When the Routine Stops

I had a pretty good routine going for a while:

Wake up
Rush get ready
Work
Home Workout
Shove food in mouth
Hang out with Husband
Maybe do some chores or bath
Sleep

Repeat

And then I got pregnant and moved and it went to:

Wake up
Rush get ready
Work
Home packing
Oh crap! Eat
Bath
Sleep

And now it's moved on to:

Wake up
Rush get ready
Feed Animals & do some chores
Work
Home chores
Eat something
Hang out with husband or bath
Sleep

Notice something that fell out of the mix?
Working out after work

By the time I get home, I'm exhausted and I just want to eat something, take some time to decompress, and for the day to be done.

My original goal for December was to get back into a working out routine. My new goal is to simply work out more than once every couple weeks. Once or twice a week would be great. Does doing 10 squats each morning and evening count as a workout? Because I already started doing that!

Cheers,
Katie

PS I totally want to do a photo log that compares me now to when I started this blog. I have a feeling that I'm still looking more trim and fit than when I started. And that gives me a huge sense of accomplishment because I have come so far both mentally and physically in the past nearly two years!

Hello Again!

Well, now that I'm moved into the new house, and things have settled down a bit, I'm back to evening workouts.

I signed up for a 5k on November 22nd to help motivate me to get out & use the very convenient hike & bike trail that connects to our neighborhood. I will admit to not doing much more than a 2 mile walk every week, or two, for the past month and a half.

I've been exhausted pretty much 24/7, which is the most significant symptom I've had in my first trimester. Built in portion control from a body that can eat about a cup and a half of food in one sitting has helped me avoid gaining weight this first trimester. Not going out due to exhaustion & moving also helped keep me away from pub grub, lending extra help to lose 8 pounds between conception & now. My doctor is not worried, he's supportive as long as I'm eating enough & not suffering nausea.

So, not much working out, and 5k coming up.

Add to that, daylight savings time, and not being someone who wakes up early, and there was a possible excuse for continuing not working out when I know I need to train for this 5k. 

Enter the excuse buster:

This little light of mine, well, I let it shine!

By the end of 3 miles, I was ready to rip it off of my forehead, but I'll have to adjust the band. It worked great & it kept me from using the cover of darkness as an excuse.

Here's to a continuing healthy pregnancy!

~Katie

Got Buns, Hon?

Just finished a killer buns workout this evening!

This has been a stressful & full couple of weeks! However, I haven't hoovered any bags of candy, and my nutrition remains at a higher quality than normal. I'm not sticking to 21 day fix adamantly, but I have been bringing my lunch 3 out of 5 days, cooking dinners at home, and upping my water intake. 

While I haven't been doing as many DVD workouts, I've been fitting in 30+ minute walks into my week at least twice a week.

While it's less than I have done in the past, it's better than I've been for most of the past year, which is fits & starts of 2 weeks on, 4 weeks off.

Yay!

~ Katie

Core

I'm slowly familiarizing myself with the different PiYo workouts. Not really following a schedule yet, but I'm happy when I actually do a workout about 3 times a week.

Today, I did the Core workout.

James convinced me to workout before we could go to brunch. Now I have to shower & he has to shower, so who knows if brunch will even materialize.

~Katie

Half Is Better Than None

I did half of the Drench workout tonight. I didn't realize it was almost an hour when I started it, and pooped out at half an hour.

It lives up to it's name.

Now off to the grocery store to stock up since I'm out of some of my lunch foods.

~Katie

Sunday Hustle

Got in a hard core workout today using the strength slides!

Now to go grocery shopping to prep for a week of meals!

All the veggie & fruit prep!

~Katie

Nutrition

Today was a pretty good day. 

Walked about 5 miles with my husband.

Ate a small lunch.

Then shot it all to pieces with a pizza.

I think it's time for me to break out the containers again & go for the idiot-proof nutrition boot camp of 21 Day Fix. Just this time, I'm counting everything & making sure that I don't cheat beverage-wise. Sure, the directions allow for 2 4oz servings of wine a week, but then I'd have a nearly full bottle sitting around, and that's just a waste.

So I'm going without that.

This month is huge. Selling our house, finding another (and hopefully having an offer accepted), getting more established in my new role at work.

With enough stress that way, I need to feed my body right & establish better de-stressing habits along the way. Like herbal tea to let the weight of the day lift.

I can do this.

~Katie

Tuesday Leg Day

Today was Define Lower in the PiYo workout. Tomorrow is something I haven't done: Core!

Yes, it's blurry. Yes, I'm sweaty.

It's a good little workout.

~Katie

Sweat It Out

Got off my duff & worked out this evening!

Tonight was Sweat, the workout I was planning to make up, but didn't. I've been tracking food pretty well last week. The weekend went out the door, though.

Just keeping on keeping on.

~Katie

Keeping On

Yesterday, I had a bit of an issue wanting to do more than be a lump. So, I didn't do my workout.

Today, I did said workout. And found out it was only 18 minutes long. So, yeah. I really should have just done it yesterday. Instead, I pushed my workouts so that I'm not getting a rest day tomorrow.

Oh well.

Today, I was in training for my new position at work. I cannot say how much I missed processing data. I have needed this change for a while, and I am so glad I finally decided to voice my desire to change. I'm glad to have had the chance to push my boundaries, but right now, I work much better within them.

Now to grab some food.

~Katie

Day Once Again

I start over a lot. I fail a lot.

But at least I don't full on stop forever.

Keeping with the recommitment, I did Tuesday first week of PiYo workout. I need to work on my setup a bit, because yoga mat on floor hurts me & O now have yoga mat on top of my blocking tiles for a bit of cushion under my knees & wrists. 

It's been great for relieving some of the aches on my body and letting me actually do the workout rather than stopping halfway through because my wrists are screaming at me. However, the tiles don't stay together when I'm putting pressure on them like in down dog. Oh well. Better than nothing, right?

I'm glowing, and feel great having continued with my dedication longer than 12 hours. ;-) 

No, seriously. 

~Katie

Riding In Cars With Boys

This weekend was the last weekend in August. The month of sloth.

James & I took Friday to drive to Albuquerque to meet our nephew! 845 miles, so 13 hours plus breaks to get there. That's a lot of sitting in a car with the temptation to just snack our way through the long drive. We did have a relatively healthy lunch, though!

I did use the stops along the way to do some gas station yoga which was mostly warrior poses.

I find it easier to drive on road trips when we are listening to an audiobook, and James had listened to John Scalzi's new book Lock In narrated by Wil Weaton last week, and loved it. It just so happens that it was also narrated by Amber Benson since the main character's gender is never referenced, it lends a different aspect to the same book. We listened to the version by Amber Benson on the drive from Houston to Albuquerque. I highly recommend it.

We had a great time in ABQ visiting with family, meeting our nephew & soon-to-be godson as well as celebrating James' grandfather's birthday! We were just there for two full days, but we packed a lot of visiting in there. I even joined James for the last half hour of COMBAT 60 on Saturday morning.

Today, we headed out at 4:30 am mountain time & arrived home at about 8 pm. I again did some gas station yoga, but we didn't stop as often. We stopped around 6:30 am to get McDonald's breakfast, which is one of the very few times I have eaten fast food this year (I can count the times on my fingers). As such, we didn't stop for lunch, just snacked on the peanuts & skinny pop we packed with us, and the fries I caved for when we had 4 hours left to go.

On this drive, we continued the Scalzi track by listening to Old Man's War which was very well narrated & kept me wanting to keep going so we could keep listening!

Once we got home, I felt like working out the links of being in the car all day, and did PiYo Sweat. It's about 35 minutes of stretching & strength workout. I think it was good for me to start off with a workout for a new month.

So here's to a new month, and a renewed goal. I just want to work out. I want to move & sweat every day for at least half an hour.

~Katie

All Around the Mulberry Bush

I'm just going to give August a wash.

My mood is all over the place. Happy, sad, mopey, angry, calm,  irritated, etc.

I'm working out not much. I actually have been doing some working out this week, so that's a positive. My muscles are sore from PiYo. I need to get used to the flow of PiYo, because doing it doesn't really get me revved up, but the after effects are definitely giving me the indication that I'm working hard. I think it's more towards the yoga side of things where the workout is more calm and collected. After so long of revved up workouts, it's different.

I'm working on just trying to keep my head above water most of the time because we're going through a transitional upheaval.

There is some good news that I can finally announce, since some papers are signed: I'm moving to a different position at work. I felt like it was time to learn something related, but new, and to work on defined projects again, so I'm moving back to processing in a slightly different capacity. I'll be associated with the same group I am now, but I'll have a different reporting structure and I'll be moving down the hall a bit to a different office. I'm lucky enough to have a great manager who responded well when I went to him to discuss my need for a change. Things progressed quickly and I'm glad to be supported through it.

Another good news, I can't quite let out of the bag, yet because things aren't solid and signed on more paper (some paper has been signed). So I'm still not letting myself get too attached to the transition. Stay tuned.

I'm still struggling with weight. Let's face it, I'm going through a TON of transitions and I often go to food for comfort. I've been doing it more than I should lately. But I'm mindful of that, and not letting myself go too far too often (says the girl who had ice cream and jalapeno spread with crackers as the whole of her dinner last night).

I'm seeing how I associate what I wear (and what I purchase to wear) on how I feel about myself. When I was all skinny mini, I wore a ton of bright colors. I had some basic neutrals to mix in, but I gravitated towards bright colors. Before I started this blog and this current journey, I had transitioned into buying greys and blacks almost exclusively. I wore greys and blacks and neutrals almost exclusively. I felt bad about myself. I felt unattractive, so I didn't draw attention to myself.

Lately, I go through the colorful/neutraldark cycle a lot. Every day, I dress for my mood. If I wear makeup, it's usually a day that I'm feeling better about myself. If I wear color, I'm in a better mood. If I do my hair rather than just putting it in a bun or ponytail, I'm usually reflecting how I feel. Overall, I'm gravitating towards color these days. I'm wearing color and buying color. I could wear coral every day head to toe (no joke). The past couple of days, I've been doing my makeup and doing my hair.

And something that I'm thinking about is the whole "fake it til you make it" mentality. If this is what I do naturally when I'm feeling good about myself and in a good mood, then should I force it when I'm not? Does wearing the color and doing my hair & makeup aid in changing my mood? Or is it okay to just let myself have an off day/week and feel those feelings, explore them, and figure out what I need to get out of them?

~Katie

Meh

I actually did a workout today.

I didn't give it my all. 

I pooped out halfway through, and just laid there.

But my muscles are shaking, and I feel like I've turned a corner on this whole giving a care about my fitness again.

So there's that.

~Katie

This Week

This week has been decidedly "Don't Wanna"

I haven't worked out once.

I've been eating pretty much whatever I want, but I'm not really over eating. I'm just not eating balanced meals or snacks.

I've maintained my weight this week, hovering within a quarter pound of 177.5 all week. It's not great, but it's better than when I first returned from vacation.

And in some ways, this is okay. My brain needed a bit of time to just focus on all the other aspects of life. I just needed to let it go, and let it out.

It's not going to last, I decided to get a new program. I know, another new program. I justified it as being my purchase this summer since I have only bought 2 skirts and one pair of shorts since the beginning of June. I bought the second skirt last week when the zipper blew out of the skirt I was wearing at work. It's an old skirt, and the zipper gave way while I was sitting. I needed a replacement, and got one during lunch.

So I got PiYo. It's low impact, it's strength building, and it's made to increase flexibility.
Since the front room is newly cleared out, I'm planning on using that room for my workouts and may even start working out in the morning again. (that's a big maybe, I'm a total lunkerhead, and the thought of waking up early still makes me cringe)

~Katie

Reacting

I'm going through a bad period right now.

There is a lot of my life that is in flux. Many aspects of my life are on the precipice of change or currently actively changing. It's all for the better.

However, I find myself reacting to the changes.

All I want to do at home is sit there and read and have a glass of wine.

I don't want to clean the house, but I have to. We're showing the house and nothing puts buyers off more than leaving your bed unmade and dirty dishes in the sink and dirty laundry strewn throughout.

I don't want to work out. I should work out. I really should, but it's the first thing that I throw out the window when I get home. I do the cleaning of the house instead.

I don't want to wake up early. Waking up early means that I have time to work out before work. It also means that I get 2-3 hours less sleep each night. I love my sleep. I need my sleep.

And as time goes on, I've been stagnant on the weightloss front. I gained weight over vacation, and am now in the 177 range that I have been toying with for MONTHS. I know what needs to happen. I need to eat foods that nourish the body rather than the comfort foods that I crave. I need to drink more water and less wine/beer. I need to work out for 30 minutes a day regardless of whether I feel like it or not.

Every day that goes by that I remain stagnant or continue with bad habits, I feel more guilty. I feel less attractive. I feel like I'm ugly.

I spent most of my vacation avoiding photos. I didn't want to look at them. Because all I saw was that I am 10 pounds heavier than I was this time last year. That I've slipped so much and let myself go. I got angry with myself and how I couldn't see the "looking good" that others kept commenting on. I found myself fighting them. Every compliment I was given was retorted with "ugh, I'm so fat" or "yeah, well, I wish I could see what you see" because all I saw was my big belly and my oversized breasts. And that I could have been working out, but I wasn't. I could have been forgoing the ice cream, but I didn't. I could have had a yogurt for breakfast, but I had raisin toast with butter or a donut, or both. I could have chosen to go for a walk, but I didn't. I could have chosen a million other things over the past year that would have been positive for my body, but I indulged. I was lazy.

And as much as I want to change, part of me is just plain tired of the constant battle inside my head.

But I won't. Because I do want to be healthy.

I would like to be 30 pounds lighter, or even 20 pounds lighter.
I know it's not an impossible goal, but it's not easy. It's a struggle. Every. Single. Day.

~Katie

Another Monday, Another Workout

Today's workout was Combat 60!

I had the countdown in my head every 15 minutes. Oh, there's still 45 minutes left? Oh, I'm only halfway done?! What, another 15 minutes?

But I kept with it. I gave it my all, and I worked hard.

I'm very much not in beach shape, but I'll still go out and show everyone my fleshy white belly at the Shore next week. I'm also determined to walk as many miles a day as I can while up there. I don't plan on downloading books to just sit back and read while there. Because if I have a backlog of books, I will read them and not run, jump, and be active. Nothing like the fresh air of The Shore to get you in the mood. Even when it is rainy and cold, sometimes.

~Katie

Another Weekend Down

I'd say that this past weekend was actually a step in the right direction.

While I still changed my mind at the drop of a hat that I wanted brunch, or that I wanted to have chicken wings and ice cream, and then we needed to go to the movies! Note: all of these endeavours ended up with a number of calories taken in (big surprise).

The part of the weekend 'routine' that I changed was that I worked out at least once! Yes! I actually woke up on Saturday and did my full workout. Things went downhill with the brunch and then sushi feast (with dessert) before the show at the theatre my friend was performing in. Sunday wasn't much better. We went to go suit shopping for James and then didn't have a plan for late lunch and we were both hungry. We drove around aiming towards home and stopped at Pluckers, where I had boneless wings and fries. Then we went to get ice cream at the supremo local ice cream shop.

The food was a bit indulgent.

And I didn't do my workout yesterday.

However, while we were watching Battlestar Galactica at the house at the end of the night, instead of just chilling on the couch, I decided it would be a good chance to do some low-impact ab work, leg work, and work on some low-weight bicep and delt work. Every little bit counts, right?

Judging by my progress, I'm not going to make my weight for the dietbet. I keep getting close and then falling back.

I'm just going to put my bets into the scale at my parents' farmhouse giving me a more preferable weight. And the thought has crossed my mind to bring my scale with me, since we're taking a checked bag.

~Katie

PS I still feel slimmer than I have been in a while.

Tracking Images July 2014

It's been a number of months since I last took a tracking image.

Some days I feel pudgier, some days I feel slimmer.

And all the days I weigh a bit more than I did a year ago. So I figured it was time for some reality and to take tracking images. This way, I have a better idea of what the reality is of my shape/size in regards to other months.

Even though I'm about 10 pounds over what I weighed a year ago, I'm very nearly at the same shape that I was at a year ago. Yay! Granted, I'm still on a journey, not all of it is weight-based, but some of it is.

Progress is as progress does. I didn't work out today. I have lots of catching up to do tomorrow.

~Katie

Half is Better Than None

I realized that since I didn't work out yesterday & tonight is Ladies of Craft Beer, that I needed to work out before I left the house.

This meant that I needed to finish by now so that I could sweat it out a bit before showering. So I did a half workout. 15 minutes of Combat 30.

I also have to get a copy of my key made to drop at the house & pick up the dog by 3 pm since people want to look at the house. I get it. It's a good house, so why wouldn't they want to see it? I guess I'm just still struggling with the mere concept of selling. At least it put a fire under me to clean up more than we have since James moved in?

Okay, time to hit the showers so I can get to the office on time.

~Katie

Accountability

When I post my workout results, I feel like I have more motivation to do the next one. Maybe it's seeing the time stamp tick up by a day and knowing that I have it my all. Maybe it's knowing that there are people who read this. Maybe it's because After a year and a half I've noticed that when I stop posting, I start packing on the pounds. 

There is something in the accountability to prove what I've been doing that keeps me on the right track. Even through my weekend struggles lately, I've been doing better than I do when I just don't post, don't track, and don't weigh. Each day works towards a goal. Each day makes it easier to say yes the next day.

HIIT: Power was on the schedule today. Those burpees with push-ups at the end kill me. And I stink at doing lunges properly (with the back knee bent at 90 degrees, too), and so I'm working on doing them with proper form even if I don't end up doing as many as the people on the video.

~Katie

An Odd Milestone

Back in June, I told myself that I would refrain from buying clothing, decor, or accessories this summer. Mostly, it was because I tend to buy these things to fulfill a need to shop. But on the other hand, it was also because I'm unhappy with my size. I don't plan on being this size forever, and I already have clothes that are smaller than I am now. So why waste money on something I don't need?

I caved about 24 hours after I said I wouldn't buy any new clothing by buying a skirt and a pair of shorts for the summer.

And it's been exactly 1 month since I caved in.

I haven't bought anything since.

The next two weeks will be the difficult part for me because I tend to go a bit shop-happy right before vacation, and we're going on vacation soon. However, my goal is still to continue the clothing/accessory shopping hiatus until September. We're going through house selling and buying and frankly don't need new clothes.

I think my gameplan for not shopping before our trip is to pack early. We'll be gone for just over a week, and I want to pack as efficiently as possible, so packing clothes away now means that it will be extra-special when I get on vacation to wear it. Right?

Anyone else go on a self-mandated shopping hiatus?
Was it to curb a cycle of buying to feel better?
For financial reasons?

~Katie

PS. I have also made it apply to new workout gear and programs. If I do end up buying anything fitness related, it will be because I fulfilled a challenge to myself like losing weight (even 0.1 pounds) over 8 consecutive weekends, or something.

Cardio Monday

Monday means it's time to check in on Dietbet and hope that I didn't ruin it with my weekend.

Which means if I feel bad at my morning weigh in, then I workout after work & hope for the best. 

Today's workout on the books was Combat 60. Holy kicks batman!

Me before the workout:

And after an hour of throwin punches, kicks, and jumps:

I think it's time that James & I actually calibrated out Digifits because he ends up with almost twice the calorie burn in each workout and our heartrates are about the same through the whole thing. Plus we weigh about the same, or within 20 lbs of each other, now.

Phew!

~Katie

45 Minutes

I burned almost 10 calories per minute!

Oh, and it's Throw Back Thursday, so here are some photos from this day in 2007-2009.

~Katie

Change

I normally stick to purely fitness-related posts on here. Every so often I touch on the mental health side of living a balanced life. Today, it's mostly the mental side.

For me, change is difficult. Big changes are even more difficult for me. But once I make a decision to make a big giant change, I usually barrel through with plans and then have major moments of breaking down in the midst of all of it because everything's changing and it's so overwhelming.

Changes in my daily diet, workout habits, and things that I do each day or week are both more and less difficult for me than paradigm shifts. The daily is where I find it difficult to change fully because I get comfortable. I get lax. And I have to remind myself each and every day to make the change. I need a blog and a support network to keep going, because without it, I just honestly start to believe the voice inside my head that says that it really doesn't matter.

The paradigm shifts are different.

Choosing a college.
Choosing a major.
Moving across the country.
Changing jobs.
Buying a house.
Starting a business.
Getting married.

These are all things that turn your life upside down. And they usually are things that take a couple months of preparation and then one day, the shift happens. Status changes. Or at least that's how it is for me. I looked at colleges for a year, and then decided. When I chose my major, I had narrowed it down before applying to schools, but took a week to decide on Path A versus Path B. And once I made the decision, it was done. I was there. I went through this again for graduate school. And then choosing a career. It took 6 months for me to explore, interview, and decide, finally, to become a geophysicist and move to Houston. And once I did, it was done. I changed companies after looking for less than 6 months. I decided to buy my house after looking for a new apartment or house to rent for 2 month & realizing I would rather spend that amount of money on buying versus renting. I decided to buy over the course of a week. I started looking right away. It took 5 months to finally close on the house I call a home right now. It was again something that I made the decision and was off. I took a long time to warm up to the idea of taking a big giant risk on my BeerSox business. But once I made the realization that I wanted to give it a go, I gave it my all and made it happen. It wasn't as much of a paradigm shift, it was thought out much more thoroughly, but it was a major shift & change. When I met James, my whole perspective changed. We thoroughly prepared for marriage. But it's another thing where the build up happens quickly and then we made the decision to marry and everything shifted into focus.

And now we're facing another paradigm shift.

We're selling my little bungalow in the Heights and moving out to the suburbs where we can have a house to fit us and the future family we plan on growing together (no, that paradigm shift hasn't begun, yet). And in true Katie fashion, it was an idea we'd tossed around a little, but not a lot, then ran the numbers one day and realized we'd be stupid to hold on to my perfect single-lady home when we know we need more space and we know we want to eventually raise a family, and we know that it makes sense financially. And so we're off at breakneck speed. Listing the home next week, seeing what we have to work with and then starting the home search in Sugar Land.

I have misgivings, but they're all emotional misgivings. I had a lot of personal growth in this house. I met my husband while living in this house. I started my business in this house. I set down roots in this house and in our neighborhood.

I love our neighborhood. I love the community, the restaurants, the walkability, and the vibrancy. It has always been my ideal.

And we're leaving it to go and live in an area where the homes are mostly the same. Where the emphasis is spending time at home with playing children, and where school districts fall more into the decision making than what restaurants we can walk to and how many bike paths are accessible. But we can't stay in our little 982 square foot bungalow without making other sacrifices.

To me, this is a huge paradigm shift. It's not just a change in location, it's a change in lifestyle.
And part of me has already started mourning the things that I love about the bungalow.
I'm sure that I'll become more excited about the move and thinking of the things that we're opening the opportunity for when we finally are able to house search in Sugar Land. Right now, I don't have a home to visualize there, so I'm in this half-world where I know what I'm leaving, and haven't quite figured out where we're going except that it's different and a bit scary and daunting.

At the same time, I'm working at the visualization. I've mentioned that it will be a lifestyle change, and it will. So I'm trying to figure out how to harness this paradigm shift and to incorporate smaller lifestyle changes into it. We won't be as close to all of these amazing restaurants we have in the Heights, so going to them will be a treat for us every so often. We'll also use that as a reason to cook at home and make weekly meal planning a priority. Since we know that we can't just walk down the street to our favorite restaurant, or order from our favorite local pizza joint, we'll have to plan for meals at home. We keep talking about doing our own yardwork, so maybe this is that opportunity to really take it under control ourselves. We'll have room for relatives and friends to stay over.

There are a lot of benefits, and I'm trying to visualize it as taking life down a notch to a slower level. Focusing on developing our home life together. Building that solid foundation that we'll be able to adapt to welcome children into the family (eventually). Because we do want to raise a family. And that will be a whole new adventure for the future.

~Katie

Holiday Weekends

My goal for the rest of July is that weekends aren't a yard pass to just eat and drink whatever I want.

I gained over the long weekend, but I'm back at it. Yesterday, I did Combat 30, and I have my workouts planned for the rest of the week, too!

If I want brunch this weekend, I'll be making it myself, which is inevitably more healthy. And much less expensive. Found a good zucchini fritter recipe, now I just have to make sure I have salmon & sauce figured out!

Anyways, here's the workout update from yesterday.

Apparently, I didn't post this earlier?

So here's tonight's HIIT: Power workout with vacuuming break for better traction!

Happy Tuesday!

~Katie

Not So Lazy Sunday

We had our lazy day yesterday, so today, I woke up with the desire to get things done! 

First things first: Combat 45.

Holy bajoly!

On to the rest of the tasks of the day!

~Katie

Phew!

Realtor meeting complete!

HIIT: Power complete!

Now I can have leftover chocolate birthday cake?

I'll have something more nutritious first!

~Katie

Game Change

For the past number of weeks, or even a few months, I've been struggling. You've seen it in my lack of posting, which usually means I'm not working out. You've seen it in my weight tracking. I've been yoyoing so much! And I'm tired of it.

The eating plan for 21 day fix is great. If you can stick to how restrictive it can be. The workouts are difficult, and they get the job done. It's a great program to help kick-start a change in diet and working out. But it's very utilitarian. I guess I didn't see that as much, because there's lots of color and the music is fun. But James saw it. I wasn't EXCITED to do my workouts. I was just doing them because that's what was on the schedule.

I go to Weight Watchers meetings because the weighing in somehow helps keep me accountable. But I can't stand the meeting. I mean, I just can't stand the amount of processed no-fat low-fat prepackaged food that they suggest people eat. It really bothers me. It bothers me that people can't talk about programs that work for them if they aren't specifically part of the WW rhetoric. It bothers me that I somehow need these meetings to keep in line. And so I start to rebel.

So I guess that means it's time for a game-change.

I struggle with finding the motivational model that works for me, so I'm experimenting with a new one.
I joined the 6 month Transformer DietBet I also got the tokens to weigh in each week. If this ends up working as a weekly check in and goal motivation, then I'll fully quit WW. The thing with DietBet is that you join the challenge, you put your money up, and then there are monthly goals to hit in order to earn back that money. The overall goal is to lose 10% of your body weight in 6 months, and if you do, then you split the pot with everyone else who has reached the goal. At a minimum, if you reach the 10% by 6 months, then you recoup all of your investment $. The challenge began today, and I weighed in after work last night as my starting weight (okay so I gamed the system a tiny bit since I normally weigh in the morning). The first month's challenge is to lose 3% of your body weight. I weighed in last night at 180.6 lbs (yikes!), so my goal for this first month is to go down to 175.2 lbs by August 1. Then next month is 6% cumulative, then 8% cumulative, then 9%, then 10% and finally to maintain 10% loss. If you don't meet your month's goal, you still pass on to the next round, except for the last round. In order to pass from round 5 into the final round, you must have reached at least 6% loss, so that you maintain healthy rates of weight loss and aren't encouraged to crash diet.

I also changed my workout program. I started Les Mills' Combat yesterday. James has been doing it for a few weeks and really loves it. I like the music in it, and it seemed like a much better fit for me to get excited about workouts again.

Add all that to the amount of packing I'll be doing in the next couple weeks, and we have a sure bet for losing weight. We need to get our house in shape to show, so getting rid of a bunch of stuff plus packing away a bunch of stuff is necessary. Oh, yeah. We're trying to move to a larger home out in the burbs. I'll miss my bungalow something desperate, but it's really the best decision for us right now.

~Katie

Dirty 32

Soooo. I'm 5 lbs up from Friday.

I fully celebrated my 32nd birthday.

So I'm starting a new program: Les Mills Combat. 21 Day fix didn't leave me excited to work out.

So now on to dinner plans!

~ Katie

A Good Trend

I'll admit that I didn't work out last night or the night before.

However, I've been paying attention to what I put in my mouth lately. So there's that?

One of the metrics I keep track of is not just my daily weight, but also a trend which is the average of the surrounding 7 weights. This helps to take away some of the chatter.

The pink in the background is my weight at home, and that purple is the moving average.

For reference, here are some milestones plotted on top.

As you can see, even when I was doing really well at losing weight swiftly, I had quite a bit of chatter and yo-yo weigh-ins. So much so that the moving average was even pretty chattery.

Now look at the section after the honeymoon. The trend is smooth. There isn't as much deviation from the trend, either. Nearly every weigh-in lies on the trend. This is a very good sign. It means that I'm making consistent changes and that I'm making sustainable changes.

So I'll stick with it.

~Katie

Dirty 30

Well, that was the easiest Dirty 30 has been since I started doing the 21 Day Fix workouts! I was able to keep my legs straight during the leg lowers & keep my lower back against the ground.

In fact, something that I wasn't looking to gain from 21 Day Fix is something that I have been noticing more & more: my flexibility is increasing! I can touch my toes. I can almost touch my nose to my knees, too. 

Part of me is wanting to jump on to a new program already & get Chalene's new PiYo program in order to keep increasing strength & flexibility, but I'm going to wait another couple months & use it as a reward for myself. I just have to figure out what my goal will be. X amount of days without missing a workout? X amount of inches lost? What do you think?

~Katie

Also, if you are interested in PiYo, it's on sale right now for $140 for the challenge pack, which comes with Shakeology, which is a huge deal! Shakeology alone is $129 for a month's supply. Check it out. http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/piyo-workout.do

You can order through my Beachbody coach page, if you're interested.

Monday Cardio

Just finished Cardio Fix. 

~Katie

Woot

Lower Fix: Busted!

Yay! Now I need to make sure to work out tomorrow so I don't have to deal with the soreness.

~Katie