The scale is not my friend

Well today is six weeks since I began eating better and exercising. I can't say that there is NO progress, because truely there most definitely is.

Six weeks ago:
188 lbs
Huffed and puffed through 10 mins on the treadmill
Ate crap food all day

Today:
173 lbs
Do 30 mins (approx 4.5 miles) on the elliptical every night, as well as alternating nights of arms and abs
Make much healthier food choices every day

So I'm defintely to the point where I want to kick it up a notch, just not sure how to make that change. I've cut about all the calories I can, I don't want to go any lower than 1500 a day, because then I start to feel sluggish and like I'm starving, and I go into "diet mode" instead of "healthy living mode"

Will have to do some reading online to get some ideas. I'm thinking come spring though I'll be looking into joining a gym, because it's starting to feel like there is only so much I can do at home...

And this is why I stopped losing...

So yesterday I logged everything that went into my mouth, which made me more mindful then I have been during the last few days, and even then I ate more then I wanted to! So I really don't think I need to wonder why I got off track...

Thursday
Coffee - 150
Bread - 150
Soup - 220
Noodles - 200
Flavor - 15
Carrots - 70
Celery -20
Icecream - 180
Banana - 120
Bread - 70
Freeze pop - 55
Snack - 80
Creamcheese - 60
Potato - 280
Fruit - 70
Cottage cheese -80
Ice cream 45

All for a total of 1865! Yeesh. Again I know part of my problem comes from needing to grocery shop, but it still frustrates me that my food estimating is so off...I just need to realize that I will never be one of those girls who can not pay attention to what I eat and not gain an ounce.

So today I realized that I finally found something that I enjoy drinking as much as diet tea:





Let me just say, nommy nommy nommy! Not just this flavor either, but almost all of the Sobe no cal drinks are awesome. I've always hated drinking soda, and tea gets old after a while (plus I need to cut back the caffine!) so this is an awesome alternative for me.

Ok enough of sounding like an infomercial...I dont mean to, I just get excited ;)

Ok, be back later!

Holy cow

So I slack off on updating the blog and what happens? I stop losing weight! So, apparently, I need people who may or may not be reading to keep myself accountable and motivated. So, here we go again...

Foodies so far today:

Sandwich and soup: (340)
Noodle soup (350)
FF icecream and banana (300)

Nothing exciting, mostly because I need to hit up the grocery store this weekend

Tonights exercise is elliptical and abs (blah)

Til later!

Let's try this again...

So, hubby braved Dick's Sporting Goods as promised and came home with my next attempt at a heart rate monitor:





Sorry for the crap pic, but I'm generally too lazy to get the camera out, so I'm usually rockin the iPhone cam.

So far I like it, but without the chest strap, it doesn't read continuously, so I'll have to try it out for a while before I make my final decision. Even without the continuous reading though, the Mio has been wooooorlds better then the sportsline I got from WallyWorld.

So, onto the food:

Brekkie (more like brunch): chicken soup with carrots and celery (220), ff icecream with blueberries and a banana (300)

Snack: two whole grain english muffins (170)

Lunch (really dinner since it was going on 5): turkey lasagna with light cheeses, and whole wheat noodles (400)

After workout: smoothie with one scoop of protein, one banana, a handful of blueberries and some almond milk (330)


So today I decided to try making a few things that I've been reading about in bloggy-land. The first experiment was almond milk. It's not that I'm opposed to regular milk, as a matter of fact we have an awesome dairy farm that delivers organic dairy products right to our house weekly! I just wanted something different for my after workout smoothie awesomeness. It was really easy to make (one part al onds that have soaked, to 4 parts water) plus a splash of vanilla and a little sweetener.

My second experiment was hummus. I followed a recipe that many people have loved (including my fav blog to follow, fitnessista) and I HATED it! It was waaaaaayyyyy too garlicy for my tastes. So, the garbage disposal got to nom that batch, and I tried a different recipe that I found on allrecipes, that had just a little garlic in it, but lots of hot pepper flakes and paprika...ding ding ding winner!

Matters of the heart(rate)

So I've been looking into getting a heart rate monitor so that I can have a better idea of the calories I'm burning, other then the generic amount the elliptical tells me. So I do some research online, and go to Dunham's sports (the only sports store that can be considered local to me, and find.....nada. They had two options in store, and neither of them told you calories burned. Bummer.

So, next I hit up sears. They have quite a few more options, but they're also easily anywhere from $30-50 more expensive then any other store I looked at online.

So then finally I bite the bullet and go to my last option that's open this evening. Walmart. *Shudders*

Not a whole lot of options, but I do come across this:







So it seems like it does everything I want it to, even if it is a bit big and ugly for my tastes. So last night I break it out to try it. First of all, it wasn't too bad to set up. It took me about 10 minutes of following directions and pushing little buttons to get it personalized with the time, date, month and year, as well as my height, weight, and min and max heart rates for the three different "zones" they give you (health, fat burn, and cardio). So I strap myself in, and it says my resting heartbeat is....93? Um, I know that's wrong for a fact. I've taken my own before and I have a nice resting heart beat between 60 and 65, give or take. So I readjust the strap, and it gets down to 68. Ok so that's closer. So I get on the elliptical and do a couple minutes, and my heart rate keeps spiking between 97ish and 130ish. That's a biiiiigg difference, especially when I'm looking for *accurate* calorie count. So I turn on the heart rate monitor on the elliptical and hold my hands to it for a few minutes while I keep moving and it sits at 114 steady. *sigh*. I knew I shouldn't have gotten the "Walmart Special", but I figured how bad could it be? Lesson learned. So, my trooper of a man, who hates going to stores, is hitting up Dicks Sporting Goods after work today since he works near one to pick me up a Mio to try. Wish me luck!

Soooo tired

So this is just going to be a quicky post, since I'm exhausted!

Food today was:

Brekkie - whole grain English muffin (toasted) with spray butter

Snack - grapes and blueberries

Lunch - grilled chicken salad with a few French fries

So just an observation about my chicken salad...it was the first time I'd had a salad made with iceberg lettuce in weeks and I HATED it!!! After eating such dark, leafy greens for a month, iceberg tasted like nasty, watery, bitter crap. This comes from the girl who's idea of a healthy salad used to be iceberg lettuce, croutons, and dressing. Amazing.

Snack - whole grain bread (lite)

Dinner - whole wheat turkey and cheese sub, tomato soup, and garden crackers

Snack - banana

So yesterday I was feeling fantastic and easily did 3 miles on the elliptical, plus ab work. Today, I'm exhausted, I tried doing the elliptical, and was fatigued after 3 minutes, and couldn't push myself to push through even half of my normal workout, so I took this as my bodies way of saying "take a break"

Night all :)

More snow!

...or so says the weather man for today. Schools let out early and closed pre-emptively in preperation, pen-dot was out treating the roads and so far we have...half an inch? Maybe we'll wake up to a winter wonderland who knows.

Anyhow, kind of a crap eating day today...I was bored and tired, so I know that was the biggest problem.

Brekkie - whole wheat pita with fat free cream cheese

Snack - whole wheat pita with 1/4 cup sloppy joe, and a cup of soup in my geek mug




Lunch - big green salad with chickpeas, green peppers, carrots, celery, ff ranch and 2 tbs Italian dressing and a cup of sliced fruit

Snack - combos (baaaad)

Dinner - 3 turkey soy dogs, saurcraut, ketchup, two lite hamburger buns, and a bowl of mixed fruit

After workout snack - whole grain pretzels with lite ranch dip



Yikes. I knew I didn't eat great today, but I didn't realize how bad it really was until I wrote it down on here.

Workout tonight:

Elliptical - 2 miles on #4 intensity in 12:43

Lift bar - 3 sets of 15 overhead presses

Lunges with lift bar - 2 sets of 10, each leg.

Well, tomorrow is a new day. I realize I eat a lot crappier when I don't pack my lunch the night before, so you know what I'll be doing tonight...

Gnight!