Fitness Friday + Steamer Action

I'm a couple of days late, but better late than never. I am amazed at the weight loss I've seen in the last week. I had gone up a bit during my birthday weekend and traveling the next week...but, I added some supplements, deleted carbs, and upped the protein in my diet this week.

This week's weight is...

I love this little graph of my weight loss over the past two months...from 177.6 to 161.0!

Woot! Woot! If you remember my post about the motivation to lose weight and my 2013 Resolutions, you'll recall that I set a goal of losing 5 pounds a month for 5 months! I am well on my way to reaching that goal! I'm super excited and so motivated by the progress I see to keep going!

I've been walking around the house all day grabbing the seat of my pants because I'm so amazed that there is some fabric back there to grab. Those same pants were cutting off my circulation two months ago...and yes, I still wore them! I started to post a pic of my butt, but when I saw how they were sagging, I decided not to...not attractive, but I'm still happy! It means I need to go down a size! Woot! Woot!

My diet has been transformed this week by my latest purchase...a food steamer!

In my T-Pain voice...I'm in love with a steamer! Ha! The first day I got it, I cooked broccoli better than any that had ever been cooked in my home and salmon, which has never been cooked in my house!

The next day was tilapia and asparagus! And both were ready in about 20 minutes and required nothing from me after seasoning the food to my liking.

It was quite a chore to find the right steamer for me! My friend Misty almost had me sold on a rice cooker that had a steamer tray. It seemed like a great combo, but when I evaluated why I wanted a steamer, I decided to to go with this one instead. The steam starts immediately when you plug it in and I love how it has two levels! You place the longest cooking item on the bottom. When your top basket is done, you remove it and place the lid on the bottom basket and let it continue to cook.

I'd say that the steamer has beat out the crockpot as my new favorite kitchen gadget! This week I plan to get back in the gym hard and keep up the veggie and protein full diet!

Linking up:

 

Fitness Friday | Week 6 - Hot Sweaty Mess!

This week, I concentrated on cardio. I've referred to it before, but I love the Secret Admirer Cardio routine from ToneItUp.com. I regularly burn around 700 calories in 45 minutes. I've done this workout four days this week and it doesn't get old. I can push myself harder by upping my speed or intensity. It's great! But with that comes me as a hot, sweaty mess...I guess that's not so bad...I go home drenched...no dry spots. Feels good!

My weight loss in just a month has amazed me. I cannot believe that I've gone down every week. This week is no different. This week's weight is...

I'm down another 2.6 pounds this week and a total of...

MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

MyFitnessPal has been a great help when it comes to my eating. I'm a little worried about next week though. I will no longer be fasting with my church, my birthday is this weekend, and I will be traveling at the end of the week. That's quite a few challenges to overcome this next week, but I know I can do it! I'll be all over Pinterest to find some new ideas for my weekly food prep.

Now, back to celebrating...my first DietBet ended this week.

Woot! Woot! I'm looking forward to seeing how much money I win off my $10 investment! My start weight was 177.6 pounds. My goal was to lose 4% of that weight or 7 pounds. My final weigh-in was 165.4 pounds, so I exceeded the DietBet goal by 5 pounds. There were a total of 193 people in this game for a total pot of $1,930. Everyone who meets their 4% goal gets to split the pot!

I think this added accountability was so good for me. I enjoyed the motivation! My second DietBet ends in another 4 days. I may need to start looking for another game to join because I'm sure the weight won't come off the same next month...or maybe it will...who knows?!

Linking up:

      

Fitness Friday | Week 3 + Link-Up

It's been quite a week of fitness and healthy eating! I am so motivated right now! I hope I can keep up this momentum! Here's a glimpse at my week + weigh-in + link-up!

Sunday | Couch to 10K Run, Week 4, Day 1 | I am not a runner. In fact, I hate running. But, I love running a 5k for charity. Recently, Melanie (one of my line sisters) and I talked about running more this year. She's is planning to do a half-marathon this year. That is not on my to-do list, but I will run a few 5k races and maybe a 10k as a part of her training. And I shouldn't even say race, because my goal is just to run without stopping...no competition here!

Monday | Jamie Eason LiveFit Program, Week 1, Chest/Triceps | I blogged about my new workout buddies here and how they've given me the confidence to cross the great divide from the cardio equipment to the weights in the gym. I was so pumped that I even did 15 minutes of  cardio afterwards!

Tuesday | Jamie Eason LiveFit Program, Week 1, Back/Biceps | Today was another weight day, but with no cardio. I also learned how to work my JEFIT app better and found out that it recommends the amount of weight you should be lifting based on the amount of time it takes you  to complete a set. 

Wednesday | Stair Climber | I had planned for this to be a rest day since I volunteer at church on Wednesday evenings, but I was so motivated and left work early, so I decided to get in some cardio. I left work on time to get my workout in before going to church. The stair climber made it's appearance this week in my workout because that friend Melanie I referred to earlier...well, she convinced me to sign up for the Big D Climb benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She may be carrying me up these 52 flights of stairs.

Thursday | Jamie Eason LiveFit Program, Week 1, Legs/Calves

The Plan for Friday | Jamie Eason LiveFit Program, Week 1, Shoulders/Abs

The Plan for Saturday | REST!!!

Side Note: I feel like a total dork trying to take pictures of myself in the gym, but I hate blog posts with no pictures.

Okay, on to the eating...I've been logging everything in MyFitnessPal and I love it! Here's an overview of my last week. I have consistently not hit my calorie intake goal, but I think that is partially due to the fact that I was fasting and partially due to the amount of calories I've burned from working out every day this week. I also see that I need to decrease my carbs. I love the messages I get from MyFitnessPal when I complete my entries for the day.

These little messages give me hope for achieving my weight loss goals! On January 1st, I weighed 177.6 pounds. Today's weight is.....drumroll please....

I'm down 5 pounds from January 1st! Woot! Woot!

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Have you linked up? This is week 3 of Fitness Friday, you guys!This is a fitness, health, weight-loss, and everything related and in between. Link up your weigh-ins, your healthy recipes, your work outs, and any other fitness related posts. Make sure you are a follower of the host(s). A huge thanks to Desirae @ Going with the Flow for organizing Fitness Friday and for allowing myself and Samantha @ In Bloom to co-host with her! 

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Time to Change this Number...

Wow! I can't believe I just posted my weight (and my feet) for all to see. It's not that number so much that bothers me, though; it's this one (or should I say these)...

And again, I guess it's still really not the number, but the fact that as I continue to shop and buy clothes, I'm starting to get to the point where the highest of these numbers will not do anymore. I'm at the point where I can't comfortably wear clothes that are in my closet anymore.

I've usually maintained around 145 - 150, without much effort. Over the pass three years, that number has slowly increased. I was okay as long as I could fit my clothes though. I  guess I've been doing too much of this...

Source

Other than the clothes, there's this one other motivator...my husband and I are considering kids in the near future. (Did I just write that? Woah!) Anyway, I think the average woman gains about 30 pounds during pregnancy. I would much rather add that 30 to a lower weight than the weight I'm at right now. I also imagine that if I get in a healthy habit now, it will be easier to lose the weight after pregnancy.

So, what am I going to do about it is the question...

1. Set a goal! My goal is to lose at least 5 pounds each month for the next five months. That's 25 pounds total by the end of the school year...Done!

2. Accountability...Done! I just posted my weight for the world to see. I hope to continue to update my blog with my progress...maybe join a weekly blog hop. Another measure of accountability will be the DietBet that my co-workers have decided to join. You can read more about DietBet here. My co-wrkers and I plan to start our first DietBet on January 8th. Click this link if you'd like to join us! The more who join, the bigger the pot! (Angie, I hope you're ready! No more excuses!) I also joined a Dietbet with Desirae over a Going with the Flow since I found about Dietbet from following her blog.

3. Work Hard! I'll have to work hard to eat healthier and to exercise more. I don't think I'll be joining any fancy diet programs or exercise regimens. Actually, I need to cancel my membership to Weight Watchers while I'm thinking about it. I know what works for me:

• In the past, I've followed Michael Thurmond's Six Week Body Makeover. It worked for me and both my parents. The results were amazing. There wasn't anything new or amazingly different...just healthy, small meals throughout the day, cooking without salt, and drinking plenty of water (The picture above was a result of this eating plan.)
• I already have a gym membership (which has hardly been used in the past six months). Recently I ran across Les Mills Pump on Beachbody.com. I remember doing this as a class at Gold's Gym for years. I used to love it and saw great results. The gym I'm currently a member of does not offer the class, so I'm considering buying it for my toning and sticking to doing my cardio at the gym. This low weight, high repetition toning workout, paired with cardio has worked for me in the past. I don't know for sure that I'll invest in this, but I do know that I need to do toning as well as cardio to get results.

So, instead of looking for some silver bullet or diet pill, I think I'll just stick to what I know has worked for me in the past. I hope blogging about it will help keep me accountable and constantly remind me of my weight loss goals.

Linking up: