It's Friday..and almost another diet week DONE!

I can tell it's time to run. I have that " I have to get out of here and burn calories feeling". Running does calm me and helps me focus. I just don't feel right when I don't go for my morning run. I'll be out the door soon enough. 

I'm feeling good about my weight loss progress. Reaching that 30 day goal mark in  just a few short days. I've worked hard to get here. On day 27! I'm not where I want to be for weight loss just yet. I still have some fat on my abs that I want gone. I'm planning on spending the month of May working on the last bit of weight I need to lose to finally see my abs. I do daily planks that works my core/abs every day. Doing 12 minutes total. I know those abs are under my fat layers, I just need to get at them and they are slowly coming out with less fat on my stomach. 

I treated myself to a weight loss reward yesterday. I had a nail polish change. I didn't go for the full pedicure due to time and wanting to wait till I reach my next months weight loss goal. I am happy with just a color change for my reward for now. You have to celebrate the little milestones before you reach your big goal. Its tough along the way. 

Because its Friday, we have plans to go out to dinner tonight. I already pre-planned the food I will eat out. I am sharing food so I don't have to eat more then I plan for. I'm also eating carrots before so I stay out of the bread basket. I'll probably still have a slice of bread to not deprive myself. That's healthier thinking then telling myself I can't have it and then letting myself down when I reach for bread. One slice or two is in the diet plan. I definitely do not want to go to dinner really hungry. That's a sure way to go off a diet and eat a ton of calories while out to dinner. 

My Thursday was okay. I went shopping and just looked at just about everything. I ended up looking more for Celina. She needs black sandals for prom. I think she needs a splash of color with her black dress, maybe bright pink shoes instead of safe black? 

Off to run and get my work day over for FRIDAY!!!

Melting away the fat

Before weight loss picture, in March 

Day #26 of weight loss

 I've now lost four inches around my waist. That's HUGE!! I'm still going strong. I'm pre-planning what food and snacks I'll be eating. Counting calories I eat and burn. I'm focused on losing the last bit of weight to get down to around 140 once again. I'm in the home stretch. I don't want to get ahead of myself because I still have work to do on my weight loss journey. It doesn't end with reaching a goal weight. I just need to add in more healthy foods and keep up the exercise. 

The biggest challenge is just feeling bored with the same old every day. Walk up, expect some big weight loss, feel the same, do my yoga, planks, eat my breakfast slowly, go to work, come home, nap, read a lot, watch some TV and go to bed, then do it all again the next day. The hardest part is still wanting to eat all afternoon. I now reach for carrot sticks and have an earlier dinner. Small changes add up to big weight loss. I'm still a work in progress. 

It snowed this morning and temperatures are Chilly outside. I'm waiting till the afternoon to go on my run. Biking is out since it would be far too cold. I also have some shopping to do this morning. All kind of errands on the todo list and working later on tonight. I reversed my daily schedule to mix it up a bit just because I can't do the same old every single day! 

Seeing Green

Oh Spring!! You are finally here! I love seeing all the green popping out this last week. 

We are getting more rain today and cooler temperatures, but I do know we need the rain to make everything super green! While I could go run in the rain this morning. I'm not going to. I'm not running because I have a super, duper busy work day. I doubt I'll be biking either since its going to rain and be cold all day long. I should get enough exercise just working today and that should be enough! 

Day Twenty-Five of my weight loss diet!!! So excited to reach another milestone on my weight loss journey. I just have to guess at my current weight because I certainly don't want to get off track by checking what I actually weight and then be disappointed if I'm not at a certain number right now. The main focus is on to keep going, keep losing body fat to see those abs that I work on each and every day doing planks! 

On my bike ride Tuesday afternoon, I finally decided to ride another route. I increased my miles by either one or two with more hills. I'm slowly building back up my biking fitness. I didn't do the whole loop but I'll get there again. I also want to find new bike routes that are close to home to mix it up a bit. I suppose I could do a reverse loop of my same route.  

A Zoey picture from Monday. 

What can I change?

I'm on a transformation diet but I don't feel that's enough. What else can I change? I need something else that will make me happy. 

I'm on day 24 of my diet. I re-tested my BMI and % fat. I'm down 3% fat from the last time on day 9 I took these readings. My BMI also improved. I'm also down three inches on my waist and every where else I'm seeing a thinner me. I'm still not where I want to be. I have fat on my stomach that needs to go and my arm fat isn't budging much. I was looking for quick weight loss and changes which is fast considering it hasn't been a month just yet. I still have work to do but this is the point where the weight loss will be a lot more noticeable. I just need to stay focused! 

I made some cookies this morning. I do it in the morning  when I hardly have any appetite. This way, I won't be tempted to taste the dough or eat any cookies. 

It was Crazy windy in the afternoon on Monday. I still got out and rode 9 miles on my bike. I wanted to take the longer route but the wind was tough so I cut it short. I really wanted to quit and just turn around but I stuck it out and was glad I did after the ride was all done. 

I'm off to run and then to work for a few hours. I have more biking this afternoon without the wind! Looking forward to checking off  more weight loss days since one month is coming up in five days! 

I really need to add something else fun in my life. I'm doing the same thing day after day and it's getting pretty old and boring. Time to figure that out what is next and how I can improve my mood and me. 

Getting dieting advice

When I'm on a diet, I like to read up on how to diet and what works and what doesn't. Usually, any good advice is a step in the right direction to keep me motivated. 

I'm on day 23 of my diet. I am eating more calories then 500. I do plan out mostly what I'm going to eat and I'm sticking with soup! The soup fills me up, low in calories, little salt, no sugar and spicy. I have also been snacking on low calorie popcorn and carrot sticks. 

I'm sure that I"m making weight loss progress. My summer shorts fit (tried on my white shorts on Sunday). I still want to lose more weight and am hoping this week is the week I start seeing a bigger difference in my efforts. I need to stick closer to 500 calories per day if that's going to happen  and make sure I'm getting in running and biking each day. 

You have to pick what works in dieting for you. Just because this diet where I eat a lot of one thing and stay around 500 calories works for me, you have to figure out what kind of diet and food works for you. 

You never want to feel like you can't have something. I still drank wine, had desserts and ate something off my diet list. I made those choices and am starting to once again make small changes to keep the weight off. I want to make sure I don't over indulge, because the weight will quickly come back. I have to re-learn how to eat and that includes treats too. 

Soaking up the nice weather in the sun

Two days in a row of super nice warm spring weather. I am soaking up the sun as much as I can. Another run and bike ride done. This morning running 1.5 miles  and then 11 biking miles. 

Saturday I had another bonfire cook out with sweet potatoes, fire roasted corn and a hot dog. 

I was making the hotdog for Logan but he ate too much popcorn and that ended up being his dinner. I stuck with the sweet potato and corn for a delicious fire cooked meal. 

Steve and I volunteered to pick up and set up the soccer nets. We only had to set up two thankfully. We figured we could get this done in under an hour. We didn't anticipate the net being so tall. We had to search around for something to stand on. Lucky for us, we found some pop plastic cartons and stacked them up high enough to reach the top. We didn't want to have to drive home for a ladder. Of course the other people out there setting up next had like four people helping and they could just tip the net down to lower it. 

I'm just happy we finished up our required volunteer work for Logan's soccer team.

We also sat outside, had a little breakfast in the sun. Best way to spend the day!

Gorgeous Saturday

A gorgeous Saturday.

 

It's a beautiful day. I plan to do more running and biking!

Friday, I went for a quick run 1.5 miles, then on to a 9 mile bike ride.

 

Last night we went out have wine, I had two glasses but looked up the calorie in a glass of red wine, 125. After wine, we went to dinner. I looked for a healthy option. I decided on a taco wrap with a tiny bit of cheese and lots of salsa. I'm guessing that was around 300 calories. I ate pretty light all day so it kept the total calories around 800 for the day. Higher then 500 but still under 1000 for the day.

 

 

Happy Saturday run day!

 

Friday, checking off the days

Happy Friday and hello three day weekend. The kids are off today from school so they too have a three day weekend.

I made it to day #20 of my diet to lose weight. I haven't stuck to eating 500 calories or less the past few days. I've been around 700, which is still low in my book and I'm fine with that. I still have that issue, once I start eating I just want to keep going. I'm reaching for healthy foods, like a cup measure out of popcorn 35 calories, raw carrot sticks, diet hot chocolate 20 calories and my low cal tortilla soup without chicken or tortillas. I fill up on low cal healthy foods.

I have no idea of how much weight I've lost but I know the weight is coming off by how my clothes are fitting. I can get into my jeans with out them feeling too tight. They still could be looser but they are getting there. My waist is getting smaller and my arm fat is shrinking too. I might not be losing weight as quickly as I'd like, but its coming off and I'm sticking with my dieting plan. I'm checking off each and every day. Rewards are set up for my next goal. I want to get a pedicure or maybe just a nail polish color change on my toes.

 

I'm going out to bike as soon as it warms up. I don't need to rush out too early because it's always a bit chilly riding the bike this time of the year. I'll get in my hour of cardio.

A new better today

I'm hoping today is better then my Wednesday. I was pretty bored with everything on Wednesday. I had the day off from working but I had little to nothing to do. I didn't feel like doing any thing much either which didn't help. I some how managed to get through the L O N G day.

 

Not having to work through off my schedule for the day. I was counting on working a few hours, going shopping and then watching Survivor for the day. I skipped running  because of all the rain. Not running certainly didn't help me feeling Blah! I did get through the day but did eat 820 calories. I just didn't see any other option then to eat more for the day. It was that kind of day! I of course tried on more clothes and I hate the way everything looks on me. It's just the shirt styles and its every where.

 

Instead of having shopping be a reward, it felt  more like a punishment after trying on clothes. I really need to stay away from that until I'm where I want to be with my weight.

 

I'm going to run today because I need to get out of this funk. Running really does help my moods and brightens my day. Biking does the same but not as quickly as a good run.

 

Zoey and I had this same look on Wednesday. We both had being bored with everything look. I just couldn't do anything to change my day. Today, I'm hoping for a better day. I have work scheduled, a run and making dinner tonight on my todo list.

I needed a good pick me up. This makes me laugh.. good old 80's best man photos.

Dealing with hunger

It's hard sometimes dealing with hunger while on a diet. I was having one of those "I feel hungry days". I didn't blow my diet, but I did give in to going over 500 calories for the day. I made some healthy food choices to keep my calories low. I had an extra helping of my weight loss Mexican soup, spicy and low in calories. I was still hungry, so I had a 20 calorie hot chocolate. I ate carrots and had some fruit, strawberries and a small banana. That was my splurge, Fruit! Nothing to feel bad about and still under 1000 calories for the day. I think I counted around 840. I even had some chicken for dinner with my sweet potato. I'm going to need more food some days on this diet to keep moving forward and sticking with my weight loss goals.

Part of my hunger came from it just being the afternoon/evening. I was bored, tired and just hungry for more then soup. I could have easily reached for cookies or bread, but I knew that was not the answer to my hunger. I now crave healthy foods and I want to stay that way!

 

I made the mistake, and I say that because I tried on some clothes. I hate the new style of loose fitting tops. They look cute on the hanger but on, they look like maternity wear or someone needing to hide a big belly. I don't want to feel like I'm wearing a tent to hide out in. I also tried on some pants and shorts. Again, not exactly the fit or size I want to be. A ten is tight, but at least I'm in a 10 and going back down to my size 6/7/8. You just never know what size you'll be with clothes. I felt fat and didn't feel good about myself after trying on those clothes. Big mistake for me to take that risk right now. I need motivation and not to be discouraged! Even after I lost the initial 40-50 pounds five years ago, I never liked shopping for clothes no matter what size I am in. It was a lot more enjoyable to be surprised at the smaller sizes I was able to fit in and look good wearing. I'm just not there yet and want to be.

A good way for me to deal with hunger is to stay busy. Go for a run, walk, workout, do yoga, sleep. Look at healthy motivation sayings. Update my fitness journal. Watch TV.. eat something healthy.

 

Trying to stay motivated on diet day #18. I'm not working today, so it's going to be a challenge. I also don't have the energy to run and know I wont be starving. I should go biking to burn some calories. I will be eating of healthy foods. I also have plans to do some shopping. I'm just going to look and not try on. Plus, I'll be cleaning my own house to burn calories and maybe an afternoon nap is in order. Not a very exciting day planned for myself, but a much needed day off to do whatever! I just need to stay focused on the big picture of my weight loss goals. I'm in the home stretch. I did the hard stuff, getting to where I am now. This is the point where the weight loss will give me the most for my efforts. I'm struggling right now. I knew this would happen.  I've just got to push through and keep persisting in my efforts.

Not always seeing Quick Results

I am wanting quick diet results. To drop pound after pound quickly. While I have lost weight, it doesn't feel like I see new results of all my efforts. I wake up every day thinking my arms will look thinner and all the stomach fat will be gone. It's happening, just at a slower pace then I'd like. I'm on day 17!!! I have to celebrate each day I am able to stick with my dieting and weight loss plan. I've not only been dieting but I added back in my exercise, biking and running. More I do to burn calories the better and faster I'll start seeing results. Its just a fine line between doing enough and not too much to burn out or get overly hungry I go off the deep end and give up.

I'm not sure what I got all over my shirt, Zoey's dirty paws? Probably!

I had a super busy work day but I still managed to get out and bike eight miles on the easy dirt road route. I shouldn't say easy because it feels like a good workout right now. I'm slowly building back up my biking fitness and will soon be riding my 10+ mile on the hilly dirt road route once again. I'm just not up to that and dieting right now.

I have an easy Tuesday for working but I have after work plans. I'm getting that dieting reward today. Looking for something new to wear for summer and maybe getting those new sandals I've been looking at. Since it's raining, I'm not going running right now. I'll probably go to the gym later on and bike and lift a few weights late in the afternoon. I also have a movie on my todo list. It's only $5 on Tuesdays so I might as well spend a Rainey afternoon watching a movie.

What else am I doing to speed up weight loss? Napping, drinking lots of water and trying to move as much as I can without over doing it. Plus, staying out of the kitchen! Doing more yoga and just being mindful of what I'm eating. I've also been making lots of soups from a dry mix. Its been my go to meals for sticking with my 500 calories or less for the day.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter 2017

I was up super early, 4am this morning. I got in my daily exercises, went for a 1.5 mile run then on to bike 8 miles. Felt good to be able to get out and exercise in nice weather.

I've been slowly working my way back up to my full biking fitness. I'm not doing the full dirt road route just yet. I'm taking the smaller, less hill loop for now. I'm still dieting and I don't want to over do the exercise and end up super hungry. I had enough food yesterday, wine in the afternoon, soup, coleslaw and some chicken in the evening that I had plenty of food to burn off the next day. I allowed myself that one glass of wine. I still was around 750 calories for the day, give or take??

I decided to do both running and biking because I knew that I'd be eating a second breakfast around 10:30am. We went to brunch at Steve's parents house. Steve made the food, scrambled eggs (he forgot to add milk to them, which I like), and I brought strawberries and raspberries. I did have one slice of thin bacon and avoided all the white bread.

The kids got some Easter Candy and were happy with the nuts, dark chocolate, gift card to Starbucks and jelly beans. They just got cash and dark chocolate from me this year. Keeping it simple since I don't want a lot of candy around the house, especially peanut butter cups. I can't have temptations around if I'm to stay on track and on my diet.

I even got all dressed up this Easter morning. Was nice to be able to put on this dress and have it fit and look good.

Zoey received an Easter basket too, treats and a new lamb baby. She loves her stuffed animals. She's already taken her lambie outside and dragged it through the dirt.

Celina and Logan made this healthy almond and coconut flour vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting topped with rose cut strawberries and drizzled with chocolate gnash.

Even though, I am not eating sugar for my diet. I will break my rule to have a bite or two of cake tonight.

Goal day is tomorrow.. Day 16 and at a mile stone weight loss. I definitely can tell I've lost weight but still have about ten pounds to go. I just need to stay focused on my diet the next two weeks and get this weight loss done.

One more bunny pix.. Hoppy Easter!!