Back on the horse - again

After a hiatus, stuff happening, new job search which is not that easy I might add, I am back!

About 20 resumes sent out so far in a week or so. Not bad, not bad, considering I don't have all day to send them. Feeling discouraged in this health journey. Seems I make progress, go off track and indulge a little but still keep the exercise up and the scale jumps back up. Yeah, yeah muscle weighs more than fat but seriously, I think I need help. Weekend indulgence should have been offset by Friday night ice skating, Sat. 1 1/2 hr. weights and cardio, Sun. house cleaning and Wii tennis and bowling but it was not offset. Sigh ... HELP!

Health today:

6:15am treadmill at home for 25 mins. Sweating away! Whoo!

7:30am Breakfast - smoothie made with 1/2 scoop protein powder, pineapple, canteloupe, honeydew melon and 1/2 little yogurt single serving cup of Silhoutte 35 cal. yogurt.

8:35am Power walked to the gym

8:50am Weight lifting.

Today I challenged myself with the Back Extension machine. Only 50 lbs and 2 sets of I think 12 reps but that thing freaks me out. I never know if I'm doing it correctly and I feel like I will fly over the balcony there. Adductor, abductor, ab twist machine, ab crunch machine - 3 sets of 20 reps each, leg curl, leg press, chest press with dumbbells on the stability ball, squats with 10 lb weights in each hand, shoulder shrugs with the same weights, curls x 2 sets and more curls with heavier weights x 2 sets. I skipped the tricep extension machine. I used it again on Saturday and am still a little sore from it.

10:00am Salad - tuna, lettuce, celery, broccoli and tbsp or so of ranch dressing, plus spices

Little bit of artichoke dip and pita chips for my daily fat intake :)

1:30pm Salad - lettuce, broccoli, celery and vinaigrette dressing - and a homemade mince tart. Should not have had it but no one else will eat it and I forgot to serve it yesterday for dessert.

Happiness today: Applied for 1 job so far, played 3 games with Jr. after school, had fresh air, house is reasonably clean, paperwork for volunteering tonight done, but of my other job done too. No chill out time really except maybe now.

Feeling overwhelmed by the job sit. though. It will happen. Stay positive.

Yesterday's meals

Okay, yesterday's meals ...

Lunch was leftover beef stir fry with 1/4 cup of rice. Brown rice would have been better but it takes longer to cook and no one in the house will eat it except for me. Water to drink.

Snack: homemade granola bar featuring Harvest Crunch cereal, oats, peanut butter, min marshmallows, cho. chips and some other stuff. Mostly healthy and 150 cal. per bar.

Dinner: fish (coated but that's what we had), salad with green pepper and celery, low cal. dressing, potato nest - 150 cal. for one.

Lemongrass tea at 9:00pm.

Not bad for meals. Housework and family time after dinner. We played a new board game!

Today is Wednesday: 6:30am and a I had a banana, multivitamin and water. Going to do some yoga and cardio before my clients arrive. I have to hurry!

Back on track

So I was discouraged about my journey after a weekend of pop, pizza, chips, birthday cake, pecan pie flavoured ice cream and lack of exercise for a few days ... felt like all my hard work was gone and that's ridiculous! How could it be? If T.O's Rob Ford can lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks or less why does it take me months? Maybe it's because there's not that much to lose. Maybe it's because my body has a comfort zone and sometimes you can only do so much but I will not be defeated!

Today I had a multivitamin, water, 3 large strawberries in 1/2 cup of Harvest Crunch cereal and yogurt.

Workout:

2 sets of 15 reps 12.5 lb curls

2 x 12 reps 10 lb alternating curls

2 x 20 reps 10 lb squats

2 x 15 reps 8 lb shoulder shrugs

2 x 20 reps 115 lb seated leg press

2 x 15 reps 40 lbs leg curls

2 x 15 reps 45 lb leg extensions

2 x 20 reps 75 lb adductor (inner thigh so is it abductor?)

2 x 20 reps 60 lbs abductor (outter thigh so reversed?)

2 x 12 reps 30 lb tricep extensions

30 reverse crunches

20 alternating oblique crunches

stretching!

Cardio: 22 mins. at 5.0 incline, a bit of jogging on treadmill. Average heart rate 142, high was 167.

The gym was very strange today ... I felt almost exposed because they had removed a lot of equipment and were bringing in new stuff. Where did all those people come from? It was busy in there at 9:00am!

After the gym, I had 1/2 scoop of whey protein, 3 strawberries and milk blended. It was great!

Wish me luck.

Thursday already?

So I have been slacking in the writing department. I have still being doing well. Tuesday I went to the gym and jogged/power walked on the treadmill, 45 mins. of weight lifting, reps of 20 mostly and 2 sets of each exercise using machines, free weights, medicine ball and stability ball. It was great! Been eating well too.

Wednesday was a crazy busy day for work for me. 15 hour day at least and sadly didn't give much time to two of my kids but I did manage to squeeze in 31 minutes on the treadmill at home at 6:15am, burning 175 calories according to the meter. Certainly broke more than a sweat!

Dinner was some ham, 6 pieces of rigatoni (yes, only 6 squiggly pasta bits) and celery with a touch of Guk for dipping. Maybe a tsp of it. No food after 6:00pm and I went to bed at 12:45am. Got some sewing caught up and read part of my Happiness Project book too.

Today is Thursday. Haven't done a Wii scale check yet. I will tomorrow. It's been a full day of working 3 jobs so far and it's 1:20pm, and I have volunteering tonight.

Breakfast: omelet made with 1 egg and some poured egg whites, topped with a little marble cheese and diced tomatoes, 2 strips of bacon, 3/4 slice of whole wheat toast with margarine (I was full and gave the other 1/4 of toast to one of the kids) and 5 oz of 2% milk. All four food groups.

Snack: 2 stalks of celery with a little cream cheese, water - 11:15am

Lunch: Not hungry. I should eat something soon.

Work-out: Hopefully at 8:00pm tonight when I get home. It was supposed to be my gym day but sometimes life gets in the way of plans. Cardio and stretching will do nicely. I've had 32 oz of water at least so far today. Had my fresh air for 40 mins. outside too.

Tonight's dinner is nachos and tortilla soup. I think I will load mine up with green pepper instead of chips underneath. I feel really good about this low-carb diet so far. Low-carb meaning less grains, rice, pasta, cereal, etc. It's been nearly 3 weeks!

Funeral today

I am attending my grandfather's funeral today. It will be a solemn day. I am to do the first reading at mass. I hope I don't stumble. I am honoured that I was asked. Last night was the viewing. Not as difficult as I thought and nice to have almost the entire family together. It's a rarity.

Okay ... I can't sleep so I am online. Yesterday I did manage to get in a half hour of exercise in the morning. It was cardio combined with crunches, bridges, calf raises, leg lifts, torso twists and a few other stretches. Proud that I could fit that in.

So food yesterday ...

Breakfast: banana, water, vitamin

Lunch: garden salad with sliced turkey on top, low cal Caesar dressing, 1/3 potato made into home fries, water

Snack at 3pm: granola bar (150 calories), water

Dinner at 9:00pm: Diet Coke (0 calories), southwest salad at Montana's - greens, black beans, corn, few tortilla strips, jalepeno and red peppers, topped with steak. Ancho ranch dressing on the side and I used 1/4 of the cup of dressing provided. Didn't finish the salad. Very proud of my healthy choice. A full salad is over 500 calories. I didn't need much dressing at all!

My Grandmother said I looked thinner. I saw her 2 weeks ago just before New Year's. The compliment was nice.

Today ... no breakfast yet. Maybe I should try to get some more sleep. I've been up for an hour at it's 6:40am.

A busy weekend

On Friday I was down 0.2 kg. I did a lot of cardio exercise in the morning, snow shovelling in the afternoon, and was feeling good, considering I received bad news about a death in the family the night before. That's another story. My dinner was my "fun" night ... 2 beers (1 was light), 2 slices of pizza with meat and veggies on it, 2 brownies (that I made), 2 pieces of cheesy garlic bread and breaded chicken twists. So worth it! No night snacking after that.

Saturday (yesterday), I went to the gym and spent 1 1/2 hours lifting weights, walking the track and jogging on the treadmill. My incline was 4.5%, maximum heart rate 178 bpm. My target is 111- 148. What happens if I go over? My steady heart rate was within the high end of my range, closer to 155 though. Breakfast unfortunately was a granola bar and lunch was 2 slices of leftover pizza. I didn't eat again for several hours until dinner but drank plenty of water.

Dinner: hamburger (NO BUN), slice of bacon, mustard, garden salad with a little Guk sauce on the side, 1/3 potato made into home fries with NO SALT.

Evening: slice of apple cheesecake, 2 shrimp with seafood sauce, handful of whole grain (gluten-free) crackers with seeds in them and brie, glass of wine, butterscotch martini, couple of rum & Diet Cokes so all low calorie drinks at a party.

Today is Sunday. Not in the mood for much. I need some down time after a busy week. House work has been done daily this week. Kids need reminders to keep up with things. We have a viewing to attend to later. I have managed to do 14 days straight of exercise and watching what I eat carefully. I noticed in pictures I've gone up and down ... wondering what I did before to go down. I don't think it was this intense. I have to do some form of exercise today.

Breakfast: banana and water - for now. Not in the mood to eat. I know bananas are "bad" in a way but whatever. It's fruit so better than a couple of slices of toast, right?

Lunch today

Lunch today was left over chicken and veggies from last night and a blueberry muffin made yesterday. Did I mention my breakfast? Egg white omelet made with a splash of milk, black pepper, sprinkling of cheese and diced tomato with 6 strawberries on the side, a vitamin and water.

Water drank as of 1:00pm: 6 glasses