Making It Happen

I accomplished six miles on the treadmill yesterday followed by an intense strength circuit training session.  Today I clocked another five miles on the pavement and rounded it out with a Jillian Michaels six-pack workout.  I still have some work to do to make the scale go down, but I'm willing to invest the sweat equity in myself to make it happen.

Checking In Before the Weekend

Every winter Andrew and I schedule the Broncos v. Zags games as date nights, drumming up our Alma Mater rivalry for some good old-fashioned competitive fun.  We'll go out to a sports bar, order beers and nachos, and trash talk throughout the game.  This year, we've started doing it a little differently: sofa seats.  We've decided to forgo the bar and recreate it in our "home theater."  Andrew streams the game on our luxurious 24-inch television, and I handle dinner.  We decided to go with sports bar type food in the spirit of the event (burgers and beer), but I'm working really hard to stay on track and Andrew's being supportive, so we changed it up a bit.

Dinner was black bean turkey burgers on whole wheat bageleans with pepper jack cheese, avocado, lettuce, and tomato.  I also picked up honey mustard pretzel bites (one of my favorite snacks) and some bud light.  The burger ended up being giant, and in its entirety was only 490 calories.  I had some pretzels and a single beer, which brought my daily total above what my recommended net intake is (if you're trying to lose 2 lbs a week), so after the game, I powered out a Jillian Michaels six-pack workout.  It's hard after a beer, man!  But I did it, and I didn't puke.  Go me.

I am pleased to say, last night my Broncos kicked Andrew's Zags' asses 85 to 71.  This is a huge upset, because it's always been the other way around since we started dating almost five years ago.  I'll admit:  I gloated.  A lot.

Weekend Running

  

Lk Union

Green Lake

I've been keeping up on my promise to myself to run longer distances.  Saturday I ran the perimeter of Lake Union, which is a nice 6.5 mi run.  Including stretching time, the whole thing took about 70 min.  I've done the lake before, but this time it felt easier - I didn't have the overwhelming urge to just stop and sit in the middle of the path.  Sunday I met a friend at Green Lake for a late morning run.  I arrived 15 min before our meeting time and decided to do the inside loop before my friend arrived.  It's a 2.8 mi track, which I accomplished in 23 minutes.  Go me.  We did the outside 3.2 mi  loop together at his pace (and as you know, gents tend to run faster than ladies), and finished in under 30 min.  It's the little things. :)

After grabbing some lunch, watching my dad tinker on my car, and freezing my butt off, I returned home and rounded out the workout with a little bit of Jillian.  I'm almost to the point where I don't hate life while trying to get through the side plank knee lifts.  Yesssss.

PS - I didn't take either of these pics, just pulled them from the magical world of the internets.

My Current Obsession

I am totally into this.  I started off barely able to finish a 30-minute beginner session.  I kept with it, doing the workout every other day.  Now, a week and a half into it, I'm totally rockin' the moves.  I am a girl who hates working my abs, but this video switches up the moves so often that I never get bored.  She's seriously good stuff.

Coffeemate and a Check-In

This morning I woke up and I was a little sore, undoubtedly from yesterday's spill.  I don't feel like running today.  I'm not gonna.  I'm tired and my ribs/everything hurts.  I feel like it's hurting more as the day progresses.

Today is day-two without Coffeemate, and so far I'm not really missing it.  My co-worker Jeff calls it "white death."  I have to admit, that was part of my decision (maybe the nail in the coffin) to give it up.  I think I might be able to go cold turkey, but I'm not going to commit to that route just yet.  I think I need a full week of success before I call it out as a sustainable goal.

So I've been getting Jillian Michaels' e-newsletter, and one of her articles was How to Take Off Those Last 10 Pounds.  Her advice is simple, direct, and not at all what I want to do.  But I'm going to try... at least a little.  I drink plenty of water and I work out (but I guess I could more), and I try to stay away from processed foods, but the drinking and the salting are where I definitely over-indulge.  I am going to try really hard over the next several weeks to cut down on both A LOT and see how I feel.  I typically eat about twice the recommended sodium in a day, so this will be an interesting experiment.

Jump Start with a Detox

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I decided to buy some supplements to help me get back into the groove.  I feel gross from everything I've put in my body over the last week, so I went online and bought Jillian's detox and cleanse system.  It's a no-fasting detox program, which I feel is more realistic than those programs that don't let you eat and then suggest a beverage of maple syrup, lemon water, and paprika.  I'm not quite sure if this is legit, but even if it is a placebo it'll help me get my own results, right?  It's set to arrive next week.  I'm excited and a little nervous.

Have any of you ever done a detox?  What about supplements?  This is totally new to me, so I'd love to hear your wisdom and/or opinions on such boosts.

getting tips from Jillian

Me again.  Tonight is the season premier of Biggest Loser (not that I have a tv to watch it, but I like to catch snippets now and then), and like all weight-loss stories and before/after pictures, I'm inspired.  And I love Jillian; she's no-BS.  I went to her website yesterday to see what she had to say about me and my quest.  I'm not going to spend the $4/week to sign up for the program, but I did enjoy entering my data into the widgets to see what magic numbers they would spit back at me.  Apparently because I crave salty foods and meats and cheeses as snacks, this means that half my calories should come from protein, and only a fifth from carbs.  Seriously!  I'm supposed to eat more fat than carbs!  I included a visual for us all.

Ok so now to talk about my victories and shortcomings of late:

Yesterday I was totally lame about working out.  I just wasn't up to it, and I know that's no excuse.  I know my body and I know that I can't just cut back calories and expect to lose weight.  It's an all-inclusive effort.

Today is probably going to be a light day on the work-out front too.  I got up early and did 30 min of calisthenics this morning to give my metabolism a little rev.  I've eaten sensibly for two days (minus the half cup of rocky road I somehow needed after dinner last night).

Food-wise, one thing that seems to be keeping me on track is having a variety of vegetables around.  Last week I roasted a whole chicken, so when I get home from work each night, I cut up a quarter of a red onion, saute it in a little olive oil, ad a clove of garlic, minced, and then cut up a head of broccoli or one zucchini and add it to the mix.  While the vegetables are cooking, I pull some chicken off the bone until I have a decent pile.  I add that to the veggie mix and cook just long enough for the meat to warm.  A little salt and pepper to taste and it's ready.  I can probably have it fridge to table in 10 min.  In the past I probably would have had some rice to go with it, but let's be honest:  I don't really need it.  Even brown rice isn't that great for me.  Any recipe ideas for high-protein, low/no-carb dinners?