A Smidjin at a time

Well, they did it again. Do you know how awesome Weight Watchers is? Besides being flexible and never ever saying a food is completely off limits, they are constantly researching and following other research out to stay on top of what science continues to discover about nutrients and how your body needs and uses them. Which is why this week they unveiled the newest update to the program. Beyond the Scale with new SmartPoints. It takes the focus back to whole foods and lean proteins. And it raised the exchange value of of things that have saturated fat and lots of sugar. So things like grilled chicken, fish and eggs went DOWN in points, meaning they are a smarter choice. Things like cheese, yogurt, donuts, went up in value. Meaning I can still eat them, however I need to plan for them and know they they will take up a lot of points. There has been a lot of people stressed out about it and feeling that it is super restrictive. They feel like they are being punished for choosing tho

Shamrock Run...15K...March. Yep, you read that right, I am signed up for the Shamrock Run in Portland in March. And according to the website, I can't walk the whole thing. So I am starting now, training to do a run/walk pattern for the whole 9.3 miles that is a 15k. It's a long ways, with hills, and I am nervous about it. But you know what, I have walked a half marathon so I can run/walk this right? I have plenty of time to train for it, which I am starting right now. And I got a whole team of co-workers who are doing it too, so I won't be alone.

Game Plan for the Weekend Away: *Les Mills Workout Friday *Walk on Saturday *Take prepackaged snacks with me *Drink at least 80 oz a day This week has been a little weird. The gym I have been going to for the last 5 years closed last week. While it was sudden for members, I know that it was a long process of trying to save it for the owner. That gym had become not just where I worked out, but where I bonded with friends over sweat, and increased reps and weights. I kept my membership simply because of one instructor, whom I love. And without CB's classes this week, I have been lost. I did get in a combat workout with Coach Chaz, but otherwise didn't push myself as hard as I truly can. And it showed at weight watchers this week. Even though I ate well, because I didn't have the workouts I had a slight gain on the scale.  I am bound and determined to have a negative on the scale this week. I will not let Women's Retreat be a stumbling block to my goals, i

To say today was rough, would be an understatement. Super busy day at work. Got home and immediately changed into my pj's. Wanted so badly to just order some cheesy garlic bread from one of the local pizza places and just veg out on the couch with netflix. But I avoided the bread, and made the fix approved meal I had planned. I still however was bound and determined to just veg all evening and skip the Upper Body Fix workout. But after some encouraging words from a friend I dug deep and pressed play and completed both rounds. Was it my best workout, not by a long shot. But it was a follow the schedule, habit forming, burn the calories workout. Now, it's time to wind down, do some personal development and devotion time. And then hit the sack for some recovery sleep.

So as you may have seen me mention on Facebook or Instagram, today I started 21 day fix. And I mean started. Yes I have had the stuff for a while, and even tried it before, but never honestly getting onboard with the nutrition aspect of it. For those who aren't familiar with 21 day fix, it is a 3 week program with daily assigned workouts, and color coded containers used to measure food. You get a certain number of each color based on how many calories your body needs. The first time I tried, I think I failed on breakfast it was so confusing to me at the time. But this time I have a one on one accountability partner with my friend Karli who also started today. So I sat down last week and made a menu plan up, checking off each container to make sure I was not only not going over on things like carbs, but also to make sure I got enough in of the good for me things like vegetables. I shopped, and I prepped and I measured and portioned out. Well, day 1 wasn't perfect but it wasn&#

Well it happened, a while ago actually. When I first started losing weight 5 years ago, I swore I was never gonna be back at my "before" weight, my heaviest weight. Well, I'm back, actually I have been back for a while. Not gonna lie, pretty mad at myself for that. It's not like anyone else did this to me, this was all me and my doing. Which is why I am nervous/excitedly looking forward to starting the 21 Day fix on Monday. 21 days of daily workouts, clean eating, and daily super dense nutrition shakes. I know there will be hard days, which is why I already have the menu planed out, and why I will be cleaning out the fridge this weekend, and prepping all my food ahead of time. And checking in with you guys often. I give you guys permission to call me on it. Permission to  remind me that the apple strudel at the coffee shop is not on plan. Permission to remind me that the workouts are only 30 minutes, and there are modifications. Permission to remind me that TV only

Do you remember way back when I posted about going and doing a Team CCF Bootcamp? And how excited I was to have completed it and was looking forward to more. And well then, I didn't do anymore.  Well I am happy (I think) to say, I made it back again! Well now it's Rise and Grind Bootcamp. Charles, Trista, Sydne and myself. I was there when Trista was drumming up the plan, and it didn't sound that hard. 4 stations, running interval inbetween each station, total of 3 rounds. Each station was either 45 second, 60 seconds or 75 seconds (depending on the round), with 2 1/2 minutes for the running in between. Kettlebell swings, leg scissors, woodchops, and russian twists. See, on paper not so bad. But trust me, it was. So glad I was doing it alongside some amazingly awesome peeps who kept not just going, but kept pushing each other. 

You know what happens when you actually stick to the plan and eat well and work out? You start seeing results. You know the scale goes does a little, the weights go up a notch, balance moves are held a little longer. And you know what happens when you start seeing results? You push even harder to build on those results, and you have one of those workout where you leave it all behind in the gym. I actually had 2 back to back weigh-ins at weight watchers where the scale showed a loss. That has only happened one other time since I started this time around. And I am bound and determined to make it three in a row for the first time. I like seeing the graph go down, and I really like the stars that appear on my tracker every 5 pounds. I think I can actually get my first 5 pound star at the next weigh in. And I am starting to see results again at PUMP. I had made some gains about 2 months ago, and then kinda was stuck. Been fluctuating between these 3 sets of weights 5,8, and 10 pounds. I

I'm back. Hopefully I will even stick around. I need to remember that I really do better weight loss wise when I am consistent with the blogging. Last weekend I did something I hadn't done in 3 years. I "competed" in a race. Yep you read that right. I registered for a race, "trained" for it, and pinned my race bib on and laced my timing chip through my shoelaces and competed. Someone had to come in 68th, so why not me. 3.1 miles, 54 minutes and 12 seconds. Next goal, work on getting that time down to say 45 minutes.

I love a good before and after. Don't you? You know like in Biggest Loser when they show contestant the day they started at the ranch (where biggest loser is set) and then change to a now picture, after they have lost tons of weight. And they are awesome. Usually very motivating, at least for me. But then that's it. You never see them again after the finale, unless they are the winner and even then not so much. But that's not the end. There is so much more to the journey than that one weigh-in. It is every day continually making the healthy choices, when no one is watching and you are the only one looking at the scale, the only one counting the reps. Which is why I am recommitted to counting the reps and watching the scale go down.

So there I am in my weekly R.I.P.P.E.D class, and well something clicked tonight. I was able to push a little harder than I did last week. I'm not sure if it was the pizza I had at lunch that I felt I needed to redeem, or if it was all the sideways glances in the full length mirrors at class on Saturday, or the fact that I gained at last weeks weigh-in instead of loose, but I did more. I used the 8 lbs weights when Saturday I only used 5. I even managed to do the push-up section in the Power set. Granted I didn't do all the push-ups and mountain-climbers and kick-throughs...but I did more than last time, as in I actually did kick-throughs this week. But I also had to cut back and use the 3 lb weights for like the first time since I started ages ago. One of my shoulders didn't like the shoulder portion of the Resistance set on Saturday, so instead of pushing it to hard to the point of injury I backed off so I could still complete the movement and hopefully work on strength