"Trim the Fat" Thursday

Goals last week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
For nine days straight I had nothing but milk & water. Then yesterday I gave in and had a cup of coffee with Southern Butter Pecan creamer -YUM! It's not restricted on FBD as long as you count the calories.

2. Take vitamins everyday.
Can you believe that I forgot to take them on Tuesday?! For no reason then I'm an forgetful idiot.

3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 2 days a week.
Happy to say that we went to the park & played tennis last night. I worked up a nasty sweat but had a great time doing it.

4. Continue FBD's 28-day plan.
See below

OMGosh! So far the FBD has been great! Here are the basics of the plan...

*3 meals & 1 snack @ 400 calories each
*Include a MUFA (monounsaturated fat) with every one (this is included in the 400 calories)
*MUFA's include nuts, olive oil, peanut butter, dark chocolate or semi-sweet chips, avocados, olives, etc.

In order to stick within those guidelines I plan my "menu" the night before and pack anything I'll need at work. Some of the things I've had this past week:

*Brownies w/ walnuts (FBD recipe)
*Dark chocolate chips
*Banana pancakes w/ walnut honey syrup (FBD recipe)
*Wendy's chili

This morning I had two corn tortillas filled with egg, cheese, guacamole and black bean salsa. This is MY kind of diet!

I'm not saying it's perfect though. There are some things on the MUFA list that I'm not in love with such as avocados or black olives so I'm limited to which foods I eat. For example when I had the Wendy's chili, I just had to eat 10 green olives with it. They don't necessarily go together but in order to fit in my MUFA that's what I did.

The other thing that I'm not crazy about is the "out to eat" suggestions in the book. They only list fast food options but S & I like to go out to dinner on the weekends and we normally stay away from fast food.

Basically I'll just have to pre-plan like crazy and decide what I'll have before we go, adjust portions accordingly & take a MUFA with me just in case. It's easy enough to pack a few sunflower seeds or almonds so it won't be the end of the world.

Weight wise I've lost another 2 pounds (as of this morning; I weigh myself entirely too much so I know it fluctuates day to day) & another inch on my waist/muffin top.

So this week my goals are:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins everyday.
3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 2 days a week.
4. Continue FBD's 28-day plan.

How did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!

"Trim the Fat" Thursday

Goals last week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day. Did it!
2. Take vitamins everyday. Did it!
3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 2 days a week. Sorta.
4. Start the 4 day jump start on Monday. DID IT!

Let's talk a little about the FBD 4 day jumpstart...

Part of it is drinking "Sassy Water". If you are going to try this diet DO NOT TRY this water. It sucked major ass. MAJOR.

I bought everything that was called for (mint leaves, cucumbers, lemons & ginger) made it up & then ended up throwing it out after one glass. Since then I've been drinking 2 liters of water everyday PLAIN or with lemon, but certainly NOT sassy.

Ewww.

The other bad things (for me) was eating a pint of tomatoes. I got about halfway through and thought I would hurl, so yesterday I ate till I was full instead of forcing myself to eat the whole pint. That worked so much better for me.

Other than those small issues, I didn't like the blandness of the food. BUT I know it was part of the jumpstart and not true of the other foods/recipes on the Flat Belly Diet. If you are like me & used to salt/pepper then make sure you pick up a bottle of Mrs. Dash. It was a lifesaver!

Today is my last day of the jumpstart and I'm proud to say that I did not cheat. Even with all my hormonal issues this week, I resisted temptation. It was tough to watch the guys eat cheeseburgers & taco salads while I had a HALF** a piece of chicken w/ rice & green beans, sans butter, salt or pepper.

**Yes, I said HALF. A serving size of protein should be 3 ounces, while a typical chicken breast is 6-7 ounces. Crazy huh.

Even crazier is that I was full after eating each meal. That just goes to show you that I was overeating like MAD.

Three days into the FBD and I've lost about 2 pounds & 1/2 inch @ the boobs, the hips & the muffin top. Not too shabby for three days of effort and NO extra exercise.

So this week my goals are:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins everyday.
3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 2 days a week.
4. Continue FBD's 28-day plan.

How did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!

"Trim the Fat" Thursday

Even though I didn't meet all my goals this week, I'm trying to stay positive. You remember all that baking I did on Sunday? Well I ended up gifting the cobbler & 99% of the pineapple zucchini cake. I only had one piece to try it, then the rest went with S to work.

It was a good idea to send them on their way...

Goals last week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day. Did it!
2. Take vitamins everyday. Did it!
3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 2 days a week. Not so much...
4. Finish reading the Flat Belly Diet. Did it!
5. Possibly start the 4 day jump start. If not start tracking calories. Still working on this one...

I made a grocery list to do the 4 day jump start but I haven't' been to the store yet. While making the list, I had to make some adjustments to the original menu because I don't eat tuna or mushrooms. (It looks like I'll be eating a lot of turkey and chicken that week.)

Initially I thought it would be easier to do over the weekend, but the more I think about it eating two meals at work and then only having to do dinner with the boys would probably work better.

So that means Monday is the BIG day. Wish me luck!

Goals this week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins everyday.
3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 2 days a week.
4. Start the 4 day jump start on Monday.

How did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!

"Trim the Fat" Thursday

While typing the title of this post, I wondered to myself if it was all a lie. I certainly haven't "trimmed any fat" since I've been participating in TTFT and it hasn't motivated me to exercise any more than normal.

Normal being very, very little.

That being said I have found myself ordering water (with lemon) everywhere, and yesterday I resisted the temptation to stop for a McD's sweet tea. Now THAT was hard...sweet tea is like my crack.

I knew that I hadn't gotten in enough water for the day and that if I bought the tea I wouldn't drink anymore. So even though the fat is still hanging out I have made some positive changes. Drinking water & taking my vitamins has become second nature to me.

And I figured out why I'm so hungry when I get home. After tracking what I eat for breakfast & lunch at work I could see that I was lacking protein. Typically I eat cereal for breakfast and leftovers or a salad for lunch. Snacks were fruit, sugar free pudding or fiber one bars. So very little or no protein.

To fix this I've tried eating peanut butter in the mornings and cheese in the afternoon & I think it's working.

Also per Angie's (& her doctors) recommendation I picked up the Flat Belly Diet from the library. I just started reading it but I'm considering trying it out. The only downsides so far is that most of the food listed is brand name, which means I will have to seek out alternatives that are similar in nutritional content. That equals to "pain in my ass" and "expensive".

Of course if losing weight were easy then we would not have an obesity epidemic in this country and I wouldn't be whining about any of the above.

~sigh~

Goals this week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins everyday.
3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 2 days a week.
4. Finish reading the Flat Belly Diet.
5. Possibly start the 4 day jump start. If not start tracking calories.

It's time to start looking at what I'm eating and adjusting my portion sizes. If the FBD doesn't seem the way to go for me, then I will just keep a calorie count of what I'm eating.

So how did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!

"Trim the Fat" Thursday

Welcome to another TTFT where I didn't meet my goals!

Blah.

This is what I had planned on doing this past week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
A lot of water was consumed this week- everyday in fact. But I know that it wasn't 4 glasses everyday. Blah.

2. Buy NEW vitamins.
I DID buy some new vitamins. They still suck ass, but not nearly as much as the others. They are smaller than my original multivitamins & I don't have to chew them so I'm trying to suck it up and just do it.

3. Take vitamins everyday.
Did & done.

4. Do 20 minutes of exercise 3-4 days a week.
Um, here is where my miserable FAIL comes in. I don't have any excuses...I just simply don't enjoy exercise. I might have even been lazier this past week then normal.

I have to find something to motivate me to get off my butt. It's stupid & frustrating because I know I need to do it, but the "doing" it part is not appealing.

Blah.

Goals this week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins everyday.
3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 3-4 days a week.
4. Start tracking what I'm eating.

I'm keeping the top 3 & I have a feeling it will always be on my list. As for #4, it's time to take a look at what I'm eating. I'm not going to count calories this week, but I want to see when I'm eating.

By the time I get home in the evenings I'm starving & that means I overeat at dinner time. Not something I want to do so I've got to work that out somehow.

So how did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!

"Trim the Fat" Tuesday (+ a ?)

I took a little break from TTFT last week since I was on vacation. I'm happy to say that I did consume lots of water (and sweet tea but that's another topic) & I got PLENTY of exercise. BUT...yes, there's a BUT...I didn't take my vitamins. Heck, I barely remembered to take my Yaz everyday.

Out of sight, out of mind. ~sigh~

Since I've been back, I'm still drinking water & taking my vitamins again. I'm not that happy about it, but I'm doing it.

My vitamins suck ass.

Initially I was taking a large, horse-sized multivitamin that nearly choked me every morning so I asked for recommendations. Someone suggested the chewable variety so I ran to CVS and picked up TWO bottles. (Buy one get one free- I couldn't pass that up!)

It's like chewing a large, horse-sized piece of "orange" flavored chalk. It is disgusting & I dread chewing them. I've even considered just swallowing them without chewing but I don't know how that would work once it's in my gut.

So here are my goals for the next week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Buy NEW vitamins.
3. Take vitamins everyday.
4. Do 20 minutes of exercise 3-4 days a week.

You'll notice I wasn't specific about the type of exercise. Instead of limiting myself to videos, I want to be able to count lots of walking or working outside in the yard. So basically my goal is just to get off my bootay.

So how did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!
***********************************************************

Before you leave me, I need a little advice.

It's time to paint my shutters...



...but I can't decide what color. HELP!

"Trim the Fat" Tuesday

Last week I decided to keep the same goals as the week before. Here's how I did with them the second time around:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day. DID IT! Even this weekend I made sure to get my water in...WOOHOO!
2. Take vitamins EVERYDAY. DID IT! I almost forgot yesterday but remembered right before I fell asleep.
3. Work out with Jillian 3-4 times. FAIL. I worked out once with Denise Austin, which was okay. She's a bit too perky for me so after I get the workout down I'm thinking of muting her.

I will add that on Saturday we walked the length of two malls, a flea market and a grocery store so while I'm not counting that as a "workout" it was more walking then I've done in a long time.

I'm not going to make any excuses. It's something that I definitely need to continue working towards.

Next week's goals:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins EVERYDAY.

I'm keeping the first two so that I continue to make the right decisions everyday. I haven't included exercise in my list of goals because I'm off from work and will be spending time with my friends. I know that some our activities will involve a fair amount of walking so I'm not too worried about scheduling time to make it happen.

So how did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!

"Trim the Fat" Thursday

Last week I discussed my lack of motivation when it comes to exercising and eating right. I put myself out there and announced my goals hoping that it would help to move me in the right direction.

Eh...maybe not so much.

My goals last week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins EVERYDAY.
3. Work out with Jillian 3-4 times.

The reality:

1. While I did drink water everyday, I only managed to meet my goal of 4 glasses on two days. Blah. I tried carrying water with me all the time & I cut back on the diet sodas, but that didn't seem to help. I'm just not a big drinker period - another problem in itself.

2. I did take my vitamins everyday, except for Saturday & Sunday. Apparently everything falls through on the weekends including this.

3. This was a complete FAIL. I only worked out once. One single time, when I thought I would die and subsequently went to bed at 9-ish.

Ugh. That was not a good attempt at meeting my goals at all. I admit it and I'm not going to make excuses for it. I suck.

I will not dwell on the bad though. This is a new week & I will work on the these goals for the next 7 days:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins EVERYDAY.
3. Work out with Jillian 3-4 times.

Yep, they are the exact same because I am determined to tackle these before moving on.

Persistence will pay off. Right?

"Lettuce" Shred

A couple weeks ago all I could talk about was Jillian Michaels and her torture exercise DVD - The 30 Day Shred. She was thoroughly kicking my tail each night.

Notice I said was.

After that week I took a break from it. That break has turned into an extended vacation. Now I would say it's more like a permanent separation.

But I don't want it to be.

My follow through with things that I really don't want to do - dieting, exercise, taking vitamins, cleaning - is awful. AWFUL. When it comes to these dreaded tasks my determination starts out strong but then comes to a screeching halt.

S recognizes this lacking quality in me. Sometimes he just makes a friendly comment...

"What happened to the diet?" as I greedily shovel Häagen-Dazs in my mouth.
"Shut up." I reply in between bites.

Other times he gives me a little push in the right direction. Like helping me look for sports bras in Walmart.

We found a three pack for 10 bucks that work pretty good when I wear two at a time. I only know this because I tried them on at home and did a test jumping jack. I have not actually wore them during a workout, and they mock me for it daily.

I know he only has my best interest at heart, and that he is just trying to support me in goals that I WANT to obtain. But that doesn't stop me from being a b*tch about it when he's "encouraging" me.

Truth is, it's not him I'm mad at. I'm mad at myself.

I hate that my motivation fizzles and that I end up quitting. I hate that my follow through is worthless. I hate that I fail myself every time I stop doing things to improve myself.

I don't know why I feel defeated before I even start. I don't understand why I have to work at it so hard and it comes natural to other people.

I've been following Angie's "Trim the Fat" Thursdays and I've decided to follow her example. Every week she lists her goals for the upcoming week. The best part is that she updates the following week, being very honest about how she did.

I think (or at least I hope) that trying this will hold me accountable. And that I will make obtainable goals.

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day. (I know it should be more, but I need a workable starting point.)
2. Take vitamins EVERYDAY.
3. Work out with Jillian 3-4 times.

So there is what I hope to accomplish this week.

Wish me luck! (Advice welcome!)