A few pounds

 

I have been debating about if I wanted to write about this or not, but then I realized this is my blog and I want to write about it, so I will! Haha but I don’t want to sound braggy, I just want to share what I have learned and some success I have had losing some weight lately! In about two months, I have lost 12 pounds! I have also lost several inches (haven’t measured for a few weeks) and I have gone down one full pant size!

I have always been active and even after graduating high school and college, I always worked out pretty regularly. But my body has changed and my lifestyle is not super active (sitting at a computer all day-boo!), and I have gained some weight over the past few years. It has not been a huge deal to me and I’ve always felt pretty comfortable with my body and even with a few pounds, I wasn’t usually too upset about it. But I kept working out and nothing really changed. I even ran a lot last year with the Ragnar and Half Marathon, and even though I was healthy and felt good, I didn’t really lose any weight.

So finally I just decided I wanted to try something different and change my eating as well (novel idea right?!). I always knew my diet has the most affect on my weight, and even though I didn’t eat tons of junk or terrible food, I was just eating too much and still having a lot of treats! So right before Christmas I decided to buy the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and I started tracking every single thing I ate at Livestrong.com. First of all, Jillian’s work out is awesome. And by awesome, I mean really really hard. I am literally dripping with sweat after I do it, but I love it! Dan has done it with me and he couldn’t believe how hard the “girl workout” is! I also love that it’s only 20 minutes because I think I can do just about anything for 20 minutes and it’s over really quickly. The moves are awesome and I absolutely love doing this workout.

So I started doing Jillian and tracking my calories and I quickly realized how many calories I was eating. I love that Livestrong will automatically adjust your daily calorie goals based on your weight and you can get more calories if you burn more calories! I have used Livestrong to track my calories, workouts, and weight. It is really easy to look up calories and if I go to a restaurant, I have been able to find the nutritional information online most of the time. Since becoming aware of the calories in the foods that I eat, I have really changed my eating habits for the better. I have spread out snacks and eating throughout the day and I don’t usually eat sweets during the week. I still have had plenty of treats, just a lot less at a time and only once a week or so. And it has gotten so much easier to say no to a treat than it used to be! Now I’m eating tons of fruits and vegetables and a lot of fish. I’m amazed at how few calories fruits and especially vegetables have! A huge helping of zucchini has somewhere around 15 calories! I usually add some extra virgin olive oil, garlic and a little salt and cook up the veggies and it’s awesome. We are going to plant a small garden this Spring and we may join a local CSA (where you get local food from farms near you for a good price). I have become really aware of everything that I’m eating and I think twice about if it’s worth the calories before I eat it!

I have really noticed drastic changes since I have started changing my eating and doing some new work outs. I have noticed that I have firmed up a lot, my stomach is flatter and my legs and arms are much stronger and more toned. I also feel great and I look forward to working out after work. We have a little home gym in our basement and we have used it so much. Dan has a weight set, we have a treadmill, elliptical and some weights. I have been doing the 30 day shred for 20 minutes, then usually running or doing the elliptical for 15 or 20 minutes. I have also started doing the ab ripper section of the P90x workout (holy hard). I’ve come to realize that it’s so true that diet is 80% and exercise is 20% if you want to lose weight. I probably would have lost most of the weight without exercise, but it is so important for your health and your well being to exercise every day. I feel awesome and I love that I’m getting stronger.

One other thing I have done is to try to spread out what I eat throughout the day so I don’t stuff my face when it’s time for a meal. Here is what I would eat during a typical work day:

• 6am breakfast: english muffin with 1% milk (I also eat my fave cereal-Frosted Flakes or Honey Bunches sometimes)
• 8am at work: hard boiled egg or banana
• 10am: light yogurt, goldfish, crackers, etc
• 12 lunch: lean cuisine, smart ones, great value lean cuisine meals, progresso soup, or subway sandwich
• 3pm: bowl of fruit, can of peaches
• 5pm: work out
• 6ish dinner: grilled salmon, with tons of asparagus/other veggie and a small portion of herb and butter rice with 1% milk

I have been drinking a lot of water but I still have milk even though it has calories, I think it’s important to keep drinking milk for all the benefits it provides. And of course I’m still drinking my Diet Coke! But drinking tons of water has helped me feel really good.

Sorry for the hugely long post, but I wanted to share some things I’ve learned lately and maybe it will help someone else! I still have a few more pounds to get to my goal weight/pant size, but I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made and more importantly, I’m happy with how I feel. I’m actually looking forward to wearing my swim suit in Puerto Rico!

A few more days…

 

Only a few more days and we are heading to the warm waters of the Caribbean! We are going to Puerto Rico and spending 8 nights/9 days relaxing and soaking up some sun. I. cannot. wait. Honestly, I am beyond excited and I have done most of the planning for the trip so I think I’m even more excited because of that. And seeing Puerto Rico on The Bachelor just about put me over the edge with excitement. We will be going to the island they stayed on (Vieques).The beaches look amazing and I know we will have a blast.

We are renting a car while we are there so hopefully we can get around okay but here are some of the fun things we have planned so far:

Full day snorkeling trip to the island of Culebra and other small islands. We will take a catamaran and go to several different snorkel spots. We also get lunch on the boat and free alcohol! I’m crossing my fingers  they will have some virgin options and Diet Coke!

We are going to try to go to church somewhere near San Juan so hopefully that will be fun. Luckily Dan speaks Spanish so that will be a huge help as well!

I also got this adorable swimsuit that I love! I’m so excited to wear it and it fits really great. I was nervous ordering it online, but I’m really happy with it! And side note-that is not me in the picture…I know I look exactly like that in a bathing suit and I always awkwardly put my arm on my neck like that, but it’s not me. :)

We also have surf lessons planned for a few hours and Dan is going to be in heaven. He loves surfing and just playing in the ocean so hopefully we can get some good practice and we’ll be surfing pros by the time we get back!

I had mentioned that there is this amazing Bioluminescent Bay with flagellates that glow in the water and apparently it is really amazing. Turns out, you can’t go during a full moon or the days before a full moon so the entire week we are there is the time that you can’t do this! I was so bummed about it. Then a few weeks ago I was reviewing our flight information and I realized that I had booked our flight for one day later than we had planned! Luckily we won’t have to miss work, but we’re coming back later now and I had to scramble to get another hotel room. BUT we can now do the Bio Bay tour on our last night there! I’m so stoked about it and who doesn’t want to spend an extra day in Puerto Rico?! Bio Bay picture below.

 

We also plan on spending some time in Old San Juan, eating a lot of good food, playing at the beach and hitting up the El Yunque Rainforest. Hopefully we will find some good adventures and I know we will have a great time together! We always have so much fun when we do vacations like this and I just love doing fun things like this with Dan. We are always talking about or planning our next trip and it’s something we just really love to do together.

On a completely unrelated note, raise your hand if you have been to Marshalls/TJ Maxx/Homegoods? Whoa. Wow. Love it. I live relatively close to the new Station Park in Farmington and they have Marshalls, Homegoods and Ross as well as some other cool stores (I’m excited about Gordmanns too). Marshalls/TJ Maxx/Homegoods are all part of the same chain so all the sweet Homegoods gift cards I got for Christmas/bday can be used at all those stores! Dream come true!

Honestly, I just love the amazing deals you can get at these stores. All this awesome name brand stuff for a fraction of the price! From home decor awesomeness-rugs, lamps, furniture, pillows, and mirrors to kitchen supplies-Le Creuset cookware, pots and pans, and really nice kitchen stuff, to clothes, shoes, baby stuff, coats, scarves, purses, and sunglasses! I got so much great stuff for such amazing deals! There are TONS of awesome shoes at Marshalls and they were all brands like Jessica Simpson, BCBG, Steve Madden, Jimmy Choos, Chinese Laundry, and Calvin Klein. I got an adorable Coral colored maxi dress by Calvin Klein for $25 and brown BCBG wedges for $15! There are tons of cute baby and kids clothes, work out clothes, and baby items like a Boppy and a Skip Hop Duo diaper bag (for more than half off!). I love that place! So go check them out and you won’t be disappointed!

Between Ross, Homegoods and Marshalls, I made out like a bandit and got a bunch of cute stuff for my trip and some pillows and things for my house! Sweet!