Trip & Tip

Tonight I’m flying out to our nation’s capital to see one of my very best friends. I am so excited to see her because it’s been too long. Plus, it will be fun to have a girls weekend because I don’t do that too often (love you hubby!).

I’m gearing up for my first trip since we are doing the Food Challenge. I am just always timing things wrong these days – because I’m still figuring everything out and being out of town for a few days is going to make it even more challenging! But my goal is to be as good as I can be – and avoid wheat and processed ingredients.

Since I’m going to be without my scale (no i am NOT packing my scale in my carry on), I decided to weigh in this morning. Now – this is a reflection of 3 days on this new plan. I’m still doing my TurboFire workouts as per usual (2 more weeks until my exercise challenge is COMPLETE!). I also decided to enjoy some wheat products (i.e. homemade mac&cheese & cookies – or 5) this past weekend as I was “saying goodbye” to all that for the next 30 days.

So 3 days of being totally wheat free and avoiding processed ingredients as much as possible! Drum roll please:

I’m down 2.4 pounds.

I’d also like to mention that I’ve had delicious bacon for breakfast every morning along with some scrambled eggs and veggies. I’ve had pork tenderloin and curry dishes for lunch, fajita salads with chicken and filet mignon for dinner. I’ve  been snacking on whole mozzarella cheese and olives as well as raw nuts (cashews & walnuts to be exact) and I’ve enjoyed a square of 85% dark chocolate every night before bedtime.

This doesn’t feel like a diet, really (and it’s not supposed to!). Even though I have to do a bit more “thinking” when it comes to snacks and things to help round out our meals (i.e. the curry dish was tasty but too light – we needed more food!) – I get to enjoy things that I wouldn’t have allowed myself before and that is pretty awesome.

Basically what I’m saying is that any lifestyle that allows me to eat bacon – I’m in. 🙂

I’m pretty impressed with my 3 day results – and I’m looking forward to seeing results on the scale next Friday so i can see what a full 2 weeks of avoiding wheat and non-processed foods can do for me. Granted, I’m just going to put it out there that I’m totally going to drink some wine and probably indulge in those bottomless belini’s I’ve been dreaming about since my last visit to DC – but I think I can make it work.

I’m bringing my work out stuff with me so I can do my 2 workouts that are scheduled for Friday and Saturday (Sunday is my day off). And i’m going to be working out this afternoon before I fly out so I’m staying on track.

As I was driving home yesterday – it dawned on me that I’m really changing for the better. And that I’ve actually developed a habit of working out 6 days a week. How amazing is that? I’m looking forward to feeling like I’ve made it a habit to pay more attention to the quality of foods that I’m eating (hence the ban on non processed junk!) and excited to see these results as I really combine the working out with this new Food Challenge.

Best Tip Ever.

I doubt that I’ll be posting again until next week – but you never know. Until then (here’s the tip!)  stay strong & make one BETTER decision every day for yourself. You just might form a good habit!

Weekend Review (I know, a day late)

Technically, my weekend lasted through yesterday because I took the day off to give us a chance to drive back from time in Kentucky with my family. For many of my friends yesterday was a day off, but my university doesn’t recognize Memorial Day as a day off from work type of holiday, so I had to take actual vacation time. BOOO! HISS! Oh well. It was totally worth it because I got to see almost ALL of my extended family on Sunday.

I made a few goals for myself before I left, and I’m proud to say that I stuck to the work out goals. I didn’t miss my workouts while I was traveling, even though it would have been SO easy to just not do them. Let’s back up to Friday afternoon.

It was my first glorious half day Friday of the summer. Only on Friday at 11:30am does it make up for having to get up earlier and stay later for work Monday – Thursdays. I had a gift card to spend at one of my fav stores, so I decided to treat myself for a really great month of progress with my TurboFIRE program. I was pretty nervous that I’d get to the store and wouldn’t find anything that I liked or fit – but I had really good luck at the store. I actually fit back into the size I wore 15 11 pounds ago without any struggle. Pretty cool, huh? I still have some pounds to shed, but losing inches has helped my clothes fit better in a major way. I got a new dress (totally wearing it for my birthday dinner next week with my husband), a new skirt (wearing it now!) and 2 new shirts, 2 new pairs of “dressy” jeans. YAY! There is NOTHING better than going shopping and finding clothes that make you feel like you’ve done something to change your body in a good way. Major accomplishment!

When I got home from shopping, I decided to put the second coat of stain on our deck in preparation for our new deck furniture coming on Wed (SO excited!). It was really hot out and I got my sweat on just doing that. It was a good warm up for my Friday 55 minute workout. Pretty soon I was informed it was “ladies night” at my neighbors, so i had to quickly eat my pork tacos at home (i skipped the side and really most the toppings for lack of time) and I ended up drinking too much red wine (I know – you saw that one coming). I think it was a combo of working out and eating really light the whole day. Oh, and just having a few too many glasses of wine. Of course, I felt pretty terrible the next morning.

If you remember, one of my goals was to work out BEFORE getting in the car to drive to Kentucky. So that didn’t happen. FAIL! But, once we got to Kentucky, we hung out a little bit and went to grab some dinner (I was totally right about us eating Mexican food)…but here’s the big difference: when we got home and my food settled (sort of), I put on my workout gear and went to the basement to work out. My aunt doesn’t have a dvd player in the basement, so I was glad I brought my TurboKick music (for the classes I teach) and I was able to do get in my 45 minute workout easily without throwing up. The next morning, I got up and first thing did my TurboFire – it was the Core 20/Stretch 40 so I was able to do it upstairs while my parents and aunt & uncle went to church. It’s my least fav workout, so I knew I just needed to get it over with before the distractions arrived.

And, oh the distractions arrived. Ice cream cake for my birthday, a chocolate mousse cake (just because my cousin loves to try new recipes and then torture those of us trying to eat healthy :)), and..well the list of food items would take a while, but basically the weirdest combo of bad for you foods you can imagine. Everything from ground beef tacos and white queso (or you could choose a sausage queso dip, my personal fav) to grilled veggies (not so bad for you) and chicken and pork, rice, beans, mac & cheese. Argh. So much. And I didn’t even try everything and still had WAY too much food.

So i didn’t do so hot on the portion control, but I’m giving myself a 10 for sticking to my workouts. When we arrived home yesterday, we worked out almost immediately before we started taking care of all the other chores. So now I’m officially into day 2 of the SECOND month of my TurboFire program. YAY!

I’ll be taking my result pictures this weekend since I wasn’t really in a place I could do that this weekend with traveling. I’m curious to see if i look any different from the pics a month ago? Guess we will see (by we I mean I because I don’t think I would post them here for the world to see!).

Off to a good start on my week – had to get up at 5:30am this morning to get my TurboFire workout in since I’m teaching TurboKick tonight after work. And then tomorr0w – my beloved day off from working out. I’m going to enjoy every moment of it 🙂

How was your weekend?

 

 

 

The Cold Front

Well, it’s Tuesday and I’m finally back at work after a week of vacation and one sick day. And yes, I really was sick (am still sick) yesterday and didn’t decide to extend my vacation. If you don’t believe me, ask my last student appointment – you know the one where I went into a coughing fit and had to go stand on the other side of my office for a few minutes to try and gather myself to talk more. I eventually resorted to writing down ideas for resume edits and asking if she liked them. *sigh* I hate being sick when my main role is to talk to people!

I did go to my chiropractor yesterday as I had scheduled a Monday morning visit because I figured after a week of sleeping in a strange bed, I would want an adjustment right away. Well, when 7am rolled around yesterday, as much as I needed an adjustment I was feeling awful. I called my Doctor and he convinced me to still come in but let me come in later in the day. He said that when we are sick, we should actually get more adjustments so our body was in the best place possible to get better. He also did some sinus work on me which was weird but good. I’ll be going back on Friday.

After a week in Mexico, indulging in countless fruity drinks and unlimited bacon and guacamole every morning….I definitely am ready to get back on track this week. Of course, being sick over the weekend and what not has not helped because I’ve just felt pretty bland and have been eating mostly soup. But at least it is healthy soup.

I’ll be honest – going to an all inclusive and being full of self control was impossible for me. I am too easily tempted by vacation mentality and I guess I really gave in to the idea that it was a once every year or so vacation and I wasn’t going to guilt trip myself about every bite. We did work out a few days, and went on a 2 hour bike trip (more leisurely than a work out, although the heat made you sweat like it was P90X)…but it was better than being completely sedentary all week (i.e. 4 hour naps out in the veranda).

About 3 or so days into our vacation, I started missing my food routine. While I absolutely LOVE to go out to eat – eating out every meal for a whole week was taking it’s toll on my body. This is the girl who grew up going out to eat almost every day. My family’s version of “meal time” was to meet at a fast food joint or the Mexican place before we went on with our evenings.

But with my current food routine – I don’t feel like I’m being starved to death and in fact have difficulty eating everything I’m supposed to eat everyday. The food was really good at the resort – don’t get me wrong. But it’s like anything…too much of a good thing is no good! By the end of the week I was more than ready to get back to our healthy cooking and having (way) less drinks. I don’t drink all the time, so having several days in a row where everywhere you go starting at breakfast you have drinks shoved into your face was a bit of a drastic change. By the end of the week, I was having trouble wearing my rings because of all the extra sodium.

It’s weird – because last time I went to a resort, I don’t remember having these feelings. I don’t remember looking forward to home cooked healthy meals upon our return. I’d like to think that I’ve somehow hit a turning point in my life over the last year. That maybe I’ve finally started to realize what works for my body, what keeps me on the healthy track and how bad it feels when I stray too far for too long. That after all these years of wanting to enjoy healthy habits, maybe I finally am there.

Part of my goals for myself this year was to become the best version of me…and I’m really happy to see this glimmer of true change.

 

 

The Last Resort (with pics!)

Stairway to Vacation

Well, vacation has somehow already passed and while I’m glad to be home in some ways I will miss living a life of luxury and having a no guilt attitude for a few days. We went to Secrets Silversands Resort in Cancun, Mexico. It is an all-inclusive and adults only, so there was no sharing the hot tub with middle schoolers or anything like that which I was happy about.

We wanted to do one last horrah trip because we figure life will only get more busy, more complicated and all that jazz…so we just wanted to have a good time and enjoy ourselves for a week away from all those responsibilities. It was much needed, and I think coming back – we are more excited about what’s next for us!

We had really nice weather for most of the week and while we didn’t do a whole lot other than drink fruity drinks and eat delicious food….we did take a FEW pictures. I’ll admit that I felt guilty about not even bringing our camera to our  vacation so the last few days I went around a took a few pics of the resort for your viewing pleasure.

Main building - modern hang out area

Lobby Bar

 

 

One thing that we loved about the resort was how modern it was. Everything
was really posh and we were impressed with the feel of the place.

 

 

 

 

Our room

 

The room was a junior suite swim out – so we had a pool right outside our back porch area.

 

 

 

 

 

View from our room - pool and ocean

 

I was really surprised at the view – we didn’t choose the most expensive room option, so I wasn’t expecting something amazing…but my jaw dropped when we opened the back door and saw this view! Amazing backdrop for afternoon naps, conversation over champagne and putting your feet in the water.

 

 

 

 

Birthday champagne and dessert

 

It was my hubby’s 32nd birthday while we were there, and the resort brought us a bottle of champagne and delicious brownie/cake thing to help us celebrate. He also got a sign on our door (even if it was a day late).

The birthday boy!

 

 

 

 

We also enjoyed all the bar options while we were there, although if you just sat somewhere for long enough, one of the wait staff would come over and encourage you to order a drink. I had a few favorites during the week including things called SuperMan, Miami Vice, Mudslide and even a shot called Sh*t in the grass (really.).

Midori Sour with fruit garnish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course the resort itself was very well taken care of, and the pools (there was pool in front of every building..plus a main pool) were a little nippy this time of year, but after a few minutes in the hot soon, it felt refreshing.

Pool in front of our room

 

Right outside our door we had a pool, a grill type restaurant and a bar. Dangerous!

 

 

 

 

 

A few more pics:

Hot tub - this was a popular hang out spot

Another outdoor bar with steps down to the ocean

The main pool

Our last day we came back to the room to find towel swans 🙂

A little sunburned, but happy!

All in all, it was a successful trip. Now it’s almost time to go back to work which will be a big smack in the face considering I somehow went to a tropical place and caught a cold. So I’m sort of hating life right now with a sore throat, stuffy/runny nose, sneezing and all those other things mentioned on the Nyquil label. Thinking sunny thoughts because after a week off from work, I don’t think I can take a sick day!