Eating out and Eating Right

Yesterday, Sean and I stopped at Red Robin for, what I call, "linner". It's when lunch meets dinner. It was about 2pm and we were STARVING, which isn't a good time to eat out, but we both did pretty well! While burgers and shakes looked DELICIOUS, we ended up leaning toward healthier options, even though we were at Red Robin. I'm pretty proud of my meal! Every small step in the right direction will add up to a healthier me. (Prince Charming gets a bit of a "pass" on this one, since he may not be able to get such food underway during his deployment.)

Snow White's Red Robin MealLettuce Wrap Burger (w/ Boca patty)
Side salad w/ Basalmic dressing
Split appetizer (fried zuchinni & mushrooms)
Total calories: 510 

Awesome! I had to snack my way through the evening to get close to my daily calorie count, but it was YUMMY! I know what to order next time I head out to Red Robin!

Checking In

So last week I posted about a few of our goals. Here's a reminder:

Goals for workouts this week:
Prince Charming - 6 work outs, no soda
Snow White - 6 work outs, 1 gallon of water/day
Our Goals - MODERATE eating out.

So how have we been doing with these goals since October 1st?

Life threw us a little curve ball. In case you haven't checked out the other blogs, Clydas needed surgery on his foot to remove some cancer. While he's been recouping well, it has slowed down my schedule to work out just a bit. But things are quickly picking up steam now that he can be left alone for a little while. (Though I think lifting a 55lb dog for 3 days should count as some sort of work out.)


I'll updated you all regarding our goals success (or failure) on October 7th. In the mean time...

I've started to take advantage of the Prince Charming's early mornings. Yesterday, I dropped him off at the gym on base and then headed to the YMCA myself. I got a few laps in walking and running on the track for warm up, and then found a machine that appears to be a cross between an elliptical and a stair climber. It was an AWESOME work out. Many of the machines there have mounted TVs, but I usually prefer to listen to my Ipod. So I worked out to This Running Life which was fun.

Today, I'm working all day and Prince Charming is working all day AND night, so I've decided to get work out of the way early and go to a Begining Ballroom class at the YMCA this evening, followed by a nice swim. Sounds like a great way to unwind from the day - and it counts towards my 6 work outs a per week! 2 down, 4 to go!

As for the Galloway method, I'm still struggling with that one... It's not that I don't want to try it. I do! It's just that it feels silly to train for a marathon, when I may not be running it after all. It would cost a little over $500 for me to do this and we still haven't hammered out the details yet. I think we can make it work, but we have a lot of expenses coming up next year, and it's best not to count your chickens before they hatch.  While I'd REALLY LOVE to register for the Princess 1/2 in Feb, and/or the Everest Challenge in May, I'm really struggling with the financial end of it. Since Prince Charming is 99.9% sure he won't be able to attend to cheer me on, I'm having trouble committing to spending that kind of money on myself and not feeling selfish... So the question is more "How important is this to me?" and "Am I willing to go solo?"

An Update and a New Plan!

This blog is really going to kick into gear now folks, so get ready for lots of updates to be had!





UPDATES:
New tools!  We're currently in the middle of a round of Hydroxycut Hardcore Proseries. It's not a miracle drug, but it gives us the solid boost to curb cravings and getting the metabolism boosted up a little earlier in the morning than usual.
We've also added a YMCA membership! Yes, the Navy has great gym facilities, but the classes and other offerings through the YMCA are great for me and it's nice for Prince Charming to get off base every once in a while, ya know?
I'm throwing a new format in here. It'll help us better track weekly goals and ENSURE a weekly post (at the very least). 

Due to some tweaked out measurements, Prince Charming has a 1 hour/day work out prescribed by the Navy, so he does a majority of his work outs on base. He's supplementing these with 1 workout/week with me at the YMCA on the weekends. He's seeing a lot of success, which I think is 80

As of October 1st, I'm starting the Galloway Training Method. It's a marathon training course that is supposed to help develop a steady pace using the Run/Walk Interval method. So that will be 3 days/week. I'm looking for a class at the YMCA I can add in during the off days. This will help me get out of the house, which will be especially valuable to my health and well-being while Prince Charming is at deployed. It's challenging for me to schedule classes at the moment because I rarely know when he's getting off work. I'm lucky to know 24 hours in advance. I generally know whether he'll need me there in the AM or the PM, but that's about it, so we may have to work out some transportation issues to make sure we both get what we need on this front, but I'm sure we'll figure it out.

So, yes, we're both still committed to good health - even though this blog as fallen by the wayside of late!

I think our biggest challenge is making sure we keep our dinners healthy. We're good at keeping breakfast healthy and well rounded. Lunch isn't too tempting for either of us - but when we are both tired and don't feel like cooking or cleaning, the options narrow significantly. And before you know it, dinner turns into an appetizer, entree, dessert, and alcoholic beverage. Ugh! Never go out to eat when you're starving and tired. That's NOT a good recipe for a special night out, but it's a sure-fire way to over-indulge and ruin a week full of hard work and good choices. So for next week, we'll aim to keep a wrap on that.

Without further ado... here's the weekly format! (Thanks Amanda!) We'll be updating it with weight along the way.

Goals for workouts this week:
Prince Charming - 6 work outs, no soda
Snow White - 6 work outs, 1 gallon of water/day
Our Goals - MODERATE eating out.

A Recap seeing how we did on our goals will be up next weekend!

Downward Trend! Let's Keep It Going!

I'm happy to announce that things are going much better here on the weight loss front. Last night we went for a walk I've been dying to do for a while. We walked to a nearby grocery store, about a mile away. That was round trip about 2 miles.

We've also been doing really great in creating low calorie, high nutrient dinners, and I've been getting off my duff and made working out a daily priority. In fact, I get excited about it now, and look forward to it all day.

I'm working around a broken toe/dislocated toe right now, so that makes working out regularly even more of a victory for me. Sean gets his work outs mostly through his work right now, but he'll occasionally go for walks and work out with me when he's home.

We're really looking forward to joining the local YMCA. I can't wait to have access to a lap pool - and go to some classes! They even have Triathlon training courses!

A New Weapon in our Arsenal!

Sean and I have a new weapon in our arsenal to fight fat.

Just Dance 2 for the Wii.

Neither Sean or I are dancers. I have some limited experience with jazz, tap, and choreography due to my involvement with musical theater, but Sean and I are neck and neck in a few of the songs.

The key is WHOLE BODY MOVEMENT. I honestly don't think you could excel at this or get any decent kind of score without doing a quite a bit of movement. "Jump Jump", "Rasputin", and "Body Movin'" are the best sweats we've discovered so far (but all of them will be stuck in your head too). "Hotsteppah'" is another fav and their techno dances require skill to get some of the robot-like movements down pat.

Check out promos and dances by players on Youtube.

Plenty of progress this week!

Hopefully more to come!

Over a Month later...

So it's been over a month since our last entry and our last health-reboot.

I'm sad to report, I'm in need of another one.

While the Navy keeps Sean busy with active work, my job keeps me glued to a chair and desk for 8 (lately 8+ hrs) a day. While I've been keeping my intact fairly healthy (cutting back on desserts, increasing water and protein, decreasing caffine, etc.), it hasn't been enough.

So yesterday multiple stress factors got the best of me and I dove into working out to deal with it (yeah me, right?). I burned 200 calories on the elliptical, did some weight lifting circuits, and Sean picked up Just Dance 2 for the PS3, so we danced for half an hour and got our sweat on.

What is the result of all that working out? Well, we were tired a decent hour (9:30-10pm), and, when we got on the scale this morning, he was down to his standard (208) and I was UP ALMOST 3 LBS! I managed to only gain 1 lb during my 40 hr, 3 day drive to Yosemite and back, but I managed to put on 3 lbs overnight, during the week, while staying well within my calorie count.

(insert explative here).

Ugh. I'm starting to regret having bought my wedding dress already. It was tight in the hips 8 lbs ago. I "assumed" I'd continue losing weight. But ever since the move up here, it's just been coming on more and more and more. Now, I can see myself buying that "special" underwear that holds, tucks and sucks a few inches off. Talk about humilitating...

But, yes, I still have plenty of time (we don't even have a date set, but we're aiming for next fall), and yes, I'm having a bit of pity party. But I just think it's ironic. They say "the weight didn't come on over night, so you can't expect it to go overnight," but the truth is, it DID come on over night. And this morning's weigh in is proof - even Sean was shocked.

So - how am I picking myself up from this?

I'm keeping the same work out routine for the next 3 weeks. It was very doable and I'm not P90X sore, so it's managable.
I'm not getting on the scale until weigh in day.  (Daily weigh ins is playing a dangerous game with a scale obsession. Today is my highest weigh in all week.)
I'm buying a tape measure TODAY and recording my measurements.
I'm going to post accurate "before" photos and measurements this week either on this blog or my blog.

I'm so sick of this yo-yo-coaster. Time to get off.

Working our way back

After such a disappointing week it was nice to shed some of the weight we had put back on. Who knew that one week could unravel everything that we had worked so hard for? It was such a good feeling to work off some of extra pounds. Losing weight together is truly no easy feat. Every day together has just been such an amazing experience that we seem to want to celebrate it by eating out on town. We cannot keep up this train if we want to lose the pounds that we want to. Not only does the food at restaurants contain more calories but also loads of sodium. And if that wasn't bad enough we almost always get dessert. We need to nip this trend in the butt and fast. Life for us will always be a celebration however we need to find more creative and less unhealthy alternatives to do so. I know that we will be better down the road. It will just take some adjustments down the road. I know that we will prevail in the long run and we both knew we would have to get over a few hills along the way. However we need to still do our part in not helping to create these hills.

Baseballs Games, Date nights, Easter, and Lessons in Distraction

I take complete responsibility for putting Sean and I above almost 20 lbs from our goal, that was only 9 pounds away a few short weeks ago.

When he arrived in Washington, I wanted to step out, see the sites, try the food, and celebrate. And I didn't want to stop. It was oh-so-easy to give into those cravings, so while he only put on a 2-3 pounds, I packed on over 6.  Between the baseball game, dining out, and a date night or two, I slipped on the pounds.

So - what went wrong? I can't very well blame my teammate for my weight gain.

Here's the biggest thing I noticed:


I got distracted. Not that I didn't have good reason to be distracted, but I lost focus on using the tools that have helped me get here thus far. I went from a women who logged into MyFitnessPal.com several times a day to keep my calories in check to someone who almost remembered some days.  Instead of looking at my calorie count every am and working within that, I have been eating what I think I can get away with and then logging it later to find out I'm WAY over calories and WAY under workout.

How to fix that?
Here are my 3 simple steps to help improve my behavior:
Adjust scheduling to include working out on a regular 5 night a week schedule.
Log into MyFitnessPal several times a day.
Make 2 motivational posts (this blog or my personal blog) once a week.

Reality of the situation is, this is a set back. But it's one I can learn from. While Sean and I both are working on losing weight, our fitness goals are different and our bodies work differently to achieve those goals. We'll work out together, but I can't eat what he eats all the time. But I know he's there to support me all the way and help me. No more celebrating. Time for real life.

9 Pounds to Go!

Sean is in the air somewhere between Michigan and Florida, so we're giving him a pass on the weigh in this week and keeping him at the same weight. But I'm happy to report that I'm down one pound this week, leaving 9lbs to go!

I attribute the weight loss this week to the challegen my mom issued. We work out 3 days a week and stay accountable for it.

Working out allows me a bit more freedom in my calorie intake. Also, I eat at home A LOT. That saves a lot of money, and time. Lean Cuisine has been my friend until I get a microwave here. But I actually think it's been a healthy change, not to have a microwave around. I eat my meals in courses now. I'll make a big salad and eat that in the 35-45 minutes it takes for my entree to cook, so I get my veggies in.

I'm FINALLY sleeping better as well since this place is starting to feel more and more like home.

I'm looking forward to going out tonight though! But this blog isn't about that. You can check that out on my other blog.

A challenge with My Mom

There may or may not be a weigh in this week. Sean is in the middle of his move and will be leaving for Michigan on the weigh in day.

But this week my mom and I decided to do a 3 day/week workout challenge. She has a treadmill in her house and is NOT struggling with obesity, but she does struggle with a high stress job. High amounts of stress take a toll on the body. So the deal is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we each have to work out and tell each other about it.

Well, Monday was a bit of a bust for me. I took Clydas for a long walk, but I couldn't get into the Fitness center due to some key mix up, so I ended up making my Monday work out up on Tuesday.

31 minutes on the eliptical keeping my heart rate just over 160 most of the time.
So for HeTookMyLastName, here is the proof!
Not bad for my first time back on a machine in over a week.

10 pounds to go!

Sean and I have 10 lbs to go before we reach our next goal!  I lost one this week, and although he's been eating right and increased his cardio, his body hasn't quite gotten the message yet. I can tell that he's gained energy though and, perhaps more importantly, the regular work outs has helped him deal with the stress of moving.
I'm seem to be steadily losing a pound a week. While that seems terribly slow sometimes, I'm pretty satisified with it. Afterall, I am looking to lose 30-35lbs total. So if I lose 1 lb a week consistantly I'd reach my stretch goal of 170 (175 may be more healthy for me, but I won't know that until I'm closer to it) in under 9 months. That's less than a year! DEFINATELY nothing to sneeze at.

I'm sure once we're more local, we'll be going out more, but I'm sure we'll be able to keep it under control (financially and otherwise). Thankfully, he'll be moving AWAY from a place where butter is a spice and gravy is a beverage.  I can pretty much still get all my light Californian foods up here in Washington. I just eat more soup to counteract the cold.

But it's a sunny day today (sunny and 30 degrees), and my heart is in Kings Bay, GA as Sean graduates from all of his training out there. I wish I could be there, but I know it's a great chance for him to have fun with his mates. 

Jaime, and her wonderful determination, has lost yet another 1lb this week which is quite an accomplishment considering all the stress from having to finish packing, saying her goodbyes, and dealing with quite a few last minute details before her big move. Right now she is on her way to Port Orchard, WA and I only hope that with having to eat out most the weekend she can continue her downward trend. She is an inspiration to behold. I, on the other hand, have finally gotten over my plateau. Losing 2 lbs this week I feel quite accomplished at 205 lbs. 25 more lbs to go until I hit my goal weight. I have a feeling that in a few weeks when I will have more cookware at my disposal and can actually control exactly what is in my food intake things will start moving forward a little bit smoother. Hopefully another plateau can be avoided and in a 2 months or less I can be at or at least very close to my goal. So all in all things are looking good for us. Overall we have both lost weight and I know that personally I feel much healthier than a few years ago. I can say that Jaime probably feels the same way. Pretty soon we can keep each other more accountable since we will basically be living together. When I move I will start using www.MyFitnessPal.com to keep track of my calories. So to all of you who are trying to lose weight have heart there are plenty of tools out there to use, you just gotta take a few minutes to look.

Plataeus

So Jaime is down another 2 lbs this week which is amazing...things for me aren't going so well. I have hit 207 lbs a few weeks ago and now that is where I stay. 207 is a hurdle that I can't seem to surpass but I am hopeful this upcoming week. I think my body is just adjusting to my new diet of not eating galley food. I feel healthier and I am working out harder. I am also making sure that I still hit the calories that I need for the exercise that I do. I just can't shed the weight. Well I suppose that I have to push a little harder and drink some more water in the morning. Hopefully that will help out. Today I worked out doing 8 miles on the bike, it is Sunday so it is a lighter day. (Only takes about 20 minutes.)
On a lighter note Jaime is doing awesome. I am so proud of her, even with all the stress of moving away from her home town the first time ever she is still losing weight. She amazes me with her drive and focus, when she really sees a goal that she wants to attain nothing can stop her. She inspires me every day and I am the luckiest man alive to have her. I just hope that one day that I can have her single focus when it comes to the rest of my weight loss. Now this isn't to say that I don't know how to lose weight. I had to lose 50 lbs just to get into the Navy...I just want to shed 30 more lbs but it is proving difficult. Anyways I look forward to the day that her and I get to stand in front of our families and profess our love to the world looking our very best.

The Blogger Day of Silence

Sean and I broke even on weight loss/gain this week. This week, a trip to Disneyland on Sunday sent me into a bit of a tail spin. Too much sodium and carbs and not enough sleep, followed by a couple days of eating 1 meal out, and before you know it, I was in trouble. I'm happy to say I'm back on track (finally). Sean is down 1 lb and I'm up 1lb. Next week, I have a good feeling we'll both be down. The week after that I'll be weighing in from Washington State!

But I don't want a lengthy post today. Today is about something much bigger.

Many of us were horrified by the tragedy in Japan. Sean and I were no different. The unimaginable horror has changed so many lives. Even Hollywood's most destructive special effects couldn't come close to the ongoing damage going on in Japan. So with that, we'd like to include the following link imagine and call it a day with the weekly blog.

NSV - Non-Scale Victories

So often in this path to health and wellness we forget about the victories that don't involve that little number on the scale moving.

I'm pretty bad at this. I get frustrated that the number isn't changing, even though I'm feeling stronger, looking more toned, etc, and frankly, it's discouraging sometimes.

But I understand that these days will happen as my body continues to readjust to a healthier lifestyle. I have to look at the big piture.

The big picture is, I've kept over FIFTY POUNDS OFF over the last 8 years. That's no small feat! It's proof of a true life style change, my increased happiness over time, as well as being evidence of leading a more active lifestyle. Losing weight and keeping it off is as much of a head game as it is a physical game.

So even if I end up being up a little this week, looking at the big picture is definately something worth celebrating!

For more ideas on rewards and Non-Scale-Victories, check out my friend's post here.

So 1 week down and where do we stand? 1 pound lost. That is due to my beautiful Snow White. This week was not an easy week for me. We had Personal Reliability Program interviews all week which kept my entire class in school until 1700, that is 5pm for you non military folks. Now on top of that we have to eat dinner, do barracks clean up at 6pm and then Tuesday and Thursday I have martial arts class. On Wednesday I have a 4 hour watch from 7 to 11. So besides martial arts this week I really haven't been able to work out. The plus is that I didn't gain either. The interviews are over which means I can start PTing again on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Another big change for me in that after 5 months they finally got me a microwave that works. What does this mean for my weight loss one might ask? Well instead of eating at the galley with the super high calorie food that is served there I was able to buy a bunch of Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine meals. In short it will be much easier to control my portions and what I put into my body. I hope that this week is only a short stop gap. This next week I hope to be much more productive. We will see how my life changes this next week take me.

The Plan (March 2011 edition)

Being bi-coastal can create unique challenges in a relationship, and having as different lives as we have is another challenge.

See, Snow White works from home and Prince Charming is in the Navy. While she has a flexible schedule, he has mandatory work out time.

The month of March holds a unique challenge for Snow White. She's relocating to a different state. Moving often comes with eating out, less sleep, more physical activity, and more social events with friends and family. started off simply.

So they've started off simply. 

THE PLAN:

Weigh day is EVERY Thursday.
Blog will be updated at least once a week.
Daily use of the African Mango supplement.
Snow White will be using My Fitness Pal to track calories in/out and general progress.

Update The Plan monthly to document what worked, what didn't, and what the new plan is.

The Great Weight Loss Motivation

(Epcot, Jan 16th, 2011 - The Great Piggy Bank Adventure)

Ever go on a vacation and feel like you look absolutely fabulous (or at the very least "cute") and then look back at pictures and wonder how your belly really got that big?

They say losing weight in a group is the best way to do it, so - here we go!

The photos on this blog entry are from the trip where Prince Charming and I got engaged in mid January.

Sharing a Mickey Bar in Hollywood Studios, Jan 16th, 2011

Sharing noodles in EPCOT, Jan. 16, 2011

Now, granted, we met the "cute" quota in my opinion, but there is a very good reason these are artfully cropped/framed photographs.  Because what was going on below the neck wasn't so pretty!

Yeah...we have lots of love... AND LOVE HANDLES! And don't get me started on the bellies.

No better motivation than starting a new life together to lose it! Our goal is to lose a total of 70 pounds (combined) by the time we tie the knot in November.

So that's a little background on this experiment. Currently, we're a bi-coastal couple. I'm on the west coast (California) while he finishes up training on the east coast (Georgia). By mid April, we'll be in the same state, (Washington).

More on our plans to lose weight on our next installment!