Nikki-Oh Evenings

I’ve really come to realise that evenings are my downfall. 

At work I don’t have a ton of control of what’s being made for dinner.  I could bring my own dinner to ensure it is a healthier option, but I feel bad when I don’t eat the what my kids make.  They often chose high calorie/fatty options, such as on Monday-Pizza and wings.  Omg I love pizza and wings.  So I stayed at the gym an extra 30 minutes to make sure I burned enough calories to eat dinner and not have to worry about it too much.  I have also had conversations about healthy meals and portions sizes with my kids as well since I do want to lead by example.

At work I also bake and when I bake I mean that I bake but mostly I eat cookie dough like no body’s business.  I enjoy baking though, so I guess I need to learn to have some willpower and limit the cookie dough I eat since I know for a fact I can’t say no. When I’m at home I seem to just be making some poor choices in what I should make for dinner or evening snacks.

Anyone have any tips on how to curb your cravings? or where you get your willpower from?

Breakfast and lunch are the easiest meals to stick to.   I have been making low cal, high fiber/protein choices and am full until dinner on these choices but it seems as of lately I am craving sugar and high fat meals or evening snacks, I can’t seem to convince myself to have fruit or veggies-see above photo.  My other issue with evenings is that I get bored.  At home, at work, mostly when I’m alone! So the easiest thing to do is find food to fill my time!  I know I already mentioned that I am going to be working at staying busy, and so far I’ve done well at being busy this week.  I’ve done some more organizing around my house, done some crafts at work to pass time, and just found little things to do.  Fingers crossed my efforts pay off on friday!

 Well this week has been a bit better than last week, but I still haven’t done my weigh in, figured it’s not a huge deal so it can wait till this Friday! Speak to you all soon!

Nikki-Rewards

I’ve recently started following another  blogger-Roundinfinity who wrote about rewarding herself every time she loses weight but not rewarding herself with food since that is often what us dieting folks will do.  Ok if drop 5 pounds this week I can eat an entire cake! that’s pretty much how my brain works anyways.  I decided I would borrow her idea and with each pound I drop I will reward myself.  The biggest reward will be when I reach my goal weight.  Here is what I’ve come up with.

1. 152–Crafting ( Stampin, scrapbooking, cards, whatever I feel like.  I have a new spare room that is perfect for crafting)
2. 151–Get a new book on my Kindle (Then I can read during my next reward)
3. 150–Bubble Bath (Maybe Ryan would even be so kind as to prepare this bath for me haha)
4. 149–Spa Day @ home (I’m to poor to pay for it, or it could be cheapness, but I can totally do an at home mani/pedis and facials! anyone wanna join?)
5. 148–Movie date! (Ryan said he would take me to a movie of my choice)
6. 147–Record new Charity Case Songs (Yes, I’m in a band, we only write songs about one thing-Stacey.  Hopefully a rock song will be next)
7. 146–Play wii for hours (I sometimes have days where I’ll play wii with friends for like 8 hours… nerdy, why yes sometimes I am.   Jen, Em and Aline you guys better be ready for this.  Wii party hardy)
8. 145–Get a Massage! (Can’t wait for this one!)
9. 144–Get a new Toque (I love Toques, or Beanies as some friends call them)
10. 143–Get a hair cut (I really, really need my hair trimmed, it’s been at least 6 months)
11. 142–Photo Shoot (I’m hoping Jen and Emma agree to this one! and not just a photo shoot of me, photos of the wolfpack) 
12. 141–Get my eyebrows threaded (I like it better than waxing)
13. 140– Shopping Spree. ( I need new clothes and got rid of a bunch (donated them my kids at work) so I will need new clothes, or at least a few items.) AND to add-on to this final reward Ryan said he would cook me a healthy meal of my choice! What a sweetheart!

 

Ok if this list isn’t motivation, I don’t know what else is!?  I’m also planning on putting $10 away for every pound so that I will actually have some money to spend when my I get to my shopping spree.  That way I can spend guilt free (plus i have a few gift cards I’ve been saving for months) I wouldn’t say no to anyone who wants to donate or match this amount either 🙂  Just playing!   Alright time to finish my coffee and do some at home yoga!

Nikki-Final Photos and Weigh in

Wow I can’t believe it’s the end of October and the “final” weigh in.  I am only going to refer to it as “final” since I’ve still got some work to do!  I had my last personal training this morning, and I’m sad.  I wish I could afford to have a trainer all year-long as Danielle really kicked my butt and has toned me up (way easier to tell when I’m wearing close to nothing or gym clothes :))  I do hope to save up and workout with her again.  I will miss my hour-long sessions of being told what to do and being amazed at what I’ve done.  Some of the weights/reps she’s had me use/do I never thought I’d make it through and now I can go to the gym by myself and do that torture to myself.  Ok it wasn’t really torture, the only thing I still hate are burpees, but they work everything so they’re so good for you! Danielle even made me do them this morning as my very last exercise!

Ok so lets just get to the info and pics everyone’s been weighting waiting for (I just can’t stop writing about weight!)

June 2011	October 2011	Total Lost
Weight: 171	Weight: 154	17lbs
Bicep:12.5	Bicep: 11	1.5
Chest: 39.5	Chest: 37	2.5
Waist: 34.25	Waist: 32	2.25
Abdominal: 39	Abdominal: 37	2
Hips: 42.5	Hips: 40	2.5
Thigh: 27	Thigh: 25	2
Calf: 14.75	Calf: 15	+.25

Now the funny thing is my trainer Danielle did measurements this morning (they are slightly different areas that are measured) and I have lost 13.2 inches since I started working out with her.  Just so you all know 4 of those inches were from my neck! holly shit, did I have a rippling beast of a steroids man neck before?  For real, If I ever get fat again I’m requesting now that EVERYONE who reads this has an intervention with me!

                                                     June/August/October

You can see how unhappy I was when you look at the first photo in both sets.   Looking at the current photo’s you can see just in my posture how much more confident I am.  I’m so much happier, healthier and am way leaner!

Thank you to EVERYONE who has given their support, read the blog, worked out with me or forced me to do burpees, passed on recipes, and just continual encouragement, because of you I found it in myself to stay motivated these past few months.  I worked on being active 5 days a week.  I counted calories, I set goals for myself and met many of them such as fitting into my target dress and I still have goals to work on (come on 14 lbs),  I’ve learned to enjoy jogging-at least when I’m running with buddies and learned to love going to the gym again. 

I will be continuing on my weight loss journey over the next few months.  I would still like to get down to 140 lbs which is only another 14 lbs so I know I’ll get there but the biggest goal for me is to have defined arms and continue working out 5x a week.   I’m so much more confident in my skin now that I don’t think there will ever need to be an intervention.  I will be coming up with some new goals in the next few weeks to continue working on fitness.  Hope everyone will continue to read my posts then!

Nikki: Weigh in Day: Week 18

Good morning ya’ll

Today is weigh in day, it’s also a day that I totally don’t feel like going running (I’m cold and want to stay in my pj’s until I have to leave this afternoon) BUT after I’m done this post I’m going to go get my work out clothes (It feels like I bought new ones since I found my old lulus that fit ) and get my work out for the day over with. that’s one tip I have: get up in the morning and get your work out over with, then you don’t have to worry about it later in the day. That’s also a tip from Bob Harper on Biggest Loser but I’ve thought the same since I was 18.

 Well on with the weigh in and I’ll talk about my goals from last week and how I did.

Current weight: 154 lbs

-2 lbs this week

Cool I’m down this week and I worked hard for those 2 lbs.  I was looking back through my blogs and couldn’t find where I had written down this weeks goals to review them so I’m thinking I didn’t actually write them anywhere! Good thing I had them set in my mind and remembered them, here’s what they were:

1) to run 25km

2) to pack and have ready to grab quick 100 calorie (or less) snacks

3) to exercise for at least an hour

How did I do?

I can hardly believe it myself but I set my running goal a bit low.  I reached 33km this week!  I ran a few days with Aline and Jill in the River Valley, met up with Kira to run around the river in her area of town and ran on my treadmill.  Here is the problem I have with running on my treadmill, I’m not sure if it counts in km or miles.  So in total I ran over 10 something on my treadmill to help add to this total of 33km, but If it’s actually in miles that equals 16km and I would need to add an additional 6km to my total.  I’m going to count it as km in case miles is too high.

I packed a bunch of easy to grab snacks, you may have seen the pictures in an earlier blog.  I’m going to do this again this week as it made it super easy to decide on what I should eat when I felt I needed a snack. 

now my last goal of  exercising for an hour I didn’t pay as much attention to this week.   When I ran, i felt as though I had done my time and was good to go for the day.  So if I only ran for 30 minutes I maybe didn’t push to extend my workout to a full hour.   I worked out 6 days this week, and a few of those ended up being double work out days where I hit the gym and then ran with friends or I ran in the morning outside and then ran on the treadmill at night. 

New goals for this week:

1) to run 25km (I’m setting it low again since I’m going to Jasper this weekend and doubt I’ll have time to run/workout while I’m there)

2) to fit in one extra day of weight training  (since my gym is closed today and I only get to see my trainer on Wednesday, I need to work these muscles out on my own)

3) to cook one new healthy meal (I’ve printed off a bunch of recipes that I’d like to try just seems I hardly have time!) Sunday night is the night.

Thanks again for everyone’s kind words and support. You’re encouragement truly helps! 

Time to run (it’s a treadmil morning which means Biggest Loser watching from last week) YAY!

 

Nikki: Re-evaluating my weight loss goal

Ok so yesterday when I did my weigh in I had a brief moment where I felt like I’m not accomplishing anything but then when I got to the gym to do my workout with my trainer she reminded me of EVERYTHING I’ve done and am doing and am going  to do.

Here’s what she reminded:

• Women are obsessed with the number on the scale when really it should be about how you feel!  
• Muscle weighs more than fat (and I’ve gained a lot of muscle)
• Muscle also burns more calories when you’re not active (so on those days I don’t get a great workout in I’m still burning more calories than I used to)

I’ve even written about how what the scale says doesn’t matter as much as, how I’m feeling, and how I’m feeling in my clothes.  I’ve lost 16 pounds, I’ve also lowered my over all body fat percentage (I wont reveal the amount until the October 24, along with my final measurements) and I’ve lost even more inches which is hugely important.  I can now fit into clothes that I haven’t worn in 3 years.  Those jeans I was super pumped to fit into in July now are baggy!   I pulled out some lululemons yesterday that I hadn’t worn as they were way to tight and now they fit! That’s what this is all about, How I feel, not a number.  obviously to say I weigh 140 lbs sounds better than 156 lbs but I’ve done a hell of a job to get to where I currently am, and I feel great.  I never thought I would run 25km+ a week. 

I picked 140 pounds because that is what I weighed when I moved to Edmonton.  I was happy, confident, and felt fit and healthy then.  So that is why I decided on that number.  I am of course going to continue to work for it (since my doctors would like me to as well), but I’m NOT going to starve myself or workout for 3 hours a day to get there! If it takes another 6 months to lose the 16 pounds then that’s what it takes! I’m not in a life or death situation.  I’m bettering my health and to tell you the truth, I feel more fit today then I did when I weighed 140 pounds. 

I’ve done great so far this week with my goals .  I took a picture of the snacks I put together last night to show you just how easy it is to get them ready to grab out of the fridge.  A tip i read is that we are more likely to eat out of the front of the fridge so if you stalk that area up with healthy tips you’re more likely to choose one.  (grapes, carrots, hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese and tomato soup yum!)

For my goal of running 25kms- I am currently at 22.7 for this week.  I am running 6km tomorrow with Jill and Aline and plan to run this weekend when we head out to Bonnyville.  Thanks to Kira for also getting me to a new spot in the SW to run!

Nikki-Weigh in Day: Week 17

I know it’s Wednesday and that might seem like I had an advantage to weighing in but let me tell you it didn’t help me much

Current weight: 156 lbs

0 lbs gained or lost

For me this is not bad, but it’s not good either.  I’m glad that I know I can now maintain my weight but I haven’t lost anything in a few weeks and I’m not where I’d like to be or where I need to be.  Yes I have spoken to a doctor about my healthy weight and I do still need to lose at least 16 lbs to reach my goal weight of 140lbs, but the doctors would like me to lose a bit more than that.  SO I need to up my game!  I think I have been a bit slack in recording what I’ve been eating.  Eating out doesn’t help either as it’s hard to control portion sizes and the amount of calories.  So I need to get back on track with recording every small morsel I eat. Kira it’s time to make more veggie soup! I need to do a 5 day soup diet lol

I’ve already set my goals for this week, which will help me out as well.  But if I could drop all this weight when I was 19 while working full time at McDonalds I sure as hell can do it now!  Well time for the gym and then a jog with Kira!

Nikki-Weigh in Day: Week 16

People have been asking what I’ve done to lose weight so far.  How I’ve changed my diet and workout routine and really thinking about it I haven’t been doing very well lately but the main thing I have done is up my workout routine.  I have been doing pretty well at going 5 times a week to the gym or getting a good run in.  I think my problem still stems from what I eat and (mostly) how much.  I make really healthy things, such as fajita’s, and then I tend to over eat, I know I eat way more than I should especially when I eat in front of the TV, which is EVERY meal.  I blame this one on Ryan cause he’s the one who sits down first and taught me this habit as soon as I moved in with him, but I’m the one who’s continued to sit in front of the TV and stuff my face so truly I am at fault.  So I am changing things up.  I am now eating every meal at the kitchen table, unless I’m at a friend’s house and that’s what they do and this is because I eat differently with friends then Ryan.  My girlfriends and I actually talk while the TV is on instead of just watching, so I know I eat slower and stop when I’m full at their houses.   I’m hoping Ryan will also join me at the table for a few meals when we’re actually home together.

I didn’t really think it would be that hard to get in my workouts while I had company, but it was.  I didn’t actually make it to the gym once last week.  Lindzay and I walked a lot and almost every day but it wasn’t the type of exercise I needed to be doing to focus on weight loss.  Walking can help me maintain which is just what I did

current weight: 156 lbs

0 pounds lost, but again 0 gained.

Today is Monday, the start of a new week and the start of the last 4 weeks of mine and Jill’s goal to drop all this weight.  I am going to work hard to accomplish my goals but I don’t think it would be super healthy of me to drop 16 pounds in 4 weeks.  If it happens, it does, but I do like to lose weight at a slower rate as I feel I will maintain it better.   I am proud of what I’ve done and know that this doesn’t just end on Oct.24 which is the “final” weigh in.  I think I will come up with some new goals and continue to work until I’ve reached my target.

I am proud of my self because: I have built up my endurance, I am stronger, I am happier, I am healthier, I have more confidence,  I’ve learned to enjoy working out again.