Working out while the boy is napping

40 Pounds lost

Before I came into work tonight I jumped on the scale and hit 40 lbs lost. Crazy feeling! I am hoping to hit 50 lbs lost by the end of the year. I think I can hit that goal. I will just have to stay consistent with my diet and workouts. It has been several days since I have worked out hard, I plan tomorrow to run about 4 miles outside since it is finally good enough weather to get out. The nice thing is my wife is off work tomorrow and is taking our son with her to have a girls day so I can get some good sleep when I get home from the graveyard shift and then get a good workout in. It is crazy how great I feel. There is so much energy inside and I feel like I can do anything. There have been several times that I have had a cheat day and I feel like absolute crap after eating. Don't get me wrong, the food tastes delicious and all but the bad type of calories puts my body into a slump.

Healthy eating while on graveyards

On a graveyard shift this week here at work. In times past when I have done a grave it has been a complete binge fest. I prepared and bought fruit, veggies and low sodium chicken noodle soup. The trick is I didn't bring anything else to tempt me. The 1st day is always the hardest to get through but tonight hasn't been bad at all I guess sugar coma effects you just a little bit. 

Winner winner salad dinner

Got the email today that I am an official winner of round 1 of the November-May dietbet. It isn't a huge amount of money but I think it is awesome that I can win money while getting healthy. Best hung ever. The part of dietbet that I love most however is the community there. Is is wonderful how everybody is cheering others on. 

Thanksgiving Point Pilgrim 5k

About a week before Thanksgiving I decided I wanted to run another 5K. It had been almost 2 years since I ran my first 5k. The first one was also at Thanksgiving point but it was by the water tower where this one was by the gardens and the golf course. This course was a lot harder because of the elevation difference. I ran the whole thing without stopping. It is such a gratifying feeling to finish an actual race rather than running outside all by yourself. My favorite part is that my wife and son did the 5k with me. It was her very first 5k. I am so proud of her of completing it. We have decided that we want to make this a tradition every year. 

30 days and 31 lbs

Yesterday I hit 30 days in a row logging into myfitnesspal. Myfitnesspal has been an integral part of me being healthy. Holding myself accountable for everything I put in my mouth is what makes me successful. The cool thing is I hit 31 lbs lost this morning when I jumped on the scale. I am so proud of myself but still have a long way to go. 

Put your fork down between bites

I have always devoured all of my food so quick that I almost don't even taste it. This has gotten me into trouble because I used to shovel it into my face so quick that I would get so sick and always eat way too much food. I have found that if I put my fork down in between bites I chew my food slower and enjoy the food. In turn, my stomach can tell me when it is full rather and just filling it way more than I should. If it is something I eat with my hands I have been making a concious effort to put the food down inbetween bites as well. I don't pick the food back up until I have completely chewed the food and swallowed. I read somewhere that most of us can eat a meal in 10 minutes, yet it takes our stomachs at least 20 minutes after we're done eating to signal our brains that we're no longer hungry. When we slow down we give our stomach just enough time to catch up with our brain, which in turn helps us eat less. So, next time you eat try it and see how it works out for you because it certainly works for me.

Green smoothie resolution

As you may have seen. I have been drinking green smoothies almost everyday. The trouble I have been having is that the kale or spinach does not last as long as I would like before we use it. I was reading a blog (can't remember which one) and it gave a great idea so I put it to use. I stuffed the blender full of just the spinach and filled it with water and let it blend. It turned into pretty much green water. I put it into ice trays and froze them so when we are making the smoothies all we have to do now is take 6-7 ice cubes out and put in with the fruit and a bit of orange juice and we were good to go. So simple, faster and easier! Give it a try!

Green smoothies

Last night we decided our cheap blender just was not cutting it Anymore so we ran to the store and grabbed a Ninja blender. It was a little pricy but we have heard over and over that you get what you pay for when it comes to blenders! It works incredibly well. Shaileen was nice enough to get up and make me a green smoothie made with fruit and kale. It was so good and extremely healthy too. I counted the calories and it came out to be around 250ish but I think that is great with the amount of nutrition it had in it. If you have never tried one before I would recommend it. You can not taste the kale or spinach that you put in it at all. Try it!

Valentines Dinner

 Usually for valentines day we go out to dinner which turns out bad for my nutrition. I decided yesterday after work I would stop at the grocery store and grab some food and I would make Shaileen dinner for Valentines day. I just have to say that I have the best wife on the face of the planet. I can assure this because she has put up and stayed married to be for the past 4 years. :) I love her.

As you can tell I grilled up some chicken breast in a Hawaiian marinade.I also found some Brown Whole Wheat Rice that comes in little baggies. I usually suck at cooking rice but all you have to do is throw it in a pan with 4 cups of water and let it boil for 10 minutes. It cooked perfectly (in my opinion at least, Shaileen may have another opinion though, haha) I then cut up some Romaine Lettuce and put some seasoning on the top, not sure what it is called though but really good. Light Italian dressing on the lettuce is what finished it up. I ate it as shown on the first picture but shaileen mixed it all up and made it into a salad with rice and chicken.

I would definately recommend the rice baggies, check em out.

Shopping List

Tonight I am going to go grocery shopping finally. It has been a while since we have gone shopping as we have been eating out way too much. As you can imagine it has not been good for my diet and health. As soon as I woke up this morning I knew that I needed to make a grocery shopping list so the moment I got here I started searching online and making a list of what I am going to get. Here is what I have put together.

Grains

• 100% Whole Wheat Bread
• Whole Wheat Tortillas
• Whole Grain Cereal (cheerios,quaker oatmeal squares)
• Brown Basmati Rice

Fruit

• Apples
• Oranges
• Bananas
• Grapes
• Berries
• Dried Fruit
• Canned Fruit (packed in 100% juice or light syrup)

Vegetables

• Romaine Lettuce
• Kale
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Zucchini
• Red Potatoes
• Frozen Veggies w/o sauce
• Canned Veggies (packed in low salt water and drained before use)

Meat/Beans

• Lean Cut Beef
• Boneless and Skinless Chicken and Turkey
• Lean Cut Lunch Meat
• All Natural Chicken Sausage
• Black Beans
• Kidney Beans
• Pinto Beans

Dairy

• Skim Milk
• 2% Reduced Fat Shredded Cheeses
• Low Fat or Fat Free Yogurts (greek or regular)
• 1% Cottage Cheese
• Reduced Fat String Cheese

Other Snacks

• Reduced Fat Wheat Thins
• Original  Sun Chips 140 cal for 16 chips
• Veggie Chips from Costco
• Snyders Multigrain Pretzel Chips
• 100 Calorie Smart Packs
• Instant Pudding and Jello

Starting to feel different

Man it feels good to start bring healthy. I can feel a bit of difference in the size if my stomach and can definitely feel a difference already in my strength from weight training! I really don't know why I have struggled in the past with making it to the gym and being healthy and eating well. I LOVE MY BODY

Bountiful baskets

We went and picked up our bountiful basket this morning! We got some pretty decent stuff! Especially for only $15! I am not sure how often we will do bountiful baskets but I am excited to eat what we got!

Nice dinner

Tonight I was home alone because Shaileen went to a baby shower with my mom and sisters! This left me to making dinner for myself tonight! Not much sounded good and I was searching through the kitchen for about 15-20 minutes until I remembered that I bought some broccoli stuffed chicken from Harmons last week that is not breaded! It was delicious and hit the spot. I also had a salad with lite Italian dressing that is only 35 calories for 2 tablespoons and some kind of topping that we found at the store but I don't really know what it is! Of course I had a big glass of ice water too!

I'm excited for tomorrow morning because we ordered a bountiful basket and we have not gotten one for several months. I will definately do a post on what I get. I am a little nervous though cause it is getting to the season where not much is being produced.

How I spend my time

The hour or so spent

in the gym is important...

But the key to results is

how you spend the other 23!

Presidential Debate while working out.

Last night I was having a hard time getting up to go to the gym because I was watching the presidential debate. I am not a political person at all but thought it was interesting what each of them were saying and could not get myself to get up and go. Then I remembered that I could steam KSL radio through my phone and listen to it so I jumped up and went. It was a leg day and I killed my legs and then did some cardio. It was a good workout, not as hard of cardio as I have done recently but still good.

Hair Swap

How to shop healthy!

I was reading website yesterday while at work about good healthy things to buy at the grocery store. Usually when I go I have a hard time deciding what to purchase and it is always just what I see that sounds good. There was a line on that website that I loved. It said something to the effect of  "stay on the perimeter of the grocery store" that is where all of the healthy stuff is to eat. I had never thought of it that way in the past. Of course there are some things that are healthy on the inside isles but it is safe to stay on the outside. When I went to grab a couple things at Harmons Grocery store yesterday I tried this out other than salad dressing and it worked very well. I plan to use this plan as much as I can from now on.



here is a little diagram of what I found yesterday!



I DONT!

I was reading Shaileen's Aunts blog and I learned somthing so simple but so effective at the same time. You can find her blog here. She was saying how sometimes when we are brought to foods that we are not going to eat because of our new lift change to be healthy we say that WE CAN'T eat it. She was saying that it is a horrible way to look at it. When I am placed with a thing that I can't do sometimes it drives me to do it anyways. They way that we need to think is that I DON'T from now on. I DON'T do it because I am living a healthy life. I think this little mind change can and will make a big difference in my life. I have not had soda in almost 5 years and this is the way I have looked at it with soda. I can't wait to say that it has been 5 years of good healthy eating and for the rest of my life as well!

I love sweat!

Can I just say that it has felt so good lately going to the gym. I need to remember this feeling when I have no desire to get off my butt and make it to the gym. Last night I broke my regular regimen and jumped on the treadmill rather than the elliptical. I have found that I swear a lot harder and quicker than the elliptical but I can definitely go longer on the elliptical! I ran about 3 miles on the treadmill in about 30-35 minutes. Then I jumped on the stationary bike to get my heart rate to decrease. I then jumped on the rowing machine. I have a love/hate relationship with the rowing machine. It works so well but it sucks while I am doing it usually! When I got on it last night I was searching through the menu and found some games that are downloaded on the machine! My favorite one was the fish game. You are a fish that moves up and down depending on how much effort you row with and then eat other fish for points. It is nice to have some fun with the workout rather than just rowing and watching the clock. I knew I was sweating but when I got home I was really proud of myself. My shirt was absolutely soaked!

I had self control

Last night after work we went over to Shaileen's Step Dad's house to celebrate his birthday! They had some good looking German Chocolate Cake and Yellow cake with vanilla ice cream. I had the will power to say no thank you. I understand it is not bad to have something every once in a while but it was not for me last night. I have heard from a podcast as well as other websites that it is good to have a little bit of sweets everyday so you dont have the desire to binge eat in the future. I can see how that works but I don't know how it would work for me. It is almost like giving an alcoholic a sip of beer so they dont crave it. I dont know though, guess I will just have to test it out and see what works best for me. I was a little worried last night when we went over to their house a little late because I knew we would get home late too. I didn't want that to effect my desire to go to the gym. I had the desire though still but did not get there until about 9pm and got home just after 10pm. My legs were absolutely dead from the work out the night before though. I did the best I could and burned about 700 calories in that hour which I was just ok with, a little disappointed but thought I could do better. I am interested to find out how my legs are tonight because as I sit here at work this morning they are sore and tired. Maybe I should just do a weight training day. We will see I guess. By the way, the fruit basket at my desk at work has been great. I know it has been only one day but it is easier to grab something healthy rather than crap that I used to eat! You should try it out!!!!!