Feliz Navidad!

I'm in a great mood this week! I don't know if it's because I'm relieved that it's the last week of preschool before a two week break or because I'm enjoying my week so much or because I had such a great weekend last weekend. I'm just a lot happier this week. (No complaining about Frosty this week!) The only way this week could get better would be if I heard that Hawaiian Christmas song that I love and haven't heard this year yet...

Yesterday I had a long day at work- I worked until 4pm and then came back for two hours for a parent meeting. I ate dinner at school and when I went home I had my salad. It was actually pretty nice to break it up like that. I also had an intense power workout last night in between school and the meeting. Tanya kicked my butt at Curves. My legs were a little sore and I got a great sweat going!

Today is a normal day. I am at work until 4pm and then I'm at the gym until 5:30pm. It's going to be a great day!

Here is what my food intake looks like for today:

Breakfast:
Coffee
Orange Juice
Corn bran cereal
granola
skim milk

Snack:
Corn bran cereal (dry)

Lunch:
Soup
granola bar
Orange
100 cal strawberry cupcakes
Yogurt

Dinner:
Salmon
salad
asperagus
Christmas cookie

I am going to do 25 minutes on the treadmill- 10 minutes running, 15 minutes walking before my strength training which will focus on my whole body. I'll end with another 25 minutes on the treadmill- 10 min running 15 min walking. I should burn over 750 calories at the gym tonight.

I hope all who read this have a great day!

On my way...

Yesterday I had a great workout! I burned over 500 calories on the treadmill alone and did a lot of strength training for my arms. I did pretty well on eating, except I felt that I needed more protein last night so I had a snack. *sigh* Today is going to be a long day for me. I work until 4pm and then I'm going to go right to Curves to workout so I can be back at school for a 5:30pm meeting until 7:00pm or later. I'm going to have to eat fast before the meeting here at school.

I refuse to weigh myself this week. I am not weighing myself until Saturday morning. I do not want to watch my weight go up and down during the week. I refuse. Not weighing in is actually keeping me in a good, upbeat mood. Maybe I should only weigh myself once a month!

Here is the food plan for today:

Breakfast:
Orange Juice
Coffee
Fried Egg sandwich on english muffin

Snack:
1 cup corn bran cereal

Lunch:
Cheese uncrustable
orange
100 cal strawberry cupcakes
granola bar

Dinner:
Smart Ones Lasagna
salad

Snack:
Pretzals

Should be another great day!! I'm definitely feeling good this week!

Cotton Headed Ninnymuggans

If you read my blogs you were probably asking yourself "Where in the world did Mel go?" Well last week Wednesday and Thursday we had snow days so there was no school and so I've been at home for five days- wrapping presents, making weight watchers fudge to give as gifts, decorating,etc. This past weekend I was out and about- saw two movies, went Christmas shopping, ate sushi, etc. It was a good time. On Friday I weighed in at 207.0, which is still my plateau but not on the highest end of it so that's ok- for now. I worked out on Tuesday but then didn't work out again until Saturday! Ugh! I'm ready for a full week of exercise for sure! Today I am going to the gym at 4pm and I'll do 25 minutes treadmill, 30 minutes strength training and 25 more minutes on the treadmill.
This is the last week of work before Christmas break and so I only have four days to say no to the food served to the kids as I sit with them at lunch- can I do it?
I had my yearly physical on Friday and everything checked out great! I'll see the ultimate results on January 8th, 2010 when I go in for the follow up but I feel great about it! I asked my doctor about supplements for appetite suppression and he asked me if I was truly hungry or if I had heartburn. I said I never get hearburn, and he said that a lot of people mistake hunger for heartburn. He challenged me to take Prilosec for one month and see if that helps. So I started that today. I just take one every morning with breakfast and we'll see if it helps...

Here is what my food intake looks like for today:
Breakfast:
Corn Bran cereal
Granola
Skim milk
Orange Juice
Coffee

Lunch:
Chicken and cheese sandwich
Fiber One yogurt
Orange
100 cal strawberry cupcakes

Dinner:
Beef Roast
Potato
Salad

Snack:
1 cup dry Corn Bran cereal
Orange

Looks like a great day! Hope everyone enjoys their Monday!

"Son of a Nutcracker!"

I'm in a slightly better mood today. Slightly. I watched the last half of Elf last night and that restored some of my holiday cheer... I really need to wrap some presents and then I know I'll feel much better! I can't start tonight though because it's Biggest Loser finale night!! I love that show! It inspires me every week!

Yesterday I did much better with my eating. I didn't eat anything with preschool at lunch and we had yogurt for snack so I was ok! I am down 2 lbs from yesterday!

As for exercise:
I went to the gym yesterday and started out on the treadmill for 24 minutes: 2 minutes at a 4.2 walk, 11 minutes at a 5.6 run, 4 minutes walking at a 4.2, 5 min running at a 5.5 and a 2 minute cool down at 2.5. I went 1.97 miles and burned 320 calories :)
After the treadmill I did strength training for 30 minutes, focusing on my legs and thighs.
My last treadmill round was 25 minutes. I walked at a 4.2 for 3 minutes and then ran at a 5.5 for 11 minutes and then walked at a 4.2 for 8-9 minutes and did a 2 minute cooldown. I went 1.91 miles and burned 314 calories.
My total treadmill stats for yesterday was: 3.88 miles and 634 calories burned!

Today's plan:
30-45 minutes treadmill at gym
30 min power workout at Curves

Food:
Breakfast:
2 egg white omelette with mushroom
2 slices whole wheat toast with jam
1 cup trop 50 orange juice
coffee

Snack:
Carrots
Orange

Lunch:
1 slice leftover pizza
jello
yogurt

Dinner:
Hormel entre
potato
salad
100 calorie treat


Today we are going to be taking the kids on a field trip to the bakery. Big temptation. I can do it though! No cookies or baked goods for me!

Have a great day!

"Oh the weather outside is frightful..."

Seriously... We don't have snow for forever and then all of a sudden *BAM* we get hit with so much snow this morning it's starting to scare me to think of the preschool kids getting picked up today! I for sure am glad I'm not a bus driver!

I'm in a funk. Plain and simple. I'm in a funk. I need to find my holiday cheer and I need to find it fast. I was irritated decorating the Christmas tree on Saturday. Why was I irritated? Because I heard Sleigh Ride and Frosty The Snowman a few too many times. Those are the two Christmas carols that I can not stand. Why? Because we had to play sleigh ride way too many times in high school and Frosty is dumb and sad. I hate that he goes purposefully into the sun and then lies to children saying he'll be back and then melts. What a dumb snowman. He should just go into a freezer and stay whole... See! I'm in a funk! I'm never like this at Christmas! I sing "winter wonderland" and "let it snow" and the hawaiian christmas song until people tell me to stop. This year I just can't shake this funk.

I think part of it is that my money is tighter this year. It's hard to buy presents and pay bills and have money for my new years plans. It's just hard. The other part is my struggle with this HORRIBLE plateau. I don't have money to hire a trainer or a nutritionist, but apparently I need one. Ugh! I just can't shake this!

Well today I am going to the gym (After I find and scrape off five feet of snow) for 30 min of treadmill and 30 minutes of strength training.

Here is my food plan for today:

Breakfast:
1 cup special K cinnamon pecan cereal
1 handfull delicious granola mmmmm
1 cup skim milk
coffee

Snack
Orange
carrots

Lunch:
Low sodium clam chowder
special K crackers
100 calorie strawberry cupcakes

Dinner
BLT salad
honey maid 100 calorie bar

**Let's see if I can follow that today- It's my short term goal!**

Hopefully I can kick this funk soon. Maybe a snow day or wrapping a few gifts will help, I sure hope so! :)

8 more days of preschool (counting today) and 9 more days of work until break!

Too much?

First of all I can not do the Special K challenge. It's too many bad carbs and not enough protein. AND I'm hungry all the time so I'm snacking all the time. I feel like I've eaten more in the past two weeks than I have in a long, long time. Today I am going back to points and I'm going to calculate my calories as well.

Ok first of all- yesterday's exercise:
32 minutes treadmill: ran 13 minutes at 5.5 or higher and walked 14 min at 4.2. Burned 440 calories and went 2.68 miles
30 min strength training
30 minutes treadmill- walked at 4.2- burned 362 calories and went 2.17 miles
Total treadmill: 4.85 miles and 802 calories burned!

I posted my workout on facebook and many people are saying that I'm burning more calories than what I'm eating and that I'm overdoing it. I feel like I'm eating all the time. Also I'm not losing any weight at all. I'm still stuck in this horrible plateau! So that's why I'm going to calculate my points/calories a lot more carefully. When I post my eating plan for the day- I stick to it but I usually add in snacks and eat more than what I say I will. That's why it might look like I'm not taking in enough calories.

Here is my food plan for today:

Breakfast:
2 egg white omelette with mushrooms and onion (1 pt)
2 slices toast (1 pt) (80 cal)
Raspberry jam (1 pt)
Coffee (1 pt)

Lunch:
WW Dragon shrimp lo mein (5 pts)
WW yogurt (1 pt)

Dinner:
WW Lasagna (6 pts)
Salad (3 pts)

Snack:
Granola bar (3 pts)
Apple (1 pt)

Hopefully I won't get the urge to snack on anything else today. The good thing is that I am not teaching today, so I won't be tempted with school lunch with the kids today. Another downfall of mine...

Today's workout:
30 min treadmill
30 min power workout at Curves

Best laid plans...

The special K challenge is interesting. I did not stick to it yesterday and I'm changing it up somewhat today.

First of all, let's start with the good news- I had an amazing workout yesterday!
30 minutes treadmill: 15 minutes walk at 4.2, 5 minutes running at 6.0 and 10 minutes running at 5.5 for a total of 2.53 miles and 415 calories burned

Then 30 minutes of strength training

Then 30 more minutes on the treadmill walking at a 4.2 in which I burned 361 calories and went 2.16 miles

Total for treadmill: 776 calories burned and 4.69 miles! :)

Today my exercise will be 45 minutes treadmill and then 30 minutes power workout at Curves. :)

Food for today:
Breakfast: 1 cup fruit/yogurt Special K cereal, Protein and coffee
Snack: Special K crackers
Lunch: Chicken sandwich, yogurt, apple
Snack: Special K granola bar
Dinner: Pork, potato, salad, water

Hopefully this menu works for me today and I'm not hungry enough to snack or have too much dessert tonight...

BIGGEST LOSER is on tonight! Love it! It motivates me every week!!