My personal 45 day challenge - July/August 2012

[emmysmommy]

With only 45 days until our family trip to WDW trip, I am finally getting serious about losing the 10 pounds that I have gained since earlier this year. I know, only 10 pounds but it is an annoying trend that I don't want to continue....

Background:
In 2009, I lost 33 pounds before our summer vacation. I participated in a "lose before you cruise" forum that offered accountability which was really helpful. What really made a difference in my health, and of course, weight loss, was that I started to run at 44 years old. I was disciplined and dedicated to my goals and felt a great sense of personal accomplishment.

Fast forward 3.5 years later and I don't run as much as I should, I've slowly put back on some of the weight and I just feel like I'm not in control any longer.

My excuses are plentiful; I have a demanding job which requires some travel and long hours (managing a full book of business in addition to 2 service teams), I love to read dining reviews so tend to spend too much time on the computer (the food addict in me being fed!), and most of the time I am just not feeling it... you know what I mean?

So no more excuses... time to get serious about my health! (For some reason that Quilted Northern Bath tissue commercial comes to mind when I write those words! )

I want to commit to a 45 day personal challenge to lose some weight - yeah, it won't be 10 lbs but at least I can be healthier and lose a few pounds along the way.

My Plan:
1. Eat healthy - consistently! I do ok only about 60% of the time. I would like to bump that up to 90% of the time.
2. Run 4-5 times a week. No mile goals like I used to set but I will set a minimum time of 45 min.
3. Strength training - 3-4 times per week. I usually do arm weights during my cool down.
4. No cookies, brownies, cake, candy and other junk that simply wastes calories and doesn't help with my goals. (It doesn't help that my 16 yr. old DD loves to bake. )
5. Check in here at least a few times a week to document my progress in an honest and candid way. I have nothing to hide - well except my big behind in tunic tops!

Can I do this? Will my motivation take me beyond the first week? Tune in to find out.

 

[emmysmommy]

Day 1 of personal challenge: Check... how hard can this be??
I'll let anyone know in about a week or two when the challenge is much more difficult to stay disciplined for the goal.

Eating Healthy: We'll let's just say that I didn't have any snack/sweets that were beyond a 100 calorie pack of yogurt covered pretzels. Actually, I was pleased with my results for the day.... mostly turkey, low fat cheese, fruit, and lots of veggies.

Exercise: Ran/walked 61 minutes for 4.5 miles (slow but at least I got my running shoes on!)

Strength Training: Yep, did that too! Only 9 minutes but that is really fine with me.

Since today will be a Disneyland day, my strategry is to walk and not take any trams, eat before we leave, and snack on fruit and other healthy options that they offer inside the park.

Oh, and keep reminding myself that nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

 

[emmysmommy]

44 days remain....

Yesterday I met my goals!

1. Ran 4.8 miles
2. 7 minutes strength training
3. At least a couple of miles walking at D-land - didn't take the tram from/to the parking structure! (Plus it was so crowded anyway at the tram station.)
4. Ate well. I brought a fiber one bar and a piece of fruit with me to the park so that I wouldn't be tempted to go crazy at any of my favorite places. In fact, when DD and DH decided they wanted something from the Holly Jolly Bakery at the end of the day I just said NO to all the tasty treats.

Today... haven't decided if I'm running yet. I should at least walk for 30-45 minutes if nothing else.

Oh... and my battery for my scale died so now I need to go buy some batteries so I can monitor my progress from a weight perspective.

 

[emmysmommy]

Days 3 & 4:
I was on the treadmill a total of only 50 minutes in the last two days.... but at least I put some effort into this challenge.

I've remained pretty good about eating healthy... At least I've kept my impulses to pig out on cookies and cake under control - for now! I keep telling myself "one's too many and a thousand is not enough."

The day is still early but I plan to run 3-4 miles today and do some strength training. I'm still not running nearly as much as I was 2 years ago but at least I am getting my running shoes on and moving. And I will continue to do this because I want the results more than I want to make excuses for the fact that I have a busy life and I'm old and I've had 4 kids and what does anyone expect anyways?

Here I go.....

 

[emmysmommy]

My weekend update:

I only ran for 40 minutes total over the weekend - not what I wanted but at least it was something! However, on a positive note, I have been really good with my healthy eating goals - no falling off the wagon there. I did have to say NO to home-made focaccia that my DD made yesterday with her amazing arrabiata sauce. At least she didn't make brownies again!

Today I ran for 45 minutes - well, ran is an overstatement. I think I ran only about 30 minutes and walked the rest. I just wasn't feeling it!! Again, at least I got my running shoes! I did some strength training today as well.

Now for the really disappointing stuff...I bought a new scale since my other one died and I couldn't find batteries for it. I should have continued to live in ignorance because once I weighed myself I was a bit horrified!

I weighed 12 lbs more than just 5 months ago! So now I know what I need to do. As Scarlett said, "tomorrow is another day".... and tomorrow I will keep at it!

 

[emmysmommy]

I have a 3 day conference at the Grand Californian Hotel and despite a Mickey krispy treat (had to eat one!) I have been very good. The hotel has had plenty of fresh fruit options with the dessert trays so I'm just making those choices instead of what I really want!

Due to my schedule with the conference this week, I didn't run last night. Likely tonight will find my treadmill all alone and wondering what happend to me! But.... I have been doing some strength training in the morning so I have not abandoned my challenge altogether.

I've been weighing myself everyday for the past 5 days and I am seeing the scale slowly go towards my goal. I'm not weighing in today since I don't want to get too frustrated since I've slowed down my exercise and although I've eaten generally healthy, I don't want the pressure of seeing the scale stall at my present weight or worse yet go up a 1/10th of a lb!!!

My "ticker" (if I had one) is down to 37 days until our trip. Still enough time to make a difference and hope for some visible results.

 

[mystic_path]

Good for you to jump all over your goal. Its great to have a plan to follow and you will do great. When you want that treat there are plenty of things out there that are amazing. I would suggest looking into the Fiber One brownie bars. They are new on the market and sooooo good. Under 3g of fat, 90 calories and the sugar and sodium intake is fairly low. Thinsation caramel or fudge drizzled popcorn is the same way and also only about 110 calories. There are treats out there you can have. You just gotta watch the labels or get a bit creative.

 

[emmysmommy]

Good for you to jump all over your goal. Its great to have a plan to follow and you will do great. When you want that treat there are plenty of things out there that are amazing. I would suggest looking into the Fiber One brownie bars. They are new on the market and sooooo good. Under 3g of fat, 90 calories and the sugar and sodium intake is fairly low. Thinsation caramel or fudge drizzled popcorn is the same way and also only about 110 calories. There are treats out there you can have. You just gotta watch the labels or get a bit creative.

Hi there! Thanks for the commentary and advice! I have tried the Fiber One brownie bars - they are ok, not as good as the Fiber One caramel/pretzel 90 calorie bars though. Honesty, I love little portion controlled 90-100 calorie treats but I have to watch them because I tend to grab one of those instead of fresh fruit or veggies.

 

[emmysmommy]

I'm at the 34 day mark today!

I believe today I made up from my laziness most of the week since I ran 5.3 miles this afternoon! I think I was mentally ready to do a longer run since I actually wanted to run and didn't do it out of a sense of obligation to my 45 day challenge.

The first 3 miles were easy; however, by the 4th mile I was starting to really look at my display and count calories burned (bad!) By 4.8 miles my left foot started bothering me a little so I slowed down. By mile 5 I decided to just walk and with some arm weights. I ran another 1/3 mile just to put myself over the 60 min. mark.

I love the fact that the first hour or two post run I'm not hungry since I just keep hydrating but man oh man after an hour and a half I really notice that I have to eat a lot of protein to really satisfy my hunger otherwise I'll just keep snacking. Bad!

Now for the not so good part... I finally weighed myself and I hadn't lost any weight in the last 4 days. Ugh! I'll re-weigh tomorrow and hopefully see some positive results.

 

[emmysmommy]

So I think the secret to seeing results is to run -a LOT!

Actually, I am down a little but that is after running about 9 miles thus far this week. Errrr... But I keep telling myself that even if I don't see results on the scale look how wonderful I am being to my heart!

My run on Monday wasn't as carefree and easy since after about 2 miles my DH came into the workout room and started to talk about something that took my focus/attention off my run. Not that it would take much anyway. After than I toughed it out until 45 minutes and then called it quits.

As far as eathing heathly - still no problems there. Until today... for which my company is celebrating 75 years and will have pizza, cake and ice-cream. Yikes! Not sure how many miles I will need to run to keep that from affecting me. The obvious answer is to eat in moderation... yeah, we'll see how that goes. I would stay far away from the lunchroom but I have two teams of people that I manage that I need to be there to represent so... no hiding for me.

Even if no goal is reached by my vacation date, I can still keep up the effort so that for our next trip I am more where I want to be. Makes perfect sense!

 

[emmysmommy]

Another week has passed and we are now down to 3 weeks before our trip. Scary but exciting.... scary because this week wasn't great as far as running (only 6 miles this week)... and then DD did some baking and I didn't say no this time. I almost bribed her but I resorted to begging instead... please don't bake until after our trip. All of the yummy stuff is defeating my resolve to lose the weight since it doesn't matter how far I run if I keep eating that evil stuff. Well, it does matter but I'm running less and eating more.

Dinner tonight was healthy and for the most part so was the rest of my day - except for the cranberry almond bars. (DD's latest creation.) I had a veggie sandwich tonight with tons of spinach, carrot, cucumbers, tomato, red onion, and avocado. It was like salad on a bun.

Tomorrow is another day....