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.