My two weigh-ins this week did not bring great news. I was up .2 on both scales with no extra lean muscle gained according to the scale at the summer shape-up challenge gym. Since I didn't have an official weigh-in last week, I think I'm actually down (since I'm pretty sure I gained that week) but I don't have it documented. I was told by a little birdie though that Lynn and I have a good chance to win this challenge so I'm stepping it up.
I really stepped up my workouts last week (thus the disappointment on the scale) but I haven't really made food changes, at least until this past week. First let me share my workouts: Sunday: jogged 5 miles
Monday: Total Body Burn (45 minute weight lifting interval training)
Tuesday: Total Body Burn
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: I was supposed to go to Total Body Burn (TBB) but had the wrong time in my head and showed up 30 minutes into the class
Friday: walked 3 miles in the neighborhood pushing Josie (which is harder than you think!)
Saturday: TBB
Then yesterday I jogged 5 miles again and I'm planning to go to the class Metabolic Blast tonight, which is similar to TBB but more cardio bases.
And for the food: I'm giving up my morning cereal and I'm going to shoot for more protein for breakfast. Today I had a Smart Ones breakfast sandwich. I think I'm going to also have a banana to help tide me over. Other things I plan on trying are Greek yogurt (plain$ with fruit and nuts, scrambled egg whites (for when I have time and energy to cook), and either hamburger patties or turkey burger patties (at Steph's suggestion). She also suggested leftovers in the morning. I'm also giving up my coffee creamer. I used to always drink my coffee with skim milk and a little sweet and low but somewhere along the way I became addicted to creamer!
I also made a little discovery at HyVee's health market: 50 calorie soft wraps that are only one point and tasty! I've been enjoying them with laughing cow cheese and a limitless lunch meat for a 2 point snack. I'm also going to try them with bell pepper strips or shredded carrots. Yesterday I had them wrapped around my turkey sausages for dinner instead of a bun. Less carbs and sugar!
My next step is giving up my nightly WW ice cream bar. It's not horrible for me and I will still enjoy one every once in a while, but my new dessert will be some berries with fat free whipped cream.
And here is my new obsession: PB2 in my smoothies.
Here's my favorite:
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp PB2 (or PB2 with chocolate)
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
Blend and enjoy! For some reason I really like peanut butter and blueberries (pb on a blueberry bagel is an old favorite) so I understand this might not be for everyone. I also have added in frozen banana for extra sweetness. This adds up to 4 points and a filling lunch!
First let me say: DAMN, when did you get up to five miles!?!? That's amazing. I am so proud of you. Second, you have to try adding a bunch (like two or three handfuls of spinach) to your smoothie. You won't even taste it and it adds tons of nutrients. I am going to try the BB and PB combo. And third: way to go on the workouts. Sometimes I think more workouts = more weight on the scale. I don't know why this is (something with glycogen stores, lactic acid, something else that people who listened in biology class know about). I hope in the long run it leads to lower weight, but it's hard to tell when we're hoping for any loss every week.
ReplyDeleteAmazing Jen. Good luck at the challenge... when is it over?
Hey! I found this on a blog:
ReplyDelete"I took an A.C.E. personal training course years ago, and one thing that really struck me was that our muscles retain water when we start an exercise program--and they hold onto that water until we stop our exercise program. So if you're a regular exerciser, your muscles are probably holding onto some water at all times."
This kind of explains what I was saying about gaining weight after we work out really hard!