Her Bizzy Diet – Day 11

I haven’t posted in a couple of days because I’ve been super busy and not much has changed.  I’m doing virtually the same routine day in and day out.  The only difference is dinner, and quite frankly it’s been jacking up my plan!  We have had a bunch of dinners out due to different events, and this isn’t going to change anytime soon.  February is full of birthdays so there is constant celebration. Stress has also been building up and impeding my progress.  Last night, in fact, I gave in a drank.  Yup, it got that bad.  I was pissed about more financial problems (when it rains, it pours) and add to that no weight loss over the past 7 days.  I’ve been going back and forth between 135 and 136 for a week now.  That’s pathetic and not what I want to see when I’m only doing a 3 week program.  That means an entire week, or 1/3 of the program, is down the drain.  The time, the energy and the money…gone.  The worst part about it is that I have no one to blame but myself and that just pisses me off more!  I had vodka with sparkling water and even managed to make zucchini and a turkey burger patty for dinner, so other than the booze, I actually stuck to plan.  When I weighed in this morning I was 133 and change.  It was nice to see that the scale had finally started moving in the right direction, but I have to be realistic.  It’s likely just dehydration that brought the weight down and I imagine that I will be right back between 135 and 136 tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow, that is yet another night out.  My husband got us opera tickets for Valentines day.  We are planning to do dinner beforehand, so again my nutrition is in someone elses hands.  Luckily, the hubs is also trying to lose weight and eating healthy so we won’t be tempting each other with greasy burgers or sugary desserts.   We shall see how it goes.

Workout: None

Nutrition & Supplements:

• 6am – 2 Burn, 1 Tone, 2 whole eggs, 2 slices center cut bacon
• 9am – 3 Balance, 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 12pm – 6″ Ham & Turkey on Flatbread, all veggies, mustard, oil and vinegar
• 3pm – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 6pm – 6 Turkey Meatballs, 2c spinach, 1 laughing cow cheese wedge
• 8pm – 2 Cleanse

(Yes, I am fully aware that today’s meals were not perfect, especially since I didn’t workout.  I had hangover belly and I did the best I could.)

Weight: 133.6

Weight: 136.6

Her Bizzy Diet – Day 8

Welcome to week 2 of my challenge!

The weekend proved to be a big obstacle.  Saturday during the day was very easy because I was at work and able to keep on my regular schedule.  After work I picked up my step-daughter, took her for birthday manicures, and then we met up with my husband for her birthday dinner.  We wanted her to pick the restaurant, since after all it’s her birthday.  She chose Macaroni Grill.  I knew from the start that it could pose a challenge because I looooooove pasta, but I wanted to be good so I veered away from that portion of the menu.  However, so many of the dishes have pasta of some sort and I really wasn’t in the mood for chicken or steak since I can make that at home and not pay $18/plate.  I thought I had decided upon a dish until I noticed the calorie contents next to them.  I can’t remember my first choice, but I do remember that it had about 1100 calories in it.  Thanks, but no thanks!  I opted for a Caesar salad and added shrimp.  First off,  yeah, I know, Caesar dressing isn’t healthy, but remember I don’t really care when it comes to fat.  Second, don’t order shrimp to add to a salad because it was a total rip off – $4 to add shrimp and I only got 4 shrimp.  I ended up coming home and making some beef strips so that I could get in more protein.   The next morning I was up about .8lbs which kinda sucked.

Next comes Sunday.  I always wake up earlier than my family so I spent the first couple of hours in my normal breakfast routine catching up on all my trashy reality shows on DVR.  I even made pancakes when the other two woke up and didn’t so much as even taste it.  Then come the temptations.  First it was lunch.  My husband wanted taco bell so the two of them went and picked it up and brought it home.  We all sat at the table and while they ate tacos, gorditos and chalupas I sat drooling, staring and quietly ate my tuna salad.  Later that night we met up with friends for a BBQ – we brought steaks and asparagus so I don’t feel bad there.  However, after dinner the family wanted ice cream.  ICE CREAM!  I dropped them off and went to fill up my car with gas so I didn’t even step foot inside because I knew I would have ordered something.  They brought their ice cream home and I made a chocolate peanut butter protein shake.  I thought I did a pretty good job, although this morning I was up another .8lbs.  GRRRR!!!

That’s ok, because at the end of the week I still ended up down 7lbs from my starting weight.  Today was totally on point, so here’s what I got:

Workout:

Day 1 – Cardio & Upper Body

 

Meals & Supplements:

• 3:30am –  2 Burn (according to the plan I am supposed to take 2, this morning I only did because I was exhausted) , 1 Tone
• 6am – 3 Balance, 2 whole eggs, 1 slice center cut bacon
• 9am – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 11:30am – 1 Burn, 1 Tone
• 12pm – 6oz chicken, 2c mixed greens, olive oil/vinegar dressing
• 3pm – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 6pm – 5 oz shrimp, 1 bunch chard, 1/3c coconut milk, 1/2 lemon juice and chipotle pepper flakes
• 8pm – 2 Cleanse, Cup of Vanilla Sleepy Time Tea

Weight: 136.6

Her Bizzy Diet – Day 5

Today turned out to be a bit of a challenge.  First off, I was invited out to lunch with one of my new coworkers.  I knew ahead of time that we were going to go out so I hadn’t packed lunch, but had no clue where were going since I don’t know the area.  We ended up just walking across the street where our options were Subway, a Mexican joint, or a pizza place.  I let Jen decide since I knew with any of those choices I was going to get a salad regardless.  She chose the pizza place, ordered a slice of some heavenly looking pizza and I opted for the artichoke and red pepper salad since it seemed like the least of all the evils and had some protein on it.  Turned out to be pretty tasty, however I can’t for the life of me find any nutritional information on it and that is driving me nuts.  The closest thing I could find had an insane amount of carbs listed and seeing as how there wasn’t much to be carbohydrate-rich in the salad, I’m thinking that it’s probably not that on point.

My second challenge today was sweets.  Now normally I’m not a huge sweets fan, but as of lately the cravings have been coming in big time.  Cookies, cake, and shit tons of ice cream have been consumed lately.  Well, being that it’s Valentines Day there was a giant pink box of any kind of donuts you could dream of right in the front lobby. I had to walk by it every time I needed to use the bathroom (which is about every 30-45 minutes with all the water I am consuming).  Not only that, but being the nice person I am, I also brought in a box of cookies for my coworkers.  (Hey, don’t judge, it’s only my second week and I need to make a good impression!)  Anyway, no one ate them!!!  So every time I went to the printer, there they were.  I didn’t have any, but by the end of the day only one person helped themselves which meant that I had to take them home with me.  And there, during my entire two-hour commute, sat these delicious, pink, soft baked cake cookies just tempting me.  I still didn’t break. Go me!

Then came the hardest challenge of my day.  If you ask any person who knows me what my biggest stressor is, they will all unanimously answer “MONEY!”  The month didn’t start off that great in the financial dept due to a 12 hour delay in paying rent that ended up costing me almost $200 in late fees (totally my fault, which is the most frustrating part of the whole thing – no one to blame but myself).  But anyway, today it turns out I may be getting charged yet another $40 late fee for something I shouldn’t be charged for.  Well that really chaps my ass.  So what do I want to do when I get pissed?  You got it – eat and drink.  I’m not talking about maybe having a ho ho and a glass of wine.  I’m talking a super value meal from the drive thru, along with one or two other menu items and about 3/4 of a bottle of vodka.  That’s my coping mechanism when I feel like the world fucks me – I say fuck you right back, I stop caring and go into fat mode.  But I didn’t want to do that tonight.  I’m making such great progress.  I’m seeing the fruits of my labor and not only that but I’m enjoying the food and the workouts.  I want to see this thing through to the end, and dammit it’s only day 5.  I can’t give up now.  So yeah, I got a little lazy with dinner tonight – threw a turkey burger in a pan and some zucchini in another.  At least I stuck with protein and veggies…and maybe a little sriracha mayo, but who’s counting, right?

Anyway, after my rant, my point is this:  I am going to do this.  I am not going to let all of the outside influences affect me this time.  I made a commitment.  21 days.  That is all I need to do.  I WILL DO THIS!

Her Bizzy Diet – Day 4

For some reason, I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.  I was pumped for the workout…even if my calves didn’t feel the same way.  I went ahead and ran on the treadmill because I was determined to fight through the pain.  I did lower speeds, but still pulled through.  I would love to show you how much I burned but my HR monitor didn’t want to function.  Several times during my workout it would tell me that it wasn’t reading my heart rate and at the end of my workout I was at a total of 189 calories tracked.  I’m calling bullshit on that number because I could walk for an hour and burn that much.  Anyway, here’s the workout:

Workout:

20 minute cardio intervals on the treadmill (low intensity 3.5-4; high intensity 7-8.5)

 

Upper Body (20 reps 2x’s through)

• DB Chest Press
• 1 Arm DB Row
• Military Shoulder Press
• Bicep Curl
• Tricep Kickback

10 minute cardio (5 min low intensity, 5 min high intensity)

Repeat Upper Body Weight Training

 

 

Meals & Supplements:

• 3:30am –  1 Burn, 1 Tone
• 6am – 3 Balance, 2 whole eggs, 1 slice center cut bacon
• 9am – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 11:30am – 1 Burn, 1 Tone
• 12pm – 6oz tuna, 2c mixed greens, 1/2 an avocado and some red onion
• 3pm – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 6pm – Salmon filet topped with dijon mustard and coconut flour, 1 bunch swiss chard with 1/2c coconut milk, lemon juice and red pepper flakes
• 8pm – 2 Cleanse, Cup of Vanilla Sleepy Time Tea

I may have gone a little overboard eating an entire bunch of swiss chard, but there was no way my husband was going to eat any of it and I knew I wasn’t going to have a snack tonight.  Plus, I earned it!  You may notice that I am incorporating some things that aren’t on the official meal plan, such as coconut milk, coconut oils, avocado, etc.  I feel like for me, it’s important to have healthy fats and lots of them.  This comes from my time following a Paleo diet (which I feel like I am pretty much doing right now, and intend to bring back in full force after this is done).  Every body reacts differently to different macro-nutrient ratios. The best for me is one of high protein, high fat and low carbs.  Not excessively low carbs, because carbohydrates are still important.  But I like my carbohydrates to come from fruits and vegetables, mostly vegetables.  Anyway, if there are any questions about my nutrition or recipes, just let me know.

 

Weight: 136.8

Her Bizzy Diet – Day 3

Pretty uneventful day.  It was a rest day and I did just that.  Slept in until 5, kind of.  My body and mind still wanted to wake up around 3:30 but I forced myself to stay in bed and try to sleep until 5.  After work, I just kicked off my shoes, made dinner and sat around.  I needed it because I could barely walk when I woke up this morning.  I’m thinking I’ll probably have to switch up the cardio in tomorrows workout, to elliptical or stair stepper but I’ll give the treadmill a try first.

So, anyway, here is my nutritional breakdown today:

Meals & Supplements:

• 5:30am –  1 Burn, 1 Tone
• 6am – 3 Balance, 2 whole eggs, 1 slice center cut bacon
• 9am – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 11:30am – 1 Burn, 1 Tone
• 12pm – 6oz tuna, 2c mixed greens, pepperoncinis, avocado oil and balsamic vinegar
• 3pm – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 6pm – 6 oz shrimp, 4c spinach, 1/2c coconut milk, and chipotle pepper flakes
• 8pm – 2 Cleanse, (no snack tonight because I am going to bed at 8)

Weight: 137.6

Her Bizzy Diet – Day 2

Today was a long, hard day.  I developed a head cold yesterday evening, that made waking up and working out quite the bitch this morning.  I did however, still get up at the butt crack of dawn and kill the lower body workout.  I also kept my nutrition on point all day, got in all my supplements (including the second fat burner today), and am already set for the day tomorrow.

Even though, according to the plan, I am supposed to workout tomorrow and have Thursday act as a rest day, I am choosing to take tomorrow off.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  1.  My friend, and training partner, goes later in the day on Wednesday, which means I don’t have to wake up at 3:30am.  2.  Since I barely do running as my form of cardio, my calves are ON FIRE!!!!  I even wore flats to work today, which I hate doing.

Anyway, enough bitching and whining, here’s my breakdown for the day:

Workout:

20 minute cardio intervals on the treadmill (low intensity 4-4.5; high intensity 6.8-7.8)

 

Lower Body (2x’s through)

• Squats – 30 reps
• DB Lunges – 15 reps per leg
• Standing Calf Raises – 30 reps
• Standard Crunch – 30 reps
• Crunch with Legs Up – 30 reps

10 minute cardio (5 min low intensity, 5 min high intensity)

 

Repeat Lower Body Weight Training

Meals & Supplements:

• 4am –  1 Burn, 1 Tone
• 6am – 3 Balance, 1 whole eggs, 2 slices center cut bacon
• 9am – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 11:30am – 1 Burn, 1 Tone
• 12pm – 6oz chicken, 9 brussels sprouts (not technically on plan, but I had them in the fridge)
• 3pm – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 6pm – 6 oz steak, 2.5c spinach, 1 wedge Light Swiss Laughing Cow Cheese
• 8pm – 2 Cleanse, (no snack tonight because I am going to bed at 8)

Weight: 140.4

I would like to point out that I am down 3lbs from yesterday.  While that is a great thing to see, I know it is water loss and food in my gut from the previous days binge.  However, I am going to use it as motivation to just keep going until I start seeing actual weight loss, which should be around days 3-5. Can’t wait to get there!  🙂

Her Bizzy Diet – Day 1

It’s been too long since I have had a valid routine, good nutrition, and a plan of action.  So, after some research, I decided on the Bizzy Diet from MusclePharm.  It’s an intense, 21 day plan with a detailed nutrition, workout and supplement plan.  I decided upon the FitMiss version though, which is specifically for women…and a little cheaper for the stack.  It’s exactly what I needed.  Going it alone has been a disaster and what it’s made me realize is that I really thrive when everything I need to do is laid out and all I have to do is follow. No thinking, just doing.  So, I started today, and here’s what it looked like:

Workout:

20 minute cardio intervals on the treadmill (low intensity 3.5-4; high intensity 7-8.5)

 

Upper Body (20 reps 2x’s through)

• DB Chest Press
• 1 Arm DB Row
• Military Shoulder Press
• Bicep Curl
• Tricep Kickback

10 minute cardio (5 min low intensity, 5 min high intensity)

Repeat Upper Body Weight Training

 

 

 

Meals & Supplements:

• 4am –  1 Burn, 1 Tone
• 6am – 3 Balance, 3 whole eggs, 1 tsp Tapatio
• 9am – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 11:30am – 1 Tone (should have 1 Burn here too but I have to get used to a fat burner first so I skipped it today)
• 12pm – 6oz chicken, 1 zucchini with Mrs. Dash
• 3pm – 1 scoop Vanilla Chai Delight Protein
• 6pm – 6oz porkloin, 6 large spears of asparagus
• 8pm – 2 Cleanse, 1oz almonds

Weight: 143.4

I am definitely not proud of that number, by the way.  It is the second heaviest I have ever been and part of the reason I have to make a change.  I’m excited to see the end results in 3 weeks.  I’m taking a before picture today….but that won’t be posted until the end just in case nothing changes.  No one needs to see that!  😛

 

Relationship with food…

What is your relationship with food? What is the hold it has over you?

Through all the changes that have occurred recently I’ve gained about 20lbs. I’m trying new, different things to lose that weight. I’m doing crossfit which I love and I’m trying my hand at Paleo.

I’m also currently working as a weight control counselor and seeing my own struggles with food and the struggles of other people. It’s really starting to put things in perspective.

I know what to do! I’m a certified fitness trainer. I’m a certified counselor. I can tell you until I’m blue in the face what to do to lose weight and how to do it. Yet for some reason I’m not following my own advice. WTF? Why is it that food has such a profound effect on us?

This is my new quest for information. Do you currently or have you in the past had a battle with a food addiction? What helped you to overcome your obstacles? Tips? Tricks? Advice? I’m looking for anything I can personally take advantage of as well as things I can pass on to my clients.

Things have changed…

As you can see, it’s been quite some time since I have posted.  That is because everything in my life has changed.  My job, my home, my hobbies, even my hair – yep, I’m going blonde (no pics to post right now, but I’ll work on that)!

I wore that uniform well! 🙂

First things first, I am officially a civilian now – my tour with the U.S. Coast Guard has ended.  When I joined the military I was sure I would be a lifer.  Both of my parents retired from the military and I thought I would follow suit.  But, of course, life has a way of changing plans but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  While I may miss the Coast Guard sometimes, the decision to get out was one that my husband and I decided upon as a family and we know it was the best for us.  He will remain active duty, which leads me to the next BIG change.

We’ve moved to SoCal!  HOLLA!  The hubs got stationed in San Diego which could not have worked out better.  We are out of the cold and snow of Sault Sainte Marie and into the sun and fun of California.  While I always considered myself to be an East Coast girl, I definitely think I can get used to living here.  We found ourselves a beautiful home that is TWICE the size of the one we had in Michigan and we are enjoying filling it up.

Image courtesy of http://www.medifast1.com

The third big change is that I have started a new job already.  While in the Coast Guard I found my passion for fitness and started working as a personal trainer.  As a trainer a majority of my clients were weight loss clients.  I absolutely loved being a part of the weight loss process because I know what an impact weight loss can play on health, happiness and overall quality of life. So, I decided to take my passion for fitness and weight loss and my knowledge of diet and nutrition  (70-80% of weight loss is nutrition, not exercise, in case you weren’t aware) and go to work for Medifast as a weight control counselor.  I typically wouldn’t get behind a weight loss plan like this because I think everyone should learn proper nutrition, however that is what this company does.  Yes, you have meal replacements, but we also teach you how to choose and prepare healthy and nutritious meals.  Plus, once you hit your goal we don’t just show you the door.  We transition you back into eating your own foods and we have a year-long maintenance process to make sure your weight loss is life long and you don’ just yo-yo as most people tend to do.  (This is not an advertisement for Medifast, I’m just explaining the aspects of what I like about the program.  It is not for everyone and I will never try to  pitch or sell this product on my blog.  Likely, this will be the only mention of Medifast just so I can explain the changes in my life.)

Courtesy of http://rabbidblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/crossfit-murrieta/

Anyway, moving on…change number four and probably the biggest, most exciting change for me.   I’ve joined CrossFit!  We didn’t have CrossFit available in the Soo so it wasn’t an option until now.  Ever since I saw my first competition on TV I have been dying to do it.  Right now I am in week two of fundamentals.  You have to do 8 classes to learn the basic movements of CrossFit before you can do the WOD (Workout of the Day).  At the end of this week I will be able to go daily, 5:30 am and just rock out classes.  I love, love, love it.  This, you will  be hearing A LOT about!

I think that covers all the big changes.  I will be posting more often now that I have a daily routine set in stone.  Thanks for being patient and for coming back!

Discovery Post

I haven’t posted this week because nothing has really happened. Work, training, exercise, food prep…you know, the usual.

Anyway, I decided I had to do a quick post about a little discovery I made this morning. As I’ve mentioned before, I have workout ADD. I’m always looking for something new and something I can do at home. This morning my YouTube search for “30 min HIIT workout” delivered. A channel called FitnessBlender popped up. I ran through a 30 minute cardio/ab HIIT routine and it did not fail. I highly suggest those of you who don’t have a local gym, don’t have time to get there, or, like me, are just too lazy to leave your house but still want to get in a workout check them out. Here’s the link to the routine I did this morning and here are my results.

They have a couple 1,000 calorie workouts so I think I’ll check one of those of tomorrow. I’ll let you know how that goes and post my results.