Week Nine Weigh In and My Favorites

I was down this week by 0.6 lbs. So I am sitting at 189.8lbs. WOOO HOOO the 180's!

Not much of a loss but I am happy with it because I have pumped up my exercise the last two weeks and I am sure I have built muscle as a result.

I even did a Walk/ Run yesterday outside. It was a 2.8km circuit in which I ran from one hydro pole to the next and then walk one I did this rotation for the entire time. I think I might like running! The outside of my left knee hurts today though...any suggestions from you runners as to why this may be???

Here is the favorites part...I thought I would share my favorite meals and snacks with you.

Breakfast

*Steel Cut Oats and 1 tbsp. Flax Seed topped with either berries or a chopped apple. A sprinkle of cinnamon and then to sweeten I use either brown sugar, maple syrup or agave nectar depending on my mood that day.

*Granola, berries and yogurt.

*Pancake with flax, wheat germ and oatmeal mixed in the batter. Topped with berries, organic peanut butter and real maple syrup.

*Smoothie either peanut butter, banana and milk or just lots of berries and milk. If I have Silk Soy Milk I will use it over regular milk.

*For a quick breakfast I like a cup of Kaishi Go Lean Crunch with 1% milk.

Lunch/Supper

*2 egg Vegetable Omelet (sometimes Cheese) and a slice of Organic bread (plain)

*Vegan Chili with Corn Bread or on top of brown rice

*2 hard boiled eggs and Organic bread

*Lentil or Split Pea soup (both homemade) and homemade Tea Biscuit

*Vegetarian Pizza made on a Whole Wheat Pita with 2 oz. mozzarella cheese and a big salad

*Whole Wheat tortilla wrap with peanut butter, banana and honey.

Snacks

*Sliced apple with cinnamon sprinkled

*A full bag of Smart Pop Popcorn

*Celery Stalk with tbsp. peanut butter

*Yogurt

*Any piece of fruit or a bowl of cut up fruit

I would love to hear what your favorites are too!!!

Men

Men or at least the one that belongs to me can lose weight so easily!!!!

My hubby decided this week that he wants to lose 20 lbs and after 3 days of eating well he has lost 2 lbs already. I put blood, sweat and sometimes tears into my effort and it takes me at the very least a week to accomplish this task.

I am happy that he is on board with me and wants to get healthy but geesh I wish I could lose like that. He did this one other time with me and it was the same...for every 1 pound I lost he would lose 3.....that is so unfair!!!

He says that I am his inspiration....how sweet!

Week Eight Weigh In

After all my worrying the last couple of days I was down in my weight.....down 2.2lbs!

In anticipation of a bad number today on the scale I decided yesterday to do my measurements again as it was suggested in the comments for my last post. Thank you so much Alice for this idea. I focus alot on the scale unfortunately and it isn't always the most accurate tool to determine progress by (I am learning this now).

So after doing my measurements yesterday I was soooo happy....In less than a month I lost 6.5 inches off of my body.

All round I was pleased with myself... but I want to Thank You Blogging Ladies because you all are so motivating, honest and reliable in the times that I am not.

I have a great set of women that I weigh in with too and without that accountability to them I think I would want to give up some days!

Scared to step on the Scale

My weigh in day isn't until Sunday but already I am fearing it!!!!

Not because I have eaten bad, I HAVEN"T (only healthy serving of healthy foods have entered my body) but becasue from what I have been reading online about starting a new exercise routine and all the muscles tearing and swelling it sounds like I almost will definately be up a bit.

Why does the scale dictate how I feel so easily? I am trying to work through all this now so on Sunday morning I will be prepared. I haven't had a gain since I started this journey and I don't want my streak to end yet! (insert sad face!)

I would like just skip my weigh in but I can't because I am part of a team and we each need to submit our weight weekly. Oh well, it is what it is! I know that I am making a great choice by working by body harder and building muscles so onward I will go and the scale will catch up.

Day 3 of 30 Day Shred

Just a quick let you know how it is going kind of post!

I just finished doing day three. This is by far the hardest workout dvd that I have ever done but in the same breathe I will tell you that I feel great about doing it. I know my body is getting stronger because I can do the harder version of each exercise longer today then I could on day one. I also didn't have to stop to have a drink of water today during the 20 minutes. That's all it is....20 minutes! I can never have the excuse that I don't have the time to do it because everyone can find 20 minutes in a day for themselves.

A real bonus to keep me motivated is my husband started doing it also.

I have to admit though that every muscle in my back, chest, abs, quads, and gluts hurt. Painfully hurt! Sitting down to use the washroom is painful, walking down stairs is almost impossible (especially carrying a baby or toddler) and getting off a comfortable chair kills!

Killer Workout

I am not sure if I mentioned that I had ordered the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels a while ago on e-bay....well it arrived last week and it was a counterfeit copy (I was NOT impressed) so I got rid of it. The same day I ordered it again through Amazon and that copy arrived today.

So after supper tonight I was motivated to start the program...I thought hey this will be fun! Fun is not how I will describe it now.

I did not realize how out of shape I was....my goodness....my legs and arms were shaking and burning after the first circuit. I felt like I was going to lose my supper by the end of it. NO PAIN, NO GAIN I hope is true with this one because it almost killed me. It was definitely the most intense 20 minutes of exercise I have done in YEARS and maybe my life.

I feel great now, almost an hour after I finished.

I will let you know how things feel in the morning....I have a hunch that I will hurt in places that I didn't know I had places.

Week Seven

Where did this week go? Seriously, I don't know how times just seems to slip away.

I have spent this week working three days and then spent the entire day Friday preparing my children's school work for the next two weeks while the Olympics are on. We are going to do a major study on the Olympics! I figured I might as well take advantage of this opportunity. We are going to be studying the different flags of numerous countries, graphing results from this year and 2006 to compare medal standing for 10 different countries, research athletes and write reports on their athletic accomplishments, investigate the history of the Olympics as well as some fun trivia kind of games and we are holding a book Olympics too. It is suppose to be fun and educational for us all! I was amazed at how much I learn just preparing my lessons.

I really sucked at getting in any exercise this week but I did eat well so I was down 1.4lbs. I weighed in on Saturday morning this week because I went away with my mom and the baby overnight to the closest major city from us for a day of shopping. It was fun to get away. I ate well and did alot of walking. I bought myself a few things along the way yesterday too....a Cooking Light magazine, The Eat-Clean Diet book and a hot air popcorn maker. I never spend money on me but it felt good to do it!

Today is my son's second birthday so we are partying here in a bit.

I have been dessert/sweets free for 49 days today!

Week Six Weigh In

Slow but sure it is coming off!

I was down 2 lbs today for a total of 15lbs in six weeks.

I should be in my cute shorts and shirts by summer at this rate. I am really excited at this thought, I am tired of wearing clothes that disguise my body....You know over sized shirts and shorts to the knee!!!

New Career?

I changed the look of my blog as you can see....do you like it?

This has been a very interesting week.....

I have been a stay at home mom for the last 7 years by choice. This past July my husband became unemployed. So recently we have been discussing options. Our small town has limited places for him to get work and he has no 'papers' only experience so the chances of him finding something are slim. On the other hand I could go back to work in my career as a Developmental Services Worker and I would love that but my dream for the last 3-4 years has been to be a birthing attendant/Douala. I am taking sometime to look into this career to try and figure out if we could make it financially if I do this; we have some time before any decision has to be made. The other big thing is I am not willing to give up Homeschooling so I need to make sure we can flex everything so nothing is sacrificed.

As a part of my exploration I am helping teach a Labour and Birthing Course this week. I am loving it!

On the health side of my life....on Tuesday I made Potato Pancakes for the family, this was first time I had ever made them but my husband really wanted them so I obliged and decided I would try them too for lunch. BIG mistake!!! I have not eaten white flour in over a month and within 1 hour of having these I was doubled over in pain. The pain didn't let up until near 7pm that night. I couldn't eat or drink anything. Once the pain let up I had a Chamomile Tea for supper.

I also bought on E-bay the 30 Day Shred, I have not got it yet but I am looking forward to getting started when it does arrive. Have any of you done this workout series? I would love to hear from you if you have.