Give Me 5 More

Got up and ate an apple. I went off to the gym. I ran on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes. I burned a whole 300 calories!! Yes! Drank a fruit smoothie with whey protein mix. And, ate a half breakfast sandwich from Mother's. It had egg, bacon, a soy meat, tomato, avocado on a sourdough bread toasted or grilled. I dipped it in ketchup when I got home. It lasted me a long long time! Ate lunch from Trader Joes: a cabbage salad with couscous, garbanzo beans and tomato. Also had an organic orange and a banana, and a very small handful of trail mix with cashews, almonds and chocolate pieces. Drank a cup of soy milk. I am so full now. And, am drinking plenty of water today! And, green tea too.

My exercise plan for the week is yoga twice, Zumba twice, Body Abs twice, and Boot Camp once. I am also planning to do elliptical machine daily for 30 minutes. I want to do all this exercise, but, when the rubber meets the road we'll see how my body handles it. They say that we should exercise every day. I'll do it if my body cooperates. If not, then at least I have high expectations!!

My food intake needs to be monitored this month as well. I want to end the year 2011 well and eat as healthy as I can throughout the month of December! Only healthy drinks here please! And, healthy meals too. Can I lose 5 more pounds this year, for a total of 50? I'm down 45 pounds since January of 2011. Let's see if my body will give me 5 more!

Leftovers for Dinner

I took leftover ddeok guk (a soup made with rice cakes) and turned it into a form of ddeokk pok gi (a kind of spicy rice cake concoction). I added some frozen green onion I had on hand, plus some shredded carrot, soy sauce, fish sauce, and go chu jang (a red pepper paste). I didn't have any unfrozen meat to add to it for protein, but I did find some soy beans still in the pods in my fridge, so I used those as a side dish. Soy beans contain enough protein like an egg, so I was quite proud of myself for coming up with this quick and tasty, reasonably nutritous meal. Furthermore, I made sure to portion control the spicy rice cakes, othersise if I ate too many it would show both on my body and on the scales!! And, to down it I drank a cup of nonfat moo.

Lunch today was semi-healthy. Caeser chicken salad with a fruit and yogurt parfait. The unhealthy part of the salad was definately the dressing. A serving of caeser dressing contains almost 200 calories!! Probably not worth it.

And, I did too much snacking today. I ordered a medium sized latte from Starbucks and two small bite size pastries. I'm sure that adds up to 500 calories alone. This was not a good nor healthy snack choice today.

On the plus side, I went to body works abs class this afternoon. It is a class at the gym utilizing the weights and repetitions for an hour. So that was a good use of my time!

I'm planning to hit the gym next week for classes M-Th at 8pm (due to my work schedule change). Am looking forward to the variety it will entail. Some aerobic, some stretching, and some toning. A combination of all the exercises "they" say we need!!

Heading into the holiday season will not put a damper on my healthy lifestyle efforts. If anything, it makes me have a new resolve in my heart to continue on the path. I am aware that I am at a pivotal time of my journey. Although I would love to lose 10 more pounds, its not all about the pounds. I definately don't want to GAIN IT ALL BACK like so many people do. So, I am and have been, at the maintaining stage. Now is the time to continue and maintain the path that I have been on, not go backwards. A continued focus, and priority of health and fitness is what is needed now for me.

Having health and fitness buddies on the same journey as I is also helpful. God has given me several health and fitness buddies and I am thankful for each and every one of them.

A Healthy Start

So, this morning, the morning after Thanksgiving Day, I began with a healthy bowl of oatmeal, made with a cup of nonfat milk and a small gala apple diced, with a little cinnamon and honey. I also drank a small quarter cup of the instant Korean style coffee.


This was much better than what I ate yesterday! I am ashamed to say I visited McDonalds. Not only did I visit McDonalds, but, I ate a Big Mac, fries and diet soda. Do I not know better? Yes, I do. But, it was emotional eating. I was looking for comfort in the arms of the Big McD!! Did I find it there? Uh, no. Time to get back on track. So, that is why I am proud of myself for choosing a healthy breakfast today. And, I can start eating healthy again with my next meal. And the next one, and the next one after that!

Thanksgiving Day Breakfast

For today's breakfast I made white toast with a little bit of butter and strawberry spread, one scrambled egg sauteed with garlic and made with onion, green bell pepper, a little cilantro and jalepeno, seasoned with salt and pepper, and topped with queso fresco, a Mexican style cheese made from skim milk. I cooked the onions and pepper in the microwave instead of in oil, to try and cut down on calories. But, then I used a tiny bit of oil to cook the eggs. I also had one small gala apple and one cup of nonfat milk.

Need to go to store for more nutella spread. I love that stuff on my toast. Once I use up my white bread, I am going to try to get wheat and/or multi grain bread instead. Still trying to eat up what's in the fridge, freezer and pantry before going to supermarket as much as possible. Have to buy some yogurt and fresh oranges.

I am 10 pounds away from my weight goal, though I am content with where I am at now too. I know I can lose this belly fat if I eat right and switch up my exercise routine. That is why, starting last week, I have intentionally added weight training to my exercise routine. I just take a class at my gym that uses weights and repetitions throughout the class. I am a beginner and at this point taking a class is the best way for me to learn how to use weights.

It may be Turkey Day, but that doesn't mean I have to eat like one!

Success

Today is Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Breakfast consisted of a bowl of kashi cereal with a cup of nonfat moo. I stopped at Starbucks for a iced coffee drink and a mini vanilla scone (140 calories for 3 or 4 bites of bliss). Not sure how many calories in the iced frap. Lunch was a ham and turkey sandwich from Subway on wheat bread with honey mustard and alot of veggies, plus a drink. I also ate a fruit and yogurt parfait. The yogurt was low fat yogurt. My drink was the green tea, but it is the sweetened with honey kind. And, it dawned on me, I wonder how many calories are in that drink? I wonder if there are "hidden" calories in that particular green tea drink that I have not accounted for? I should find out about that. If it contains too many calories then it may be worth taking it out of my diet. For dinner I ate a chicken salad with low calorie balsamic vinegarette dressing from Carl's Jr. I also took a new Zumba TONING class and then drank a protein shake at home. Finally, I warmed up while watching Biggest Loser, Thanksgiving Edition, at home with a hot cider worth another 80 calories.

I love that I exercised today. I almost skipped my exercise to go visit someoene. But, I love the good feeling I get from working out. I love the energy it gives me! I also appreciate the decent eating I did today. Sure, I ate a mini scone from Starbucks. It is truly one of my indulgences, along with the mocha frap drink. However, I made healthy food choices throughout the rest of my day. A sandwich for lunch; a salad (with chicken) for dinner.

I could have added at least one more serving of fruit to make my day a wee bit healthier. But, I did do good by choosing the low cal vinegarette dressing! The past couple of days I'd been choosing the 100 calorie dressing with my McDonald's chicken salad.

I gave up eating fast food at the beginning of the year. Now, when I visit a Carl's Jr., or a McDonald's, I tend to lean towards the chicken salads, hands down!! I do alot of traveling with my tutoring job, and sometimes it is easier to grab something on the go than to pack it. My preference is to pack a sack lunch simply because it's cheaper, though it's not always possible or doable.

My workout plan for the next 2 weeks is to hit the gym classes M-Th at 8pm. Beginning with next week, I am tutoring again 4pm to 7 pm, so hitting the gym classes then won't be possible. I also have morning teaching classes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for the next 2 weeks, so hitting the gym on those mornings will also be impossible.

After 2 weeks, then I will be freed up on Monday and Wednesday mornings to hit the gym if I want. And, I want!! There is a Wednesday morning Zumba class that I'd like to take. And, there is a Monday morning boot camp class that I think would be good, plus I like the instructor!!

I signed up for Zumba TONING classes starting in January. I am hoping to take some TONING classes at my gym in December, as my schedule allows.

Other goals related to fitness include running my 1st 5K, and becoming certified to teach Zumba. I have been mulling these things over in my mind for quite some time now.

The final benefit I like from living an active lifestyle (meaning getting a daily dose of exercise, or something close to it), is the mental benefit it brings to me. The endorphins and the energy it brings to my life benefits me immensely. I want to make diet and exerise an intentional part of my life from now on. (By diet I mean food intake is making healthy choices).


Finally, I need to invest in a scale for home. I've only been using the scale at the gym or the scale at the Korean spas to weigh myself!! I think it's time I get one for my home!!
Until next time...

140. Not sure why my body is not cooperating with further weight loss at the moment. It's been the longest plateu ever! I haven't been watching my eating religiously as before, although I am eating mostly right with a few treats thrown in every now and then. For example, yesterday I drank hot chocolate but had it made with nonfat milk, and a tiny vanilla scone (my favorite weakness along with nuts).

If there is something I need to change in my routine I think it might be my workouts. Maybe more classes like "Body Abs Workouts" because it uses weights and repetitions throughout the workout. I went to the body abs class last night at my gym and I know it was good for my body. I think this might be the direction I need to make. Some adjustment is necessary.

Simple Dinner

It was 7:30 pm and I was hungry and a half an hour away from home. It would have been so easy, and convenient for me if I had run into Subway for dinner. However, I sucked it up and drove home, knowing that I had some cooked pinto beans in the fridge that I needed to eat up. So, I tried to make up a menu around the beans. I also had some rice and leftover green beans, so I reheated that. I ate a very humble, albeit, nutritious dinner tonight, and saved $5.00 by not eating out at Subway! I am mighty proud of myself! Dessert was an apple, with peanut butter and downed it with some nonfat milk. I think I did pretty good!