SHRED all around

Hey ladies!

So I know I lost about 5 pounds a few weeks back, but after a weekend of bridal shower/bachelorette festivities I put it all back :/ After stepping on the scale and being really disappointed in myself (and so close to Mexico!) I wanted to try something different. I went out and bought the SHRED diet book and using my mom's meal calendar/schedule along with the book, drafter my first week of this diet. I've never actually planned out my food this intensely before, but with my mom having lost 25+lbs I thought I could do it too. And I'm so glad I did! Aside from falling off the bandwagon a little this weekend, I was able to get down below my starting weight from when we started this back in early April! I know with Mexico coming up I'll most likely put on weight, but to lose those few "cushion pounds" is a great feeling. I know Ashley was trying the SHRED too, but if I had stayed on track all weekend I was on track to lose 5+ lbs in the first week. I'm anxious to come back from Mexico and really put this diet to the test and do the full 6 weeks. But doing 1.5 weeks already, I'm pretty proud of myself. So here's to the dieting for another 3 days and then 5 days in Mexico!

-Sarah

Day 4 of 21

So I am doing a "purification" that was given to me by my acupuncturist (i sound very earthy-crunchy i know).  It is a 21 day process but I am focused really on the first seven days.  It is VERY hard to find 21 days where there is nothing going food/drink wise as it is not easy to find things I can eat.  Basically it is fruits and veggies only and lentils.  The program says add lean meat/fish after the first seven days but she told me I can start earlier if I want so I am a little.  No dairy, white flour, sugar, alcohol, etc. Two shakes a day and for the first week 23 pills a day! We had a baptism today and the meal was steak mashed potatoes and broccoli...thankfully lots of people near me did not eat broccoli so I ate a plate full of it.

I will still be attending the Scooper Bowl on Thursday as she said try to do it a minimum of 80% of the time after the first seven days.  So I will be cheating then, maybe on graduation as well, we'll see! 

So far I have been pretty tired, I am guessing the first week is the worst so I am hoping that my energy levels go up soon!

Good things all around!

So FINALLY I have made progress and last week lost 3 pounds. I exercised minimal amounts and did get out and take a few walks at work. But I finally got my eating habits down :) I'm tracking consistently with WeightWatchers (and I"m okay on the weekends) and with practice at night during dinner time I've switched completely to protein/meal replacement shakes. Because by the time I get home and attempt to eat it's 930/10pm and just not good for weight loss and digestion. And another milestone was the 5k that Ashley and I completed on Saturday! So much better than the Susan G. Komen one that we ran in October. Not just the amount of people (there were about 100-125 people at the Medway 5k) but our times were much better too (even on a hilly course as well) It made me want to run more races because this time I was actually in shape and it was a less stressful environment. I'm hoping to find a few more to run this summer before the Color Run in October! I hope all you ladies are doing well and hanging in there. I know that my yoga pose goal might be a little out of reach, but if I can train myself to do the Crow and stay there for a while, I'll be really pleased with myself (trying to get to yoga classes has been a struggle....)

Ashley's Update

It's been awhile since I updated...so here it is!

I went to the Dr. yesterday and of course had to step on the scale and wasn't happy with what I saw.  It wasn't as nice to me as my scale at home it but maybe that's because I had all my clothes on and had to pee :)  That should be like 5 pounds right there haha.

I was doing good last week tracking food in MyFitnessPal but have to say I haven't done it yet this week :(  I  am excited that I have really picked up my running and on Monday and Tuesday mornings I ran around the lake, the whole way without stopping which is something I have never been able to do and didn't think I would ever be able to do so I'm really happy with that.  I think it's a little over 3 miles but I'm going to try to remember to wear my FitBit tomorrow to see if it can clock the miles for me to confirm :)  So for now I'll just focus on the positive.  This weekend we leave for AL to visit the parents so I know it will be a lot of food and wine but I'm bringing my running shoes so I can go out for a run!  Sarah and I have a 5k on the 18th and my Duathlon is on the 25th so let's hope I'm ready!  I went to spin this morning then ran a mile right after so here's to hoping that I can finish the race!

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Finally getting back to "normal"

It's been a while since I've updated but life has a funny way of just taking off. This is the first week since we've started this challenge back in March where there are no plans scheduled or anything going on that might deter me from my eating/working out. I've been really good at getting exercise in. Now that it's nicer out I'm going for walks at lunch and running after work before swim practice (did about 10 miles last week!) So now that things have "calmed down" I'm going to focus more on exercising and scheduling our meals and such. This weekend was awful. Jill and Miles graduated on Friday and Miles' mom bought a case of champagne to celebrate and between about 10 people we finished every single bottle. And of course there were snacks, cupcakes, etc... Then Saturday was Jill's celebration in Milford with my mom's peach sangria and cake/cupcakes and burgers/hot dogs. It's so sad when you look forward to Monday/the work week so you can get back into a routine. One victory today with eating is that I have a Skinny Taste 3 Bean Turkey Chili cooking in the slow cooker right now. Here is the link to the recipe I'm not sure how it'll come out, but I'll definitely report back tomorrow to let you know. And I should be set with lunch/dinner for the next few days too.

So that's my update. I've been fluctuating between gaining three pounds and maintaining my weight. But with my schedule finally allowing me to get into a good routine, I think we're looking up :)

Going Backwards

So unfortunately I have not been very successful with any of my goals... :(  I'm pretty bummed about it!  I weighed myself this morning and I have actually gained weight since we started this challenge...in an effort to be positive, at least this has created some motivation for me to try harder.  I also had some of my students from Belize asking me about how I am doing with push ups so that reminded me to practice this week!

I stopped taking birth control after Mexico since I had not had my period for 3 months and my hair was thinning etc.  Katie - I don't know how you said that it has been fabulous, it has been miserable for me!  I have been craving SO MUCH food, chocolate, chips, etc.  I have also been so moody.  It was a very difficult month, this next month has been a little easier, not great, but easier.  When I went for my bloodwork she told me that it would take at least two months for it to be out of my system.  Apparently my hormones are out of whack when they are not regulated! 

This is our Holy Week so I am trying to not eat meat and dairy (I was supposed to do that the whole 40 days but that would never happen).  I did ok today, but I did have an Auntie Annie's pretzel. 

My challenge this week will be to not gain anything at Easter on Sunday!

Mandy's Recipe of the Week: Parmesan Chicken Cutlets

This week I made a Parmesan Chicken Cutlets that I found on Epicurious.com.  I ate it over veggie pasta, but you can also make nuggets out of this too!  It's entirely twin-friendly :)

How it turned out: 

Notes: 

• Although it's not the healthiest, it was DELICIOUS!
• You definitely need to use a little more oil than the recipe states so that it doesn't burn.

Will I make it again? Yes, absolutely.