8 Week Progress Report

It has now been just over 8 weeks since I started my journey (and this blog)! Here is an update as to where things stand in terms of reaching the 11 goals I set for myself and the progress I have made since my last update.

Goal #1 – My Pre-pregnancy Body Back – So, I’ve pretty much reached this goal. I am back to my pre pregnancy weight, and fit into my ‘goal jeans’, although not quite the way I want. The muffin top HAS GOT TO GO!!

This week marked the mid-point of the Skinny Jeans Challenge which meant measurement time!

I am actually really pleased with my progress so far…I’ve lost a total of 10.4 inches! CRAZY!! I still want to improve on my percent body fat – I’m down almost 5%, but would like to bring it down by about another 2.5%.

Goal #2 – Run a Two Hour Half Marathon – Well, the Half Marathon is only 19 days away and I’m definitely NOT PREPARED!

I’ve still only ran outside 2 times – one fast 5K (which went surprisingly well), and a 16K run a couple of weeks ago with my sister.

Here’s how my training schedule looked over the past 5 or so weeks.

BodyAttack has taken over my life! I have missed so many runs to get to Attack classes, it’s crazy! I’ve missed a total of 10 runs in the last 5 weeks – 1 hill workout, 3 fartlek workouts, 2 regular runs, and 3 long runs! BRUTAL!

I seriously doubt I will meet my goal of a sub-two hour half. I’m disappointed, but still hoping for a good run.

I guess we will see how things look after my 18K this weekend!

Goal #3 – Improve my Upper Body Strength – I was actually doing well with is goal since starting The 100 Push-Up Challenge last month – that was until I got sick. Since then, I have done NOTHING, and as a result, I am STILL struggling through the Upper Body Conditioning track in Attack 😦 My plan is to start the challenge again…tonight! Anyone want to do it with me and help me stay on track? Please?

Goal #4 – Try Hot Yoga – Still haven’t made it to a hot yoga class, and its not looking like I will be heading there any time soon. Until I get my Attack Certification Video done, I need to go to another Attack class Thursday evenings.

I hope to get my video in by mid-June, so hopefully I will be able to get to a class soon after that.

Goal #5 – Eat Clean – this is yet another goal that has been shoved aside since becoming sick and getting super busy.

I definitely need to get back in track, and fast!

My plan is to check out the latest issue of Clean Eating Magazine over the next few days, and set out next weeks meal plan. After that, I will hit the grocery store and get at it! I still want to aim for at least 2, but hopefully 3 clean meals a week.

Goal #6 – Limit the Amount of Junk Food I Eat – I’m actually not doing too bad at this one, considering I really haven’t been eating clean, I’m not exactly sure what I’ve been eating! My plan of not bringing it into the house is working, and I’m going to continue to keep it that way.

Goal #7 – Limit my Chai Lattes to one a Week – FAIL! HUGE! I’ve actually already had 2 this week! Chai latte is what seems gets me through the day! Although I did choose a Chocolate Banana Smoothie over the latte today:) Might have to stick with it, it’s higher in protein and fibre…sugar too, but I still think it’s the better choice. Agree?

Goal #8 – De-Clutter – Again, this one has been neglected since getting so busy. I did paint my sons room immediately after my last progress report, but unfortunately, it’s not quit finished 😦 I know, I’m brutal!

So, I still need to:

1. Finish painting my son’s room.
2. Clean out the kids toys.
3. Sort through my clothes.
4. Go through our deep freeze and actually see what we have in there!

Goal #9 – Read More – since my last update, I have finished The Help and The Lucky One.

Up next…the Shades of Grey Trilogy… Apparently everybody I know is or has read it. Not sure what to expect…besides turning 50 shades of red!!! Have you read the trilogy?

Goal #10 – Save Money – I am actually doing quite well with this one! Sticking to a bit of a budget has been easier than I thought it would be!

Goal # 11 – Make time for Scrapbooking – Unfortunately this too has been put on the back burner since becoming so busy. Now that the warm weather is coming, I have no idea when I will get back at it. Hopefully I will make it to a Friday night crop sometime soon!

Overall, I am not quite where I was hoping to be at this point. I need to get back into my running and start eating clean again! Really, I need to manage my time better and make healthy living a priority.

How is your journey going?
Do you have any super easy Clean Eating recipes you can share to help me get back on track?

Three Things Thursday – Its Been a “Super” Week

So I’ve pretty much been M.I.A. for about a week now, and I must say its been a  “SUPER” week!

1. I’ve been SUPER sick!  I know last week I mentioned I had been to the doctor and just had a bad cold, but when I didn’t feel any better after another few days, I went back to the doctor only to find out that I had a sinus infection, a throat infection, and bronchitis! Awesome! Too bad I didn’t get that diagnosis the first time, I would have been about 3 days ahead in my recovery. Oh well, at least I got some meds and have been getting better every day. Sinus infection is completely gone, throat infection is almost gone, but I’m still feeling the heaviness and congestion in my chest. Hopefully that will clear up in the next few days. 🙂

2. I’ve been SUPER busy! In preparation for next weeks OFSAA Women’s Sports School Conference, I have been making handouts and creating sample workouts (with custom timed playlists)  for my TRX Suspension Training Presenation. It has taken me much longer than I thought it would (isn’t that always the case…) in part because I couldn’t (and still can’t) find my TRX manual to provide me with the info I needed to make the handouts and workouts 🙂 I know… It’s been a while since I mentioned any decluttering projects… definitely need to get back at it!

Unfortunately that’s not the only thing I have on my plate right now. The conference ends Friday, and all day Saturday and Sunday I have my BodyAttack Training! In preparation for this crazy intense, physically challenging weekend, I have to basically memorize the entire 55 minutes of choreography and be ready to actually teach 2 tracks! So, not only have I been to a few extra Attack classes this week, I’ve actually been practicing the tracks repeatedly in my living room 🙂 I’m off to a good start, but still have a lot of practice to do before leaving for the conference Wednesday morning if I’m going to pass the training weekend!

3. My house has been SUPER neglected! Because I have been so busy trying to get ready for next week, and since I basically tore the house apart looking for my TRX manual, our house is a disaster! That sucks in many ways! One, my cleaning lady comes tomorrow, which means that I have a lot of tidying to do tonight so she can actually clean while she is here! Two, my mom is coming next week to help with the kids while I am away, and she is a NEAT FREAK! Not just a little neat freak, but a serious neat freak! So not only do I have to tidy, I have to tidy like my mom is coming! And three, I don’t really have time to clean it! Seriously, that’s why it’s this messy in the first place! I guess I know what I will be doing tonight after he kids are in bed!

What has your week been like? Better or worse than mine? More or less busy? What gets neglected when you get super busy?
Please tell me I’m not the only one!!!

4 Week Progress Report

Well, it’s been 4 weeks since I decided to get my act together and become a Happier, Healthier, More Fit Me. Let’s take a look at exactly how I’m doing according to the goals I set almost one month ago.

Goal #1 – My Pre-pregnancy Body Back – well, so far I have lost 5 pounds and have definitely noticed a difference in my shape. I still can’t fit into my favorite pair of Citizens, but I will definitely get there by the end of June (hopefully sooner)!

Goal #2 – Run a Two Hour Half Marathon – the race is not for another 8 weeks, but I did 22 of 23 scheduled workouts in the month of March. As great as that is, it’s too much for me to maintain. Since starting the Skinny Jeans Challenge on March 19th, I have worked out 13 of 14 days. I definitely need to change up my training schedule to allow for at least one day rest a week. My plan is to have that sorted out by this coming weekend.

Goal #3 – Improve my Upper Body Strength – I have noticed a bit of an improvement in this area, but really had nothing concrete to measure against. But I do now….last Monday at our  Skinny Jeans workout we did some fitness tests, one of which was a push-up test. I did 20 full body and 20 modified push-ups in one minute. Not too bad, but definitely room for improvement! I’m not sure if we are re-testing at the 7 week mark or just at the end of the 14 weeks, but I’m hoping for some big improvement!

Goal #4 – Try Hot Yoga – So far I have not had the chance to get to a hot yoga class. My husband is rarely home in the evenings which means I can’t go since I’m still a little nervous to leave my 3 month old with a sitter, especially around bed time 😦 I’m definitely going next time my husband is home on a Thursday night!

Goal #5 – Eat Clean – I actually am pretty impressed with how much clean eating I have done! I don’t really like to cook, but have made quite a few clean meals and snacks to date: Spinach and Turkey Sausage Pizza, Tilapia Stuffed Manicotti, Eat Clean Pancakes, Crockpot Oatmeal, Eat Clean Chocolate Hazelnut Crispy Squares, Bake-Ahead Breakfast Quiche, Skinny Coconut Cupcakes, and dinner tonight was Mediterranean Vegetable, Bean, Feta and Penne. My goal is to make at least 2, but hopefully 3 clean meals a week – which when you consider the leftovers, will pretty much get me through the week.

Goal #6 – Limit the Amount of Junk Food I Eat – I’m definitely struggling with this goal. I seem to do okay most days but there is plenty of room for improvement. Again, as long as I don’t bring it into the house I’m okay, and I’m getting better at saying no when my husband has treats.

Goal #7 – Limit my Chai Lattes to one a Week – I’m actually doing quite well with this goal. I think I’ve only had two in the past 4 weeks 🙂

Goal #8 – De-Clutter – I started off pretty good with this one…de-cluttered my car the first week and cleaned out our storage closet the second week. Unfortunately that’s where it ended 😦 So, to get back on track I’m going to lay out this months projects: 1. (not entirely clutter related, but something I’ve been meaning to do for months) Finish painting my son’s room. Before he was born we painted a jungle themed room, but we left the elephant untouched with the idea of painting it blue if our baby was a boy, or pink if it was a girl. Well, Tanner is now 12 weeks old and we still need to paint the elephant blue. Check out the pictures below, it’s a pretty awesome room!  2. Clean out the kids toys – Our living room seems to be taken over by toys, and now that we have somewhat made the basement into a play area, I need to put most toys down there and start using that space! 3. Sort through my clothes and give away those that don’t fit or that I don’t wear. 4. Go through our deep freeze and actually see what we have in there! I’m sure there are some yummy meals just waiting to be eaten!

Goal #9 – Read More – So far I have read three and a half books. I’ve finished the Hunger Games series and have read most of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (which I totally recommend if your kids are great sleepers). And I’ve just started The Help.

Goal #10 – Save Money – One thing that has really helped with this one is planning my meals. Before going shopping I sit down and figure out what I’m going to make for the week and only buy what we need. We are definitely eating better and wasting less.

Goal # 11 – Make time for Scrapbooking – I just had a day of scrapbooking this past Saturday and I’m hoping to have another day on April 21st. Since I now have an idea of what I want to do with my son’s album, I’m hoping to get a couple of pages done each week at home.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with where I’m at. I have definitely made progress with most of my goals and know what I need to do to get on track with the others. I will be back to update my progress at the 8 week mark. Stay tuned!

Have you outlined your goals yet? What progress have you made? Do you have a plan to keep you on track and help you be successful? I’d love to hear how your  journey is going!

Holy Hungry!

Ok, so I’m just going to start off by saying once again how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE BodyAttack! It seriously has to be one of the most intense and fun group exercise classes I’ve ever been to. This morning I decided to wear my heart rate monitor to see how many calories I actually burn during the 55 minute class – the result – 887 calories!

So, does burning this many calories by 10:30 in the morning cause everyone to eat like a horse for the rest of the day, or just me? No matter what I ate today, it just didn’t seem to be enough.

Breakfast – oatmeal pancake, oj

BodyAttack

Snack – 1cup of grapes, 1/4 cup of mixed nuts

Lunch – 1 cup of butternut squash soup, 1/2 can of tuna, 3 riveta crackers, and a large glass of chocolate milk

Errands

Snack – 1 Kashi fruit and grain bar (chocolate covered with peanuts), a large glass of oj, banana

Snack – 1 hard boiled egg, 2 pieces of cheese

4km walk with kids in stroller

Dinner – 1 black bean and corn quesadilla, large glass of skim milk,

Snack – sweet chili rice chips – 2 servings, 2 large glasses of oj

And, it’s 10pm and I’m doing all I can to not eat and drink more! Seriously, this is crazy! I’d hate to see how many calories I actually consumed today! I don’t think the food is actually too bad, but the number of calories I drank today, well, that’s a different story. Definitely more than I burned at BodyAttack! I really need to work on drinking more water, that’s for sure!

Let’s hope tomorrow’s 4 mile run doesn’t cause a repeat of today’s pig-out fest!

Ok, time to follow up on de-clutter mission #2. This weeks project was to clean out the storage closet in our basement bathroom. It was mostly full of boxes and boxes of baby girl clothes, and since we just has a little boy, it’s time to pass them along. Apparently there was a bunch of other junk in there too!

Before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I cleared out all of the baby clothes, washed them and sorted them into boxes by size.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I just need to get them out of our house! As for the other junk, a few things to Goodwill and the rest is garbage.

Isn’t it Crazy…in only 10 days I’ve managed to clean up both my car and our storage closet, two things I’ve wanted to do for a while now, but never found the time. Accountability is sure a great motivator!

Race Pace Defined and Kicking the Clutter – Part 2

According to my Half Marathon Training Schedule, today’s run is 4 miles at race pace. In order to run at race pace, I need to actually figure out what that pace is. Enter pace calculator!

My goal is to finish the half in two hours. In order to do this , the pace calculator says I need to run a 9:10 mile. WOW! That seems pretty fast – much faster than I have been running so far in my training. Good thing I’m only 3 weeks in and have a lot of time to work on improving my speed!

That said, I did today’s 4 miles in 37:40 – a 9:25 mile. Not too bad, especially considering I did a 5 minute warm up before jacking up the speed to 6.0 on the treadmill. I won’t lie, the last 1.5 miles were not easy, but I didn’t’ quit and didn’t take any walk breaks (even though I wanted to…. many, many, many times!).

Until right now, I had no idea that I was running that close to race pace, I thought I was going much slower. I know I still have to work on being able to maintain that pace….FOR 13.1 MILES!!!….but I’m thinking this is a pretty good start! I kinda feel like I might actually be able to accomplish my goal of a 2 hour half! I have a lot of work to do between now and May 27th, but I’m definitely on the right track!

Now to get on with my day – I think I’m going to start to tackle my next de-cluttering project – our storage closet. It’s ridiculously full of baby clothes we were holding on to in case we had another girl, but, since we had a boy… no need to keep them! I’m going to sort them out and pass them off to some friends! Wish me luck! I have a feeling this is going to take a while!

BodyAttack and My Clean Car

Wednesday’s are cross-training days so this morning I headed to the gym to do a BodyAttack class – a 55 minute, high intensity, sports-inspired workout where the average calorie burn is 735! WOW! The class was awesome! Not only was it super fun, I got a sweat on like no other, and it when was over, I felt amazing! Tired, but amazing! It’s definitely my favorite group ex class ever. If they offer this class at a gym near you, GO…you will LOVE it!

Since it’s such a beautiful day out (+15, which seems a little crazy to me, but I’ll take it!) I’ve decided to start my first De-Cluttering project – My Car! I can’t believe I am actually going to show you how much of a mess it was, but here’s to accountability!

Before – yes, there actually is a floor under there!

The Backseat - yikes!

The Front Seat - not too bad, right?

After cleaning out all the garbage, all of my daughter’s crafts, a ton of Goldfish crackers (if you have a toddler, you know exactly what I’m talking about) and all the other junk, I pulled out the vacuum and Armor All . No sense in doing a half-assed job right? So, after about a half an hour of work – voila! My clean, de-cluttered car 🙂

The Backseat - All Clean!

Front seat - All Clean!

I might even hit the car wash when I go out this afternoon! Seriously, why did it take me so long to clean it? It took no time at all. I’m brutal! I’m actually going to work at KEEPING it clean now…wish me luck!

So…so far (yes, I know, it’s only Day 3!) I think I’m doing pretty good in terms of working towards accomplishing  my goals. I honestly believe that if I didn’t write them down for everyone to see, I wouldn’t have actually cleaned my car today. Nor would I have gotten a strawberry smoothie instead of a chai latte at Starbucks this morning! And to top it all off, I KNOW I would not be attempting to make Spaghetti Squash for dinner tonight! (I will let you know how that goes tomorrow).

So, have you written out your goals yet? Do you actually know what you are working towards and how you are going to get there? If not, get at it! I’d love to hear what your plans are, why not share a goal or two (or ten) with me! 🙂