Thursday, March 26, 2015

Week 35: It's Always Something

I actually first thought about this a couple of months ago but never wrote about it, and now I'm thinking about it again, so I decided to write about it now. Throughout the year, it seems like there is always some reason to indulge with food. You know, that feeling of it only happens once a year, so I've got to have some [blank]. Or that feeling of it's tradition, it just won't feel like [blank] unless I have some [blank]. Here is a look at my personal "events" calendar by each month.

January-college bowl games and pro football play-offs. For us there is usually this desire to have pizza or wings or nachos, you know, FOOTBALL FOOD.

February-Superbowl, Florida State fair, Valentine's day, Girl Scout cookies. This is apparently a heavy month. You start off still with the football food. Then, if I go to the fair, I want to have some good fried oreos or something like that. For Valentine's, of course, I want chocolate (although I didn't really do that this year, well, except we went to Disney ON Valentine's day, so I did splurge.) Then, you know, Girl Scout cookies are only available for a limited time.


March-spring break, my birthday. Not that spring break HAS to call for food, but there is this feeling that I'm on vacation, so it's a little easier to get a little lax. And my birthday this year has been bad for my eating. I wanted some donuts or cinnamon rolls.

April-Easter. The first of several family get-togethers in the next couple of months in which we do a potluck dinner, which means tempting desserts.

May-Mother's Day, (teacher appreciation). Another family get-together event that can have tempting desserts. And now, of course, I'm a mother, so I "deserve" it. And usually teacher appreciation week brings a whole bunch of food (Panera breakfast, Chick-fil-A lunch, ice cream one afternoon, etc.), but this year I'm not at just 1 or 2 schools, so I probably won't be bombarded with it like I usually am, which is probably a good thing.

June-wedding anniversary, Father's Day. Often, Jason & I would go to Kobe's for our anniversary. Then, I usually wanted some sort of dessert (like Cold Stone.) Then Father's Day is another family get-together.

July-4th of July, vacation. Actually, other than usually wanting a hot dog, the Fourth of July is not that tempting of a holiday for me foodwise. But the last couple of years we've been doing our family vacation right around that time, so we usually splurge a little.


August-                 . Wow, I actually don't typically have anything major in August. Other than going back to work, which is not really cause to splurge. My one good month.

September-fall, daughter's birthday. So, at first I only had my daughter's birthday listed, but then I realized that September is always when I'm ready to start eating pumpkin muffins or other goodies like that. I at least usually try to make the kind where you mix the pumpkin with the spice cake mix (and we ice it with just a little bit of cream cheese icing.) Then, my daughter's birthday. Since she's only 3, she's still having birthday parties, which of course means cake.

October-hub's birthday, Halloween, and still fall. On his past birthday, we went to Kobe's. But even if we just go somewhere else, there is still the temptation to splurge just a little bit. As for Halloween, of course, it's usually just a candy thing, which sometimes I can take or leave. But it's still a possibility. And since it's still fall, there is still the pumpkin muffin temptation.

November-Thanksgiving. That doesn't really need any explanation.

December-Christmas. Neither does this.

So what is my point in saying all of this? I guess I realized that there is ALWAYS something that only comes once a year, that makes you feel like you need to indulge. But, since there is always something, I'm realizing that I need to be even more selective than I have been. Wow, it can be hard to stick with the good choices consistently. But since nutrition can really make or break your fitness progress, I know I need to make better (consistent) choices.

As for my current weight, I'm about 2 to 3 pounds above my lowest weight so far (thanks to those cinnamon rolls, I guess.) I'm still working out, but I did notice that coming off the weekend my workouts were harder, due to the kind of food I ate, I think. I just feel better when I'm eating right. It just can get so easy to get off track, so easy to give in to those cravings (that taste good for the moment, but are they really worth it?)



Thursday, March 19, 2015

Week 34: Back Again

After doing the 3 Day Refresh, I realized that I probably could cut down a little bit on what I had been eating and be okay. I also realized that I needed to sort of "re-calibrate" my eating plan. And I suggest you do that, too, especially if it's been a while since you've started. I had been sticking with my P90X3 plan (in my mind), but when I pulled the P90X3 nutrition guide back out, first I realized that with the weight I've lost, I needed to go down in my calories. (The nutrition guide gives you a range of calories to eat, but it's specified more as "blocks" of macronutrients to eat. So for instance, at breakfast I should have 2 proteins, 3 carbs, and 1 fat.) So where previously I've been eating 2 egg whites and a whole egg with some veggies for breakfast around 6, then having my Shakeology (which the powder counts as 2 proteins) at 8, I realized that just having my Shakeology for my breakfast is sufficient.

It was a good week to revamp what I was eating, as I was on spring break, so I could see how it works for me without having to be at work. And it worked well. I typically ate an apple with some almond butter for my morning snack. Then for lunch, we made either salmon or chicken, brown rice, and a vegetable (green beans or asparagus are my favorites!)

I also started back on my workouts. I had gotten tired of my Pump and Combat hybrid, so I had begun just doing what I felt like doing each morning, throwing in some PiYo again. It was good to revisit some of those workouts and check out improvements in my form. But I took a little time off (about 10 days), due to being sick and just needing some rest when I did the 3 Day Refresh. So I used this workout generator website (just google it) to create a hybrid program of PiYo, P90X3, and Pump. I set it for only 4 weeks, and I started on March 9 with my current challenge/accountability group that is going on. I'm really enjoying it right now. I just think that as I'm getting fitter and losing more weight, then I find that my workouts are even better. Maybe my form wasn't exactly great on some things initially (like my squats), and maybe I didn't push myself as much as I should have all the time. So going back to them, I feel like I'm seeing (or will see) even better results.


I didn't lose any more weight this week, though, but I did maintain my previous weight. Still at 28 pounds!



I loved seeing my daughter try some exercising herself. She doesn't typically see me exercise, since I go out to our detached garage when she's usually still asleep. But since I was on spring break last week, I didn't work out as early and she came out with me for a little bit of my workout. I also loved overhearing her watching something on her Kindle where they asked if they know anyone who exercises, and she said, "Mommy and Daddy." Love it! 






Monday, March 9, 2015

Week 32/33: The 3 Day Refresh

I'm combining these two weeks due to holding off on posting until I finished the 3 Day Refresh.

I shared previously that I haven't been as disciplined in my eating as I had been when I first started getting healthier. While I know how to fix that overall, I wasn't doing it. I wanted to get a kickstart with Beachbody's product, the 3 Day Refresh. It was something that I had wanted to try anyway, just to see what it was like, so I figured that it was a good time to do it. I also had a friend who was doing this, so we kept in contact a lot through the week.

Before

I used the weekend to plan what I was going to eat. I have to say, it was a little stricter than I thought it would be on the food, but once I planned for it I felt ready. Before I started, I got a cold or something, so I don't know if that impacted how I felt while doing the Refresh. I also want to note that I've never done any kind of restrictive diet, like the grapefruit diet, or anything like that. The most restrictive I've ever done is counting calories and things like that, but I've always allowed myself treats when I do those types of things.

The Plan

The program comes with a guide book, which is really regimented about what to eat,  and when to eat it. When you first wake up, you start by drinking about 8-10 oz of water. Within the first hour of waking, you have your Shakeology, (they recommend using the vegan formula) and a fruit. And you make the Shakeology with water, and not milk, which is different than what I normally do.
You can have some green or herbal tea later in the morning. Then about an hour later, you have what they call the Fiber Sweep. It's a powdery-ish fiber that you mix with water and drink IMMEDIATELY, before it thickens too much. After at least another hour, you can eat your lunch, which is their Vanilla Fresh Shake (a plant-based protein powder mixed with water), plus a fruit, vegetable, and healthy fat serving. For an afternoon snack you can have another vegetable and healthy fat serving. Then later, for dinner, you have another Vanilla Fresh Shake and one of the dinner recipes. You continue to drink water and can have more herbal tea throughout the day if you'd like.

Day 1

I started on March 3, a Tuesday. I chose the middle of the week because I'm more disciplined anyway during the week than I am during the weekend. The night before, I didn't sleep very well, because of my decongestant. All I could think about was how my eating was going to go the next day, and I just couldn't sleep. So I woke up for Day 1 kind of tired. However, even though I woke up tired, I felt pretty good when I got up and drank my water and then my Shakeology. I was surprised that it tasted okay with just water. It filled me up more than I thought it would. And the tea kept me fuller, too. I did start to get hungry a couple of hours later, which is when I would normally have my morning snack. The fiber sweep filled me up a little bit, but not for long. I could see why they say to drink it immediately. The taste was okay, but the texture was a little weird. When I had my lunch, I was surprised at how full I felt. The first day I blended my fruit into my shake. The serving sizes were so much smaller than I am used to, and I pretty much eat good serving sizes. But my veggie serving was 5 baby carrots, and my healthy fat serving was a little bit of hummus. I wasn't hungry again for a couple of hours. Overall, I was feeling pretty good. I could do this.

Then I had  my afternoon snack, which was the same vegetable and healthy fat. That didn't last me as long, and I started to get hungry again in just a little time. So it was here that my attitude started to change, and this started to feel hard. I was hungry, and I started thinking about all sorts of foods that I would like to have and couldn't. If someone had told me that I didn't have to continue this, I would have gladly complied, EXCEPT I wanted to see the results from the entire three days. Plus, I had blogged about doing this, so I needed to finish, right? Dinner was better, since I got my Vanilla Fresh Shake again, plus a salad (the recipe that I decided on), so I felt full again. But all I could think about was that I had to do this again for the next two days. And I was really exhausted, so I went to bed early on Tuesday night. And even though it says mild to moderate exercise is okay, I knew that I was so tired, that I did not want to get up at my normal 4:30 in order to get my workout in.

Day 2

On Wednesday morning, surprisingly, I did not wake up hungry. I felt rested, but I was still a little foggy. I did everything the same as I did the day before, except that at lunch I ate my blueberries solid rather than add them to my Vanilla Fresh shake. I found that after I had my lunch, I felt a lot better than I had earlier. I decided that this thing was doable, just not ideal.  I also noticed, like the previous day, that after my lunch I was actually kind of full. So I wondered if spreading it out a little bit more might be better so that I was eating a little more evenly across the day. So Wednesday was a lot better, especially by the end of the day. I wasn't as tired Wednesday night as I had been Tuesday night, so that helped.

Day 3

On Thursday morning, I did wake up hungry. But my Shakeology satisfied that. All day long I was excited that it was my last day, even though I realized that still meant that I had to go to sleep, and THEN I could wake up and eat unrestricted again. But it was good. Thursday was much like Wednesday, where I was feeling better. Oh, and one thing I noticed was that the small portion was enough to fill me up now. I did spread out my lunch more, eating my carrots, hummus, and blueberries first, and then drinking my Vanilla Fresh shake about an hour later. I guess that helped
some.

Results and After

So, I knew I would drop some pounds, because this was basically around 900 calories, which is obviously not sustainable. From Tuesday morning to Friday morning, I lost 3.6 pounds and about an inch in my waist. However, I also knew that I would gain some back just by going to my "normal" diet. And I did. I was careful on Friday, sort of. I knew that I wanted to retain some things that I learned from the Refresh. Namely, beginning the day drinking 8-10 oz of water. They say that gets your system going, and it really does. I also knew that just drinking the Shakeo in the morning was enough to keep me full until my morning snack. Previously, I've been eating eggs with veggies right after I work out, and then drinking my shake an hour or two later. And then still having a later morning snack. I also could probably get by with adding less milk and more water to my shake. (I've been doing 8 oz of almond milk and 4-8 oz of water, because I like the consistency.) I ate a spinach wrap with turkey for lunch, so my first meat in a few days. I could only eat one of the halves, though. But, I did cave and eat my peanut M&M's that I had been given from our Sunshine team for my birthday this month. (I got it on Wednesday, so I am proud of the restraint that I showed in waiting until Friday when I "could" eat them!) And Friday night, we got takeout from one of our new favorite barbecue restaurants. So, Saturday morning, my weight was back up a little bit, but it still is the lowest point that I've been since beginning this journey in July. I've now officially lost 28 pounds. Woo-hoo!

So would I do the Refresh again or recommend it to others? I'm not sure if I will do it again. Maybe. I'd say if you have something that you're trying to lose weight for, it's good if you can handle how restricted it is for 3 days. You also have to realize that the weight loss will most likely be temporary. It would be really good for a kickstart, which is what I wanted to use it for, but I didn't plan for the "next stage" as well as I should have. Although, there will be more in another post about what I'm doing now. But overall, I'm glad that I tried it, I'm proud of myself for sticking with it and not cheating AT ALL, and I'm hopeful that the things that I can apply toward a normal eating plan will begin to make some differences in my progress.