Saturday, January 31, 2004 - Week 4, Day 27 - Free Day Part 1

Morning Weight - Didn't take

Food
Meal 1 - 9:15 a.m. Turkey Bacon, Tomato, FF Cheese on Wheat English Muffin
Meal 2 - 10:45 p.m. Apple
Meal 3- 1:00 p.m. Pork Fried Rice & Crab Ragoon
Meal 4- Througout day - Graham Crackers - about 4 sheets
Meal 5- 6:00 p.m. 2 slices frozen pizza
Meal 6- Cookie Dough Ice Cream (Ben & Jerry's)
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
Did lower body and abs at the gym. Didn't feel like doing cardio with so much to do at home. Next week will definately try to get all the workouts in.

Thoughts
Still haven't decided about cheating today. I didn't have any bad breakfast foods in the house, so I ate BFL, but don't know about the rest of the day.

Decided to go ahead with the 2 free days. Don't feel that guilty with all the other stuff going on with me today (see other blog). Did get in all my water though like a good girl.

Friday, January 30, 2004 - Week 4, Day 26

Morning Weight - 143.5

Food
Meal 1 - 8:30 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 10:00 a.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 3- 12:30 p.m. Chicken Enchillada's
Meal 4- 3:30 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
Meal 5- 7:30 p.m. Turkey Bacon BLT
Meal 6- 9:30 p.m. Cheesy Salsa Dip? (EFL pg 199)
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
Will do Cardio and Upper Body this afternoon/evening.

Did cardio first and was really winded, but did the whole 20 minutes for 1.8 miles. Then did upper body and really felt it burn. It seems like everytime I make it to the gym I wonder why I'd ever miss a workout. I wore a tank top today and could really see some of my muscles working (shoulders). Didn't do abs, but will do them with tomorrows workout for sure.

Thoughts
Have been contemplating doing 2 free days this week. Probably not a good idea, but I've been good for 7 straight days and don't know if I can do 8 in a row. I'll try to have some willpower tomorrow.

Thursday, January 29, 2004 - Week 4, Day 25

Morning Weight - 143.5 (Yippee!)

Food
Meal 1 - 8:10 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 10:00 p.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 3- 12:00 p.m. Buffalo Burger & Baked Oven Fries (forgot to make a salad for my veggie)
Meal 4- 4:00 p.m. Protein Shake & Popcorn
Meal 5- 8:00 p.m. Chicken Enchilladas (pg 114)
Meal 6- 9:45 p.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
Will do Cardio and Upper Body this afternoon/evening.

Got to the gym, got dressed and realized I didn't bring my tennis shoes. Decided to skip it again, will do cardio and upper body tomorrow and cardio and lower body on Saturday to get me back up to speed.


Thoughts
Exercise has been slipping, but am still doing good on the food issue. Will try to get some housework done today, since didn't end up working out. We're having about 12 to 13 people over on Sunday and my house should be clean.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - Week 4, Day 24

Morning Weight - 144.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:10 a.m. Protein Shake. Apple was bad (rotten), so no carb :(
Meal 2 - 10:00 a.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 3- 12:00 p.m. Caribean Chicken Salad - Fruit Juices made the salad a little soggy, in the future, should try to cut recipe in half
Meal 4- 4:00 p.m. Detour Bar (small)
Meal 5- 8:00 p.m. Carribean Chicken Salad
Meal 6- 9:30 p.m. String Cheese & Popcorn
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
Cardio After Work. Didn't get up early.

Skipped after work. Had to go to Lowe's to get a new garbage disposal. Will do cardio and upper body tomorrow.

Thoughts
Felt a little tempted this afternoon, but resisted. Then around dinner time I was thinking that something "bad" sounded good, however, when I was changing into my comfy clothes I caught a glimpse of my reflection and realized that I've been making progress. Let's not do anything to stop that.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - Week 4, Day 23

Morning Weight - 144.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:10 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 10:00 a.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 3- 12:00 p.m. 1/2 (Portion sized) Chicken Breast, Green Leaf Salad w/Italian or Oil & Vinegar Dressing (no FF available), Veggies (inlcuding peas in pod, squash, carrots), Small Roll w/teeny bit of butter
Meal 4- 3:15 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
Meal 5- 7:45 p.m. Caribean Chicken Salad (pg 106 EFL) Very yummy and large portions because mostly veggies.
Meal 6- 9:30 p.m. String Cheese & FF Yogurt
Water - 11 cups

Exercise
Planning on Lower body after work. Hopefully will be good. Not really in the mood today.

Good workout anyway. Forgot paper with exercises on it in the car, but remembered all the new weights and really got a good burn. When I'm there I feel like I'm making progress.

Thoughts
Another lunch meeting today, but should have healthier choices, even if I just eat salad.

Did pretty good at the lunch. Did eat a roll w/a little butter, but passed on the mashed potatoes which I'm sure had tons of milk and butter. Also chose chicken over the lasagna, and passed on the ice cream they brought around for dessert.

Pretty good day. I really liked the salad I made for dinner, but it seemed a little "light" and I'm hungry again now. I guess I should go to bed to resist tempation.

Monday, January 26, 2004 - Week 4, Day 22

Morning Weight - 144.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:00 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 10:30 a.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 3- 12:15 p.m. Portion Chicken Breast, Egg Noodles, & Peas
Meal 4- 3:00 p.m. Protein Shake & Popcorn
Meal 5- 7:30 p.m. Buffalo Burger, Oven Fries (pg 139 EFL), Salad w/FF Italian Dressing
Meal 6- 9:30 p.m. Cottage Cheese & Weight Watcher's Smart Ones Fudgesickle
Water - 10 cups & 1 can Caffine Free Diet Coke

Exercise
Cardio planned after work.

I've got to get to the gym in the mornings. All the treadmills and elipticals were in use, so I decided to try the stair stepper. I did 3 minutes (wow that could give you some gluts), then a treadmill opened up and I did my 20 minutes. This was much better than my attempt on Saturday. I did 1.8 miles in my 20 minutes. It felt pretty good, I think I'll be able to increase speed again next week.

Thoughts
I made it through the weekend - No cheating! Feeling good today, not even tempted by the Donato's pizza left over in the kitchen at work.

Love the Buffalo, but it's about twice the cost of hamburger, so probably will have to be an occasional treat. The fries were pretty spicy and my smoke detectors are so sensitive that they went off about every 30 seconds for the last 15 minutes the fries were cooking. Too bad they are hard-wired in and can't be disabled.

Sunday, January 24, 2004 - Week 3, Day 21

Morning Weight - 146.5

Food
Meal 1 - 10:00 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 12:00 p.m. Ground Turkey, Brown Rice, & Reduced Fat Cheese mixed together, Salad w/FF Italian
Meal 3- 1:30 p.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 4- 7:00 p.m. Chicken Breast, Egg Noodles, Peas
Meal 5- 9:00 p.m. Cottage Cheese & Popcorn
Meal 6-
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
None planned.

Thoughts
Looks like my less than perfect week caught up to me on the scales. I made up my meal plan from the EFL book though and am optimistic about next week. I'm about to head to the store. My list looks longer than normal, but I guess that's the price of variety.

Excited about trying out the new meal plans next week. We have just got a ton of snow dumped, so it'll be interesting to see if I'll make it to work tomorrow or better yet the gym. We'll see how it goes. Goodnight!

Saturday, January 23, 2004 - Week 3, Day 20

Morning Weight - Didn't do

Food
Meal 1 - 10:00 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 12:00 p.m. Turkey Bacon BLT Wrap - Yummy! (Turkey Bacon, Wheat Tortilla, Lettuce, FF Mayo, FF American Cheese, slice of Tomato all rolled up)
Meal 3- 3:15 p.m. String Cheese & Apple
Meal 4- 5:15 p.m. Protein Shake & FF Yogurt
Meal 5- 7:15 p.m. Ground Turkey, Brown Rice, & Reduced Fat Cheese mixed together, Salad w/FF Italian
Meal 6- 9:30 p.m. String Cheese & Apple
Water - 11 cups

Exercise
Will make up for yesterday's missed cardio and do today's upper body. Planning on going after lunch.

Exercise wasn't as successful as I'd hoped. I did upper body and abs first. That was a really good workout. The higher weights are making me push hard. I've also added an extra 5 reps to all my ab sets so that's causing me some pain this week. However, I was exhausted on the treadmill and just ready to go, so I only did 10 minutes. I also only did one real BFL type of set with the speed variation. Anyway I did .7 miles in 10 minutes and then quit. I'm not counting that as completed cardio.

Thoughts
Not a free day. Have to be good. Need to make up for the rest of this week. Will be heading to the mall today to pick up Eating For Life and some more protein. Maybe Bill's book will motivate me for the weekend.

So far so good today. Still 2 meals to go, but not really tempted yet, although my husband needs to quit bringing chocolate into this house if he knows what is good for him. Especially next week when I may be pre-menstrual or dealing with early pregnancy symptoms.

Friday, January 22, 2004 - Week 3, Day 19

Morning Weight - 146.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:15 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 10:00 a.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 3- 12:00 p.m. 1/2 Hamburger (no bun), Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery (no dip), 1 slice swiss cheese, some olives, then tortilla chips and salsa (They ran out of veggie burgers!)
Meal 4- 1:30 p.m. Chocolate Chip Cookie (during the meeting they brought out fresh still warm so you could smell them cookies and my table was the closest one. We sat for 15 minutes smelling them before they let us loose)
Meal 5- 3:45 p.m. Starbucks Hot Chocolate & then 4:15 p.m. Pork Fried Rice from Chinese Carryout
Meal 6- 9:00 Pizza Hut - 2 slices Supreme pizza, 2 garlic breadsticks, 4 or 5 cina sticks
Water - 12 cups plus 1 1/3 glasses of regular Coke

Exercise
Why ruin a steller day?

Thoughts
Started out with good intentions (see first two meals). However, on the way to work I realized I forgot my Detour Bar which I was going to take to eat during the meeting after lunch for my afternoon snack (that might have fought off the warm cookies). Then at the lunch I was one of the last people in line and they had ran out of all the hamburgers, so people rather than waiting for the new batch grabbed the veggie burgers. So neither were left. My choices were to wait on a hamburger or eat a hot dog or brat. Not a big fan of the hot dog family, so I decided to wait on a burger to eat with no bun. Ate all of the other food on my plate and decided not waiting on a burger, I'd eat some chips and salsa, then after filling my plate the burgers came out. So I ate 1/2 a burger too. I was in a weakend state to resist the cookies.

After the lunch debacle I decided that I wasn't going to ruin another day, so I decided Friday is officially the free day, so I made the rest of the afternoon productive by getting a hot chocolate, Chinese, and Pizza Hut.

My decision, the rest of the weekend MUST be perfect.

Thursday, January 22, 2004 - Week 3, Day 18

Morning Weight - 145.5

Food
Meal 1 - 8:15 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 12:15 p.m. Turkey Cutlet w/BBQ, Flavored Rice, Green Beans
Meal 3- 2:30 p.m. Protein Shake & Popcorn
Meal 4- 7:00 p.m. Turkey Bacon BLT and Salad
Meal 5- uh oh 8:00 chocolate
Meal 6- ahhh! 9:00 left over BW3 Hot Wings!
Water - 12 cups

Exercise
Plan on doing lower body and abs after work. It's seems like I've seen some progress here, Eric even told me my legs look smaller yesterday. It's good when your other half notices right?

Those higher weights REALLY burned. Definately felt like a workout. Walking could be painful tomorrow.

Thoughts
Still undecided about doing a Friday or Saturday free day. I'm leaning more towards Saturday, because next week it will have to be on Sunday because of our Superbowl party.

Found out that there will be veggie burgers at the lunch tomorrow. I think I'll hold out until Saturday for free day.

Today was not a good day. Wish someone could tell me if where I'm at in my "cycle" affects the strong desire to eat like a hog? Last week I had no temptation problems, then this week I ovulated and want to eat junk.

Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - Week 3, Day 17

Morning Weight - 145.5

Meal 1 - 8:15 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 11:30 a.m. Fajita Chicken, Wheat Tortilla, Lettuce, FF Sour Cream, Low-Fat Cheese, Taco Sauce, Salad w/FF Italian
Meal 3- 1:30 p.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 4- 3:00 P.m. Graters Ice Cream
Meal 5- 7:15 p.m. Turkey Cutlet w/BBQ sauce, Flavored Rice, Green Beans
Meal 6- 9:00 p.m. String Cheese & Apple
Water - 13 cups

Exercise
Planned on doing cardio in the AM, but the alarm clock won. I guess that means it's to the gym after work.

No treadmills open after work. Did the bike instead. Not sure I like it, but I did get a sweat going and did 7.25 miles in 20 minutes.

Thoughts
I feel pretty good. No cheating this week and it's already Wednesday! Only 2 1/2 more days to free day.

I spoke too soon. Our branch manager just pushed a cart of ice cream around the office handing out it out to everyone. Who does that?! I was weak and ate a cup of Graters Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Here's how bad it was: 600 calories, 42 grams of fat, 56 grams of carbs, and 6 grams of protein. My god, no wonder we all get fat! No more cheating until Saturday for real!

I'm kind of proud of myself. In a weaker day, I might have decided to blow off the rest of the day after the ice cream, but I am back on track for dinner.

I'm thinking of making Friday my free day this week. I have a luncheon at work so it will be hard to stay on track. If I make it a free day I could get a bagel and hot chocolate for breakfast and maybe talk Eric into going out for dinner. I'm not so sure how hard the rest of the weekend would be though. I'll have to think about that some more.

Tuesday, January 20, 2004 - Week 3, Day 16

Morning Weight - 145.5

Meal 1 - 8:30 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 10:30 a.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 3- 12:30 p.m. Steak Strips, Lettuce, LowFat Cheese, Taco Sauce, FF Sour Cream, on Wheat Tortilla
Meal 4- 2:45 p.m. One Way Protein Bar
Meal 5- 7:45 p.m. Fajita Chicken, Wheat Tortilla, Lettuce, FF Sour Cream, Low-Fat Cheese, Taco Sauce, Salad w/FF Italian
Meal 6- 9:30 p.m. Cottage Cheese & Popcorn
Water - 13 cups

Exercise
Will be doing upper body after work with increased weights. I'm expecting a real burn.

The heavier weights were harder, but I still completed all sets. I'm looking forward to seeing the payoff. I missed out on my reverse crunches when doing abs because someone was using both flat benches, but otherwise got everything in.

Thoughts
Another good day. Strange how much less I feel like cheating than I did 3 weeks ago. I'm officially back on it. I am even noticing a difference in what I look like in clothes. My stomach seems a little flatter. I like that.

Monday, January 19, 2004 - Week 3, Day 15

Morning Weight - 146.0

Meal 1 - 8:30 a.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 2 - 12:30 P.m. Turkey Bacon Melt - Turkey Bacon, Tomato, and FF American on a Honey Wheat English Muffin
Meal 3- 2:10 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
Meal 4- 7:00 p.m. Steak Strips, Lettuce, LowFat Cheese, Taco Sauce, FF Sour Cream, on Wheat Tortilla
Meal 5- 9:00 p.m. String Cheese & Weight Watchers Fudge Pop
Meal 6-
Water - 13 cups

Exercise
Did cardio today although I had an urge to lift weights. I upped my speeds by .2 mph and ran 1.8 miles in 21 minutes. It felt pretty good, so I'll keep the increased speed for the next two weeks.

Thoughts
Back on track today. The weekend didn't kill my weight that much. I'm updating stats too! Today's good so far except I missed a snack. Not really hungry though, so I guess that's good.

Sunday, January 18, 2004 - Week 2, Day 14

Morning Weight - 146.0

Meal 1 - 12:00 p.m. Turkey Bacon Melt - Turkey Bacon, Tomato, and FF American on a Honey Wheat English Muffin
Meal 2- 2:00 p.m. Grilled Ham & Cheese w/Salad with FF Italian Dressing
Meal 3- 4:30 p.m. Protein Shake & Apple
Meal 4- 7:00 p.m. 12 Medium Wings from BW3's with Bleu Cheese Dressing
Meal 5- 10:00 p.m. Smores!
Meal 6-
Water - At least 12 cups

Exercise
None.

Thoughts
Drank tons of water! Did pretty good sticking to diet until dinner. The guys were eating bad and I wanted to too. I probably talked the other girls into cheating, but.... The smores were definately worth it. Erica's Smores maker is really cool.

Saturday, January 17, 2004 - Week 2, Day 13

Morning Weight - 144.5

Meal 1 - 10:00 a.m. First Watch - The Works Omelet, Potatos, English Muffin w/Strawberry Jam, 2 glasses of apple juice
Meal 2- 1:30 p.m. Cinnamon pretzel and 32 ounce diet coke at Antie Ann's
Meal 3- 8:30 p.m. The Melting Pot - Cheese Fondue w/bread & apples, Salad, Filet Mignon, Pork, and Chicken in fondue cooking sauces, turtle and original chocolate fondue with strawberries, marshmellows, bannanas, brownies, and cheesecake, 4 glasses White Zinfindel wine
Meal 4-
Meal 5-
Meal 6-
Water - 2 cups?

Exercise
None except walking and shopping.

Thoughts
Didn't get in enough water, but still didn't have regular coke, and REALLY enjoyed the fondue for free day.

Friday, January 16, 2004 - Week 2, Day 12

Morning Weight - Scale battery dead

Food
Meal 1 - 8:45 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 11:15 a.m. Broiled Beef, Green Peppers, Onions & Egg Noodles
Meal 3- 1:00 p.m. Cottage Chees & FF Yogurt
Meal 4- 3:30 p.m. Detour Bar
Meal 5- 6:15 p.m. Broiled Beef, Green Peppers, Onions & Egg Noodles
Meal 6- 9:30 p.m. Shake & Popcorn
Water - 12 cups

Exercise
I want to leave for the gym and store at 2 p.m. I'll do today's cardio and tomorrow's lower body since the girls will be here and I won't be heading to the gym.

Did cardio and lower body with abs. I was so busy all day that I didn't really feel like taking time out for exercise, but it felt so good, I'm glad I did. It really got my day back on track.

Thoughts
Felt really good about making it through the day without breaking down. Heather even ate Doritos and pizza in front of us.

Thursday, January 15, 2004 - Week 2, Day 11

Morning Weight - 145.0

Food
Meal 1 - 10:00 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 12:15 p.m. Chicken Strips w/Buffalo Sauce & FF Bleu Cheese, Egg Noodles, Carrots
Meal 3- 2:30 p.m. Protein Shake & Popcorn
Meal 4- 5:30 p.m. Detour Bar
Meal 5- 7:30 p.m. Broiled Beef, Green Peppers, and Onions, Egg Noodles
Meal 6- 10:00 p.m. Protein Shake and Apple
Water - 12 cups & 1 caffeine free Diet Coke

Exercise
Went to the gym around 4:15 p.m. and did upper body. I really think I'm getting my strength back. Will definately consider upping my weights next week. Abs were good too. Another week or two and I may see some of that old body again.

Thoughts
I feel like I'm getting back in a routine. This week hasn't been as tough to stick to the diet as last week. Even though I was home today, I didn't feel like cheating. That's a good sign. If I can keep this up for another 4 or 5 weeks, I should be in really good shape.

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 - Week 2, Day 10

Morning Weight - 146.5

Food
Meal 1 - 8:15 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 10:15 a.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 3- 12:00 p.m. Chinese Pepper Steak & Brown Rice
Meal 4- 3:30 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
Meal 5- 6:45 p.m. Subway 6" turkey on wheat w/mayo, lettuce & tomato
Meal 6- 10:00 p.m. Cottage Cheese & Popcorn
Water - 13 cups & 1 caffeine free Diet Coke

Exercise
Plan to do cardio after work. Went to the gym and had a good run. 1.75 miles. I feel like it's a good workout. My legs get tired at first, but the second 10 minutes feel the best. Next week I'll up my speed a little. I don't really get that winded now.

Thoughts
Another good day. This week I haven't had as many cravings. We'll see how I do when I'm home from work the rest of the week and when the girls are here. Hopefully, the extra people will help my willpower, but look out Saturday.

Tuesday, January 13 - Week 2, Day 9

Morning Weight - 147.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:15 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 11:45 a.m. Chinese Pepper Steak w/veggies & Brown Rice
Meal 3- 2:45 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
Meal 4- 7:15 p.m. Chinese Pepper Steak & Brown Rice
Meal 5- 10:00 p.m. Apple
Meal 6-
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
Plan to do lower body and abs after work.

Did lower body and abs after work. Was a really good workout. Will probably need to up weights on leg curls next week.

Thoughts
Was happy to see my weight back down this morning. Feel pretty good about this week.

Monday, January 12 - Week 2, Day 8

Morning Weight - 149.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:10 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 12:30 p.m. 2 Slices wheat bread, Ham, FF Swiss, FF American, & FF Mayo, Carrots
Meal 3- 2:45 p.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 4- 7:30 p.m. Chinese Pepper Steak & Brown Rice
Meal 5- 9:45 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
Meal 6-
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
Didn't make it out of bed this morning. Will have to go after work for cardio.

Did cardio after work. Forgot my pony tail holder, but did it anyway. 1.73 miles in 21 minutes. My legs get tired faster than I get out of breath. Next Monday, I'm upping my speed. I seem to tire more easily at the slower jogging levels, weird.

Also, finished stripping paper in the basement and taped off everything to start painting tomorrow.

Thoughts

Sunday, January 11 - Week 1, Day 7

Morning Weight - 148.0

Food
Meal 1 - 10:20 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 1:30 p.m. Round Steak, Red Potatos, Green Beans
Meal 3- 3:30 p.m. Steak Strips & Apple
Meal 4- 7:00 p.m. Sub with Roast Beef, Turkey, Ham, Cheeses, Mayo, Horseradish & Doritos
Meal 5- 10:00 p.m. Goldfish Crackers
Meal 6-
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
None planned except wallpaper stripping and painting in the basement.

Thoughts
Did pretty good until dinner time. Eric had some guys over for the football game and I made them my hamburger/cheese dip and had stuff for sandwiches. I managed to resist. Then I headed for the basement to strip wallpaper. (By the way, I HATE wallpaper.) Then I didn't really feel like making dinner, because it would have required cooking, etc. so I made a sandwich and had some chips. Then I snacked on goldfish left over. So not a perfect day, but could have been worse.

I didn't make my foods for tomorrow, so I'll have to do that when I get up in the morning. Hopefully that will be early since I plan on doing a.m. cardio. I think my evening tomorrow will be again in the basement working on that stupid wallpaper.

Saturday, January 10 - Week 1, Day 6 - Free Day

Morning Weight - 145.5

Food
9:30 a.m. Pancakes w/butter and syurp
12:30 p.m. Snickers Ice Cream Bar
3:00 p.m. Bellacino's Grinder - Roast Beef, Ham, Turkey, Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Mayo, BBQ Chips, Diet Coke
7:45 p.m. BW3's Medium wings w/Blue Cheese
9:30 p.m. 2 Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Throughout Day - Goldfish Crackers, some left over candy from Christmas another Diet Coke

Water - 10 cups

Exercise
10:30 to 11:30 Did upper body at the gym. This time I timed the rest periods. Much better burn that way. May be able to up weights on some exercises after next week. Also did abs. Must be doing something right because they burn. One perfect week of exercise done.

Thoughts
Jennifer's Free Day Rules - Food is open to whatever I want. Drinking- I still have to get all my water in and no regular coke, only diet is acceptable.

The pancakes didn't taste as good as expected. I just fill "blah" now. I'm about to head for the gym for upper body, so maybe that will feel better. Man, seeing my weight down even more today makes it harder to really enjoy a free day.

Not as much guilt on the Snickers bar.

I completed my free day goals. Yeah!

Friday, January 9 - Week 1, Day 5

Morning Weight - 147.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:10 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 11:45 a.m. Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad from The Elevator
Meal 3- 5:15 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
Meal 4- 7:00 p.m. Steak Strips on Tortilla with Lettuce and FF Ranch Dressing
Meal 5- 9:30 p.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 6-
Water - 11 cups

Exercise
Didn't make it for cardio this AM, so will have to go after work. Zeus was howling to get out of his cage at 4:00 this morning, so I had to get up and let him outside. Then when I went back to bed I just couldn't get up at 6:00. I know it's an excuse, but I'll make sure I do cardio tonight.

Went to the gym after work. Was doing pretty good until the shake I drank on the way caught up with me. I had to reduce the intensity for my last 2 minutes. Ended up doing 1.68 miles. I think for week 3 I'll increase my speed again.

Thoughts
Thursday's are tough for me for some reason. Today I feel like I have more willpower. If I can make it through today, I can have my free day guilt-free tomorrow. I've seen some changes on the scale too, so that's encouraging. Down 2 pounds this week, 14 more to go!

Not sure if lunch should count as cheating. It's still a salad, but I'm sure unauthorized. What do you think? Romaine Lettuce tossed in some type of vinagerette dressing, topped with pecan crusted chicken, some type of white cheese, green apples and a honey mustard dressing. I passed up the bread and only drank water, but I'm sure the salad had more fat than I should be consuming (cheese, dressing, and pecans add up). I brought my lunch, but ended up having to go out with some colleagues to discuss an account. Here's the deal, I won't count it as cheating, but I'll skip one of my snacks and be sure that everything else is perfect today.

Bad idea - Drinking protein shake immediately before exercising. Protein can cause some unpleasant side effects and it's not good for them to show up while you are on the treadmill.

Thursday, January 8 - Week 1, Day 4

Morning Weight - 148.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:10 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 11:30 p.m. Fajita Chicken, Tortilla, FF Sour Cream, FF Cheddar, & Taco Sauce, Salad w/FF Italian
Meal 3- 3:15 p.m. Protein Shake & Popcorn
Meal 4- 7:30 p.m. Top Round Steak, 2 Red Potatos, Green Beans cooked in Foil packet w/Soy Sauce
Meal 5- 9:30 p.m. Mini Detour Bar
Meal 6- 10:15 p.m. Apple
Water - 12 cups

Exercise
Plan to do lower body workout after work. I really felt my abs sore yesterday and my chest hurts. I officially changed from "breast tenderness" to "sore chest muscles." Hopefully no snags, but I will get my workout done.

Did lower body and abs tonight. Pretty good workout, but I think I could probably up my weights if I wait the full minute in between sets like recommended. I did some extra exercises for my hips and butt that I didn't do while on BFL last time. They really burned and felt good.

Thoughts
I've had a perfect week so far, except I still haven't got my pictures done. My weakness comes when I am hungry. Fixing dinner is hard. Even though I don't have any "really bad" foods at home, I see crackers and olives and just want to snack. This morning I was putting on my makeup and doing my hair before I was fully dressed and was disgusted by what I saw in the mirror. That is motivation. I really need to get those pictures done.

Missed one of my afternoon snacks. I'm not starving now (while waiting on dinner to cook), so I'll probably just do 5 meals today. That's cool. I don't mind screwing up by missing a meal. As long as I don't eat any unauthorized meals.

Wednesday, January 7 - Week 1, Day 3

Food
Meal 1 - 8:00 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 11:30 a.m. Ground Sirloin, Brown Rice, FF Mozzerella, & FF Cheddar and Salad w/FF Italian
Meal 3- 2:45 p.m. Cottage Cheese & Yogurt
Meal 4- 4:30 p.m. Protein Shake & Orange
Meal 5- 6:45 p.m. Chicken w/Fajita Seasoning, Tortilla Shell, 1 TBSP Taco Sauce and FF Sour Cream, FF Cheddar Cheese, Salad w/FF Italian Dressing
Meal 6- 9:00 p.m. Cottage Cheese & Low Fat Popcorn
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
6:30 a.m. to 6:55 a.m. Cardio on the treadmill. 21 minutes, 1.73 miles. Better intensity today, jogged whole time except 2 min warm up and cool down. I was pretty impressed that I made it to the gym in the morning, WOW! I'm a little surprised at my own motivation. It paid off though. I felt good! I don't know if it's the morning thing or jamming to Eminem, "You've got one shot, this is your chance to blow, one opportunity, you've got to lose yourself..." That's want I want, to lose about 15 pounds of myself.

Thoughts
Day 3 going strong. Morning workouts help. Now let's see if we can eat right.

Another perfect day. So far so good.

Tuesday, January 6 - Week 1, Day 2

Morning Weight - 149.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:10 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 12:00 p.m. Chicken Fingers, Rice, Green Beans
Meal 3- 2:05 p.m. Protein Shake & Popcorn
Meal 4- 6:45 p.m. 4oz. ground sirloin w/Taco Seasoning, 1/2 cup brown rice, mixed w/FF Mozzerella & FF Cheddar cheese, Salad w/FF Italian dressing
Meal 5- 9:30 p.m. Cottage Cheese & FF Yogurt
Meal 6- 10:05 p.m. Apple
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
7:50 p.m to 8:45 p.m. - I made it to the gym! Did upper body and abs. When I drew up my plan I planned to reevaluate the weight every 2 weeks. What I'm doing now is good, but I think I'll be able to up it in 2 weeks. Took along some music and that helped me. I didn't time between sets like last time I did BFL. I think I'll do that next time. I seem to get a better burn when I do the sets with the appropriate breaks in between.

Thoughts
Today's goal is to make Eric take pictures of me tonight. With the digital camera, it literal will take less than 5 minutes to take and post the pictures, but I'm still a little lazy.

Looking forward to exercising tonight. I never feel like it on the way to the gym, but I sure love the burn while I'm there.

I got a headache late afternoon at work and felt like crap and even left the office about 10 minutes early (I've been leaving about 15 minutes late that last few weeks, so that's kind of a big deal). I came straight home took my Imitrex (one advantage of not being pregnant) and then took about a 40 minute nap. I woke up with the headache gone. I swear it's a miracle medicine. Then I was starving since I skipped my last afternoon snack, so I fixed dinner. Then I did a load of laundry and made Eric's dinner so it was waiting for him when he walked in the door at 7:30 and headed for the gym. That's dedication. The first time I've ever went to the gym later in the evening, just so I wouldn't skip it. I'm glad too. It was a good work out and I'm still on track. No guilt yet. Tomorrow I'm even attempting a morning workout.

Didn't get pictures done. Eric fell asleep on the couch at 9:15 p.m. Maybe tomorrow.

Monday, January 5 - Week 1, Day 1

Morning Weight - 149.0

Food
Meal 1 - 8:15 a.m. Apple & Protein Shake
Meal 2- 11:30 a.m. Grilled Ham & FF Cheese, Carrots
Meal 3- 2:45 p.m. Protein Shake and Orange
Meal 4- 4:30 p.m Cottage Cheese (supposed to have Yogurt, but it was a little too chunky for me)
Meal 5- 7:30 p.m. BBQ Chicken Breast, Rice, Green Beans
Meal 6- 9:00 p.m. Popcorn & Cottage Cheese
Water - 10 cups

Exercise
Cardio on treadmill. 20 minutes 1.6 miles. Man, I used to be in shape. We'll increase it as I get back to where I was before.

Thoughts
I've deleted the bad girl section of the daily posts because that is not permitted. I'm hoping to take before pictures today, just so I can feel better about myself when I get some good afters.

Didn't get the pictures done, but today was a good first day. Eric tried to tempt me this evening with an Ice Cream Snickers bar. He said wouldn't this taste good? I said, not being fat would feel better. Today was a perfect dieting day. No cheats on the meals, got in all my water and made it to the gym.

Preperation for the Big Start

Ok, this time I mean it. I'm committed, no matter what. On Monday, I will begin a new 12 week body for life program. I will complete it even if I get pregnant. The only thing that will change is that I will adjust my exercises for pregnancy (but not the frequency of exercise) and I may switch back to regular fat cheeses and dairy, since I tend to do a very low-fat program on BFL.

I don't want to be fat anymore. I just looked at my stats from the last program I completed and set my new goals at about that level. What's really sad is that I think my beginning stats are worse than last time. That's ok, I will succeed. I'm working on printing out all of my menu plans and exercise sheets for the new binder I made.

Here we go 2004!

New Year's Day

This website is being reactivated as a result of New Year's resolutions. Updates to follow.