Feeling good

Normally I blog on Wednesday's guess I am a day late. Oops!!! I had my first week weigh in at WW on Monday and I was down 1.4lbs. I was happy with this, I had logged all my food and used all my points,plus all my weekly points even going over by 3. So I will take the 1.4. My frustration had come the week before when I did my initial weigh in and the scale at WW was 3lbs more than mine at home!! I am over that now!! I find that I am eating better and drinking more. I didn't go to the gym on Monday but I did the Shred DVD, I didn't go on Tuesday or Wednesday because I was LAZY and it was FREEZING COLD OUT!! That is an UN-motivator for me. I went today and watched Jennifer Hudson on Oprah, inspiring! What I didn't get about it is why her WW leader didn't want her to say how much weight she has lost, it was weird I thought!! I am hoping this week has a good outcome on the scale!!!! Gotta end this and get to bed going to work at 3am!! Better find some food, I always seem to be hungry when I work these weird hours. Gotta prepare!!!

Will change be good???

Well if you know me well, you know that I exercise and watch what I eat, I will look into and sometimes order all the new health books/ fads out there. My latest was the 17 Day Diet. I could open a used health book store with the books/magazines I have. Ok, maybe I don't have that many, but let me tell you alot of money is piled up into the corner. With that said I "changed" my plan once again. I decided that I would go back to Weight Watchers. Here is why, it worked for me before, lots of people I know are on it and seeing results, I NEED real food, and I feel it really is one of the best programs out there, for the fact that it is real food, and nothing is restricted, therefore when changing your lifestyle you aren't leaving out any foods, if that makes sense. I signed up for the program after my " free counseling/question/ answering e-mail sessions with Gym Girl. Thank you for the advice and encouragement to do do the program. I went to my first meeting on Monday and to by amazement weighed 3 more pounds on their scale than mine!!! WOW, that was a shock, however I wasn't discourage by that. I have done great this week with tracking what I am eating. That is a EYE OPENER!! Before I thought I was eating well, and now when I calculate the points for some of the things I was eating before it is "costly" to eat them. Better choices are out there.
I have become a fan of Hungry Girl, she now has a cooking show on Saturdays and has some EASY and really good ideas. When I have more time I will post some of the things I have tried and really liked. Today it was Tofu Shirataki noodles, I made the HG Alfredo. You can eat the whole bag of those noodles for 1PP!!!! I must say you have to get past the smell when you first open the bag but they really do taste good!!!

My family is not much on trying new things, so this is what I decided, I will make it and if they chose not to eat it, they can find something on their own. So I will probably be eating the same thing for a week as not to waste. hahha However, they may find it hard to find something to make that tastes good to them. I normally do the shopping and am not going to be buying extra stuff like chips and crackers and processed foods. There will always be PB&J!!! haha
I got my workout in this morning and will now head into work to do the 3-11 shift!! Then back to my 7-3 tomorrow. With that said I already made a Chicken Noodle Casserole for tomorrow night, all we have to do is pop it in the oven for 30 minutes when we get back from the gym!!!! I am on top of this planning thing!!!!!!! I know I will be tired tomorrow after working until 11 then back at 7 tomorrow!!!!

Off to a good start

I have had a great week eating, I am trying to follow the 17 Day Diet plan, however I have to add a few carbs in there, this girl can't function with a low number of carbs, that is not an excuse to eat them, it is the honest truth!! With that said I add them in sparingly. I have found a new favorite protein bar. It is the Zone chocolate chip cookie dough one. Yummy!! I have been having one of these after I get home from work and before I go to the gym. Just the perfect pick me up, however not on the 17 Day Diet Plan.

Exercise, hitting it hard with the cardio, the weights are starting to come slowly. I did the Shred DVD on Saturday and Monday and today I did 3 weight machines at the gym. Somehow I have to turn my workout routine around and do weights first then cardio, that way I will be forced to do the weights and not be tired after the hour cardio workout. I will work on figuring this out.

I have also joined a team for the Biggest Loser MN Challenge. It is FREE!!! You log your weight, exercise and nutrition all on line. It gives you your own stats as well as your team. It is good way to stay accountable!! It started on the 24th and goes until April 15th. I have done really well these first 3 days.

I was awarded the stylish blogger award last week, part of this is to tell 7 things about yourself so here goes!!!

1) I hate birds, any kind, I hate them all.

2)I hate Mace, why can't I be one of those people that aren't affected by it. I was reminded of my hatred for it today when we had to deal with a guy who had been sprayed. Um, didn't hear the radio call saying "irritant sprayed". It makes me cough to the point of almost throwing up, and my nose and eyes run uncontrollably. Next time A-Hole just comply with officer directives!!!!!! If you are wondering what it feels like,cut yourself some hot peppers then rub your eyes and nose!!

3)I like to try new recipes but they never seem to turn out like the picture or what they make on TV. I tried making Kale Chips this weekend, saw it on the Hungry Girl show. It stunk up my whole house and tasted like crap. She claimed it was a "knock off" for chips. NOT

4)I do feel better after I exercise

5)I would like to run a half marathon, but hate committing to things!!

6)I tell my co-workers that I am going to be nice for the whole day and not swear, they never believe me and it never happens

7)I say things how they are, I am known at work for the one who will stay what everyone else is thinking!! Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing!! hahah

Minor setback

My well laid out plan had a set back. On Friday we had to leave for ND because my mother in-law passed away. Sweetest lady one will ever know. Driving back on Friday I had told my husband that I had lost 3.5lbs since Monday, I was excited however I knew it wouldn't last. We were traveling, emotions were on the high side and friends and neighbors would be bringing tons of good food to the house and there would be no exercising.

Never fear I am prepared to be right back on track tomorrow. Food is all prepared and I will be ready to hit the gym after work. I have a spinach, red&green pepper and celery egg beater omelet for breakfast a turkey burger with no bun and yogurt for lunch, some jicima and tomatoes for a snack as well as the Dr. OZ Green drink. (an apple, cucumber, celery, and spinach, ginger, lemon juice and 4oz of water), I had to use lime juice and added a pack of truvia and some cinnamon to the mix.

My weekend project will be to change my ticker tape at the top of my page. That could be ugly. haha

Be true, be real, be strong.

17 Day Diet

As you can tell by the title and if you know me at all, you know I am going to try this "new diet plan". Here is the reason why, when I went back to work after being on vacation my co-worker "aka" personal counselor Romo said " do I look different to you" I said "you do" she said " how" I said " you've lost weight", her "can you really tell" me, " yes, I haven't seen you in almost 2 and half weeks". She had been doing the 17 day diet!! Now, unlike me she got the gist of the plan from another co-worker and didn't spend $30.00 on a book that contains all the info. Officer Romo has lost 6lbs in the first week and she cheated a bit on the plan. She is not obsessive about her weight like I am and only needs to lose maybe 10lbs if even. I started the plan on Monday, with only the info that she had given me, as I was still waiting for my book to arrive. Basically you eat 2eggs, 2 yogurts, 2 fruits (only a few certain ones)all before 2pm. Along with these items you can have all the protein and veggies you want. Only fat-free dressings and no condiments unless sugar free or sodium fee. The thing with Monday was I did really good during the day but choose to eat a cup of spaghetti and 2 pieces of french bread and spinach for supper, I had also worked out for 60 minutes. On Tuesday I did the same thing, ate well all day then chose to eat 2 tacos for supper, however I did not go to the gym. Today I did the same thing ate well during the day, went to the gym and did 40 minutes on the elliptical then came home and had lettuce with tuna, tomatoes, red peppers and some lite dressing. I was still starving so I melted cheese between 2 tortilla shells. Let me tell you..... something went very, very wrong and I got the worst stomach-ache and ended up in the bathroom. What happened there? Punishment for eating what I shouldn't have had. One day I will learn. hahah The thing with starting on Monday was lack of planning on my part, as I didn't' plan our supper meals with food I could have, like turkey or chicken. Enough with the not planning. As I am typing this blog, I have chicken breasts in the crockpot, enough for the next couple of days.

Here is how I will eat tomorrow. I will have a clementine around 7:30 and another one around 9 or 9:30. At 10:30 I will eat 2 egg beaters omelet style, with spinach, red peppers and celery and banana peppers, seasoned of course with a Mrs. Dash, tomato basil and a yogurt. I will be at work so if they have a cooked veggie I like I will have that as well. Around 1:30 I will have another yogurt and some sort of raw veggies. Supper will be veggies and chicken breast!! I have been drinking lots of water. I didn't have pop for 3 days until tonight when I just had to have it. Romo said no pop, but after reading the book, it says you can have dt. I think she tricked me so I would quit drinking it!! hahah The other co-worker has lost 10lbs and she is still on her 1st 17 days. If it worked for them it better work for me!!!!!! It says that you should exercise 17 min a day. I got that one down. This is a good plan for me, I think, I am such a carb junkie that this will force me to eat better. I have tried cutting carbs before and let me tell you I am not a nice person to be around. Even though I have had carbs the last 3 days I have not had near the amounts of what I would have eaten before. That is a good thing. Gotta go chop the veggies for the omelet. Be tough, be strong, be real!!!

Semi sort of on track

I am on track with the exercise. My goal for weights is 3x a week, today was the first day I did weights. I did a half hour of weight training on the machines at the gym. My intent was to go to the Body Pump class or do the 30 Day Shred DVD. Here is the 411 on that. The gym is SO CROWDED right now, all the people getting back on track. Good for them, but I just can't make myself go to a class that is so packed you can hardely move. I hope the class won't be as full on Friday or Saturday so I can go. Excuse, no because I actaully used the machines so I still got the weight training in. I did 45 minutes on the treadmill as well. I have had a little trouble with the eating, I can't seem to get full no matter what I eat. I try to make good choices, but I seem to give myself to many choices if that makes sense. It will come so I am not going to beat myself up over it, it has only been 3 days for me. I have been drinking alot more water so that is a plus. Be tough, be strong, be real!!!!!

Sugar, it really is in everything.

I have read many diet/nutrition books and articles in the past. They always seem to talk about sugar. I decided yesterday to check this out a bit more. What I really wanted to check out was how many grams of sugar = a teaspoon. Here is is 4.2 grams= 1 teaspoon. So in something so simple as a yogurt, which we think is healthy because it is low-fat and less than 100 calories, it has a bunch of sugar. I did buy one WW Berries and Cream yogurt today and it has 12 grams of sugar so 2.86 teaspoons of sugar. This flavor is low compared to some. So the question I have is how do you eat when trying to avoid hidden sugars and loads of sodium? I do need to google how much sugar one should have in a day. I have always seen it as "limit your amounts". I would like to find a more concrete answer. Anyone know how many grams you can safely have?

One place of focus for me in 2011 will be "hidden sugar". I am more of a salt person vs a sugar. I can pass on the cookies I want the chips. News flash, time to pay attention to sugar grams on the labels!!!
I got a short 35 minute workout in yesterday and today I got in 65 minutes. My plan is to continue to workout like I did in 2010, however I need and will add weight training to plan. I will start out doing the 30 day Shred or going to the Body Pump class. The challenge is the class is at 5:30 or 7:30, I get off work at 3. I will have to force myself to go to the gym when it is dark and cold out!! If I go by 4:30 I am good, any later and I just want to stay home!! I will make it work!!!

I have planned out my breakfast and lunch for tomorrow, my first day back at work in 12 days!! It's gonna be brutal!!!

I must say I have a much better mind set and feeling about what I want to accomplish this year. With that, I intend to make some noticeable changes!!!