Days 7 and 8 of 30DS

No, you're not losing it.  I did not write yesterday.  I have been doing well.  I changed things up a bit yesterday and did my workout in the evening.  This is not as effective for me.  In terms of accomplishment, I was able to do 14 full pushups first time around, but 10 on my knees for the second set.  Everything else I followed Nat's advanced moves.  It still really works my shoulders, but it's better than it being too easy.

Tonight while doing the workout, I feel as though I may be ready to move on to the second level.  I did full pushups both times, 14 and then 10.  I felt strong throughout the entire workout.  I also sweat, but I am looking forward to level 2.  As long as I've had this disc (two years!) I have never made it on to the second level.  And I start on June 11th (Monday).  I am thrilled to be moving onwards.

I've been somewhat lax in my eating, although not too poor.  I have been hitting my calorie goals and love the way the fitbit adjusts to MFP.  I certainly could have moved more yesterday, and today for that matter, but I do enjoy a couple of less intense days after such a long haul.  The big news is the Cinnamon Bun Eating Contest that was held at my house last night.  The oldest went in to get a chicken pox vaccine earlier in the day, and to ease it for him (he hates needles, who does?) I asked him what would help.  He reminded me of the bet I made to him months back about him not being able to eat an entire tray of cinnamon buns.  The wager was $20 on my end if he does it; nothing from him if he can't, since my reward would be the ability to eat his uneaten buns.  Who here remembers my affinity and cravings for cinnamon buns??  Okay, so the boy was able to get through 3 entire pieces before passing out.  As he was working through his, I was working through mine... yes, I bought one tray for him and one for the rest of the family.  And I ended up having 2 pieces.  Certainly more than I needed, I could have stopped at 1 and met my calorie goal for the day, but ended up going over by 600.  Oh well. :)  It was still satisfying.

I've been much better today.  A little relapse gives more meaning to refocusing and getting back on track.

We are now at the weekend, we'll see what it brings.  Last time I checked we had minimal commitments.

Enjoy yours, hopefully it is sunny where you are!

Nighty night,
Peach

Day 6 of 30DS

I'm not tired of the workout yet.  It's a great one actually, going back to basics.  This time around, I was UNMODIFIED.  I do not know how I did it.  Perhaps it was the idea of counting the moves that got me through.  For example, for the pushups I counted 12 in the first set and 10 in the second.  I did each one as a count and each one on my toes. So this is very good.  Also, I kept the 5lbs weights, even in the third circuit when it feels like I cannot finish.  Because I do finish each time, even though it is a challenge and my pose isn't perfect.  I do finish.

My darling W.  

I am going to continue counting to see if I can at least match or better my pushups.  I'm still just impressed I didn't drop to my knees on round two.

Foodwise was yummy.  I made some banana chocolate chip muffins for breakfast this morning, fresh from the oven.  To save a few extra calories, I used dark bakers squares (70% cacoa), two of them.  I coarsely chopped them using a knife and added them to the mixture. The calories for twelve muffins dropped by about 400 cals when I did this.

Chicken with egg noodle soup and 1/2 grilled cheese sandwich.

Lunch was a can of organic chicken with egg noodle soup and half of a grilled cheese sandwich. 

Afternoon snack I had a nonfat latte, along with some celebration cookies with dark chocolate.  I could have eaten the entire box, yay for me for stopping at six.  :)  Really.

Turkey burger with oven roasted veggies

Dinner was my last serving of the turkey burgers with oven roasted brussel sprouts and baby carrots.  This is one of my favourite meals because it is filling, satisfying, and quick.

All in all, a wonderful day.  I've had some wine tonight as my calories have allowed.

Tomorrow is busy with another doctors' appointment in the afternoon and work meeting in the morning.  My goal is to complete my workout in the morning, as usual.





Also, I sure do need to update my profile on my blog site.  I had initially copied it from MFP, but as I update MFP this one doesn't update, and my baby sure isn't 3 mos anymore.  He is six months old now, and what a darling he has turned out to be.  I think I will post a pic of him tomorrow.

Have a great sleep everyone... hoping you all hit 98% efficiency!

Nighty night,
Peach

Day 5 of 30DS

Sometimes I sit here when I am about to begin my blog and a huge blank comes across the synapses of my brain.  Where to start?  My daily inspiration at the top of the blog at least gave me a starting point.  Today we spent a couple of hours at the hospital taking part in a research study.  Even the coordinators marvelled at how I weigh less now than I did pre-pregnancy (8kg to be precise!).  It seems everyone notices this transformation in me except myself.  I still look in the mirror and see the same person I've always been.  It seems that the only time I can acknowledge a change is when I look at old photos of myself.  Detachment apparently goes hand in hand with realization.  Who knew?  So apparently, I'm looking great.  Certainly, I am feeling great.

My little fitbit tells me that I went up 17 flights of stairs today, and that I am one flight away from a new award. So please excuse me while I go run upstairs and come straight back to report my findings!  Turns out I climbed the leaning tower of Pisa!  Very cool.  Also, if I climb two more flights I get another award!  Hold on a sec.  ... I just climbed Coit Tower!  Not sure where that is, but it's tall.  So the fitbit is enjoyable to use, and I like the little challenges it presents as well.

Recall my returned HRM?  Well, I have been with the company I work for for 5 years now, and I am eligible to receive a gift due to my accomplishment.  There were lots of nice options (a silver ring with a single diamond, a silver bracelet, a wicked duffel bag, watches, golf clubs, pens, the list goes on) and in particular there was a HRM watch similar to the one I returned but made by another company.  So I'm going to give that one a try. I have nothing to lose, and it will complement the features of the fitbit.  I now await its arrival.

Grilled cheese with tomato

Food was okay today.  For breakfast I had a whole grain blueberry muffin and a coffee from Timmies.  Lunch was the hearty vegetable soup with 1/2 of a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.  I did end up having three cookies with dark chocolate tops.  And dinner was a couple of slices of buitoni spinach and goat cheese pizza. I had lots of calories left over today, so I had an ice cream cone for dessert, and two more light smirnoff ice's.

Amazing and yummy pizza.  1/4 pizza is only 170 cals!

And, going back to my workout, it's the same as it was yesterday.  I still had to modify the pushups, and I can barely lift my arms by the end of the third circuit.  I'm sure my 5's are too heavy, but I'm going to push to get stronger.

For now, have a great evening, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Nighty night,

Peach

Day 4 of 30DS

I believe that to be successful in anything you need two things.  The first is motivation.  You need to want to succeed, and if you want it bad enough you will overcome whatever obstacle it is that is in your way (time, money, credentials, etc).  The second thing is a support team.  You need to have people around you who also want you to succeed.  SO, thank you for being my support team, because without you I would not have the accountability that I need to keep going.

Day 4.  Again, my shoulders are sore, and I still need to modify the second set of pushups to be on my knees.  Oh I still feel it alright, and I almost cannot finish the third circuit strength move.  After completing the 90-day BR I am surprised that this is a challenge.  But they are both different.  My heart rate does not get up as high with 30DS as it did with BR.  It's just the strength sequences that work my  muscles so hard.

In terms of weight loss, I am down 3lbs since ending BR last week (a week already!).  This means that I am officially below my wedding weight, and is the slimmest I have been since my wedding a few years ago.  I have the MFP app on my phone and it shows a lovely little graph of my progress (see print screen of image).  While I definitely have some spikes, there is a wonderful downward trend... just lovely really.  So do not worry about those regular fluctuations up and down.  It all levels out!  I am now about 14lbs away from my goal and I suspect that as I continue fighting the bulge the weight will be more and more difficult to take off.  When that happens, I will begin to rely more on my BF% as a measure of success.

I had a great day for meals.  Banana Chocolate Chip muffin with my coffee for breakfast.  Lunch was a container of Sweet Potato Thai soup and half of a grilled cheddar sandwich.  No afternoon snack today, unless cake counts since I had a couple of little end bits.  Dinner was one jumbo chicken hot dog, with the bun.

I am definitely under my calorie goal for today... I have something like 1,000 calories left to eat but no way to eat them.  I did have an amazing little concoction after beach vball this evening.  My friend brought hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps, and it was so good.  A new beverage to love.  Since getting home from vball I have soaked my feet and applied lotions and enjoyed two smirnoff ice lights (100 cals each).  Life is good.

My cool handy dandy fitbit also syncs automatically with MFP, which means that if my steps and activity are above and beyond MFPs calculations, then an entry is made in my activity to account for the extra calorie burn.  It also means I only need to log my food and activities once in MFP and it syncs back to the fitbit site.  This is excellent, as the fitbit is such a hands-off device, and still is not close to needing charging.  Very easy.

Have a great night to all.  Tomorrow is Tuesday, and I hit workout 1 again.

Nighty night,
Peach

Day 3 of 30

10% done already!  I cannot believe how sore this workout makes my shoulders.  Funny that I find it more intense than BR, but then again, in this workout we work the same muscle group one after the other, and for a longer time.  3 minutes on the same muscle group, with no cardio break.

I am not sure how long this post is going to be today, I really don't have much to report on.  We played softball this afternoon in the rain, but our captain called the game after the downpour got really bad.  Besides, we were down by about 10 runs.  We missed about 15 minutes of game play due to the call, but I was happy to get home and get my oldest into some dry clothes.  While it was pouring rain, that's not the reason he was soaked.... He chose to play in the water feature at the park and got absolutely drenched.  Poor guy!

Food was not bad today.  We had a brunch earlier in the day with some quiche, tomatoes and cheese, salads, meats and bread.  That held me over for most of the day.  For dinner I enjoyed another of the turkey burgers with oven roasted carrots and brussel sprouts.  I still have a few hundred calories left in my budget thanks to all the activity of the day.

Turns out I am a very good sleeper.  100% efficiency again last night.  Boy, when I fall asleep I sure sleep well!

I hope you are all ready for your Monday... plans set, goals in place, meals planned perhaps?  This is your body, you are in control of this, what are you going to do today to change it?

Nighty night,
Peach

Day 2 of 30 DS

Wow, I am continually pushing myself with level 1 of this program.  It is comprised of three circuits, each with 3 minutes of strength moves (30 seconds of major muscle group plus 1 minute of a combo move, repeated), 2 minutes of cardio (switchup every 30 seconds four times) and 1 minute of ab-work.

The strength moves are very concentrated.  Today after doing the first set of pushups military style, I dropped to my knees for the last half of the second set.  My shoulders are sore today too from all of the weighted lifts.  It's all good.  While I find the strength challenging, I find the cardio a breeze.  This is a switch from how workouts normally go with me.

I was under my calorie goal today, and this may be because I was so active today.  My total calories in were about 1800.  I took the kids to the pancake breakfast at the fun fair today, and I had two pancakes and two sausages with 1/2 of a butter pat and about a tablespoon of syrup.  For lunch, still at the funfair, I had one hamburger with relish and ketchup and a 2 oz piece of vanilla cake with icing.  No afternoon snack.  For dinner, I had a leftover Jillian Michael Southwest Turkey Burger with oven roasted brussel sprouts and carrots. I sliced tomato and avocado to put on the burger.  No bun.  This meal was in the 7-day Jump-Start Your Metabolism provided with the 90 day revolution.  There are no carbs for those first 7 days, and the meals are high protein.  I love this one because it is very tasty, very simple to make, and very yummy.

I am enjoying my FitBit. I really enjoy how it syncs up online effortlessly.  I was fascinated to see the graph of my sleep from last night.  It took me 17 minutes to fall asleep, with one little blip just after 6 am, then back to sleep until 7am.  I had 7 hours of sleep and it was at 100% sleep efficiency (apparently my little blip really was just a little blip - I remember waking up at that point too).  That's good!  I also love the daily challenges that the fitbit provides.  For example, today I hit 10,000 steps, so now it's asking me if I can get to 15,000 in one day.  Now I'm wondering... Can I get to 15,000?  Sounds like a challenge to me!

I love how it syncs automatically when I am within 15 feet of the base which is plugged into my laptop.  I also love how it tells me how I am doing with my food at that point in time, considering what is left of the day.

It's all good.

Tomorrow is a new day, happy Sunday to all.

Nighty night,
Peach

First day of the New Program (30DS)

First thing I thought when I woke up this morning was, "I cannot wait to hit my workout!".  How often does that happen??

I got the kids up, fed breakfast (fed baby), kicked I. out the door to school, and ran downstairs to work out.  Oh my goodness.  Finally!  This is all I could think.  I did not remember this workout from previous attempts until I went through it again.  In some ways it is easier than BR, and in some ways it is more difficult.  It was more difficult because I used 5lb weights rather than 3's.  Also, it is more intense in the strength training.  We did 3 minutes of pure strength, with just 2 minutes of cardio, and then abs.  I found that it was a challenge to do pushups, followed by squats with shoulder presses, and then repeating this move again.  In the BR program, I would do the pushups followed by squats with shoulder presses, and then have a bit of a break with the cardio.  So I certainly felt this, especially in my shoulders.

Catherine, who is currently on the Ripped in 30 program by JM, noted that she finds it is easy to get bored with the workout since it is the same workout all week.  At this point, all I can think is that I've got 10 days of this.  I did find it a challenge, but I will continue to do it all 10 days.  This just means my pushups will get stronger, perhaps I will add heavier weights by the end.   I will modify to make it work for me.  And then perhaps I will get bored...  I will visit that when I get there.

I felt very good about my meals today.  But first, I should say that I had to return the HRM watch that I picked up two weeks ago.  I was having a difficult time getting readings, and it was giving my arm a rash.  Both not good.  I am still determined to find something that works well enough for me.  In the meantime, I picked up a FitBit Ultra, which is a monitor and online tool (which includes tracking sleep patterns) to help lose weight.  It mainly tracks steps and stairs, but the online tool allows an override (say, if you were jogging and want to register additional calories).  The tool tracks everything by the minute so it is easy to override specified minutes during the day using the online tool. And I cannot wait to see how my sleep goes tonight!

















I continue to enter my foods online at MFP.  For breakfast, I enjoyed a banana chocolate chip muffin with my coffee.  Lunch was a can of soup with half of a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.  I love these 1/2 sandwiches because they are quite filling.  Not sure if it is the warmth or the tomato.  But it works.  No afternoon snack today.

For dinner we ordered pizza.  I ordered a small multigrain thin crust with chicken, green peppers and mushrooms.  I had three small pieces (equivalent to two medium regular multigrain crusts) and a few glasses of white wine.  Ahhh, relaxation.









I also received my new phone today, and it is the Samsung Galaxy S2.  If anybody out there has this phone you can attest to it's ease of use, speed, colour is amazing, oh my I just love it.  :)  It makes staying it touch way easier, so K I'm counting on you to put it to use!  Tomorrow is the fun fair, which means we have a pancake breakfast at 8am, and I. is walking with the Cubs in the parade, and W. is walking with CUD (the daycare).

For now, have a great night.  I am stoked about losing 8lbs this month and hope you are all on your way to reach success yourself.

Nighty night,
Peach.