Happy New Year!

I can't believe this year is coming to an end already. Time certainly does fly by. You can't help but to reflect on the past year around this time and it was quite a year.

Unfortunately I got up to my highest weight ever but I am happy to say that I have lost 35 pounds this year and hoping to lose at least another 35 next year. I have begun to make exercise a regular part of my daily life and I feel much better for it.

In addition to the weight loss I have made some good friends this year at the gym. It makes the hard work easier when you have great people working with you and rooting for you. I am so thankful to have them in my life.

Obviously exercise isn't the only part to the weight loss and I have been eating much healthier this year (okay, with the exception of the past two week, the holidays are tough for eating healthy). I really hope to improve this even more next year. It is something I struggle with and some habits are easier to change than others.

I am also really excited about my new hobby, Cross-stitching. I was so excited to finish my first cross-stitch project which was a Dalek from Doctor Who which I made for Ken for Christmas. I have started a second one and have made a great deal of progress. It has been fun learning something new. It keeps me busy and it also keeps me from snacking.

So with the New Year there always comes resolutions. I have found that the more realistic the resolution the more obtainable it is. I found this quote that to me sums up the meaning and purpose of New Year's resolutions.

“Time invested in improving ourselves cuts down on time wasted in disapproving of others."

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Resolutions

1. Eat more healthy and well balanced meals

2. Exercise at least 5 days a week

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

4. Be less critical of others

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

The Time of Year for Eating

Okay, I know I've been really slacking with my blogging but I feel like I've been so busy (I know, excuses, excuses).

For starters we've been having the "Holiday Stamp-ede" at work. We had weigh-ins right before Thanksgiving and the goal is to not gain weight over the holiday season. They've had cooking demos, Patrick House from biggest loser came and spoke, and they've had workout classes 3 days a week. For each event we go to we get a stamp on our card. The stamps get us entered in a drawing for an iPad. I've done pretty good. I haven't gained any weight and in fact I've lost 1 1/2 pounds. Our weigh-outs are on January 3-4.

I went to the cooking demo where I got some good recipes (i'll include those at the end of my post). I went and saw Patrick House, Biggest Loser Season 10 winner, speak. His story was so inspirational and if you ever get a chance to see him speak I definitely recommend it. I've been going to the Pilates class every Wednesday and I tried the Monday bootcamp class though the time I went they didn't play any music and it was too weird for me to workout in silence. They also gave us stamps for turning in 2 healthy recipes. At weigh-outs they are going to give us a recipe book with the best recipes. It's been really fun and so great that they care so much about employees' health.

It has been pretty hard though because of course not everyone at work is taking part and the people in my area  love to eat. And I mean LOVE to EAT! People have been bring in treats pretty much every day since Thanksgiving. They are doing a 12 days of Christmas in which everyone takes turns bring in something for 12 days and then at the end of it all they are having a potluck. So in other words there has been a lot of temptation but I've done really well. I haven't eaten any of the treats. I did bring some of my own healthified baked goods one day; Gluten-free pumpkin muffins and gluten-free apple ginger scones. Despite the healthiness they went over surprisingly well.

On top of the extra work-outs at work I've still been hitting the gym pretty hard. I try to go on Monday and Wednesday mornings for Strength and Cardio classes. Tuesday I either go swimming or I walk on the treadmill at home. Thursday and Sunday are usually my days off. Sometimes I go Thursday morning or Friday morning and swim. Saturday is my 3 hour workout blitz of 1 hour Zumba, 1 hour Strength and Cardio, and 1 hour Yoga. If I hadn't indulged over Thanksgiving I probably would have lost a lot more weight by now but I'm just taking it a day at a time and realizing that even though I'm not seeing a lot of loss on the scales I am noticing clothes fitting different.

I've also still been working on a homemade Christmas present for Ken. That has been more time consuming than I expected and it's also hard because I can't work on it when he is around. I only have two weeks left and I hope I finish it in time. I haven't even started on my scarf but I don't have any real deadline for its completion so it has been put on the back burner.

I am going to be on call for work over Christmas so Ken and I haven't planned much. I'm hoping things will be quiet and I won't get a lot of calls.

On top of all the other excitement our heat went out twice in the last week and it ended up cost $600 to get it fixed so that was a fun unexpected expense but that's just one of the joys of home ownership and at this point I'm just glad to have heat. It has put a bit of a damper on my holiday spending though unfortunately.

Well that is the update for me. In case I don't get around to posting again before Christmas I hope everyone has a great holiday. I will be sure to post before New Years with my resolutions and goals for 2012.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Click here for recipes

Busy bee

Wow, it's been a super busy weekend. Friday started my on call week for work but lucky it wasn't too bad. No calls and few emails this weekend. Friday evening I stopped at The Stash yarn shop on my way home from work. I bought a bunch of yarn for a crocheting project I'm embarking on. I have never crocheted and Friday evening I started teaching myself with the help of YouTube. I didn't get very far and it took me 3 hours to make a tiny tan circle-ish square. *Sigh* This is what it should look like when it's done though it might be next winter before I finish it.


On Saturday morning I caught up on some shows I had DVRed. Saturday afternoon Ken and I took a trip to Michaels, Lowes, and Target. Ken and I both had some craft projects we wanted to work on so we went to Michaels to stock up on supplies. I've also begun cross-stitching, which is much easier than crocheting. That project is top secret for now but once it's finished I will be sure to post some pictures.

We had quite an interesting time at Lowes. We needed to buy a watering can and a dust buster. Unfortunately there was some weird guy beat boxing in the vacuum aisle and they only had one dust buster and it was not really what we were looking for.

We stopped at Target last which was really busy. Saturday afternoon and Target's busy, go figure. We found a dust buster and a few other things we needed and headed for home. After we unloaded the car and had lunch I went grocery shopping. Then came home and did some cross-stitching for a few hours.

Sunday morning I got up and did some more cross-stitching. I think I'm hooked. Ken and I went to the library and I found a book about crocheting and Ken got a few books as well. Then home for some hardcore cleaning and that brings me up to this moment when I realized I hadn't blogged in some time.

I didn't get any exercising in this weekend but I'll be back at the gym first thing tomorrow morning. I've been going in the mornings before work and that has been pretty good. That way I still get to come home after work and hang out with Ken. I'm hoping all of these new projects will keep me distracted with the winter months coming and keep me from shoveling food in my face. The holidays are always difficult. Well, that's all I have for today.

Back at it

Well, I've been back at it full steam this week.

My mom and uncle were here to visit us from October 18 through October 25 and I only went to the gym once that week. I didn't do a lot of healthy eating either while they were here but I chalked it up to a week vacation and tried not to feel too bad. The day after they left I was back at the gym (Wednesday). It was rough getting back at it. I went the next day on Thursday as well. I was feeling pretty awful though by Thursday evening and realized I must be coming down with something. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I rested and I surprisingly started feeling much better by the end of the weekend.

Monday I was back at the gym and back to eating better. After working out I realized that I had forgotten my hair dryer and makeup. I considered going home but I said "screw it" and went to work sans makeup. I figured I'd try to face my computer screen all day.

Today I woke up late and rushed around to get to the gym. I had another awesome start to my day. I dropped my water cup and the lid flew off and water went all over the gym carpet. Tons of people saw me and I felt like a moron. Once I finished up I went down to the locker room where I found that I had forgotten to bring a towel. ARGHHHHH! So I had to drive home and get ready there and then drive to work which caused me to be 15 minutes late for work *sigh*

I've checked and double checked my bag for tomorrow. Blow dryer, check. Makeup, check. Towel, check. Clothes, check. Shoes, check. I'm sure I probably forgot something and it will be another interesting day.

I have managed to lose the 2 pounds that I gained while my mom was in town and I am down another pound. I keep wondering how long it will be until my weight loss really picks up again. I hope this is not it for me. I guess if it is I'll be happy to maintain the weight I'm at. I do feel much better and my clothes are looking better on me. I don't feel quite so self-conscious.

Time for bed. It's another early day tomorrow.

Staying busy

I've been at a standstill the last couple of weeks with my weight loss. I am still down 20 pounds but I have just been stuck. I know this happens to a lot of people when they are trying to lose weight and this is the point when most people give up but I am determined to lose more so this week I stepped up my workout.

So needless to say I was busy this week. Next week my mom and uncle will be in town visiting so I won't be able to workout as much. I am still going to try to squeeze in sometime at the gym here and there.


I didn't really eat the greatest this week. Which probably counteracted all of my working out. The cafeteria at work was having Mexican food this week and it was really good. Wednesday I had taco salad and Thursday I had two soft tacos. Friday morning I had eggs, bacon, turkey sausage, and a biscuit from the cafeteria for breakfast and Thursday and Friday night I had pizza. Wow, when I list it out that sounds like a lot of junk. I had been eating vegetable soup everyday for lunch for the last week or two but after I had it Monday and Tuesday this week I couldn't stand to eat anymore.


I am down a pant size (as I posted on Facebook) which is really exciting. I just hope I will begin losing weight again. I am remaining optimist. If I keep up the hard work I'm sure to lose more.


*Find a Zumba class near you http://www.zumba.com/en-US/parties/search/

First week at the gym

I finished out my 6 weeks of boot camp last week. I have to admit I was kind of sad on my last day. I had finally started to talk to some people and actually started enjoying the workout. Unfortunately boot camp cost $99 per month with a one year commitment or $199 per month without the commitment. That is a bit steep for my price range. Luckily because of my super awesome employer I get a membership at 24 hour fitness for $24.99 per month. They have work out classes 7 days a week and a lap pool, sauna, jacuzzi, running track, locker rooms, and tons of workout equipment so even though I will miss boot camp I am getting more bang for my buck at the gym.

On Monday I got up at 4:50 am like I did everyday for boot camp and went to the gym (which is right next door to where I went for boot camp, a little confusing that early in the morning). They have a Monday morning boot camp class. We did some running and some other cardio and ab workouts. It wasn't too bad.

On Tuesday I went to the 5:30 pm step class. Wow was that one tough! For one thing I tried to be super tough and use the regular step that wasn't adjustable. About half way through class I was regretting that decision. I had planned to do that step class from 5:30 - 6:30 and then stay for Zumba from 6:30 - 7:30 but after the step class I was exhausted and I went home.

On Wednesday they had a 5:30 am Cardio Mix class. It was pretty good. It was a mixture of step and weights and we did a lot of leg and ab workouts that day (my ab muscles are still sore). It was a really good workout and I am excited to go back to that one. I got ready for work at the gym that morning instead of driving back home. I was happy to find that they had shower stalls rather than the giant wall of open shows like in middle and high school. They even had a little changing room in with the lockers. It was pretty decent and cut close to 20 minutes off of my travel time in the morning.

Today I didn't go at all. They had an evening step class and cycling class but I was running late leaving work and I knew I would never make it on time. I know, I know, that's how the excuses to not go to the gym begin but I am going in the morning. They don't have any classes tomorrow morning but I'm going to go and try using some of the fancy machinery and then swim some laps before work.

Saturday they have an 8:30 am Zumba, a 9:30 am Cycling, 9:45 am Body Pump, and 10:30 am Yoga so I plan to try to go to at least one of those or Sundays 1:00 pm Kickboxing, maybe both if I get up enough motivation. I do find that if I work out on the weekend I tend to get more done the rest of the weekend.

It is hard getting this new routine down. I had really gotten use to getting up every morning at 4:50 and going to boot camp, then driving home, getting ready, and going to work but I think the gym will be good. I will get more variety and that will keep me from getting bored.

As far as my dieting I didn't do so well this week. Sunday I met Ken for his lunch break from work and we had to go somewhere close and somewhat fast so we went to Arby's. I had a junior roast beef sandwich. I also had some pizza this week so neither of those meals were especially healthy. I am up 2 pounds but I am going to keep working hard and trying to eat better. I am still proud of the strides I have made. I feel a lot better when I am eating better and working out. I even had some ladies at work comment on how bagging some of my work clothes are getting on me. They asked me what I was doing and I told them about my 5:30 am boot camp. They just laughed.

8% down and another 8% to go

I finished my 5th week of boot camp. One more week left and I will be done with my 6 weeks. As crazy as this sounds I am actually going to miss it a little. Even though I still hate getting up at 5:30 am and I REALLY hate running I have gotten into a routing.


On Wednesday I finally had a weigh in. It was my first one since I had started boot camp. I mean I had been weighing myself at home on and off  but they weigh and measure us using the Jackson/Pollock 3 caliper method. When they weighed me I was up 3 pounds from where I had been but after the measurement I found out that I had lost 8% body fat. I have another 8% to go to put me in the "Acceptable" body fat range. Even though I knew I was losing weight because my clothes were getting looser it was nice to see the numbers to confirm it.


I felt a little better this morning because I weighed myself and I lost the 3 pounds I was up and another 3 pounds giving me a total weight lose of 23 pounds. I was actually surprised that I lost anything at all this week because I had a bagel for dinner the other night. I also made some brownies for Ken last night and I ate one. The surprising thing about it was I had a very different reaction to the sugar than I usually do. Before I started exercising and eating better I ate a lot of sugar and it made me really tired. After I ate the brownie last night I was on a sugar high. I couldn't sleep. I ended up staying awake until 2 am because of it. I had a stomach ache this morning to and I vowed not to eat any more of them.


Sometimes it is really hard to go without certain things. I really like cake (but who doesn't right?) but I found an interesting recipe for a Paleo cake. I decided to try making it today. Here is the recipe in case you are interested:


Banana Paleo Chocolate Cake


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of oil (coconut preferrably) or unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 cup of honey (not recommended – rather – use really really really ripe bananas!)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup almond meal/flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3 bananas mashed

Prepare:

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix oil (honey if using) and eggs in a large bowl until light an d fluffy.
3. Add almond meal, cocoa powder and bananas
4. Mix well.
5. Line a cake tin with baking paper and pour in banana mixture
6. Bake for somewhere between 25 and 45 minutes, or until the toothpick test comes out clean!
7. Store the cake in the refrigerator.  Good served with fruite  and/or a little almond butter, or with Frosting recipe below!

 Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dark chocolate (73%)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or better yet, coconut butter
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt

Prepare:

1. In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and coconut oil/butter
2. Stir in honey, vanilla and salt
3. Place frostin gin freezer for 15 minutes to chill and thicken
4. Remove from freezer and whip frosting with a hand blender until it’s thick and fluffy
5. Frost over cake, cookies or cupcakes!

I just tried a piece and it was pretty good. It's a little rich because of the dark chocolate icing. I only used about half the frosting too. The cake is a little grainy due to the almond flour but all in all it was pretty good and will curb any cake cravings.