Weight loss and exercise

I haven't talked about my weight loss goals in a while. I guess I just didn't know whether or not it was appropriate for me to share those goals in a public forum like this. After some thinking, I'd decided to share my action plan with you. (I'd love to hear your feedback as well.)

-I'd like to lose at a healthy pace while NOT counting calories. Counting calories becomes troublesome for me. I am just not a numbers person.

-To combat this one of my friends suggested journaling what I eat daily. She said not to write down calorie counts but to write down whether it was a protein, whole-grain, dairy, fruit or veggie serving. Eventually I'll work with a nutritionist on this. Ideally my goal is to cut back on portions.

-As you know, Andy and I attended a few food truck and beer festivals (which have yet to be blogged) I think we did a decent job at keeping our portions down. I'm pretty proud of that!

-Since I can't run yet, I am planning on getting my cardio in via Jillian Michaels Shred DVDs. (I own a ton of workout DVDs so I'll change it up. She has a kickboxing one that I love.)

-I'm working on yoga and weight-lifting as well. I love both. I think my body really responds to any kind of strength training. I do all of my yoga via DVDs since my schedule is too weird for taking classes.

In short, I'm hoping that journaling and increasing my exercise will help. I don't want to give myself a goal of X amount of pounds in X amount of time because that has NEVER worked for me. I want to be healthy and strong, not skinny. I don't want to talk about my weight loss obsessively or hate myself for eating ice cream. Hopefully this plan will work for me. We'll see.

P.S. Andy and I started a Facebook Fan Page! Please like us and let us know if your blog has a fanpage so we can like it back! Two Boos Who Eat Fanpage

May Goals

I meant to post this yesterday but my 60 page unit plan took over my life. It happens.

I am so proud of myself for sticking with a workout program, attempting Body for Life and eating better. At the same time, there is always room for improvement. My overall goal is improving my health, toning up, and getting to a healthy weight. Ideally, I'd love to love 30 lbs before 2011 comes along. I'm not going to obsess over that number too much. It's a number my doctor and I agreed on and it will happen eventually! No rush on the time.

Body for Life is great for me and I really like it but I want to get my portions down to a some what normal range. So I've decided to start counting weight watcher points again. I'm going to continue with the BFL way of eating and the HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts but just try to get used to smaller portions (and higher quality food) again.

I want to cut back on artifical sweetners, fake foods and non-organic produce. I'm in a good place financially compared to last year and I really think it's worth it for me to buy organic. I realize not everyone can do this but I live in California, about 15-30 miles from farm country. I think this is an important move for me.

My goals for May?

*Run 50 miles. Andrea introduced me to Daily Mile and I will be logging my runs on there. I want to slowly increase to more 4 and 5 mile runs while working on improving my endurance for a 5k. My next race will be in early June.

*Count WW points. I am not sure how it all works now so I'll have to go online and check it out. I want to get the right amount of points, use flex points and activity points if that still exists.

*Go out to eat WAY less. We have a trip to Anaheim to see Ben Folds and go to the Disneyland Food & Wine festival but other than that May should be pretty tame.

*Once school is finished, spend time trying new recipes. I'm definitely plateauing and in need of a change up.

*Cross train with higher weights. I started with 5lb dumbbells and am currently using 8lb dumbbells. I want to start using 10lbs at the end of May.

*Lose 5-7 lbs. I am not going to obsess over this one. I will be weighing in every Monday and logging it on Sparkpeople.


Other than that, I plan on continuing to work on my health and happiness. I have paid off 75% of my debt, almost finished my first semester of the teaching credential program and will look into a graduate program this summer. I also have plans to reread some classics this summer but I'll update you with that in June.

What are your goals for May?

Love the blog world!

Thanks for all of your sweet comments on my blog post yesterday. I've decided that you are right, if my old friend wants us to start being friends again she will contact me. I tend to obsess over these things of course. I think I refreshed my gmail like 100 times before deciding to let things go.

I have always been like this. I hate when I let people into my life and then have to deal with them disappearing. It's hard to decide who to blame in this situation. I think I just expect a happy ending still even though it's been about two years since I spoke to this friend.

No more bummer summer Amanda.

So now that the November Challenge is over, I am desparately seeking a new challenge for myself.

Enter Operation Lose 10 Pounds by the New Year.

While I realize 10 pounds is a lofty goal, it's nothing I can't handle. I am going with my weigh-in weight from Tuesday and will weigh in every Tuesday. My final weigh-in will actually be after the New Year on January 5th. (Also our six month wedding anniversary!)

What does this mean?

Weigh-in December 8th
Weigh-in December 15th
Weigh-in December 22nd
Weigh-in December 29th
and
Final Weigh in January 5th

So I'd need to lose about 2 lbs per weigh-in. I know I can do this! Now I'm off to attempt a 45 minute Jillian Michael's video. Wish me luck!

Anxiety

I had a rough time sleeping last night because I was having so much anxiety. I hate that! I have a big test on October 6th and I am so nervous about it. I'm taking the CBEST (California Basic Educational Skills Test) so I can be a teacher. My ultimate goal is to teach high school english. It's something I've always wanted to do. Now that I've graduated college, all I have to do is get my teaching credential. Unfortunately I stay up late at night worrying about it all the time. I just want to be done already!

Does this happen to you when you get close to reaching a goal? I think a big part of me is just worried about failing.

It's the same with running. I want to be able to run more than one mile without wanting to die but I can't. Yesterday I tried to follow some tips from Jeff Galloway but still struggled with running a mile. My goal for this week is to run a mile and a half. It's not much and I am a little embarassed about how much I am struggling but I need a goal and that is it. Blah. I feel disappointed in myself because six months ago, I could run 2 miles no problem.

Goals for this week
(I work Monday-Friday & Sunday so that explains the lack of plans)

Monday-Call schools for observation hours, workout for 30 minutes, make dinner and study for the CBEST.

Tuesday- Weigh-in, call professor for a recommendation letter, study.

Wednesday- Set up observation hours, workout for 30 minutes, make dinner and study.

Thursday- Take CBEST practice test, make dinner and workout at least 30 minutes.

Friday- MY 26th BIRTHDAY! I have to work but I want to celebrate somehow.

Saturday-plan something fun, workout for 30 minutes.

Sunday- Work (I never work on Sundays weird!) and relax. Possibly swim?

Thanks for reading. I appreciate all of you. I already feel better for just sitting here and working out my feelings.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! I am excited for 2009 to be here. Andy and I are getting married in 2009! Duh.
We celebrated at our friend’s house for the second year in a row. It was a fabulous way to end 2008. I ate too much food. Bad for you food and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. Still, I am frustrated with my eating. I have gained some weight and I really want to stop that.
So in honor of the New Year and my upcoming wedding, I am putting myself on a mission; to eat healthier and enjoy every minute of it. I will be eating 1800-2200 calories a day and working out at least 3 days a week. A slow start and not too extreme because I can’t handle that. I plan on busting out my food scale and new blender to help me on this mission.
Dinner tonight was a celebratory meal including my favorite soup ever, French Onion!

Mimi’s makes one of the best French onion soups. I will miss it. ::weddingdressweddingdress::

Andy got meatloaf stroganoff. He loved it. It came on the “right portion, right price” menu. He had some French onion soup as well. I had a bite and liked it. I want to come up with a healthier substitution.

I had an old favorite of mine. A turkey pesto ciabatta sandwich. I forgot to say no fries! I hate French fries. The sandwich was huge. I ate it open-faced without the top layer of ciabatta. And honestly, I didn’t love this sandwich as much as I used to. I think my body is craving fruits and veggies. It’s all I’m craving. Tomorrow will be a fresh start. I can’t wait.
I’m off to bed! I look forward to updating this blog way more. Even if my friends laugh at me for taking too many pictures of food!