NEY Fitness Check in -April 7th

nowittyusername

I did pretty good yesterday.  Ate healthy all day, but then overdid it at dinner. Sad face!
I can't seem to balance things out.  I eat a great calorie level all day, and then around bedtime I feel like I'm starving.  Any thoughts on that? Suggestions?

I worked out yesterday.  I am doing the Brazil Butt Lift program at the moment mostly because I hate my butt and this program gets pretty good reviews.  My behind is ANGRY this morning so I guess it's working.  Today is the video called sculpt and I believe it is all over lifting and toning.  I'm going to give it my absolute best effort but given that I'm so sore it's not going to be a go big or go home kind of day.

Getting up out of my chair is comical at this point.  Glad I work alone and no one can see me waddle around trying desperately not to move my tush!

Weight is not budging AT ALL.  Not even half a pound which I find annoying.  I know it takes time but I always get so annoyed when there feels like there isn't any progress instantly (LOL) and then I give up.  Blech

Onward... just going to have to keep going and hope that the weight will start to come off once my body gets used to the new exercise and eating plan. 

Swazzle

@bethsmiles - No gym for me, I've been doing 30DS in my living room. It is not easy! I'm up at 4:20, change and work out, start getting ready for work at 5, and I'm out the door at 6. I'm just terrible at being active when I get home from work so hopefully I stick with it and it becomes my routine and maybe it'll be easier then.

Swazzle

@nowittyusername - Do you have snacks throughout the day or at night? I try to keep fruit and other low-point snacks (I'm on Weight Watchers) at my desk for in between meals at work and I keep some stuff at home too for after dinner. Right now I actually have bananas frozen in my freezer to make into "ice cream". If you freeze a banana  and put it in the food processor with a little peanut butter, chocolate syrup, or Nutella (or anything really, Google frozen banana ice cream and a ton of ideas will come up), it's delicious. 

I'm having some trouble with this myself right now, honestly. I'm hoping once working out becomes routine, my body will calm down a bit! 

And I hear you on the sore butt. I couldn't even sit down to pee without plopping my ass down on the seat all weekend!

nowittyusername

@Swazzle - I do eat snacks throughout the day.  I have been trying to keep to a calorie count of around 1300-1400 for weight loss.  Is this not enough, or is it just that I've been overeating for so long that my body thinks it's starving to death if I'm not downing Cheetos and Chocolate bars all day.

[Deleted User]

@nowittyusername - Are you eating adequate amounts of protein and fat? 

nowittyusername

@Swazzle - Oh and that banana idea sounds AMAZING!

@CocoBellaF - Not sure about fats, but definitely eating lots of protein.  I have it at every meal. Eggs usually at breakfast, chicken at lunch, and some form of meat at dinner. 

bethsmiles

@Swazzle - Oops, I misread! I thought you were driving to the gym that early! Still great job on getting up and getting the work out in the morning! Also, that banana ice-cream idea sounds so good! I love bananas!

eilis1228

@nowittyusername The calorie amount is fine, but like @CocoBellaF said, you need to make sure you're getting a lot of protein and fat in the calories you eat. Something like cereal won't fill you up, but a handful of almonds will. Make sure you're drinking enough water too. It will help with the hunger.

[Deleted User]

What kind of foods do you typically have, @nowittyusername?

Swazzle

OH @nowittyusername! How's your water intake? 

jenjen047

@nowittyusername -

nowittyusername said:

I know it takes time but I always get so annoyed when there feels like there isn't any progress instantly (LOL) and then I give up.  Blech

This. I always felt like it would be great if there were something similar to a payday advance, but for weightloss. So you could lose however many poounds instantly, but then had to stick to diet and exercise afterwards or else youd gain it all back. Wouldnt that be so much better???

eilis1228

Just wanted to check in for today. I just did PiYo Lower Body and Upper Body, and I'm on track so far with my calories. I don't think I have any meat in the freezer for dinner, so I may have to eat a frozen pizza or something. :-\ It's not the best, but at least the calories have been factored in. 

[Deleted User]

Checking in for today...I've been good so far.  I had rice cakes and honey kefir for breakfast, oatmeal with a banana and a skinny hazelnut latte for a snack, and a baked sweet potato and leftover lamb chop for lunch.  I did my C25K workout this morning (I'm still in week 1, so it's mostly walking), and I'm about to go do yoga.  I have ballet rehearsal tonight, so a little more exercise but mostly just standing around.

Swazzle

THURSDAY, APRIL 9TH CHECK-IN

Good morning! 

I am feeling really proud of myself right now. My alarm went off at 4:20am and I reeeeeeeally didn't want to get up. The last two days, I got right out of bed and was ready to go. Today, not so much. So I was like I'm just going to snooze for 5 minutes. And then after 5 minutes, I thought "well, we don't have anything to do tonight so I can just work out when I get home from work." So, I reset my alarm for 5am. After about 5 minutes, I realized that I was getting back into my old habits of making excuses. I was awake and once I physically got out of bed, I knew it'd be a little easier so that's what I did. I got my ass up and worked out and I'm feeling really good that I recognized unhealthy Swazzle trying to rear her lazy head

I did great again yesterday with eating. H and I went to MILs for dinner and she basically made Thanksgiving. I had some turkey, a small spoonful of mashed potatoes, a small spoonful of stuffing, and loaded most of my plate up with veggies. I have that for lunch today and I'm excited because it was super yummy! 

I have all of my food and snacks for the daytime and I will do good with dinner tonight too because I'll be cooking for the first time this week (we've been busy and not home)! 

Have a great day everyone!

[Deleted User]

Mmmm, Thanksgiving food!  That sounds really good, @Swazzle.  And nice job on telling the old, unhealthy version of you that she just doesn't belong anymore!

I had an off day yesterday.  I woke up feeling hungry and just "off".  I didn't eat as well as I could have (hello, kettle corn!) but I did get in 9400 steps which is good on my rest day.  And I ate lots of veggies.

H made breakfast for us this morning.  Breakfast was still healthy and nutrient-dense.  WW cinn-raisin toast, 2 eggs, and 2 little links of Applegate breakfast sausage.  It was really good!  I've got healthy foods packed today (baby carrots, rotisserie chicken with green beans and tomatoes, mixed fresh fruit, unsweetened banana chips, and dark chocolate square) and a good dinner of meat + veg + fat planned out.  Work out is PiYo Sweat tonight, so that'll be really good.  I'd like to go to bed early because I haven't managed to get my 8 hours of sleep once this week.

Dignity100

@Swazzle - Way to go, getting out of bed in the morning to work out followed by work is sometimes the worst!

****
So this morning I checked the scale - 3 days of nutrisystem with some "cheating" and I'm down 1.4lbs!  I'm guessing a lot of it is water weight because I've been drinking water like crazy.

I just can't wait to lose at 5 lbs so my clothes fit a little more loose!

Day 3 on Nutrisystem looked like this:
Breakfast: Banana nut muffin (small but ok -not as good as the blueberry)
Snack:  Apple and hard boiled egg
Lunch:  Homestyle chicken and a salad (the homestyle chicken was really good)
Snack:  string cheese (forgot my veggie here because I didn't have time).
Dinner:  Pizza and baby carrots (the pizza did not impress me, if I get it again, I'll try it in the toaster oven - we were in a hurry).
Dessert:  Chocolate Cake (it was really good)
Indulgences:  We had a kickoff thing for Cleveland Gladiators (arena football) and after that stopped at MIL and she had BDay cake that she wanted us to try - it was this spongecake w/espresso - it was really good, I had the smallest sliver possible and then 2 bites of this rice pudding cake stuff that she also wanted me to try.

Hummingbird125

@Swazzle - Good for you!!! It is SO EASY to make excuses or to say "I'll do it later!" and then...not. My biggest issue is when I decide to not go to the gym after work but promise myself I'll "work out HARD at home." Never happens. 

Yesterday I had sooo many errands to run after work. I had to go to the post office to buy stamps and mail out 3 more invitations (I thought the guest list was finalized months ago. Silly me.). I had to go to the grocery store to buy pizza dough for dinner, and I also wanted to go tanning so that I'm not vampire-pale for my bachelorette party next weekend(!!!!). Going to the gym meant I wouldn't get home until much later than usual, so I really considered skipping it. Finally, I told myself I would work out for just 10 minutes, since my gym was right near the grocery store anyway. Of course, it seemed silly to stay for just 10 minutes so I ended up spending 25 on the elliptical. Yay me! I've also been pretty good about having fruit for a snack whenever possible (well, fruit and peanut butter).

Right now I just really want to focus on toning up my arms and abs. If only it was appropriate to do sit-ups at work...

labro

I put on work out clothes this morning. That counts right?

Yesterday I didn't do a work out per se....but I did do a lot of hard physical labor. I weeded, I raked up and bagged a bunch of heavy debris, and I moved at least 4 wheelbarrows worth of logs from one spot in our yard to the official woodpile in the back of the backyard. So definitely got in some serious upper body work.

On the eating side, I did so so. H and I had a really healthy dinner of grilled chicken and salad. But I kind of blew it for lunch when I finished off my healthy wrap with half a pint of ice cream....oops. Breakfast was non-fat Greek yogurt with peaches.

Loves2dream

I did really well yesterday, usual breakfast of granola and milk and almonds, but I had one of those ramen reduced sodium soups because I was feeling hella crappy (I don't normally purchase those but it was $.35 and I needed broth, badly!). For dinner we had chicken with hot sauce and sauteed mushrooms and onions. It was delicious! For a snack later I had brie cheese, strawberries and organic multigrain crackers. BF did not come to bed with more corn chips and feed more to me, yea!! I had a beer (typical) but only one and it was within my calories!

I worked out and did a ton of pinning on new exercises I thought would be fun.

I skipped the scale again today, yea! I will weigh myself tomorrow though. I brought a salad with avocado and strawberry for lunch and will probably have leftovers tonight since BF is gone and it is Big Bang night. Tonight is my night alone and my favorite show is on, I heart Thursdays. It's really hard to motivate myself though because I just want to sit on the couch and watch Bravo since BF hates it but I have done pretty good every week. Thinking of either doing eliptical or incline walk on the treadmill when I get home.

I just want to hit my goal and work on toning, why is this so hard in my thirties? I miss my twenties.....fast food for lunch, 15 beers and a burger with fries for dinner and wake up, repeat, stay thin. Augh....

eilis1228

I'm a little sore today, so I think today will be a rest day. I'm trying really hard to listen to my body instead of sticking to a strict weekly schedule. 

I've planned out my meals for the day, and I should be under my goal even without working out, so it should be OK. Breakfast was a Nutrigrain bar (we're out of everything at home, so I've been eating these all week since we get them for free at work), lunch will be a sammich, baby carrots, Greek yogurt, and natural applesauce, and dinner will be tilapia with peas and corn. My snacks are some fruit snacks and Goldfish (eventually I need to transition back to almonds and Babybel cheese), and I'll be drinking hot tea and water all day. All in all, not too shabby.

Does anyone here drink Shakeology? I keep seeing it pop up on FB and with my gym rat friends, but I don't really know if it's worth the investment. I've made my own low-cal, high protein smoothies in the past, but apparently Shakeology has a ton of nutrients in it. What does NEY think?

[Deleted User]

@eilis1228 - We do Shakeology.  I'm not usually into the hype, but it's the only protein drink that we actually like AND keeps us full.  I don't know that it's a miracle drink like some people claim, but it does its job and we're happy with it.  We like the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors.

Swazzle

FRIDAY, APRIL 10TH - CHECK IN!

I did great with food yesterday until I went home and started and finished a whole bag of Wasabi Ranch Snapea Crisps. H made dinner, though, and that was low in points so hopefully I didn't go over too badly. 

Today will be much better, I think. I packed everything to get me through the work day and there's food in the house for dinner tonight (thinking skillet steak and onions -- H didn't buy mushrooms last night grrrr -- kale salad, and mashed potatoes). 

So, I'm wondering what everyone's take is on a rest day. I've always been under the impression that you need one so I decided to use that day today (my body is sore from the last few days of working out and I have cramps). But while driving to work I felt kind of... crappy and guilty about it so I'm considering working out when I get home tonight. 

So, is a rest day necessary? What say you? 

Swazzle

Note to self: an entire bag of Wasabi Ranch Snapea Crisps = 11 points. Don't. Do. That. Again. 

Dignity100

@Swazzle - I believe in rest day!  You might do something light (like walk 1-2 miles), but I think you do need a day to recover.

Today is the last day I have from my Walmart Nutrisystem kit.  It's went pretty well, I'd like to stick with it for a month and see how it goes, but it is expensive.  I'll probably get another kit from Walmart for next week.  I haven't added any workouts, I should but just work has been getting in my way.

Yesterday on Nutrisystem:
Breakfast:  Honey Wheat Bagel
Snack:  hard boiled egg, apple
Lunch:  salad, double chocolate caramel bar
Snack:  baby carrots, string cheese
Dinner:  Chicken pot pie
Dessert:  Cookies
Cheats:  Easter Bread, small handful gummy bears, cadbury cream egg
putting everything in My Fitness Pal - it looks like my total calorie count was still around 1500, so not terrible.

Hummingbird125

@Swazzle - I think you should take a rest day if you feel like you need it, but if you aren't sore/too tired, then definitely do something exercise-wise. I probably work out 4 days a week on average, but the past couple of weeks I've tried to make sure I do SOMETHING on the days I don't go to the gym, and I think it makes me more mindful of what I'm eating.

Friday Update

I'm feeling awesome today. I worked out HARD at the gym yesterday. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and did a hard arm workout too (sore today!). I weighed myself when I got home and I'm officially 4lbs from my super ultimate goal weight. I'm trying to not focus on the scale TOO much and instead focus on building muscle while continuing to eat healthily, but it's still a great feeling to see a number that I never thought I'd see again!

I'm treating myself to Subway today (I bring lunch 99% of the time), and we'll probably get pizza for dinner tonight. I maaaay skip the gym today to go to Michael's instead for some wedding DIY supplies, but we'll see.

[Deleted User]

I generally schedule one rest day a week.  Unless I'm just dying to work out, I'll lay off the work out that day.  Some days I take a rest day that is unscheduled, but my body just says ENOUGH so I listen and take a nap or a bubble bath instead.

Did PiYo Sweat last night and PiYo Core this morning!  I'm glad I got my work out in already today, although my body wasn't cooperating.  There was a little too much flopping going on!  We are going out for Brazilian food tonight, so I want to make sure and get in lots of healthy foods with breakfast and lunch.  I have my breakfast shake with extra spinach right now, and I think for lunch I'm going to heat up some Kalua Pork from the other night and eat it with sugar snap peas and avocado.

Swazzle

Thanks for all the input ladies! I don't necesarily feel like I NEED to rest. I think I'll see how my body is feeling after work tonight. Maybe I'll try to go for a run with H to switch it up. 

eilis1228

@Swazzle I usually take 1 or 2 rest days per week depending on how my body feels. At least one is necessary so that your body has time to rest and recover. Building muscle = muscles tearing as you exercise, and muscles grow as the body repairs the tears. If you don't take a day or two off, it's harder for your body to repair the muscles, if that makes sense.

Today should be good diet-wise. I'm not sure what we're having for dinner, but I'll be sure to order within my calorie range. I plan to do PiYo Sweat tonight after work, and we'll probably go somewhere like McAlister's afterwards. I love their veggie chili, and the half size portion of the bacon spud is NOMS and calorie friendly.

Loves2dream

@swazzle we have rest days but do something with minimal impact like walk the dog or just a casual walk in general. We work out at least 5 times per week (4 the last two though ).

Yesterday I had a good day. Usual breakfast, a salad with avocado, chicken and strawberry for lunch with a fruit juice. Dinner was a piece of a multigrain toast, spicy guac and one egg with an orange for a snack later. I also had two beers. My workout was pretty intense (for me) last night. Did a very brisk walk on the treadmill at varied inclines up to 10%. I really had to work at it but I did it, yea!

Weighed myself this morning and I was down .6 pounds, not much but I will take it. I have only lost 1.6 pounds since March 13 so I am feeling really, really frustrated. Since February 17 I have lost 7.2 pounds total so great start and then I fell flat somehow. I am trying all kinds of different things and it isn't working so I FINALLY had BF help take my measurements last night so I will start tracking that too.

I found a cleanse diet I might try, says you can lose up to 10 pounds in 7 days. I don't normally do cleanses but this one isn't a liquid or soup diet. It's called Eat Your Heart Out where you eat as much as you want almost every day based on the foods for that day. First day is all the fruit you want (no bananas), second is veggies and one baked potato with butter, third is fruits and veggies (no bananas or baked potato), fourth is 8 bananas and 8 glasses skim milk (this day worries me), fifth is chicken/turkey and 6 tomatoes, sixth is chicken/turkey and veggies (no potatoes) and the last day is a miracle soup (basically cabbage soup). Has anyone tried something like this? I think I could do it for 7 days but I am not normally one to try these things since I LOVE food. Thoughts?

Everyone is doing so awesome! I love having a support team!

Hummingbird125

@Loves2Dream - I'm generally against trying any sort of eating plan that you can't realistically follow for a long, long time, even if that isn't the point. As long as you are burning more calories than you're consuming, you WILL lose weight. Sometimes your weight will plateau for a while but as long as you continue doing the right things it will budge eventually. I think it's much more beneficial in the long run to just stick to a normal workout/diet plan and be patient :-)