Julie's Life Journey

I think my body is finally going to start trusting me  that I will feed it regardless of the exercise that I put it through and start dropping this weight that I have been carrying around for far too long.

I am finally down 1.8 pounds. It took 18 days to get there. I’m guessing that I have been building muscle which is a great thing. It will help to boost my metabolism and right now that is what I’m wanting.

I’m doing awesome on my 30  minutes of cardio streak. I’m on day 12. I’ve also been rowing 2000 meters everyday. And strength training three days a week.

I’ve not been doing so good eating 1500 calories a day. I’ve been eating between 1400-1900 calories. My average has been 1500-1700. I keep trying to get them under 1500 and I do great for a couple of days and then eat more for a couple of days and the cycle goes on and on.

Honestly I don’t think this is hurting me right now. I think what is hurting me is not having a plan. I need to figure out some meal plans for the entire day. Right now I only plan dinner and breakfast. I need to start planning lunch and snacks and eat every couple of hours. This may get tough though when I go back to work.

Oh yeah, work. I haven’t worked in two years! It’s crazy. I reapplied at my old job and I hope to be going back to work next month. Breaks and lunches aren’t scheduled all that well and can vary greatly. So this may put a damper in the planning. I’m going to have to plan very carefully when I get to this point.

Anyway, that is all I have for now…

Never give up, Never surrender!

It’s been a bad food day, so far!

I started with a smoothie, which was a good start.

Chocolate unsweetened almond milk
Strawberries
Vega

And then a granola bar, peanut butter.

Then I had two Larabars (peanut butter cookie) and a coconut water.

Oh and half of an Endangered Species Dark Chocolate bar.

Yeah, not a good food day. I’m feeling very tired and just want to nap and that just isn’t going to happen.

I have to cook dinner, at least it will be healthy and nutritious.

Homemade Tomato Soup
Chef Salad

And then go to my younger son’s parent teacher conference and then and only then can I think of going to sleep.

That’s all for now…

Ag has inspired me to start a streak, actually two. My streak started Thursday, October 7th. My first streak is a minimum 30 minutes of cardio everyday and second streak, which just started yesterday, is to eat less than 1500 calories each day. I’m on Day 6 and Day 2 and it’s going great so far.

I’m trying to lose weight. I would like to lose about 75-80 pounds.

I’ve been going to the gym everyday. Doing a minimum  of 30 minute intervals. Sometimes an hour. I also do strength training 3 days a week. I’m at two sets of 10, six different exercises. And have incorporated the rowing machine, rowing 2000 meters everyday.

I’m not losing weight, however I am losing inches. So, I am guessing my body is gaining muscle. If I haven’t lost any weight by the end of the month then I’ll have to re-evaluate my plan of action. I think I’ll also have my body fat tested again so I can have a visual that my body is infact doing something besides just hanging onto the weight that I’d like to be losing.

Speaking of body fat, I had it first tested in June of 2007. The second test was done on October 6, 2010. I have lost 1.9% bodyfat. So, I’m pleased with that.

As for diet, I’ve just started eating less than 1500 calories a day. I’m making sure I eat at minimum 1375. I do not want my body going into starvation mode because I’m eating too little. Yesterday, I ate 1402.

*** According to the CRON Calculator, 1500 calories for being lightly active would put me at 15.8% CR and moderately active would have me at 25.3% CR. ***

I’m also doing my best to make sure my meals are as close to 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat as I can. It can be difficult at times. My body seems to love this ratio though as I haven’t had any afternoon lows since I started eating this way so I’ll keep it up.

I’m going to start posting meals and nutrition again as well.

As of right now:  30% P, 41% C, 29% F

Smoothie, 208 calories

1 serving Chocolate Unsweetened Almond Milk
100g frozen strawberries
35g Vega, whole foods optimizer

Lunch, 351 calories

1 serving instant plain oatmeal, with cinnamon
12g brown sugar
7g margarine
4 large egg whites
2 servings turkey bacon

Side Note: Eggs, I’m trying to add eggs back into my diet for a source of protein. So far, I haven’t had any issues. Dairy, margarine is the only dairy I have been having as I do not like Earth Balance. It tastes too much like soy and I hate the taste of soy.

Well, I think that is all I have for now. Until next time…

To improve at anything, we must at some point push ourselves outside our comfort zone.

I’m eating well. My calorie average for the last six days has been 1616.

I’ve been going to the gym. Doing intervals and strength training. I’m sore which is good. Not too sore though.

I also had my body fat measurements done. I am down 1.9% from June of 2007. I was surprised because I thought it was actually going to be up.

I’ll come back for a proper post tomorrow…

Well, we are back from our wonderful date night. It’s so great when we are able to get out and not have to worry about the kids or anything else for that matter.

I tried to order something that was mostly healthy at the Chinese restaurant we had never been to before. However, as most people know with all the sauces and deep frying that is done, it’s not always easy to choose something healthy. Then there is the wheat, egg, and dairy allergy that stop me from ordering other things.

So what did I choose to eat, well it was the Moo Goo Gai Pan. It had sliced chicken, different kinds of mushrooms, zucchini, snow peas, and carrots with some kind of light sauce that went over it. I did NOT order any rice so that helped me to not go over calories too badly. Of course the sauce is the worst part of the whole dish. Anyway, this was absolutely yummy and I ate the whole dish!

Here’s a picture:

For dessert, my husband and I went to the store on the way home and I picked up some Raspberry Sorbet. That was very yummy too!

Overall the calorie count for today totaled about 1671. Not bad, not bad at all.

I met with my personal trainer yesterday and wow, I’m going to be a hurting unit come Monday after my first set of exercises. Actually that is not true, I’m already a hurting unit after the introduction to those exercises she wants me to do three days a week. Have I told you how out of shape I am? No. I’m really, really out of shape. I’m guessing by the end of December if all goes well and I stay on course, I’ll be in pretty good shape.

The other thing she wants me to do is interval training. I have read about it however, I haven’t actually done it. Well, I can’t say that anymore. I did my first 15 minutes of interval training ever today on the elliptical. It was crazy and at the end of those 15 minutes I wanted to stop and be done with exercise forever, forever I say! Ok, maybe it wasn’t that bad. It still kicked my butt though.

One other thing she suggested was to get my body fat measurements done. I’ve done this in the past and I’m sure I’m worse off now than I was back then. It will be nice though in January when I do them again to see the progress I’ve made. It’s always good to have something other than the scale to measure just how well you are doing.

Today’s smoothie after my workout:

413 Calories – 28% Protein, 38% Carbs, 34% Fat

1 cup almond milk, unsweetened
50g spinach
1 serving Raw Protein, Garden of Life
20g hemp seeds
12g chia seeds
250g Fruit Medley, Frozen

Tonight: I’m sure I’ll probably go over the 1500 calories I’ve set for myself because I’m having a date night with my husband at a Chinese place that we both haven’t been to before. Our date nights only happen about twice a month so I’m not worried about it.

Until next time…

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

“Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.” ~ George Edward Woodberry