I'm Starting a New Blog!

Hello folks!  Not sure how many of my followers actually still read my blog.  It's changed so much over the years. I'll still post here now and then, but for the near future, as my husband and I go on this journey to lose weight and get healthy, the new blog will be more fitting.

It's called From Chaotic and Fat to Organized and Healthy.  It's at organizedandhealthy.blogspot.com. So please hop on over there and check it out and follow me there if you like!

Thanks!

Power 90 Day 5, Chicken Stirfry

This morning before work, I packed C's and the girls' lunches, which took some time, then headed to bed. So when I woke up this afternoon, I was dragging. I was determined not to skip my workout, but I was running out of time. The older girls get home on the bus at 3:20 and it was already after 2:30.  I HATE being walked in on during a workout - or watched by the kids. Then I remember both of them were going home with their boyfriends because of parties or volunteer stuff. So, I wouldn't be interrupted.  So, I relaxed, took my time and started the workout.  Today is strength training. I was 20 minutes into the workout, when Rhiannon and her best friend Moneesha came through the front door. There I was in my sports bra, shorts, hair a mess, and probably unshaved armpits, holding a resistance band over my head in the middle of a military press I think it was.. or one of those high ones. I paused it and went to my room. I was embarrassed. Not only for how I looked, but how the house looks. It's a freaking mess right now. So, it ruined my whole groove. Tonight, I am going to do the workout over again with Christopher since he's doing his after work. Since we only have one resistance band, I'm going to head to the store a little early and get some weights. That way we can do the strength training at the same time.

Tonight's dinner/my lunch is chicken stir fry from the power 90 booklet.  It's not really much of a recipe, just cook the chicken in a little oil, add the veggies and a little soy sauce and serve with brown rice. What struck me though is how much better stir fry is with fresh veggies.  I used to only use frozen veggies in my stirfry and it was not the greatest food to eat..  this was AMAZING! Fresh is best!

This is totally working!

I'm on Day 4 of Power 90.  OMG am I sore!  Still.  I know it will ease off the more I do it, but man!  Those leg lifts are killer when you have thunder thighs LOL!

Here's what we've had for dinner the last couple nights.

Shrimp Kebobs with brown rice.  Thee were SO GOOD!  The smokiness of the grill on the veggies was amazing and the marinade YUM!

Vegetarian Curry with more brown rice. This one is also really good. Very filling. Good to have a meatless meal.

I kind of had a feeling my huge gut was a little less huge this morning, so I got out the measuring tape. I have lost 3 inches on my waist!!!  I'm guessing I was a little bloated from some water gain when we took the before measurements, but whatever the reason, it's AWESOME!  My jeans definitely fit better.  They had been getting so tight I had to unbutton them after dinner at work (good thing I work from home!)

Overall, even though I'm sore when I stand and walk, I feel stronger, more limber (in places that aren't in pain), and even standing up taller. The stretches really help with that.  I am going back to my hometown next Saturday to my nephew's graduation. I wonder if there'll be any noticeable change for the people I see there that haven't seen me for a couple weeks.

Hope you're all doing well!
Patty

First day of the SWEAT cardio and Pita Pizzas!

Today was Day 2 of Power 90.  I am SO GLAD we did the 6 day fat burn first.  It was so much easier than this workout.  I think if we did this one first, we'd have given in the towel. But we know it will get easier. My second day of cardio on the 6-day fat burn was SO much better than the first day. So, we're sticking it out and doing it, no matter how sore we are.  Poor Christopher could barely move when he went to bed, and he has to help unload a truck tomorrow.

Tonight for the family's dinner and my lunch, we had Power Pita Pizzas, straight from the power 90 meal planner booklet. You slice one pita in half along the edges so it becomes two pizza rounds. Stick them in the oven for one minute at 350 to toast a little. Each round gets 1/4 cup sauce (we used our fave cheap Hunt's canned spaghetti sauce, the Four Cheese.)  Then add grilled (or baked which is what I did) chicken pieces or other lean protein.  Faelyn actually put shrimp on hers. Weird. Then chopped veggies, like we had green bell pepper, spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, pineapple (Zoe had a Hawaiian pizza). Then low fat mozzarella cheese.  We found a low fat pizza blend and used it.

I was leery about broccoli on a pizza, but with the cheese it was so yummy! I used more cheese than I normally would, but decided I could have it because I'd not had a mid morning snack and had room for a few more calories. I had a rough workout afterall! I won't be adding extra cheese or anything like that any more this week.  one time thing.

No more weight loss this morning, but I hadn't gained. I know I've lost 11 lbs (well according to our cheap scales), and I can feel a difference, I still don't really see a difference. I put on the same tank top I'd taken our first "Before" photos in, and I look exactly the same to me.  So, where did the 11lbs come from? Have you seen 11 lbs of meat?  It's a LOT.  I guess it was just in the inch or so I'd lost here and there. I hate being so big that I can lose that much and not see it. Looking forward to seeing the lbs drop more and seeing a change!

Power 90 Day One - FINALLY!!

Today is officially my first day on the 90 day program, Power 90.  

 I had Christopher take my new "Before" photos last night and we did our measurements following the instructional video on their site. It helped, since we never knew exactly where to measure before.

Today, I did my first workout.  It was a strength training one using the resistance band that came with it. It was hard, and I couldn't do the pushups.  I have to work on getting the form right, rather than doing them incorrectly. So, I'll try again in a few days and then keep trying til I have built up some more upper body strength.  The problem is where I have muscle loss due to my car accident when I was 19 and I never built it back up in the arm I almost lost.So, I am really looking forward to actually building muscle there - if it's possible anyway.  What muscle I did have at the time was shredded by the broken bone, so I'm not sure how that will work out.  Does it grow back? Not sure.

I had a chocolate protein shake with frozen bananas for breakfast. Then C and I went grocery shopping. I made a menu for breakfasts, lunches and dinners using the meal planner/recipe book that came with it.  This was a lot easier than it would have been since we did the 6-day fat burn program last week, and were used to the foods and how they're prepared.  It's just more of the same with some new foods added in and more yummy stuff. So our fridge is stuffed to the gills with lots of green stuff, berries, and veggies.

This week we're making our meals for the whole family, so the kids will now be eating what we eat as well.  No more making them meals full of carbs like pasta alfredo, or spaghetti or cream soups over egg noodles, etc. Things on the menu this week are meals such as vegetable curry, pita pizzas with chicken, and shrimp and veggies kebobs on the grill.

For a mid morning snack (which was around 4pm for me) I had low fat cottage cheese with blueberries and strawberries. It's better than it sounds LOL - well I never liked cottage cheese before.  Let the berries sit for a while and the cottage cheese takes on the flavor. Really good.

For dinner, Christopher grilled out.  We followed one of the dinner ideas in the book. 4 oz lean beef hamburgers with lettuce and tomatoes and home made baked french fries on the side. He added some seasoning and onions to the burgers.  And we had 100% whole wheat buns.  They were really good!

For an "afternoon" snack which I'll have around 9pm, I'll probably have baby carrots and hummus, or maybe raw peanuts.

For dinner which I have around midnight,  I will likely just have a salad with red wine vinaigrette.

I'm drinking tons of water now. I haven't had any chai tea (which I used to drink probably a gallon of a night) in over a week. When I want something warm to drink, I have a cup of chamomile tea. I do still put Splenda in it, but I have cut way back on how much I use. Mostly I just drink water though.

As of this morning, I'd lost 11 lbs! :) I don't even feel like I'm on a "diet".  It's more like a lifestyle change.  It's all great food, that just happens to be good for us. That rocks!

P.S.  I did mean to get photos of the food each night and post them all through the week, but it was so busy here today, that I got distracted and totally forgot. Will try to remember tomorrow!