Volleyball Playoffs Tonight

Every Wednesday night we play volleyball with a great group of people, it's so much fun and I'm sad to see it end for another season, I'm the captain of our team and every week as a reminder when we play I come up with a little jingle to email to my team. There are lots of inside jokes but I thought I'd share this just the same...here it is for any of you Ke$ha fans!

To the Tune of Tik Tok

Wake up in the morning it's our playoff day
(Hey, what up girl?)
Grab my knee pads, and my runners, I am ready to play
(Lets go)
Before I leave, throw gym clothes into my pack
Once the games are done tonight, we ain't coming back

I'm talking Marty with his new haircut, cut
Clint watching every girl's butt, butt.
Helios looking real, cut, cut
Drop-topping, playing our favorite teams, teams
On the hardwood floor that gleams, gleams

Then the Juju Hounds show up, a little bit …….tipsy

Don't stop, make the top
Brian, raise the nets up
Tonight, gonna fight
'Til we see the score right
Tick tock on the clock
But the Party of 6, don't stop, no
Oh-oh-wo-oh - wo-oh-wo-oh

After the games win or lose there will be plenty of beer
Al knows all of the orders, why aren't they already here?
And now, the tables are lining up and everyone knows
Which one of us girls will show her sexy pose.

I'm talking about everybody getting drunk, drunk
Accept Toni who just eats junk, junk
Someone smelling like 6 kinds of funk, funk

Now, now, we will go until they kick us out, out
Or the Po-Po shut us down, down
Scott's wife is out of town, town
Gonna let his grey hair down

A look back...and ahead

Good morning, let start off with Breakfast today, here was my healthy breakfast....Vegan Over Night Oats and banana soft serve, from Oh She Glows! Here is a quick look at what's in it but you really need to go to her blog for the exact directions and lots more great pictures.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Amazing Meal chocolate powder (optional)

Thanks to Carla, I used my Amazing Grass packet win from her blog for this recipe! It was a hit with my son and husband. It got my 6 year old excited to get out of bed when I told him we were having "ice cream" for breakfast, and I feed him a scoop in his bed, to entice him downstairs. It worked!

So OJB....Let see where we started:

Here was the challenge:

1. Check in every Monday ....check!
   
2. 8 glasses of water a day! ...started off good, hoped to get better, actually got worse! It's such a simple thing, I will make a point of doing it more. I'm great at choosing water for a drink, just not enough volume.
   
3. 5 servings of fruits/veggies a day...needs improvement, some days were better than others, overall pretty good.
   
4. Intense calorie burning high intensity exercise 3-4x week....big check! No problem getting this one, in fact usually above and beyond.
   
5. Ab/toning exercises 3-4x week...check! This is something new I've added to my workouts and I did find it made a difference!
6. Avoid processed, fried, sugar laden, junk, refined foods as much as possible.....check and X! I'm so good at making meals healthy, organic foods, no processed foods, local farm fresh eggs and meat, healthy grains like quinoa, chia, steal cut oats and flax...but a resounding X on snacking, my snacks are always processed foods, chips, cookies, licorice, whatever...if I could just cut out the snacking I would be so healthy...it's the last little thing that is preventing me from being the best me I could be. Mentally I know it, emotionally it's a big hurdle.

And here are my numbers...
Hips 40.5"....new number 38"
Waist 34.....new number 30"
Upper Hips 36...new number 33"
Weight 143 lbs...new number 139lbs

So it's been good, sometimes were tough, some fails, some successes, but overall this has just been what feels like a normal life for me. Thanks so much to Carla for organizing this, it has been great to have to be accountable for my actions, to have to document eating and exercise, and to be able to share in others same struggles and triumphs.

Here is where we are going:


We just bought the farm! LOL :) Or more so we became a member of CSA, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). By buying into a farm and becoming a member, we are asking farmers to provide our family with 14 weeks of a large variety of Fresh Organic Produce. Through CSA we get a firsthand understanding of how food is grown, and what affects its growth. By using blog, emails, newsletters, and "farm days" we can follow the growth and development of our food. When our food is matured, each week we receive our share of the produce which is ripe and ready to be harvested on the farm. Fresh, Organic, Locally grown just for US.

The farm provides over 50 types of fresh organic vegetables from late June until mid September so I'm excited to take on the challenge of creating meals around what we get rather than buying ingredients based on what we want to make. We can take the kids out to the farm too, so they can see where and how the food we eat is growing!

So thanks again to Carla for the great inspiration, I love reading her blog and seeing her amazing pictures, she is so talented in so many ways! If you haven't been by her blogs you really should have a peek, she's a fascinating person to follow!

OJB update, last week.

This week has been another great exercise week, I have found a new workout at the gym. I've really been changing things up these past 5 weeks, I've been looking for new exercises to challenge me and keep my interest. I've been doing classes, weights, the eliptical and lately the spin bike! Every time I'm on it someone else comes along and ask what I'm training for! Guess it looks like I'm working hard :) Usually I'm motivated by the readings...calories, time, intensity, miles. But these bikes don't have anything like that so my only measure is how much of a sweat I can work up, and boy do I ever!

My weight is no different this week I stepped on the scale at the gym today and it was just under 140 like last week. I'm not going to take my measurements, I'll just do that next week and see how they compare to week one. Even though my weight hasn't changed much since we started, my close are fitting loser and people keep asking me if I've lost weight...I don't really think they can see the 3 pounds so I must be gaining muscle and losing fat.

I did it!

Here is me in my happy dance...well it's actually a pic that my girlfriend snapped of me dancing at a party on the weekend (to which I didn't get home until 5am!) But it expresses how I feel this morning!

I couldn't believe it when I stepped on the scale today and I finally did it, I am officially below 140 lbs, it's only by 0.2 lbs but I'll take it! I'm 139.8, it's easily been 7 or 8 years since I've been in the 130s. It's taken 5 weeks to lose 3 lbs which seems crazy, but considering I'm pretty comfortable at this weight I'm thinking that these last few pounds are just going to come off slow. Now that's great motivation as I head to the gym!

I counted calories this week, and it's fairly painful for me. There were times when I just didn't bother, like a different party I was at on Saturday night, there was lots of food out and I just ate whatever. But my big workouts through the week and watching what I ate the rest of the time allowed me some flexibility. I'm not going to count every calorie again this week, but I'll be conscious of what I am eating.

OJB update.

Okay first off just let me get out, that the biggest loser doesn't refer to my weight loss this week. I'm exactly the same as last week once again. I even exercised everyday this week. I can't say I'm surprised, first it's that TOM for me, second my fitness choices are good, but I need to do something drastically different in my eating. I don't count calories...I hate numbers, even in my financial matters I DO NOT pay any attention to my bank account, no idea what's in there at this very moment, but it doesn't matter, because I only buy what I need. I don't spend money wastefully and so I always have enough. I'm a stay at home mom and my very "let's make a spreadsheet" husband calculated exactly how much I should need for: clothes (me and the kids), haircuts, gifts, groceries, entertainment, home items, beauty products, etc (oh and the cleaning lady too). I have $400 every two weeks for all that stuff and I never use a credit card, or go into overdraft. So I don't balance a checkbook, or watch what is left in my account at the end of the day. At heart I'm a minimalist, and even though I love to shop I put a lot of thought into something before I bring it home.

So that brings me to the biggest loser, I'm addicted, I've never seen the show before this season, so I downloaded every episode of the first 6 seasons...I'm almost at the end of season 2 now. Anyway a big part of their weight loss journey really depends on calorie counting. Suzie came on to predict the winner of season 8, and again now 9 by the way they manage money. Well if I could manage calories the way I managed money, only eat what I need, not what I want, I'd be doing great!

So I thought what if I became a calorie counter, just this week, if was given X calories per week that would be it, so I'm going to give it a try... I'll be back later with what my calories this week should be.

Okay here it is, I should eat 1,640 calories per day to get to 130 lbs by July 12, 2010.

Today I have ate 1,495 Calories. Under my limit by 145 Calories!
As for exercise: I burned 100 on the elliptical and did a 45 minute step/weight class.

So I'm going to give this a try to see how I do, this way I can eat whenever I want as long as I keep to the 1640 Cal/Day. It was painful today I wanted to quit already! It's not the being restricted that I mind, it's the calculating!

I once was lost, but now I'm found...

This is the theme of my week...I lost $900 in Canada Savings Bonds for my kids, and the memory card for my camera! With all these beautiful pictures of my kids. I took the card out to get pictures developed to scrapbook and then it disappeared. The Bonds were given to my kids from my parents at Christmas and we've been tearing the house apart looking for them.

I was talking to my mom about the bonds, trying to see if it was possible to get duplicates printed when I opened a drawer to put oven mitts away and saw an envelope peeking out I pulled it out, flipped it over and...tadda..the bonds for my son, further searching in the drawer uncovered the bonds for my daughter! Wow..what a relief. I said now if only I could find my memory card...welll the next day I pulled a sweater out of the closet and what's this in my pocket...the memory card! Hooray :)

My weigh loss this week was much like that too..Most people are weekend warriors, and they just exercise on their days off. But for me, exercising during the week is where it's at, and weekends are my break. It's not like I really want the break, it's just the way my life is set up right now. Anyway here are my numbers..

Last week vs this week:

Hips 39....today 39 (same)
Waist 30.7...today 30.7 (same)Upper Hips 36....today 36 (same)
Weight 141.6 lbs...today 140.6 (1lb less)

I feel lighter, my clothes fit better, but my numbers are all pretty well the same. I lost a pound, I really worked out hard last week. I'm sure I "lost" weight during the week, but then "found" it again with all my other stuff this weekend...that's okay it was worth it!!!!
I felt like I was in a Seinfield episode this week...do you remember "even Steven", well that was me. I even went to a mom's sale, got 4 bags of clothes, costumes, toys for the the kids (mostly clothes) for $35! Then I cleaned out the kids rooms to make way for the new stuff and I got $35 on Kijiji for it!

OMG...I just thought of another even Steven moment from the week! Volleyball! We're in 1st place. Over the year we've slowly worked our way up to the top, and week by week we'd get in an extra point here and there, to where we pulled in a comfortable lead. We were untouchable, with only a few weeks left in the season and on average earning 3 points per week, even if we didn't win every game there really was no way for the second place team to catch us. UNTILL...this week...we had to call 911 for one of our guys who was seeing stars...could barely walk, was dizzy and when he left so did his girlfriend (obviously) which left us with only 4 players vs 6. They were strong and we played hard, the games were close even with 2 players short, but we just couldn't win...we got ZERO points (Even Steven)...we still have a one point lead, but we really left the door wide open for the second place team to catch us!

Can't wait to see what this week holds!

This is how I feel...

Seriously exhausted today, and sore! The Wednesday aerobic instructor had a hurt arm so she focused on the inner thigh for a change, and today I am feeling it! Today I did a long workout, 1 hour of steady cardio on the elliptical, just chatted with the guys at the gym and the time flew by. (600 calories burned) Then I did an hour of upper body weights (8lbs, just for my records). I can barely must the energy to walk up the stairs. With Monday being a holiday I had to make up for that missed workout so I really worked hard this week. I got in quite a lot of exercise these past few days. I'm really tired last night I went to bed at an unheard of 10:30, I just couldn't keep my eyes open!

Breakfast 2 french toast with fresh strawberries and maple syrup
Workout: 2 hours at the gym
Lunch: Beef Barley Soup, handful of chocolate Easter eggs.
Dinner: Pumpkin ravioli, broccoli, grilled chicken and toasted pine nuts.

Well that will teach me...

Yesterday was another awesome eating/workout day, so much so that I thought what the heck I can have a hand full of pringles and a few peanut butter wopper balls....was I ever sorry. I didn't eat much so there must have been something wrong with one of them. I seriously felt like I had food poisoning. I felt so awful and had such a pain in my stomach I made myself throw up, which I have never done before. It helped. I won't be eating that again!


I did 45 mins aerobics, 20 mins on the elliptical, and an hour and a half of intense cardio volleyball, we played one player short and a friendly match of girls against the boys! We're all super competitive (in a fun way) and it took us all night but we finally won the last game! Regardless we all had so much fun and got a great workout in the process!

Today has been another great day! I did a killer step class (which I will probably feel in my legs tomorrow) and a power 23 mins (all I had time for) on the elliptical. Since I didn't have long I really made it count. I also did 10 mins on the elliptical as a warm up to all that. Basically I was at the gym for 2 hours today. I'm meeting up with a girl friend before volleball at 8:30 to walk the track for an hour before we play volleyball, so that will be another two hours tonight!

Breakfast: Hot Cross Bun
Snack: Apple, 1/2 granola bar, glass of water
Lunch: Carrots, Hummus, whole wheat pita, sugar snap peas, and handful of chocolate easter eggs and of course water.
Supper will be beef barley soup that I have cooking on the stove now.

Week 2 Weigh in and measurements

Last week vs this week:

Hips 39.7...today 39
Waist 31.9...today 30.7
Upper Hips 36.6...today 36
Weight 141 lbs...today 141
Height 5'7"...still 5'7" lol

Can't say I'm surprised by these results the long weekend was a total write off. I worked hard for the first 4 days, and ate well. I did little exercise the last 4 days, and ate more than usual and at all different times. So this week was a wash, lost a little in the measurements, mainly I'm happy to have not gained! Back on track today...eating my oatmeal breakfast as I type!

Easter Weekend

Here was my no calorie "Easter Treat" a glass polka dot charm for my Pandora bracelet! I'm not at all a jewelery person but I love the cute characters and monochromatic blue I've got going on with this. Each charm comes from a special place or person so it's much more than just something shiny :)

Today was a crazy day again, no idea how much I ate! My daughter's 4th Birthday/Easter Brunch. I served and cooked so much food today and just ate as I went. I really had my servings of fruits and veggies, I ate a lot of that, but also had a ton of carb type stuff. I'll be glad to get back to my regular routine tomorrow! Back to the gym!

Time will tell...

Well these past two days have been bad days. First off the holiday brings zero chance to get to the gym and second tones of high calorie foods! Yesterday our eating was all out of wack we had a big late lunch and because of that I ate past 8:00, and a lot! Today I spent the entire day cooking for my daughter's 4th birthday, Easter brunch. Which means lots of taste testing I haven't the slightest idea of how many calories I ate today. I got in lots of fruits and veggies, made a nice stew for supper, finished the butternut squash soup for lunch and had oats and berries for breakfast. I'm eating healthy but too much for my inactivity.

I can't imagine tomorrow will be a good weigh in day...time will tell!

Today might as well have been any day, wasn't a diet day at all. The gym is closed for good Friday, so no exercise for me to start things off, and I kind of just ate whatever I felt like whenever I felt like it. Here is what the day looked like:

Breakfast: 2 french toast with fresh strawberries and pure maple syrup
Snack: several desserts (from the plate my husband brought home last night) gold fish crackers
Lunch: 1/2 toasted bun with butter, coleslaw with sunflower seeds and shaved almonds
Supper: Butternut squash soup, ham and cheese bagel melt with honey mustard
Dessert: 2 halloween chocolate bars (yes we still have some in our house)
Snack: Handful of sugar snap peas

Overall not great, not terrible. Lots of sweets! But still keeping to my no eating after 8 rule. Getting moderate amounts of water, so hard to keep track I've probably pored myself 8 glasses! Not sure if they all got drank :) Only 4 servings of fruit and veggies today. The no exercise is actually a good thing, my knee has been bothering me since Wed, and a few days off is probably really good for it.

Little Food +Little Sleep = Low Energy

Okay I had a busy morning, after staying up late (2AM) last night, didn't eat much breakfast then went to the gym. My workout was low energy :( It took me a while to figure out why I was so tired, reading it in print makes it seem so obvious! Anyway lesson learned! Although I must say I'm loving the ball..we have one at home and all this time I didn't know there was this hidden exercise gem sitting waiting to be used. It's my husband's, he loves it as a strength training for his legs, he stands on it, balanced. I've tried that and failed miserably, but my thursday drop in class has shown me so many fun uses for the ball, all great exercises too, here is a link to some stuff we do!

Here is a recap on my day (everything homemade)

Breakfast: pumpkin raisin muffin, 1/2 cup strawberries
Workout: 45 min aerobic class
Lunch: Ham, Lettuce, Tomato Sandwich, granola bar, some organic cookies
Diner: Vegetable bacon soup, coleslaw, Peanutbutter on 1/2 toasted bun
Dessert: 1 square of 85% dark chocolate, 1 dad's cookie (the last one!)

Looking back at the day now I see why I'm so hungry now! My husband even just came home with a plate of yummy desserts leftover from his late night meeting, I proudly packed them away in a tin. Without hesitation. But I laughed when my husband returned to find an empty plate thinking I ate them all. Good times...he seriously left the room for less than a few minutes, could he seriously think I could have eaten an entire plate of sweets???

Late Dinner..

phew..lots of posting today, Just launched a new collection on my Created With Paper site, but still time to squeeze in my food journal for Wednesday!

Breakfast: Chocolate Chip steal cut Oatmeal with pumpkin seeds, almonds, sunflower seeds and coocnut.
Snack: Homemade Granola bar, Apple, Orange, few strawberries
Late Lunch: Ham sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mustard and mayo, very yummy! Tiny bit of ice cream, just getting an almost empty container out of my freezer!
Snack: Homemade Banana Choc Chip Muffin
Dinner: 3/4 of the above picture! Tiny bit of the sour cream, all of the salsa (637 Calories..not sure if they include the sour cream in their calculations if so mine would be less). Plus a celery sick with ranch dressing and a grape sucker for dessert.

Okay so for the first time I ate after 8:00! But I didn't eat after dinner..I ate my diner after 8! Every second Wednesday we play volleyball early and go out to Montana's for appetizers. In order to be able to eat out late I had a late lunch and saved diner until after the game. I passed up the usual wings, nachos or other unhealthy choices and went with healthier Spiced Chicken Quesadilla in a whole wheat tortilla, served with salsa and low-fat sour cream.

Exercise today was awesome once again! 45 min step/weight class, I upped my weights to 5 lbs (from 4 but really felt it!) and upped my step to two levels to increase my cardio. I swear my heart rate gets higher lifting weights then it does from jumping around the step! It was a good workout. And I also played my usual hour of volleyball!

Tuesday Recap:

Workouts:
1/2 hour circuit on weights,
45min aerobic/strength training class.
1 1/2 hours of volleyball.

Breakfast: Chocolate Chip Steal Cut Oatmeal with Coconut and Walnuts
Snack: Quinoa Protein bar, apple
Lunch: Bacon Vegetable soup, 1 slice 12 grain toast with butter, few cashews, few little egg chocolates (as I filled eggs for a Easter hunt..maybe had 3)
Snack:Wagonwheel
Diner: Small bowl of soup and one slice of toast, 1/2 cup Banana/mango/berry smoothie. Dessert: small bowl chocolate chip mint ice cream.
Snack: Handful sugar snap peas

Drank lots of water.

Big accomplishment of the day.....passing up a $3.99 ice cream sale at Metro...stood there for about 5 mins trying to decided on all the amazing deals and eventually just walked away! A big part of losing weight starts at the grocery store for me, if it's not in the house, I won't eat it! (and as we can see I will eat junk food if it's around!)

Monday Recap - Week 2 start!

Breakfast:Corn Flakes and an Orange
Snack:Quinoa Chocolate Chip bar, Apple
Lunch: Hummus, Carrots, Tacos, homemade Granola bar, few chocolates
Dinner: Bacon Veggie Soup, 1 dad's cookie

Workout: 45min Step class, weights, abs.

Week 1 Weigh in

Quick Sunday recap

Breakfast: (Brunch) 2 Finnish pancakes with (i suspect) fake maple syrup. But to my credit I passed up the whip cream, sugary strawberries, and sausages. My kids (3 and 6) actually ate way more then me!

Snack: 1 slice of tangelo ( I resisted cookies even though I was starving!) Let myself get too hungry, but I was out and didn't want to eat junk, but when I got home I couldn't stop eating!

Early Dinner: Pinapple Chicken pasta, carrots and hummus, steamed asparagus, toasted pine nuts.

Dessert: 1 choc chip quinoa bar, 1 square of 85% dark chocolate, 4 cookies and cream chocolate hearts. (this was a bit much I know!)

Okay today is the day! Today I get to see if my week of work paid off. And here it goes!

Here are my numbers last week vs this week...

Hips 40.5"....today 39.7
Waist 34...today 31.9
Upper Hips 35.5...today 36.6 (this number is higher because I measured a different spot, I'm going to track just under my belly button)
Weight 143 lbs...today 141
Height 5'7"...still 5'7" lol

The week in review.

Did very well with exercise, 5 times at the gym cardio and strength plus 3 1/2 hours of volleyball plus some walking!

Water..needs improvement, it's hard for me to get in my 8 glasses. It's about all I do drink but I need to work on it!

Fruit/Veggie servings per day...fairly good, but will strive to do better this week.

Eating after 8:00 rule ( i have for myself) a perfect week!!! This is such an accomplishment for me, and if I can keep it up it will make all the difference I know it will.

Refined foods..I ate some taco chips, some cookies, ate out at Tim Hortons and McDonalds, (even though it was a whole wheat BLT and a salad, respectively.) This was an odd week for me, I ate out 3 times, which most weeks I don't eat out even once.

McDonald's for lunch, not exactly "clean eating"

Breakfast: 1 french toast with pure maple syrup, 1 sm glass of "orange monster" (frozen bananas/mango, vanilla soy milk, passion fruit juice)

Lunch: McDonald's Chicken Caesar Salad and a small Chocolate milk. This lunch alone was a tone of calories and my salt intake for the entire day. I actually am the one who picked McDonalds, just because it's so fun for the kids, most restaurants have kid's menu's with bad food anyway, at least this way the get to run and play. I'm not a fan of McDonald's but they certainly have a smart marketing ploy to make if fun to go there.

Dinner: Hummus and veggies (carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, sugar snap peas) and a whole wheat pita (had to make up for the McDonalds lunch!)

I went grocery shopping today and my bill was so low! $63...I got a huge bag of ripe bananas for $1.70 and I peeled half of them and stuck them in the freezer for smoothies! Pineapples were only $1.99, I got a free 5 pack of juice boxes because I had a coupon from some cereal. My most expensive purchase was 3 beautiful lift the flap board books at 40%! They were each under $6 and will make terrific gifts!

No exercise today! Sat and Sun are my rest days...family time, we did go bowling with good friends. I could use a break, my left knee was sore this week, nothing major just a slight discomfort, I just don't want to ignore what could be a bad injury if I don't let it heal.

Off to drink some water...haven't had nearly enough today!

Quick Post

I'm happy with my day again...

I took my mom shopping and didn't know that I would be able to make the gym but I was able to squeeze it in! Got 30 mins of "mix 3" cardio in and 3 sets of 12 ab raise reps.

Breakfast: steal cut oats
Lunch: BLT on whole wheat (and half of a egg salad sandwhich) with a chocolate milk.
Snack: Taco Chips (again not a great choice, but baby steps)
Dinner: Tacos (lean hamburger, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, hard shells)
Dessert: home made granola bar, 1 square 85% dark chocolate.

No eating in the evening again!! Yay me :) Hungry though. Debated making hummus to have with carrots, but decided to stick with the no eating after 8:00 rule I set for myself. (which I plan to make exceptions on Wednesday night so I can still go out after volleyball, provided I'm good throughout the week)

Can you lose weight eating chips and cookies????

Breakfast: chocolate chip oatmeal, flax, walnuts, coconut, soy milk
Lunch: Quinoa Soup
Snack: Taco chips and cookies (this was the end of the bag, so glad to get these out of the house)
Dinner: Brocolli, Pinapple Chicken and noodles
Dessert: 5 Stawberries and a small chocolate mint stick

Exercise: 45 step aerobic class, 25 minute brisk walk outdoors with the kids.

I've been doing awesome at not eating at night, yay me! So far I've not snacked at night at all, and that is what I'm hoping will make the difference, plus I've upped my exercise a bit. I've gone every day this week and most days I've exercised twice! I haven't completely given up treats but we'll see what my numbers are at the end of this week. I don't expect to see huge changes, I know it's a gradual process.

off to drink some water....

Another great day!

Breakfast: oatmeal/chocolate chips/walnuts/flax/coconut
Snack: Homemade granola bar
Lunch: 1/2 quinoa power bar, pear, orange
Dinner: quinoa soup, small bowl of taco chips 2 cookies for dessert
Snack: 1/2 cliff bar

3 hours of exercise!

45 min step class with weight training
15 min speed walking to warm up for volleyball
2 hours volleyball, fast paced and lots of fun!

I didn't really eat dinner, I kind of had a few snacks then had a late lunch at 3:00 which ended
up being my dinner, I had planned to save my calories for going out tonight after volleyball, but I played an extra set and decided to go home (it was after all 10:30 pm when we finished..not a great time to eat!)

Day 2

Today was a good day.

Breakfast: Oatmeal Blueberries, Coconut, Walnuts
2 hr workout: 1 hour weights, 1/2 hour mix 3 on elliptical, and 20mins on step climber
Lunch: Orange, Apple, Power bar (homemade with quinoa, oats, and choc chips)
Snack: Small bowl of fruit (melon, strawberry, blueberry)
Dinner: (above photos) Pumpkin black bean veggie burger, with cheese on a wholewheat flat bun and sweet potato fries (baked) Pictures and Recipes from here.

Dessert: 15 calorie chocolate/mint stick
Evening: 1 1/2 hour volleyball game.

Now it's almost 10 and I'm going to watch tv...if only I can stay away from snacking! I think I should be able to do it! I've got my water on hand, got to get in my 8 glasses.

Day 1 in OJB

Okay so here is the challenge:

1. This will be a 6 week challenge. I think this is long enough to see results & make it a habit!
2. Check in every Monday with measurements, weight, & updates on your week. The good, the bad, & the ugly. Nobody is going to judge, we’re all here to support each other and do the very best we can!!
3. 8 glasses of water a day! You can count unsweetened tea for this also, so long as its sugar/caffeine free.
4. 5 servings of fruits/veggies a day. Minimum.
5. Intense calorie burning high intensity exercise 3-4x week to get those results you want to see. I’m sorry, but honestly, 2 workouts a week won’t cut it.
6. Ab/toning exercises 3-4x week.
7. Avoid processed, fried, sugar laden, junk, refined foods as much as possible. This will make a *huge* difference in your health. If you want to know what difference it will make, my switching over to a clean diet combined with regular exercise allowed me to lose 50lbs in less than 6 months! I honestly believe that cutting the crap from my diet was the biggest & best thing I did for my health & weight loss!

And here are my numbers...
Hips 40.5"
Waist 34
Upper Hips 35.5
Weight 143 lbs
Height 5"7

Okay so that is like torture for me...not because I mind posting my numbers, but because I NEVER measure..EVER. However, in the spirit of this challenge set out by Carla I'm going to embrace my "numbers".

Looking at the list here are the things I will need to work on.

#3 Drink 8 glasses a day of water. I'm sure I'm dehydrated, I don't drink enough, luckily for me about the only thing I do drink is water, it's my beverage of choice, so I'll just need to get more of it.

#5 My meals are generally quite healthy. But it will be good for me to make sure I'm getting enough veggies and fruit!

For breakfast today I had steal cut oats with blueberries, coconut, and walnuts. Lunch hummus and whole wheat pita and an orange. Dinner was a fantastic Curry lentil quinoa soup that I totally recommend trying! (photo from Zesty Cook.com) a small slice of garlic bread and a quinoa power bar for dessert.


#5 and #6 Fitting in exercise is easy for me, I love to go to the gym and I love to play volleyball. I'm good already on frequency but increasing my strength training would help, and focusing on high intensity cardio would be good too. I can get distracted by chatting at the gym, time flies but I'm not putting my all in it when I'm talking during a workout. Today I went to a 45min aerobic class, at one point when the instructor had us do 10 squats with arm raises (and weights) and I literally laughed out loud when she said, "just 20 more" I couldn't believe she was serious! Who does 30 reps without a break? I wonder if I'll be feeling that tomorrow! But it's that kind of strength training and push that I need.

So whats the real problem...#7!!! In particular snacking. Once I put the kids to bed and finish with my busy day, I eat! At the worst time, and the worst foods. It's my downfall. I love to sit down to my favorite show, relax and eat all kinds of bad foods, processed foods, chips, ice cream, cookies, popcorn whatever. I'm pretty sure if I gave up tv I'd find it much easier, but I don't know if I can give up two vices all at once! It's like I feel entitled, I worked out, I can afford to eat whatever I want ...wrong! I know it's not good for me, and I know how good it feels to be 10 lbs lighter. I'd love to be 130 again, that's a perfect weight for me. I'd like to say that's my goal, but even as I type it I can't believe I could get there in 6 weeks. But you don't know until you try!