Last week was a bit crazy and hilarious! With July 4th and all that goes with it, I determined to live life but still be as healthy as possible. Happily, I was still able to lose a pound and a half and four more inches overall, woo hoo. A happy moment was trying on a few pairs of my favorite summer jeans from years past (the expensive ones that I swore I would wear again), and they fit! What helped me most, I think, was listening to my body, whether it was working out or eating right.
Specifically what worked well was that during the holiday weekend I ate healthy and not just because it was there, i.e. going through Wendy’s drive thru July 4th for a pre-fireworks snack and not having anything–I seriously was not hungry and went with that. Summer food is so deliciously fresh–watermelon, corn on the cob, all kinds of berries–it makes it easy to choose well. And Rachel Ray’s instant oatmeal is my new fave–fantastic ingredients with some blueberries on top, “yum-o”!
Using MyFitnessPal app that Jill and others have recommended was fabulous to record my food intake as well as workouts. Although at first it was a bit annoying to record every single exercise for the hour, I did love how it automatically calculated fat/carbs/sodium, etc. with just a food entry, and let you know how many calories remained for the day.
We figured out why our sweet baby wasn’t sleeping, got it taken care of, and he and my hubby and I all caught up on sleep. SUCH A GIFT! Hence, I only worked out the four times because I listened to my body’s needs and gave in to the need for sleep. That was a good choice. Working out an hour every weekday morning can be a challenge and I’m thinking to tweak that for next week with more variety or shorter versions to still get results.
I’m also loving how this is affecting my children. They see me workout each morning and better understand about self-discipline and goal-setting. The other day my daughter said, “Wow, Mom, you are looking so much healthier.” I love that language! I rarely talk about weight loss but rather about gaining energy, vitality, and feeling good.
The biggest surprise so far in this experience is how quickly the results have come from having the right kind of workout. I’m not a big or bad eater–I do like my dessert daily but am not a chips/cookie/foodie kind of person. So it was completely frustrating to be eating well/doing protein bars but still not losing the baby weight over the last several months. Mixing cardio in my strength training and doing it daily has been the jumpstart to change. I’m grateful that my time spent working out is actually yielding results–I hate wasting time! Now I’m feeling good and thankful to be able to wear clothes without having to try on ten different outfits first.
Below is my Week 5 sheet so you can see in detail what I’m doing. And Jed Hanson shares a tip for making your body a fat-burning machine, as well as his offer for a free 30-minute consultation.
Thanks for your sweet emails and encouragement, and kudos back to you working on personal goals too. I know summer isn’t as easy because of the changing schedules and non-predictable routines. But you’re doing it. I’m so proud of you, especially for making efforts to be healthier for your family as well as yourself. Your kids notice, and it makes a difference in their lives. Keep up the great work and continue to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the process!
Hugs,
Connie
Connie’s Fit & Fab Week 5
Goals:
Eat: 1800 calories, no eat after dinner, protein bars/shakes for meals/snacks, 2 more veggie servings
Exercise: workout 5 times this week
Energize: rest when my body needs it
What worked:
*Eating what and when I desired to in healthy way
*Rachel Ray’s oatmeal, protein shakes and bars, buying veggie trays from Costco and putting them out at each meal, making homemade broccoli soup–soooo yummy
What didn’t work:
*Not eating anything at night–sometimes I could feel my body still needed something like a bit of protein, so occasionally I would have a 1/3 protein bar to help stabilize potential hypoglycemic symptoms (which I’ve had in past years)
What I’ll do differently:
*play around with different workout lengths next week, maybe add in a full zumba class?
*add in variety to my specific workout exercises, try a shorter version so I can increase to six times a week working out
