Moovin' Monday: Week Five, the Final One!

I can't believe we're about to leap into April and are already half way through the spring. I did notice that the sun was still working it's way past the horizon today at well past 7pm. Even though it was a milky gray kind of light, since it's been cloudy again, I still cheer for longer days! Hip hip...

Last week I did fairly well, up until the very end. I'd gotten in 3 really great workouts and 1 short pilates session and had eaten healthy all week. Then it divebombed with a BK burger on Friday night and Pizza Hut on Sunday to cure the hangover headache. Yowser.

But not all good things need come to an end, so I'm happy to report that "Get Moovin' March" has really motivated me toward trying harder. And I certainly won't be slacking off as spring fades into summer, since I plan on adding an additional two 45-minute elliptical workouts to my usual spin class and kickboxing routine. Which leaves me at four workouts a week plus weights and abs. Even though I won't be making my Moovin' Monday posts anymore, I like to feel good about reaching my goals and staying self-accountable. And hopefully it'll help me eat less burgers. Moooo.

I did finally weigh myself at the gym yesterday and I haven't budged an ounce. I've weighed the same for the past couple months now, and it doesn't tend to vary too much. So maybe that's a good thing. Yeah, I'll go with a good thing.

The plans for this week are a bit scattered, since we are officially out of groceries, leaving on Thursday for a road trip and I'm dreadfully sick and can't see myself hacking, coughing and sneezing my way through much of any workout at the moment. I took a yoga class on Saturday (loved feeling so stretched out and relaxed when I left) but I'm pretty sure I ruined everyone's "zen" by blowing my nose at least 15 times during the 60 minutes I was in there. And let me know tell you, for such a little person I sound like a train.

I did get quite a bit of walking today (retail therapy... does it count when you're still sick at the end?), but we'll be on the road outta of town Thursday morning and returning Sunday. So basically as soon as I'm well again, it'll be back on the horse and hitting the gym as hard as I can about 4 times a week. And I'll continue to plan our meals, making creative use of baking, grilling and sauteeing healthy eats.

Though I'd like to end this on a better and more productive, note, this is my final Moovin' Monday post and I hope somewhere out there I've motivated others to try harder and stick to the gun! It's always a struggle. Hell, if it were easy we'd all be supermodels. But reality strikes, whether we like it or not, and I think my husband says it best when he tells me: "I didn't want to marry a girl who only eats salad."

Amen.

Moovin' Monday: Week 4

Well, folks, here we are again! I meant to get this posted yesterday (obviously, since it's titled Moovin' Monday) but ran out of time between work, meeting up with my cousin and preparing dinner. A healthy dinner at that, btw.

I'm happy to report that I got in all four of my planned workouts last week and did fairly well on the eating front... only one slice of booze-induced late night pizza over the weekend and maybe a couple potato wedges. I haven't weighed myself in a couple weeks, so no idea if this is shaving off any pounds or not, but with my luck I doubt it. Yet I am monstrously proud for having stuck to it and still managed work outs even though I didn't feel up to it whatsoever. And I've done quite a bit of walking. So there.

I made it to spin class last night, so that gets me off to a good start this week. Just one more week of Moovin' Monday March to go!!

Workout/dinner plans for this week:

Monday - spin class, 45 min/ baked bbq chicken
Tuesday - walking Union Street, couple hrs (ha!)/ dinner out, something non-fried!
Wednesday - kickboxing class, 45 min/ Mexican beef and rice dish
Thursday - Shred DVD/ baked pork chops and veggies
Friday - elliptical and abs, 1 hour/ fish and sausage one-pot (never made it last week)
Saturday - yoga/ loaded salad with turkey

Have you been keeping up a special workout or eating routine this month? Let me know about your progress!!

Moovin' Monday: Week 3

Whew, am I tired. Wish I could say it is because I worked out seven times last week and didn't slip up and eat anything bad. But that won't be the case and my honesty policy requires me to confess that I did *not* get in my planned Thursday and Friday workouts last week. :(  Thursday I was miserably ill and Friday was a busy day with friends from Texas arriving that afternoon. (But at least I still got in three solid workouts...) On top of it all, I joined in the fish and chips dinner Friday evening and later had a slice of booze-induced late night pizza - not ideal during the month in which I have pledged to forego fried food! But I'm not getting down because I didn't have a perfect week. We did a LOT of walking while we were in Edinburgh and my legs are definitely feeling it. So at least I didn't sit on the couch and eat bon bons. But between all that eating and drinking we did, I need to work hard this week to make some positive progess. Here's the plan...

Workouts and dinners this week:

Monday - spin class, 45 min/ red pepper chicken and veggies
Tuesday - baked pork chops, salad and corn/squash/pepper veg mix
Wednesday (St. Patrick's Day!) - kickboxing class, 45 min/ chicken fajitas
Thursday - Shred DVD, 20 min/ homemade shrimp fetticuini alfredo
Friday - elliptical, 30-45 min/ Greek chicken with "everything orzo"
Saturday - castle tour & distillery tour with cousin = lots of walking/ dinner out but no chips and fried fish!! :)
Sunday - soup & sandwiches

Get Moovin' Monday: Week 2

Alright, so I'm back with my second Get Moovin' post. (See previous post and goals here.) And I've definitely been moovin'! We just returned from a quick weekend trip to Prague! (More details in my next post.) I did pretty good with the food there, we ate lots of soups, pastas and meat. So much meat. But nothing fried, not a lick. However, I did slip up a little before we left. I didn't get in my 20-minute Shred DVD workout on Thursday, and Friday we ordered Pizza Hut since we cancelled dinner plans at the last minute, and were getting up at 3:30am for our flight the next day, and there was nothing to cook in the house. So it wasn't the best dinner choice, but I stand by my reasoning. Ha!

This week I intend to squeeze in a few extra workouts to pump things up and we'll be back on track with meals. I am proud of myself for avoiding Burger King yesterday, I had a real hankering for a hamburger and fries after we landed back in Aberdeen. Lots of lager Saturday night will do that to you! But I held my ground and we went home and cooked pasta instead. Score!

Also, I copied Casey's idea to keep up with a food journal that she got off a fellow blogger here. It's simple looking enough and I'll just smack it on the fridge to remind me of my good-eating plans whenever I'm tempted to empty out my chocolate stash! Or order more pizza. Or eat French fries. You get the picture.

I will note that I don't count calories, I hate looking things up and trying to painstakingly add together calories based on food, amount and cooking method. I know healthy food choices from bad ones and rely on my instincts to steer me right. So it's just a simple calendar for what I eat since, like Casey said, it's more impactful to see your choices for an entire week's worth.

WORKOUT AND DINNER PLANS THIS WEEK:

Monday - spin class, 45 min. / chicken chutney and broccoli
Tuesday - Shred DVD, 20 min. / fish and sausage one-pot recipe with potatoes and garlic bread
Wednesday - kickbox class, 45 min. / steak night OR baked pork chops and veggies
Thursday - Bootcamp DVD, 40 min. / chicken and baked potatoes
Friday - Shred DVD, 20 min. / taking visiting friends out for fish and chips... uh oh!

Get Moovin' March: Moovin' Monday!

This is it. My Moovin' Monday! Here goes....

Due to our impending trip to Italy, I have decided to take my health and fitness a bit more seriously. Starting now. Why you ask? Well, I know we'll be poolside at some point during our Italian adventure, and I can only imagine myself next to tan, gorgeous looking Italian women. In a bikini. So I'm allowing it to be my motivation to work a little bit harder the next few months.

Ironically, when I decided to do this just two days ago, I was reading a new friend's blog and she had just posted that she was spending the month of March cutting out fast food and upping her workouts. Perfect!

So I'm joining forces with Casey over at The Ever-Changing Life of a Military Wife for Get Moovin' March! It's a pretty simple plan and anyone is welcome to come along and try it out with me. Here's the deal:

*I'm giving up all fast food and fried food during March.
*Each week must involve 3-4 workouts.
*Each Monday, I'll post a blog update tracking my progress and my workout and eating plans for the following seven days.

(We buy all our groceries for the week on either Saturday or Sunday, so this makes it easy for me to map out what I'm cooking/eating during the week. But if this isn't your style, don't let it deter you from joining me! Just make more generalized plans about what you want to eat, or skip that step altogether and simply keep up with your workout days. You can cut out the fast food without having to keep a running list of what you're eating during the week anyway.)

Easy, right!? I hope so. To stay perfectly honest with you, this isn't for me to set some goal of becoming super skinny. I don't think of myself as grotesquely overweight, although I will admit to struggling with my weight gain since my athletic days six years ago as a synchronized swimmer. I see old pictures and long to be in that kind of shape again, but it required 30+ hours of swimming each week and regular strength training. That's why I was an athlete. Today, I realize I need attainable yet reasonable goals. And my ultimate goal is to simply feel good and strong. I have a tendency to gain weight when I start working out regularly, hopefully it's muscle mass but who knows. So I'm not basing my results on a number off the scale, but rather how I feel, if I met my goals and do my clothes fit better. And most importantly? Confidence. I want to wear what I wear knowing that I'm working hard to stay fit and feel good about it. Especially if I'm going to be wearing a bikini in Italy in the summer.

So without further ado, here's my first Moovin' Monday post!

This week's workout plan:
*Sunday - elliptical - 30 min
*Monday - spin class - 45 min
*Wednesday - kickboxing class - 45 min
*Thursday - Shred DVD - 20 min

That'll be about it this week since we leave for Prague on Friday morning!

This week's eating plan:
*Breakfasts: coconut whole grain granola bar and tea or two pieces bacon and two egg whites scrambled. If I'm really in a hurry, it's an apple with a little peanut butter.
*Lunch:
Mon-Wed are salads at work, loaded with sunflower seeds, light shredded cheese, raisins, carrots, sliced apples, tuna or ham, light dressing and a couple croutons.
Thursay lunch is whole grain minestrone soup and toast.
*Dinners:
Mon - rump steak with steamed zucchini and broccoli
Tues - baked chicken breasts with bbq sauce, corn and garlic bread
Wed - grilled sirloin steak with zucchini, broccoli and grilled onions
Thurs - pasta with meat sauce, fresh salad

Below is the button from Casey's blog, feel free to check out her page and see posts from other followers who are also linking up to join the Get Moovin' March plan. Whenever I make a Moovin' Monday post, just click on the button to view her blog and you'll be able to access all the entries that fellow bloggers have posted each Monday tracking their progress as well.


 


We can do it!!