Quick check in this evening to share a recipe and talk about work, new goals and what is going on.
Work yesterday went well. It is definitely going to be tough getting used to working again, but I think after about a week I'll start getting into a groove. The machine I am going to be on is a lot more active than the others, so I'll be burning tons of calories all day- definitely an added bonus to the new job! I am SUPER happy about that!
I have decided to stop weighing myself for a couple of weeks. The next time I plan to weigh myself is May 18. It is just too stressful. I hate not seeing a lot of change (weight wise)! It is so discouraging. Whats crazy is that im not seeing a lot of weight loss, but I am seeing inches lost finally. Today I measured myself and I have lost an inch on my hips, and inch on my waist, an inch on one thigh and 3/4 on the other, and about a half of an inch on my shins. :) So, I am seeing changes physically, which is nice... I am definitely going to focus on that rather than the scale for a while. The other change I am enjoying is the change in my fitness. I am definitely improving in all aspects of my "in shapeness" including cardio and strength. SO - I am going to focus on positive changes and hopefully on the 18th Ill see big changes on the scale too.
The other thing I am going to do is give up candy again until JT gets here (and possibly beyond). I just don't need it and if I make a commitment to give it up I WILL. So, now I am committed to all of you! :)
Now I am going to share a recipe with you. I read a blog called Keeping It Clean
(The blog is linked to its name) Anyways, she has a great recipe for some protein bars. My friend Melanie made them and LOVED the taste, but said they got a little dry in the fridge. She did change the recipe a bit so it may have been her changes or maybe you just have to eat them quickly? Not sure - they sound great though so I think they are worth a try!
J&J (Jim and Jamie) Protein Bars
Ingredients:
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour (or Oat flour)
4 Egg Whites
2 scoops Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
½ cup Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal
½ tsp Baking Soda
¼ tsp Salt
8oz Gerber's Organic Berry and Banana Blend baby food
3 tbsp unsweetened baking Cocoa
1/2 cup Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal oats
1/3 cup slivered almonds
4oz Water
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients (oat flower, vanilla whey protein, baking soda, salt, baking cocoa) together in a large bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients (egg whites, Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal, Berry flavored Baby Food,Water) together in a medium sized bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together. Add oats, chocolate, and almonds.
5. Spray cooking dish with a non stick butter spray and add batter to dish.
6. Bake 20-30 minutes in oven.
Makes 16 squares, serving size is 2 bars.
Calories per 2 bars: 200
Carbs: 28 grams
Fat: 6 grams
Protein: 14 grams
Fiber: 6 grams
If any of you make them let me know how they come out and if they get too dry for you too.
Besides not weighing myself (don't know if I said this already in my last blog or not) but I started half-marathon training this week - I know I said I was going to wait for next week, but I did all but one of the runs this week and decided I will start with week 2 Monday. I did a 3 mile run today and will do 5 miles tomorrow. :) Should be fun! lol! I am using the Hal Higdon plan for training. It is the same program I used last time I ran a half and I felt very prepared.
Alrighty, headed to bed - please feel free to share some recipes, links, information, successes etc... I love the comments and feedback! thanks for reading!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Successful Day
Day 1 of work was definitely successful! Not only in terms of what i'll be doing and how I feel about the company, but also eating wise. :)
Avery is going to be an enjoyable company to work for - they care about their workers and they make it a point to let them know. Everyone was very nice and based on how the employees talked, it was apparent they are actually very happy there. I also found out I will be on the "editor," which means I won't be working with any of the glues or solvents... thank the lord! That was one of the things I was very concerned about!
As far as eating and drinking water goes I will be fine. They have a huge break room with 100's of choices of Kuerig coffee flavors and a microwave and a refrigerator!
So, I got home tonight around 515. I was absolutely exhausted (still am). Not that I did anything that hard today, it was just a long day and I did a lot of walking! Anyways, I really didn't feel like going to the gym, but I did anyways. :) I absolutely didn't want my first day to start off with me skipping the gym and eating bad so I didn't allow it to.
I am really starting to realize how much getting in shape and eating is about mind over matter. I make decisions about what I am going to do - my choice is to work out and eat right or not to... I feel great because I am at almost 6 weeks of working out and eating right with no breaks, no slack offs and I still have so much motivation and passion. I can do this forever, and I think that is the goal - to develop habits you can continue even after you hit your goals.
Something else I wanted to talk about today is failure and discouragement. I have a dear friend who is really struggling to commit herself. Every day she will commit and then she struggles and ends up spiraling out of control. I have been there in the past and know that feeling plagues all of us at times. We have to get our minds in the right place... We all go through times that we REALLY want to do something, but for some reason we just can't or won't do it... Where this becomes difficult is in re-committing every day. If you have failed 10 days in a row will you continue to commit in the fear of failure? I hope so - because every single time you fall down you have GOT to get back up. It doesn't matter how hard it is, you've got to keep fighting until you succeed. It takes more than that of course - you have to work too - but the point is that there are so many hardships we face in this life and if at the first sign of failure or adversity, if you quit, you won't ever get anywhere. I found a couple of great videos that I find inspirational and I hope they will help motivate all of you to keep working toward your goal - keep fighting to succeed and get back up.
Thank you for reading!
Avery is going to be an enjoyable company to work for - they care about their workers and they make it a point to let them know. Everyone was very nice and based on how the employees talked, it was apparent they are actually very happy there. I also found out I will be on the "editor," which means I won't be working with any of the glues or solvents... thank the lord! That was one of the things I was very concerned about!
As far as eating and drinking water goes I will be fine. They have a huge break room with 100's of choices of Kuerig coffee flavors and a microwave and a refrigerator!
So, I got home tonight around 515. I was absolutely exhausted (still am). Not that I did anything that hard today, it was just a long day and I did a lot of walking! Anyways, I really didn't feel like going to the gym, but I did anyways. :) I absolutely didn't want my first day to start off with me skipping the gym and eating bad so I didn't allow it to.
I am really starting to realize how much getting in shape and eating is about mind over matter. I make decisions about what I am going to do - my choice is to work out and eat right or not to... I feel great because I am at almost 6 weeks of working out and eating right with no breaks, no slack offs and I still have so much motivation and passion. I can do this forever, and I think that is the goal - to develop habits you can continue even after you hit your goals.
Something else I wanted to talk about today is failure and discouragement. I have a dear friend who is really struggling to commit herself. Every day she will commit and then she struggles and ends up spiraling out of control. I have been there in the past and know that feeling plagues all of us at times. We have to get our minds in the right place... We all go through times that we REALLY want to do something, but for some reason we just can't or won't do it... Where this becomes difficult is in re-committing every day. If you have failed 10 days in a row will you continue to commit in the fear of failure? I hope so - because every single time you fall down you have GOT to get back up. It doesn't matter how hard it is, you've got to keep fighting until you succeed. It takes more than that of course - you have to work too - but the point is that there are so many hardships we face in this life and if at the first sign of failure or adversity, if you quit, you won't ever get anywhere. I found a couple of great videos that I find inspirational and I hope they will help motivate all of you to keep working toward your goal - keep fighting to succeed and get back up.
Thank you for reading!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Big Day Tomorrow
I start work tomorrow! AHHH! I am so nervous!
It should be a good day though - I am looking forward to finally making some darn money at least.
Here in a few minutes I am going to go down and pack my lunch - I will be working every week day so I could really use some ideas about what to get that is healthy and holds up well. I don't know if I will have a microwave and I can't afford grass-fed/organic lunch meat so sandwiches are out. I have enough grass-fed roast beef to take tomorrow. I also have an apple to take... maybe some protein bars - but I'd like some ideas so I don't have to eat the same things all the time. :) Hmmm I wonder if I can have my water bottle while Im working? If not what do I do? shoot... didn't even think of this.
Today has been a great day. My headache that Ive had for three days finally went away and I had an AMAZING workout today. I started by going to the track to run- but it was really soggy and icky so I did 10 sets of stairs and came home. From here I ran 2.5 miles, then I got home and jumped on my bike and headed to the gym (1.4 miles) I did a leg workout and then road home. :) I feel great too!
I had a pretty interesting thought during my workout... I had done the stairs and then come home and did the run and as I was finishing up I was thinking about riding my bike to the gym... I was trying to decide if I should do it and I thought "well, i've already done a lot of cardio, I can drive there and probably avoid getting stuck in the rain while I'm at it!" "I don't want to overdue it either..." then I decided to change my thinking - "I need to push myself...I know I can do this!" I found myself justifying the fact that running 2.5 miles was enough.. and yeah, maybe it was - but why not go a little further? Why not save some gas and get in a little more work? Well, I did that, I rode the bike and I really feel accomplished.
That is something to really think about - how much further can you push yourself? Do you ever give it everything you have? I have really started to realize that I don't push myself nearly enough. I can ALWAYS give more and my plan is to start doing that.
Ok, I have some excellent articles to share! I've been stock piling them! haha Ill only post two today though so I have more for other days.
This first one is a list of 40 healthy snack options (maybe I should take my own advice and pack some of these for work! lol).
http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/40-crunchy-and-creamy-healthy-snack-ideas-under-200-calories
Article number two is a "healthy" brownie recipe. :) It is more complicated than the regular black bean brownie recipe, but some of you on here are quite good at baking so I thought you might like a gourmet black bean brownie recipe! :) enjoy. (and send me some if you make them lol!)
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=9978369
It should be a good day though - I am looking forward to finally making some darn money at least.
Here in a few minutes I am going to go down and pack my lunch - I will be working every week day so I could really use some ideas about what to get that is healthy and holds up well. I don't know if I will have a microwave and I can't afford grass-fed/organic lunch meat so sandwiches are out. I have enough grass-fed roast beef to take tomorrow. I also have an apple to take... maybe some protein bars - but I'd like some ideas so I don't have to eat the same things all the time. :) Hmmm I wonder if I can have my water bottle while Im working? If not what do I do? shoot... didn't even think of this.
Today has been a great day. My headache that Ive had for three days finally went away and I had an AMAZING workout today. I started by going to the track to run- but it was really soggy and icky so I did 10 sets of stairs and came home. From here I ran 2.5 miles, then I got home and jumped on my bike and headed to the gym (1.4 miles) I did a leg workout and then road home. :) I feel great too!
I had a pretty interesting thought during my workout... I had done the stairs and then come home and did the run and as I was finishing up I was thinking about riding my bike to the gym... I was trying to decide if I should do it and I thought "well, i've already done a lot of cardio, I can drive there and probably avoid getting stuck in the rain while I'm at it!" "I don't want to overdue it either..." then I decided to change my thinking - "I need to push myself...I know I can do this!" I found myself justifying the fact that running 2.5 miles was enough.. and yeah, maybe it was - but why not go a little further? Why not save some gas and get in a little more work? Well, I did that, I rode the bike and I really feel accomplished.
That is something to really think about - how much further can you push yourself? Do you ever give it everything you have? I have really started to realize that I don't push myself nearly enough. I can ALWAYS give more and my plan is to start doing that.
“There isn’t a person anywhere who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can.”Henry Ford
Ok, I have some excellent articles to share! I've been stock piling them! haha Ill only post two today though so I have more for other days.
This first one is a list of 40 healthy snack options (maybe I should take my own advice and pack some of these for work! lol).
http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/40-crunchy-and-creamy-healthy-snack-ideas-under-200-calories
Article number two is a "healthy" brownie recipe. :) It is more complicated than the regular black bean brownie recipe, but some of you on here are quite good at baking so I thought you might like a gourmet black bean brownie recipe! :) enjoy. (and send me some if you make them lol!)
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=9978369
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Food and how it makes us feel
Happy belated Easter everyone!
I had a pretty indulgent day yesterday and definitely payed for it today. As most of you know I gave up candy for lent (even though I am not catholic... I always give something up). So, yesterday, after 40 days of not eating one single piece of candy, I received an Easter basket filled with it! I ate a couple pieces of chocolate and was surprised to find it didn't taste as great as I remembered it. I had already decided Easter would be a big cheat day though, so I ate dinner at my grandma's and had some pie for dessert and then ate more food at my cousins... I ended the day STUFFED and NOT very satisfied. I woke up this morning with a slight headache, a tummy ache, feeling groggy and icky in general. I also felt sluggish and tired all day and was literally RAVENOUS!
I made sure to really "notice" how I felt today, because I recently read a blog about how food really make an impact on how we feel... It is something I have always known, but haven't ever really "known..." if that makes sense. You can read that blog HERE.
In case you don't want to read - the article basically talks about how we all have trigger foods and vices and once we give in to those, our bodies go into a tailspin. A cheat day, although good for our metabolisms, affects our bodies for several days afterward. I still think it is important to have them, but it is also very important to realize it may be more difficult to stay on track for a couple days afterward.
Personally, I am thankful that I could feel a difference today, it reiterates to me the importance of making these changes and eating whole foods. I do have to say that I can't believe I allowed myself to feel bad like this all the time before! It is just crazy!
I have a great article to share with everyone about athletes and eating disorders... I really think it rings true for me and may for many of you -
http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Athletes-and-Eating-Disorders-How-to-Find-Peace-With-Food.htm?cmp=17-1-529
I absolutely obsess over calories and eating - I constantly think about my next meal! Food has something over me and that is a problem I have to work on breaking.
ok - I have to go for the night, I am exhausted and distracted! I will write more tomorrow! Thanks for reading!
I had a pretty indulgent day yesterday and definitely payed for it today. As most of you know I gave up candy for lent (even though I am not catholic... I always give something up). So, yesterday, after 40 days of not eating one single piece of candy, I received an Easter basket filled with it! I ate a couple pieces of chocolate and was surprised to find it didn't taste as great as I remembered it. I had already decided Easter would be a big cheat day though, so I ate dinner at my grandma's and had some pie for dessert and then ate more food at my cousins... I ended the day STUFFED and NOT very satisfied. I woke up this morning with a slight headache, a tummy ache, feeling groggy and icky in general. I also felt sluggish and tired all day and was literally RAVENOUS!
I made sure to really "notice" how I felt today, because I recently read a blog about how food really make an impact on how we feel... It is something I have always known, but haven't ever really "known..." if that makes sense. You can read that blog HERE.
In case you don't want to read - the article basically talks about how we all have trigger foods and vices and once we give in to those, our bodies go into a tailspin. A cheat day, although good for our metabolisms, affects our bodies for several days afterward. I still think it is important to have them, but it is also very important to realize it may be more difficult to stay on track for a couple days afterward.
Personally, I am thankful that I could feel a difference today, it reiterates to me the importance of making these changes and eating whole foods. I do have to say that I can't believe I allowed myself to feel bad like this all the time before! It is just crazy!
I have a great article to share with everyone about athletes and eating disorders... I really think it rings true for me and may for many of you -
http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Athletes-and-Eating-Disorders-How-to-Find-Peace-With-Food.htm?cmp=17-1-529
I absolutely obsess over calories and eating - I constantly think about my next meal! Food has something over me and that is a problem I have to work on breaking.
ok - I have to go for the night, I am exhausted and distracted! I will write more tomorrow! Thanks for reading!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Homesick...
This week has been a struggle. I am so homesick. :( I miss my husband and my bulldogges and my bed and my house and my stuff ... I feel like I am on deployment all over again. I really love the following song and it makes me think of my sweet husband. And its true... even if he were just HERE I would be ok... He is my "Home." Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
I have been on track this week though! And our weigh in is tomorrow! Everyone keep your fingers crossed that we win so I can get a few free months of gym membership time!!! Unfortunately I gained 5 lbs. after our initial weigh in and now that i've lost that i'm only down 3-4 lbs. for the weigh in! lol. Oh well. I've been working my butt off - for the past month I have done EVERYTHING I possibly can to prepare and even if we don't win I have done SO MUCH work and have definitely benefited.
My next goal is going to completely forgo obsessing about weight loss because it really feels like I am obsessing too much. Instead, I am going to start training to FREAKING SMOKE the warrior dash. I am going to change up my workout completely as well as ramp up my running (and do it all outside... when its not raining cats and dogs at least.) I will lose weight just by doing that and since I won't be freaking out all the time about the scale it will seem like its happening much faster I think.
I start work next Thursday and guess what? THEY PUT ME ON DAYS! I am SO excited because I was really hoping to avoid night shift! SUCH good news! I will be working 730-330 and then be able to go straight to the gym and then come home and relax in the evenings. That is until I start working at the Old Mill (hopefully -- I think I'll get and interview sometimes this week.) It is an AWESOME restaurant in town literally in an "old mill." Check out the link I hooked the to restaurants name. Hopefully I will be able to pick up some weekend shifts there to help them (and myself) out a little. And I'll get to enjoy live music and make people happy.... See, as sad and lonely and homesick as I feel this week, good things are still happening. It is definitely hard, but it is doable. (especially because I have such an amazing and supportive husband.)
Here is a great informational article for the day!
http://www.active.com/fitness/Articles/5-Benefits-of-Weight-Training.htm?cmp=17-1-521
Alright, time to get some homework done. Thanks for reading. :)
I have been on track this week though! And our weigh in is tomorrow! Everyone keep your fingers crossed that we win so I can get a few free months of gym membership time!!! Unfortunately I gained 5 lbs. after our initial weigh in and now that i've lost that i'm only down 3-4 lbs. for the weigh in! lol. Oh well. I've been working my butt off - for the past month I have done EVERYTHING I possibly can to prepare and even if we don't win I have done SO MUCH work and have definitely benefited.
My next goal is going to completely forgo obsessing about weight loss because it really feels like I am obsessing too much. Instead, I am going to start training to FREAKING SMOKE the warrior dash. I am going to change up my workout completely as well as ramp up my running (and do it all outside... when its not raining cats and dogs at least.) I will lose weight just by doing that and since I won't be freaking out all the time about the scale it will seem like its happening much faster I think.
I start work next Thursday and guess what? THEY PUT ME ON DAYS! I am SO excited because I was really hoping to avoid night shift! SUCH good news! I will be working 730-330 and then be able to go straight to the gym and then come home and relax in the evenings. That is until I start working at the Old Mill (hopefully -- I think I'll get and interview sometimes this week.) It is an AWESOME restaurant in town literally in an "old mill." Check out the link I hooked the to restaurants name. Hopefully I will be able to pick up some weekend shifts there to help them (and myself) out a little. And I'll get to enjoy live music and make people happy.... See, as sad and lonely and homesick as I feel this week, good things are still happening. It is definitely hard, but it is doable. (especially because I have such an amazing and supportive husband.)
Here is a great informational article for the day!
http://www.active.com/fitness/Articles/5-Benefits-of-Weight-Training.htm?cmp=17-1-521
Alright, time to get some homework done. Thanks for reading. :)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Life-Long Learner
Hello all! I have SO much great information to share today! Hence the title today "life-long learner." I feel like there is ALWAYS more information out there and the more you know, the better you can help yourself.
But first, good news! According to the scale yesterday I am down 4 more lbs! Which brings me to 7 lost all together so far! Saturday is our "official" weigh in for our weight-loss challenge at the gym so I'll let everyone know how that goes! :) Hopefully we win so I can get a few free months of gym membership! Otherwise my workouts will be moving outside in the freezing cold starting next Monday! lol! I am also going to see if I can get my body fat measured at some point this week before my time at the gym is up just to see where I stand currently in that department.
Ok, onto the great info I have to share! I follow a site called active.com on FB and they always post informative articles about weight loss, running etc... (I post them on this blog often.) Anyways, today they had several! :) The first is an article for the gentlemen blog readers! :)
This is an article about 7 fitness tests men should do to see where they stand fitness wise!
http://www.active.com/fitness/Articles/7-Fitness-Tests-Every-Man-Should-Do.htm?cmp=17-1-506
The next is a guide to 21 pre-packaged foods that are good and safe to eat. I actually bought the "Applewood" brand in the form of organic chicken sausages this week and can't wait to try them! :)
http://www.prevention.com/packaged-foods-2011/index.html
And the final article is different ways to track your weight loss. If you are anything like me you probably get very frustrated when the scale refuses to budge! Here are a few alternatives to track your progress and keep you motivated!
http://www.active.com/running/Articles/How-to-Track-Your-Weight-Loss.htm?cmp=17-1-508
I hope you enjoy the articles and get something from them! Enjoy!
But first, good news! According to the scale yesterday I am down 4 more lbs! Which brings me to 7 lost all together so far! Saturday is our "official" weigh in for our weight-loss challenge at the gym so I'll let everyone know how that goes! :) Hopefully we win so I can get a few free months of gym membership! Otherwise my workouts will be moving outside in the freezing cold starting next Monday! lol! I am also going to see if I can get my body fat measured at some point this week before my time at the gym is up just to see where I stand currently in that department.
Ok, onto the great info I have to share! I follow a site called active.com on FB and they always post informative articles about weight loss, running etc... (I post them on this blog often.) Anyways, today they had several! :) The first is an article for the gentlemen blog readers! :)
This is an article about 7 fitness tests men should do to see where they stand fitness wise!
http://www.active.com/fitness/Articles/7-Fitness-Tests-Every-Man-Should-Do.htm?cmp=17-1-506
The next is a guide to 21 pre-packaged foods that are good and safe to eat. I actually bought the "Applewood" brand in the form of organic chicken sausages this week and can't wait to try them! :)
http://www.prevention.com/packaged-foods-2011/index.html
And the final article is different ways to track your weight loss. If you are anything like me you probably get very frustrated when the scale refuses to budge! Here are a few alternatives to track your progress and keep you motivated!
http://www.active.com/running/Articles/How-to-Track-Your-Weight-Loss.htm?cmp=17-1-508
I hope you enjoy the articles and get something from them! Enjoy!
Monday, April 18, 2011
A New Challenge
It was definitely a Manic Monday! I was very busy! I had a job interview this morning, which although odd, went well enough for me to be offered the job. Hence the new challenges! It is VERY easy to make it to the gym every day when I only have working out and school to worry about! It will be nice though to have a routine so maybe it will be even easier to make it to the gym!?
Anyways, the reason the interview was odd is because it is for a factory job at Avery Denison (the people who make those little sticky labels for addresses and such.) My job will be applying the epoxy to the paper so they are "sticky." The lady was nice, and liked me, but said she can't see me performing this job in any way at all. In fact, she said she expects I'll only be there for a couple of months at most because it is miserable work and I don't seem like the type. I wanted to say "thanks for the pep talk lady!" But, she offered me the job anyways so I couldn't really complain. :) I figure its a job to keep me busy while I am away from JT and I'll be making money too!
After that I went to the vitamin shoppe and bought some protein and then came home and worked on a project for school for a couple hours. Then, I made my infamous trip to my far away deer-hitting class. I REALLY REALLY REALLY didn't want to go to the gym tonight... it was 830 when I got home and it was such a busy day,, but I decided to SUCK IT UP and go. And I am SO glad I did. I had an AWESOME workout. I probably could have gone all night.
I am determined to keep my motivation even working full time. This is a great chance for me to prove this is a lifestyle change and not just a phase. Maybe I'll lose weight even faster being on my feet 8 hours a day? haha
The hardest thing will probably be eating honestly. Im not sure how breaks work there etc... My dad works at Avery in a different section and gets two 20-minute breaks a night. If that is the same for me that would be plenty of time to eat - i'll just have to start packing my lunch!
Anyways, not much else for today, but when my friend posts pictures from this weekend I'll have lots more to write about . Thanks for reading!
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