Week 16: How did I do?

I think I'm going to change up the way I write these posts. I think I'm going to use these posts as just a reflection of the previous week, and to write about the things I did well and the things I fell short on.

Week 15: How did I do?

GOALS MET (4/11)
Eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies a day
Log 1750 fitness minutes in June (Currently: 1,884)
Ride the stationary bike once a week
Stay under 2,300mg of sodium 5x/week

GOALS NOT MET (7/11)
Consume 50g of protein 5x/week
Drink 8 cups of water/day
Go to Bally's class once a week
Log 30 fitness minutes per day 6x/week
Run 2x/week
Sleep 8 hours/night
Swim 2x/week

School got in the way. Plain and simple.

Week 14: How did I do?

GOALS MET (7/12)

Consume 50g of protein 5x/week

Go to Bally's class once a week

Log 30 fitness minutes per day 6x/week

Ride the stationary bike once a week

Run 2x/week

Stay under 2,300mg of sodium 5x/week

Swim 2x/week

GOALS NOT MET (3/12)

Drink 8 cups of water/day

Eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies a day

Sleep 8 hours/night

GOALS IN PROGRESS (2/12)

Complete up to Unit 18 for online class (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

Log 1750 fitness minutes in June (Currently: 1,596)

Week 13: How did I do?

GOALS MET (4/11)

Consume 50g of protein 5x/week

Log 30 fitness minutes per day 6x/week

Stay under 2,300mg of sodium 5x/week

Swim once a week

GOALS NOT MET (6/11)

Complete 6 units/week for online class

Drink 8 cups of water/day

Ride stationary bike once a week

Run 2x/week

Sleep 8 hours/night

Work out with Jillian 6x/week

GOALS IN PROGRESS (1/11)

Log 1750 fitness minutes for the month of June (Currently: 896)

Week 12: How did I do?

GOALS MET (5/9)

Consume 50g of protein 5x/week

Log 30 fitness minutes per day 6x/week

Sleep 8 hours/night

Stay under 2,300mg of sodium 5x/week

Work out with Jillian 6x/week

GOALS NOT MET (3/9)

Complete 6 units/week for online class

Drink 8 cups of water/day

Run 3x/week

GOALS IN PROGRESS (1/9)

Log 1750 fitness minutes for the month of June (Currently: 401)

I didn't run three times this week, but this is the week where I have about half of my energy level. I did run on Tuesday at the gym and on Friday I did go to the gym and did a bike on random intervals for 45 minutes. I missed the water one day this week. I only completed 4 units for my online class - but next week I'll get 8 done so I'm back on track (yuck).

Week 11: How did I do?

Starting weight (5/21): 149.6

Current weight (5/28): 149.2

GOALS MET (5/8)

Consume 50g of protein 5x/week

Drink 8 cups of water/day

Log 1500 fitness minutes for the month of May (Currently: 1,981)

Stay under 2,300mg of sodium 5x/week

Work out with Jillian 3x/week

GOALS NOT MET (3/8)
Log 30 fitness minutes per day 6x/week

Run 3x/week

Sleep 8 hours/night

Still in my plateau. Still in my rut. I tried a few different things this week to no avail. Next week I'm going to try something ELSE new. I'm desperate to get out of this rut. No one can say I'm just sitting back and letting it happen. I'm certainly trying to figure out how to fix it.

Week 10: How did I do?

GOALS MET (7/9)
Consume 50g of protein 5x/week
Do 15 minutes of housework/day
Drink 8 cups of water/day
Log 30 fitness minutes per day
Log 1500 fitness minutes for the month of May (Currently: 1,503)

Run 3x/week

Stay under 2,300mg of sodium 5x/week

GOALS NOT MET (2/9)

Sleep 8 hours/night
Work out with Jillian 3x/week

Cut out the calories goal because I need to eat more calories temporarily to get my body out of a plateau. Cut out the weight loss goal because I'm AT a plateau and I'm sick of not even losing a pound a week. So I'd rather not put that under "goal not met". It's something I have no control over.... so it shouldn't be a goal!

Week 9: How did I do?

GOALS MET (4/10)

Lose 1-2 pounds/week

Run at least 3x/week

Stay under 2,300mg of sodium 5x/week

Sleep 8 hours/night

GOALS NOT MET (5/10)

Consume between 1250 and 1350 cals/day

Consume at least 50g of protein 5x/week

Drink at least 9 cups of water/day

Log 30 fitness minutes per day

Work out with Jillian at least 3x/week

GOALS IN PROGRESS (1/10)

Log 1,500 fitness minutes for the month of May (Currently:935)

Changed my nutrition goals (minus my water and calorie ones) to 5x a week instead of every day. I'm going to strive to meet them every day, but I'll feel better if I meet my goals once in awhile, lol. :) And yeah, it looks like I did horrible this week. But I DID drop a pants size and the day I didn't log 30 fitness minutes, I logged 26. This is the end of my semester so I'm BUSY. I also added a goal: sleep 8 hours a night.

Week 8: How did I do?

GOALS MET (3/9)

Log 30 fitness minutes per day

Run at least 3x/week

Work out with Jillian at least 3x/week

GOALS NOT MET (5/9)

Consume at least 50g of protein/day

Consume between 1200 and 1300 cals/day

Drink at least 9 cups of water/day

Lose 1-2 pounds/week

Stay under 2,300mg of sodium/day

GOALS IN PROGRESS (1/9)

Log 1,500 fitness minutes for the month of May

Even though I didn't meet some goals this week, I'm not that discouraged. I mean, for example, I always drank 8 cups of water. I only went over my sodium once since I started Spark, and this is also the first time I probably went over the 1300 calories by more than a few calories (and in reality, it's not harmful for me to do that every once in awhile since my range goes all the way up to 1550). I was mindful of how much I ate at lunch at the Korean restaurant, but the same time it felt nice to not worry about tracking my food for just one day! I did not expect to meet my weight loss goal this week because it's my time of the month which ruins lots of things for me (weight loss and energy level, to name a few). But I DID lose; it was just less than a pound.

Week 7: How did I do?

Random note: this is my 100th post! Wow!

GOALS MET (7/9)

Consume between 1200 and 1300 cals/day

Log 1000 fitness minutes for the month of April (achieved 4/20; currently 1,840)

Log 30 fitness minutes per day

Lose 1-2 pounds/week (Exactly 1 pound))

Run at least 3x/week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

Stay under 2,300mg of sodium/day

Work out with Jillian at least 3x/week (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday)

GOALS NOT MET (2/9)

Drink at least 10 cups of water/day (Only 9 on Wednesday-Saturday)

Consume at least 50g of protein/day (Not Friday)

GOALS IN PROGRESS (0/9)

I changed my goal this week to "Jillian" instead of the Wii because my mom got me the 30 Day Shred for Easter. I wish I could do it every day and really "shred" in 30 days but it's way too hard for me to do it every day lol. Meeting my nutrition goals (aside from fruits and veggies and calories) was unknown the first few days because of my mom's Easter meal so that was sort of iffy. Also decided to try to drink 10 cups of water/day this week instead of 8. Just to spice things up and hope it effected my weight loss. I also took out the "go to the gym" goal this week because of the 30 Day Shred and trying to get used to running outside.

In terms of my goals: not bad. The days I didn't achieve the water goal, I DID drink 9. I think aiming for at least 9 is a goal I'll stick with for now; if I can drink more than that, great. My sodium was kind of high (2,000) today but I did stay under the 2300mg. I am really going to watch my sodium intake this week as it is my time of the month coming up.

Week 6: How did I do?

GOALS MET (4/9):

Consume between 1200 and 1300 cals/day

Stay within 500-2,300mg of sodium/day

Log 1000 fitness minutes for the month of April (achieved 4/20; currently 1,357)

Run at least 3x/week (Sun, Wed, Fri)

GOALS NOT MET (5/9):

Consume at least 50g of protein/day (Not Tues)

Drink at least 8 cups of water/day (Not Tues)

Go to the gym at least 3x/week (Sun and Wed)

Work out with Wii at least 3x/week (Mon and Sat)

Lose 1-2 pounds/week (Gained .04. Feels like shit.)

GOALS IN PROGRESS (0/9)

I did shitty. Absolutely shitty. I removed fiber as a goal, it's way too hard. But I added "run 3x/week" because I might not go to the gym 3x a week but I am going to run at least 3x a week but at least one of those days is going to be outside (weather permitting).

Week 5: How did I do?

GOALS MET (6/9):

Go to the gym at least 3x/week (Sunday, Wednesday, Friday)

Lose 1-2 pounds/week (Lost 3.6 this week!!)

Work out with Wii at least 3x/week (Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday)

Consume at least 50g of protein/day

Consume between 1200 and 1300 cals/day
Stay within 500-2,300mg of sodium/day

GOALS NOT MET (2/9):
Drink at least 8 cups of water/day (Only drank 7 on Sunday)

Consume at least 25g of fiber/day (Only Wednesday and Thursday)

GOALS IN PROGRESS (1/9):

Log 1000 fitness minutes for the month of April (logged 903 already this month)

Week 4

I decided to change my weekly summaries. I started on a Tuesday but it's easier to track weekly progress on Saturdays for the previous week. On the right hand side of my blog, I listed my "program", which consists of all of these goals. My weekly round-up will simply show if I've met my goals for that week or not.

How did I do?

Consume 1200-1300 calories/day. GOAL MET!

Ate within range every day.

Consume 50g of protein/day. GOAL MET!

Ate at least 50g of protein every day.

Drink at least 8 cups of water/day. GOAL MET!

Drank 8 cups every day.

Go to the gym at least 3x/week. GOAL MET!

Went to the gym Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.

Work out with the Wii at least 2x/week. GOAL MET!

Did Zumba Fitness Monday and Tuesday and Wii Fit Plus Saturday.

* This is actually too easy of a goal! I upped it to 3x a week, to give myself one day off if I want it.

Last One To Lose Wins for the month of April. GOAL MET!

It's my TOM, so I only lost .4 pounds, but a loss is a loss.

Walk the 10 flights of Enderis stairs 1x/week.

Added this goal on Wednesday. Will track next week!

Week 3

Day 16: 1,241 calories

I hate being on campus all day where you can't bring refrigerated goods. I need to buy some nuts and other high protein/high fiber foods at the store this weekend or I'll never survive Mondays and Tuesdays. It's also not fun drinking 8-9 glasses of water on school days - I'm in the bathroom constantly! lol. I'm proud of myself yesterday for resisting all of the temptations the union food court has to offer. It didn't cross my mind, though - I must stay within my calories, and I must eat healthy. I had some grape tomatoes out of the salad bar though and they were disgusting. I have to stick with bringing my own fruits - I should buy portable fruits like apples and bananas strictly to take to school to avoid the salad bar. Today was a lot easier, though, to get through the day without being starving. Tomorrow I'm only on campus from 9 until 3... better, and then I have a date at the YMCA. :)

Day 17: 1,265 calories

Went to the gym this evening with my daddy! I wondered what my energy level would be like on the treadmill once I got on there (considering I had always gone to the gym right after breakfast during spring break), but I ended up running for 25 straight minutes! I ran the two miles two minutes and ten seconds faster than I did on Sunday. I know it won't be long before I can run the entire 30 minutes. Unfortunately the treadmills turn off after thirty minutes. Most of them do. So idk how I can successfully train for that 5k! I'm focusing on just becoming a better runner at this point. My dad was impressed with the pace I was running. That made me feel good. My dad and my mom are going to join me at the Y on Friday morning! Yay!

Day 18: 1,312 calories

We may have overestimated the portions I ate at dinner by a little bit, so I'm probably right at 1,300 calories. Kind of bummed I went over 1,300, but I'm not going to fret about it. My range goes up to 1,550, apparently. On the plus side, I went over my minimum protein amount by 10 grams! Decided having a protein bar every day, not just on gym days, plus trying to only buy snack foods with SOME amount of protein will be beneficial.

Day 19: 1,290 calories

I was two whole pounds less than I was on Sunday! Woohoo! I also managed to stray between 1200 and 1300 calories while getting the fruit & veggie servings AND staying in my healthy range of carbs, fat, and protein. Whew. That's hard work. I was also bummed I couldn't run 25 straight minutes like I could on Wednesday, but I tried not to let it bother me. I ran the entire 5K distance and then some just to see how long it would take me. On slow days like Friday and Sunday, I'm going to run the 5K distance to try to improve my time. On Wednesdays when it's busier, I'm going to work on improving how far I can run in the 30 minutes that the majority of the treadmills are set to. Feeling good today ... feeling really good. Since I've lost 5.4 pounds now, I can go buy myself a Wii game. I have to do my research and figure out which one I want, and I need to make sure my Wii remotes work. I had a syncing issue with them when my mom and I tried to play the Michael Jackson game she bought me.

Day 20: 1,232 calories

I don't think I'll be able to get my protein in my healthy range every day, but I decided on weekends I should probably try. It's also nice on Saturdays, my weekend day where I don't go to the gym, to sleep in a little bit. That way I get a later start on my meals. I had a paper to write today and a lot of stuff to read. I used to go to UWM's library because I'm more productive outside of my apartment. But I'll sacrifice productivity to be able to eat my mom's leftovers for lunch and stuff. Oh, and also... I LOVE pumpkin seeds! My grocery store only sells them in small bags - 4-8 servings worth, I think. But it'll be on my grocery list almost every time. They're filling and TASTY. Plus they have 9g of protein. Great to take with me to school on Monday and Tuesdays.

Day 21: 1,272 calories

Love when I can go out to eat and stay under 1,300 calories for the day. I love seafood! I always have, but now I love it even more because of how healthy it is; how low in calories it is as well as how much protein fish have. Lunch and dinner only equaled 18g of protein but dinner was a whopping 47!! My complaint with my running today was the blisters I got from my shoes. I think I need actual running shoes. Otherwise, loved that I could run for 27 minutes straight today - I accomplished my goal of running 2 miles without walking. :) Next up: being able to run 3 without walking!

Day 22: 1,240 calories

I have definitely figured out what I need to bring on long on-campus days. I'm not saying I particularly enjoy being gone all day with no access to store fresh food or leftovers in a fridge, but it's only going to be this way for one more semester. I can deal. The granola cereal I bought at the store the other day and just tried for the first time yesterday is not only delicious, but filling. I love all of these new cereals I have bought plus oatmeal.

Week 2

Day 9: 1,237 calories

My arm is still killing me from the gym. Went to the grocery store today and again spent a ton of money, but bought a lot of good things. I'll basically only be going to the store once or twice a week for produce and a few random things. I have enough non produce food for meals for awhile. I loved the mini quesadilla I made today, and might throw on some of the enchilada sauce on top next time - very low calorie. I love Mexican food and I love that I can have Mexican food regularly and keep it healthy. :)

Day 10: 1,276 calories

My arm is definitely a lot better, but it's not 100% yet. I won't do arm exercises until I go to the gym next Wednesday. Don't wanna strain it again. Pretty excited I went out to dinner tonight with my mom, and ate right around 500 calories. We guessed, of course, on the potatoes and the iced tea (and maybe overcompensated, calorie wise, on the tea), but I think I was pretty close to accurate.

Day 11: 1,228 calories

I was a little worried about my cat's appetite being down, so the anxiety did effect me negatively earlier. It didn't effect my meal plans for the day, though. I actually wanted to go to the gym today. When I do those leg machines in particular, I feel the fat literally getting burned away. Can't wait til I can see a difference. :) I really liked the Lean Cuisine I had for dinner tonight. Lean Cuisines are high in sodium but they're packed with protein and are low calorie, so I feel I can have them once a week or so. They're quick and usually tasty!

Day 12: 1,234 calories

My goal is to be able to jog a 5k on my birthday, May 21st. I am trying to build my endurance now, and I hope in a week from Sunday to start SparkPeople's 5 week 5k training program. On the treadmill right now I am just working on going 2 miles as fast as I can but hoping the 5k training program will get me up to 3 miles. I was excited to do a few arm machines today but I did not push it. I was also really excited to get to have Chipotle for dinner. I went to my aunt's house, who got subs, but the burrito bol was far less calories and easy to fit in my diet today.

Day 13: 1,201 calories

I laid in bed a little longer than intended (I'm milking up my last two days of Spring Break before it's solid school for 2 more months) so my breakfast was sort of a brunch situation. I didn't eat it until about noon. I keep spending so much money at the grocery store, but I love what I'm buying. Bought a few amazing sounding cereals in the granola variety, among other things. Loving my low calorie intake today. Love how low in calories raw vegetables and hummus is.

Day 14: 1,225 calories

Since my parents and I went to 5pm mass, we went out to eat afterwards. Yesterday my dad said I could pick the place, because he knows I am tracking my calories. I did my research once I got back from the gym and figured out where I wanted to go where I could order something to fit in my nutrition goals for today. I was slightly disappointed the scale didn't go down. I weigh myself every time I go to the gym (which has been every other day this past week) and it always went down a little. The good news is it didn't go UP, either. It was exactly the same as Friday. I just wish these pounds were dropping FASTER. Why can some people lose 3 pounds per week and I lose like one? The good news is I did a lot better cardio wise than I thought. I was running for 3 minutes, brisk walking for 2 in interval training, but when I got to the 20 minute mark and started to run, I just wanted to see how far I could really go, and I ran all the way to the 30 minute mark. Wednesday will be the first time going to the gym at night after a couple days worth of classes and intense homework - curious to see if I have enough energy to run better than I did today. I'm going to try.

Day 15: 1,219 calories

It was hard to be on campus from 9:15am-7:40pm, with horrendous food everywhere. It is actually challenging to find anything healthy, so I tried to bring as much food from home as I could, but it felt weird not eating very much fresh food considering it would've gone bad as the day went on. Being on campus, the place I used to eat muffins, drink Mountain Dews, and order Korean Quesadillas really sucked. It'll get easier - but this was the first real day since I started this dietwhere I had to really sit on campus and resist temptation all day. The weight is not coming off fast enough, I'm still insanely hungry in between meals, and I'm miserable. Overly stressed, overwhelmed, and just blah. I put way too much pressure on myself, whatever task is at hand. I've always been that way. I received encouragement from my friend Kelly, my mom, and my Spark Friends - but I just need to go to sleep and start a new day. My dad, who is now eating healthier, exercising more, and trying to lose weight too, suggested he and I take long walks in my parents' hilly neighborhood on non gym days. Just the two of us, talking about our progress and things. I'll hold him to that. I really hope we bond over this. He heard I was discouraged today (I had called my mom), and I hope that didn't discourage him. I want to continue to be a good example for him, which will hopefully, in the future, keep my outward mood positive despite how I might feel on the inside. I gotta say though, I LOVE how low calorie soft rye bread is vs. the white I was eating before. Definitely helps, because a piece of bread and peanut butter or regular butter is definitely filling.

Week 1

Day 1: Tuesday: 1,260 calories

I do love popcorn, especially this Natural Light kind, and I'm glad to find out how few calories it is. The Baked Lays I can do without - next time with my veggies I'll grab a Powerbar.

Day 2: Wednesday: 1,147 calories

Today was a struggle. Due to my splurging on the quesadilla I had to actually decline my parents' dinner invitation to actually have a healthy, well balanced meal to have a tiny dinner. If I eat a 300 calorie lunch, I can have more for dinner or throw a snack in. I'm proud of being right at 1,200 cals, but I was hungry most of the day (particularly between 4 and 6pm). I'm sure it'll get easier. My eating habits were pretty horrendous before. I'm cutting my daily intake by over 50%, I would estimate.

Day 3: Thursday: 982 calories

All I can say is WOW. Under 1,000 calories! I was pretty hungry between 8-2pm. I had breakfast at 8 and by the time I got back from campus and back from the store, I ate around 2pm. I was slightly hungry starting around 4pm, but we had dinner at about 5:30. I was happy to discover that I couldn't even finish the plate at Jose's. I only had 2 out of 3 Toastadas. My mom even gave me 4 Blueberry Muffins to bring home, 200 calories a piece, but I wasn't even hungry enough to eat one a couple of hours ago (I'm not going to eat 2-3 hours before I go to bed). I'll have it with breakfast, possibly, or with carrot sticks for lunch, though. :)

Day 4: Friday: 1,293 calories

Being close to 1,300 is a little disappointing, but I can't be right on 1,200 every day. I don't want to ever go over 1,300 though (except maybe on gym days). Happy I stayed within my calorie range though. I was excited I got to have a snack and dessert today. I like keeping my breakfasts and lunches light. Nutritious, but light. Gives me a little freedom for dinner and a possible dessert or after dinner snack.

Day 5: Saturday: 1,198 calories; gym day

I was extremely happy to see that I lost 2.3 pounds since TUESDAY by just changing my eating habits. I'm sleeping less, but sleeping better, and I just overall feel better. Yes, I'm still hungry a lot in between when I eat, but being in control of how many calories I'm eating and what I'm eating is so fulfilling. I wish I could lose 2.3 pounds every 5 days, but as long as I'm losing weight, I'm definitely happy. I look forward to going back on Monday around this same time. Tomorrow I am going to clean my apartment - not sure how many calories I burn doing that - and maybe take a long walk depending on the weather. It's nice that it's spring break now, but a week from Monday my gym schedule sadly is going to change a bit.

Day 6: Sunday: 1,224 calories

Last night I calculated how much a Chipotle Burrito Bol or Burrito would be the way I like it - vegetarian with black beans, green tomatillo salsa, rice, guacamole, and cheese - and it would be 515 as the Bol and 805 as the burrito. But if the staff would cut it in half, it'd be a 402 calorie dinner and a 402 calorie lunch the next day. Interesting. Definitely something I'm going to "splurge" on in the near future! I made my breakfast kind of hefty - I only have one more power muffin from my mom, which I'll eat tomorrow, but after that I'll go back to just having oatmeal for breakfast, so 200 calories will be cut out of breakfast again. (Or at least 140 - might have an apple with oatmeal starting Tuesday.)

Day 7: Monday: 1,248 calories, gym day

I'm still lacking in protein, but I am going to learn a few fish recipes and make those, plus I'm going to look for anything with black beans in it - or else buy black beans plain and figure out a way to use them. Cramming the peanut butter in instead of butter raised my protein level by a little bit, but I was still slightly under my suggested range. It was the closest I have gotten though.