OY!

I have not abandonned my project! I have just abandonned my blog! I forget to get on here. So- let's see. I have dropped 3% body fat, I have lost 3 dress sizes. I completed week 5 day 2 of the C25K program today. I am sleeping better. I am feeling more energetic. I have decided to just eat what I need to outside of peanuts, nuts and shellfish for personal reasons. I am not going to post my menus on here. Too hard to stick to with the size of family I have. I am nervous about the run on Friday (W5D3). It is a 20 minute no walking run. (My run today was run5, walk3, run5, walk3, run5.) Wednesday it's r8, w5, r8 and then all of a sudden Friday there is no walking. What the heck is that about? Anyway, I'm trying not to psych myself out about it too much. Hanging in there. Taking the kiddos to IHOP for free pancakes tomorrow morning.

Spiritually I had a lag week. I was really feasting on the scriptures there for a week or two, and then this week? Nada. Why? Why must it always be feast or famine with me? I don't eat, or I eat too much. I don't read or I can't put the scriptures down. I don't see any friends, or I go out three nights a week. I need to find some balance. That is sort of the point of this whole project, right? I think I need to blog more.

GOALS and Weigh-in

So I didn't post it last week because I was busy puking, but my starting weight was 222 (46.3% body fat- according to the scale). Today I weighed in at 219 (45.3% body fat). My goal is to get to 34% body fat and then to reassess my goals. I don't really care so much about an end weight as I do about being healthy.

My goal for this week is to eat my correct number of WW Points™ each day.

Ugh.

So I went on my first day of the couch to 5k interval training run. It was awesome. I felt great afterward and also a little encouraged because the workout was a lot easier than I was expecting. I looked forward to doing the next runs. But that is all that happened. My kids got the flu and passed it onto me and I've been sick as a dog since one day after my last post. Today I am finally feeling well and I am back to the gym tonight. I guess I will have to do Day 1 (c25k) again since the point of the regimen is continuity. Sigh. Oh well. I am all set for round 2.

My husband has decided to try doing WW with me. I am glad for the support and that he is willing to also try and get healthy. Hopefully everything goes better and we stay healthy for a while.

What We're Eating

I found out last spring that I am allergic to food. Pretty much all food. Ironically, I can still have gluten. Anyway, I had to cut out stuff from my diet- food, in particular, and that didn't really work out all that great. I got scurvy. Yep. It's not just for pirates anymore. I have been being treated for malnourishment for a few months now and I'm feeling much better. More about that some other time. I mention it today, because I am concerned that my children and Husband may be suffering dietarily due to my MANY restrictions. Like licopene. Don't people need licopene for something? I have been trying to feed everyone on what I can eat but this week I'm going to take a different approach to the menu plan. I have to drink this stuff



once a day. It tastes like berry-flavored chalk. Anyway- I'm going to try having it for dinner a couple days a week so my family can enjoy the healthy things I used to make back in the she-can-eat-normal-stuff days. Oh- and I realize that calling Stouffer's Lasagna "healthy food" is a huge stretch, but hey. You do what you gotta do. And what I'VE gotta do is get rid of all this unhealthy stuff I have in the house right now before my weightloss challenge officially starts on Jan.20th.


MENU

THURSDAY
Breakfast: 2 SCRAMBLED EGG WHITES WITH GREEK SEASONING, 1 SLICE TOAST WITH 1 tsp BUTTER
Lunch: SANDWICHES AND FRUIT
Snack: BLUEBERRY-PEACH COBBLER
Dinner: MEXICAN EGGROLLS

FRIDAY
Breakfast: HOMEMADE LOWFAT MUFFINS, SMOOTHIES
Lunch: 2 oz. (Broiled) CHICKEN, GREEN SALAD
Snack: 1/2 c MIXED BERRIES WITH RICE MILK/MILK
Dinner: PINTO BEANS (cooked with a ham hock from the freezer), RICE, BRAZILIAN TOMATO SALAD

SATURDAY
Breakfast: ADA'S CHILE EGG PUFF, RASPBERRY ROLLS
Lunch: SALAD, GARLIC TOAST POINTS
Dinner: LASAGNA, SALAD, AND FRENCH BREAD FOR THEM. (MEDICINAL SHAKE FOR ME.)

SUNDAY
Breakfast: MEDICINAL SHAKE FOR ME, OATMEAL FOR THEM
Lunch: LEFTOVERS
Dinner: BAKED POTATOES, CHILI, BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER, CARROTS, CHEESE SAUCE

MONDAY
Breakfast: EGG MUG SCRAMBLE,* 1 SLICE TOAST
Lunch: OPEN FACE BROILED SANDWICH AND PEARS
Dinner: ROASTED RED BELL PEPPER SOUP AND PANINIS (MEDICINAL SHAKE FOR ME)

TUESDAY
Breakfast: (MEDICINAL SHAKE) CEREAL
Lunch: LEFTOVER SOUP AND TOAST (LEFTOVER BAKED POTATO)
Snack: GREENS
Dinner: HEALTHIER MARIE'S SLOW COOKER POT ROAST (chuck's on sale for $1.89/lb!)

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast: CEREAL
Lunch: SANDWICHES AND FRUIT CUPS
Snack: STRING CHEESE
Dinner: STOUFFER'S LASAGNA (Family size on sale for $8.89 with $2 off next order catalina coupon), SALAD, FRENCH BREAD (MEDICINAL SHAKE)

*For the Egg-Mug Scramble I will be using egg whites instead of egg beaters. Egg substitutes fall into that category of "unnatural" foods I'm pretty sure they'll eventually find out cause cancer. (Don't mock. I was right about margarine.) I'll let you know if this substitution works.

Journal Entry

So I've been fiddling around with this for a week or two. I have posted and unposted a few different things. If you were here, then you know I had some other self-improvement projects on the site at the beginning in addition to the health and fitness stuff that remains. I realized that tackling all my areas that need improvement was going to overwhelm and burn me out. Very often I tend to bite off more than I can chew (hence the decision to focus on fitness first). You will notice I left Mondays for working on my personal spirituality. I did that because I believe that no matter what betterment we are working toward in our lives, if we put Heavenly Father first, He will bless us and help us get farther in our efforts than we otherwise would on our own. Also, I've included a link for the recipes that are worth sharing from my weekly menus. I may not put every recipe we eat on the site. For example- trying to eat the medicinal shake powder stirred into cottage cheese this morning was a monumental error. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I doubt starving children in Africa would eat it. I'll spare you the little gems like that.

You'll notice my layout. I chose black because it's slimming. Just thought I'd share. :)

On to journaling:

I made the decision to try the couch to 5k program starting this coming Saturday. Everything I've read about it is very positive and I am excited to give this a try. I've never been able to run more than 1.5 miles in my life, so if this works I will already be reaching a huge milestone. The website is here. There is also great supplementary info here.

Last night I went with my friend HotItalianMama to a water pilates class. This was a great class for me. I have had 7 babies in 11 years and my abs are completely shredded. When I tried doing crunches after #4 I got a hernia because there is just no muscle wall left there. Ever since then I have been very gunshy about doing ab/core work because those muscles are so fragile and I didn't want it to happen again. This class was the perfect solution. It was a challenging workout that worked what I had but the buoyancy helped when we were working my weakest areas and kept me from getting injured. I want to make the class a regular part of my routine. I am trying to figure out how to bankroll it.

Kudos go to my little brother who also has decided to get in shape this year. He and I must think alike because he also started a new blog to track his progress. I looked at it and decided to follow his brave example and post pictures. If that doesn't motivate me I don't know what will. Pictures coming soon.

I am feeling excited and pumped up.

And On The Seventh Day There Was Rest

I'll be updating the Projects as follows:

Monday- Spirituality
Tuesday- Exercise
Thursday- Diet
Wednesday and Friday- Journaling Experiences
Saturday- Goal Setting