adorkable2007

Diet! Soda: I'm doing pretty good. I'm getting a little nervous that this schedule might have been a bit too quick to cut it back, but I'm doing ok so far. I'm happy with the progress. Protein: Killing it. Exercise! I've stumbled a little bit w/ my MVP on the weekends. It's funny how generally I have the most time on the weekends, but it turns out I'm not the priority then. I just want to hang out w/ the baby and not do things that involve putting him down. Now that I see this trend I can work through it a little bit more. Life Level Up! We're still going!

Diet! Soda: I'm on track to make my goal this week. : ) I went without soda Tuesday & Wednesday. Protein: Killing it. Exercise! I'm getting back on the horse, and apparently Spezzy is working on my program so I should have new workouts up soon! Life Level Up! We're still going!

Diet! Soda: I made my goal for the week. I only had 4 sodas last week and drank the ones that I planned at the family functions this weekend. Protein: This is getting much easier w/o the cereal in my diet. I just make an effort to have meat at every meal and it's not so hard. Exercise! I mentioned up above that this weekend was rough. A friend at work died unexpectedly during childbirth so I ate my feelings and didn't do anything that I absolutely didn't have to do. It just hit really close to home after my emergency C-section in May. I'm bouncing back now. Life Level Up! Not much to say on this other than we're still going. : )

Diet! Soda: So far so good. I get 4 sodas this week, so I had one each Mon & Tues. We have several family functions this weekend where I know there will be soda.. so I'm saving my last 2 this week for Saturday and Sunday. Protein: I'm 2/2 this week and well on my way to hitting it today. Mom's bringing dinner and babysitting for a few hours tonight so that the husband and I can get some rest. (Last week was the baby's first week of daycare and my first week back to work, and lo and behold.. we've all been sick / are sick). I have no idea what her dinner will consist of but if I need to add protein to it I can have a shake before bed or some extra venison jerky. Mmmm.. Exercise! MVP accomplished yesterday and pretty good progress today. Life Level Up! Hubs is on board w/ this so.. today marks day 1. No eating out.

This lovely turtle above is me. Zero traction, and I mean zero. It's been awhile since I've done a 4-week challenge, and I thought now sounded like the perfect time to start again. I've been working with the lovely Spezzy on my new goals, post Noah (my impossibly handsome 3 month old son). That being said, these goals are all about making good habits stick! Diet! 1.) Last year I went almost 100% soda free, well.. pregnancy happened and I lost my way with soda and cereal. Over the past month, I have completely cut out cereal and killed that addiction. Now it is time to tackle the soda. I want to remove 1 soda from my diet per week of this challenge, that means this week I get 4 sodas this week, 3 sodas the next week.. etc. No more than 1 soda can be consumed in a day. The definition of a soda is 12 oz of soda or 1 can. If I'm drinking from a 2 liter, I will measure the volume of soda. I will keep track here on this calendar. Red means I DID NOT have a soda that day. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 / 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 / 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2.) HIT MY PROTEIN GOAL! I'm supposed to eat 127 g of protein a day. Easy, peasy right? I'll track this in MFP and on the calendar below. Blue means I hit my goal that day! 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 / 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 / 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Exercise! 3.) Ok, I have a 3 month old at home, we're still getting used to this new normal with him. I feel like a total failure some days because I just can't seem to get anything done. Therefore, I want to make sure I do a minimum something every single day.. I'm referring to this as MVP (minimum viable product). My MVP plan is as follows: Walk at least 5000 steps. Do at least 10 mins of ROMWOD or yoga Eat at least 1 serving of vegetables Purple means I did my MVP. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 / 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 / 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 *Weekend of 18/19 was rough. We have several family events, and a work friend died unexpectedly during child birth. I hate my feelings and didn't do anything I didn't absolutely have to do. **I'm seeing a trend on the weekends here. Life Level Up! 4.) We've been trying to pay off debt FOREVER... with the new baby and maternity leave we haven't been making much progress (see a theme here?) so I'm challenging us to not eat out (on our own dime, it's totally fine if someone else is buying!) from 8/15 to 9/9. Success in green below: 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Slow and steady wins the race, right?

More country heat.. I signed up to do a 30 day challenge (FREE) w/ them w/ this country heat thing. That means doing this workout every day but Sunday. I'm pretty excited about it. The workouts are fun and get me sweating for sure. I totally forgot about my front squat goal until right now. Whoops. I should probably get on that. : )

Yaaay!. Added you!

Tonight's work out brought to you by BeachBody On Demand. Country Heat. Cardio line dancing. It was fabulous. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

The dogs and I went for a walk after dinner this evening so I could hit my 10k steps! I learned 2 things from this. The dogs don't walk very straight & my cul-de-sac is 1/2 mile around.. For two years I've been thinking its only 1/4 mile! Exhibit A: Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

Thanks lady! OK -- Back to August .. I'm still waffling with my goals. Since the Academy started everything over today, I've been reading back through the mindset module like a good student. My goals haven't been very SMART lately (sidenote: I'm working on a Six Sigma greenbelt project at work right now, it's goals must also be SMART). Thus, I want to try to make my new goals SMART. 1.) I will continue August w/o drinking soda. The end of August will make 92 days soda free and I'm loving that feeling. I think this has actually contributed to some of my recent financial success. No soda = no vending machines at work. I was feeding at least $20 a week into the vending machine just for SODA. Yuck. 2.) I will continue August w/ eating Paleo-ish. I've done well so far, as I mentioned yesterday.. I miss pizza. Miserably. However, I know the repercussions of eating the pizza will be waaaay worse than the half hour of pleasure I get from eating it. I'm considering it like a hangover. I really don't like to drink anymore because the ensueing hangover is miserable. I don't want pizza hangover! On that note, I will allow myself a tiny bite of desert when I eat at my in-laws. My MIL has done a great job of accomodating the paleo, but her baked goods are fabulous. Ex -- In July, I had a 1" x 1" square of zuchinni cake & a 1" x 1" square of Scotcharoo's during 2 different Sunday dinners. That's it. It didn't hurt me, I didn't die, & I didn't fall off the wagon. I enjoyed it, and moved on. 3.) I will continue August w/ working out at least 3x/week. I'm going to leave this the way it is, because I feel that this is a sustainable lifestyle change for me. This is something I can do every week for the rest of my life w/o a problem. 4.) This is the 1st "new" SMART goal. I don't want to overwhelm myself too much because Paleo is still in it's infancy & so is my no soda habit. Thus, I went small. Rewinding, back 4 years ago when I was a technician instead of an engineer, I walked between 12k & 18k steps / day. I thought that was normal. As an engineer, I have to try really hard to hit 5k steps in a day. Coincidently, this is also the amount of time I've gained the most weight in ever. Sooooo... I'm going to challenge myself to hit 10k steps at least 2 days / week for the month of August. I will call this a victory if: 1.) I can mark 2 days a week at 10k steps or 2.) I have a total of 243,000 steps by the end of August. 5.) 2nd SMART Goal: I will increase my front squat to 100#s by the end of August. I think my max for front squat is about 80#s. I'm confident that w/ a little work I can get the 100#s. Random Side Challenges: 40 XP Points for Running/Walking a Mile in the morning for the academy! This will help goal #4! 60 XP Points for Keeping A Public Workout Log! I may add some more to these as I go through the new academy! Thoughts/Opinions?

It's August! Time for new goals (I know, I know -- this challenge doesn't go all the way through August) but you get the picture! July ended up looking fantastic & I'm super happy with where I'm at. I have to give major props to my fiance. Holy cow. There have been 2 days -- just 2 -- where I've been like -- I REAAALLLY want pizza. Can we please just go get pizza? 1 night of pizza won't hurt anything. In the most loving way possible, he responds w/, "Babe, you're doing great, we're not eating f**king pizza." Yeah, he's right. I didn't miss it after the fact either. I sucked it up & created paleo-ish pizza burgers. Hamburger, w/ homemade marinara & high quality mozzarella cheese topped w/ fresh basil. Om nom nom. I'm struggling w/ what to make my August goals. I'm going to stick w/ no soda & paleo. That's going well. I've lost 4#s since the beginning of July. I was a little disappointed in the number (since I stayed off the scale the whole month I was expecting more). However, I've lost multiple inches on my waist, thighs, & arms so I'm pretty happy. My pants are fitting better and people are noticing that I'm losing a little weight. Hopefully, I'll get to finish this thought at home this evening. ....

I absolutely love Vinyasa. It makes my life soo much better. : ) It really helps to clear my mind too. I'm proud of you, it looks like you're finding that balance.

Loove the painting!! Thanks so much for posting! It looks like you're doing fabulous. Keep it up!

Ok -- huge win yesterday. We had a fancy dancy sales meeting w/ one of our suppliers in Indy yesterday (we're about 1.5 hrs outside of the city).. Normally our company serves Panera Bread for EVERRRRYTHING. I'm talking everything. Generally this involves a relatively healthy salad that I can take my own dressing for... so I did. Well come to find out, since the supplier was putting this one on, the Marriott that we were at actually "catered" the event. Yay, no Panera... right? Wrong. It was still a cold cut bar.. w/ exactly 2 thigns paleo to eat. Fruit salad & the actual meat. So I ate that. There were dishes of candy in front of us, there was a pyramid of soda all day long, & 3 delicious desert choices (carrot cake, cheesecake, & chocolate mouse cake) and I was starving.. but I didn't touch ANY OF IT!!!! Holy cow, talk about will power & strength. I'm starting to believe in myself & believe I can actually sustain this lifestyle. And feel awesome about it. Crazy right?

Seriously tho -- you have to come to terms with it... because once you do...it just becomes cake. That's how I've kept w/ this for two months. Month 1 was just working out 3x/week (that was anything moving for more than 30 mins-- i counted slip & slide kickball for god's sake) and no soda. That's it. Didn't worry about food or whatnot at all. Month 2 was a little harder but built on those. You've got this. Keep it up!

You're amazing. : ) Thanks for the props.

I thought the progression of my face was interesting here. Look how much more clear my face looks since April. Absolutely nothing changed except for my diet. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

I've been terrible at updating. I think that's ok though becauuse I'm killing it w/ my goals. I mean... KILLIN' IT! I last posted on Thursday.. so you've missed the weekend ... I'm not sure where ya'll are in the world, but I'm on the mid-western side of Indiana. It was hot as balls this weekend.. and well the past week. So this week was a lot of sitting on the couch reading because it really is to hott to do anything outside w/o getting sick. It's ok, after the past 2 weeks at work, I needed it. It was sooo relaxing to just shut my brain off. Sunday I got up and went to spin class per the usual. Yesterday, I went to kettlebell. It's interesting to me because I always feel like I work so much harder in spin, but my new fancy fitbit tells a different story. Both of them are very similiar. Hrmmm... Food has been going well, I had a moment of weakness this weekend when I REEEALLLY wanted pizza but the fiance talked me off the ledge. : ) I did step on the scale for bench mark purposes, and I've lost 3#s. In the grand scheme of things, that's really good. It's about a # a week. My measurements are really showing the progress and my pants are getting loose & so are my bras (well, they're getting back to normal instead of digging into me). Whoop! Oh, and my star chart looks super pretty! Progress!!! And post workout selfies for your amusement. Post KB yesterday. Post Spin on Sunday

Archery!!! That's amazing! After you found me.. I found you. Following along!!!

Completely & totally awesome!! : ) It's an odd feeling to know that I've stuck something out this long.. anything... let alone an addiction like soda! Bam.

It's Thursday!!! Thankfully. This week has been like Groundhogs Day at work.. or really the last 2 weeks. It's the same cycle, over, and over, and over, again. It's awful. I think we're about to come out of the tunnel tho. I've still kept up on everything. Exercise-wise --- I went to spin on Sunday, KB on Monday, & did SL-A yesterday. I'd been going to Planet Fitness on lunch w/ a gf to do the Academy workouts, but since we started stronglifts we can do everything at home, the correct way, without silly Smith machines. Thankfully. Sooo I drug her home w/ me on my lunch hour and I helped her DL stronglifts & explained it to her. Boom. I now have a SL buddy. Foodwise -- On point. Nothing too excited to share this week. I'm probably going to have switch up my breakfast shake next week. I'm about over PB/Banana/Choc. Oh! I've been Soda free 51 days & paleo for 15 days as of today.

Awee -- I understand that too. : / My grandmother has Alzheimers & my parents are her fulltime caregivers. That's waaaay more of a 24/7 job.

Boom. Side by side. I'm pleased w how my back looks. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

I literally died laughing at no one died. I feel your pain though. I have a couple of goals similiar to yours... No matter how well you plan your meals & dinner.. inevitably something w/ throw a wrench in it & you'll have to roll w/ the punches. Oh & feel lucky you can put your phone in another place... I'm on call 24/7 for my job so my phone is legit always attached to my hip.

Ok ok -- Formal stuff: Continuing July with my 4 goals: 1.) No soda (49 days soda free & counting!) 2.) 3 Workouts/Week 3.) Paleo-ish: I have my own definition of this. I do have just a bit of dairy since it has no ill effects on me. Otherwise, it's paleo. 4.) Breakfast 3x/week 5ish.) Hide the scale!!! I'm doing fantastic as far as I'm concerned. My fiance mentioned on Sunday that my back is less squishy. Talk about the best & most awkward compliment ever. I loved it though. I went ahead and took my measurements but didn't weigh of course. I've lost 5" off my waist since I started paleo almost 3 weeks ago now. Holy smokes. I feeel sooo much better too. I had a tiny (I'm talking 1.5" x 1.5") piece of zuchinni cake at my soon-to-be-mother-in-law's house on Saturday evening and it literally made me feel terrible. Saturday night I had odd stomach cramps & was back & forth to the bathroom all night. Sunday I just didn't have much of an appetite and have a tummy ache about the whole day. Lesson learned. Anyhow, I already have 2 workouts in for the week.. I went to spin on Monday & my kettlebell class yesterday. I'll do SL on Wed & Fri so I have a break between those & spin again on Sunday. : )