Some days...

Some days you feel lost.
Some days you need a friend.
Some days you want a hug.
Some days you just need a place to spew your thoughts.
Some days you just need a place to vent.
Some days you just want to throw the towel in and give up.
Some days you want to fight.
Some days you just want to walk away.

Today, I feel a lot of these things.

There is so many things going on in my life right now.  While I try to eat well, I've not been.  I start my days off well enough and then somewhere along the line, my eating turns to crap.  It's easy.  This creates a viscous cycle. I eat something I shouldn't be... I feel bad... I want to eat more, because eating does something in my brain that makes me feel less sad/bad/depressed... So on and so forth.

My emotions are out of whack.  The medications I'm on are doing funny things with my brain and my body.  They maybe normal things for the drugs, but they're funny things to me.

The medications aren't the only thing effecting me.  I've had a really hard time of things with "the great move-out" and failure of relationship.  All of this happened at the same time and things snowballed.  Things within me, my emotions, feelings, thoughts...

I don't like feeling so... lost and out of control of my life.  Days like today, I want to throw the towel in and say "screw it".

But then I remember... no, I want to live a healthy, happy life.  I don't want to be in this cycle that I've been in for the past few months.

I've reached out for help from a friend and it helps, a lot actually.. He helps me with my eating.  We talk about our faith and are even listening to a sermon series together... which is helping me in my own faith tremendously.  Yet, I hate feeling so dependent on someone else for the help.  I feel like I need so much at times, that I'm going to end up smothering him with my thoughts and feelings... my crying out for help.  So I end up holding things back.  Which isn't going to help me in the long run.  I need to find a happy medium on reaching out for help when needed and trying to help myself some without feeling so lost.

I have a lot of things I need to work on.  My eating, my exercising, my faith, my health, my budget and spending and just general feeling like my life is on track.  I've been working on creating my list of goals for 2012 and my sub-list of goals for a six week Nerd Fitness challenge that starts on Jan 2nd. I'll be hitting on all of the areas I need to work on, but not in a way that I'll feel overwhelmed.  I need to remember that on top of everything I am a single mother who works full time.  There are only so many hours in a day and I need my sleep!

dietSNAPS Log - Dec 17, 2011

Dec 17, 2011 9:05 AM

Breakfast

Eggs and brisket!

Dec 17, 2011 11:40 AM

Snack

Making cookies at mom's house.. I tried 4. One of each kind.

Dec 17, 2011 2:40 PM

Lunch

Canned chicken, laughing cow cheese and BBQ/Tabasco/French dressing sauce.

Dec 17, 2011 5:25 PM

Dinner

Mcdonalds bacon angus burger and 1/3 of large fry.

Dec 17, 2011 10:00 PM

Snack

@Toni's - corn pops and gummy bears

Dec 17, 2011 10:30 PM

Journal Entry

Today's eating started off well, but needing to first watch my mom (she's sick) and then my Niece and nephew, it just went to heck. I'm not stressing about it.

Sent from my iPhone

dietSNAPS Log Dec 16, 2011

Dec 16, 2011 7:10 AM

Breakfast

Eggs, cheese, deli chicken and hot sauce.

Dec 16, 2011 8:10 AM

Journal Entry

I have a nasty ass of a headache today. I'm chilling out for a bit before I head to the doctor about the vasculitis. Hopefully today was my last steroid. I need to get back on track. I've not been eating as horribly as I was pre-December, but I've had a few setbacks. I'd like to see those stop. My goal for the rest of the month is to ignore calories and track using pictures and this app. I'll post to the blog at the end of the day. This will keep me accountable to y'all and myself. Eating is my largest part of the battle. Once I can handle this, I'll up my exercise again. Right now, I've just been walking. :)

Dec 16, 2011 8:40 AM

Journal Entry

Dr appt. BP- 130/82 Weight - depressing I have to stay on the prednisone.. It's only in my skin, but I still have to be closely monitored. She increased my cholchicine to twice a day. :(

Dec 16, 2011 12:50 PM

Lunch

Tuna patties with mustard, pickles, steamed sugar snap peas and a pear with cinnamon.

Dec 16, 2011 3:55 PM

Snack

Dark chocolate and pistachios!

Dec 16, 2011 7:25 PM

Dinner

Dickey's Brisket, green beans and pickles!

Dec 16, 2011 9:05 PM

Journal Entry

Today, albeit emotional, was a good eating day. I spent a lot of time thinking about where I want to go eating wise. I'm pondering following an autoimmune paleo protocol starting after the first of the year for six weeks and seeing what happens. I'm happy with my food choices today.

Sent from my iPhone

dietSNAPS Log - Dec 15, 2011

I'm testing seeing what happens if I email post my dietSnaps log. :)

Dec 15, 2011 6:05 AM

Breakfast

Eggs, salsa and bacon!

Dec 15, 2011 11:50 AM

Lunch

Holiday party... Salad and chicken

Dec 15, 2011 2:55 PM

Snack

Almond mix with dark chocolate and tea for the train.

Dec 15, 2011 5:30 PM

Snack

Ham and cheese snack.

Dec 15, 2011 7:30 PM

Dinner

Dinner out with family. Forgot to take a photo. Dinner was at Kelsey's Steakhouse. I had salad with garlic dressing, a porterhouse steak and red potatoes. Yum!

Sent from my iPhone

December 2011 Goals

I have decided that I'm fed up with the way I've been living for the past few months.  Sure, I've got reasons for it, but I'm tired of using excuses for not living a healthy active lifestyle.  Today, that changes.

I reached out and told a friend, I need help.  He suggested that I come up with a list of goals for the month of December as well as for 2012.  I'm still working on my 2012 goals, but they will be broken up into the same categories that I've broken my December goals into.

I've broken my goals into five "F" categories.  Fitness, Food, Faith, Family & Finances.  Each goal has a point value and there are bonus points earned for every pound I lose.  Based on the number of points I earn by the end of the month, I've given myself a list of rewards I can earn.  I created a Google Doc spreadsheet to track my points every week.  I'll post my progress every week as well.

December 2011 Goals:

Fitness:

• Workout 20 minutes on 20 days.  This could be any workout, as long as it's 20 minutes
• Restart the 100 push-up program.  3 push-up sessions a week.  These will be done on my knees

Faith:

• Attend 6 church services
• Read the Bible using the Bible App on my phone and the 90 day reading program
• Finish up the devotional: Need Him: Finding God using the Bible App on my phone
• Jonas & I will do the Christmas/Advent devotional readings

Food:

• 90% Paleo (Breakout: 50% fat, 20% carbs, 30% protein)
• 1 or less servings of fruit a day
• Aim for less than 100g of carbs a day
• Track food via MyFitnessPal

Family:

• One game night a week
• Two family fun nights (Jonas' choice)

Finances:

• $100 into saving account (min)
• $20 per week for offering

Total Goal Points: 400

Rewards:

• 400+ Points: Kinect Workout Game
• 300-399 Points: Movie Night
• 250-299 Points: Board/Card Game
• 200-249 Points: Book

Its been a while...

I realize it's been a while since I last posted.  So much has gone on, so many emotions have run high, I didn't want to post and sound whiney.

So what's happened?  (in bullet point list form!)

• The boyfriend-type moved out and away 500ish miles.
• I have some small blood vessel disorder and have been on a slew of medications to try and make it lessen,these medications are mainly a steroid and a toxin.  Fun, eh?
• I've stopped eating Paleo for a while due to recovering finances and mental health.
• I've stopped exercising for a while, mainly due to the flux of chemicals in my body and not knowing which way is up.
• I'm working on finding myself, again.  Doing this by going back to church, spending some time with me, thinking about where I am and where I want to be.
• Working fiendishly on increasing my knowledge in the Business Intelligence world.

So, now that all that has happened, what are my plans?

• I need to start eating better again.  I felt so much better, physically and mentally while eating cleanly. 
• My plan is to start following the bulletproof diet. This is a Paleo-esque diet.  
• Basically what I'll eat in a day looks like this: 1-2 servings of fruit, 4-6 servings of animal protein, 5-9 (50% of daily calories) healthy fats, 6-11 servings healthy vegetables. 
• Why?  There is a very strict layout of what is good, what you should avoid and what falls in the middle.  I need a better guideline than eat animals, fats and plants (fruits/veggies).
• I'll also start tracking my food again, mainly so I know how many servings of each I'm eating.
• I need to start working out again.  
• Right now, I have two walking races scheduled.  A 3 mile walk on Thanksgiving and a 5k a few weeks later.  Both of these are going to be done with Jonas.  
• I am not comfortable doing any jogging or heavy lifting right now.  Raking for 30 minutes made my hands break out into painful sores/rash from the vasculitis.  Until we can stop playing round robin with steroids and toxins and can get this under control, walking and some body weight exercises are about all I'm going to aim for.
• I need to make sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep at night.  Since I wake up around 5:30, that means bed by 10 at the latest for me.
• Go to church every Sunday.

That's about it for now.  As these plans start getting put into effect, I'll write more.  They will slowly get put into place as I am ready.  Today, I'm working on letting my adjust to the increase in steroids before doing more than making sure I get enough rest and don't eat everything in sight. It's one step at a time.  Baby steps for me.

Challenge #4 Begins

The new Nerd Fitness Challenge has begun.  A lot is happening over the next six weeks.  I planned my goals around that, planning for days that will be hard to stay on focus.

Eating Goals:

• Primal, following The Primal Blueprint
• Other than below mentioned events, there will be no straying.  If I stray, I shall have to do 200 kb swings (Thanks CB for the idea), and tweet it for my public (well, fellow NF-ers anyway) humiliation.

• Menu - Create and follow it
• Water!  Not Crystal Light, Water!  (Ok… tea and coffee too)

Fitness Goals:

• Following the Primal Fitness eBook, (except I'll be doing 3x Lift Heavy Things per week)
• 1 Day Sprinting - 50 Meter running sprints, 6x per session. (Sunday)
• 3 Days Lift Heavy Things - Push-ups, Pull-Ups, Squats, Overhead Press & Planks (MWF)
• 3 Days Play - These will be mostly Jonas lead activity days, min 30 minutes per day, can be broken up into multiple play sessions.  Total time aim is 2-5 hours per week. Walks during my lunch breaks count towards my total time here. (TRS)
• Side Note: Tuesday: Family Skate Night, $5.50 per person includes skate rental… Done!

Life Goals:

Events: 

This go around we're going to go with things that will be happening in the next six weeks and how I'm going to deal with them.

• Family Reunion 9/10 (aka The Family Hootenanny): There will be paleo friendly food.  I'll have it and nothing else.  I'll also stick with water to drink, no moonshine!
• Dad's Birthday 9/13: I'll bring my own food for dinner & have 1/2 cup of ice cream, no cake.
• The Big Move Out 9/24 & 9/25: A lot of emotions will be running high this weekend.  My goal is to stay on goal no matter what emotions hit me.  There will be NO binge eating.
• Sister's Birthday 9/29: She's due to be having a baby any day, I am off this day so I will offer to make dinner for everyone.  I'll also have 1/2 cup of ice cream.
• New Baby's Birthday (Someday soon!): I can visit the hospital and not eat bad hospital food.  I can eat before I go so I'm not tempted to eat on the drive to the hospital.

Personal Fun Stuff:

Because I need some fun and excitement in my life!

• I'm putting in a reading goal.  I read a lot, but never really kept track of the number of books or anything.  So my goal is 6 books, yep an average of a book a week!
• Knitting Project - 500 rows complete by end of challenge.
• Hang a rope from the big tree in the backyard, try to climb said rope!

It's Called Being a Responsible Adult Stuff:

• Relay the back patio (Yes, this will be fun.  Lifting 50ish bricks, laying black paper and sand then putting the patio back into place).
• Weed the flower beds, put down more mulch.

Baked Chicken Thighs & Patty Pan Squash

This morning started with a trip to a local farmer's market.  Every week when I go, I like to try something new. This week, it was a patty pan squash.

Thanks to a "Chicken Fairy" I also have a ton of chicken parts (legs, thighs, breasts).  So dinner tonight was a combination of Baked (and stuffed) Chicken Thighs and the patty pan squash.

So what did I do with the squash?  I cut it up, put some butter, salt, pepper & fresh basil on it and cooked it in the oven, at 425 for about 40 minutes.  The result?  Tasty.  Not something I could eat a ton of, but it was a good side to the dish.

Onto the chicken.  I chopped up half a red onion, a couple basil leaves, some butter and put it into a bowl with a spoonful of crushed garlic.

Then, I peeled the skin off the chicken legs some, making a pocket and stuffing a spoonful of that mix under the skin.

When that was all done, I brushed the skin with some olive oil and dusted it with salt & pepper.

Into the oven they went!  425 for about 40 minutes...

Golden, brown and boy was it delicious!

My plate.  I also cooked up some green beans I had gotten at the market with a bit of the red onion and added a side salad of cucumbers & tomatoes from my garden, tossed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. This dinner was totally primal/paleo. As you can see, it was a lot of delicious food, most of which I picked or bought from the farmer's market this morning.  It was easy and quick (an hour total) to make.

Overall, this dinner got two thumbs up and a full tummy.  The chicken was so moist and delicious.  I will be doing similar techniques in the future, trying different "stuffings".

What do you guys think?  Do you like seeing various recipes that I make from time to time?

We're Being Chased by Bears!

So I've been thinking about what to do for the next challenge. I decided that this week off between challenges is no excuse (especially when you consider I've not worked out in 2 weeks) to slack off.

So Jonas and I went to do a sprinting workout last night after dinner.

I told him we were walking to his school playground for our workout. He wanted to know if we were doing "rowboats". I explained to him, that no, we weren't doing body weight rows or lifting heavy things, we were going to play a game. So we discussed the rules for "We're Being Chased by Bears!"

Rules:
There were 6 sprints, running as fast as you could.
We'd map out approximate 50 Meters to sprint. (It ended up being around 30, I later calculated)
We would take turns chasing each other to pretend we were running away from bears.
If you were caught, you had to do 5 push-ups per time caught. First time, 5 push-ups... second, 10, etc.
The "predator" gave the "prey" a bit of a head start.
We would go into a "grok squat" between sprints while we caught our breaths.

We had a blast! I did one extra sprint where he timed me. I clocked in at just under 9 seconds.

When we were done, he asked if we could jog one lap of the laps he has to run for gym class. Since the laps are around his playground, and mostly rectangular, he decided that after the last turn we had to sprint to the end. We finished a lap in 1:25.

We then walked home, talking about how we were going to map our the rest of our week with workouts. He's very excited about both the body weight "Lift Heavy Things" workout as well as the "Play" workout, which he asked if we could do "rowboats" during the play if we did them during the lift heavy things. I told him he'd have to come up with fun stuff for our play "dates" but if he wanted to do the rows, we could.

We also talked about "eating our special way" and how he enjoys the variety of his lunch, but eating breakfast at my mom's house wasn't always easy to "eat special". She usually makes him pancakes or oatmeal and bacon/sausage. I figure the one meal is OK for him (given it's not all sugar), for now. He's easing into eating primally, later we can move his breakfast to something more primal too.

So, in short... my kid is awesome.

Challenge #3 Final Report

Report Time!

You'll notice a pattern below, I did good the first 4 weeks, the last 2, eh… not so much. This is due to the changes happening in my house and the amount of stress that is all bringing.

Eating Goals:

• 100% Paleo
  Not quite, but I think I did very good at this considering everything going on at home.
• Fruit 1 serving per day, choosing between: Berries or apple (apples are accessible if I forget my berries at home). Try to only do an apple once a week.
  I actually did really good at this. There were quite a few days where I didn't have fruit and didn't feel a pressuring need to.
• Nuts 1oz per day. These will either be pistachios (which I'm still trying to figure out how much 1oz is with the nuts in the shells) or almonds.
  Same as fruit, there were days I didn't have any nuts, and a couple I had more than planned.
• I will not be logging my food into a calorie counting program, however I will be logging everything I put into my mouth and my feelings each day. This is vital to me figuring out what my triggers are.
  I did really good for the first 4 weeks but the last two I didn't log anything. My triggers? Stress. Which I already knew.
• Create a weekly menu on Saturday for the following week. Post it. Follow it.
  Again, did really good the first 4 weeks. I need to keep doing this, it kept me on par for where I needed to be.

Fitness Goals:

• BW Workouts 3x per week
  I got these all in the first 4 weeks. The last two, I did maybe 2 workouts.
• Cardio (biking, walking, chasing my kid, etc) 2 hours per week
  This is the one I probably got closest to doing all 6 weeks. I didn't hit 2 hours each week, but I did get out and do things for all six.

Life Goals

• Knit every night on the Dr. Who scarf I started 2 years ago for my brother's birthday so I can finish it for his birthday this year. (Fun!)
  This so did not happen. The first 3-4 weeks I did alright, the last couple I so did not want to pick up those knitting needles.
• Take my kid to hiking twice, once at Starved Rock State Park and once at Indiana Dunes State Park. (Fun!)
  This didn't happen at all.
• Continue working on budget, cutting down spending such that I can put money into savings every month. (Adult)
  This I've gotten under somewhat of control. I've spent this six weeks trying to catch up on everything so I could implement the budget I created. We've been living on a very minimal budget because of this. Things should be even out in the next month. Five more months until my CC debt is paid off!
• Update my resume and put it out there to find a job closer to home. (Adult)
  I've not updated it yet. I did find it. Oddly enough, my boss is finding me a job elsewhere… with him. Hah!

Starting Weight: 273
Ending Weight: 276
- I did lose 6 inches over all my measurements tho.

This whole, I've not lost weight in so long thing is really pissing me off. I know stress is effecting it, but really, it's pissing me off. I still have quite a bit of weight to lose. I can use the excuse, "You've lost 140 already, you've got a lot of skin hanging around." But in reality, I have a lot of fat too. The fat should be coming off quicker and it's not. I can't fathom that I'm losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time. I really need to figure this out for the next six weeks or it's going to drive me nuts.

Overall Grade for this challenge? C

I've had some wins, some losses, but overall I averaged out somewhere in the middle.

Words

Words have been floating through my head for the past couple of days, but have escaped somewhere between my head and my fingers.  I have so much floating through that I lose the topics on my brain before I have a chance to get them out.

A new chapter in my life is in the works.  Things will be changing. Due to this, I need to do some changing as well.  Fear grips me when I think of all of the changes that will happen. My words and thoughts escape to the point I can't concentrate on anything but that fear. Yet, I know, change happens for a reason and because of change, we can grow. I know I will grow and become a stronger person in spite of these changes.

How will this effect my personal goals with my journey to a healthier person? I'm not 100% sure yet. Exercise has been difficult for me to get in for the past week due to some family obligations.  Since eating properly is 80% of the game for this journey, I am focusing on that.  I will exercise when I have time until things settle into a routine again.

Stress & Addiction

I am a stress eater.

To say that I've been stressed recently is an understatement. Due to the stress, I've done a lot of thinking about my own ties to stress and my addictions to food. I have noticed over the past few weeks that my drive to stick to my eating lifestyle plan (I am not on a diet, I am changing my eating lifestyle), has fallen by the wayside.  80% of the time, I do fine.  The other 20%, I fall way off my plan. Eating is a something you can do anywhere, no matter what you're doing.  It's an easy addiction to have when stressed.

Something better for me, say exercise, isn't as easy to do when I'm sitting at my desk, stressing over the idiots who are driving me to the point I feel I need something to eat.  Something, anything…

Somewhere, back in the recess of my mind, I know I could stand up, walk around, go outside or stretch instead of reaching for something to eat. Yet, there are days, I just don't. For this reason, I bring snacks to work.  Usually, snacks that are on my eating lifestyle plan.  Days like today, however, I get up, go for a walk and grab a bag of pretzels. Do the pretzels make me feel better? In the immediate, for about 30 seconds?  Yes.  After that, when my mind kicks in, or worse yet, my body says to me, "WTF did you just feed me?!", it is a resounding, very loud, "NO!"

So, my thoughts today revolved around, what can I do to feed my food addiction, when I feel the need to stress eat?  Other than actually eating?  I decided, I really need to make two lists.  One for while I'm at work, and one for while I'm at home.  Each list has 10 items on it.  My goal is to pick one of the items and do it.  If I still feel the need to stress eat, do another one… so on and so forth.  If I somehow manage to get through the ten items, then I will grab a healthy snack and write down what I'm thinking and feeling.

Non-Food Stress Relief For Work

• Get up from my desk (leaving my wallet & money), take the elevator downstairs, go outside and walk around the block.

• Drink a glass of water, don't sip, drink it all, top to bottom.
• Close my eyes and take 10 deep breaths.
• Turn on my "Dancing @ Work" playlist of bouncy tunes and dance in my chair.

• Open up Nerd Fitness Forum and gain some inspiration from others who battle the same things I do and still manage to succeed.
• Take a walk to the bathroom, do down dog in the lobby for 20-30 seconds.  Sit in chair and take 10 deep breaths.

• On really bad days, beat the living crap out of the office voodoo doll.  Preferably when the object of my stress isn't at my desk.

• Clean my desk.
• Walk around the office and look at the pictures of people we help, they are worse off than I am and desperately need my help.
• Angry Birds - blowing up pigs for 5 minutes should relieve stress.

Non-Food Stress Relief For Home

• Grab something heavy, lift it 10 times!

• Go out for a walk.

• Play a game with Jonas.

• Read a book.

• Watch a movie.
• Go to the park and play on the swings.
• Do my workout.
• Clean the floors, or walls/windows/table/whatever else needs cleaning.
• Drink a glass of water, a really big glass.

• Leave the room, go to my bedroom, lay down, close my eyes and concentrate on breathing deeply for 5 minutes (if I fall asleep, it's better than eating, right?!)

So there we have it.  I have a list of 10 things to do wherever I'm at that should help me stop stress eating.  I'll continue to bring my healthy snack to work (with an addition of roasted seaweed when I find it and pick some up) and have my scheduled snacks and meals.  But the between time, stressful eating will be replaced until I can get rid of the enormous amount of stress I'm under.

Week 4 Wrap Up

Week 4 Wrap Up

Eating Goals:

• 100% Paleo: Close? I had 2 meals that were not overly paleo.
• Fruit 1 serving per day: Saturday I had a few extra servings of fruit
• Nuts 1oz per day: I actually didn't eat nuts very much this past week
• Logged food: Even though I caught it up today, yes.
• Menu: Created and Followed pretty well.

Fitness Goals:

• BW Workouts 3x per week: Done. I started following the Primal Fitness workouts on Thursday (2nd workout of the week). I like the format, even though the reps are higher. I still have a ton of fat to lose, so as long as I gain a bit of muscle along the way I'm good.
• Cardio (biking, walking, chasing my kid, etc) 2 hours per week: Nope. I got about an hour in. Not overly worried about this one though. The higher rep circuit BW style workouts are a cardio workout too!

Life Goals:

• Knit Daily: I don't think I even looked at the knitting project this past week...
• Hiking: Sadly, this one isn't going to happen. Only having Jonas 3 weekends for the summer, we had other things that had to happen.
• Budget: It's... going. I'm hoping in the next 4 weeks (2 paychecks) to be all caught up with late payments.
• Resume: Found the external hd with the resume.

Overall? I'm happy with my progress so far. Which is by far the best measurement of my success.

Random Updates

I realized today that I've not updated in a while. So, as I am sitting here waiting for dinner to be ready, I figured it was a good time for an update of sorts.

Exercise Front:

This week I finally read The Primal Fitness eBook from Mark Sisson. I decided it was a really awesome set of exercises I could do at home (or a park) with excellent progression milestones.

Yesterday I did the self assessment and figured out what levels to start at. Not surprising! Level 4 in squats. Level 2 in push-ups. Level 4 in plank and Level 2 in overhead press.

Tomorrow I have a virtual date with some Nerd Fitness friends. We are going to do our workouts at the same time. It gives me motivation to push through and rock at my workout.

Eating/Nomming Front:

Things here are going really well. This week I gave up fake sugar (aka crystal light). I've had a goal to drink a gallon of water at work. Met it 3 days and got close the other two! I'm trying to get more protein in during the day. So far so good!

Life and Other Stuff Front:

I've not knitted much. Lack of desire.

I'm planning on hiking on Sunday afternoon.

Work and work possibilities are going swimmingly.

Bills should be caught up at the end of the month so I can stop living paycheck to paycheck.

Oh! And I got my bodyfat retested by the gym trainer. In 3 months, I've gone down 8%! Not only that, I stayed the same weight. Know what that means? Yep! I put on as much muscle as I lost fat. How awesome is that??

Well, food is here and it smells great. Time for me to bid adeiu!

Another week, completed!

Another week, completed!

Eating Goals:

• 100% Paleo - I did eat unpaleo yesterday, twice. I had popcorn while watching Harry Potter and a slice of pizza for dinner. Other than that, eating was very good!
• Fruit 1 serving per day: Done!
• Nuts 1oz per day: Pretty sure I went over the 1oz a couple of days. I roasted some almonds and they were too good.
• Logged food every day.
• Menu - Created and followed!

Fitness Goals:

• BW Workouts 3x per week - Done
• Cardio (biking, walking, chasing my kid, etc) 2 hours per week: Ugh, this one was only 1.5 hours this week! Miscalculated this one. Heh!

Life Goals:

• Knit Daily - 5 out of 7 days, not too shabby. Currently 18.23% Done.
• Hiking - None yet, pondering calling in sick next Monday to go hiking... erm.
• Budget - Right now I'm still living paycheck to paycheck while I get everything back evened up. By the end of the challenge I should be caught up and actually following the budget and saving monies!
• Resume - I've not found my old one, so updating hasn't happened. I have started looking for jobs and have figured out what I want to do (Bonus!). I want to stick with Business Intelligence, reporting writing and database stuffs.

Other Stuff: (y'know because it's my post and I can have an other stuff section!)

After taking my measurements and photos yesterday I was feeling quite... down isn't the right word, dejected by my progress is more like it. Yes, I lost inches. No, I really can't see much of a change. After having lost 150 pounds, you'd think I'd be used to this whole process. I'm getting stronger. I have more energy. I like to do things instead of like, sitting around and watching TV. I'm trying to figure out if I'm doing things right and if my body is just going to take this final stretch slower than previous ones, or if I'm doing something a little off. I know if I keep it up I will come out stronger and leaner, I need to keep faith in myself.

Rest & Hummus!

Update time again!

Thursday was a complete and utter rest day! No workouts. No knitting. I painted my nails after cooking a kick ass dinner, lol! Then threw my phone down the laundry chute because I was that tired. I was in bed by 9:30.

The Noms!

Let me just preference this with... I was HUNGRY yesterday!

Breakfast - Eggs, Tomatoes, Bacon
AM Snack - 2 Plums, 2 Hamburger Patties
Lunch - Leftover Pinwheely Chicken, Green Beans
PM Snack - Pistachios & Almonds
Dinner - Paleo Hummus w/ Carrot Sticks -n- Pork Fried "Rice" My favorite part of this... The Pork Fried "Rice" recipe says to cook the cauliflower until it doesn't taste cauliflower-y! That made me laugh!

Jonas LOVED the hummus. I think this will become a staple for his school lunches this year.

Another day, another sighting of awesome!

The Exercise:
Yesterday's workout started with a 5k bike ride with Jonas. He wanted to go home instead of going to a park to workout. So we opted for a longer ride and then a workout at home.

So what did I do as my workout? Fun stuff!

• Push-ups: 4 sets of 10. Each set was broken up into 5 full push-ups and 5 full-to-knee push-ups.
• Flexed Arm Hang w/ Band Assistance: 4 sets of 30s. I wanted to aim to work on the strength of holding myself up so that when I start doing negatives, I can go slow. By the last set, these were 3 holds of 10s for the set. The important part was that I did the 30s.
• Kettlebell Swings: 4 sets of 15. I attempted the one leg squats but it just wasn't working. While looking around, pondering what to do instead, I saw the kettlebell and thought, why not? I payed close attention to form.
• Full BW Squat Hold: 4 sets of 30s. What was this?! I went down into a full squat and held it for 30s. Why? Why not? (Seems to be the theme of my workout last night)
• Plank: 70s. I tried to do this for longer but my abs weren't having any of that!

The Noms:
Ok, let me preference this with... a day full of YUM!

• Breakfast: Blueberry Paleo Pancakes, Bacon, Clementines
• Lunch: Burger Patty, Green Beans
• Snack: Leftover Kebabs from previous night
• Dinner: Chicken Pinwheels, Squash, Carrots

Chicken Pinwheel - Ham wrapped up in chicken, wrapped up in bacon.
Sauteed and finished in the oven.... = YUM!

The Life:
Knitted on the train! I'm at... 17.27% done now... woot?

Week 3 Day 2 Upity Update!

The Exercise:

Yesterday was a rest day, on the workout front anyways. I did just that, minus some dancing around. Who doesn't like to dance around (y'know, when no one else is looking and you can act like a fool while cleaning the kitchen and cooking...)?

The Noms:

Breakfast - I did some whacky things! I had Bacon and made some paleo pancakes (eggs with almond butter). Good stuff, a little dry though... I may fiddle with it some more.
Snack - Clementines & Almonds
Lunch - Leftover Sausage & Cabbage "Noodles" with some Green Beans
Dinner - Snacked on Almonds while I cooked. Had a couple of the Lebanese Kebabs and a spoonful of broccoli. Apparently I wasn't hungry.

The Life:

Knitted! I finished up the 44 rows of grey I had been struggling through and started green! Through right this very minute, I'm at 16.31% done! So that's 170 rows of 1,042 done... only 872 more to go! (Yeah, I might finish it by November).

On the job front... Things are becoming very interesting... I got asked yesterday, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" from my boss. :)  More on this later, I'm sure.

The Other Random Things:

I noticed a couple of things yesterday:

• My boobs stick further out than my tummy. (WIN!)
• I notice fit people more.
• I notice unfit people more and feel sadness, wishing I had the guts to tell them they could do so much more with their lives if they cared about themselves.

Rowboats? Not today!

Update time!  Week 3 Day 1 - Status: Complete & Rocked!

The Exercise:

Jonas and I did our bike ride with stop in the middle for strength training. We rode down a hill to the park, which Jonas thought was awesome.  So awesome, that while I was doing push-ups he was riding up and down the hill, laughing.  It was so hot out, that we aimed for streets with sprinklers on so we could ride through them!  LOL!

Side story, Jonas calls body weight rows, rowboats.  He wanted to know if I was doing any rowboats today!  It cracked me up!

The Workout: In Circuit Style with rest enough that I could walk between stations.

• Back: Rows with Body Band: 4 sets of 15
• Upper Body: Incline Close Hand Push-Ups: 4 sets of 15
• Legs: 15 split squats each leg, 15 box jumps, 15 step ups each leg, 15 box jumps (variety, baby!)
• Core: 10 Legs up in the air slowly going down while laying back on the slide, 60s plank, 30s plank while feet on the swing (yeow!)
• Finishing Move: Jogged a lap around the parking lot with Jonas!

The Noms:

• Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon & Tomato Slices
• Snack: Clementines
• Lunch: Pork & Green Beans
• Snack: Sugar Snap Peas & Pistachios
• Dinner: Sausage with Cabbage "noodles" (YUMMY Stuff!)

I drank a lot.  Didn't feel overly hungry all day.  Good stuff.

The Life:

• I worked on the knitting project on the train.  Got some more done.  Woot.
• Budget is depressing, I'm not looking at it until I get paid on Friday.

Current Challenge Week 2 Summary & Look Ahead to Week 3

Firstly, the Week 2 Summary

Can I just say week 2 sucked?  I fell off the wagon so to speak. I did pretty well up until Friday evening.  I could give you a bunch of excuses but that is what they'd be.  Excuses as to why I didn't stick to my plans.  So instead, I'll give a summary of my week and just let y'all know I'm back where I need to be today.

The Exercise Goals:

• I did 2 of my 3 strength training workouts
• I only did about 30 minutes of cardio

The Eating Goals:

• I didn't eat Paleo so much from Friday evening through Sunday evening.  About 70% those 2.25 days.  The rest of the week was at 100%.
• Fruits & Nuts - I did good with these on the days I stayed on plan.
• Overall?  I think that it was 23 out of 28 meals I ate according to my goals, so that's not overly bad.

The Life Goals:

• Firstly, I leveled up my life by completing the SSAS (SQL Server Analytical Services) training and doing a damn good job at it.
• Knitting?  I think I knitted... maybe 3 out of 7 days.
• Budget... working on this one still, basically living paycheck to paycheck and I hate it.

A look ahead to week 3

The Exercise - I told Jonas last night I want to do what we did last Thursday.  Ride our bikes to a park, do our strength workout and ride home again this week.  We have plans to do this Monday and Wednesday.  Weather permitting we may ride on Thursday just for a ride.  I'll do my 3rd strength training on Friday night after I get home from dropping Jonas off.  I'm also going to plan a bike ride for early Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The Eatings - Menu is created!

The Life - I knitted this morning.  Budgeting will be done more in Excel to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Resume must be worked on.  Hiking - Jonas really isn't home over the weekends until school starts.  I may have to rethink this goal.

Upity Update!

Today's Update!
The Exercise:

Ok. So today I had to do a strength workout, right? I blew past rank 1 and 2 of my squats. I gots me some strong legs, y'know, from carrying around weight for so long. Anyways, back to the story. Jonas (that would be my 5ft 9 year old) wanted to ride bikes when we got home. How could I deny him some exercise? So I thought, "Well I can use the bike ride as my warm-up." As we rolled out, I got to thinking... We were going past a park. I could stop at the park and get my strength workout on. Right? Right! So that's what we did. We rode about 2 miles to the park, stopped and I looked around to decide how I was going to do things.

Push-ups? Easy. I'm on incline push-ups, plenty of things to do those on. 4 sets of 15. Squats? Plan was to do jump squats. My knees didn't like that plan. I looked around... park bench! I could try box jumps (bench jumps?)! The bench was about 18 inches from the ground. Epic win! I did 4 sets of 10! I did these 4 sets circuit style without breaks.

Back and abs? Hmm. I could do body weight inverted rows again, sure. But I wanted something fun. Something different! I tried doing the monkey bars to work on my grip and strength there, yeah... not so much. Lol! So I did what any self respecting woman does... I got on the swings and just started swinging. Yep! Did you know if you pay attention to form, swinging works your upper body (arms and back), legs (from pumping) and your core! Tie that in with me loving to put the swing on my back and kicking my feet overhead and lowering them to the ground lowly... I had my back and ab workout! Sweet! (I did this swinging thing for about 5 minutes total)

Hopped back on our bikes and rode home. I feel awesome!

The Noms:

I'll be the first to admit (who else will admit it for me, c'mon, really?) I ate like crap today. I woke up late (I have the not getting enough sleep bug going around) and didn't have time to make food for my training class. Breaks during training didn't allow for us to really leave, so I was stuck eating what was given, plus what I grabbed at 7-11.

Breakfast - 2 eggs, banana & protein bar
Lunch - Sub Sandwich & Salad
Afternoon Snack - protein bar & pork rinds
Dinner - (Redemption?) Zucchini noodles, Pasta Sauce with leftover meat (beef, turkey, pork all chopped in the food processor)

The Life:

No knitting again today. I'm hitting the shower after posting and then the bed.
Finished up my 3 day training, leveling up my life. Now I just need to figure out a plan for implementing what I learned at work. I will be putting this training on my resume as well. Makes me more marketable.  Business Intelligence Specialist - FTW!

Week 2 Update Days 1 & 2

Monday was one of the two days I actually get to go into the office this week, separated by Friday by three days of training, which has been fun! Does that mean I can be a slacky?  Nope!

Day 1 - Monday

The Exercise:

BW Brigade Workout B

BW Rows - 15,15,15,15 (Rank 2 -- COMPLETE)

Close Grip Push-Ups -  2/8, 5/5, 5/5, 5/5 (I couldn't do these at an incline so I did half/knee)

Lunges w/ Weight - 15, 15, 15, 15 (Rank 2 -- COMPLETE)

Planks - 90s, 90s, 50s, 40s

The Noms:

Breakfast - Bacon Veggie Frittata, Melon

AM Snack - Protein Bar, Mixed Raw Veggies

Lunch - Chicken Breast, Carrots

PM Snack - Almonds

Dinner - Little Bit of Chicken (wasn't hungry after workout)

The Life:

I knitted on the train (my brother normally rides with me every day but Monday, since the scarf is for him, I can't normally do this… I got about 15 rows done!)

Day 2 - Tuesday

The Exercise: Rest Day, just normal walking around and aiming to stretch during breaks of training.

The Noms:

Breakfast - Bacon Veggie Frittata, Melon

Lunch - Meat from provided Sandwiches, Mixed Raw Veggies & Pot Roast

PM Snack - Pot Roast, Almonds, Pork Skins (I was hungry on the way home!)

Dinner - Secret Shop @ BW3 - Wings, Salad & 1/2 beer (I really don't like the stuff but I had to pretend I did for this shop)

The Life:

I'm upping my life by doing this SSAS training… and I got this cool shirt!

Week 1 Quick Summary & Week 2 Menu

I'm in a Microsoft sponsored training for SQL Server Analytical Services for the next couple of days so I'm going to only be doing a quick summary and stuff. :)

Week 1 Summary

Exercise Goals - Met.  I got in all my strength training workouts without issue.  My cardio of 2 hours was met with some cardio dancing on Sunday! I've gone through rank 1 all the exercises and completed rank 2 of the squats during week 1!

Eating Goals - I had a little stray off paleo on Saturday but right back to the way of things.  I feel good about this goal. I strayed a little from the menu but it helped greatly in keeping me from going grabbing fast food or something if I didn't feel like cooking.

Life Goals - I knitted 6 out of 7 days.  I went on a hike with the kiddo, but it wasn't one of my planned ones. I've also done a little work on the budget.

Week 2 Menu

This week will be interesting for a couple of reasons.
- I'm in training 3 days with provided lunches (no idea what they are, but I plan on bringing things just in case.
- I have a secret shop to do tonight at Buffalo Wild Wings
- I have to drive 2 hours on Friday after work.

These are things I have to deal with though, so I'll push through!

Days 5 & 6

Day 5 - I had the day off to take my kid to the eye doctor. While his vision appears to be fine, his pupils don't constrict like they should and could be the cause of his headaches.  He's going to get reading glasses that should aid in the strain on his eyes.

My legs were so sore, I was wincing every time I sat down and stood up.  I opted to make it another rest day and push my strength workout to day 6.

The Exercise:

Nada, I cleaned and rested!

The Foods:

Eh, I kinda ate out every meal... Not proud of that but we were doing a lot of running and it was just easier.

Noms Nommed:
Breakfast - Veggie Omlette, Bacon & Small Fruit Cup
Lunch - Green Beans, Grilled Chicken from KFC, Cole Slaw & Couple Potato Wedges
Dinner - Chicken Wings, Salad & Celery

The Life:

I think I knitted one row before I opted to go to bed.  Heh.

Day 6 - Today!  I scored fabulous at the local Farmer's market, completed a secret shop and chilled at home for a bit.  Then I started grilling and getting my workout in.  Finishing the day up by cuddling with my kid and doing some knitting.

The Exercise

Cardio - Cutting grass in this nasty heat... then I hopped in the pool.  I'm counting this at half time for cardio for the week at 30 minutes.

BW Brigade A:
Push-Ups (Incline) - 10, 10, 10, 7
Body Weight Rows - 10, 10, 10, 10
Squats (Overhead) - 15, 15, 15, 15 (Finished Rank 2)
Side Planks - 75s, 60s, 30s, 30s (Ugh, I just couldn't hold them)

The Food:

I had a "situation" after my cutting the grass and time in the pool... I was hungry, at my parents house and had an ice cream sandwich followed by peanut butter filled pretzels. The important thing?  I admitted it and didn't hide it away.

Noms Nommed:
Breakfast - Chicken Breast & Green Beans
Lunch - Turkey Burger wrapped in lettuce, various veggies from the farmer's market
Snack - Protein Bar
Snack 2 - Bacon, Ice Cream Sandwich, Peanut Butter filled Pretzels, Cashews
Dinner- Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon, Steak, Asparagus & Red Potatoes with cantaloupe for dessert!

The Life:

As soon as this is submitted I'm knitting while Jonas and I watch Den Brother.

A New Use for Leashes

Happy Friday! Log for day 4!

The Exercise:
I didn't exercise, I rested. It was hot outside yesterday. I also had to spend 2+ hours traveling in a car after work. I did some stretches, but started feeling the soreness from Wednesday's workout!

I did some research about what I can do to do body weight rows from my chin-up bar. I found a site where it showed old dog leashes tied to the chin-up bar, making use of the handles. Then you can use the same leashes to do push-ups too. So I'll be looking for some cheap thick leashes this weekend!

The Food:
I stopped at the Farmer's market on the way into the office. Lemme tell you, this makes my day. I grabbed some zucchini, bell peppers and broccoli. Let me tell you a story, I cut up a purple bell pepper for my breakfast. While I was in the kitchen, one of my co-workers came in asking what I was eating. When I told her she looked shocked. Not that I was having a turkey burger for breakfast but at the fact that I eat raw vegetables. I told her to try a bite of the pepper, they were a bit sweet but not overly so. She nearly gagged after she put it into her mouth. She said she doesn't like the taste of vegetables. She can stomach them if they're cooked and covered in sauces... I couldn't fathom that. How can a person not enjoy vegetables? They are so tasty!

Anyway! My food yesterday... I was hungry for breakfast and lunch and then not overly hungry after lunch. Since I had to drive, I opted to grab something "out" for dinner.

Noms Nommed:
Breakfast - Turkey Burger w/ guac & salsa, bell pepper
Snack - Almonds
Lunch - Chicken Breast & Zucchini (raw)
Dinner - Pickle & Turkey/Bacon unwich from Jimmy Johns
Snack - Almonds

The Life:

Due to the fact I wasn't really home, I only got 3 rows done on the knitting last night. But I'm all good with that. What's important is I did something!

Another day and some Broccoli!

The Exercise

My plan to get up early and work out was stifled by my insistence of hitting my alarm clock snooze button. I worked out when I got home from work, warming up by pulling weeds in 100+ degree heat and then dancing around my living room. I chose not to do a back exercise last night.  I don't have a good apparatus at home to do body weight rows on.  My kitchen table is too low to the ground and I don't feel I'm getting a good workout with it.  I am going to look at getting something to attach to my chin-up bar for this. (A stick with some rope comes to mind right now, lol!) My push-ups and lunges were done as a circuit, with rest cycles spent getting dinner ready. The last circuit, I was yelling while counting, hoping to give myself inspiration to push through the workout.  It worked!

BW Workout B Stats:
Close Hand Push-ups: 4 sets of 15 = Completion of Rank 1
Lunges: 4 sets of 15 = Completion of Rank 1
Planks: 4 sets of 60s = Completion of Rank 1

I've successfully completed Rank 1 of my workout plan... Friday's workout will be Rank 2 exercises!

The Food

Oddly enough, I went between not being hungry and being famished a couple of times in the day.  I had fruit and nuts yesterday for my afternoon snack.  While the snack is tasty, having raw veggies seems to be more filling.  I may play with that a bit next week.  Even with a stressful day, my eating was good.

Noms Nommed:
Breakfast - Leftover Shrimp & Veggie Thing
Lunch - Turkey Burger & Green Beans
Snack - Blueberries & Pistachios
Pre-Workout/Pre-Dinner Snack - Snack size slim jim
Dinner - Turkey Burger & Broccoli (The entire head that I picked from my garden!  YUMMY!)

Broccoli from MY garden!

The Life Goals

I knitted another 10 rows!  That moved me to being 11.71% done!  (Yes, I'm that much of a geek that I have a spreadsheet that I keep track of what I've done and what I've got left to do)

Day 2 - Quick Update

The Exercise:

I got up early again and hopped on the bike for a short ride. 5:30 am it was 88 and 94% humidity!  In other words, it was kinda nasty.  I'm glad I got out and got some exercise in. The ride was 23 minutes and 3.79 miles.

The Noms:

I was hungrier today than I was yesterday, which makes sense as I'm usually hungrier the day after I work out.  I ate when hungry, but didn't eat things I didn't have on my plan.

Noms Nommed:

Breakfast - Snack Stick, Cucumber, Leftover Chicken Stir Fry

Lunch - Chopped Chicken Salad

Snack - Mixed Raw Veggies

Dinner - Shrimp, Green Beans & Sweet Potatoes sauteed with butter and garlic

Dinner!

The Life Goals:

I did some knitting while watching Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition.  I only did 4 rows, but that is 4 more than I had the day before. :)

Day 1 - New Beginnings

Day 1 of New Challenge was a resounding success!

I started the day off with a bang! 

The Exercise:
I woke up and hopped on my bike for a warm-up before my strength workout.  My warm-up ended up being nearly 7 miles! I got home, nice and sweaty, turned on some music and got busy with my strength workout. Between sets I cleaned out my kitchen pantry, putting all the stuff I'm not going to eat into bags to give away.

My Body Weight Workout:
4 circuits of:

• 15 Push-ups On Knees (Rank 1)
• 15 One Arm Rows with 30lb dumbbell, each arm (Rank 1)
• 15 Squats (Rank 1)

Side Planks, 2 sets each side, 60s each with 60s rest between sets (Rank 1)

I completed my Rank 1 of all the exercises!

The Noms:
Not logging my food into a calorie counting program, but writing it in a notebook was interesting. I found this little notebook I had forgot getting from a coworker for Christmas. It works well as it's small, has a pen and reminds me to keep calm!

So how was nomming?  Good!  I didn't eat what was planned for lunch.  I wasn't sure if there would be a luncheon after the funeral I attended or not.  There was, however there were no veggies (that weren't in pasta).  So I swapped out my blueberries for a salad for my snack.

Noms Nommed:
Breakfast - Eggs scrambled with bacon, squash & onion
Lunch - Pot Roast & Ham
Snack - Salad, Pistachios
Dinner - Chicken Stir Fry (Veggies in play: Cabbage, broccoli, green beans and roasted red peppers)

Chicken Stir Fry

Feelings throughout the day?  I didn't stress eat.  Dinner, I ate because it was 7pm, but I wasn't overly hungry.  Which doesn't surprise me.  I'm generally not overly hungry on strength training days, but the day after.

The Life Goals:
I worked on my knitting project while watching 300 before bed.  Finished up one color and get to switch to a new color tonight!

I also got a lot of cleaning done, including carrying up tiles from the basement to the trash.  This goal has been on my list for a year (remove tiles, carry up, sweep & paint)!  All I need to do now is clean and paint!