Success along the Weigh

Today I am down 3.8 for a total of 53 lb lost. I am thrilled with that number, shocked really, I figured I'd be down around 52 total today. There is a woman in the blogosphere that has a blog called "Success Along the Weigh" and she's lost over 190lb. Her #1 rule is "Quitting is not an option" and I think it's a great topic for this week.
After last week's 1 lb gain, I made sure I kept on doing what I had been doing, not letting the + get in my head. And by pushing through it's helped! I kept with the same diet, and exercise routine. The only variation I did was yesterday (Sunday) because I have a cold, was pooped and didn't think I could do the C25k run. So instead, I did the elliptical for 30 minutes versus running/walking. I didn't give up, saying "I'm not feeling good" or "I'm too tired to do it" etc. I put on my gym clothes and headed out. I felt good afterwards (especially after stretching-flexibility is improving big time). I had a good calorie burn and got home in time for the end of the game (priorities, right?).

So the summery for the week:
Mon: 2,070 cal / 50 P+
Tues: 2,112 cal/ 55 P+
Wed: 1,872 cal/ 48 P+
Thurs: 1,906 cal/ 51 P+
Fri: 1,944 cal/ 51 P+
Sat: 2,429 cal/ 65 P+
Sun: 1,683 cal/ 44 P+

I earned 64 Activity Points per WW & burned 3,164 Calories per MFP in 313 minutes of activity! So this week, I ate all my weekly points and 14 of my activity points.

I am happy with it, I think I did good. I also weighed in of Friday and had a good weigh in, down 2.4, so today was even better. Goal for this week: repeat week 3 of C25k, I am working on my breathing techniques for the 3 minute runs. I am also seeing Dr. Dennis (new Chiropractor) to have my pelvis adjusted, which should help my knees. And hopefully my cold will be gone soon, so I feel comfortable running again (without gasping for breath). Until next week!

Muscle gain, yeah, that's it.

Today I weighed in and was up 1 lb (total loss 49.2lb). I am going to attribute it to muscle gain or water retention in the muscles! I was at the gym 3 times last week, doing week 2 of the C25K program, and at Aim High for 3 TKD classes; which I think is the main reason. My body is adjusting to the amount of exercise I am doing. I know it's not what's going in my mouth, since I tracked (really, I did) and was not crazy. I had 1 cheat meal on Saturday for Lucy's 3rd b-day, but that's it.
Here's how the week looked:
Mon: 2,351 cal / 61 P+
Tues: 1,683 cal/ 41 P+
Wed: 1,996 cal/ 44 P+
Thurs: 2,067 cal/ 48 P+
Fri: 1,611 cal/ 48 P+
Sat: 2,468 cal/ 70 P+
Sun: 2,131 cal/ 54P+
I earned 94 Activity Points per WW & burned 3,285 Calories per MFP in 310 minutes of activity!
So I guess the WW Points were high on some days, but that's where I used my weeklies and some activity points. That's what they are for. :)

Tomorrow I start week 3 of the C25K and I am a bit nervous since my knee and shin on my right leg are bothering me. But I think I am out of alignment so I am calling Hector and having an adjustment. Hopefully that will help. If you want to see how I am doing on that training, check the tab above. Thanks for the support! Hopefully next week my body will be adjusted to the new workout routine.

Ground Turkey Pasta Soup

Finished product, although this is with beef.

Ground Turkey Pasta Soup
Makes about 10 cups Serving size: 1 Cup Calories: 147 Fat: 5 Protein: 12 Carb: 14 Fiber: 2 Sodium: 470 Weight Watchers value: 4 pp

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Turkey (I used Shelton's Free Range)
32 oz (1 Qt) of Tomato Juice
32 oz (1 Qt Water) & 1 1/2 T of Better than Bullion Reduced Sodium Beef Base -OR- Fat Free, Low Sodium Beef Broth
4 stalks of Celery Sliced
3 Carrots Sliced
4 oz of small elbow pasta1/2 t Minced Garlic
1 t Minced Onion
1/2 t Johnny's Season Salt
1 Bay Leaf
1/4 t Black pepper

Brown the turkey in a stockpot, adding garlic, onion and season salt. Drain if you need to. Add celery and let cook with turkey for a few minutes to soften.

If you've never tried Better than Bouillon, it's worth it! Cheaper and easy to use!

Simmering on the stove.

Add the tomato Juice, water and bullion (or beef broth), black pepper and bay leaf. Let simmer until celery is a bit tender. Add carrots and simmer until tender.

I always weigh pasta. This is what 4 oz looks like (2 servings).

Add pasta and cook 8-10 until done but still firm. Cool in fridge and freeze or eat right away, add some shredded or grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Finished ground turkey pasta soup

A huge goal met!

50 lb lost charm from WW! Took 53 weeks!

Today I hit a major goal! I have lost 50.2 lb since Jan 2, 2011! I am thrilled! I know last week when I blogged about everything, I was going to hit it this week! And sure enough I lost 4.2 lb this weigh in!

This last week, I have really changed up my outlook on this "diet." I knew things needed to change, and so I changed them-for the better! I tracked all week! I didn't miss a single thing (ok, maybe gum, but dude, it's 5 Kcal). I actually double tracked: WW points plus and calories on Myfitnesspal.com. It was interesting to see. 
Mon: 2,060 cal / 49 P+
Tues: 1,949 cal/ 48 P+
Wed: 1,519 cal/ 38 P+
Thurs: 1,901 cal/ 44 P+
Fri: 1,849 cal/ 53 P+
Sat:1,948 cal/ 44 P+
Sun:1,537 cal/ 40 P+
I earned 66 Activity Points per WW & burned 3,378Calories per MFP in 265 minutes of activity!

I think this is good to see, to be able to reflect on the effects of training 6 of 7 days last week. This week I plan on adding weight lifting to the mix.
Mon, Wed, Sat: TKD
Mon & Wed: Weights
Tues, Thurs, Sun: C25k week 2

So there it is, hit 50 lb, feel great about last week's workouts, and how I ate. So hopefully I can continue this trend. New goal is 60 by the end of February.

Friday check in!

Tonight I am seeing West Side Story at the Keller, which means dinner out with the gang! Good thing is I planned for it! On Monday, I made a chart with the plans for the week: activity and possible hurdles. This has really worked! Here it is (basically):
Monday: Tread N Shred at Crunch (30 min) & Taekwondo (45 min)
Tuesday: Day 1 of week 1 of Couch to 5k (30 min)
Wednesday: Taekwondo (45 min)
Thursday:  Day 2 of week 1 of Couch to 5k (30 min)
Friday: Rest Day; Dinner out!
Saturday: Taekwondo (45 min) & Day 3 of week 1 of Couch to 5k (30 min)
Sunday: Day 1 of week 2 of C25k (30 min)

Knowing my plan, has helped me stay on track! I am down 4.0 so far this week! I went to WW and checked in and I am down 50.2 total (although it's not an official weigh-only Mondays)! So there is some motivation for keeping on track!!! I also have tracked all week! Not skipping a thing! It's really helped me, and I think the scale noticed. I might even do some unscheduled exercise today with the Kincet during "nap time" just for fun! Who would have thought. :)

1 year down!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Today is my 1 year mark on my journey to a healthier Melissa. I am very proud of committing to this, and sticking with it (in some way or form) for this long. Normally I burn out after 2-3 months and give up. I am very happy to say that I have changed my life(style) not just did/am doing a diet. In this period of time I have lost over 46 lb. I did gain this week (+2.4) but I think that was because of such a big loss last week and being sick. I was dehydrated and was warned when I weighed in last week, I could gain. Ann was right. But I am not stressing over it.

I have looked at my blog from the last year and have noticed what was working and what wasn't working. Working: gym & tracking. Not working: just Taekwondo & trying to eat right. So I am back to hitting the gym 2-3 times a week and I am back to tracking food. I am game planning my week too, seeing (ahead) what the hurdles will be and knowing how to over come them. This week we are going to see West Side Story, which means eating out. So If I hit the gym (changed to Crunch today) twice and Taekwondo twice before Friday, I'll be in good shape.

But I wanted to write about what I've accomplished in the last year besides the obvious scale victory.
1. Size 18 pants!
2. Smaller shirt size (22/24-darn boobs)!
3. Speaking of boobs, smaller bra size too!
4. Being able to do the elliptical for more than 1/2 hr without fear of dying (kidding).
5. Just saying "no" to cookies and junk.
6. Making better choices when out to eat.
7. Joining Chandler in Taekwondo and succeeding!
8. Speaking of TKD, Ax and Roundhouse kicks at my head level! Nuff said!
9. Balancing on a balance ball on all 4's for over a minute (close to 2).
10. On the ball, getting on to just my knees for the count of 5 (need to be at 20 when I test for black belt).
11. Feeling good about looking at myself!
12. Buying Ladies (not women's) XL workout pants!
13. Donating a ton of FAT clothes! Woot!!!

There are more, but those are listed on the other list. :) Until next time, friends!