Weight Loss: down 6 pounds in three weeks.
Positive Steps: making healthier food choices and eating smaller portions, drinking more water, not feeling as hungry all the time.
Needs Improvement: exercising indoors due to inclement weather.
Overall feeling pretty positive!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Cardio Playlist
A few days ago I posted my Mountain Biking Playlist. Without my nano I wouldn't get through half of my workouts. I workout twice as hard and twice as long with the right music. Honestly, the elliptical is just torture without a good playlist. Fast beats and dance jams are a must to get me energized for any kind of cardio exercise.
For those days I need to change thing up, I just listen to Girl Talk's album All Day. Great album with several high energy mashups (especially Let It Out, That's Right, Triple Double, and Every Day).
*Warning: Pop Heavy*
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Single Ladies - Beyonce
I Like It - Enrique Inglesias
Crank It Up - Ashley Tisdale
Untouched - The Veronicas
Telephone - Lady Gaga & Beyonce
Take It Off - Ke$ha
Hell - Tegan & Sara
Runaway Baby - Bruno Mars
Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Womanizer - Britney Spears
Firework - Katy Perry
Tik Tok - Ke$ha
Disturbia - Rihanna
Going On - Gnarls Barkley
Stronger - Christina Aguilera
Circus - Britney Spears
Don't Stop the Music - Rihanna
Bulletproof - La Roux
Boyz - M.I.A.
Toxic - Britney Spears
Let It Out - Girl Talk
Teenage Dream - Glee Cast
For those days I need to change thing up, I just listen to Girl Talk's album All Day. Great album with several high energy mashups (especially Let It Out, That's Right, Triple Double, and Every Day).
*Warning: Pop Heavy*
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Single Ladies - Beyonce
I Like It - Enrique Inglesias
Crank It Up - Ashley Tisdale
Untouched - The Veronicas
Telephone - Lady Gaga & Beyonce
Take It Off - Ke$ha
Hell - Tegan & Sara
Runaway Baby - Bruno Mars
Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Womanizer - Britney Spears
Firework - Katy Perry
Tik Tok - Ke$ha
Disturbia - Rihanna
Going On - Gnarls Barkley
Stronger - Christina Aguilera
Circus - Britney Spears
Don't Stop the Music - Rihanna
Bulletproof - La Roux
Boyz - M.I.A.
Toxic - Britney Spears
Let It Out - Girl Talk
Teenage Dream - Glee Cast
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Mountain Biking Playlist
One of my favorite hobbies is mountain biking. Luckily, mountain biking happens to be a great workout. My 2010 New Year's resolution was to start having fun while exercising so on a whim I picked mountain biking. It seemed like a great activity that DH and I could do together. We love spending time outdoors exploring the hill country parks and we already own a tandem kayak. Mountain biking is perfect for us, especially since we can match the intensity of our ride to our fitness level.
During the week DH and I ride the easy neighborhood trails that range from two to five miles. On the weekends we pack up the bikes and head out to the hill country to hit the seven to fifteen mile intermediate level trails. My little iPod nano is my savior on those longer treks. I've been tweaking my playlist for about a year. It's hip-hop heavy. Eventually I'd like to be able to push through 25 mile rides so I'm constantly on the look out for new songs.
Here's what I have so far:
Flashing Lights - Kanye West
Bright Lights Bigger City - Cee Lo Green
Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z
Jimmy - MIA
Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Jump On Stage - Girl Talk
Boyz - MIA
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Change Clothes - Jay-Z
Paper Planes - MIA
Kick, Push - Lupe Fiasco
Blazing Arrow - Blackalicious
Come Around - MIA & Timbaland
This Is the Remix - Girl Talk
Swan Lake - Blackalicious
Sound the Alarm - Thievery Corporation
Holy Moly - Talib Kweli
Astronomy - Black Star
I Want You - Common
Definition - Black Star
In the Mood - Talib Kweli & Kanye West
The 6th Sense - Common & Bilal
Thieves in the Night - Black Star
Hot Things - Talib Kweli & Will.i.am
The People - Common
Soon the New Day - Talib Kweli
Drivin' Me Wild - Common
Everything Man - Talib Kweli
Rising Down - The Roots, Mos Def & Styles P
Language Symbolique - Thievery Corporation
During the week DH and I ride the easy neighborhood trails that range from two to five miles. On the weekends we pack up the bikes and head out to the hill country to hit the seven to fifteen mile intermediate level trails. My little iPod nano is my savior on those longer treks. I've been tweaking my playlist for about a year. It's hip-hop heavy. Eventually I'd like to be able to push through 25 mile rides so I'm constantly on the look out for new songs.
Here's what I have so far:
Flashing Lights - Kanye West
Bright Lights Bigger City - Cee Lo Green
Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z
Jimmy - MIA
Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Jump On Stage - Girl Talk
Boyz - MIA
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Change Clothes - Jay-Z
Paper Planes - MIA
Kick, Push - Lupe Fiasco
Blazing Arrow - Blackalicious
Come Around - MIA & Timbaland
This Is the Remix - Girl Talk
Swan Lake - Blackalicious
Sound the Alarm - Thievery Corporation
Holy Moly - Talib Kweli
Astronomy - Black Star
I Want You - Common
Definition - Black Star
In the Mood - Talib Kweli & Kanye West
The 6th Sense - Common & Bilal
Thieves in the Night - Black Star
Hot Things - Talib Kweli & Will.i.am
The People - Common
Soon the New Day - Talib Kweli
Drivin' Me Wild - Common
Everything Man - Talib Kweli
Rising Down - The Roots, Mos Def & Styles P
Language Symbolique - Thievery Corporation
Change of Plans
I have decided to use the Weight Watchers site to keep track of my points, so this site will just be tracking my weight loss and fitness progress. Basically, I'll update when I feel like boasting or venting!
DIET
I've been tracking my Weight Watchers points regularly and I've been conscious of every little thing I eat. That's definite progress from just a couple of weeks ago when I was stuffing my face with all kinds of holiday foods. I've also been trying to identify my hunger patterns so that I can understand how different foods make me feel and ultimately I'll better understand how to maintain a sense of fullness. Weight Watchers has a new Points Plus system that seems to work well for my lifestyle. I love that all fruit and almost all vegetables are zero points. This will definitely help me eat more whole foods.
I'm really trying to incorporate more natural and organic foods in my snacks. I've been pretty good over the past year about learning to cook with whole foods rather than processed foods and other canned stuff. But my snacks were still nutritionally devoid, full of fake sugars or other processed ingredients. I don't buy the "diet" or "sugar free" snacks anymore. Instead I'm choosing a banana, a handful of nuts or baby carrots, or a cheese stick. I know I'll get tired of these, so I'm on the look out for variety.
It's the little things I'm trying to figure out that will help me on my way. One semi-surprising discovery is that for me, yogurt is almost a waste of points. It does nothing to satisfy my hunger, nor does it satisfy my sweet-tooth like a banana. From now on, I'll probably by a container of vanilla yogurt and mix it with fresh fruit and a little bit of granola for crunch if I'm looking for a healthy dessert. But as far as snacking goes, I'm foreseeing lots of bananas in my future.
I'm still addicted to cheese and potatoes. As far a cheese goes, instead of my refrigerator drawer being filled with Brie and Camembert, it is now loaded with Weight Watchers reduced fat cheeses, like cheddar slices, shredded mozzarella and individual cream cheeses. I've also made the switch from loaded baked potatoes to baked potatoes with a tablespoon of fat free sour cream and hot sauce. I actually love it, since I adore spicy food.
Speaking of spicy foods, Tex-Mex is my absolute favorite. I usually make a relatively healthy Tex-Mex meal about twice a week. For several years, I've been cooking with black beans, fat free refried beans, fresh peppers, spices and 99% fat free ground turkey. My go-to satisfying meal is a bowl of black beans and rice topped with tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos, fat free sour cream, and sprinkle of reduced fat cheese. I used to add chips and queso to that dish but not anymore. That will be special occasion food because queso is something I never plan to give up completely!
One area I absolutely need improvement is drinking more water. After tracking my liquid intake, I realize I don't drink nearly enough water. I'm feeling conflicted on how to include more in my daily routine. One problem is that I don't like cold water and the filtered refrigerator water is freezing! Our tap water has a weird taste so that isn't getting me anywhere. I hate the waste involved with bottled water (even though I religiously recycle), so I'm thinking of buying gallon jugs of water, then filling them with the filtered refrigerator water until they are tepid, then refilling my reusable water bottle throughout the day.
Since it's only been a week, I wasn't expecting a complete turn-around with my eating patterns but my mindset has improved and I'm feeling hopeful. So even though I had pizza, I chose to order it on wheat crust loaded with veggies instead of white crust and pepperoni. Even though I went out for cocktails, I limited it to only one. And even though I had a dessert, I refuse to feel guilty about it. I think one of the reasons my past efforts at maintaining a healthy lifestyle included my feelings of guilt when I "cheated" on my diet. I'd cheat, then feel so bad, that I'd deny myself until I met my goal weight. Inevitably, I'd maintain that weight for a little while before I'd start slipping right back into my old habits. So I'm trying to eliminate feelings of guilt and failure this time. Maybe that will help.
FITNESS
I'm feeling great about my fitness plan. I actually love being active, but in the past I haven't always had the willpower to maintain a regular workout program. For the next couple of months, my goal is to commit to six 30+ minute cardio workouts per week.
To keep things interesting right now, I'm going to mountain bike 40 - 90 minutes three times a week, do a 35 minute elliptical workout twice a week, and play Wii dance/Zumba/boxing once or twice a week. I'm also considering joining a gym so that I can join a fitness class and also use the weight machines.
By summer, I'm hoping to see significant progress in my muscle tone, specifically in my limbs. Mountain biking is an excellent way to tone leg muscles, but I think I need to do targeted strength training to tone my arms. I've never really enjoyed free weights, but in the past I've loved regularly using weight machines to tone my arms. DH is reluctant to buy a weight machine (too heavy to move, no room in the house, too hot in the garage in the summers, etc) so I pretty positive I'll be a gym member within two weeks so that I can get my weight machine fix.
As far as my current fitness routine goes, in the past week I biked twice (35 min/45 min), worked out on the elliptical twice (35 min each), and played Wii Zumba once.
I think I'll probably blog on my weekly fitness and diet progress here. Once I set a long-term goals, I need to break them down to keep myself on track. Identifying immediate goals (day-to-day, week-to-week) seems like the best way for me to achieve my ultimate weight loss and improved fitness level.
Immediate Goals
1. Maintain weekly workout program
2. Increase intensity and duration
3. Consider gym options
4. Keep up with WW points
5. Increase whole foods intake
6. DRINK MORE WATER
DIET
I've been tracking my Weight Watchers points regularly and I've been conscious of every little thing I eat. That's definite progress from just a couple of weeks ago when I was stuffing my face with all kinds of holiday foods. I've also been trying to identify my hunger patterns so that I can understand how different foods make me feel and ultimately I'll better understand how to maintain a sense of fullness. Weight Watchers has a new Points Plus system that seems to work well for my lifestyle. I love that all fruit and almost all vegetables are zero points. This will definitely help me eat more whole foods.
I'm really trying to incorporate more natural and organic foods in my snacks. I've been pretty good over the past year about learning to cook with whole foods rather than processed foods and other canned stuff. But my snacks were still nutritionally devoid, full of fake sugars or other processed ingredients. I don't buy the "diet" or "sugar free" snacks anymore. Instead I'm choosing a banana, a handful of nuts or baby carrots, or a cheese stick. I know I'll get tired of these, so I'm on the look out for variety.
It's the little things I'm trying to figure out that will help me on my way. One semi-surprising discovery is that for me, yogurt is almost a waste of points. It does nothing to satisfy my hunger, nor does it satisfy my sweet-tooth like a banana. From now on, I'll probably by a container of vanilla yogurt and mix it with fresh fruit and a little bit of granola for crunch if I'm looking for a healthy dessert. But as far as snacking goes, I'm foreseeing lots of bananas in my future.
I'm still addicted to cheese and potatoes. As far a cheese goes, instead of my refrigerator drawer being filled with Brie and Camembert, it is now loaded with Weight Watchers reduced fat cheeses, like cheddar slices, shredded mozzarella and individual cream cheeses. I've also made the switch from loaded baked potatoes to baked potatoes with a tablespoon of fat free sour cream and hot sauce. I actually love it, since I adore spicy food.
Speaking of spicy foods, Tex-Mex is my absolute favorite. I usually make a relatively healthy Tex-Mex meal about twice a week. For several years, I've been cooking with black beans, fat free refried beans, fresh peppers, spices and 99% fat free ground turkey. My go-to satisfying meal is a bowl of black beans and rice topped with tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos, fat free sour cream, and sprinkle of reduced fat cheese. I used to add chips and queso to that dish but not anymore. That will be special occasion food because queso is something I never plan to give up completely!
One area I absolutely need improvement is drinking more water. After tracking my liquid intake, I realize I don't drink nearly enough water. I'm feeling conflicted on how to include more in my daily routine. One problem is that I don't like cold water and the filtered refrigerator water is freezing! Our tap water has a weird taste so that isn't getting me anywhere. I hate the waste involved with bottled water (even though I religiously recycle), so I'm thinking of buying gallon jugs of water, then filling them with the filtered refrigerator water until they are tepid, then refilling my reusable water bottle throughout the day.
Since it's only been a week, I wasn't expecting a complete turn-around with my eating patterns but my mindset has improved and I'm feeling hopeful. So even though I had pizza, I chose to order it on wheat crust loaded with veggies instead of white crust and pepperoni. Even though I went out for cocktails, I limited it to only one. And even though I had a dessert, I refuse to feel guilty about it. I think one of the reasons my past efforts at maintaining a healthy lifestyle included my feelings of guilt when I "cheated" on my diet. I'd cheat, then feel so bad, that I'd deny myself until I met my goal weight. Inevitably, I'd maintain that weight for a little while before I'd start slipping right back into my old habits. So I'm trying to eliminate feelings of guilt and failure this time. Maybe that will help.
FITNESS
I'm feeling great about my fitness plan. I actually love being active, but in the past I haven't always had the willpower to maintain a regular workout program. For the next couple of months, my goal is to commit to six 30+ minute cardio workouts per week.
To keep things interesting right now, I'm going to mountain bike 40 - 90 minutes three times a week, do a 35 minute elliptical workout twice a week, and play Wii dance/Zumba/boxing once or twice a week. I'm also considering joining a gym so that I can join a fitness class and also use the weight machines.
By summer, I'm hoping to see significant progress in my muscle tone, specifically in my limbs. Mountain biking is an excellent way to tone leg muscles, but I think I need to do targeted strength training to tone my arms. I've never really enjoyed free weights, but in the past I've loved regularly using weight machines to tone my arms. DH is reluctant to buy a weight machine (too heavy to move, no room in the house, too hot in the garage in the summers, etc) so I pretty positive I'll be a gym member within two weeks so that I can get my weight machine fix.
As far as my current fitness routine goes, in the past week I biked twice (35 min/45 min), worked out on the elliptical twice (35 min each), and played Wii Zumba once.
I think I'll probably blog on my weekly fitness and diet progress here. Once I set a long-term goals, I need to break them down to keep myself on track. Identifying immediate goals (day-to-day, week-to-week) seems like the best way for me to achieve my ultimate weight loss and improved fitness level.
Immediate Goals
1. Maintain weekly workout program
2. Increase intensity and duration
3. Consider gym options
4. Keep up with WW points
5. Increase whole foods intake
6. DRINK MORE WATER
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Day Two
Diet:
- Breakfast: Orange Juice (2), Coffee (0)
- Lunch: Thai Chicken Soup (4), Pita (2), Deli Turkey (2), Swiss Cheese (2), Mustard (0), Lettuce (0)
- Dinner: Turkey Chili, (7), FF Sour Cream (1), LF Cheese (1), Beer (3)
- Snack: Carrots (0), Tzatziki (1), G2 (0)
- = 25
- Flex: NA
- 30 min elliptical
Monday, January 3, 2011
Day One
Today is the first Monday of 2011. Today is also the day I start reaching my health and fitness goals.
- Goal number one is to reduce calories, fat, and processed foods from diet, keeping track using the Weight Watchers point system.
- Goal number two is to exercise at least five days a week, by biking, dancing, walking/jogging, hiking, weight lifting, or using the elliptical.
- My goal is to drop one dress size by summer '11, two dress sizes by winter '11, three dresses sizes by summer '12, and four dress sizes by winter '12.
- Ultimately, I want to feel healthy, be proud of my body, feel confident with my strength. Oh, and enjoying shopping again would be a major plus!
- Breakfast: yogurt (2), apple juice (2)
- Lunch: tomato soup (6), cheese slice (1), soda (3)
- Dinner: baked potato (5), evoo (1), sour cream (1), hot sauce (0), lettuce (0), tomato (0), carrot (0), ranch dressing (2), blue cheese crumbles (2)
- = 25 pts
- Flex: graham cracker (3), marshmallow (5), chocolate (6)
- = 14 pts
- NA
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