Fit by 40 - Goal 3: Exercise 3x a week (Part II)

OK, so I didn't do so great with Goal 3. My intention was to exercise at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. I'm pretty sure I got a total of 3 hours of exercise for the 2 weeks, but I didn't break into 6 intentional workouts. My two biggest workouts were walking around Philadelphia for a few hours and mowing the lawn. I also had a big event at work that had me walking back and forth between buildings all day. Since I didn't do so great with this goal, I'm going to repeat it for the next 2 weeks with the hopes that I'll do better. I also had a bit of a setback in the eating department. I managed to stick to the first two goals of not drinking pop and preparing my breakfast (except while traveling), but I also managed to eat a ton of junk food. Between all of the candy at work and the snacks for the drive to Philly, I erased some of the weight loss from the first two goals.

Stats after Goal 3:

•  Weight: 226.4 (up 2.6 lbs from last check, down 1.6 lbs total)
• Pants size: 38 (no change)
• Shirt size: XL (no change)

Fit by 40 - Goal 3: Exercise 3x a week

Goal 2 of fixing breakfast was a success. Breakfast the first week was mostly hard boiled eggs and energy balls. Then things got a little busy and I didn't keep up with boiling eggs and I didn't get to make a second batch of energy balls, so I had to punt a few days. Breakfast on those days was a granola bar, a cheese stick, and an apple. Still considerably better than a daily heart attack in a sack from McDonald's.

Goal 3 is to start exercising. I've had a good month of making some dietary changes and now I want to bring in some physical effort. Hopefully this will give my first two changes a chance to become more automatic. I'm not going to lie, I've had a few Coke cravings and came close to giving in. As for the exercise, I'm going to focus on walking since that's relatively easy to incorporate and I can take Gunnar along with me. Freeman could use the walks too. I'll probably throw in a couple of bike rides if the weather is nice.

Stats after Goal 2:

• Weight: 223.8 lbs (down 4.2 lbs total)
• Pants size: 38 (no change; I did manage to squeeze into a size 36, but it was tight)
• Shirt size: XL (no change)

Fit by 40 - Goal 2: Fix breakfast

I have a really bad habit of picking up McDonald's for breakfast on my way to work. My usual order was either a Sausage McMuffin, hasbrown, and diet Coke or two hashbrowns and a diet Coke. I also enjoy the fruit and yogurt parfait. This habit was born mostly from laziness. Fixing breakfast takes time (either in the morning or the night before) and it was just easier to swing through the drive-thru right by work. Making a goal of fixing my own breakfast seemed like a natural progression after successfully giving up pop for two weeks. I will need to come up with some more ideas for breakfast that I can either eat quickly while getting ready or take with me to work so I don't get bored of eating the same things everyday. Some of my go-to breakfasts are hard boiled eggs, energy balls, yogurt, oatmeal (with brown sugar, walnuts, and Craisins), toast with butter or peanut butter, and bagels with cream cheese. I know, bagels aren't exactly healthy. My goal for the moment isn't necessarily to focus on the healthiest choice. I want to establish the habit of fixing breakfast first and gradually become healthier. And honestly, pretty much anything I fix will be healthier than what I've been eating.

Stats after Goal 1:

• Weight: 225.5 lbs (down 2.5 lbs)
• Pants size: 38 (no change)
• Shirt size: XL (no change)

Fit by 40 - Goal 1: Give up pop

I can drink pop like it's my job. I've been known to 2-3 large pops from a fast food establishment and another 2-3 20 oz bottles in the same day. That's a lot of sugar and a lot of calories, even if some of that was diet pop. I've given up pop in the past as part of the 17 Day Diet, but it always manages to sneak back into my life. As I started thinking about my goal of being Fit by 40, I knew pop was one of the first things that needed to go. I officially drank my last pop on September 8, 2017. I'm sure I'll get to the point where I can have the occasional Coke, but for now I need to make a clean break and not tempt myself.

 In the two weeks since my last Coke I have dropped about 2.5 lbs. This has fluctuated a little (down as much as 4 lbs), mainly because I didn't change anything else about my eating and might have enjoyed a few large natural lemonades from Wendy's. And maybe a Frosty or two. The first several days were hell as my body adjusted to not having its daily caffeine intake. The migraines were pretty crippling. I really started to turn the corner on day 5 and since then I haven't really missed the caffeine. I don't feel more tired during the day than I did before. In fact I probably sleep a little better and pretty much pass out by 9:30, even when I'm trying to work on homework. I have had some cravings for a Coke just because I actually like the flavor. The strange thing is that I have had a couple of dreams where I realized I was in the middle of drinking a Coke or had just finished a Coke and I didn't even know that I had started drinking it. Weird.

Fit by 40

I turned 39 at the beginning of September. Not a milestone by itself, but it is the last stop before a big milestone. I got to thinking during the days after my birthday that I was tired of being fat and tired. I decided something needed to be done, but I've tried making big changes in the past to only end up back where I am. We were pretty successful with the 17 Day Diet back in 2012 when I lost about 30 pounds, but that weight all came back and it brought some friends. We've tried to do the 17 Day Diet a couple of times since then and we just couldn't make it work a second time. I was up to my heaviest weight and largest pants size on my birthday. I hate outgrowing clothes, but I hit the point that I really couldn't wear most of the pants in my closet and a lot of my shirts were getting tight. I had to go up a size for my polos and my dress shirts were starting to tug at the buttons on my belly. I knew something needed to change.

I decided that if I'm going to lose weight and get in shape (and stay that way), I needed to make more gradual changes rather than trying to lose the weight quickly. I found the Runs for Cookies blog a while ago and one of her strongest recommendations is to start by making small changes that add up to a big change in the end. I also don't want to give up all the good food options :). My plan is to make a series of healthy changes during the year leading up to my 40th birthday. I've read that new habits take about 40 days to really stick. I don't want to wait that long in between changes, so I'm going to introduce a new change every two weeks. Some of the changes will be giving up a bad habit. Others will be incorporating a new healthy habit. The first changes focus on food because a healthy weight starts in the kitchen. So far I have ideas for 9 of the 26 changes. I might decide that I need to devote more time to make sure some of the changes become permanent before moving on to the next one on the list.

Here are the ideas I have so far. I would certainly welcome suggestions for other healthy habits.

• Give up pop
• Fix breakfast
• Pack lunch
• Stop eating out
• Eat at least 2 fruits a day
• Exercise 30 minutes 3x a week
• Exercise 30 minutes 5x a week
• 10,000 steps a day
• Bodyweight exercises 2x a week

 Starting stats:

•  Weight: 228 lbs
• Pant size: 38 in waist
• Shirt size: XL (16.5/17 in neck)

Energy Balls

My Dad turned us on to this VERY simple recipe when we were home a while ago.  We call them energy balls.  They are all over pinterest and are the easiest, most filling snack I have ever had.  And they don't taste like you're being good, which is always a plus.  I highly recommend making a batch.  I grab two for breakfast as I'm running out the door and they hold me over until lunch.  And bonus: they are totally customizable.  :)  Here's the recipe we use. 

Cheers!

Energy Balls

1 cup dry oatmeal (oats)
2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

Toast coconut flakes in a small pan at medium heat on stove top.  Keep moving the flakes around so they don't get burned.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  I try to put the chocolate chips on the bottom so the coconut doesn't melt them until I stir everything in.  Let it sit in the fridge for a bit to harden up.  Make into balls.  Store in the fridge.

If you don't like chocolate, try dried fruit or nuts.  And you can make these without including the flaxseed if you want. 

Menu Sample - One Week

The most common New Year's Resolution is to lose weight.  That was one of my 2012 resolutions.  It was the only one that I completed.  If you have been reading trough the blog, you know by now that Kevin and I are fans of the 17 Day Diet.  We have lost a combined total of around 65 lbs.  A lot of my friends are hitting the healthy eating bandwagon early this year and many have asked for tips/ recipes/ advice.  I believe the biggest obstacle for any diet is putting meals together, especially if cooking isn't your thing and you have little time.  So, to help my girlfriends out a bit (we're all in this together), I have put together the menu that Kevin and I are currently doing for this week, for we too, are also on a diet to get rid of holiday weight and get ready for our vacation.

Hope this helps!


Week 1 - Cleanse Menu

Sunday

Dinner:  Chicken Kabobs w/ Green Peppers and Onions
                    (grill outside or use a George Foreman.  Season chicken with spices.)


Monday

Breakfast:  2 eggs, scrambled w/ chopped green pepper and onions, sprinkle Low Fat cheese on top

Snack:  Low Fat yogurt (probiotic)
            Mixed Berries

Lunch:  Leftover Chicken Kabobs w/ Veggies

Snack:  Red Grapes (2pm or earlier)

Dinner:  Taco Salad
                (lettuce, homemade salsa, light amount of LF cheese, ground turkey w/ taco low  
                      sodium taco  seasoning packet)

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt (probiotic)


Tuesday

B:  Greek yogurt
     Mixed Berries

S:  Pear

L:  Leftover Taco Salad

S:  Carrots w/ Lite Ranch

D:  Chicken Stir Fry (NO rice)
           (cook chicken in low sodium soy sauce.  Add brocoli, carrots, peppers and onions)

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt


Wednesday

B:  2 eggs

S:  Low Fat yogurt
     Red grapes

L:  Leftover Chicken Stir Fry

S:  Broccoli w/ Lite Ranch

D:  Chili  (recipe here but NO BREAD!)

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt

Cycle 1 Chili

Thursday

B:  Low Fat yogurt
     Apple

S:  Carrots

L:  Leftover Chili

S:  Pear (2pm or earlier)

D:  Lemon Garlic Chicken w/ Green Beans (find recipe here, NO POTATOES)

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Friday

B:  2 eggs, scrambled w/ chopped green peppers and onions, sprinkle w/ LF cheese

S:  Yogurt
     Mixed Berries

L:  Leftover Lemon Garlic Chicken and Green Beans

S:  Carrots w Lite Ranch

D:  Baked Tilapia w/ Peppers
      Steamed broccoli

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt


We start every morning, very first thing, with hot lemon water.  We also take a Green Tea suppliment with every meal.  You need two servings of probiotics a day, that's why yogurt is there twice everyday.  There are other foods that are probiotic, I just don't like them.  :)

On the weekends, except Sunday dinner (because of Monday leftovers), we usually graze on veggies, fruit and protein like canned tuna or chicken on salads.  We run around a lot so meals have to be quick.  You can mix up the tuna with mustard instead of mayo and it's very good.  Kevin also makes a really tasty Dijon salad dressing which I'll share later.  And steaming some veggies in the microwave only takes a couple minutes.  We eat a lot of fish on the weekend because it doesn't make good leftovers. 

This is all for Cycle 1 of the 17 Day Diet.  It is the hardest cycle but is also the most effective.  Other cycle menus have a lot more variety.

Check back here again.  I'll post another round of Cycle 1 next week to keep you guys going.

Good luck!

Cheers!