The 5 a.m. Shuffle

So this week I knew that going back to work exercising would be really hard to fit into my schedule. So I set my alarm for 5 am. and my schedule in the morning looks like this:

 5 am alarm goes off

 5:15 am 9 minute mission strength        training

5:30 eat breakfast

5:45-6:45 workout 

6:45-7:15 get ready for work. 

I was successful this week in working out an hour before work. I started the week doing 30 min walking video (2 miles) with 30 min stationary bike and ended the week walking an hour (3 miles). The only bad thing is now I'm tired earlier at night and went to bed at 9 which caused me to wake up before the alarm. Go figure!!

This week I was determined to watch my sodium levels due to my gain last week. I never went over the RDA recommendations this week and continued to drink water. It's my only drink. No sodas or anything. I lost 4.2 pounds this week and 4 overall inches!! Really happy with this even if some of the weight was from the gain last week. 

Good news! I am completely off blood pressure medication and my blood pressure is showing normal at every daily testing!! That's a win!!

Can you be disappointed yet encouraged?

Well sadly I didn't lose any weight this week. At first I just cried for a minute because I had to get past the frustration. I knew I wasn't going to lose bc I had gained this week even with all the exercise and following the plan. I did lose inches (1 in waist, 1/2 in thigh, 1/2 neck and 1/2 in arms) which made me realize the exercise is working. 

After talking to Cassie (Extreme Weightloss) and Jenny (new friend) I felt better. Cassie told me to watch my sodium and that I was probably retaining water. She suggested monitoring my portions (I'm pretty good at that) and to stick with it. So I went back to My Fitness Pal and I was in over in sodium almost daily last week in comparison to the precious week. The culprit. Cheese and roast beef it seems. I had those several days this week! 

So then I talked to Jenny and we came up with goals for the week. We are focusing on 

1.  Correct portioning of food. 

2. Getting half of our body weight in water. 

3.  Eating more veggies daily. 

4.  Logging our meals

5.  Watching our sodium Intake. 

I feel so much better after talking to them. I know I lost in measurements but I worked really hard exercising five days this week an hour each day and not going over my calories. I still felt I should have lost weight regardless bc of that. 

So in trying not to lose focus I have just redirected. Work starts back on Monday and I already have my lunch box with portion control containers for it. I don't think it will be hard at all. 

Today I am very thankful for Jenny and Cassie's help!!! 

Week 2: Doubting the reset day!!

I will be the first to say I had my doubts after my reset (reward meal) on Sunday and weighing on Monday it was discouraging to look at the scale. But people said to trust it. On my Facebook group Cassie whose show will air 7/29 told me that she would gain after Sunday and wouldn't lose again until mid week. So I put my faith in her. And it worked!!! I lost 2.8 pounds this week and 4.5 inches. I am very thankful to people like Cassie on the page who lend advice. I can't wait to watch her transformation on Extreme Weightloss. 

The weather has been great here and so I have been walking (dragging at times) Allie. I usually have to bring her home bc she is tired and I am not finished. Exercising feels great and I am trying to work my way up. It's supposed to be too hot next week for Allie to walk. She likes it but gets so hot and tired from her fur. 

I love my jawbone up which tracks my sleep and activity. It will tell you how many steps you take and calories you burn. My goal is 10,000 steps each day  yesterday was my first day and I only got to 5100 but I worked at my desk most of the day time. It also tracks my sleep pattern. It will tell me how long it took me to fall asleep and my cycle of light to deep sleep times. My neighbors both are on my jawbone team. This is where you encourage each other to "take more steps". 

My other new find is my hydro flask water bottle. You can find these at Dick's sporting for around $25. They are expensive but I love mine. I purchased the 18 oz and my goal is to drink 8 a day. It hasn't been that hard just drink between meal times. The thing that is so great about this bottle is that it keeps cold drinks cold for 24 hours and no sweating of the bottle. (Hot drinks like coffee for 12). For me the bottle water represents how much I need to drink before I eat the next meal. It's an easy way to get in your water intake  

Last week for my reward meal I had fajitas and I felt overly full after so this week I think I might split my meal over two portions. I want pizza and am thinking to do a piece with salad at two meals instead of one. Because I am eating less quantity I don't want to overdue it. I am supposed to eat 800 calories more that day. 

My goals for this week:

1. Try to get to my 10,000 steps a day including concentrated 60 minute exercising daily. 

2.  To work the plan. I like it and I don't feel carb deprived like Medifast. 

3. Work on my 9 minute missions. I do them daily but I can't do all the exercises so I need to work on what I can accomplish. 

Carb Cycling: A New Way To Eat

I'm ending my first week following Chris Powell's carb cycling plan. It has taken a little adjustment. The plan is basically days of alternating carb content that is used to trick the body into burning fat and increasing metabolism. Here's the plan that I am following (turbo):

Mon: low carb (lc)

Tues: lc

Wed: high carb (hc)

Thurs: lc

Fri: lc

Sat: hc and weigh in 

Sun: reward day( enjoy a treat meal)

So basically there are several components to this plan. (This is just a few)

1.  Do your 9 minute core mission strength training first thing when you get up. 

2.  Eat your first meal within the first 30 minutes of waking. This first meal always contains a carb even on low carb days.  

3. Exercise at least an hour 6 days a week. 

4. Drink half you body weight in water oz per day. 

5. You limit your fat on high carb days

6. Every meal must have a protein from the list.  

7.  There is no calorie counting or carb counting required but I am logging on my fitness pal. Portions are palm of hand, full fist, thumb.... Easy to see and measurable. 

What I like about it? 

You can eat some carbs so it's not so restrictive. I have converted to whole grains such as whole wheat bread or tortillas, Ezekiel bread, whole wheat pasta, Brown rice, sweet potatoes, fruits. 

You get a reward meal and it's supposedly not going to ruin your loss for the week. It should be an increase in 800 calories over the normal 1200(lc)/1500(hc). 

What's hard?

Finding a protein I like for each meal. I have been eating nonfat Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, lean meats, protein shakes, etc. 

Eating every three hours with a busy schedule. 

Week 1 results 

4 pounds lost

2 inches lost (we measure waist, hips, and thighs)

Motivators 

I have also decided to join their diet bet. There's over $20k in the pot and you have to lose 11% of your body weight in four weeks. Starts July 22. It should be fun to start and hopefully win some of the pot. 

 I have started a carb cycling accountability group for some people I met on Facebook doing the diet. 

I want to use my fitness pal to log my foods to see how I am eating. 

We met someone on the fb group that has been on Chris's extreme weightloss show which hasn't aired yet and she has given us tons of hints on how to kick it up more to be more similar to the show. It involves a lot more exercise though. 

One day down

It was a busy day but overall successful. The most encouraging part is that feet are not swollen at all. In one day diet change. It can't be sodium bc I don't eat tons of salt so it has to be carbs. Either way I'm excited that it helped.

Dinner is what is killing me. I am already tired of salad. :( I think I'll post some pictures of new creations. Wish me luck.

Cool website

This website is kinda cool. You can add your current and goal weight to see the difference.

http://api.modelmydiet.com/eywomen

Back at it...encouragement welcomed

Well I haven't blogged in a LONG time but I think it is time to start again. I really haven't been consistently on medifast for several months. I haven't gained weight but I'm having some problems I had in the past like with swelling feet mostly. I believe it totally has to do with carb intake and not enough water. So today I am back on the program. My immediate goal is to stick with it and to drink water. I want to drink 32 ounces before noon each day.

I think it will be super hard because we are on a two week break. But I really need and want to do it. Encouragement is welcomed because its so hard to stay focused right now with the stress of my personal life at times.

Wish me luck