STS Challenge - Update

I say update because if I'm honest I don't even know what week we're in now! According to Debbie's blog we're starting week 9, so I am usually posting about the week prior, which would be week 8. But I missed posting the weekend before that (which was for week 7), so I'm just gonna call this an overall update!

So, where to start? Well, I haven't gained any weight over the last couple of weeks, BUT I haven't lost any either. I've actually been trying a new diet called Slimming World. Has anyone heard about it/seen it? It was featured in a magazine a couple of weeks ago, and it's from England. My sister has actually done it before but right now she's sticking with WW PointsPlus (or ProPoints as they call it in the UK).  I stopped doing the WW cos I was sick of counting points, then I was just counting calories and to be honest I got rather sick of that too. The SW diet says you don't need to count anything, and it allows you to eat as much pasta, rice, potatoes as you like?!! I know, sounds crazy doesn't it. There's a lot more to it than that, and it's really hard to get all of the information about it right now, even though they've had groups set up and running in TX for the past year. There's no groups near me so I can't even go along to buy the literature. Joining on line is out of the question because based on the exchange rate they want $160 for a 3 month subscription!  

Anyway, all that said, I only stuck with SW for a week. Honestly I don't think it will work for me eating pasta and potatoes all the time, although I didn't put any weight on, I did always feel bloated! Not a good feeling. SO, this week I've decided to re-read my South Beach Diet book!  I probably sound crazy jumping from one diet to another, but it just keeps me motivated to eat healthy. As you probably know, South Beach is all about eating low carb with healthy whole grains etc (after the first two weeks) This week I am doing phase one but I think next week I'll introduce whole wheat bread for breakfast and some fruit. Eating lean protein and salads for dinner is always a good thing, so hubby and I will be trying to stick to that for a while.

Hope everyone else is staying strong on the challenge. I hope to get by and read some blogs this week.

STS Challenge - week 6

I wrote a post mid week below this one, so I won't be doing much of an update tonight. I'm happy to say that after last weekends 'binge' and gain I did lose 2lb this week following the Flat Belly Diet :-) This was one of the lunches I mentioned . . .

 It looks very bland, but surprisingly very filling! My problem is the 2lb I lost doesn't seem to stay gone for long, we went out to a Cuban restaurant with friends last night and I ate 'rubbish' today! So no telling what the scale will say tomorrow. I think at this rate I'll be just glad to not have gained any more weight by the time this challenge is over, because I just can't seem to lose any permanently!

The one thing lacking this past week was exercise. All I did was one day of  Jillian Michaels Shred! So, some new goals are needed I think (realistic ones!):

1. Track calories and keep within 1200 per day

2. Treadmill Mon, Wed, Thurs

3.Drink 640z water each day

4. Take Vitimins

Not so much new goals, but ones I want to hopefully check off a list each day to keep myself accountable. I CAN DO THIS! 

Off Track :-(

I didn’t get a chance to post last Sunday because I had friends visiting from outta town (out of country to be exact, my bloggy friend Sue came to visit from Canada – you can read that post on my daily blog if you want to HERE).

The few days after my last post were going really well, then I met Sue at the Outlets in San Marcos on Wednesday ! That day was ok too, I didn’t get on the treadmill but I did get to walk over 11,000 steps, and burn over 300 calories, and I didn’t go crazy at lunch, just a chicken sandwich from Wendy’s (well, ok I had the fries too). The next day wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good. I made myself get on the treadmill but my legs were killing me from the day before! Ate well for the first half of the day and then . . . .  you can insert ‘the rest is history’ here!!  I wouldn’t say I’ve been off track since then, I’ll be honest and say I totally derailed! Sue came to stay at ours with her hubby that Saturday and stayed for the 4th July festivities at our neighbors. Honestly, I’ve been eating whatever I like since then, and not surprising have gained 3LB !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :-( I only have myself to blame!

I need to get back on track! I’ve put off again this week and have no reason or excuse for doing so. TOMORROW I will be back on track. This is exactly what happened last summer, I got off track, started eating whatever I liked, told myself I wasn’t overweight, so I could eat anything I wanted and didn’t exercise. I gained over 1olb by Thanksgiving.  Ok, so I may not really need to lose much weight, but I do need to stop eating the junk food AND I need to get back to exercising at least 5 times a week.

We are only half way through this 12 week challenge – I am NOT giving up! I’ll be linking up with Debbie this week, and reading other blogs to help me get my motivation back too.

If you’re here reading from the STS challenge, thanks for stopping by. I’m hoping to visit all the link-ups this week.

A much better week – STS Week #3

Hooray, I’m happy to report I had a much better week this week. For starters I lost 1.2lb (I’m currently 123.2lb) :-) Because it’s getting too hot to run/walk outside, I went on the treadmill, and managed to do that 5 times this week. Here’s the run down:

Monday – 30 minutes treadmill (total calories burned all day 140)

Tuesday – 32 minutes treadmill (total calories burned all day 241)

Wednesday – day off! (head was aching from sinus/allergy issues)

Thursday – 35 minutes treadmill (total calories burned all day 326)

Friday – 30 minutes treadmill (total calories burned all day 247)

Saturday – 32 minutes treadmill (total calories burned all day 242)

Sunday – day off! But still burned 111 calories doing 30 minutes of yard work!

The treadmill will tell me how many calories I burned doing the 30 minute walk/jog interval training, but my pedometer also clocks other calories burned from the extra steps I take all day. So the number of cals I’ve been pluggin in to MyFitnessPal.com is the total for both.

These were my 3 goals for last week

1. Measure out 64oz of water and put in the fridge, make sure I drink at least 64oz EVERY DAY!  I did drink more water but wasn’t measuring out the 64 oz, so I want to aim for that again this week.

2. TRACK MY CALORES – 1200 per day. I’ve kept my net calories below 1200 all week (going over just one night by 92 calories) using the MyFitnesspal app on my Ipad.

3. Walk/Run on the treadmill for 30 minutes Mon-Fri. As you can see from my log above, I didn’t do Mon – Fri BUT I did do 5 days this week ;-)

I’m still enjoying an eggwhite omelet with laughing cow cheese in the middle for breakfast. Sometimes I have a Vitatop muffin with it, other times an Eggo low fat waffle. This really keeps me full for a good few hours. I notice if I just have cold cereal and milk, I can be hungry again in just half an hour!

Butternut squash was ready in the garden this week, so I made one of my favorite soups (butternut squash soup, from Paula Deen). I had it a few lunch times with another favorite – spinach salad with goats cheese and berries.  I have more squash this week so I’ll be making more soup.

    Spaghetti squash also from the garden this week, made a lovely alternative for me when we had spaghetti pasta and meatballs! I had the squash with a low calorie cabernet sauce I had made and put in the freezer.

SO, my goals for this week:

1) Measure out 64 oz water/iced tea and keep in the fridge. Drink at least 64oz every day.

2) Do 30 minutes on the treadmill 5 times this week.

3) and a new goal . . .  do upper body toning for 15 minutes (using my Reebok dvd) for 3 days – Mon, Wed, Fri.

4) Still track my calories daily, using MyFitnessPal.com

So, how did you do this week? I’m off to check the Mr Linky on Debbie’s site and make a few visits ;-)

Week 2

Disappointing! Sad to say, that’s the word that sums up this week for my  STS Challenge :-(  It wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t good either. The bad news  is I have gained 2lb!!!!!  The good news is I exercised every day from Mon – Fri (I let myself take the weekends off because I’m usually doing yard work and running up to the grocery store.

I started the week off good (as I always do) and was tracking my calories pretty good, but by Thursday I think I got off track. Tracking my food calories is something I REALLY need to get better at.  Hubby was back from his trip, so first thing Monday morning I got up and went out for a walk/jog. I downloaded some interval training music to my Ipod so it alternates between a brisk walk to a light jog, I did this for 25 minutes around the neighborhood.

Tues – I did an upper body workout using my Reebok bench and weights (using the dvd that came with it).

Wed – I went out again at 7.30am and did a 30 min walk/jog.

Thur – I managed to clear up my guest room (put all my craft stuff away) so I could put the treadmill down, so I didn’t have to go out so early. If I don’t go out by 8am it’s Waaaay too hot out there (we’ve had triple digits all this week).  So I did 30 mins doing the same interval walk/run. I’m starting to like this now too, and much easier to do in the a/c AND with a fan blowing on me ;-)

Fri – on the treadmill again for 30 minutes.

Week 3 Goals.

1. Measure out 64oz of water and put in the fridge, make sure I drink at least 64oz EVERY DAY!

2. TRACK MY CALORES – 1200 per day.

3. Walk/Run on the treadmill for 30 minutes Mon-Fri.

One of the breakfasts I am starting to enjoy is a simple egg white omelet with a laughing cow cheese inside, and a slice of toast. I’ve noticed since I stopped following WW pts, that I’m not eating as much fruit! I need to buy more berries and oranges this week.

I also made a herb roasted chicken this week, using herbs from my garden. . . .

Not sure if  I’ve shared pictures of our garden on here for  a while, so for my new STS bloggy friends, here it is.