Challenge on Top of a Challenge

So this week I'm in Chicago - land of everything yummy and horrible for you. Started this morning off with 45 minutes on the elliptical followed by some weights and ab work. Let's hope my will power can stay strong with the eating!

Week 1.5

Well, I lost 2 pounds last week which is good considering the weekend was a bit of a trainwreck eating wise. We went to the beach and had a wonderful weekend! Eating included. :) there's not much exciting you can consume In 1200.

Day 3

Woo. Day 3 arrived with a 5:30am walk/run. The group we have is simply awesome. Sometimes I wonder how I got so blessed to have colleagues and coworkers that just ooze coolness. :)

Anyway, a couple of us hung out at the back of the pack. We only went about 1.5miles. I would've never said *only* in that previous statement about a year ago. Completing a half marathon changes everything.

My dietician recommended 1400 calories instead of 1200, which was one of the most joyous emails I have ever received. That extra 200 calories makes all the difference in the world. Yay for more food!

Today's food:

Banana pre workout

Breakfast:

Smoothie consisting of light'n'fit yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, flax seed, and steel cut oats.

Snack:

Apple, broccoli, cauliflower (the latter two with some ranch dressing...veggies are hard to take without something horrible on them:))

Lunch:

Amy's Light and Lean Pasta and Veggies...kudos to Amy's Light and Lean series...they are absolutely delicious and filling. SO YUMMY! Plus they're organic, which I guess makes the inner hippie in me super happy.

Greek yogurt (strawberry)

Jello sugar free pudding

Dinner:

We went to Olive Garden against the plans '2 week rule'. I behaved and had a lunch portion of Whole Wheat Fettucini with Marinara and a salad with no onions, no croutons, no cheese, and their low fat dressing (which is super delic btw; so delic that we actually buy it...you have to convince them to sell it to you, but if you can do that, you've got a great low cal dressing that doesn't taste like a low cal dressing!). No bread was allowed at the table. The best part of dinner was those darn Andes mints they give you (breaking another rule of no sugar except that which is found naturally, whoops..but those mints come from the Andes mountains...and those are natural?)

So, some minor conscious slip ups...but another day of attempting to be healthy.

Day 2

Not quite as awesome as Day 1, but I made it! Bootcamp was at o'dark hundred. Consumed ~1600 calories for the day, burned 775. Breakfast was a bit more than usual because I added peanut butter to my protein shake - it was glorious and well worth the 180 delicious extra calories ;) never underestimate the happiness a little peanut butter can bring to your life....

Food for the day:
Banana before bootcamp

Breakfast:
Biggest Loser Protein in 1c. Fat free milk and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter plus ice (mmmm...it was kinda like eating ice cream for breakfast...and by kinda I mean not at all;))

Snack:
Organic strawberry nonfat Greek yogurt
Carrots+hummus

Lunch:
Amys light and lean spinach lasagna
Small salad (I forgot to pack dressing - never again!!!)
Cheese stick

Snack:
Pear
Diet coke

Dinner:
Chicken sausage
Corn on the cob

Snack:
Air popped popcorn
Skinny cow strawberry shortcake ice cream sandwich

Overall, a bit higher in calories than I should've been, but the morning really made it hard (between the banana and the shake I was already at almost 500 calories).

Tomorrow we'll be running in the morning. I get to sleep in til 445am!

Day 1

Woohoo! Done with Day 1. 1175 calories of pure yumminess, and a short lighter workout. Here's what I ate:
Breakfast:
Dannon Light'n'Fit Vanilla Yogurt smoothie with fresh strawberries and frozen (fresh) bananas, flax seed, and some steel cut oats.

GNC active vitamin pack

Snack:
Baby carrots
Hummus

Lunch:
Amy's organic light 'soft taco fiesta' which was surprisingly delicious for 2/0 calories!

Snack:
Pear

Later snack:
Jillians Michaels Protein powder with 1 cup fat free milk

Dinner:
Salad with Italian dressing
Chicken breast
Diet coke

MBA - Mind, Body, Activity

My employer has designed a 16-week program called 'MBA' - Mind, Body, Activity. It's designed to get leadership in shape, and be an example to our community. I decided to join, and will document the journey here. Our first assignment: an essay about why we decided to join. In the interest of full disclosure, here's mine.

When I think about the reasons why I chose to join the MBA program, they are too numerous to list. I know that I want to lose weight for the obvious health benefits, I want to be an example to others that it’s possible to make time for healthy habits amidst the chaos of our schedules, and I want to be a beautiful bride come next summer when I get married. I want to be a better person, all around, and I think that having a healthy lifestyle makes you happier and gives you the extra edge in dealing with stress.

But some of these reasons are more pressing than others. I lost my grandfather to heart issues at a younger age than I wanted. He was like a father to me, and it broke my heart to watch him struggle in his later years with heart problems coupled with diabetes – both ailments which have a strong dietary component that he chose not to control. He did give up his cigars, which took a ton of courage, and I was so proud of him for that, but I often wonder how many more years I would’ve had with him if we would’ve decided as a family to get healthy. A couple of years ago, I lost my Uncle to a massive heart attack. He was 39, had gone to the emergency room two weeks prior with arm pain, and left AMA. Most recently, one of my other Uncles went to the hospital with shortness of breath. He was rushed by ambulance and had suffered what is referred to as the ‘widowmaker’. He was lucky to be alive. During his simple heart cath the next day, he went into anaphylactic shock, a reaction to the dye. He was in rough shape for several days, with all of us wondering how this could happen to a guy who eats all organic, runs half marathons, and is generally, in great shape. How could we lose him a week before his 51^st birthday? Luckily, he came through it all, but it became abundantly apparent that I’m in a fight, not only against my poor eating habits, but against genetics as well.

I have always been an athlete, and ironically, have always struggled with my weight. The exercising is fun to me, but the ‘diet’ (which isn’t really a diet – it’s just eating normally) has always been difficult. What the Elite Biggest Loser program taught me is that I can control what I eat. What it also taught me, was that I wasn’t quite ‘fixed’ of my bad eating habits when confronted with extreme stress. I resorted back to poor eating habits and gained back some of the weight I had worked so hard to lose. I was devastated, but what separated that from previous ‘falling off the wagon’ experiences was that I knew I could get back on. I just needed a little accountability again, which is why I’m here. I have chosen a career that I love, but that I have sacrificed having kids early for. Now that I’m getting married, I see that portion of my life coming together, and I want to be there for every bit of it.