Week Two and Then Some

It's been a few days since I have posted, so let's see, where do we start?

Wednesday (1/15) was my week two weigh in.  This week I lost another five pounds (my scale photo is underneath my numbers tab - I'm going to try to remember to take a picture every week for a visual).  My emotions were happiness and confirmation.  With the last few months of horrible eating, overindulgence, and lots and lots of soda drinking, it was nice to see that reducing these things greatly have made for a 9.8 pound loss in two weeks.  It reinforces where my struggles and weaknesses have always been.  It is something I know that I will always have to mindful of and that I can't lose focus or forget about.  This doesn't mean there won't be the occasional cheat meal, treat, or slip up...but instead of letting it spiral into months of bad decisions I will recognize what made it happen and try to prevent it from happening much more than it should. 

Lunch was another great salad - romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, shredded cheese, and grilled chicken.  I really had forgotten just how much I have missed salads.  I love all the crispiness and crunchiness of the veggies.  All that extra chewing takes take and really makes me eat slower and savor each bite.  As much as I am enjoying the salads again I think I have to remember not to burn myself out.  I think I had gotten to that place before where I thought if I have any more salad I am going to turn into a rabbit.  So in the coming weeks I will need to come up some different lunch ideas, maybe some different ideas to add into my salad to make it completely different.  I've been trying hard to be sure to add more fruits each along with the veggies.  Along with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I try to throw in snacks at different parts of the day.  Some days get busy and I lose track of time so I try to consciously remember to walk to the fridge to grab some fruit, maybe a greek yogurt, or get into my snack stash.

Wednesday night at the gym is Zumba with Danny.  Zumba, how I love thee..let me count the ways.  I absolutely LOVE to dance and this gives me a chance to just let loose and the best part....it is actually exercising and I am burning calories.  The gym I go to has three different Zumba instructors.  I enjoy them all and don't ask me to pick a favorite because I refuse to do so but I must say Danny is freaking amazing.  He is such a great teacher.  I think what I love about his class is that is not what I would call a "traditional" Zumba.  It really is more of a dance class, lots of moving and jumping around, and yes even some occasional twerking.

Thursday (1/16) seemed like such a long day.  I'm struggling a little bit getting up a little earlier in the morning.  Tuesday and Friday's are the exception.  I find it so much easier to get up when I have an actual class at the gym in the morning.  Otherwise I tend to linger in bed until the last minute when I have to get ready for work.  I keep telling myself that the morning would be a great time to work on my two fitness calendars (especially since as the month goes on there is more to do and I will not be wanting to do it all late in the evening).  This is definitely an area I need to work on.  When I do exercise in the morning I feel so much better during the day.  I think the key is bedtime...I need to get there much earlier than I do, but I feel like my evenings are so short.  After working all day, then going straight to the gym.  A lot of evenings by the time I get home, shower and have dinner, it's 8 o'clock and beyond.  I have never been an early bedtime person and I'm not sure if I ever will be, but I am certainly going to try.

The evening at the gym brought double classes.  I enjoy Thursday night at the gym (if you are beginning to sense a theme, yes, I love going to the gym - who would have thought).  I know some may think I am crazy for doing both (although I am not the only one) I feel it is a great combination, they complement one another, and both work lots of different areas.  It truly is an all over workout.  After Saturday's shortened launch of the Body Pump class I was finally looking forward to doing all of the tracks.  They did not disappoint.  Man, that shoulder track was rough.  Through this whole process I have grown to love certain parts of my body, parts where I can really see some differences.  My shoulders are one of them.  I have a feeling after a few months of this, I am going to love them more.  Also, all of the overhead presses in the tricep track...phew.  This makes me think of one of my least favorite parts....my "bat wings".  While these may never go completely away, this has definitely got to help.  I love workouts when I see four digits...

Was feeling pretty good about the food part on this day.  Breakfast was a homemade breakfast sandwich and some fruit salad, and apple and some mixed nuts for a mid-morning snack, and another amazing salad and a couple of clementines for lunch.  Dinner I felt like was a huge victory.  By the time I left the gym it was late and my first thought was to just stop somewhere and pick something up.  This is what I have been doing for the last couple of months (sometimes, but rarely, healthy, and most of the time very unhealthy).  On the way home there are so many fast food choices which would be so convenient.  As easy and quick as this would have been I knew I needed to go home and have dinner.  So I fought the urge and waited to have dinner while I was home.  I had different leftovers in the fridge but I decided soup and a sandwich was quick, easy, and filling and perfect for that night.

The good part about these busy last couple of days was that I was worn out.  I have slept so amazingly the last couple of nights.  I have never been the best sleeper and have always had difficulties in this department.  Between having a hard time getting to sleep, to not being able to stay asleep, it has always been such a struggle.  A benefit for sure to all this crazy exercise and busy schedule is that my sleeping has improved by leaps and bounds.  These two night I truly died as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Friday (1/17) is an early start day for me.  When that alarm goes of at 5 AM my first thought is just roll over and go back to sleep.  But nope, get your ass up, time to go to the gym.  Something about 6 AM Body Combat just makes me want to get out of bed.  Even better this morning since I usually get there early before class starts I took my workout calendars with me this morning and managed to get them done instead of waiting until later in the day.  I was all warmed up before class started (66 squats, 42 pushups, 45 squat row and tricep extensions, and 45 fly bridges - the calendars are definitely getting harder as the month is going on).  As I look forward to the last day of the month all I have to say is WOW.

Most times when I have class this early I usually don't get to eat breakfast beforehand.  Sometimes I will grab a banana and eat on the way, but I forgot it this morning.  As I left the gym after class my stomach was yelling at me.  On my drive back home to get ready for work I thought I'll just stop at Sheetz and get something.  This was definitely a bad idea.  I think back to morning just a few weeks ago.  I would stop and get a breakfast sandwich (sausage and cheese on a croissant with butter) and a hash brown.  Not that that wasn't bad enough.  I would also get a big ole blueberry muffin and would eat this when I got to work.  I need to look it up at some point, but I can only imagine the calories between those three things.  It's no wonder I gained back 30 pounds...ouch.  Time is pretty limited getting home from class and then getting to work but I knew I needed to take the time to make something healthy and filling.  So instead of the above calorie fest I cooked breakfast (omelet, whole wheat toast, a banana, and a clementine).  YUM!!!

Friday's are lunch day out with the ladies at work.  It was my turn to choose where to go.  I could have picked something so much better but I really wanted to enjoy some fries after all the little successes I have had this week.  I had a grilled chicken sandwich, some fries, and diet soda.  This is the first soda I have had in a week.  I got to say it didn't taste nearly as good as I thought it would.  That is a very good thing.  Even better, I didn't beat myself up today about my choices.  A little improvement.

Finally the day ended and the weekend was here.  Friday night in the last few months would usually mean stop and pick something up for dinner (chinese, pizza and wings, and lot of other really bad things).  But I knew I had leftovers from my cooking on Sunday in the fridge.  So I came home and had chicken, brown rice, and some veggies.  Not only did it save me money but was also much healthier and way less calories than the alternative.  YES!!!

The weekend ahead brings gym time, getting things done around the apartment, maybe a movie, and working on my to do list. 

Here's to a weekend of good choices...