21 day fix week 2

This week I was supposed to focus on adding exercise into my new eating plan but nothing went as planned. I didn't follow the eating plan very well and I didn't exercise at all except for a 15k that I ran on Saturday, which was very difficult! I am hoping to have a much better week next week and I am thankful that my bad eating this week didn't do too much damage. But between last week and this week I have definitely learned that it takes more than exercising as I lost weight when I was eating right and gained weight when I wasn't!

Measurements:

Weight 115.1 lbs

BMI 22.5

Body Fat 21.3%

Waist 30 inches

Thighs 21 inches

Hips 32 inches

We ran through the park. It was still beautiful even though it was freezing!!

Running is always better with friends!

21 day fix week 1

This week went very well! I stay on the plan the entire time and had my planned cheat meal on Saturday before a four mile hike with Becky and our dogs. I ate the same two basic meals for breakfast, eggs with fruit or oatmeal with fruit. For lunch I had a ham sandwhich with mozzarella cheese and spinach, carrots, and celery with peanut butter. I had a snack of vanilla yogurt with strawberries. Dinner included some form of protein and a vegetable. I did not exercize at all except for the four mile hike on Saturday. I am going to focus on adding in exercise next week.

Measurments:

Weight 114.9 lbs

BMI 22.5

Body Fat 21.5%

Waist 30 inches

Thighs 21 inches

Hips 31.5 inches

Lost 1.3 lbs, 0.6% and 5.5 inches

My "cheat" meal. The only thing that was off program was the dessert and then I ate the whole pizza instead of the two slices I was suppose to have!

It was in the 60's in Feb!!

7 months later...

I signed up, with my family, to run, walk, or hike (or elliptical) 2015 miles in 2015. In the month on January I made 14/31 days which ended up being 20.26 miles. I have also decided to work on my eating habits. I, like most Americans, have a problem with portion control. I can sit down and easily eat half a box of pasta, or half of a medium pizza (or a whole one if I am really hungry!). I am going to complete the 21 day fix food plan in the hopes that it will help me to understand appropriate portions. If you don't know about this program, it is a product of beach body. There are lists of foods you can eat (which is not super exclusive as that is not the point of the program) and containers that are colored and go with each food group. Once you figure out how many calories you need to eat a day you can find how many of each container you are supposed to eat. Then you fill up the appropriate container with a food from the list and if it fits in the container you can eat it. They have recipes as well and you don't really cut any foods out, you just limit foods that may be bad for you. I am not going to use the exercise videos that go with it right away as I need to get in the habit of working out every day first. So for the first week I am going to focus on waking up on time, following my routines, and running. I am hopefully optimistic that this plan will work as there is not a restriction on what food you can eat just how much you can eat. I am hoping to use this for more than three weeks as I want to make a lifestyle change not go on a diet.

Current measurements:
Date: February 1, 2015
Weight: 116.1 lbs
BMI: 22.6
Body Fat %: 22.1%
Waist: 32.5 in
Thighs: 21 in
Hips: 34.5 in

Week 7

This week was horrible! It was basically the last week of vacation as I have to start setting up my classroom on Monday and officially report to work Thursday the 31st. So I basically did nothing but sit around and watch tv. I wanted to have a relaxing time before life got hectic again. I have learned it is VERY important to have your habits established before going on vacation. I know if I had an established schedule that I had been following to a T for at least a month I would have done much better. This week I plan on getting back to a routine that I will keep during the school year. I want to get that established before the students come back August 6th and classes start August 22nd. This way when more things are on my plate my exercise routine will be established. I have done a bit better with my eating habits. I am trying to only buy healthy foods with only one or two "bad for you" snacks.

I am going to start a new exercise video called, The Firm Express. It is an exercise program that has you work out 3 times a week for 20 minutes. There are four cycles all with a cardio, sculpt, and cardio+sculpt dvds. They give you a bonus dvd with a metabolism boosting workout and an ab workout. I am excited to try it out and see how it goes! They include an eating guide but I won't be following that this time. My goal is to do the videos Monday, Wednesday, Friday as soon as I get home from work, around 4:30. That will allow me to be finished by 5pm. While the weather is still nice I want to go for hikes on Sundays. I also want to try and swim at least once a week if not twice. I was thinking Tuesday and Thursday mornings or Saturday mornings. Haven't figured that one out yet.

Hopefully things will be better this next week!

Week 7 and total change
Date: July 27
Weight: 119lbs   no change
Waist: 30in      -0.5in
Hips: 33in       -1.5in
Thighs: 20in     -0.5in

Week 6

This week has been so much better! I went for a walk with my mom and dog everyday Monday - Friday and averaged 1.88 miles and 52.2 minutes. It took us a bit longer to walk because the dog was very interested in every inch of the park and of course had to explore something new every day! I've gotten a few gadgets to help me with this quest as well. First, I got a new log to record my exercise and measurements.I haven't started using this yet but hope to next week. Second, I got the Garmin Vivofit. I had the Nike fuel band for a while but you can't swim with that. So far I love the Garmin! It tracks sleep, shows you steps, distance, calories, time and date, and uses a watch battery so there is no charging! The screen is always on which is nice. I think the best part is the dynamic goal. Every day the device creates a goal for you based on your profile and the previous days activity. If you met you goal the day before they will raise your goal a little. If you were off they will lower it a little. They have never lowered it so much that it was easy for me to reach the goal with out getting up and moving and they have never increased it so much that I would have to extend my work out by a lot to meet it. So far I am loving this device.

          

Weeks 4 and 5 - Vacation

I have been on vacation for about three weeks now and it has not been good for my health journey at all!! These first two weeks I haven't really done much. I went out with my friends for the fourth of July and we walked around a lot but other than that I have not done much in terms of exercise. I also have not been eating very well. I did not take any measurements as I was a bit scared to look. I did step on the scale quickly and did gain a pound or two (YIKES!!) which showed me how important it is to stay on top of my health and wellness. I am hoping to at least go for some walks with my mom and my dog next week so I am doing something! Week 5 was kind of hard to exercise to begin with as over the week I spent 25 hours in the car! Hopefully next weeks goes much better and I will get back to the measurements for week 6!

Week 3

This week I managed to work out three times. On Monday I took a zumba class which was fun, but I was very tired! Tuesday I spent 45 minutes on a stationary bike so that I could do some reading for my class. I ended up biking 6.5 miles! Then on Friday I met my friend before class and we swam some laps. I forgot how good of a workout swimming is! Needless to say it tired me out and my arms were very sore. I hope to swim twice a week when the school year starts but I am not sure how that will work with my dog. The next few weeks I will be on vacation and some friends are visiting so I'm not sure how well my habits will hold up!

Week 3 and total change:
Date: June 29
Weight: 116.6lbs  -2.4lbs
Waist: 29in  -1.5in
Hips: 32in   -2.5in
Thighs: 21in  +0.5in