Beck80’s Journey to Better Health

I feel so accomplished today!!! I got school done with all three girls, ate fairly good, got my workout in and took the girls to the library. It feels so great to get it all done, I’m excited to do it again tomorrow! lol

So my diet today consisted of:

• 3″ whole wheat pancake with a little brummel & brown maragarine, half a banana, half a protein shake I made with milk
• protein shake with water
• 4oz turkey ham, 5oz cooked sweet potato slices, 1/2 cup broccoli
• protein shake with water, 5 baby carrots
• post workout protein shake with water
• whole wheat english muffin with 1 T. PB and 1 banana

So that brings my totals so far to:1121 calories, 25.8g fat, 126.2g carbs; 103.5g protein.

Before I go to bed, I’m going to have some eggs before I go to bed which will bring my totals to: 1203 calories 25.8g fat (19%) 127.9g carb (41%) 120.8g protein (40%)

My workout today was lower body.

• front squats: 60lbsx 10 reps, 4 sets
• stifflegged deadlift: 60lbs x 10reps, 4 sets
• reverse leg lunge: 10reps x 4 sets
• lying leg curls: 40lbs x 10 reps, 4 sets
• hanging leg raises: 10 reps x 4 sets

So that’s my day. Going to bed earlier tonight to get up in the morning and do my intervals.
1,203 calories 25.8

Yesterday was one of our friend’s birthday, so we went to her birthday party and us girls went out for a drink. I drank more than I have in a long time yet still lost a lb for the week. I thought for sure I’d be up a couple pounds.After we all got back, most of us went in the hot tub and I was happy to find out my bikini still fits and doesn’t look to bad.
My cold is finally subsiding. Tomorrow morning will be the start of a new workout week. I didn’t end up doing any of my workouts this past week. But whatever, tomorrow is a new day and I still have a goal to get this done!

Hubby is switching to day shift and that means an early morning for me tomorrow (4:30am!). So off to bed I go…

Today I have had so far:

• 2 full eggs, 1 egg white with 1 T. ketchup
• ON cookies and cream protein shake made with water
• 4oz chicken, 1 cup broccoli ( I sprayed it with some Italian Vinaigrette spritzer from wishbone)
• 1 T. Natural PB, fuji apple

For the rest of the day I am having:

• Another protein shake
• 6oz chicken, 1 cup broccoli
• Post workout Protein shake
• 4egg whites with 1 T Ketchup

That will bring my totals to:1524 calories, 51g fat, 66g carbs, 201.8g protein

I am attempting to stay close to 1,500 calories a day.
I know ketchup is not good, but right now I can’t stomach plain egg whites, so I am going to work on tapering off how much I use. I would normally use more eggs in the morning, but I am low on eggs and need to save some for tomorrow morning’s breakfast.

I am still messing with this cold, but right now it is mainly a sore throat, so I am going to do my lower body workout tonight. I’m still drinking lots of water/green tea. I mix my green tea with 2 shots of XS Energy Drink lemon concentrate, so it has a little bit better flavor. The amazing thing is it is only 1 calorie and no carbs per 1oz shot and has a TON of B vitamins in in as opposed to caffeine. I love it!

Well, my girls and I are all experiencing the first cold of the season. Emily so far has the worst cold and I am praying it doesn’t get worse and no one else gets worse. Last night she sounded like her cough was going to turn into a hacking cough. So far, it hasn’t. I have a pretty bad sore throat, but have been drinking a LOT of water and tea today in addition to more vitamins.

As far as working out goes, it hasn’t happened since last Wednesday morning. And I’ve had a ton of carbs, so much that I seriously looked 3-4 months pregnant all weekend.  I hate falling off the bandwagon so often and after so few days! I am trying to get back on a schedule to better juggle my jam packed life. I think the time change will help. My kids got up at 6:30 today and I honestly felt awake and not too tired. So I’ll give working out at 6am another try starting tomorrow.

As far as my nutrition, I am just going to try to eat as clean as possible using lots of recipes from Tosca Reno’s books. I can’t find my newest one, so I have search for it tonight.

My sister is going to try the South Beach Diet again to jumpstart her weight loss. Honestly, I’ve thought about doing it too. We’re going to Vegas for her birthday the end of March, and I refuse to go back not looking hot! lol I’ll figure it out, I’m sure, just by eating clean and if I do cheat, cheating with clean foods.

I’ve done okay so far today, nutrition wise. Didn’t work out his morning when I woke up, but again I ma going to get that in this evening. My food so far has been:

• Protein pancake (1/2 cup oatmeal, 6 egg whites) with 1/4 cup FF syrup 270calories 3g fat 40g carbs 25.7g protein
• 2 2inch brownies and a 16oz latte 338 calories 9.4g fat 43.5g carbs 11.2g protein
• Protein shake 210 calories 1g fat 17g carbs 33g protein
• 12 Tosca Reno’s crispy chicken bites, 1 cup steamed broccoli , 1.5t. clean eating honey mustard sauce 360 calories  12.7g fat  33.4g carbs 35.7g protein

After my cardio session I am going to have another protein shake which will bring my total to;

1607 calories 35.4g fat (19%) 191.4g carbs (46%!) 143.9g protein (35%)

Shouldn’t have had the brownies.

My interval cardio session will have a 5minute warm-up, 7~  30sec. fast pace, 90sec. medium pace intervals and then a 5 minute cooldown. I haven’t decided on a time yet, I have to help Hailey study for a math test she has tomorrow, so after that. It will get done!! And, once again I’ll be planning out my meals for tomorow, tonight. Tomorrow’s workout will also be in the evening while the kids at at church.

I got my workout done tonight and I think it took about 40 minutes. Heres what I did:

Front squat 4 sets @ 45lb x 10reps
Stiff legged deadlift 4 sets @ 40lb x 10reps

Reverse lunge 4 sets @ 20lb x 10 reps

Lying leg curl 4 sets @ 40lb x 10 reps

Barbell roll 1 set x 10 reps (this one, you are on your knees holding a barbell on the floor directly under your, rollit out and use your core to bring it back. I couldn’t do more than one set so I switched to hanging leg raises)
Hanging leg raises 3 sets x 10 reps (forgot how much these can hurt)

I could have done more weight on the first two, but I have always had a problem with my form, so I want to make sure I am getting the move right before adding more weight. On the lunges and lying leg curl, though, I was using all I had in me to squeeze out the last rep on each set.

My kids were in the garage with me (I set up a small table for them to color at) and were counting with and for me when I couldn’t. Theythink it’s funny when I grunt out the last few reps. My middle daughter, Emily, kept trying to workout too. We have two cable systems set up and she was trying to use the pulldown at one of them. She’s 5 and wants to do what mommy does. My youngest was playing with my 5lb dumbbells like they were babies and kept looking at herself in the mirror! They are so cute! I am trying to remember to appreciate the ages they are at since before long, they’ll be teenagers.

Ok, so I totaled up my nutrition for today, and her’s what it looks like;

• Protein shake w/ 8 oz FF milk: 210cal. 1g fat 17g carbs 33g protein
• Banana:105cal. .4g fat 27g carbs 1.3 g protein
• Tuna fiish sandwich on 2 slices whole wheat bread with reg. mayo (all the light was way past its use by date) and a pickle: 276 cal. 11.2g fat 29g carbs 17g protein
• Another tuna sandwich 276 cal. 11.2g fat 29g carbs 17g protein
• 3/4 cup Chicken & Pasta : 200cal. 5g fat 24g carbs 13g protein
• 3/4 cup homemade granola w/ 8oz milk: 574 cal. 33g fat 56.5g carbs 15.6g protein
• Post workout protein shake: 210cal. 1g fat 17g carb 33g protein

So my total was 1854 cal. 62.8g fat (30%) 199.5g carbs (42%) ans 130.4g protein (28%)

I am aiming for around 1500-1700 calories. When I figured out how many calories the granola was per serving I was not too pleased. John wanted to make homemade granola, and next time I am cutting the oil in half, but it’s not worth it! If he wants to eat it, fine, but not me!

I am planning out my meals for tomorrow tonight and posting it on the fridge.  Then off to bed for me! That is the only way I can wake up in time to get my cardio in before I have 3 munchkins begging for food! lol

Why is it that whenever I am finally getting back on track one of my kids gets sick the first day? lol My day started out with my oldest Hailey, throwing up this morning. Not what I had planned. Luckily, she is feeling better and I am going to get my workout in at 6pm. After I got dressed this morning, I was even more determined to get a workout in. My jeans were a little too snug for my comfort.

As for my nutrition, I haven’t done as well as I should have, but it’s hard with a sick kid. So far I’ve had:

1. Protein shake, half a banana, 1 cup coffee w 2 T. creamer, 12 oz water (8am)
2. tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread with pickles, half a banana, 12oz water. Unfortunately all my mayo was out of date except one that i keep for guests.
3. tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread again, 12oz water.
4. Chicken and pasta with peas (leftovers from Tosca Reno’s new clean eating book), 12oz water.

I’m not exactly sure of the ratios on all of these, I’ll have to check on fitday.com. But for right now, that’s where I’m at and I’m off to finish my ironing. One good thing, since Hailey is sick, no school today and I can catch up on my laundry! lol

After looking through a few old Oxygen mags, I found a workout that is supposed to supercharge your metabolism. So for the next 6 weeks I will be doing the following:

• Sunday-Off
• Monday-lower body weight training
• Tuesday-interval session
• Wednesday-active recovery cardio session
• Thursday-upper body weight training
• Friday-interval session
• Saturday-active recovery cardio session

So, that is my goal for the week on top of as many clean eating meals as possible. And a lot of water!!

Had a bad organizational week last week. No workouts happened at all. But it’s a new week, and I have some goals:

• 3 strength workouts
• 3 cardio sessions (1 long, 2 interval)
• eat clean meals!

I got Tosca Reno’s new Clean Eating Book for kids and families a few weeks ago. We’ve tried several new recipes in it (crispy chicken bites, fish sticks, pasta and chicken) and so far my kids like it and so do John and I! I also made the protein pancake from Ava Cowan’s first video in her series Absolutely Ava, and again, my kids liked it!  I’m going to start recording my meals again and putting them into fitday.com the night before. I can’t remember where I heard it but someone said to write out what you are eating the night before. I am going to do that for this week. Looking forward a better week this week!!

I weighed in on Sunday at 155.5lbs. So far this week I have accomplished:

* Monday-20 minute intervals on my bike
*Tuesday-legs, using a workout I found on Youtube by Buffmother
DB squats 25×10, 20×10
Calf raises 25 x10, 25×10
Lunges 15×10, 15×10
Crunches 15, 15
DB Deadlift 15×15, 15×15
Lying sidelift 15, 15
V-up 15, 15
Hiplift 20, 20 ( I added this one)
*Wednesday-30minutes (not counting warm-up & cooldown) steady cardio.
I kept my heart rate between 147-160. John gave me a heart rate moniter for my birthday last year. I forgot I had it.

Anyway, That’s my progress so far this week. I am also trying to remember to write down what I eat. Tonight we are making pizza. I saw a recipe for pizza dough in Tosca Reno’s newest book, Clean Eating for kids, and my kids LOVE pizza so we are trying it. They are getting a cooking lesson and getting their fave food!

Tomorrow morning I am going to try protein pancakes from Ava Cowan’s video Absolute Ava.

I really want to end this year with more energy, lighter and healthier than I started it. I found a video series by Valerie Waugaman and her dedication and what she does to keep herself motivated really stuck with me and my husband. I think it was the kick start we both needed.