

Well I guess it wasn't THAT  bad, but still feel a little guilty being that this was supposed to be me back on the wagon. 

As for exercise.... Well, my day at work was pretty hectic, and I had class soon after, by the time I got home I just wanted to crash out.  I tried at least doing the rebounder for a few minutes, but being so tired I had to quit because I was afraid I'd fall off.  To make up for today's lack of exercise, I am going to do my TAM workout as planned, then go take a good powerwalk. I'm not supposed to go running, but I can go walking. :)

Here's to a better tomorrow and better week!

Day... 50!!!! 9/20/10

Hello!!!

My huge apologies for the lack of blogging in the past week... 

Warning: TMI alert!

My period was acting very strangely- I was craving and having pms symptoms (especially fatigue...) and my period came a week late and scared the hell out of me. (No babies, don't worry. Not yet!)  And during my period... I couldn't get out of bed for 3 days.  This hell ended on Saturday (the 18th I believe) and thought Monday was as good a day as any to get back on track!

So... Here goes!

Weight: 256.1- a 1.2 pound loss from last week!

So, let's see what I ate today, shall we?

Breakfast:

2 fresh bananas

Lunch:

Peas

Leftover top round steak- about 4 ounces grilled (fat trimmed off)

Afternoon snack

Protein shake

Dinner:

Corn

Top round steak, about 4 ounces grilled. (fat trimmed off)

Total calories (according to my diet journal app) 1,224.  That's right where I wanna be especially since I did not work out.

Cans of diet soda- 3 (to keep me awake)

Liters of water- 4! (YAY!)

Workout-  I have been awake since 3 pm on Sunday... I could not sleep through the night (my own fault) so I forced myself to be up all day so that I would go to bed at a decent hour.  My body has been aching for sleep all day so I didn't do any workout.  Will do tomorrow.

Also- I am finally getting a rebounder!!! I will be doing my cardio on this for a while build stamina. Dancing on a carpeted floor is harder on my  knees than I thought.  I'll try my best though until my new toy comes. 

Good Night, and it's good to be back!

Day 45- 9/15/10

Hello-

Unfortunately another day off from working out. I was feeling really fatigued and in a LOT of pain (those of you who are my Facebook friends may have seen several statuses I put up about this). I ended up taking both a morning and afternoon nap, and after this post I think I am going to go to bed for the night! :)

However, I did eat pretty healthy today, for that I am proud of myself. As tempted as I was, I didn't scarf everything down in the house like I wanted to. AND it was mostly clean food!

I decided to not follow the calorie cycling anymore, it tells me to eat WAY too much!! I think I am just going to keep it clean(ish) and healthy, also trying to slowly cut dairy and diet sodas from my diet.   I used to drink upwards of six cans of diet coke a day, I'm down to 2-3 now. 

Breakfast:

1 bowl of oatmeal flavored with stevia

1 cup of green tea

Midmorning snack:

1 protein shake (since I didn't foresee any meat today)

Lunch:

2 cups of whole wheat pasta with natural spaghetti sauce

1 cup of green tea

Dinner:

1 cup of brown rice

1 cup of steamed carrots

2 cans of diet coke

Water- drank 2 liters of water today~ I used to drink 0 water. :)

Oh! Thanks to a really nice lady on Facebook, I got a copy of the elusive Dance Aerobics DVD Tracy put out back in 2007 (which sadly is not available anymore... And on ebay it goes way over 100 dollars... USED.)  I was perusing it, and it seems a lot more tiny-space-friendly than BDC.  Also unlike BDC it has 9 combinations (which are all short and easy to learn) and has an option to play all 9 back to back up to tempo with  music. I am really excited about starting this! Depending on how I am feeling, I might try it out tomorrow at my own pace.  I don't think I'll feel good enough to do muscle work until Monday.  My monthly visitor is here, and this time with a horrible vengeance... Urgh.

Nonetheless I will still be back tomorrow and let you guys know what I did!

Day 43- 9/13/10

Hello!

In case anyone noticed, I haven't blogged since last Thursday.  Why? I have to confess- I fell off the wagon for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I think it might still be hormonal in part.  This month, my period is actually a week late (not preggers, took 3 tests last week) and I am still feeling symptoms like it's about to come any day, including the fatigue, cravings, laziness, etc etc.  Over the weekend I also WAAAAYYYY overindulged.  I made too good of friends with pizza, McDonalds, Taco Bell, etc but today I stopped that nonsense. I also stepped on the scale and was horrified. 

Last week's weight: 249.5 lb

This week..... 257.3 lb... I gained a whole 8 pounds almost. (Some of this is probably PMS bloating but my weekend diet did NOT HELP)

With my newly adjusted weight, I re-calculated my calorie needs for this week. 

Today's goal: 1721

Breakfast-

2 slices of wheat toast- 133 calories

1 bowl of oatmeal- 150 calories

1 Tbsp of butter (some on the toast, some on oatmeal)- 100 calories

1 Tbsp of brown sugar- 45 calories

Midmorning snack-

Protein shake- 140 calories

Lunch-

1 bowl of Korean cold noodle soup (really high in fiber, low in fat) 480 calories

Midafternoon snack-

Caramel rice cakes- 60 calories

Dinner-

6 inch Italian BMT sub from Subway- 550 calories

Dessert-

Caramel rice cakes- 70 calories (I ate a couple more than the other snack)

Total calories for today: 1728- just made it~

Exercise-

Did PD1 and after taking a few days off... Boy does it hurt!!! Had class tonight and was really tired so I didn't do my cardio. I was just starting to get good at 20 reps, but now it hurts more all over again.

Speaking of PD1, I will probably be staying on this DVD for quite a while.  I posted a question to Tracy's people about how I know when I have mastered a DVD to start moving on to the 10 day rotations, and they told me when I am able to do all of the moves and keep up with Tracy in the video, then it's time to start switching it up.  I feel like that's still a while off. Now I am not going to focus on the amount of reps I do, but work on keeping up with her and doing the moves until either she finishes or I can no longer do it in good form.  Tomorrow, my goal is to have cardio in my day.

Day 39-9/9/10

Hello!

Lately I notice a few people who ordered Tracy's new book have already received it and from what I hear, has a LOT of useful information as well as a cardio section without a lot of space/choreography needed.  That's reallt good to hear, I want to buy the book too but want to wait until it comes to bookstores (later this month I believe) so I can give it a look before I buy it. (I always like to do that with books, peruse it a while before purchase)

From what I hear on the Facebook groups I am in, the book is supposed to be pretty good.

I finally went back to work after a long summer off- being home all day with little to do was getting boring.

Here's what I ate today- My calorie goal was 1695

Breakfast-

Oatmeal- 150 

Whipped butter- 67

Brown sugar- 45

Lunch-

Healthy Choice Chicken Parmigiana meal- 350

Snack-

1 serving of Sun Chips- 140

Dinner-

1 cup of egg noodles- 220 

Butter- 55

6 ounces Grilled beef with spices (no oil) - 373

Dessert-

1/16 chocolate silk pie- 280

Grand total- 1680 calories!

Exercise-

Didn't do any TAM today, work started at 3, I figured I would work out in the morning, but instead woke up at 8, ate breakfast, felt sleepy again and thought I would just take an hour nap, instead I woke up at 12:30 p.m., and then had to start getting ready to go to work.  I came home, ate dinner, and now I feel pretty sleepy again.  Tpday I have been feeling fatigued and I don't know why, as I do eat enough calories, try to get enough sleep, etc.  

A question for you ladies- when you became more active, (if you weren't previously) did it affect your monthly friend?  I think recently becoming more active is affecting mine, I feel all the symptoms but am a couple of days late already (and no, pregnancy is not a possibility)

Day 38- 9/8/10

Hello!

Today was another high calorie day for me, this time I ate better food than McDonalds.

Calorie goal: 1933

Breakfast

1 bowl oatmeal- 150 calories

1 Tbsp brown sugar- 45 calories

1 Tbsp whipped butter- 67 calories (apparently whipped is lower cal than stick butter, probably because it's less dense.)

Morning snack

12 creme brulee flavored rice cakes- 90 calories

Lunch

Healthy choice Manicotti TV dinner- 350 calories

2 pieces of corn on the cob- 166 calories

1 2/3 Tbsp of whipped butter *for the corn* 112 calories

Snack

2 servings of garden salsa Sun Chips- 280 calories

Dinner

5 ounces broiled filet mignon- 240 calories

1 piece of corn on the cob- 83 calories

Dessert

1/16 of french silk pie (A real serving is 1/8)- 280 calories

1 oreo cookie (came from the top of the pie) 53 calories

 Total calories: 1929

Exercise:

None today, although I had planned it.  My inner thighs and legs were wrecked after doing both the PD and the cardio.  I thought I'd be ok this evening but I think I need a good soak instead.  Tomorrow morning I am going to work out, as I start work in the afternoon. I figure waking  up rested and doing a good powerful job is better than half-assing it sore tonight and do nothing tomorrow.

Day 37- 9/7/10

Hello!

Today I threw all of that laziness out of the window and had a pretty strong day today.  Had pretty healthy food too!

Calorie goal today: 1350

Breakfast-

1 bowl of oatmeal- 150 calories

1/2 T of butter- 75 calories

1 T of brown sugar- 45 calories

Snack

15 creme brulee flavored rice cakes- 120 calories

1 can of sugar free Red Bull- 10 calories

Lunch

2 cups of whole wheat pasta- 350 calories

1/2 cup marinara sauce- 70 calories

1/2 T olive oil (in the boiling water) 60 calories

Snack

Microwave fat free popcorn mini bag- 100 calories

Dinner

1 cup of corn- 120 calories

 4 1/2 ounces grilled filet mignon steak- 215 calories

Snack

2 mint lifesavers- 30 calories

12 cups of water (3 of my bottles worth)

Total calories: 1345 calories: goal met!

Exercise-

Did my Perfect Design 1, it is now to the point that I memorized all of the leg movements and it is now a little easier to do 20 of those each. I do the beginning legs without the dvd, laying down abs and onward I go with the dvd.  At the end of the arms section there is a little leg section which is lifting your legs in an attitude position 2 different ways. These STILL kill me and I can only do 10, always have.  I still feel like my hips and hamstrings are really really tight and I think this is what is doing it.

As for cardio- I went to the park today and did moves from the treadmill webisode, and tried out the GOOP dance cardio routine.  I was able to power through 10 minutes of good, high impact, sweaty cardio, after 10 minutes I was absolutely beat. Also since PD1 tires me pretty well too, I take that into consideration.

I'm glad I got back on the wagon strong! Have a great night!

Day 36- 9/6/10

Hello!

Today is Monday- beginning week 6~

Time to weigh in~

Weight: 249.5 lb/113.4 kg-1.8 lb/0.81 kg loss from last week!

Today was Labor Day in America, a day where we tend to barbecue a lot, and eat, and well, do anything BUT labor!   I didn't go to any barbecue but I did a little of my own at home.  Hormones were on the rage today, but I did not step over my daily calorie limit. (I'm still calorie cycling~)

Today's limit was 2,095 calories. (Yum yum!) I didn't make the healthiest choices either because of my hormones but I still didn't over do it.

Breakfast:

1 bowl of rice- 200 calories

1 pat of butter- 100 calories (I was craving buttered rice, which is something I haven't had in ages. I normally don't even use butter)

A little container of Orange juice- 90 calories

Lunch-

10 piece chicken nuggets at Mcdonalds- 460 calories

3/4 of an order of large fries (couldn't finish them, threw the rest out)- 375 calories

Sweet and sour sauce for my chicken- 48 calories

Dinner-

8 ounce of steak-  cooked at home well done on the George Foreman grill- 712 (approximate- I don't know if beef calories are based on raw or cooked weight so I just used the worse case scenario here)

Corn- 90 calories

Water- 12 cups of water/3 Liters of water today!

Exercise-

Felt fatigued most of the day, almost, ALMOOOSST didn't exercise- but guess what? I ended up powering through Perfect Design 1 even though it was 9:30 pm.  I was so, so close to saying "screw it" and just waiting until tomorrow, but then knowing me, tomorrow would be the same, and it would become a fatal chain reaction making me not only fall off the wagon, but land face first in mud while the wagon goes speeding off with no hope of catching it. We can't have that, now can we? :) 

On another note, I rewatched TA's little trampoline workout... And now I really want a trampoline/rebounder of my own.  No noise on the floor, easier on the joints, no coordination needed if I feel a little out of it, and hell, jumping is fun anyway! 

Have a great night, see you tomorrow!!

Day 35- 9/5/10

Hello again!

This has been 5 weeks into it, although week 5 wasn't stellar at ALL.  However, there's always next week to do better!

I did get the opportunity to see an excerpt of Tracy Anderson's new book (Comes out this month actually~), and all I have to say is DO WANT!

The link to the excerpt is here:

Book Excerpt

 I have discovered that my hormones are my main weakness. I do however give myself credit for not going crazy with the eating every day this past week, as I normally would. I have a terrible feeling doing PD1 after all this slacking is going to hurt. In a good way.

Next week will be better- We have a holiday in the US, I have the day off tomorrow from class but NOT from Tracy Anderson. :)

Have a great week, and see you tomorrow as usual!

Day 34- 9/4/10

Hello-

Today was not a good day for me. I feel like I slipped off the wagon and hanging on my a thread.  

My appetite today was absolutely insane. I ate what I PLANNED on eating, then ate even more, and on top of that I am tired, bloated, and my monthly friend is due in a couple of days.  Again, I wish I was one of those women who doesn't get PMS symptoms.  I normally eat out of control for a week or so before it comes, this time was just one day. 

And of course, no excercise. Stuffed full of garbage I didn't need to eat and sleepy sleepy SLEEPY.   However, I did try to run through the beginner dance cardio routine from GOOP to see if it can be done in my living room, since some of the other combinations are a bit tight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvDsfvtddVA&feature=related

I am pretty disappointed in myself to be honest but at least I am coming out and saying I screwed up.  Tomorrow going to take it easy and flush all this excess water out of me, today I had almost no water to drink, drank diet Dr. Pepper instead. 

So in short, I actually fell OFF the wagon today, but will hop back on strong!

Day 33- 9/3/10

Hello!

It's Friday!!! And for most people in the US, tomorrow starts a 3 day weekend, we have a national holiday on Monday.  The weather today is lovely too... Supposed to be tomorrow also, then back to hot. :(

Today's calorie goal- 1460

Breakfast-

1 container of yogurt with fruit and granola (McDonalds Fruit and Yogurt Parfait)- 156 calories

Morning snack-

Quaker Quakes Caramel Rice Cakes- 60 

Lunch

2 Fresco (no cheese or sour cream) steak soft tacos (Taco Bell) 320

Afternoon snack-

Caramel Rice Cakes- 60

Dinner-

Grilled Filet Mignon steak- 473 calories

Mashed Potatoes- 120 calories

Corn- 100 calories

Dessert-

1/2 cup of ice cream- 170 calories

Total- 1459 calories

Exercise-

More walking, about an hour worth. Had lots to do today.  I skipped on Tracy again because after I got home and ate dinner, I crashed. I was exhausted and I am pretty sure that has everything to do with my monthly buddy due in a couple of days.  :(

Day 32- 9/2/10

Hello!

Today I ate somewhat healthy/clean.  Had some homemade broiled steak which I haven't had from home in a long, long, time. :) 

Today's goal calories: 1634

Breakfast-

Yogurt and granola- 156 calories

Midmorning snack-

Protein Shake- 140 calories

Lunch-

Stuffed Manicotti TV dinner (whole wheat pasta and broccoli) 350 calories

Midafternoon-

Protein Shake- 140 calories

Creme Brulee flavored rice cakes (2 servings)- 120 calories

Dinner-

Ribeye Steak (6 ounces) broiled- 400 calories

Green Beans- 40 calories

Mashed Potatoes- 100 calories

1 Tbsp Olive Oil (over beans and potatoes) 120 calories

Dessert-

4 mint lifesavers- 60 calories

Grand total: 1606 -28 calories shy, no big deal I think.

Exercise-

Walking for 1 hour, no TA today although I had planned on it.  Had an emergency today (lots of drama... LOOONG story)

Provided things go well tomorrow, I expect to hop back into the TA method of course!

Have a great night!

Day 31- 9/1/10

Hello!!!

It's finally September... I can't wait for the cooler weather!!! So far I really enjoy this calorie cycling thing. I don't even feel like I am dieting.  Today was my highest day of the week- 2,208 calories... But I ate it. It was challenging and I had to eat a lot (unfortunately a lot of it isn't perfectly healthy either but that's a LOT of calories...)

Breakfast-

1 Sausage Biscuit from McDonalds- 430 calories

2 Hash Browns- 300 calories

Midmorning snack-

1 protein shake- 140 calories

Caramel rice cakes- 60

Lunch-

Roast beef TV dinner- 350 calories

Mid afternoon/Post Workout

1 protein shake- 140 calories

Fat free popcorn- 100 calories

Dinner-

2 cups of whole wheat pasta- 400 calories

1 cup of tomato sauce- 140 calories

Dinner roll (plain) - 80 calories

1 tsp olive oil (on the pasta) - 45 calories

Total calories- 2185 calories- a little short but man... Eating today was difficult. I haven't eaten this much in a day in a long time. Tomorrow is more reasonable- 1467 calories for tomorrow. That's a lot more realistic!  It seems like Wednesday is my designated pigout day or something. Other than breakfast (which I had at McDonalds to knock out a good portion of the calories- I would have to eat a LOT of the food I have at home to make up for it and when I overeat I tend to get indigestion and we all know how fun THAT is. :)  )

Exercise-

Was able to max out at 20 minutes of high impact dancing... I always push myself with that to try and help my endurance.  Did NOT do PD1 and I feel pretty guilty about it. I didn't do it early because I had class, and I got home later and more tired (I think from all the food) than I expected. There's always tomorrow! 20 minutes of cardio is not bad as it is all things considered. 

Have a great night and see you tomorrow!