3-25

WELL! ill start by saying ive been doing REALLY WELL! skipped the gym twice last week, which was BAD, but it happens. ive eaten REALLY well these last many days, yesterday went over my carbs by SIX grams, which is NOTHING really. i am SO proud of myself, i LOOK and FEEL so much better than i have in FOREVER! this is truly fun!
today i had my first actual food 'slip-up' in a really long time - wait, i wont even call it a slip-up. i went to a store to return something and in the line they had candy - its a clothing store, and all of a sudden they are carrying candy in the checkout line! i got some Nerds and Whoppers, and decided ill save them until the end of the program, or if i go crazy at the gym tonight maybe ill indulge - the minute i got to the car, after thinking about them so much, i sortof felt like id already EATEN them! i was over them!
i looked at the nutritional info on the nerds, decided a tiny bit is COMPLETELY okay, opened them up and had about two scoopfuls... a little more than a 'serving size' from the box, and let me tell you, A)gross! TOO SUGARY! HA! and B)its PERFECTLY OKAY to let yourself have a little something now and then! obviously i know this, and in fact have had a sample of a cookie at a store, or have had a bite of someones ice cream here and there, because those kinds of things are naturally around and i need a calm balance. BUT, ive also decided that being on this plan is only about a month and a half, and if a bite of something comes my way then fine, but i wont go out of my way for this month and a half to BUY anything bad. so i broke that today, but after two little scoop of NERDS i am OVER THEM, and ill save the whoppers for another time too. remember, i have my "think thin bars" that are chocolate and WONDERFUL and totally do the trick when i want chocolate - tons of protein and very VERY filling too!
kay, well anyway, just wanted to 'report' this choice i made today, the choice to buy sugary candy and have a bite (and then hate it!).
here is how ive been this week:

today is thursday and my numbers are really low so far, but its because im still in the middle of the day! notice tuesday... 1.11! that means i did 111% of my goals. good girl. (i worked out SOOO hard that day!)
april 1 is coming up really fast! excited.
[ab]

3-19

great day. ate great, lots of sugar-free jello, thanks to friend GWEN! she reminded me that its a great/easy snack, and boy did i make up for lost time on some sugar free jello yesterday. ps, it has protein! (you know why... gelatin... erg)
anyway, great day. took a long long walk, and could have had lunch at any 'healthy' place along the way - subway, chipotle, jimmy johns, etc,... but i waited to get home and make something i was sure i could feel great about. had a giant salad. yummo.



ps, the last day that is filled in is saturday, today, so of course it is low because its only noon!

things i could improve: lift weights at gym, burn more calories.
UGH get me ON THAT!!!
[ab]

3-18

good day.
beat my workout goal, ate perfectly, took care of all of my responsibilities.
happy!
tomorrow will be really good - LOTS of walking ALL over the city, plus a big workout.
good stuff!

published this, then forgot: i lost ANOTHER pound! i know a pound here and a pound there really doesnt make a huge difference because so many things affect that, but to see some 'new' numbers on the scale was really exciting!
*i hope my body fat numbers are just as exciting, since thats really what we are looking at!*


[ab]

3-17

hi!
yesterday was good/interesting...
since i skipped some meds on TUES, (but i refilled and took them yesterday) i was still sortof nauseated from having skipped a day. i have been taking them TOO LONG to act as if im surprised, and you know what? one of my goals for next month is going to be NOT LETTING ONE DAY GO BY THAT I DONT JUST TAKE THEM WITHOUT EXCUSES! i always skip a day or so when its time to refill, and sortof act like "oh well, its only one day" but i know by now that my body reacts with nausea the day after i "accidentally" skip. its a major fault i have, and if i were better i would never let it happen. ERG. so yesterday i was sortof out of it and nauseated, but i still went to the gym and ate really well. like a poor idiot, i fell asleep around 9pm and was out COLD, like SOLID, until 7:30am. i planned to do another round at the gym in the evening, so obviously i didnt make it there... so, of course, didnt make my goal. making that stupid meds mistake affects other things and really prevents me from being really happy. LESSON LEARNED. for, like the 300th month in a row. somebody smack me!

i ate well yesterday, just very lightly. couldnt eat much, but met all my goals. had a salad in the afternoon that took me two hours to eat!



i didnt meet my burn at the gym, and ate too few calories even though i met all my other goals. erg. bad day for numbers. but whats important to me is that i didnt ruin the day by eating a giant irresponsible dessert or something, or skipping the gym altogether, i still stuck to it really well.
whatev. today will ROCK. yup.

great stuff

hi guys!
i had an AWESOME day yesterday - i have to say i am getting REALLY good at the eating part of this - ive made all my goals almost every single day (give or take really tiny details, like overeating carbs by 2g or something, which, for the numbers TOTALLY counts, but for the point of the project doesnt count to me)... and, BEST OF ALL:
RESULTS, RESULTS, RESULTS!
seeing them in the mirror and on the scale. feel way better, feel different, love how different my body feels energy-wise, etc.
yesterday i had an incredible workout and even beat my goal by like 10%, which doesnt sound like a lot but after a hugef workout, doing even more was hard.
travelling is done for the rest of the month and the countdown REALLY starts now... about 15 days until THE DAY when we compare our body fat loss. i hope the numbers continue to reflect the hard work ive put into this! (im pretty annoyed with the scale at my gym AND the body fat calculations they do there, i am sure they are off.)
what im glad to say is that while i was away over the weekend, i NATURALLY ate on my program, pretty much without thinking about it at all! **I SHOULD MARKET THIS!**
so monday's numbers were good, except didnt meet water, fruits/veggies or protein goals (i was a smiiiidge behind in all of them - in reality it was fine, but the numbers look for perfection, so fine)...
tuesday was PERFECT and even better (i ran on the lake AND went to the gym AND overdid it at the gym!) - except i ran out of my meds and didnt refill - doing that first thing today. so my #s were a tiny bit low for that reason.
today will be great. youll see my #s are totally low, but ive just started the day! watch me KILL THIS DAY! woot!!
even though lbs arent what we are going for necessarily, i ive lost close to 10! bodyfat wise, like i said, my gym's measuring is definitely off, since it says ive lost zero fat. ill have to find another way to measure for the big day.
im also going to commit to LIFT every day till april 1. yoikes!

happiness!

travelly badness/goodness

OKAY.
boy am i LEARNING FROM THIS PROCESS!
1. travelling throws me off my workout progress but NOT off my eating progress anymore! i have done so well understanding what im eating and why, seeing it all in chart form and value form, i have accomplished one of my major goals - making this a natural habit.
2. like i said: travelling throws me off my workout progress. i know i could do better with that, and ill work on it.
3. a major reason ive ever gained weight: portion sizes. thats simply it. and i think thats the issue with lots of people: you cant go to panera and get a salad and think youre eating healthfully, you cant just have a turkey sandwich or a fruit salad and think its healthy. yeah, its a 'healthier' food choice than doritos, BUT, portion-sizes-wise, you may have stayed within calories/carbs/sodium/fat etc with a bag of doritos! and staying within calories/carbs/sodium/fat limits is what helps you lose body fat.
4. im very good at this. and im very happy. however im annoyed that i havent gymmed it up harder. ive been away from home for 16 out of the last 21 days, in 4 different cities! keeping up the eating part is something im proud of and happy with.
so, in general, this project is going well, doing its job.
still, need to keep it up hard-core.
starting this monday, i am not going anywhere until the end date (april 1) - so ill have every single day to hit the gym hard and continue with my great progress so far.
thanks again for all your support - im really surprised how many daily encouraging texts/emails i get, and your encouragement on this blog is super fun, especially from new friends across the country!
thanks, all!
happiness!
[ab]

bad girl

tuesday i totally could have gone to the gym. i spent the whole day packing and getting ready for our quickie overnight trip, and literally the truth is i got too lazy and just didnt go.
HOWEVER, i ate really well, stuck to the program. the only problem was the gym. and thats a big deal, because its super important. im annoyed, but glad to say that just because i skipped the gym (for the first legitimate time since i started this) i didnt let it ruin the eating part of the day.

so i guess all of this is about being totally honest, seeing what i actually eat and what i actually do, and seeing if i meet my goals or not.
today is the first time ive legitimately skipped the gym flat-out, and blah, but fine. we all have little setbacks - i wouldnt even really call this a setback, just a stupid mistake of a day. and it really didnt ruin anything, it only made my score bad.
alright. ech.
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monday, 3-8

hi -
monday was a medium day. missed my water goal (didnt drink enough!) AND my protein goal (didnt have enough!)... made some good choices, but also realized at the end of the day that i should really have eaten many more calories but had already met my carbs goal... so, i should really have balanced my day more. i had some peanuts as a snack, which fit in perfectly. however, i went to bed having 300 less calories than i should have for the day, which wasnt a good idea, but whatever.
what i should do is find a day where i did really well and just re-eat that day... i think ill try that today.
tomorrow we are travelling again, and then AGAIN on the weekend. eating the right way isnt hard anymore, but tracking it here has been hard when im away... this time ill try my new idea and see what i can do.
i let myself have a day off of my workout, and yesterday was the day off. so i "met" my workout goal... today i have my regular workout goal AND some lifting to do... not too bad.
heres my day:



you can see last week how i couldnt post friday, saturday or sunday - i had to depend on myself to just eat the right way. last week i met all my TOTAL goals at 71%, which isnt wonderful. ill try to meet all those extra goals this week. (that means lifting at the gym! erg and ugh)
tuesday will be better! yum and yay!

thursday 3-4

im posting this way late, but thursday was GREAT. another really great day. i did a great job, didnt feel "diety" or deprived, and had a really hard workout even though i had a crazy busy day.
friday we left for a wedding and were out of town till just now, sunday afternoon. i am proud to say two things:
1. i did an INCREDIBLE job and made REALLY good choices the whole time! usually i junk it up for airplane rides just to comfort myself, and this time i realized i dont have to junk it up, there are plenty of things to eat while im travelling that keep me on the program. the only things i ate that i usually wouldnt have eaten were wedding cake and some majorly sugary icing-covered cookie samples at a grocery store. SOME. meaning, more than one sample. probably a whole cookie's worth... which means i KNOW my numbers for that day would have been bad. however, absolutely everything else i ate the entire weekend (other than wedding cake and the cookie samples) (oh oh oh, and beer at the wedding, but not even a whole one! and shared sips of sangria) - everything was responsible and accounted for, even though i couldnt record it on my program thing. what i regret is that i didnt drink more water, i know i wouldnt have met my goals. i tried, but not enough and could have done better.
2. i weighed myself on a totally different scale and realized that ive lost 8lbs since i started this contest! the scale at my gym has GOT to be off.

so im posting my day from thursday. i didnt have a 100% day because i didnt have enough water. ergh!

also, i realized as i was out of town that i DO have a way of keeping my chart on track while i travel... instead of following the program without being able to enter it in the chart, i figured it out (the chart and program are on my laptop and i dont usually bring it). woot. loooots of travelling this week so ill try it out.

thurs:

wednesday, 3-3

hi! GREAT day.
ate perfectly, had a HARD workout (2 hours!)... didnt go over on my carbs, and still felt like i had a ton of carbs. looks like i just have to pay more attention and im fine.
cold is way better. no more pressure in my forehead and nose... now my throat hurts a little, but im WAY better.
had some coffee about an hour before my big workout, i am pretty sure that helped a lot - also, made it through my chocolate cravings with my FAVORITE think thin bars (thrilled from my day. ill try to make today just as good!
thanks, friends!!
[ab]
ps - i should add: im only 71% for the week, i looked into it and part of my week goals has been to lift as well as do cardio... which i havent been doing at all! thats why my week score is so low at 71%. im gonna get on that! shoot!!

tuesday, 3-2

tuesday i was pretty sick. i had a good workout, but didnt eat enough calories, overdid it on the carbs (tomato soup sent me over the edge!) and apparently didnt have enough water either (which is important when im sick AND working out so hard! bad me!)... but i also fell asleep relatively early, so i couldnt drink much more water... so my workout score was 100% (yay), only had 87% of my calories for the day, which is fine but also wasnt enough, and my daily score was 92% because i missed my water goal and carbs goal for the day.

whatevs. even when i dont meet my goals, im eating super healthfully, so i cant be too down on myself.

now its a new day, i am still pretty sick and headachey, but ill load up on the caffeine and hit the gym sometime today.

your cheers (of all sorts) are TOTALLY making me feel great, thanks so much, i wont let you (or me!) down! april 1, here i come!

[ab]

tuesday 3-2

interesting day...
first of all, im totally sick. yuck, no energy, sneezy and runny nose.
went to the gym ANYWAY, and burned 750 calories! it was super hard, but i just DID it and got it overwith. thought i would go back for more later but realized its okay to be right on track instead of getting ahead of the game, especially since im sick.
so the other weirdness is ive only had 1150 calories, have had ALL of my fruits and veggies, have had VERY little fat... however, i have gone over my carbs again today! only by again, about 10-20g of carbs, which in reality is NOTHING, but since i have these goals, and everything is computerized, then it counts against me entirely. sheesh. you know what really put me over? TOMATO SOUP. i had a whole can (who doesnt?!), and it was a TON of my carbs for the day. interesting, i never thought of tomato soup that way, AND sometimes i have TWO CANS! i am seriously learning so much, liking this a lot!
also, i havent had enough calories today! at all. i cant have that few, ill be super tired tomorrow, and its just not healthy. so i dont know what to do! im having a bowl of awesome strawberries, ill have a light snack later (just realized i havent had dinner... im totally sick and its throwing me off!)... and since im already over on my carbs and can spare a ton of fat, ill try to have something filling, fatty(ish) and low-carb. what is that? peanuts. avocado. butter (kidding)...
whatev. annoyed that i went over on my carbs, cant let it get to me.
lesson learned! ...again. and thats okay, thats what this is for!
ill post my day wrap-up either later tonight or tomorrow morning.
bye!
[ab]

3-1 update

hi - fell asleep last night before i could post my final update...
i did GREAT yesterday, but went over my daily allowance of carbs. not by much, by about 10%, but oh well. brought some extra crackers to class last night because i needed to fill in some more calories for the day, and somehow that overdid it on carbs. could have made a better choice for a snack. this is what im learning!!
yay.
heres my score from yesterday:

100% of my workout (that one was HARD! went to the gym TWICE!), had 89% of my calories for the day, and that average for the day was something like 95%... but since i had too many carbs (seriously, like probably 10g too many or something! but still... a goal is a goal...) i only made 71% of my entire goal for the day. oh, and i didnt do an errand i should have done. shoot. anyway... today should be good too.

thanks for your love!

[ab]

ps - i weighed myself yesterday, and even though this isnt about losing pounds, it looks like ive lost four! i actually can definitely tell that things look different, especially my upper body... anyway, the point of the challenge is body fat, so i hope most of that was fat! this is the final countdown, only have until april 1! sounds far away but will come SO FAST!

Best of EVERYTHING

hi friends-


i just got the greatest gift in the mail - and now i am finally able to link my progress chart to my blog (almost) instantaneously! so my posts can start to be daily again.


ive kept track all this time, just havent been able to post very easily.


we are in the last month of NRFTW, and im feeling REALLY good. wish me luck, keep the good vibes coming, and here we go!


ill post my progress for today so far, but will also post later tonight for the wrapup of today.


thanks guys!


(and thanks a MILLION, NC!)


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*i'm 75% to my workout goal for today, have eaten 59% of my calories for today, have fulfilled 58% of the other workout and eating and "other" goals i have for today - better get on it!

[ab]