Getting back on track

Okay, it's been a while since my last post. Here's an update... or confession. After I gave up on Paleo in August due to my budget constraints I felt defeated. I strive to be a super woman and having to choose penny-pinching over healthy eating made me feel less than super. So what did I do? I ate.

That's right, I let myself backslide into old habits. I ate crappy food, I wasn't exercising regularly, and I was staying up late watching TV and sleeping late in the mornings. I completely undid all of my hard work that it took to get into my routine. My weight fluctuated up 7 pounds and luckily back down 5.

The one good thing that I did during this time was stick pretty close to my budget. I had to say no to a couple of things that I wanted to do including the Warrior Dash and the Color Run. I was really bummed because those were two things that I really wanted to do but by not doing them I saved at least $120. That money went to paying off one of my medical bills, half of another, and finally (though begrudgingly) paying off some money I owed Comcast from when I cancelled my service with them.

So, thanks to my budgeting and the money Ken's been bringing in from work picking up I am ahead of my budget plan. I am even more pleased to say that I am back on track with my eating too. I'm not going quite as rigid with the Paleo this time. I haven't completely cut out dairy but I have limited it greatly and I've kept red potatoes for now. I'm trying to make more of a gradual transition to make it a little easier.

Last Saturday I got up early and headed out to the downtown Memphis Farmer's market. It was a chilly morning. Yeah that's right, I've lived in the South long enough now that I think 40 degrees is pretty chilly. I brought half of my food budget money with me. I got some grass-fed ground beef and brats from Claybrook Farms, organic grass-fed bacon and beef roast from West Wind farms, Butternut squash and spaghetti squash, tomatoes, green onion, yellow onion, apples, and pears from a couple of the other farms. I also got one of the best coconut cream pies I have ever eaten in my life from Downtown Pie Company. That pie was my farewell to sweets. It was a pretty good haul and I left the market feeling excited. I had bought healthy food grown locally and stayed under budget.

I've done pretty well this week. I've had butternut squash casserole for breakfast every morning this week except yesterday and this morning. Yesterday I had eggs, strawberries, pineapple, and grapes. This morning I had eggs and my delicious farmer's market bacon. I would have taken pictures but I practically had to fight the cats off for the bacon.

My lunches were Meatloaf with the farmer's market ground beef. I omitted the ketchup from the recipe and it was great with out it. The apples were my afternoon snack. Monday and Tuesday I had chicken nachos with corn chips (I've read arguments for and against corn chips).  Wednesday and Thursday Salmon with roasted red potatoes. Last night I had 2 plain brats and 2 carrots cut into sticks. Tonight I think I'm going to attempt to make the spaghetti squash with homemade pasta sauce. I'm hoping it turns out well.

I still haven't gotten back into my exercise routine yet. I did go to Pilates this week but that's all I've done. I need to get back into my routine of getting up early and working out before work. I really want to go back to Crossfit but it's just not in the budget yet. I have a free gym at my disposal at work so I need to take full advantage of that.

I'm getting back on track and my current goals are 1. No candy this Halloween, 2. Getting back to exercising 1 hour a day 5 days a week and 3. If I lose 10 pounds before Thanksgiving then I will give myself two days of enjoying all of the Thanksgiving goodies I want. If I don't it will just be Turkey and veggies for me.

I feel better when I'm eating better and exercising. I have to remember that no cupcake/Dairy Queen Blizzard/pizza is worth backsliding or more importantly my health. Sure it's okay to indulge every once in a while but it's not okay to let it become habit.

Before I end my post I have to give a shout-out to my sister Sarah. I am so proud of you! You look amazing. Your results have inspired me to keep with it even though it's not always easy. Thanks to you and all the other readers for keeping me accountable.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Well, I made it through 2 weeks of Paleo. It was tough and I had a few cheats but I think I did well. Between the diet change and the Crossfit I lost 10 pounds.

Unfortunately my month of Crossfit is coming to an end this week and I don't think I'll be continuing it at this time. I'm also not going to be able to continue the Paleo at the extremes I've been doing it either. While I was hoping that I would be able to continue with both of these changes while staying within my budget it is just not possible at this time. Paying off debt and staying within my budget is my top priority at this time. I know it sounds crazy to put budget over health but I have a free gym available to me at work and I'm going to try to continue with the principles of Paleo for as many meals as I can afford to. It's really sad that unhealthy food it so much cheaper. I'm trying not to see this as a failure but a success to stay on budget.

On the upside I found a really great butternut squash recipe that I made tonight and am going to enjoy for breakfasts this week. I'm also greatly enjoying the brats and ground beef I bought from local Claybrook Farms. It's super delicious grass-fed beef raised right here in Tennessee.

I'm really hoping that I can keep up the momentum I've got going again with my weight loss. I'm just 30 pounds away from the 100 pounds down mark. Fingers crossed.

Paleo - Week One

Well, I'm really diving into this crazy "cult" (in Robb Wolf's words). I finished reading the Paleo Solution, I listened to a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience with Robb Wolf as the guest (check it out, free on iTunes) and made it through my first week of Paleo. I started Saturday the 11th. It's not my first attempt at Paleo but I felt more focused and more dedicated to really trying it this time.

I'm not going to lie. The first week was TOUGH. First problem, I was on call at work so the added stress of that make it tough but I stuck it out and did fairly well. My only cheats were; 2 packets of Italian dressing that I stretched across 4 salads and this last Saturday I made some Paleo cookies with Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (gluten, dairy, & soy free) and coconut flour.

I felt really tired most of the first week and there were times that I wanted to throw-up just thinking about eating another vegetable or piece of meat but I am adjusting. I also only went to Crossfit one day last week and it was a day when they had to close early so class was only 1/2 hour. I really didn't do any other physical activity all week but I just felt drained. I did some major sleeping over the weekend and I felt better today.

At about 4:15 pm today I had a surge of energy which is weird for me (especially on a Monday afternoon). I felt like I just wanted to get out of my chair at work and go for a run. I was looking forward to Crossfit to see how I managed with the eating changes. I started out my 400 meter run pretty sluggish and my pull-ups weren't great either. I did okay with my squats but my rowing was pretty decent. I'm chalking up my sluggishness to being off for a week.

I made my first batch of paleo mayo/ranch tonight. I didn't turn out great but not horrible either. I didn't have lemon juice so I used apple cider vinegar. It was...well...vinegary. It helped me to eat my carrots tonight.

Friday is payday and my team at work always goes out to lunch together so hopefully I can make it through that experience with flying colors. I think I'll be safe as long as we don't go to a pizza place because

A. pizza places rarely have much on the menu besides pizza

B. I have a weakness for pizza

I'll keep you posted on how week two is progressing.

P.S. Did I mention I was out of my weight loss slump. Down 10 pounds!!! Go me :)

Tough but Necessary

Man, this was one tough week. Here's a breakdown of my workout schedule for the week.

Monday: Crossfit 6:00 PM - 7:10 PM
Tuesday: Crossfit 7:00 AM - 8:05 AM
Wednesday: Pilates 4:30 PM - 5:20 PM
Thursday: Crossfit 5:30 PM - 6:35 PM
Friday: Day off
Saturday: Crossfit 10:00 AM - 11:05 AM
Sunday: Yard work 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Okay so it may not look like that tough of a week but Saturday's Crossfit was crazy. We had to do 200 meters of lunges while carrying a bar with or without weights. For every 10 lunges we had to do 10 clean jerks. I was excited because I didn't finish last though I was carrying much less weight than the two people behind me. After I finished up my workout Ken and I decided to go to Shelby Farms to play a round of Frisbee golf. I'm still not very good but we had a good time. It took us about 2 hours since I had to make so many more throws than Ken.

I woke up this morning in pain. My butt muscles hurt so bad from the lunges (sorry). It hurt to sit so I figured it would be better to get moving today. We could neglect the yard work no longer. Ken mowed and weed-wiped while I raked and bagged leaves, acorns, and all the other weird crap that comes off our trees. We worked for 4 hours but finally finished. By the time I got done I could barely move. I'm sure I'll be in a world of hurt tomorrow.

On the food front, I started reading The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf last week. I'm about halfway through and really finding it interesting. I had started reading The Paleo Diet by Dr. Cordain about a year but honestly it was a little too sciencey for me. I am really enjoying Robb Wolf's writing. He mixes the sciencey stuff with some humor and makes it a little easier to read.

So I've decided to give it a shot. I started Saturday and so far so good. I had eggs for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday with fruit on the side. I had a salad for dinner last night and tonight I had eggplant dipped in egg and flaxseed meal with homemade Marinara sauce with Turkey. It was actually really delicious. I'm cooking a roast with vegetables to have for lunches this week.

Honestly I was a little worried to try this since we are living on a tight budget right now. I recently read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and it inspired me to make a budget and get in better financial shape. It's hard to decide between financial fitness and physical fitness but I'm going to try to do both. It'll probably be tough but I want to stop taking medication someday if possible and I also want to get out from under debt. So I'm going to give it my best. Wish me luck...I might need it.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

I can't believe it was a year ago that I first started my juice fast after seeing "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." Yeah sure, juice fasting was less than successful for me but I see it as a starting point. A point where I realized, "Man, I'm in really bad physical shape." I'm proud to say too that even though I failed at juice fasting I didn't throw in the towel completely. Instead, I picked up that towel, started going to boot camp classes, and used that towel to wipe my sweat away.

When I started boot camp in September I couldn't even run round the block without stopping and walking but I didn't stop trying. I dragged my butt out of bed every morning Monday through Friday at 5 AM (yes, there is a 5 AM too) and kept trying and by my birthday I was able to run a mile.

I'm not going to pretend this last year was easy and I'm certainly not going to pretend that I was perfect (I ate some ice cream yesterday at work...bad, bad, bad) but what I'm proud to say is that I am healthier. I have slightly better eating habits than I did a year ago and I definitely have better fitness habits. I weigh 55-60 pounds less and I'm not stopping there.

So what did I do to celebrate my Exercise-iversary? I started a month of Crossfit. What better way to celebrate right? I have to admit I've been planning on going for months now. I would look at the schedule and think,"I'll start tomorrow" but then I would chicken out. Once August started rolling around I decided that there was no time like the one year mark to take the plunge. I was so nervous the first day. I had seen those Reebok Crossfit commercials on TV several times and I had done some research (thank you Google) and it looked really intimidating. Sure I had been working out for a year but could I handle this?

My first night  we started out with rowing and I though "YES! I've done this before". Let's say it was the easiest part of the whole night. The next exercise was chins-ups, really playing to my strengths (sense the ever so subtle sarcasm). They gave me a band to assist me like in the picture to the left. I couldn't even pull myself all the way up one time. It was pathetic but he counted my 6 lame attempts and we moved on.

For our timed WOD we had to do 30 knees to elbows (see picture to the right, I probably looked like the second guy), 30 burpees, and 50 squats. They assigned me 20, 20, and 40 since it was my first day but I probably ended up doing about 60 -70 squats since I couldn't really get my form right so I kept having to re-do. It was really tough and while it was happening I couldn't help feeling like my last year of exercising had gotten me no where. I felt so weak. Everyone was so nice and encouraging though and I left thinking, "you have to crawl before you can walk." The last year I've been learning to crawl and I took my first step at Crossfit and it was tough but I'm going to keep trying and hopefully before long I will be walking.

Today was my second day of Crossfit and it went a little better. Not my smartest idea but I decided to walk there since it is only 1.5 miles from our house. By the time I got there I was a little sweaty from the humidity. We started out jump roping to warm up and then pull ups. They gave me two bands today and I was able to pull myself all the way up 8 time.

Then they told me we were going to do handstand push-ups. Fear swept over me. This was one of those workouts I had seen during my research and frankly dreaded. I've never once in my life done a handstand and the thought of breaking my neck or head scares me. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as I expected. As a newbie they gave me a box like in the picture but I got to kneel instead of stand. I wasn't able to get my head all the way to the ground but I got close a couple times...I think.

We then worked on clean jerk (I think). Everyone was using the bar no weight to practice, they gave me a PVC pipe...good idea. After we practiced for a while they gave me a 15 pound bar to use for the WOD. We had to do 8 reps in 12 minutes. Each rep consisted of 2 clean jerks, 8 box jumps, and 10 hand release push-ups. I was also pretty afraid to do the box jumps, I kept imagining myself not making it and falling on my face. While practicing the trainer came up to me and said, "Aim for the middle and don't fear you're not going to make it. Know you are and when you do stand tall." Damn these people are motivating. And I did do it. I wasn't able to do all 8 reps in the 12 minutes but I did finish my 7th rep right as the clock was ticking up to the 12 minute mark. Everyone else was done, of course, but came to cheer me on. It was really nice and I walked home proud...and shaking slightly from fatigue.

Off again, on again

So I have been enjoying Kickboxing for the last several weeks. All I can say is Kickboxing has been kicking my butt. It has been a great workout and there have been many a day that I woke up VERY sore, but the good sore...like you worked a muscle that hasn't been used...well maybe ever. I might consider continuing on with it if it isn't too expensive but I am going to give Crossfit a try first. My last day of my 30 day trial for Kickboxing is coming up next week and then I will start up at Crossfit Barlett for 30 days.

I enjoyed the month of June so much because I finished two of my prescriptions at the end of May and went for the whole month without having to take any medication. I went in at the beginning of June for a re-check on my Thyroid level. I waited two weeks with no call back on my results so finally I called my doctor's office any the nurse said, "Oh, no one called you? Yes, you need to continue taking the Levothyroxine and the Metformin," however, I had never been given a prescription of Metformin. When I told the nurse she sounded surprised and said she would send over that prescription. Then she proceeded to really sell me on it by saying to take less for the first couple of days as it would probably give me a stomach ache. YEA!

She was not kidding either. I'm not sure if it was the Metformin but after I finished my workout this morning I had a horrible stomach cramp that lasted for 20 minutes. Not positive it was the medicine, it could have been from the sit-ups I just finished doing. I guess I will find out tomorrow if it happens again. I didn't read all of the side effects in the pamphlet in hopes that the hypochondriac in me wouldn't know therefore causing me not to have any of them.

So now I'm back to taking medication and honestly it kinds sucks. I'm not very good about remembering to take medicine and the Levothyroxine is annoying because I have to take it a half an hour before I eat my first meal. Sure, that doesn't sound that bad but I already have to get up at 4:30 AM to get to my workout so now I have to either get up even earlier or eat really fast right before I go. Oh well, it's just the way things go and it makes my brain have to work a little harder in the morning to remember what I need to do.

I will definitely post again when I start Crossfit so look out for my review of that in the coming weeks. I'll be interested to see how sore it makes me. Hopefully I will survive it.  :)

Kicking Bags and Taking Names

A while back I got a coupon for $19 for one month of unlimited Kickboxing classes. I have a tendency to get bored easily if I do the same workout for too long so I figured this would be a good way to mix things up. I went to my first class on Wednesday morning.

I arrived at the facility 10 minutes earlier so I could give them my coupon and fill out any paper work. I got in  and the filled out a short form which was pretty nice because usually when you start at a gym you feel like you're signing your life away. The instructor wrapped my hands and gave me a pair of boxing gloves. He told me to remove my shoes, which seemed a little weird at first, and go stand next to a bag.

We started out running laps around the mats. I found running barefoot actually quite enjoyable. After we ran several laps we did several jump jack type exercises and push-ups. Once we completed that we stretched and got right into the boxing. Punching and kicking the bag was actually really fun. It would probably be a great class to go to after a stressful day at work. The instructor came by once and told me to "Pace myself" which I found rather humorous. I think he figured I was a workout newbie. It was a really fun class and I'm excited to go back Friday morning.

I woke up this morning to find that almost every part of my body hurt. I was fairly surprised because I workout pretty regularly but I guess since this was a different type of work out that accounted for the soreness. I find these days I'm usually happy to wake up sore because I know I got in a good workout.

I had another visit to my doctor today for a blood work re-check. I had been taking the thyroid medicine for  30 days and I just finished it up so they wanted to come back by to see if that resolved the issue. I guess if it hasn't I'll probably have to continue taking it. I'm hoping that everything will be back to normal and I won't have to do that. I really hate taking medication (though who doesn't, right?).

*Sigh* Some days I feel like bedtime comes so quickly. Well, it's time for me to pack my bag for the morning and get to sleep. Got to get up early and hit the bags.

Whirlwind Week ... or weeks

Whew, why is it that you always feel like you need a vacation after your vacation? I had a great trip to Michigan though. I got to see my little sister get married and my other little sister's brand new baby boy. He was so tiny and precious. I also got to spend time with my dad, mom, grandparents, siblings, and nieces and nephews. I got so see a bunch of family friends I hadn't see in forever and my best friends from high school which was so great. My family is so awesome too because I came home with a whole carload of stuff; new kitchen table, end tables, lamps, my childhood dollhouse.

Upon my return from my trip Ken and I took a day trip to Nashville to see a live taping of my favorite podcast "Doug Love Movies" with Doug Benson. It was so fun! Unfortunately Nashville is 3 hours away so it was a day of 6 hours in the car which may not be that bad but I had just spent 14 hours in the car just 3 days before. At least the show was fun though and I got to meet Doug Benson.

The next day it was back to work and there was no easing back into things. I had to play catch-up quick as we had a system upgrade scheduled for the very next day. Then Friday I started my week of on call duties. It wasn't really bad but it was a busy week.

On top of playing catch-up at work I was trying to get back into my routine. My sleep schedule was totally off kilter from being on vacation and I had only worked out twice the whole time I was on vacation. I didn't eat super healthy either while I was out of town. I ate more cake and pie than should be humanly possible. Surprising though upon my return home I found that I'd lost 7 pounds putting me 2 pounds away from being under 200. Woo-Hoo!

I think the weight loss has more to do with the side effects of the thyroid medicine than anything else. The pamphlet said it could cause weight loss or gain. I assumed I'd have the weight gain but I've been pleasantly surprised. I'm sure as soon as I go off it I'll probably gain 10 pounds. I have managed to get to the gym at least 3 days a week since I've been back. It's not great but it's better than nothing and I'm slowly getting back into my routine though.

-------------------------------If your a man you may want to skip this section-----------------------------

I finished my prescription of Norethindrone upon returning home. My doctor said, "You probably won't have a period for a while after taking it." Guess again, one day it was over aunt flow came to visit. To my pleasant surprise though it was a totally normal period. It only lasted 5 days. I know a weird thing to be happy about but...

I was told to call the doctor on the first day of my period and they said they wanted me to have a Hysterosalpingogram. I had no idea what that was or even how to spell it so I couldn't even Google it. It was probably best that I didn't. They scheduled it for Wednesday. Upon arriving for my appointment I found out that this test was not cheap. $847 not cheap. This was a very unexpected surprise and not a good one. They gave me an envelope and said I could pay later luckily. Turns out the test is to check my tubes to ensure there are no blockages. They inserted a catheter and shot dye into my uterine cavity and then took x-rays. I read later that it can be a painful procedure but for me it wasn't that bad. I guess I'm just tough.

--------------------------------Okay men, you're safe to start reading again--------------------------------

Since I finished my on call week yesterday I am focused now on getting back into my routine. I'm going back to my schedule of exercising every morning before work and eating better. My doctor asked about my further weight loss goals and I told him I'd like to lose another 50 and he said he thought I would be okay just to lose another 30 so for now I've got a goal of 30 and I will re-assess when I make there.

Do you think they would let me exchange this thing?

Man, talk about kicking a girl while she's down. I got a call from my new doctor's office today to let me know that I have high thyroid levels. So I guess this is one more thing that I can add to the list of things wrong with me. I wish there was some sort of option for body exchange. This one is defective, can I have another? Maybe a robot body? That would be sweet. Okay the one pictured might be too creepy.

So they sent me a prescription for Levothyroxine. I really should quit reading the pamphlets that Walgreens provides with the medication. All those pamphlets seem to do is freak me out about what this crazy stuff is that they want me to take.

Switching topics, I was really excited because I weighed myself Monday and I lost 2 pounds. Woo-Hoo! I was starting to think I would never lose another pound with the weight loss drought I was having. I've been going to the gym at work this week. I am missing the usual faces from my gym but I've also been early for work everyday this week and I've already saved money on gas considerably. It is going to be a tough decision whether I will go back to 24 hour fitness. I've met some really great people there and they have more equipment and amenities than the work gym but the work gym is free. It's a place I'm already going to and it saves me time and money and I can even sleep a little longer in the morning. I don't know, I might have to make one of those pro and con lists cause this one is a toughie.

I am a week a way from my trip home. I am getting pretty excited to see family and friends and to see my little sister get married. It's really weird to see your younger siblings get married. It makes you feel old. Seriously, you guys gotta quit doing that. I'll probably start catching myself saying things like, "Back in my day we didn't have the Internets" or "We had to walk to school in the snow, up hill, both ways." It's really only a matter of time.

Second Opinion

I know I'm horribly behind on my blogging, as usual, so here it goes...

I've been in a bit of slump. I was down to 207 at my lowest weight. Then I went back up to 210 and I was pretty mad at myself. I told myself I was not going to let myself go back up. I'm now back down to 208 so I'm back on the right track but I have to say the first 40 pounds I lost wasn't that hard but I've really been struggling to lose every pound since then. I feel like I've just been in a bit of a funk.

I've been having a really hard time waking up early again. For a while I had no problem going to bed at 9 and getting up at 4. I'm still going to bed at the same time but for some reason I struggle to be awake by 4:30. This has cut my workouts from 1 1/2 - 2 hours every morning to 1 - 1 1/4 hours. I am feeling like I'm in a bit of a rut with my workouts. When I get back from my trip this month I'm going to start Kickboxing for a month to change things up a little. After that I'm going to do Cross-fit for a month to try that out and then figure out what I'm going to do from there. I just feel like I do better when I have someone telling me what to do when I work out. I can't really afford a personal trainer either though I got a free session recently and it was awesome.

On another topic I had a visit to the doctor this week. My lady doctor told me she thought I had PCOS but I wanted to get a second opinion. I took my test results to another doctor this week and it was very informative. He read through all of my tests and talked to me about the results. He confirmed that I do indeed have PCOS, which sucks because, if you don't know, it can come with some really crappy symptoms;

• Irregular menstrual periods
• Decreased breast size
• Deepening of the voice
• Increased body hair on the chest, abdomen, and face, as well as around the nipples
• Thinning of the hair on the head, called male-pattern baldness
• Infertility
• Dark or thick skin markings and creases around the armpits, groin, neck, and breasts
• Insulin Resistence
• Obesity

The doctor also confirmed that I do have an insulin resistance, vitamin D deficiency, and Anemia. It really put a damper on my week but I'm trying to not let it get me down too much. It's not the worse thing ever and I just need to treat it like another challenge. The doctor was very proud of my weight loss and suggested I at least try to lose another 30. So I have a new goal and I just need to put my mind to it and do my best to achieve it.

Close but no cigar

Well I'm one day away and 10 pounds away. I was really hoping to be in the under 200 club by my birthday but I've really been struggling with eating well and I gained 3 pounds back this last week. I was really disappointed in myself but I'm trying to not let it get me down. I try to keep it in my mind that last year at this time I was 50 pounds heavier. I just have to try to get back on track.

I'm on call this week for work but after it is over I think I'm going to try 30 days of crossfit. I got a coupon for Bartlett Crossfit. I'm still going to do my regular workouts on Monday and Wednesday morning but I think it might be a nice change up for me. I feel like I could use a change of pace even if it's just temporary. Hopefully I will find some good exercises and techniques that I can add to my workout repertoire.

I've been thinking more and more about the Warrior Dash. It's still a ways away but I've watched several videos online and I'm excited. I really think I have a shot at completing it. Plus if I do the one in Nashville in September it will be a great one year exerciseversary.

I've also been looking into the Tough Mudder. I don't know that I will be ready for it by October but maybe next year. It looks really crazy but also fun. The only part that makes me hesitant is the forest of electrically charged wires...YIKES! I might be tough but not that tough. I feel like it is good to have a goal. Maybe I've watched too many episodes of Ninja Warrior :)

I guess that's all I have for now. Hopefully I'll have better news by my next post.

Recipe for Success

I've been at a bit of a stagnant point the last few weeks with my weight lose; half a pound here, a pound there but no significant loses. I have been exercising regularly still but I hadn't been eating as good as I had been. I decided if I wanted to reach my goal of under 200 by my birthday I was going to have to step it up (I was only 13 pounds and 4 weeks away).  So I sat down and began planning.

My biggest problem lately is that I hadn't really been making meal plans like I was in the beginning. I was falling back in the old habit of going to the grocery store and just picking things out without specific meals in mind. I had also been in a dinner funk. I was just making the same old stuff all the time.

So I sat down last Saturday and started looking up recipes. I put together an excel spreadsheet. The first tab was ingredients I needed for the recipes  (sorted by grocery store section) and the second tab was recipe links (sorted by meals).

Once I had this plan in place I set out for the stores. I hit up Whole Food first for the harder to find things on my list. I did pretty well and didn't stray too much from my list (which is hard for me in Whole Foods cause everything looks amazing).

Next I went to Aldi. I know it can get a bad rap sometimes but I love Aldi. Even though it is cash or debit only it's a great store if you're looking to save some dough on groceries. For example, Ken and I like to use ground chicken for tacos instead of ground beef. At Kroger the ground chicken is over $5 but at Aldi I get it for $2.49. Their vegetables are also a lot cheaper too, Kroger mushrooms $3.49. Aldi $0.99. Need I say more?

Any items I couldn't find at Whole Foods or Aldi I went to Kroger for. I know it seems like a lot of running around but the Kroger and Aldi are pretty close to each other. I went home after the store and put everything away and then started cooking. I made up my pre- and post- gym breakfasts for the week and made some homemade soup for lunches.

I weighed myself the next morning at the gym and I was down 4 pounds, which is funny since I was only just starting into my first day of planned meals. So I'm just 9 pounds away already. I will weigh myself Monday and see how I have done after my first week.

Meal Plan

Monday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: 1 Pumpkin Muffin
Post-gym Breakfast: 1 - 16 oz Strawberry Banana Smoothie
Lunch: Homemade Soup, apple, almond butter
Snack: Greek Yogurt (I had Chobani lemon)
Dinner: Taco Salad

Tuesday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: 1 Pumpkin Muffin
Post-gym Breakfast: 1 - 16 oz Strawberry Banana Smoothie
Lunch:  Homemade Soup , apple almond butter
Snack: Green Yogurt
Dinner: Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice

Wednesday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: 1 Pumpkin Muffin
Post-gym Breakfast: Apple and almond butter
Lunch: Cobb Salad
Snack: Greek Yogurt
Dinner: *Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes
*I made my meatloaf with ground chicken instead of beef and my mashed potatoes with coconut milk instead of cow's milk
Snack: Grain-free Chocolate chip cookies

Thursday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: Grain-free Chocolate chip cookies (I should have had a muffin but ate cookies instead)
Post-gym Breakfast: 1 - 16 oz Banana Almond Butter Smoothie
Lunch: Left over Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice
Snack: Apple and almond butter
Dinner: Spinach, Mushroom, Artichoke Pizza
(toppings: Pesto, Mozzarella, Mushroom, Fresh Spinach, Artichoke Hearts)
Snack: Fresh Pineapple

Friday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: Grain-free Chocolate chip cookies (I know, I know, more cookies for breakfast)
Post-gym Breakfast: Apple and almond butter
Lunch: Salad w/ Chicken and Broccoli Cheese Soup
Snack: More Grain-free Chocolate chip cookies
Dinner: Scrambled eggs

Saturday:
Breakfast: Pineapple, Omelette with Mushroom, Green Onion, and Cheddar Cheese
Lunch: Probably Salad
Dinner: Probably Turkey Burger and Homemade Sweet potato fries (going to attempt anyway)

My first 5K

Well I survived running my first 5K. It was the Daffodil Dash 3 miler at the Memphis Botanical Gardens. It was a gorgeous day. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather especially considering there was a chance of rain. It in the 60s though and sunny.

I didn't run as much of it as I would have liked to and my time wasn't great (41 minutes) but I had fun and that's all that matters to me. I made a friend pretty early in the race. We started near the entrance of the gardens on Cherry Road and ran towards Poplar. 

I started out pretty strong. Just after I rounded onto Poplar Southern I noticed a little boy running next to me (probably about 9 or 10 years old). I had my headphones in so I hadn't realized he was talking to me. I took  out one headphone to hear him tell me he was there with his grandma who was way behind us and Suzanne who was way ahead of us.

They had one lane of Poplar closed off for us to run in but the other lane was open for traffic. My running buddy started jumping over the cones that were straddling the open and closed lane. I tried to warn him that there might be cars coming so he should move away from the line. I looked around to see if I could see if there was anyone close that might be with him but didn't see anyone that seemed to be looking for him so I decided to stay close to make sure he didn't get run over.

It turned out he was a fun running buddy. He had asthma so periodically when he would start coughing we would have to take walking breaks. He told me all about his family and school and he pretty much talked my ear off the whole race but it was kinda nice to have someone to walk and run with.

As we rounded back into the gardens we caught up with my friends from the gym. Danielle had been just ahead of me most of the race and April had already finished (in under 24 minutes, 1st in her age group, way to go April!) April came back around to run in with me which was really nice so the 4 of us ran (with some walking) in together.

I never got the name of my running buddy. I think he found his family right after we crossed the finish line which was good. We had a good time. I enjoyed the exercise, weather, and the company of some great people.

Super Blogger Slacker

Wow, I've really been slacking on my blogging so I have several updates and away we go.

We've been having a weight lose challenge at the gym. I started off pretty well but then I went to New Orleans for work and that really derailed my progress. I am down 10 pounds from where I started 8 weeks ago though I really had planned on losing 25 in that time.

My biggest problem hasn't been working out but it has been eating well. I've really been struggling with my eating. It's really hard when everyone around you just eats what ever they want. I really need to get back with it because I am only 13 pounds from my first weight lose goal and I would like to reach it in the next 8 weeks.

I have to say though I am proud of where I started and where I'm at today. I'm down two pants sizes (woo-hoo!) Since everyone loves before and after photos here's mine. The before is me at the time of my graduation last year and after is from last week.

Last weekend I went to a party that some work ladies invited me to and while I was there one of the ladies asked me if I would consider doing the Warrior Dash with her. I had never heard of it and I checked out their website the next day. At first I thought, "I could never do this" but over the next several days I kept thinking about it and checking out their website. I really think with enough training and determination I could do it. Now I'm by no means saying that even after training for it it would be easy but I am interested in seeing if I could finish it. They are having one in Nashville in September and I think I'm going to do it. I'm really excited to try it and have been trying to talk others into it as well.

Another thing I've been thinking about trying is Crossfit. I found out that there's a Crossfit gym right around the corner from my house. I am really interested from the photos I've seen on their website and from the Crossfit Reebok commercial I keep seeing on TV. They are having a 30 day membership special and I'm thinking about trying it out in the evenings just to see if I like it.

Another thing I am interested in trying right now is a rock climbing wall. I recently found out that there is one right across the street from where I work and they are having a community night this coming Friday. They also have one at Lifetime gym and at UT Memphis.

Oh and how could I forget this, I'm running my first 5K this coming Saturday. I've been doing the Couch to 5K training plan. I'm still not running a mile yet without walking breaks. I probably would have been there by now if not for being out of town and then being sick for a week. I am going to try my best though and do what I can do. I am really excited though. It is the Daffodil Dash 3-miler at the Memphis Botanical Gardens. I'm hoping we will have great weather.

Our gym is opening at work tomorrow. I am pretty excited about that. They had tours this week and it is really nice. It's a little on the small side but I really think that after a few weeks the novelty will wear off for some people and it will slow down. The part I'm really excited about is that there are going to be personal trainers. They will meet with you to discuss your fitness goals and give you customized exercises and meal plans to help you reach your goal. Best part is that it is totally free. I'm not going to quit going to my gym though because I've made some good friends there and it has a pool and running track.

Well, I think that is all for now. I am going to try to be a better blogger though I've made that empty promise before. Forgive me, I'm only human.

New Year's Resolution Follow-up

Well it's the new year and it's a good thing I didn't make blogging more a new year's resolution or I would have already failed. Even though I am only 2 weeks into the new year I thought I would update you on how my resolutions have been going.

1. Eat more healthy and well balanced meals

I have been doing a little better with eating more healthy. We've been doing a weight-loss challenge at the gym and some meal suggestions were included. I haven't been following the suggestions strictly but I have been making a concerted effort to try and think about what I'm eating. I'm definitely not saying that I haven't eaten anything unhealthy but I feel like moderation is key. I've been better about not having whole days of just eating garbage. I am going to New Orleans for a week for work and I am a little worried about staying on track. It won't be easy but I am going to give it my best.

2. Exercise at least 5 days a week.

So far so good. I've gone at least 5 days a week and some days I've gone twice a day or stayed for 2 - 3 hours. Since I will be out of town for a whole week I've made some plans for working out while I'm gone. The hotel has a gym and I bought some work out DVDs (Jillian Michaels, Amazon has some good deals on her DVDs).

3. Spend more time learning and reading. Read at least 5 books this year.

Well, I haven't started reading any books yet but I am going to a 7 day training for work so I feel like this constitutes the learning element. I am pretty excited for the opportunity.

4. Be less critical of others.

Okay, this is probably one of my biggest faults. I've been trying to work on this one but let's just stay it's a bit of a struggle. This one might have to be a multi-year goal :)

5. Do more to help others. Find ways of volunteering.

I haven't really done any volunteering yet but it is still early. I need to get on it though before it becomes an afterthought.

In addition to these resolutions I've pledged to lose 25 pounds in our 6-week weight lose challenge at the gym. I am down 5 pounds so far. I hope I can keep up the good momentum especially with my trip. We are ending the challenge with a 5K. I am not a running by any means but I want to start preparing myself so I am going to start the Couch to 5K program. I hope this will help me succeed in the 5K without having to walk the whole thing or without passing out. So wish me luck as I'm probably going to need it.