Results and lessons

Its been 5 months and I'm back! I'm happy to report that I'm officially 5lbs lighter than I was last time I blogged. Other good news, I entered a "Biggest Loser" competition at the gym during the month of Dec and I WON! I lost 4lbs from my Dec. 5th weigh in (~148 lbs, I was up a few pounds from thanksgiving) to ~144lbs Jan 8th. Which is pretty darn good progress considering I had a birthday, Anniversary, Christmas and New Years all in that 30 day span. :-) I now have a free personal trainer for a month, which I plan to use a closer to bikini season. ;)

Since then, I've worked my way back and forth between 140.0 and 143.0 Mind you these are my naked, first thing in the morning weights, which I know is probably cheating but whatever they're more consistent than my night time weigh ins. Case in point last night I as 146.6, tonight I'm 142.2; whereas yesterday morning I as 140.6, this morning I as 140.8.

Anywho, lately I've been playing with my caloric intake to try to figure out whats the right amount for me. I've started using My FitnessPal, (and briefly used Spark People although I mostly log in once a week just to record my weight) both recommended I eat around 1200-1300 calories based on the fact that I spend about 9 hours a day chained to a desk. I quickly found that keeping my intact around 1300 calories was REALLY hard to do, I was ALWAYS hungry! Then one weekend, I OD'ed (on food) and found that when I eat 1700-2000 calories I tend to be lighter in the morning, regardless of how out of control my night number is. That's said I'm also more focused on food as fuel. I still eat cake, cookies and stuff but its not often.

My diet recently has consisted of things like applesauce, protein shakes (Banana Creme flavored Muscle Milk powder, with ~10 oz of water and a whole banana blended in), yogurt, pears, bananas, tomato soup, baked chicken (can't wait until grilling season!!), eggs, fish and a lot of healthy home cooked meals with large helpings of veggies. I've never been big on red meat so unless I have a burger... (Which I haven't had in so long I can't even remember the last time) I will occasionally do a lean cuisine for lunch but I'm really trying to avoid processed foods.

I've been trying my hardest to drink 64 ounces of water a day, I learned today that you're supposed to consume half your weight in water. Which means I should be drinking ~71 oz of water. I usually wind up closer to 32, but I'm currently at a little more than 57 oz and I'm sipping on a glass of water as we speak :)

Workout-wise, I've stopped rebelling (as much) against RR's workout plan. For me, my biggest learning in that area has been around my form, and using heavier weights. So as of today I'm starting to push myself and lift heavier than I normally would. I typically resist heavier weights for fear of bulking up and looking like a man, Serena Williams, I'm looking at you! LOL Our workout is typically about an 45min to an hour of strength training, where we do 4-5 sets of 15-20 reps, doing 3-4 exercises for each of the 2 body parts we work each day. Today was back and butt, followed by 20-30 min of cardio. I used to do a lot of running on the treadmill, but until this week I've been cheating on the treadmill with the elliptical and the ArcTrainer. I've been back to jogging/running this week. I've forgotten how good it feels to run.

I will also concede defeat. For my birthday, MiekSpeak, gave me a Fionna Sports bra and I kinda love it! You can see it in the full body progress photo below.




As I've mentioned, I've switched protein shakes, I've also started taking vitamins again. My old multi-vitamins (Centrum) were making me sick, so I stopped because my vomiting every morning is probably the reason why RR has his first gray hair. LOL
I'm now taking Nature's Way Alive Women's Energy Multi-vitamin, I'm also taking Fish Oil, and Gingko Biloba. So maybe I'll remember to blog more often too! :)

Progress photos: