Just Like The Girl With A Curl In the Middle of Her Forehead

Have you ever read that poem?

There once was a girl

With a curl

In the middle

Of her forehead

When she was good

She was very, very good

And when she was bad

She was horrid

Last week, I was good all week long. I dropped pounds. I ate well, even though I was sick.

The weekend, though. The weekend was lazy and full of food and drink and staying up late.

So here I am Monday morning & I actually did my workout. In the morning! Because we meet with the priest after work, then James has his guys night, so I won't have time to work out this evening. And this evening is also the last push of chores before people start arriving for the wedding!

~Katie

Wait, What Happened?

I've worked out a few times since the 15th. About 4 times. Maybe?

The training class and events after work took over. And then it was Easter weekend. I worked out Saturday and then went stand up paddle boarding with James, my brother, and sister-in-law on Sunday. I also did push-ups and some balance moves!

And Jehnna & I inadvertently matched outfits.

We had a great time hanging out with the family. However, based on this week, I need to up my immune system drastically.

I woke up sick as a dog Monday. It was a day I should have called in sick. And then I should have called in on Tuesday, and didn't. Yesterday, I finally felt well enough to work out. I did Cardio Fix again. 

Today, my allergies are still going crazy. My sinuses are out of control. I hope this clears up by Wednesday. I don't want to feel so rundown when I've got a lot of social events and family to visit with! And also the whole getting married thing!

I've been zinc-ing up. I've been drinking herbal tea, and eating well to recover from the weekend's indiscretions.

So. Not much progress on the workout front. Plenty of progress on dropping the 4 pounds I gained last week & weekend. So at least this has just made me slow down and focus on my nutrition.

I'm so tired of Spring allergy season. My sinuses are in overdrive and no amount of meds is helping.

Oh well. It's life. Just have to keep the tissues nearby and steam my sinuses.

~Katie

Cardio Fix

Phew! This was NOT EASY! And I guess that's the point of a kick-booty program meant to whip you into shape in 21 days.

I brought my own food & snacks to the training today. I did pretty well. I subbed the chicken fajita meat they served today in for the eggs I brought. I had that with quinoa & brocolli. I also sprinkled some pico de gallo on top, since it's fresh veggies, for the most part. Snacks were yogurt with chia seeds & berries between breakfast & lunch, then sugar peas and tomatoes with almonds & a pear in the afternoon.

I did cheat and have a small bite-sized red velvet cupcake in the afternoon, too. But I did much better than yesterday.

Now I may need to grocery shop for some pantry stockers.

~Katie

Barre Legs

Wow.

My legs are making me cry. The barre legs workout was so difficult!

I got a late start at it, and finished my taxes! Woohoo! I love when I put something off so long and then have to do it in one fell swoop: not.

I was very tempted to blow off today's workout since it's a semi-dreary Sunday. In the end, I decided that it's just 30 minutes, I was already in my workout clothes, and I should just go for it.

So I did.

This week will be a dietary challenge. I'm taking a training class and the place usually has breakfast, morning snack, lunch, & afternoon snacks served every day. I am hoping that I can bring snacks the first day and then assess the offerings to see what I need to do to combat the mindless eating.

Because I can see myself losing the control that I've been so good at gaining.

~Katie

Total Body Cardio Fix

With 3 weeks tomorrow until the wedding, and the fact that I'm in training all next week that's catered, I decided to step up my game. 21 Day Fix is meant for, well, 21 days. 3 weeks. 

I'm not quite finished with the Lean Circuit, so I'm overlapping workouts starting with 21DayFix in the mornings and ChaLEAN in the evenings. 

The first day is Total Body Cardio Fix. I had to modify by the end because I was afraid I'd lose grip on the weight & it would go flying into the TV. But I'm glad I did it!

Boy did this morning's workout wear me down! I totally needed it, too. Last night, we divided up the candy for the welcome bags, and I'll admit that a bit made it's way into my mouth. Not a ton, but enough to pique the munchies. And then I had a snack of cheddar fire corn. I had picked it up at the grocery store because, hello, popcorn with dried slices of jalapeño and cheddar? But I made the rookie mistake of just opening the bag and munching rather than making a measured bowl for myself and putting the bag away.

So the evening before weigh-in at weight watchers, I get the munchies. Oh well.

Good thing I worked out this morning!

Note: I got a new scale in and it measures about 1.4 pounds heavier than my previous one, however it is highly rated for its accuracy & consistency, which my prior scale lacked as sometimes it ranged a pound within 30 seconds of consecutive weigh-ins. So there will be a jump on my home weight, compounded by my snacking last night. What can you do? Now I have a plan, and will be getting the non-cheddar variety of fire corn next.

~Katie

Well, I Have Been Feeling Good

One thing I'm really happy about is that I made a decision early on in the process to take measurements and to take photos in addition to weighing myself.

Lately, I've been feeling rather good (like in the last week), and I've been feeling like the hard work I've been putting in is finally building up to something that I can see and feel. I weigh myself nearly daily. The scale is not the most reliable, and I've ordered another, but I allow for variation in how I interpret the results.

I do need to take photos again soon, but I decided to take measurements this morning, just to check on my progress.

I must have been building a fair amount of muscle and losing fat, because my weight is higher than it was back in July, but my measurements? They're doing so well!

I've also edited my tracking charts because I wanted to see how my metric now compares to my metrics in the past since I started tracking.

So I'm weighing in at about the same as I was weighing last May and June and finally getting to pre-GABF weight again!

But my measurements for my waist are down to where I was in August, my chest is also back down, and my hips are close to where I was in August.

 This is GREAT! I've been working very hard on keeping my eating and drinking in check lately, I've been back to my working out, and it's showing in my measurements! I may actually be able to wear my jeans a size down soon, again! It will take some continued work, but this is the evidence that I've been seeking in the wrong places (my weight). Since I'm adding muscle, my weight might not be changing as quickly as I hope, but my measurements are, and that's a huge accomplishment!

I brought my clothes to run at lunch today, but I forgot to pack my deodorant, so I'll do that tomorrow. I will still do my ChaLEAN workout, as prescribed since I don't want to fall behind after taking a week off of working out. And I think that week of focusing on my eating habits has been very good for me. I'm timing my meals, keeping my portions and proportions of food in mind, and getting enough whole foods in my diet, again.

I also totally cheat. The program allows you to have one 4 oz glass of wine 3 times a week. I will fully admit that I like my evening glass of wine. With Lent still underway, I've been limiting drinking beer to once a week, and the rest of the week, if I feel like an adult beverage, I have a glass of white wine. My portion is not 4 oz. It's not 16 oz either, but it's closer to 6-8 oz, depending on the glass I use.

I also try to limit my meals out of the house or prepared meals to once per day. This has been helping IMMENSELY! I bring my two snacks and lunch to work with me. I also have been making my dinner and dinner-snack more often than not. I've stayed away from my weaknesses, for the most part, too.

There's a portion for hummus in the 21 Day Fix guidelines. It's about the size of a clementine. I cannot count the number of times that I have sat down with pretzel thins, carrots, or really any vehicle for hummus and a new tub of hummus then realized about 5 minutes later that there is no hummus left. I see the hummus, I want the hummus, but it's just not worth it because in the end, I'm still really hungry when I finish the portion allowed, and I feel like I want to eat everything in the house. So I just don't buy it.

I know that I still have a ways to go, but I am also so proud of how far I've come in my journey. I'm also proud of the small changes that are adding up to big changes. The decision to just be happy. The decision to just say no to being stressed about wedding stuff like RSVPs and seating charts. We'll be just fine, and every day that passes makes us that much closer to celebrating our union with family & friends.

~Katie

Return of the Reps!

I took a week off of the Lean Circuit.

Last week, between queasiness from diet change and emotional upheaval over medical tests (I'm healthy, but tests are always daunting in that we-don't-know-if-anything-is-wrong-but-why-else-would-we-test kind of way), I decided to give myself a rest and get back to it this week.

So Monday, I quit my workout after 2 sets because my tummy was so upset. Tuesday, all the emotions had me crying all day. Wednesday, I took off for medical tests and also emotional recovery, but stuck to 21 day fix eating guidelines for the most part. Thursday, I was still going through some recovery, but did HIIT 15 from TurboFire and ate according to 21 day fix. Friday was another HIIT 15 and eating mostly on plan. I also weighed in at Weight Watchers and lost the weight I'd gained the past 2 weeks. At home, my weight dropped a few pounds, as well.

Saturday, I didn't eat as on plan as desired. We had marriage prep at church, with kolaches! Then I got my hair done, picked up my wedding dress, ran errands, and then went out to meet friends and celebrate another friend's birthday! 

Sunday was bridal portraits. No teasers for you, though. We had a great day. Hair, then makeup, then driving out to Brenham to spend a day being myself in my dress all around downtown Brenham and a small bluebonnet field. So happy the weather cooperated more than projected!

And this evening, back to Lean Circuit 1. I didn't quite do as well weight-wise, or rep-wise, however I felt really good finishing up and getting back on track! 

~Katie

Fix?

At this point, I'm three meals into the first day of the 3 day quick fix.

Yesterday, I did a 'normal' 21 day fix day, and was fine up until I decided to have that artichoke before my workout. Bad decision, Katie. I started the workout, but had to stop due to my tummy being in knots.

Today, I started the 3 day fix. I figure if I prepped all that food, I'm going to eat it! Waste not, want not.

I botched the yam steaming. I had steamed the salmon I got as backup because that Halibut went out the door without passing my lips. And I needed steamed yam for the second meal of the day, along with chicken. So I just plopped that yam onto the steamer, set the timer for 20 minutes, and did the dishes (ALL OF THE DISHES!). Guess what I forgot to do?

Check the water level.

Buzzer goes off, and I take the lid off, surprised at the lack of steam, and then realize that there's a slightly burnt smell. Yup, totally burned my new steamer pot.

I'm telling you, I'm winning at this whole cooking thing. I burned the quinoa on Sunday. I forgot to stir the steel cut oats, so they overflowed (but were still tasty). I cooked horrible fish smell into my house.

Most of these are things that I can normally do in my sleep. I've just been so absent minded (more than usual) of late.

And I haven't done a full workout since yesterday's run.
Because I have the worst heartburn/upset tummy ever!

I'm trying really hard to just sit back and focus on all of the good things, and I'm succeeding most of the time, really.

The one thing that I'm just going to have to let slide in preparation for the wedding is getting the house ship-shape. Because guess what? I'm really not that tidy of a person. We have too small of a space for the amount of pets we have and hobbies we have. We have a kitten who thinks that tearing up the blinds is fun, and so the blinds all need to be replaced. And that's just not going to change in the next month. I've accepted that. Sortof. I'm sure I'll change my mind next week when I decide that the house needs to be pressure washed, the front room needs a complete overhaul, and we need to have a garage sale yesterday. And somehow get all of that done while both of us work full-time, I'm cooking meals, and we're both working out, and would like to get sleep.

Will people judge me when they come over to visit or help or stop in? Sure. But it's just not worth the added stress. They'll just have to accept it and move on.

~Katie