Track that!!

Here's my piece about tracking (or journaling, or logging, or whatever you want to call it).

I have found through my personal ups and downs with healthy eating, that I'm going to have ups and downs. That's just the way life goes.  And so, my results on the scale tend to go up and down a little bit too from week to week.  A great tool for me is to be able to look back at my food journals and see what the heck happened to cause whatever victory or misery I'm looking at.

Here's my deal though, it is very tempting not to track my food for the night when it looks kinda like this:

junior bacon cheeseburger
10 chicken nuggets
large fries
large diet coke (oooooh good going)
6 scoops of cookie dough
6 cookies (actually waited for these ones to BAKE!)
2 cups of milk

You get the idea.
Who wants to see those calories add up? Not this chubby waist girl.  But I do it. And I do it so I can see where the damage came from.  Plus, what would I rather think? Um, I magically weigh this much despite eating 1000 calories a day and busting my booty in the gym and there is something inherently wrong with me that I can't change?? Or I weigh this much because I had a bad day last week that I am going to do my best not to repeat?  And also, I can work that mistake off because I'm awesome.

So besides looking back at the binges, tracking my food keeps me accountable, because oftentimes I will track before I eat, or track as I go.  This helps me to plan my meals a day in advance or even just a few hours in advance, so when hunger strikes, I don't have to think.  I'll log in a day's worth of food that adds up to my caloric goal, when I'm sane and full the night before, with groceries I actually have in the fridge, and then move on to other things.  Then all I have to do is eat it! Easy peasy!

Also, with MyFitnessPal tracker, I can look up foods and track right as I plan to eat them, which helps me to make good food choices on the fly.  I did this at The Cheesecake Factory recently.  All the menu items I looked for were available on the MyFitnessPal app, and I checked calories and fat content of a view Skinnylicious menu choices before ordering. Shazaam! Magic. And tracked right then at the table.

I've been tracking my food every day since high school, whether in a pink sparkly notebook or on fancy shmancy iPhone apps, but basically, it's really important to weight management for me. When I let it go, I really LET IT GO. Yikes.

If you bite it, write it. Good, bad, or ugly. If it goes in my mouth, it goes in the tracker.

Jazz and Big Macs

My awesome little sister Audrey gets free Jazz tickets at work! And she let me have two and come to a game with her! Best Christmas present ever! It wasn't really a Christmas present, but it was still grrreat!
The game was last night, and I knew my evening would be busy, getting off work, picking up my friend Claudia, and driving up to the game in Salt Lake and all.  But I knocked out a 45 minute Jillian workout DVD the moment I walked in the door from work, cooked a salmon filet and sweet potato while I showered fast, got pretty, and ran to the game. And OMG, it was the best game ever.  Sweet win, 3 pointer by Mo Williams on the buzzer to win it. Plus, our seats were in the second-from-the-top-row, and I filled my water bottle 3 or 4 times, so I went up and down those killer stairs plenty of times.  My booty was killin me all day today.
Also, I snuck in a ton of healthy snacks to munch throughout the game: cuties, almonds, string cheese, apple, but was still starving after the game.  It got out at 11:30 and I had burned lots of calories throughout the day so yeah I was...  HUNGRY. I made the conscious choice to stop with Claudia for chicken nuggets and a diet coke, but when we got up to the McDonald's window, the girl saw we were both in Jazz jerseys... And asked us for ticket stubs from the game for FREE BIG MACS!! Winning Jazz ticket stubs get you free Big Macs apparently! So we got those instead. Too many calories for my day, but oh well. Call the wahhhhmbulence.  I was being festive and having Jazz spirit.  And I will still lose weight this week. Watch me. 

Friend Michelle's lucky jersey.  Won us the game and free food.

 

Before the game. Um, a little excited!!

Audrey, Claudia, Me.  Jazzed.

Time out.

Okay this being sick and still being successful is harder than I thought. Last night as I struggled through my work out, I noticed I didn't have my usual strength.  I took one bathroom break during my cardio on the spin bike (TMI?) but finished out the 30 minutes I had planned on eventually.  When I moved to my floor work for bridges and cruches for toning  for the day, I had a really hard time getting my reps in.  I was tired and weak.  Only did about 50 crunches instead of my usual 200 plus. I'm happy I at least did something for my body, but boooooo. I really wanted to lose 3 pounds all in one week this week to get to my next milestone/goal and reward.  I have these rewards plotted out for myself in a list in my iPhone, a prize for every few pounds lost to keep me going and make it fun without being about food!
I have a definite feeling I will need until next Friday's weigh in for my 184 reward.. the mythic Michael Kors booties I keep fantasizing about. Especially because I...
Cheered up my sick self with a big bowl of cookie dough ice cream last night, with a scoop of peanut butter on top, sprinkled with sliced bananas.
You do not get a photo, because this is not a food porn site, and I don't want to look at it later and want it again.
I felt miserably ill, and consoled myself with sweets, after I had been doing so well at taking care of myself in healthy ways: rest, hot lemon tea, vitamins, nutritious foods, lots of fluids, moderate exercise.  I caved. And then went to bed.
The lesson in this?  Had I not had the ice cream in the house, I could not have eaten it in my weak moment.
Mission: Throw out remainder of quart of ice cream the moment I walk in my house after work today. And for future, treats may only be purchased in single serving sizes.  Extras need to be immediately given away or thrown away.  It is not wasteful, it is wise. My goals are worth it.

Pass the tissues

I don't know if I got sick because I worked myself too hard, or because I rested too much. Or I just got sick because it look like the North Pole outside. Regardless of the cause, I feel like doo doo.  And all I want to make myself feel better is comfort food, comforter, hot cocoa, and movies.

But I made it to the gym this morning. Through the snow.

I rested this weekend.  Actual rest.  Like a full 2 days happened with no workouts.  Now my streak restarts.

And I am committed to lose 3 pounds at this week's weigh in, regardless of physical handicaps and less-than-ideal weather conditions. 3 pounds will get me to my first goal-milestone, and earn me the Michael Kors boots waiting in my closet for a lighter me. Gotta get there this week. I'm too excited!!

To get there without sending myself to the hospital with pneumonia, I'll be doing 2 a day workouts, but being very careful to eat very nutritiously and also sleeping 8+ hours per night.  I make my to do list and schedule every day and make it happen. PLANNING. It's possible. Writing this out is helping already. :)

Yummy lunch

PEOPLE

Even when I want to throw my worn out body off a cliff, I just learned it can do more. 5 min into my workout, muscles warmed up, sweat broke, endorphins kicked in, and it's all worth it again. Lesson learned? NO DAYS OFF.

Idk if I'm bout this life. I just want to go bed. Body hurts from yesterday... But I'm getting on this bike.

Miss Jillian Doesn't Mess Around

Yesterday was my loooooong day. We all have them.  Packed with crap to do.  We know they're coming in the week, and we just have to brace for them.  I had early morning payroll to put in at work, then an eye doctor appt (yippee I'm old), then errands to run, then more work at the office, then school.

Then finally home.

My key here for sanity, and not self-medication with sugar to make it through, is PLANNING.  I packed and brought my old standbys for healthy snacks and meals:

• apples
• bananas
• cuties
• almonds
• boiled eggs
• pumpkin seeds (personal obsession)
• string cheese
• low-fat lunch meat
• whole wheat tortillas
• dark chocolate
• low fat popcorn
• red peppers
• baby carrots
• blueberries
• grapes
• more apples (seriously, they are the perfect portable snack)

And yes I ate all of that food, continuously, all day long. Kept me going strong! 

Also, I knew darn well I wasn't waking up at 4:30 to work out on this morning before my extra early work day, so I planned for a fun and different, cardio and strength combined workout for the evening, after some down time. I chillaxed and ate my quick-easy dinner (baked sweet potato and grilled salmon fillet; it cooked while I laid on my bed and stared at my twitter). Then I pulled myself together for this:

Jillian Michaels kicked my butt. 

She scares me. Look at her face. 

I tried to be tough. Look at my face.

All in all lovely busy day yesterday, and I'm sorrrrrre and tired today. Jillian would laugh her evil laugh. And the scale was happy with me today. You'll get to see proof tomorrow!! I bet you are all peeing your pants with excitement.  Weeeeeeeee. 

Dreams of Excellence

So I had great intentions of working out this morning, I put out my clothes, shoes, water bottle, headphones, all of it, alarm set ready to go. And then slept through my alarm.  The funny part is, when I woke up at 7, it was from a dream of working out.  My subconscious knew what it wanted to be doing, but I honestly think my body was just too tired.  Does that count for something?

Anyhow, I will log extra minutes tonight after my work holiday party.  Which I'm stoked for.  We have a good time.

Freakin Weekend

Heyyyyy.  So I had a great weekend, and great food, and took no days off from gettin my sweat on. And I've lost more weight, but you don't get to know how much, because you don't get to see my scale for 5 more days and I get to look whenever I want. :)

Friday I was craving chocolate baaaaad on my period. My bestie Claudia was too, so that didn't help matters for moral support!  I had done my morning workout, but I forced myself to burn some more calories on the bike at  home, and still wanted a treat, so we got Blizzards, and enjoyed every bite of them, guilt free. I tracked the damage and moved on!  

Saturday was a super busy day.  I had my sweet roommate's masters violin concert (it was fantastic), work errands, brow wax, birthday gift shopping and wrapping, laundry, birthday dinner, and an hour drive to work in there.  So, I got up early and did my workout first thing.  40 min cardio and then jumped in to the to do list.  And helped my roommate Katie with her hair.  Did I mention how cute she is? 

Later, at my fab friend Emily's birthday dinner at Ichiban in SLC (great place), I filled up on edamame and water, and enjoyed a delicious Pink Power roll with shrimp and asparagus. Yum!!! Great times with the girls.

Me, Adriana, and Kristy Kay. Love. 

Sunday. Lounged. Loved it. Still worked out! Smooches!

Hey dolls, I'm new to this. So if you had felt the burning desire to make a comment previously, to tell me how fabulous or dumb I am, or whatever, but you couldn't... Well, you can now!  I fixed the settings so any reader can comment. So please do.  I will thrill to read your feedback, brilliant ideas, and criticisms.  Just never talk bad about my hair. Or I'll block you.  It's my crowning glory. Thanks bye.

My Jam

Try to not run dance groove bounce.

Dare ya.

Yooooo Cafe Rioooooo

It is very important to me to be able to work Cafe Rio into my fit healthy sexy lifestyle.  I'm obsessed addicted in-love.  And I have no desire to try to give it up.  My pal Karen has creamy delicious coffee, I have Mexican deliciousness.  So today, I've looked into how I can work it in as a treat a few times a month. In the past, I've made Wednesday take out night, since I have class tonight and I end up famished and low on energy and ideas for making dinner at 7 PM when I get out of school.  So I like to pick up a grilled chicken salad. And I think that's fine sometimes. Yummm.

You may be pleasantly surprised, as I was, to find that the Cafe Rio flour tortilla (from heaven) is lower in calories and fat than it's wheat counterpart. It also has 1 gram more in fiber, and is equal in carbs.  Unless this is a switcharoo mistake on the Cafe Rio website.  Either way, the differences are minimal, so I would not waste my money paying extra for the wheat tortilla to feel healthy and snobbish.  Treat yourself to the flour.  The important thing here is portion control, as just the tortilla itself comes in at 420 calories. 1/2 of the tortilla is good for me.

So here's the plan:

I eat half of the grilled chicken salad for dinner, then have 1/2 for leftovers (weekend lazy dinner probably). I divide it in half before I start eating--key. I used to always eat a full salad with 2 dressings, the new new shhh is 1/2 salad with 1/2 dressing. Then, other modifications: no tortilla strips, and no sprinkle cheese.  Remember to make these changes while ordering! The strips are great and crunchy and all, but not worth the calories and fat to me, while the dressing and tortilla absolutely ARE. And the sprinkle cheese adds extra sodium, for not a lot of flavor.  Everything else, I get to have!! Black beans, rice, lots of yum lettuce, guac, pico, yum. So there we go.  A plan for power.

Here is my food journal for today, so you can see how easily this works in.  My AM workout wasn't even intense to make up for it!  I'll still do some yoga tonight to combat my soreness I'm having right now, and track that later.  This is a pretty normal food day for me, up until dinner.

You can see that I still have calories left for a few almonds and blueberries this afternoon.  Brilliant.

This was quite an in depth analysis/rationalization on eating my favorite food.... But what's the point of all this living healthy and living long if I'm tortured?  Exactly. Enjoy.

Hey there, Pal.

"'The time has come,' the Walrus said..." to switch things up for Stephanie.

I have switched from tracking food and exercise with Weight Watchers to My Fitness Pal. That being said, I have nothing against Weight Watchers, and that program worked great for me.  I lost 35 pounds on it.  I also gained 20 pounds in the past 6 months, because I got bored and needed a change.  I have no doubt that if I had continued correctly on it, it would continue to work correctly.  But, my brain needs NEW and FRESH to stay motivated, so I made the bold choice to cancel my online membership out of nowhere on Sunday, and I am now happily tracking calories each day instead of Points Plus.

If you haven't tried My Fitness Pal, here's a bit for you to know:
-It's a fun and free app; really easy to use on my iPhone 5
-It gives you your daily caloric goal, based on height, weight, lifestyle, and goal weight. Easy peasy.
-It has nutritional info for EVERY food I've looked up to track so far, including restaurants, brand names, fruits, veggies, etc.
-The serving sizes are easy to modify and add.
-It has a bar code scanner to zap your foods so you don't have to type anything! All free!
-You can follow your friends and encourage each other's progress. :)
-Exercise is easy to track, and adds more calories for you to eat in the day. Woohoo! Food!
-Coolest feature.... At the end of the day, it projects what you will weigh in a month if every day keeps up like that.  Gives you an idea for realistic goals, and what to tweak and change.  Smarty pants. Thanks, Pal.

Anxious to see how this pays off at Friday's weigh in.

And if you want to be my friend! My username is Stephiespain.

Quick update

Okay people, before you panic, I know my initial weigh in was last Tuesday, but I will not be weighing in again until this Friday. Friday weigh ins give me something to look forward to and celebrate for the weekend.  They are one of my favorite psychological tricks.  So, keep building up your excitement. :P

Morning Workouts?? Really?

I've been trying to talk myself into morning workouts for two or three years.  I've done a few here and there, but never very consistently.  Um, it's hard!! But in the spirit of change and commitment, now is the time! I found some helpful tricks on Pinterest (shocker) to share:

Here is some of the gear that I laid out for myself so I was prepped and ready to go this morning at 5:45 AM:

 I also put out my yoga pants, tank top, sports bra, socks, and hoodie to wear down to my clubhouse where I work out.  I had my iPhone ready with  new playlist for this period of my journey.  I have named it MK Boots, because those are my non-food reward for myself for my first good chunk of weight lost.  I bought them last week (Black Friday deal, woohoo!) but I don't get to wear them until I see 184 on the scale. Pics to come!

Few more tips I came up with that will help me in the morning:
-Brush your teeth and put on chapstick; it helps to wake me up and feel cute/ready to go!
-Eat a banana or apple with almond or peanut butter. No good to workout on a completely empty stomach. This is quick to make and eat.  I can eat it while walking to my clubhouse gym. Good mix of protein and carbs.
-Set your alarm to a get-up-and-go song that you love. My secret power song is "Bulletproof" by La Roux.  I couldn't help but jump out of bed excited when that started!

Last but not least, if you are still lacking motivation to hit the treadmill, elliptical, whatever,tomorrow, here are the benefits that helped me talk myself into it.... A morning workout:
-Wakes up your metabolism for day.
-Leaves your evening free to get other things done, or have fun!
-Starts your day off sexy and strong
-Sets the health trend for the day; you won't want to eat poorly and spoil your work!
-Kick starts your productivity! By the time you get to work or school, you've already gotten a lot done!
-Gives you time to yourself.  At my gym, I'm the only one out at 6 AM.
-Increases self esteem. If you can do this, what else can you do?!

RISE AND GRIND

Just Two. :)

Hard to keep going on the sore days... Taking a nap and then hitting the road. This is the exact crucial time to gain momentum. Rest days? Rest from what? Giving my body what it needs? No thanks.

Damage Control

I let my 17 year old sister train me today.. 2 mile hike and serious ab work. I'll be feeling that when I laugh tonight. :) Excited!

A Thinner Thanksgiving

I tried a few fun recipes to go lower-cal on some family favorites this year, and they turned out great! No complaints! No one even knew they were eating "healthy" mashed potatoes, and we cut the calories in half (compared to the usual creamy buttery version). These recipes are officially tested and Turkey Day approved!!

First Annual Turkey Trot

We trotted or something. At 7 AM, starting turkey day off right! 3 miles of trotting, galloping, cantering, speed-walking, running, jogging, whatever. We were moving! Check it out.

Everything is fun and games when it's not THANKSGIVING

Let's face it. It's pretty easy to stay in control and eat clean and healthy when candied yams aren't staring you down.  The true test is portion control in those hard moments. For today, I'm staying on top of things so that I can splurge a little, not a lot, when tomorrow comes.

Lunch today was an impressive (for me) 6 Points Plus! Ham and cheese wrap piled high with lettuce, side of grapes and baked Lays. Yum.  It looked like a real normal lunch for a skinny person. :) High five. One more success under my shrinking belt.

Good habits

Hungry. Should have brought eggs for breakfast, they stick better. I'll make more time next week.  Just had to get out the door for this last day of work before Thanksgiving break today!  Live and learn...

Chubby Waist

Measured my waist today.. That is the only measurement I'll track. It's fitting for my theme and title, and also a good indicator for healthy weight. I also don't care much about the size and infinite curvature of my hips, booty, and other areas. they can and will stick around whether I want them to or not. It is my tummy that needs to shrink the most. So starting point...

Ready Set Go

You gotta start somewhere. And I'm starting this today. I've "started" losing weight many many times before, but today is different, and here's why:
-Today is a random day, a mid-November Tuesday marked by nothing but spontaneous motivation and get-up-and-go.
- This is public. I am committing to progress not just to myself, but to anyone else to cares to see.
- I promise to be remarkably honest. I may love or loathe, but never lie. It does nothing for my body!

Okay, here's the set up: I will weigh in and share the results every week. Cross your fingers for good movement! In addition, I'll post pics showing proof of physical progress every 8 weeks. SEXXYYY. Then, stories of sweat, food, discoveries, and total BS fail days along the way. Let's go.

P.S. My tools right now includes the Weight Watchers Points Plus online program, and a variety of workouts, cardio and weight bearing. Those will get exciting as my exercise ADD kicks in.

K time to strip.

Naked photo credits to bff Claudia Chileshe.

This number is rough for me.  It was just this past June that was enjoying scale numbers in the high 160's.  I was so cute! That me is still part of this me, and I'll get there.  

And yes I realize I'm starting 2 days before Thanksgiving. Brilliance and madness combined. Wheeeeeeeee.

Okay dudettes, here is the story of being chubby and sexy at the same blam time, and also my process of getting less chubby and more healthy!  It's super fun.  Read and find out.