What works and What does not

Things to work on next week (week 6) -

Getting to bed earlier and waking up earlier

Drinking most of my water earlier in the day

Remembering to take Glutamine after work out and before bed time

Take it easy and do not over do it with working out(until DR gives okay)

Have food made ahead of time

Next time I go on a mini vaca -

Weigh in day will be Friday prior to leaving as opposed to usual Sunday.

Pick 1 treat for the weekend. Incorporate it with healthy food.

Lose the all or nothing attitude!

Last weekend my hubby, 2 boys, and I went on a camping trip with a few people from our church. I was feeling really great about myself. I was wearing clothes that were fitting loosely. My track suit that Dan got me as a anniversary present was quite flattering.

My mistake was going to Costco the day before we left and getting "campy food". Tried to keep it healthy, but still got off track. Trail mix with m/m's, beef jerky, Costco cookies, gummy bears, items to make Smores. I didn't go crazy when camping. I had 1 smore. A few handfuls of trail mix and gummy bears. The cookies were the biggest mistake. They are my weakness. When returning home I ate like 4 in 1 day! Awful!

Dan and I went into the weekend with the mind set that we would not be following the meal plan on the weekend. So when returning from camping Saturday night, I was in the mind set that we were not doing the meal plan that weekend......so we could order pizza. Naughty me! :) We felt totally gross after eating the pizza. Sunday we were so ready to make a healthy dinner. And we were SO very ready to get back on the plan Monday. And I am proud to say we did. Yah us! We also got a new scale. It reads Body Fat percentage, weight, and H2O. And as of today, I am now officially down - 11.8 pounds in 5 weeks! That is totally a healthy loss ratio.

On Tuesday when working out, I was having chest pains. I was also having chest pains on the drive up to the mountains last Friday. I have a DR appt on Monday. And a neurologist appt on the Monday after that. I am trying to really follow the food plan. But I am not focusing on the exercise until I figure out what is going on with my body. I still do not know the reason for having the stroke a month back. Hopefully I will find something out soon.

REWARDS

So Dan and I have decided to reward ourselves. Each week that we finish a week, we each get a $20 or lower prize.

My rewards have been:
Week 1 - Eyebrow Wax, nail polish, and a polka dot make up bag
Week 2 - Puffy vest from Costco
And this week after finishing week 3, I got a Fall wreath! I have wanted one of these for SO long. And Costco had one on sale! YAH!
Dan's week 1 reward was this work out jacket! Looking good Dan! Our goal is to complete this 12 week program. November 22nd is the last day of week 12! At the end we will be rewarding ourselves with getting a family picture to hang on the wall. And my personal reward, is if I lose the weight I have set my goal for, then I get a full spa day! Either way I am getting new jeans at the end of 12 weeks!

* Final Goal * After 29 weeks, I should be at my goal weight. If I hit that goal, then I will be buying a bikini. And Dan and I will be going on a cruise! This should be around June 2010! So that is motivation!

Week 4

So I am in week 4 of my program. My main goal is to become a healthier person and example to my family. Dan and I are both doing this together. And as nice as it is to drop weight. Let me tell you how good it feels, to drop points in my cholesterol!

Back about a month and a half ago, I decided to be pro active and get a physical with my DR. I had all my numbers ran. BP, weight, blood sugar levels, and cholesterol. Everything was great.....except that my main cholesterol number was borderline high! EEK! My DR suggested that I take fish oil supplements, and eat a high fiber/low fat diet. And guess what's included in this program?? All that! And guess what? After having the stroke, I had blood tests. One of the numbers was my cholesterol. And it was down 36 points!!!!! Just in a month and a half.

So last week, I kept it mellow. I got back to the gym after a crazy week 2 and recuperation. And, I kept it mellow. At the end of the week, I was down another pound, and some more inches lost all over my body!

So now I am in week 4. I am doing the best I can. I am so proud of myself. And I am so proud of Dan. We are truly changing our lives for the better right now. And it feels great. :O)

Week 2 down - On to week 3

I stuck to eating and exercise Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday am ended up in the ER. I had a blood clot go to my brain and had a mild stroke.......not even kidding....seriously...not kidding. As you can imagine, last week I took it easy. I have been completely exhausted and wiped out. And on Sunday when I weighed in I only lost .5 pound. But that is okay. I am alive and I am okay.

So, tomorrow I will be getting blood tests up to wazoo to find out what is going on. And this week is week 3 of the program. And so far Dan and I are both doing great.

Here's to healthy living!!!

PS I will keep you posted on what is going on with the test results.

Week 1 completed!

Yah! I lost 4.2 pounds this past week!

And lost the following in inches:
waist - 1.5 inches
neck - .5 inches
hips - 1 inch
L thigh - 2.5 inches
R thigh - 3 inches
L arm - .5 inches
R arm - .5 inches

Total body fat percentage lost was 2.55 %! Dan has been doing this with me. He lost 5 pounds! He has been my rock. We have been able to keep each other motivated. It feels so great to be able to look back at the past week and be so proud of myself. YAH!!!! We are finally becoming that healthy family that I have always wanted us to be, but never knew how to get there.

My goal is to be at my healthy/goal weight by June 2010. But, I just might get there faster at this rate! Put your protein glass in the air and le'ts say CHEERS to health!

After the completion of 12 weeks, I will be posting my before and after picture. Then after the final goal has been completed, I will post a before and "final" after picture!

Let's try this one more time

So starting a rigorous work out and eating regime right before going on a 2 week vaca to Cali is a BAD IDEA! Prior to leaving we were doing great. We had not followed the work out part of it. But we were doing great with the eating. We had finished 4 days of clean eating. We had pre cooked our food and put it in a cooler for the road trip. And then the food went bad! :( So then we got frustrated. We ate the hotel catering food that was provided for free. Then after LA we headed to my Mom's house for a week and a half. Carne sada burritos, soda, In n Out food, Nothing bundt cake, rolled tacos with guacamole and cheese, pepperoni and mushroom giant size pizza, gyros sandwich, were some of the horrible foods I ate. I felt awful! Not guilty awful. But un-healthy awful. I was irritable, and short with the boys and Dan. I was im-patient. And worst of all, I looked in the mirror and hated what I saw. I was bloated. And felt sluggish. Why did I eat like garbage? Mostly because I had this feeling of being deprived of San Diego food. I know it sounds silly. But there was a part of me that thought, if I don't eat this In N Out food or carne sada burrito then I am going to not have it for a very long time. What was I thinking? We are going back there in November.

I have to stop this mentality that I have. An all or nothing attitude.

I know that it sounds worse than it was. Because I did attempt with all my might to start the day off right each day. I would have my protein shake when waking up. I even got on my Mom's treadmill one night and jogged for 30 minutes. I resisted a shaved ice. And we did do active things while in San Diego. I walked a lot! Balboa Park and Museums, Sea World, downtown San Diego Midway ship, ect. So it wasn't all lazy and eating garbage. I just know that I could have done better.

But it is a new week. And this week back from vacation has been great! Dan and I re-started the Live the Life week this past Monday. We have worked out every day. And eaten our meal plan to the T. When my shins were hurting on the treadmill, I listened to my body and stopped. When I was full at dinner and still had food on my plate, I stopped. Major accomplishments for me! :)

I start up week 1 of Live the Life program tomorrow!

I am pretty exicted. Dan and I will both be doing this. For more information go to www.kristiapproved.com It is clean eating. It's a 12 week program. My friend Heather told me about this. She lost 10 lbs and 5.5 inches in 4 weeks. And her husband lost 17 pounds! I wanted to do something that was healthy, and would teach me how to be healthy for the rest of my life. I am so excited to have the support of Dan in starting this up! The ultimate goal is to be healthy. Eat and live a healthy lifestyle. To be examples of health to Ben and Zach. Will let you know how it goes!