7/7/06 Workout and Other Stuff

Okay, so I've been REALLY bad about posting my workout stats lately...but I have still been working out. It's just been difficult to sit down and write about it with a crawling little one!

Anyway, I've also been doing yoga - I started taking a class once a week and loved it so much that now, I've been doing yoga several days a week at home (found some neat yoga workouts on FitTV - thank you Tivo!) on top of that class! And I'm still doing elliptical on most days. I think the yoga has really helped a lot - I have more defined muscle, and have dropped weight more easily. Of course, cutting out lots of refined foods and eating a WHOLE LOT of fruits and vegetables (can we say "almost vegetarian?!") has really helped, too. I think that I've lost about 5 pounds since my last posting. YAY!

Okay, so here are today's elliptical stats:

590 calories
1.24 miles
104 carbs
40 minutes

I'm not guaranteeing that I'll be able to post stats anytime soon, but just know that I'm still working at it! I still have about 20 more pounds to go!

This Week's Workout So Far...

Hmmm...nevermind, not the whole week - I can't find my stats from Monday...

Yesterday:

513 calories
1.13 miles
92 carbs
35 minutes

Today:

615 calories
1.30 miles
107 carbs
41 minutes

A new and exciting addition to my workouts is that I'm taking yoga classes once a week! I had my first class Monday night and I LOVE it! The once a week classes last 12 weeks, but I'm looking into taking more yoga classes elsewhere, just because I love it so much! It feels like one of the best things I've ever done for my body - I feel so toned everywhere after just one class! I highly recommend it!

A Cooking Kick

So as you know, I've been on this health kick, and I'm really enjoying it. I love going to Sprouts, and have become more ambitious in the kitchen. I've always loved to cook and I think I'm pretty okay at it - definitely not afraid of trying something new, but up until now, I haven't really been inspired. However, now that we're more cognizant of what we're putting into our bodies, and I'm reading books like Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right and Eat to Live (both by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.), I don't do things like Hamburger Helper or other overly processed things anymore. I try to focus more on good fats and fruits and veggies. In fact, most of my grocery shopping is done at Sprouts - very rarely do we ever need to go to Walmart or Sam's like we used to (only for things like tp, milk, or household items, and some random food items here and there that might be a little cheaper than at Sprouts). As a result, we really don't have anymore "crap" in the pantry - if we have any snacks, they don't have any high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated anything. Which leaves us with Kashi brand granola bars, crackers, and oatmeal, crunchitos, and fruits, veggies, and string cheese to snack on. I've been having my natural peanut butter and organic jelly sandwiches on flaxseed whole wheat bread with crunchitos and fruit for lunch, and for dinner last night, I went all out and made something that was in a Weight Watchers Cookbook I've had (but not used) for a while - Southwest Salmon!



Okay, it may look strange in the picture, but we both liked it a lot! Basically, you make this marinade (pureed) from cilantro, lime juice, cumin, salt, tabasco, and water...bag it up with the salmon for an hour, cook red and yellow peppers for 20 minutes, add the marinated salmon, and pop it in the oven for a little bit longer! I bought fresh green beans, snapped the ends off, and steamed them with onions in our handy dandy steamer, and we had a wonderfully healthy dinner!!! For dessert, we had a fruit salad that I made: peaches, kiwi, bananas, and grapes - YUMMY!

A Week of Working Out...

Alright, I know I have been terrible about posting my workout stats this week, which is why I'm just going to add up all the numbers and put them all down for the week:

2580 calories
5.56 miles
451 carbs
170 minutes

Whew! That was way easier than doing lots of little posts. Unfortunately, my weight is still about the same as before, but I guess maintaining is good, right?

5/31/06 Workout

345 calories
0.81 miles
60 carbs
25 minutes

And having Cozymel's last night wasn't so good to me in the weight department :(

However, keeping track of my working out on this blog is such a great motivator, so even though there are some little set backs along the way, I must push on through!

5/30/06 Workout

618 calories
1.33 miles
109 carbs
42 minutes

Lost 0.4 pounds from yesterday :)

However, we're going to Cozymel's tonight with some friends from out of town...hopefully, it won't affect things too much!

Date Night!

Last night, Richard and I got to go out on a date! Yay! My mom came over and played with Jillian while we went on the first portion of our date. Before we left, Richard took the hard top off of the Jeep and replaced it with the safari top...here we are modeling the new look:




The first portion of our date was at Mi Cocina - YUMMY fajitas!





After dinner, we decided that since it was so nice out (especially with the hard top off), we should explore The Shops at Legacy, since it's so close to where we live. We walked around, checked out the shops, and headed home. Actually, it's funny, because when I suggested Mi Cocina, I was thinking of the one at The Shops at Legacy (pictured on the site), and I just assumed we would go there, but Richard went to a different one a little further...he was kicking himself later for not remembering the one I was thinking of!

Anyway, we got home, played with Jillian a little bit, and I nursed her and put her to bed while Richard picked up some dinner for my mom. Then, we were off to get dessert (and some coffee for me) at Kathleen's Art Cafe - another big YUMMY! We got the Chunky Apple Cake with Butterscotch Sauce Ala Mode and the Double Fudge Cake Ala Mode. Needless to say, we could NOT eat all of this. We basically ended up eating all of the apple stuff, and taking home the chocolate to my mom. She ended up only eating a couple of bites, and we're slowly eating away at it...

Then, we stopped by the house yet one more time! This, of course, was not part of our plan. However, I decided that it would be MORE fun to take the doors off the Jeep - Richard took the safari top off before we left the second time, so this would really complete the experience. So we finally left (again), and headed off to Strikz. We had never been there before, but thought that bowling would be fun - and it was! It was video bowling, which was cool - it seemed like they played a lot of stuff from the early to mid 90's, which I love. :) And it was "Cosmic Bowling," where it's all dark, and the balls glow! Fun stuff. The best part, of course, was the fact that we got to wear cool shoes :)

Anyway, Richard was really kicking my butt, and I finally found out (in our 2nd game) that he took a bowling course in college! NO FAIR! I finally broke 100 in our 4th and last game - thanks to Richard's helpful pointers.



I look like a total dork in this picture. Oh well.



Here's the ol' bowling pro

Strikz was pretty fun - and they also have laser tag, pool tables, and arcade games and prizes! Another neat thing is that it's really new and smoke free - not like the old bowling lanes that we used to go to as kids! We will definitely be going back!

P.S. - We went to run errands today and it rained while we were gone. On and in the topless, doorless Jeep. It's still dripping and airing out. :(

5/29/06 Workout

Well, I didn't workout yesterday. Richard and I had a date planned for last night, and spent the day getting stuff done around the house and playing with Jillian. However, I was the same weight as the previous day, so that's good.

As for today's stats:

495 calories
1.10 miles
86 carbs
35 minutes

And I gained about 0.2 pounds from yesterday...not panicking, though - it could be worse after having gone out to eat last night! It's all good :)

5/27/06 Workout

Okay, I'm a few days behind, but here are the stats:

Nevermind - I can't find where I wrote down that day's info, but I know I burned 615 calories in 40 minutes!

I also lost 1.2 pounds from the previous day...which makes me officially back down to pre-pregnancy weight! YAY!

5/26/06 Workout

290 calories
0.68 miles
52 carbs
21 minutes

Gained 0.4 from yesterday, but no big whoop, b/c I was feeling lighter this afternoon, and was curious to see what I weighed - and it was the same as this morning, which is promising!

Also, I got some bloodwork back, and my bad cholesterol (LDL) has gone down significantly, while my good cholesterol (HDL) has gone up! Awesome for both!!!

However, my mom called (my OB-GYN's nurse) and said that my TSH levels were suppressed, which could mean that I have hyperthyroidism...something that would be no surprise, given that my mom has a hyperthyroid, as well as her dad, and her grandmother. Anyway, I'm making an appt. to get my blood taken for some more tests next Thursday...we'll see what happens!

5/25/06 Workout

625 calories
1.34 miles
109 carbs
40 minutes

And 0.8 pounds lighter than yesterday!!!

5/24/06 Workout

465 calories
1.02 miles
82 carbs
31 minutes

And I was 1.2 pounds lighter this morning!!! Yay!!!

5/23/06 Workout

Didn't gain or lose any weight from yesterday...

Here are today's stats:

363 calories
0.85 miles
64 carbs
26 minutes

I know these are boring posts, but they keep me going! :)

5/22/06

After not working out for a few days (we were in Arkansas), here are today's stats:

457 calories
1.12 miles
80 carbs
33 minutes

Still not talking about weight, but it didn't really change all that much after this weekend, which is better than I thought I would fare!

5/18/06 Workout

Well, I worked out a little later than normal, but it still got done...

617 calories
1.32 miles
108 carbs
41 minutes

I'm taking Friday, Saturday, and possibly Sunday off - will be in Arkansas having fun with Lindsay and Lily! Richard and Steve (Lindsay's husband), and some of their other friends will be camping out for a bachelor party...

5/17/06 Workout

Okay, maybe this weighing everyday thing isn't such a good idea...it seemed like a good idea when I was losing everyday! But today it went up again! :( :( :(

Nevertheless, the working out must continue:

312 calories
0.71 miles
55 carbs
22 minutes

Let's keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow's weigh-in...

Ugh - 5/16/06 Workout

Eventhough the stupid iFIT program was a super hard 40 min. routine (ick), I had extra motivation this morning: I made a bad choice in partaking in a little bit of ice cream last night with the season finale of Grey's Anatomy...my weight went up a little this morning. And I know that to be consistent with the rest of my blogging, I should post how much I gained, but it's my blog, and I don't want to :) Sorry! It's not that much, though...as I told Richard, I just made a bad choice, and I can't give up - just gotta get back on the horse!

Anyway, here are today's workout stats:

605 calories (!)
1.27 miles
106 carbs
40 minutes

We'll keep our fingers crossed that my weight is lower tomorrow...it probably won't help that I'm meeting Richard and Esther for lunch at Gloria's in a couple hours! :(

5/15/06 Workout

As you probably noticed, I did not workout or weigh yesterday...for obvious reasons :)

I was kind of scared to weigh today because we went to Mercado Juarez for lunch with my family yesterday, and Carrabbas for dinner with Richard's family last night. I tried to order healthier things, in hopes that I wouldn't gain too much weight...

And I was surprised to learn that I still lost 0.4 pounds from Saturday! That means that I've lost 2.6 pounds from last Monday - YAY!

Anyway, here are today's workout stats:

540 calories
1.14 miles
95 carbs
36 minutes

Size 10?

Ohmigosh. I might actually be able to wear size 10's on a more frequent basis. Usually, I loom around the size 12 thing, but there are times in my life when I've been a consistent, comfortable 10, and sometimes an 8. Those of you who know me, know that I'm not a petite girl, so a 10 is good for me. In fact, when I was in a New York bar with some friends my sophomore year of college, a rather large man, of African American descent, was sitting behind us and said to me, "Damn girl! You healthy!" Alright, in my defense, I think I was a consistent size 10 then, too! My good friend, Suzy, told me to take that comment as a compliment from that guy. And anyway, I didn't even really balloon until my senior year after my Senior Recital was over in November and I could drink without worrying what it would do to my singing voice (ignore the fact that I was planning on going to grad school for vocal pedagogy the next fall). In the guy's defense, he was probably drunk.

ANYWAY, I'm a big-boned girl. I'm healthy. I got my Dad's genes. However you want to put it, I've never been petite, but as we all know, I'm working on it. I think that WHEN (not IF) I reach my goal of losing 26 more pounds, I will definitely be in single digits consistently, but for now, post-baby, I'm jumping for joy today! I was excited a couple of weeks ago when I fit into some denim capris at Kohl's that were a size 10. However, I chalked it up to the fact that they have "a little stretch" in them. Nonetheless, I bought them.

So today, I went through some of my clothes from when we got married in 2003, and found these khacki Gap capris. Size 10. I showed them to Richard, reminded him that he always loved them (he agreed, of course), and then proceeded to try them on.

THEY FIT! GAP 10'S FIT! This is not to say that every Gap 10 fits (or that I couldn't be a little bit more comfortable while sitting in these capris), but they are pretty comfy, and I am very optimistic!. I also know it's not just a fluke - I tried on a size 10 skirt there the other day, and it fit too! I chalked that incident up to the fact that the skirt goes around the smaller portion of the waist. But now I'm starting to feel really good!

Now if only we could do something about those stretch marks...

5/13/06 Workout

610 calories
1.2 miles
107 carbs
41 minutes

As for this morning's weight, Richard was so sweet and got me a Chocolate Chip Einstein's Brothers Bagel...I ate it and THEN remembered that I hadn't weighed myself yet. :(

Yes, I know that bagel goes against my wanting to not eat that kind of stuff. Over the past week, we've cut out A LOT of calories and bad stuff, changed to eating more "whole," natural foods, I've realized that I can't always be perfect. I have to have little splurges of "normal" food, otherwise I might go totally overboard one day and just pig out! All in all, though, we've really changed our palates and our eating habits, so I think we're off to a great start!