...curvy.

[xiaogui]

Today was good.

Ate:

Breakfast--toasted bagel with pumpkin spice cream cheese, coffee.

Lunch: Panera Bread grilled chicken Cobb salad (no dressing), cup of tomato basil soup w/croutons

Snack: 2 servings of potato chips (I know)

Dinner: Chewy granola bar, egg sandwich (toasted bagel with 1 scrambled egg and 1.5 tbsp of chive+onion cream cheese)

Workout:

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Level 1...day one.

I know, lots of bagels and cream cheese, but guys, it's just so good. I'll go grocery shopping soon.

My goals:

Sleep 7-8 hours a night (this is probably the hardest part)

Workout 5 days a week--right now this is going to be 7 because I plan on doing the 30 day Shred until Halloween so I can be sexy in my Molly Millions costume

Plan meals in advance, eat as clean as possible

Make fitness friends (IRL and online)

Start taking kickboxing classes again

Overall, I'm looking at losing ~20-25 lbs by New Year's Eve, but the number is not important to me. How I look and feel is.

So here we go!

[llsoszynski@gmail.com]

Good luck! I like the motivation

[xiaogui]

Thanks!

[Silverback]

Molly Millions...Nice =)

[xiaogui]

So, today has gone pretty well. My food could be cleaner, but I felt pretty good today. Well-rested.

Breakfast: toasted bagel w/pumpkin spice cream cheese, coffee.

Lunch: leftover Panera cobb salad, leftover tomato bisque, half a bagel, oats & chocolate fiber bar.

Snack: small sugar cookie

Dinner: Bratwurst w/ketchup and mustard, peach

Workout:

Jillian Michaels 30-day shred

Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown

(about 50 minutes total). Thank God for Youtube.

Not great, but not bad. I'm definitely sore from yesterday. I got seven hours of sleep last night and I only had half a cup of coffee today, which is pretty damn good for a busy Thursday. Also, I've noticed that working out really motivates me to stay on track food-wise--my lunch was actually very small, tiny portions. Now I just need to keep packin' the vitamin C to get over this congestion and I can have a strong weekend.

[xiaogui]

Good morning friends.

Yesterday wasn't so great. I blame Cosi.

Breakfast: bagel with cream cheese, coffee.

Lunch: a Cosi cobb salad. I just ordered without asking for the dressing on the side because Panera and other restaurants do that automatically. NOT COSI. the thing was smothered with 'lite' sherry dressing and blue cheese, it was delicious but when I looked it up online later, I saw that the salad is 720 CALORIES. What's the point?!

Dinner: Nutella sandwich. It was a lost cause at that point.

I also played Cataan (with expansion pack) with friends, whilst drinking and eating pizza.

It was a Friday, and I feel pretty good this morning so I don't regret it. I'm getting back on the horse today by restocking on some healthy groceries (going to make low fat chicken salad and pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies!), doing some errands on my bike, and day 3 of 30 Day Shred.

[xiaogui]

...It's been a while...

Energy and motivation levels were at an all time low this past week. I did some light lifting, but that was really it. No exercise, poor sleep, and my nutrition was pretty bad.

Now I have the whole afternoon to work out, and I'm going to get things back on track with 30 day shred and probably some yoga. I'm also planning on prepping my lunch foods for the week, which I think will include the following ingredients:

spinach salad with chicken breast, dried cranberries, avocado (no dressing...I dislike most salad dressings for some reason)

carrot sticks with guacamole

hard-boiled eggs (minus the yolk)

apple and orange slices

greek yogurt/keffir

So, here I go! Here's to picking up where we left off, instead of giving up and hating ourselves. Yeehaw.

[xiaogui]

A second post for today: just a quick one to outline the specifics of my goals and set up some benchmarks, which I think will help my lazy ass be more disciplined.

1. SLEEP. This is the most important thing because it affects everything I do. Somewhere between 8.5 and 7 hours of sleep seems best for me, so I'm going to aim to hit that every weeknight. My problem is that I have always had weird sleeping issus and college made it worse (sleep was the first thing I sacrificed for studying) and I graduated a year and a half ago. Any tips on turning off the computer/getting rid of that feeling that I could "still be doing X" instead of going to bed at a decent time would be appreciated.

2. Wake up at 6:30 a.m. during the week. Every day. This is to accommodate goal #3...

3. Fit in a 20-30 min workout before I leave for work! I plan to check these off four days a week.

4. Reach 150 lbs by Christmas. Again, the number is not as important to me as how I look/feel, but I think this will really help me stay accountable and on-track, even though the number on the scale will realistically fluctuate 3-4 pounds due to water weight, food, etc.

5. Cooking Day. My boyfriend and I already kind of do this, but I would like it to be more regular and structured. Make healthy food (or the ingredients for quick meals later on) on Sundays, so they're ready throughout the week and we're not tempted to snack or eat out when we're lazy/tired.

6. Find a workout buddy (or three!) in real life and online--to help with accountability.

[xiaogui]

Today went pretty well. I had a ton of energy, was uber productive at work...then crashed at 4pm. Drank coffee. Made it through that last hour.

Breakfast: 1 serving of pomegranate keffir, two small pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (that batch I made two weeks ago is finally gone)

Lunch: half a healthy chicken salad sandwich, one apple, baby carrots dipped into 1 serving of guacamole dip, about 3 tablespoons of leftover Panera tomato bisque soup.

Dinner: 1 bratwurst w/ketchup and mustard, ~4 cookies ( ), and a few forkfuls of the chicken salad mixed up with a little sweet mustard.

The cookies are gone, so they can no longer tempt me. But I need to seriously start bringing more food to work because I was starving by the time I left and I tend to eat everything in sight when I get home feeling like that...

Workout: leg weights, then early up tomorrow morning for 30-day shred. I hope you all had successful Mondays!

[xiaogui]

Well, it's Friday.

Breakfast: bagel with cream cheese, coffee.

Lunch: spinach salad with chicken breast and Craisins, baby carrot sticks, and a chocolate chip cookie.

Dinner: A few bites of Pad See Yew, and chicken panang curry with rice.

A decent day, but I've been slacking off on the exercising for the last few days...not good. Sleep this week was generally better than last week, but going to bed before midnight still doesn't feel natural. Little by little, I think I'm getting there.

This weekend: lots of activity planned. I'm helping a friend move tomorrow, and planning on biking ~10 miles on Sunday if the weather's good. I'll plan on throwing in arm weights and legs too, depending on how strenuous the moving is.

[Laureleye]

You're showing amazing motivation in your workouts. A few minor changes in your diet would really boost the results of your workouts I think. When you crank your calories way down, and still squeeze in a lot of cookies, you aren't leaving enough room for the things your body needs to take advantage of that hard-work you're doing. Steve said it best "you can't outrun your fork." You might try some fruit (apples, pears, bananas, whatever you like) with some nuts as snacks. No more calories than your granola bars but better stuff for your body. Good luck on your quest; keep punching.

[xiaogui]

Haha, yeah. The cookies are gone and I probably won't make anymore unless I can arrange to give most of them away right after I make them. My problem has been that I don't pack enough food for the workday, so by the time I get home (35 minute train ride from work) I'm starving and try to eat whatever's most convenient. Lately I've been focusing on adding more protein into my diet (I almost never get enough on a daily basis) and filling up on a higher volume of fresh fruits and veggies so I don't get sweet cravings when I get back home. It's amazing how your body stops wanting sugar when you almost completely cut it out of your diet for a few days. Anyway thanks for the encouragement!

[xiaogui]

Hello again. Time has been going by way too quickly. Anyway, my day:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs. 2 eggwhites, 1 yolk. Coffee.

Midmorning snack: 1 fruit and nut granola bar.

Lunch: 1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt. Spinach salad with cucumbers. Baby carrots. A clementine.

Dinner: Bagel with cream cheese. Meh.

I've been feeling leaner lately, probably because I've been consuming fewer foods that tend to make me bloat. Tonight I'm baking some chicken for tomorrow's lunch, doing my legs and booty exercises, drinking tea and just getting ready for a very busy workday. Sleep has been problematic this week but I'm going to bed early tonight.

----EDIT------

My legs/booty routine from tonight:

Deep squats - 4 sets of 15 reps, bodyweight+15 lb dumbbells

Butt lifts - 4 sets of 10

Front lunge + bicep curl - 4 sets of 10 reps (5 lb dumbbells)

[xiaogui]

Man, it's been almost a month...

But I am happy to report that things are going swimmingly. I'm still losing weight and so far have lost about 7 pounds since I started, though numbers aren't that big a deal because of water weight, etc. But my clothes are fitting much better, I am definitely leaner and I can see some real improvement in the tone of my arms.

ANyway, food these days looks like this:

Breakfast: bagel with cream cheese, coffee

Pre-lunch snack: 1 serving fat-free strained Greek yogurt

Lunch: bean salad (navy and black beans + chopped beets + diced onion + diced tomato + chia seeds) with a dollop of guacamole on top, one large apple, a handful of nuts and dried fruit

Dinner: a veggie omelette, baked chicken, or sometimes just cheese and crackers. mmm.

My appetite has definitely decreased, I feel like I have detoxed from the crazy sugar and bread cravings I was getting for a while there. Still doing primarily weight training and really not much cardio. Feelin' good.

[xiaogui]

Today is off to a good start.

Breakfast: toast with strawberry cream cheese, coffee.

Lunch: eggwhite omelet w/1 yolk: tomato, spinach, and 1 spreadable cheese wedge (so glad I found these in the grocery store! Only 25 calories per serving)

Dinner: TBD. It's a weekend, so unofficially, anything goes.

Finally got a good night's sleep last night, I really needed it. I've been slacking on my exercise so I should really do arms today, it's been a while...

[Laureleye]

I like the changes you've made to your diet. How's the weight loss/size decrease going?