Progress - end o' week 7

Ok, so maybe no weight loss progress 'cause I gained a pound, but I'm still motivated. I made it to the gym Friday night; did 40 minutes cardio, 10 minutes stretching on the AWESOME stretching station/seat, and 20 minutes on arm machines. My arms are still sore and that might explain some of the weight gain. So even if I only made it to the gym once, I'm still proud because I did it. I didn't make excuses because I couldn't find anyone to go with. I ended up feeling great afterwards too.

Newest (good) discovery: Jack-in-the-box Chicken Fajita Pita. 6 points and so yummy. Today I got the combo with the fresh fruit cup instead of french fries (not like I eat fries anymore anyway). I was totally impressed with the fruit cup. Each piece was delicious and there were no rotton pieces hidden in the bottom. The country of origin was listed for each type of fruit (honeydew & cantaloupe - US, grapes - Mexico, pineapple - Costa Rica.) So good for only 1 point.

Newest (bad) discovery: Fried jalepeno rings from Del Taco. I like jalepeno poppers and jalepenos in most other things. These were tasty and spicy. Which for me is a positive. However, my body is not reacting well. I don't think I'm used to fried foods anymore and it may have just been too many jalepenos on an empty stomach (hence the bad decision in the first place). Oh well. Live, get sick, and learn.

Progress - end o' week 6

Yes, you are correct…I did skip the end of week 5. But in my defense, this last week was really busy. So on to the results --> At the end of week 5 (the day after I came home from camping) I had gained 1 lbs. I wasn’t that surprised because I didn’t practice portion control or sticking to filling foods when on the trip. I ate grilled cheese, full fat (chicken) hot dogs, and basically anything else that we could eat warm. The trip ended up being cold for 21 hours per day. Seriously crazy June gloom we’ve been having in So. Cal. I’ll post more about camping later – with pictures.

Anyway, today I weighed in and had lost over 6 lbs. WOW! Even I was shocked! That’s 18 lbs in total people. I’m pretty happy to be losing at this rate especially when I had such a hard week last week. I hadn’t planned well and ate out a few times (which always uses up more points). I had used up all my weekly points by Thursday night and I was surviving on activity points. I am proud of myself that I got to the gym twice this week (which adds to the busy-ness of the week).

Have I told everyone that the best time to hit the gym is Friday nights? It’s a good thing I don’t have a life or date… ‘cause it’s like having the gym to myself. Plus I went really late. Tuesday night I went to the gym, took Jonas, and met my friend Lorie, her fiancé and her son Joseph there. Jonas & Joseph played in the kid area together. Having the gym act as a play date alleviates my guilt about abandoning him to work out. I know that he is having fun (he’d rather play with Joseph than me anyway), and he is being active. I’ve been enjoying my work outs lately too. I got an IPod Nano to help with the mundane nature of the elliptical. I’m trying to work on building muscle too. I’ve been blown away at how weak I am now. I’ve had to start with the lowest weight on most machines. At least I’ll be able to see growth.

Off point, but too yummy to not blog about, was my dinner with “my girls” on Thursday night. We went to El Polla Inka in Gardena. This was so tasty, but not low in points. Well it wasn’t the way I did it. LOL! The bread is served with a spicy creamy cilantro sauce/salsa, entrees come with a tasty chicken rice cilantro soup, the entrees are big and full of flavor, and the fried sweet plantains were some of the best I’ve ever had. I’m craving them right now **mouth watering**. The funny thing is that I hate bananas. They actually turn my stomach sometimes. But plantains don’t do that. I’m glad. Dinner was great and the company was better.

Saturday I went to my first drive-in theatre. I went with a group from church and had a blast watching the double feature and trying to stay warm (that darn gloom!). I can’t wait to go again. Maybe I’ll make it a family trip. Sunday we make Korean BBQ, El Pollo Loco flavored chicken, Chinese chicken salad, the best fruit salad, asparagus… It was a great Father’s Day filled with family. It was a great week overall.

Progress - end o' week 4

This morning I thought, “I better do my weekly progress post before my readers (both of you) get upset.” So, I’m down almost five pounds since last week’s weigh in (13 lbs in total). That’s pretty good since I was down to only 8 weekly points left as of Friday afternoon when I stopped counting for the rest of the week. However, I did go to the gym on Saturday (and officially joined) and took a walk on Sunday with my family. I just refused to get de-motivated and acknowledged that I’m eating better then I was before, even if I don’t lose pounds. I feel better and am conscious of my food decisions. (btw, I’m eating sour patch kidz as I write this. Ha ha ha!)
So what’s the plan for this week? Well I’m going camping this weekend and am trying to save all my weekly points to use on SMORES, and maybe a hot dog. I’ve made a menu plan of filling foods and “better” choice items. I wanted to make it to the gym, but we went miniature golfing last night, I have church responsibilities tonight, packing and cooking tomorrow, and we leave Thursday afternoon. I’ll just try hard to find active things to do while camping. I’m excited. Really. (Even though I just read Christina’s blog about her camping experience). I think it will be really good for Jonas and I can’t say I’ve ever really camped. Although technically I don’t know if it is “real” camping if your car is parked right next to your tent. Oh well. I’ll let ya’ll know how it goes (the camping and the weight).

Progress (or not) - end o' week 3

Okay, so I've been officially been harassed for not posting yet. Sorry. But seriously, I've been busy. I'm in an intense training program to become an internal auditor for ISO ******** (I don't know if it is confidential, so I won't say too much right now). It's been really interesting and what I've been needing. I've been craving growth and missing school. The class has reminded me of one of my favorite classes at CSUDH. And the training has been ALL day and I've been trying to get other work done during lunch.

So enough excuses...I didn't do well this week. I stayed within my points, but still gained 2 pounds. I'm not giving up or loosing motivation. I know I'm doing good things and am looking for new ways to improve. I know I do better on weeks when I have lots of fresh produce. I've had many temptations (peanut M&M's for example) and haven't fit in any activity points.

Feedback please - I'm having a difficult time fitting in time to work out. I work full time and usually have a few nights each week that are busy. I don't like the idea of spending time at the gym when I have my son with me. I don't get to see him enough as it is. I've attempted to include him in activity. We've gone to the park to run around, but he's so whiny right now. But that's a different blog. There isn't enough room in my room to do videos and the living room isn't available. I'm not trying to be negative, but to show my obstacles. Suggestions please.