4 Week Progress

I decided to take some progress pictures and updates! So here we go!


Current Measurements:

Waist - 30” - 3 inches lost
Hips – 37.5” - 1.5 inches lost
Butt – 43” - 1 inch lost
Thigh (left) – 25.5” - 1.5 inches lost
Calf – 14.5” - 1 inch lost
Arm – 12.5” - 1.5 inches lost

165.4 pounds - 7.3 pounds lost

Now for some pictures! (You may need to click on the picture to view the full size, as part of it gets cut off)

Before:


After 4 weeks:



Before:


After 4 weeks:


I'm pretty happy with the results so far! On to the next 4 weeks we go...

New Idea

Upon writing my last blog post, I suddenly remembered the tabata method of cardio training, I had watched videos from bodyrock.tv of a 20 minute intense cardio workout that is equal to 40 minutes of boring moderate cardio. Time saving? Heck yes!

I had always wanted to try it, but I never had the proper timer. I searched EVERYWHERE and couldn't find one anywhere. I needed something that gives you 20 second and 10 second intervals for 4 minutes total. I knew the Gymboss Interval Timer would do that, but I wanted to see if I could find something without ordering online. Yeah, no luck.

So I just bought myself a Gymboss! It should be here next week, and I'm super pumped to try a tabata workout. In that case, I'll do that 5 times a week, so I guess 20 minutes in the morning and than just what I've been doing with the gym 3 times a week with strength and 30-60 minutes of cardio.

Yay!

There we go!

Ahh finally, starting relieve some of that bloating. As of now there is no loss to record for the week, but at least I'm back to where I was last week.

I've decided over the next week to really step up the cardio! I have strong muscles, in fact I'm more than likely super ripped and toned underneath all of the fat. I want to just maintain the muscles that I have (other than core, I need to build up my core strength!) and concentrate more on fat loss. My goal would be to do cardio 5 days for the next week with a 1 hour duration, by either elliptical, running/jogging, gazelle, even a silly workout DVD or wii fit. I'm hoping that will jump start me! I'll also be still doing strength training 3x per week.

And of course, those dang portions. It's a lot harder than it looks! It's hard to break the habit of the full feeling, and keeping the motivation up to keep going with it. But hey, I've done 4 weeks so far, that's the best I've EVER done!

I was feeling awfully discouraged all week, but this morning I had a look at my Wii Fit weight chart, and saw how much it keeps dipping down and it just makes me want to keep it up and keep those numbers falling.

PMS

I hate PMS. That is all.



RAAHHHH!! It's throwing off my weigh in's and making me feel discouraged. At least I'm able to avoid cravings. But... man! I have to keep telling myself in a week the scale and I can be friends again.

On the upside, I ran a mile on the track last night! Which is suprising. I had a bad shin injury last spring that has caused me to not run since, and I feel just fine even this morning!

Bland is the Way!

Why does food have to taste so darn good?

Okay, so, I have a problem. When food tastes REALLY good and has a really strong flavour, I CANNOT take my time and savour every bite nice and slowly. Instead, I shovel it in to enjoy a million bites of flavour, to the point of eating WAY too much and I'm left feeling gross and bloated.

I suppose that could be managed by filling my plate with just a SMALL amount of food and make myself wait after awhile to make sure I'm no longer hungry, but I love TASTE! :p

So I guess the only way is to eat super boring foods that have no flavour at all, so I get so bored of eating them, I just have to stop.

*sigh* So I am hereby punishing myself with 1 hour of Gazelling starting at 5AM tomorrow morning. I need to kick my own ass. Seriously... I am going to set up the Gazelle in the living room right now, than off to an early bedtime.

Otherwise, I did really well today. Small breakfast, half of what I would normally have for lunch, and I wasn't even left feeling hungry, 2.5 liters of water (about to make that 3), no sugar, nothing. Dinner was just a re-creation of last night and it was a little TOO good :)

Rules.

I've decided to set myself up some rules this week. I really want to reach my mini goal of 10 pounds by the end of the month, and I also need to save a bit of room for Andy's birthday dinner this coming Sunday!

I plan to:

-No sugar this week! No candies, no juice, no chocolate, none of it!
-No chips or crackers, even if Andy has them laying on the table
-No after dinner snacking
-Really watch those portion sizes
-30-45 minutes on the gazelle every morning
-On days I'm not going to the gym, do a workout from bodyrock.tv

I can keep that up for 6 days, especially if it'll get me to negative 10!

Tofu, Bok Choy & Shitake Mushroom Stir Fry!i

I have been a vegetarian for a year and a half, and have never cooked with tofu. I'll eat it when we go out, but I was never sure what to do with it! So I decided tonight to give it a try. AAAAMAZING! I will for sure be making this again! It is to DIE for. The sauce is just so perfect!

Not the greatest pic, I was in too much of a hurry to eat this, it smelled so good!



Recipe:

1 tsp. cornstarch
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 tsp. minced fresh giner
2 tsp. Thai chile sauce, such as sriracha
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
1 tsp. sesame oil
3 Tbs. Canola oil
1 14 oz. package extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into bite-sized cubes
1 lb. boy choy, cut into 1.5 inch pieces
2 cups sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms

1.) Whisk together cornstarch and 1 tsp. water in a bowl. Whisk in soy sauce, ginger, chile sauce, garlic and sesame oil.
2.) Heat 1 tbs. canola oil in large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Stir-fry tofu 7 minutes, or until golden brown; transfer to plate. Add 1 tbs. oil to pan, stir-fry bok choy 4 minutes; transfer to plate.
3.) Add remaining 1 Tbs. oil to pan. Stir-fry mushrooms 2 minutes, or until tender. Return tofu and bok choy to pan. Stir in soy sauce mixture, and stir-fry 1 minute, or until hot.