Trying to give this another go.

It has been a long time since I have been in the game. Honestly, I don’t recall when I was given the orders to sit on my rear and wait to work out. I think it has been 9 months. The waiting game has not been kind to me. Up a pant size (two pant sized depending on brand), my face is fairly rounded again and I feel sluggish and lazy. For a while my food choices were terrible. Take out became the norm once again. Oh the shame! Over the past few months I gradually cleaned up my diet and have been on track in that matter. Dropped a bit of weight. Not sure how much because I have yet to dust off the old torture device called the scale.

Still waiting to get into the specialist. It has been 5 months waiting for this one. The doctor told me until then I can do some sit down PT exercises while waiting to get in. This is very unsatisfying and discouraging. I have sat on my rear long enough and decided to take matters into my own hands for now. A proper diet has helped but I need to be active along with it. i happen to be one of those people who can’t lose the weight with diet alone. So the other night I signed up for a gym membership.

Doctor’s orders are to sit around but sitting here getting fatter and not being active can not be good for me either. The lack of activity doesn’t bode well with the psyche either. Don’t worry I am taking it easy and keeping anything that will affect my knees fairly low impact.

Yesterday new workout clothes needed to be purchased so Mr. Baby and I went and got 3 pairs of workout pants and 4 shirts. Every bit of workout gear in my  closet was from before he was born and let’s just say they are not too flattering to wear in public. Then last night I went to the most hated gym on the internet, Planet Fitness (the hours work for me and the price works with my budget) . Spent about a half hour on the bike then had to head home. I didn’t have much time available to spend there but something is better than nothing and I will take it.

Heading back to the gym tonight. For now my only goal is to go at least 3 nights a week and try my best to spend an hour there. No weight loss or fitness goals to begin with. The focus as of now is to get fitness back into my daily routine.

Goodbye Te Wero, Hello Panoni

Phase One of Les Mills Pump is officially completed. Tomorrow is the beginning of Phase Two. Phase Two really steps things up. No more Pump and Burn with the exception of 1 day that it is paired with Hard Core Abs, no more 30 minute workout days. Hoping that Phase Two revs up the results. Honestly there are no complaints to be made as far as results go as of yet. Was losing on average 1.35 pounds per week. Not too shabby if i do say so myself.

Today’s workout was Hard Core Abs along with a 45 minute walk. Opted for the 45 minute walk today. Most of the day was fairly rough. Woke up feeling terrible and had some sulfur esque issues. Most of the day was wasted in bed. I am positive that it was due to my poor food choices yesterday. Lesson learned. Sure indulging in something within reason is not a terrible thing to do. But overindulgence is not good.

Day 34 of 120 – Totally Messed Up

Well it is Day 34 of 120 Days of Les Mills Pump. Tomorrow is the final day of Te Were – phase 1 then onto Panoni – phase 2.

Today we took the kids along some extra kids to the pumpkin farm. Everyone had a great time. It was a wonderful day to share with our family and friends! I do have a confession to make while we were there I ate like total CRAP! I had a doughnut, some fries and a soda. Yikes. Honestly packing something healthy did not even come to mind. It was dumb to assume that there would be a healthy option at a pumpkin farm. To top if off when we got home I had a slice of pizza. Granted I only went approximately 200 calories over my daily set amount. But I did it by having a little junk and not enough good stuff. The only healthy thing about today was my breakfast and I had a bunch of water.

Once we got home and all of the kids that do not belong to me went home it was fairly late. Not to far after Mr. Baby’s bedtime routine needed to get started and then Emma decided to go sleep over somewhere so I had to pack her up. Once she left I was pooped. DH wanted to rent a movie and veg out so he ran put to pick up a flick and i went and got my pjs on. Then it was time to join the real world again and tell myself that I ate like crap and did not workout. A couple hours of walking around while baby-wearing doesn’t count as an actual workout. So Immediately I went downstairs and did my daily workout. In my pjs mind you. Had to do it and right at that moment because if i sat down it would not happen. So here I am after 45 minutes of Pump and Shred. Sore and tired as hell. But I did it. May of been reluctantly but  it still counts. It was not done half assed either.

Now it is time to veg out and watch our movie. Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday!!

Days 32 and 33 of 120

87 Days to go!!

Yesterday was day 32 of 120 Days of Les Mills Pump. The good old stitched up hand was throbbing so I swapped yesterday with today. Day 33 was a rest day so I figured why not. So yesterday was deemed a rest day. spent the day at a doctor’s office (always fun), had lunch with a good friend, babysat, cooked dinner and all that fun stuff. And you can’t forget that it was Thursday and Vampire Diaries was on!

Today’s workout was Hard Core Abs and Flow. Got a few of the Plank to Push Ups in then had to drop down to a regular plank. Not that I couldn’t do them but it was hurting the good old hand. This knuckle thing is ridiculous. You never notice how much you need to use it until it is stitched up. I swear the thing looks like an evil smile face. During flow I didn’t get all the moves in for the same reason. My best was put into it and that is what matters.

Had a houseful of kids this evening, it was a lot of fun! Mr Baby stayed up past his baby bedtime relishing in all the fun and excitement. Hoping this means he sleeps good for me tonight! He even took a minute of his time to pinch where my stitches are and rip one of them a bit. OUCH!!

Food wise I have been pretty good at staying clean. Things that are not taste fake now so it is easier to not give into temptation. It will only keep getting easier!

Now it is time to finish watching Silver Bullet and try to get 475 more calories in for the day. Kind of behind!

Deja Vu?

I feel like I have done this before..

Back to Day 25 today. Now that there is more feeling in my thigh balance and form are not as much of a problem. Granted there are still issues and the workout was not exactly comfortable, could be worse though. No workout could have happened.

Today’s scheduled workout was Hard Core Abs along with a 45 minute walk. Hard Core Abs went well, a tad bit harder than normal. Possibly due to the fact that I have skipped workouts this past week and that took its toll. In place of the 34 minute walk I did 35 minutes of low impact aerobics. Started to feel quite imbalanced so I skipped the last 5 minutes and went straight to the cool down. It was possible to push through it but I didn’t. It is not as easy to push through things when you have medical issues. In no way am I disappointed in the workout and it definitely got my heart rate up and a good sweat going.

So it looks like I am back in action! Just in time for the RunScreamRun 5k on Saturday. Definitely just power walking through this one. Dr didn’t give me the go ahead to try running. no matter what it will be a ton of fun and I am very much looking forward to my 3 mile power walk.

Food wise I am still on target. Eating clean, taking in 1,700 cals a day and drinking LOTS of water.

Time to make dinner and put together my costume for Saturday. Hope everyone has had a terrific Thursday!

So Here’s the Plan

 

As I confessed in yesterday’s post I didn’t exactly have the healthiest weekend and have a pesky numb leg. So workouts were skipped and pizza was eaten and copious amounts of wine were consumed. Eating has been back on track but I still have not worked out. My leg is more tingly today so I am hoping it is back to normal by the end of the day.

So with everything mentioned above skipping out on actually finishing 120 days of Les Mills Pump is not something that I want to do. So skipping back to when I had the junk food and started missing workouts is the right thing to do. So back to Day 25 for this chick. Getting rehydrated is number one on the list. There was definitely more wine than water consumed over the weekend, my body is not happy about it. I feel drier than the Sahara Desert! Food is back on track so there are no worries there and later on a workout will be attempted. If my balance and stance is still off due to the numb leg then I will stop and start Day 25 again. This is the longest the Fibromyalgia has left my leg numb. I think it may be time to make an appointment and get checked out. My creaky knee is worse so that needs to be looked at too as well as the fact that it is the time of year that I should start taking meds for my Raynaud’s Syndrome.

So I am off to eat a healthy lunch, drink more water and call the doctor’s office.

Had to press pause

So this weekend was full of fun and excitement, two of my favorite people were married and I had the privilege of standing in their wedding. it made for a busy weekend though!

Thursday my workout went as scheduled, I just didn’t blog about it. Had mani/pedi appointment and shopping with the bride then we watched The Vampire Diaries and The Originals premiere. And to top it off my oldest was home from school sick. So I just plan did not make time for blogging to be honest.

Friday was full of packing, Catching up on schoolwork with DD who was still home sick, housework, rehearsal dinner and stalking. One of the bridesmaids who lives out-of-town and I ran to the store to grab things to snack on at the hotel as all of us girls got ready. No one wants to spend a day on their feet with an empty stomach! While we were there it started to downpour so we figured it would be best to fart around the store while we waited the downpour out. The entire time some creeper kept following us around and making odd comments or repeating what we were saying. So then we stayed even longer because we were not about to walk outside in the dark and possibly be followed by this man. The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner went well. My escort was not present so Mr Baby filled in for him so I didn’t walk down the aisle alone. The dinner was pizza, bread sticks and salad. I ate pizza and salad and a bread stick. I was hungry and had no issue in participating in the meal. It was the bride’s favorite meal 🙂 I did a workout but did not make time to blog once again.

Saturday was the wedding day so no workout once again. I got up with the baby and spent time with him before he and his big sister went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for the night. It was his first sleepover! After all the usual morning activities we were off for hair, then getting ready, pics, and the whole shebang. It was a lovely ceremony and the reception was a blast. they put on a good party. I did not eat too terribly at dinner and skipped the cake (minus one bite) but drank way too much and later int he evening had a slice of pizza. It happens. it was a special weekend and every drink and bite was worth it to me and that is what matters. It was a celebration and I was there to do just that, celebrate! On the plus side I did enough dancing to count as cardio 🙂

Sunday after we had brunch with the bride and groom we checked out and headed out to get the kids. I unfortunately woke up with the back of my right thigh completely numb. It still is. One of the many lovely things about having Fibromyalgia. So no workout yesterday and no workout today. I tried but with my thigh numb I couldn’t keep my balance well enough to do most of the moves in what I felt was a safe way. I understand working out is important, but it is not worth risking injury for. The last thing I need is more pain. I hope I can get back to normal tomorrow. It is really annoying to not be able to do what you want because of some stupid disorder. Sometimes I feel like the fibro runs my life. Who knows, maybe one day they will find a cure?!

So now I need to decide if I just startup on day 30 tomorrow like I worked out all along or if I track back and go back to Saturday’s workout and go from there. Hmmm What to do??

Quinoa Trail Mix Bites Recipe

Today is Day 23 and it is a scheduled rest day so no workout happened. But I did make these:

Lately temptation has been everywhere and I have been coming unraveled because of it. It makes me cranky and no one wants to be around when I am cranky. So the solution to my problem was to make myself a treat that is not only healthy but gluten-free, high protein and that falls into the clean eating category.  The best part is there is no baking involved. When it is warm out nothing turns your house into an oven quicker than turning on the oven.

About a year ago I featured a Quinoa Ball recipe on my blog but decided I needed to amp it up a bit. So here is the recipe with all my revisions added in. I made quite a few changes!

Quinoa Trail Mix Bites. Don’t they look delish??

 

Ingredients:

1 cup old-fashioned oats, dry (Bob’s Red Mill brand offers gluten-free oats, most oats are not gluten-free, these are)

1/4 cup quinoa, dry

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (I used half flaked and half shredded because I like the difference in texture)

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup peanut butter (almond butter work too, I used chunky PB)

1/3 cup honey

Directions:

1. In a small pan combine the quinoa and water and bring to a boil. Cover then simmer for about 12 minutes, until quinoa has completely absorbed all liquid. Fluff it with a fork and pour into a large bowl.

2. Add oatmeal, dried cranberries. cinnamon and the coconut to quinoa and mix until everything is completely incorporated.

3. In a small pan bring the honey to a simmer then stir in the vanilla. Pour honey and vanilla mix onto the other ingredients in the bowl and mix until everything is combined.

4. Cool the mixture then add the chocolate chips, peanut butter and salt.  Mix until everything is evenly mixed through. using your hands seems to work the best.

5. Pop it all in the fridge to cool (takes about an hour). or you can pop it into the freezer and just stir it occasionally (it takes about a half hour then)

6. After it is thoroughly cooled scoop out the mixture by a heaping tbsp full and form into a ball. This works best if you keep your hands damp.

7. ENJOY!

I made a double batch and half the mixture in the fridge to ball up later. I like to ball them up in small batches to keep myself from chowing down. They are just that good. These also freeze really well.

 

Day 21 In the Bag

I am sure you figured it out by the title that today was day 21. So there are 99 days left to go and 9 days until I weigh and measure in. Kind of feeling torn about that, I am excited to see how I have progressed but am a little scared that I haven’t. There should be no way that I have not made any progress. But weigh ins always give me a bit of anxiety. That is why I choose to do it monthly instead of weekly.

Today’s scheduled workout was Hard Core Abs along with a 45 minute walk. I still feel like I am struggling with form with those plank to push-up thingies but I am at least conscious of my mistakes so it will be easier to work my way to getting them down. As far as the 45 minute walk i choose to do something else. It seems I always choose to do something else. The thought of a 45 minute walk kind of bores me and seems unchallenging. The 45 minute walk was replaced with a 5 milk walk video. It is a combination of walking, jogging, aerobics and resistance band training. Even during the resistance bend miles you are still moving. I did the entire 5 miles plus warm up and cool down so it equaled out to 75 minutes of cardio. Whew! I am tired now! It was a fun video. It was the Leslie Sansone: Walk at Home – 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk. Quite an enjoyable workout! The 75 minutes goes shockingly fast.

As far as food intake that is still going pretty well. I went a little over calorie wise today due to too many nuts but it wasn’t junk food so no need to feel guilty or beat myself up. It was worth it. I wanted a brownie and ate those instead. Good trade-off I think 🙂

I’m Here to Bitch and Moan

I am typing this as the smell of freshly baked boxed brownies wafts through my house. It is making me really unhappy and unsupported. Normally I can handle temptation and rarely even feel like I diet, but right now I have been struggling with it and this is the last thing I need right now. I feel like crap is getting waved in my face and I am being teased. Oh I know, I sound dramatic as all get up. I know I do. Just can’t help it.

DH is sitting here eating burritos and baking up a box of brownies.. Really not fair!!!! I have to make myself some clean eating friendly dessert for me tomorrow. Either some quinoa trail mix balls or maybe I can grind up some quinoa and make it into brownies somehow. May have to experiment tomorrow.

I may still be 270 calories shy for the day after 3 meals and 2 snacks and calorie wise I could afford a brownie. With the way I have been feeling this week I know I would binge. And having one would defeat the purpose of eating clean.

So not happy right now. I want junk too! My brain says no but my hormones say…  CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!

 

p.s. DH I love you but you are a jerk