This Week's Menu

Yes, I did it.  I joined the "Get Pumped and Lose Big with Bruce" DietBet challenge.  It starts tomorrow, so you still have time if you want to join.  Just sayin'… the pot is up to almost $30,000.  

So, just click right up there ^^^^^ or over here if you want check it out >>>>>>>> "Get Pumped and Lose Big with Bruce"  <<<<<<<<

In an effort to win this challenge, I've come up with a menu in advance.   

Breakfast:

Kashi Go Lean Crunch (Honey Almond Flax) w/Silk Almond Milk (Vanilla Unsweetened)

OR

Chobani Greek Yogurt w/mini dark choc chips & almond slivers

Lunch:

Leftovers from night before

OR

Salad Kit

Dinners:

-Turkey burger on whole wheat bun, sweet potato fries, salad

-Chicken & Black Bean Burrito Bowl

-Taco Turkey Rice

-Grilled Chicken w/Salad

-Chicken Enchilada Casserole

-Subway (eat fresh!)

Snack Choices:

Apple w/string cheese

Homemade Trailmix

Reese’s Protein Shake

Grapes

As for today's activities…

FITNESS

30 minute walk

FOOD

Breakfast:

Kashi Go Lean w/Vanilla Almond Milk

Lunch:

Leftover Pizza from this weekend (yuck! threw half away!!)

Dinner:

Subway - 6" Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki on flatbread

Snack:

Mini-rice cakes (caramel)

Nutrigrain Bar

And now, it's time for me to hit the hay.  I've been struggling to stay awake all day!  But I will leave you with a pic of what I found at the store Saturday!

I have my own brand - how cool is that?
Ok, so it's not mine, but it has my name on it!

2-Week Workout plan & Additional DietBet

First off - the good news - I lost 2 pounds!!!  YAY!

I'm also considering and most likely will join an additional Diet Bet that starts 3 Sep.  It's hosted by Bruce Pitcher, who lost an AMAZING amount of weight on Extreme Makeover Weightloss Edition.  The pot is almost $30,000 right now, so I'm looking forward to it.  Besides, there's only a week overlap between the two challenges, so it'll keep me on my toes.  Hey and everyone is invited!!  So, what are you waiting for?!?!?  Check it out… Get Pumped and Lose Big with Bruce

Today, I drew up a two week plan for workouts.  I haven't really been planning those lately, instead, I've just focused on getting in at least 30 minutes of walking or some type of cardio.  With the Diet Bet challenge approaching, I figured I need a plan.  So… here it is.

Sep 1-6

MONDAY

walk 30 minutes

resistance tube workout

squat challenge day 7

TUESDAY

bike, treadmill or row for 30 minutes

walk 30 minutes

squat challenge day 8 - rest

WEDNESDAY

walk 30 minutes

resistance tube workout

squat challenge day 9

THURSDAY

elliptical, bike or row for 30 minutes

walk 30 minutes

squat challenge day 10

FRIDAY

walk @ UNIVERSAL!!!

squat challenge day 11

SATURDAY

walk @ UNIVERSAL!!

squat challenge day 12 - rest

Sep 8-13

MONDAY

walk 30 minutes and get 8K steps

resistance tube workout

squat challenge day 14

Insanity Day 1

TUESDAY

bike, treadmill or row for 30 minutes

walk 30 minutes and get 8K steps

squat challenge day 15

Insanity Day 2

WEDNESDAY

walk 30 minutes and get 8K steps

resistance tube workout

squat challenge day 16 - rest

Insanity Day 3

THURSDAY

elliptical, bike or row for 30 minutes

walk 30 minutes and get 8K steps

squat challenge day 17

Insanity Day 4

FRIDAY

walk 30 minutes

Full body strength training

Insanity Day 5

squat challenge day 18

SATURDAY

Walk or ride bike at beach - 30 minutes

Insanity Day 6

squat challenge day 19

What do you think?  Too ambitious?  Too lax?  Well, I'm hoping it's just right.  

But of course, as SOON as I finish making this plan and stand back to admire my work, here comes the monkey wrench.  What this plan doesn't show is 'when' I was planning on doing all that stuff.  It was supposed to be scattered throughout the day, and on Tuesday mornings, I usually can go to work late and get the workout in early, but I just found out I have to go in to work early tomorrow - Uggh!  Well, looks like I'll be scheduling it later in the day - 12-hr shifts just don't leave much time to work with, ya know?  Anyway, I won't let that derail me though.  I'll just press on and do the best I can with what I have.

What do I have though is this plan all laid out in a not-so-fancy Excel spreadsheet so it looks more like a calendar - I just can't get the formatting with this blog tool.  But, hey, if you'd like a copy in excel - completely editable for your own workout plans, just leave a comment or email and I'll hook you up.    

That brings me to today…

FITNESS

walked 30 minutes

resistance tube workout

squat challenge day 7

FOOD

Breakfast:
Honey Nut Cheerios w/2% milk plus fresh blackberries

Lunch:

Lean Cuisine Orange Chicken

Dinner:

Wendy's burger, fries & tea with a leftover b-day cupcake and a couple tablespoons of ice cream.  (womp womp whooommp)

Snacks:

Handful of Planters peanuts

Quaker's Chewy Granola bar

Not to worry though!! We are almost out of b-day cupcakes!  Did I mention it's also my daughter's b-day (the big 18!).  We bought 4 vanilla and 4 chocolate cupcakes to avoid the extreme cake leftovers. Only three left and I'm hoping the kids will polish them off while I'm at work tomorrow.  With all the birthdays this weekend, neither grocery shopping and nor meal planning happened.  Sooooo, guess what I'm doing after work tomorrow (after my work out of course)?  

Finally, here's a pic from this Saturday at the beach.  It was a bit overcast, so we just walked for about 30 minutes…

Have a great week!  

Birthday weekend - I will eat cake

Yes, I will have cake and eat it.  But not several pieces - just one =D.  I like the idea of not having unhealthy foods in the house and while I do have a few, cake should never be one of them.  Ice cream either.  I enjoy them both WAY too much.  We'll be either eating our cake away from home OR we'll be getting something very small.

I've been doing great all week with exercise and nutrition, so I'm sure to splurge just a bit.  That's ok, I won't beat myself up too much!

Here comes the beating up part though...  So, I was supposed to go to the podiatrist today but I got the appointment time mixed up and realized it too late to make it.  I tried to call the office, but even though the office was local, the call went to a different office and by the time I go through it was already too late.  I was soooo frustrated with myself.  Now, my appointment isn't for TWO weeks!  I've decided to try some "home care" like ice and motrin while I wait.

I have a jumble of thoughts on this issue and I'm trying to sort them all out…

I know I should probably take it easy on the workouts, but something has to give  

If I don't workout, I don't lose weight (or worse I gain)

It's not like I'm doing anything high impact, right?  

The extra weight can't be helping the foot heal

Repetitive movement of large muscles will burn the most calories

I just have to find exercises that do that but don't cause foot pain at the same time, because walking for more than 30 minutes is very painful.  I'm starting to feel it at the 20 minute mark now, but I'm just pushing through to get it done.  Not sure if that's the best plan, but it's all I've got.  I'm writing this on the fly, so I'm gonna make a list right here to be able to refer back to it later.  Please feel free to add anything you can think of as well…

Walking, but stop if it gets painful
Biking
Swimming (but I don't have access to a pool yet and swimming at the beach is a whole new ballgame!)
Row machine maybe?
Elliptical

Well anyway, other than that, today was great!

FITNESS
20 minutes bike 4 miles
20 minutes walking 1.11 miles
Squat Challenge Day 4 - rest day

FOOD 
Breakfast:
Honey Nut Cheerios w/2% milk

Lunch:
Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki 

Dinner: 
Pinto Beans, Brown Rice & Cornbread

Snack:
Popcorn

Have a fantastic weekend!!

Core Strength

Busy day at work today with almost no time to grab a bite to eat.  I managed breakfast and lunch meals, but no daytime snacks.  Needless to say, when I got home from work, I was sooooo hungry!  I grabbed the first thing I saw in the fridge - bologna - and made a sandwich.  Not the healthiest of choices, but I didn't cave on the fast food idea that popped into my head as I was driving home from work.  So there's a success!

While at work, I tried to consistently focus on keeping my core tight.  It's really hard to do for more than a few seconds though if I'm not concentrating on it.  As soon as I start thinking about something else (i.e. work) I forget to do it.

I've heard many trainers tell people to keep their core tight.  Doing so helps strengthen the core muscles.  I can't really find a lot of support for why, but what I have found does make sense.  A strong core helps stabilize the body and will likely help the body perform better on a regular basis.  It will also help prevent injury as exercise levels increase.  As a side benefit, I noticed that it's difficult to have bad posture while tightening the core/ab muscles - not impossible, but certainly difficult.  Go ahead, try it…

Speaking of injury, I've been having an issue with my left foot for some time now.  It's not getting any better, so I'm heading to the doc tomorrow.  I'll let you know you it goes.  I even bought new shoes hoping that my old ones wearing out might be part of the problem.  They won't win any style awards, but it function over fashion for me these days.

No fashion award, but it makes my feet HAPPY

I've been wearing Brooks for many years since having foot surgery (yep, left foot) for plantar fasciitis.  More than other support/control shoes, they minimized the discomfort I felt walking or even standing for long periods.  

OH I almost forgot AGAIN!!!  All week I've been forgetting to post weigh-in results from Saturday.  There I am hitting the hay for the night and realize I didn't share that I lost SIX POUNDS last week!  Yay!!  That really kept me on track this week.  I know I shouldn't let the scale dictate my actions, but I really needed to see the loss.

And here's the rest of the story… at least for today

FITNESS:
Walked 30 min
Day 3 Squat Challenge
Stretch 10 min

FOOD:
Breakfast:
Kashi Go Lean Crunch w/unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Lunch:

Leftover Fajitas

Dinner:

Bologna Sandwich

Snack: 

Popcorn

DietBet Sep9-Oct6

Well, I did it.  I signed up for another DietBet.  This one starts Sep 9 and ends Oct 6.  The pot is currently at $14,760 and it's $30 to join the challenge.  Want to get in on this?  There's still plenty of time and don't worry, I'll remind you a couple more times between now and then.  Here's the link - check it out…

Lose Weight, Win Money with FITNESS Magazine!

Oh and there's a bonus too!  Daily, the 15 players with the most invites wins a one-year subscription to Fitness Magazine.  So, if nothing else, join, get lots of support, meet some people who share some of the same goals and maybe even lose a few pounds.  Nothing to lose but pounds.  My goal is 10 pounds in one month - that's a few pounds over 4% of my weight, but still within a healthy range.

Now let's talk about how I'm going to meet that goal.  Of course, I have a list...

Major things to do

• Walk at least 10K steps per day
• Do Insanity (Thanks to Biz - cuz she's awesome!)
• Drink a LOT of water
• Log food/exercise EVERY day - no skipping weekends on this one

Minor but still important

• Keep core tight all day
• Stretch
• Take a mulit-vitamin
• Post little stickies of encouragement

I'll probably add a few more, but I think that's a good start.

Speaking of a good start, after reading Biz's post last night, I decided to start this Squat Challenge.  So I jumped up out of my chair and knocked out Day 1.  Then, just before typing this post, I knocked out Day 2!

And lastly, here's my info for today:

FITNESS:
Walked 1.32 miles in 26 minutes
Squat Challenge Day 2

FOOD:

Breakfast:
Kashi Go Lean Crunch w/unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Lunch: 
SmartOnes Fettucini Alfredo w/Broccoli

Dinner: 

Chicken Fajitas

Snack:
Handful Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts

Bike Computer Mod

First thing this morning, I rolled out of bed and got on my bike (which now has a very comfy seat if you haven't seen yesterday's post).  I didn't have a lot of time but I got in a quick workout before work. I'm not a huge fan of getting up earlier to exercise, but I do like not having to worry about it later.  

I guess I mostly just climbed on the bike this morning because I couldn't wait to use the new seat AND the new bike computer.  You won't believe the modification I had to do.  Right out of the box, I realized that this computer was meant to be installed on the front tire, not the back.  The front tire would be fine, but the bike is on a trainer so the front tire doesn't move - not much use for the computer there.  I thought about returning it, but I figured I could make it work on the rear tire.  

Well, here's the thing about rear tire installation.  According to the instructions, there should be a 5-millimeter gap between the sensor and spoke magnet.  The problem is the gears are in the back so the frame extends around them and therefore further from the tires.  The sensor is attached to the frame.  There's probably an inch gap between the frame and the tire - pretty far from 5mm.  I started looking around for a filler.  

I found it!  The instruction manual folded in half will work nicely.  The tire doesn't rub the wire and the wire is still long enough to install in a decent location.  This was a relatively easy installation and will be easy to move to the front tire when it's time to hit the road.  Here are a couple pics of the final product.  

Here's a link to Amazon where I got it for $18.71.  It's called "Cateye Velo 9 Cycling Computer"

Now, on to the other fitness stuff.  This was how I fit it in...

FITNESS: (at oh-dark-thirty)

10 Minutes bike 1.5 miles
10 Minutes treadmill .5 mile
50 100-ups

FOOD

Breakfast:
Kashi Go Lean Crunch w/unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Lunch: 
SmartOnes Fettucini Alfredo w/Broccoli

Dinner: 

Pork Au Jus, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and salad

Snack:
Handful Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts

WW Lemon Cake

Fat-Bottomed Girls

The weekend was fairly productive - woot!  I set up my mountain bike on the trainer AND put on a new seat.

I ordered this seat from Amazon (Sunlite Cloud-9 Suspension Cruiser Saddle, Cruiser Gel). It's soooooo much nicer now.  This bike seat has opened up the possibility of bike rides longer than 5 minutes!  I love it.  It's even shaped like a heart.  But is it strange that every time I see it I hear Queen singing "Fat Bottomed Girls"?

Moving from ouch to ahhhhh

And just in case that comment didn't get the song rolling in your head, here's a YT link to help you along! Click >>>> Fat Bottomed Girls

Next upgrade will be a bike computer.

On to the fitness and food for today:

FITNESS:

• Quick 20 minutes on the treadmill before work
• 80 100-ups at work
• Stretching around the office
• Found this cute at-your-desk workout on youtube.  I don't know how effective it is, but it can't hurt.  Plus, the young fella is rather easy on the ol' eyes.  
• Oh and after work today, I washed to car.  I think I sweat more doing that than the treadmill!

FOOD:

Breakfast:
Chobani Greek Yogurt - Coconut blended w/mini semi-sweet chocolate chips & almond slivers

Lunch:
Marketside (Walmart) - Southwest Salad Kit

Snacks:
Nectarine
Handful Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts

Dinner:
Lean Cuisine Lemon Pepper Fish w/rice, Broccoli & Red Peppers (This was surprisingly good - first time trying it, but I will definitely buy it again).