All the Sun For You

A mom, two boys, a husband, and a whole lot of adventure!

Category Archives: My Free Time


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Fitness Stat-urday – Week 2

Starting Statistics on 08/30/2014

  • Weight:  155 Pounds (took 0.6 pounds off during my stabilizing week)
  • Body Fat %:  25.1% (took 0.7% off during my stabilizing week)
  • BMI:  24.3
  • Predicted Weight from MyFit.nessP.al:  140 Pounds (targeting 1.5 pounds per week)

Goals for the Next 10 Weeks (Ending 11/08/2014)

  • Weight:  142.6 Pounds
  • Body Fat %:  22.1%
  • BMI:  22.3
  • Push-ups:  90
  • Sit-ups:  53
  • Mile Run Time:  7:26

Week Ending 09/11/2014 (the week ended early due to vacation)

  • Week 2 Statistics
    • Weight: 153.6 Pounds
    • Pounds Lost or Gained:  1.4 Pounds Lost
    • Body Fat %:  24.6%
    • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.1% Lost
    • BMI: 24
    • Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  7 Days
    • Time Spent Being Active:  8 Hours 15 Minutes
    • Average Number of Steps Per Day:  17,328 Steps
  • Food:  This week was tricky since we headed out of town (sans kids!) on Thursday.  Dinner reservations were made without concern to the menu and being Paleo.  We were hoping to do lots of walking, to hopefully balance everything out in the end.
    • Sunday – Soccer night = easy dinner = pizza out (thin crust veggie)
    • Monday – Dinner out consisting of a fabulous Paleo salad
    • Tuesday – Pear and Ground Pork Stuffed Winter Squash
    • Wednesday – Meatballs and Carrots
    • Thursday – VACATION
    • Friday – VACATION
    • Saturday – VACATION
  • Exercise/Activity: I have found some group fitness classes at our resort in Teluride that I plan to attend (and drag Hottie to with me).  We solely depended on lots of walking to keep us active, but as expected, these numbers did go down this week (except for the amount of steps!).
    • Sunday – Mowing the lawn and some yard work (40 minutes) – 10,800 Steps
    • Monday – Morning run (43 minutes), strength training (42 minutes) – 18,100 Steps
    • Tuesday – Morning run (44 minutes), INSANITY (37 minutes), walking (11 minutes) – 22,000 Steps
    • Wednesday- Morning run (52 minutes) – 19,000 Steps
    • Thursday- Morning run (46 minutes) – 16,000 Steps
    • Friday- Hours of walking (90 minutes) – 18,200 Steps
    • Saturday- Hours of walking (90 minutes) – 17,200 Steps
  • Notes and findings: 
    • So I’m running in the mornings now.  I really enjoy it!  Bryson and I go out as the sun comes up and get 3+ miles in whenever the weather cooperates.  I don’t have a set running schedule, and I’m not trying to become a fast runner.  I just want to get out there and do it!
    • Because we’re heading out of town without the kids on Thursday, I don’t want to drag them to the Y every day.  They need time with Mom and Dad before the big departure.  I’m counting on my running, one class at the Y, walking with Bryson while Matthew’s in school, resistance bands at home, and our KB bag to keep me active and productive!
    • We ate dinner before INSANITY on Tuesday and that was a mistake.  Tuesday is now soup night and we’ll eat after class.
    • All stats are from Thursday, 09/11/2014, because I didn’t have access to scales or body fat measurements while in Telluride
    • I did weigh myself after coming home and vacation cost me only 1.8 pounds – not awful!
    • I am adding a week to this little challenge of mine to give myself next week to recover and bounce back from vacation – next week’s post will be considered Week 2+1

Previous Week

Next Week


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So… We’re Going

Something big is happening tomorrow.  It’s something I’ve avoided for a VERY long time.  It’s something I’ve come up with every excuse in the book to avoid.  It’s something that has made me feel very uncomfortable just thinking about.

We’re leaving the boys for the first time EVER to go on a trip out-of-town together (I specify “out-of-town” because we did a practice night three weeks ago and we stayed in a hotel downtown).

We need this trip – we’ve needed it since Matthew was probably a year old.  Hell, his pediatrician told us that we had to leave him for an overnight trip for at least 2 nights before he turned 1.  We didn’t listen.  He wasn’t sleeping through the night, he wasn’t weaned, he needed me too much.  Now, Bryson is JUST sleeping through the night, he isn’t weaned, and he needs me too much.

Someone is always going to be having problems sleeping, and someone is always going to need me too much (or so I think).

So… we’re going.

We’re even getting on a plane – two of them, in fact, to get there and then back again.  I used to be a nervous flyer but I’m not so much after living in Chicago for 4 years and having no car to get from Illinois back to Iowa to see my family.  I flew all the time and it took the edge off, because it just had to.  But now with kids – kids I’m leaving behind in the care of their grandparents – I’m a little nervous.

I’m really not that nervous… I’m more nervous about Bryson not being weaned and the hell my mother-in-law will pay for that.  And I’m more nervous that Matthew will get over-excited and they’ll never want to watch the kids again for us.  And I’m more nervous that I’ll come home to a messy house like when Bryson was born (MIL does not pick up the things she gets out) that will need at least 5 hours of my time to get back to normal.  And I’m more nervous that the milk cups and straws won’t get washed well enough each night before being used again.  And I’m more nervous that Bryson’s sleep is going to go to complete and total shit.  But with all that said, I’m still a little nervous about flying without the kids.

****

We got our wills done.  They’re written, signed, notarized, and on their way to the safe deposit box tomorrow morning.  We selected guardians when Matthew was born but just never got around to asking my dad to do the formal wills.  They’re done now, and that brings me much peace.  My dad is a very responsible attorney who has our affairs in perfect order, so I know that if something would happen, the kids are going to be taken care of and swiftly.  There would be no, “we’re not sure what to do’s” because the man does this for his clients all the time.  The only issue is that he’s not thrilled with our guardian selection, because they’re staunch democrats.  HA!

****

All of this travel and will talk makes me think about life insurance, and the fact that we need more on Hottie, specifically, now that Bryson is here.  That’s now on my list for the fall.  But we may be having a third baby if all works out, so maybe we should shelve that for the spring/summer.

No… this fall.

****

Everything is going to be fine.  Matthew is going to have a great time and he’ll be an angel (or a devil disguised as one).  Bryson is going to sleep well because no one in the house will be able to assist him with boobs.  Both boys will eat well because I’ve got all three nights of meals and leftovers for lunch mapped out.  We will be fine because, as we all know, our chances of dying in a plane crash are nothing compared to driving on the road.  My in-laws are probably the ones who are going to suffer in this whole situation… but they signed up for this and they know what they’re possibly getting into.  And the fact that we have notarized wills almost ensures that everything will be OK – because the universe messes with the people who don’t plan ahead – and I’m not one of them!

 


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Fitness Stat-urday – Week 1

Starting Statistics on 08/30/2014

  • Weight:  155 Pounds (took 0.6 pounds off during my stabilizing week)
  • Body Fat %:  25.1% (took 0.7% off during my stabilizing week)
  • BMI:  24.3
  • Predicted Weight from MyFit.nessP.al:  140 Pounds (targeting 1.5 pounds per week)

Goals for the Next 10 Weeks (Ending 11/08/2014)

  • Weight:  142.6 Pounds
  • Body Fat %:  22.1%
  • BMI:  22.3
  • Push-ups:  90
  • Sit-ups:  53
  • Mile Run Time:  7:26

 

Week Ending 09/06/2014

  • Week 1 Statistics
    • Weight:  155 Pounds
    • Pounds Lost or Gained:  +-0 Pounds
    • Body Fat %:  24.7%
    • Body Fat % Lost or Gained:  0.4% Lost
    • BMI: 24.3
    • Workout Days (goal is 6 days):  7 Days
    • Time Spent Being Active:  12 Hours 17 Minutes
    • Average Number of Steps Per Day: 15,685
  • Food:  We started the week off pretty well, back to our Paleo lifestyle (with the exception of breakfast on Sunday because, well, it was Sunday breakfast!).  I’ve had a strange desire for chai lattes lately and really need to kick that habit (330 calories each with TONS of sugar = NOT OK).  They’re just so good!  Back to cooking on Monday and holy hell did I miss that.  I’m serious!  We kicked the week off with one of our favorite recipes and it was, once again, terrific!
    • Sunday – Fiesta Chicken Soup
    • Monday – Curry Bison Sliders and Curry Cauliflower
    • Tuesday – Shrimp in Horseradish Mustard Sauce and Peas
    • Wednesday – Pork and Apple Sliders with Maple-Buttered Brussels Sprouts
    • Thursday – Greek Chicken with Roasted Carrots
    • Friday – Pan.era Caesar Salad and French Onion Soup
    • Saturday – Date Night!
  • Exercise/Activity:
    • Sunday – Lots of yard work – mowing, trimming, bagging (95 minutes) – 12,600 Steps
    • Monday – Family bike ride (60 minutes), weight lifting and abs (20 minutes), yard work (80 minutes) – 12,600 Steps
    • Tuesday – INSANITY class (40 minutes), walking (10 minutes) – 13,700 Steps
    • Wednesday – Bodypump class (43 minutes), walking (73 minutes) – 19,000 Steps
    • Thursday – Jogged 3.4 miles (41 minutes), yard work (25 minutes) – 18,000 Steps
    • Friday – KB Bags (46 minutes), walking (57 minutes), weights (10 minutes) – 17,800 Steps
    • Saturday – Adventure Triathlon (kayaking 37 minutes, biking 68 minutes, running 43 minutes) – 16,100 Steps
  • Notes and findings: 
    • I am so happy to be cooking again!  When Hottie is out of town, there really is no reason for me to slave over a meal that only I’ll truly enjoy, so we eat out a lot.  I was so relaxed chopping veggies, shopping for the week, and preparing fun meals once again.
    • I’m finding that the lattes are killing me – and they have to go.  When you add them up, they’re totaling 1200-1500 calories a week and that’s just not OK.  Those are calories that I wouldn’t consume otherwise, so they really make no sense.  I didn’t have a coffee drink of any kind on Thursday and I felt great about it!
    • I can feel myself getting stronger and stronger, and my weight isn’t changing and that’s being reflected in my body fat % loss this week – 0.4%.
    • I switched the body fat monitor to athlete mode given my level of activity for the last 12 weeks.  I had the dip in body fat in both modes (normal and athlete) because I corrected how I’m holding the body fat monitor (I knew they were doing it wrong at the gym, but I changed how I did it so it would reflect the same numbers that they had.  I’m back to doing it correctly).  Holding it correctly and switching to athlete mode got the same result as normal mode being held wrong.  It’s a wash!

Next Week


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2:28.5

Hottie and I did our adventure tri today! 2.5 miles of kayaking, 11.5 miles of biking (9+ of which were gravel roads), and 3.5 miles of trail running. My step counter put the run at 4.6 miles – which it felt like. Ha! We finished together in 2:28.5. We’re quite pleased with that!

We didn’t finish last, which is always my fear, and we came in behind a pretty competitive dude just 2 minutes later. It was respectable!

Oh, and we won our division. We won before we started… We were the only coed team. It’s nice starting the race knowing you’ve already won! Our winnings were substantial – $100! We’ve never won prize money before. It was exciting!


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The Second 10 Weeks

I am starting my second 10 weeks of fitness tomorrow.  I did my weigh-in and other stats today, so I’m off and running (I only lost 0.6 pounds this past week during transition, but lost 0.7% body fat).  I’m going to log my progress here (which is also in my main menu) so that no one has to deal with this in their readers – but you can check in if you want.  I expect this to be rather boring for most, but I want to put it out there to keep myself accountable.

I’m happy to report that my “wall of motivation” is doing its job.  I did not want to run yesterday – I was looking for anything to do but run, but when I walked into my closet and saw my B&A photos and Hottie’s card, I immediately put on my running togs and hit the pavement.  A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Right!


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A Week of Transition

Next week, summer will officially be over in this house.

I’m sort of sad about it.

We had a really great, busy summer – the type of summer I always envisioned with kids.  Weekend trips away, full weeks of summer camps, swimming lessons, trips to the parks and zoo, and a bunch of other random things thrown in there.  Bryson changed leaps and bounds and turned into a bona fide toddler – walking, more talking, stacking blocks, holding his own with his brother, and turning into quite the comedian.  Matthew turned into a big kid overnight – learning to be confident in the water, becoming an excellent talker (you’d never know there was ever a delay there!), mastering how to introduce himself to strangers and soliciting their names in return, and deciding that “I’ll do it myself!” is his preferred way to do EVERYTHING.  Hottie and I somehow found our way out of a rather concerning slump and ended the summer completely in love with one another once again.

So yeah – a little sad to see it end.

But with this seasonal change, our routine is changing too and that’s a great thing!  Matthew starts school again on Tuesday and will be going three half-days a week this year.  I’m going to be his “room mother” – something I’ve wanted to do since we started talking about school but knew it would be too much last year with a new Bryson in the mix.  Hottie’s role is changing a bit at work and he’s looking forward to the change, even if it means a loftier quota goal.  He’s always up for the biggest challenges, and never fails.  We’ll see how this year goes, but I have high hopes for him!  I’m full-on back into my own health and fitness and have a lot of goals of my own in that department, as well as goals to not make things all about me, me, me while sticking to my health goals.  I am a mother, first and foremost, after all!  If I can find time to go to the gym every day, I can find time and ways to keep my kids engaged and soaking up the good stuff that life has to offer!

So this past week has been about transition.

Hottie had to take a work trip to NYC to better engage one of his clients, all while taking part in this fiscal year’s planning meetings remotely.  The timing wasn’t great for him or his partner, but they made it work well enough.  Kicking off the fiscal year is always a time of stress and extra work for Hottie and all of his coworkers – but it’s also a time of intense energy and optimism!

Matthew had his sneak-a-peak at school on Wednesday and was very excited to meet his new teacher (and sad to finally realize that he’s not going to see Mrs. E and Mrs. Y every day – he loved his teachers last year!).  He did great meeting Mrs. S and Mrs. M and introduced himself to them like a pro!  His new classroom is twice as large as last year’s, and I’m excited for him to have more space to explore.  He’s already talking about going to Mrs. S’s “house” next week (everything is a house – the pork house, the chicken house, the yogurt house, Katie’s house (our hair stylist), etc.) and is super excited to play with his new friends!

Bryson is getting more comfortable with his mobility and is making me very aware that parenting him is going to be an entirely different experience than was parenting Matthew.  He is so adventurous and always trusts that he’ll land on his feet (I hope he always does, literally and figuratively).  He is so hilarious, even though he only has 10 words.  He’s going to keep me very entertained when Matthew is in school!  Bryson is still needing two naps a day, but sometimes he takes just one.  Poor kid – he’s always in the car!  This fall is going to be one of big-time effort kicking that one night-time feeding and probably weaning him.  I just don’t think he’ll sleep through the night until he’s weaned.  He likes to have a visit from mama (and her boobs).

I’ve spent the last week fine-tuning my fitness plan and finally have it worked out to not interfere with school and to maximize my one-on-one time with Bryson while Matthew’s in school.  We bought a punching bag for the garage and I started running this week, so I’ll do those things on strength days and then serious cardio 3-4 days a week at the Y.  I’ll still be going to the Y probably 6 days a week, but at times that work better for the boys.  I’ve also taken a step back from a friendship this week that was becoming a bit toxic.  I need to write a post all about that, just to get it out, but it’s worth a mention because I’ve been trying to find a way to step back for months but finally found a way yesterday – during transition week.

Like I mentioned earlier, Hottie and I have really found our ways back to one another.  We left the boys overnight for the first time ever last Saturday in preparation for our trip to Colorado without them in two weeks.  We plan to leave them again later in the fall for a weekend.  We’ve been going out on more dates and have been really making each other a priority – and it feels great!  We’re getting back into fitness together – the entire reason we met in the first place – and are working out together whenever we can.  When I finished my 10 week fitness program on Saturday, Hottie and I went out for our night without the boys and he had a card for me that was so nice and so thoughtful – that I cried.  He texted me last night after the frustrating exchange with my friend and told me that I’m a great mom and “AWESOME wife” – something I’m not sure he’s said much in the last couple of years (man, having young kids is hard on relationships, isn’t it?  How do we forget to care properly for one another?).  I know I’m riding on a high here, but it feels like a great transition that we desperately needed.

Change is good.  Change is necessary.  Change is the name of the game.  I’m just glad we took a week to really focus on the transition and embrace what the changes mean.  So often, things change without us noticing, but I knew back on 8/1 that this week would be one of reflection and transition – and it’s been good!

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10 Weeks in Review

I don’t know what to say right now.  I’ve spent the last 10 weeks working my ass off and eating as intelligently as possible.  I’ve enjoyed it immensely and was completely wrapped up in the challenge.  These last 10 weeks gave me my “normal” self back – the Courtney I was before we found out that we couldn’t have babies the normal way.  The healthy and active Courtney I was before infertility became the focus of our lives (for 2+ years before conceiving Matthew, and then again as we ramped up for Bryson).

I feel like myself again in my own skin.  I feel good.  I feel strong.  I feel proud!

I didn’t win the $1,000 challenge.  My stats blew the winner away and the photos – well – they speak for themselves.  BUT – even though I was in it to win it (and I am so competitive with myself and others, it’s ridiculous), I’m so proud of what I accomplished in 10 weeks.

I’ve broken down the data in many ways because I know I’ll want to look back on this someday and not have to run all of the numbers.

Here are my 10-week stats:

2014 Stats

  • I lost a total of 21.5 inches over my entire body!
  • I lost 25 pounds exactly (but 26.2 on the gym’s scale)
  • I lost 8.1% body fat (23.9% of the fat I was carrying 10 weeks ago)
  • I lost 3.93 points in BMI and am now in the healthy range
  • I more than doubled my push-ups (ended at 78)
  • I did not double my sit-ups 😦
  • I gained 2.5 inches in flexibility
  • I took 2:21 off my mile time!

Here is a comparison of my first 10 weeks (over 8 years ago!) to this most recent 10 weeks:

2006VS2014

  • I lost 2 inches more in my chest, 4 in my waist, 1 in each arm, and 0.5 in each thigh this time around.
  • My hips aren’t as small as they were 8 years ago (surprise!)
  • I started 6.8 pounds heavier this time around and ended up 5.6 pounds lighter!
  • I ended up 2.1% lower in body fat this time around
  • I lost 0.7% more body fat this time around
  • I finished way stronger in push-ups this time around
  • I beat my 2006 final mile time by 1:31 this time around
  • This 10 weeks was way more productive than my first 10 weeks!

Here is my exercise log from the last 10 weeks.  Expect to see something almost equally aggressive in the next 10 weeks:

Workout Tracking

  • My goal was to workout 6 days a week – I exceeded that goal by 3% overall and 13% in the second half of the session
  • Many days had multiple workouts
  • Doing this helped me plan my work for the next 10 weeks

Here is my weight tracking over the 10 week period:

Weight Tracking per Week

And here are my before and after photos.  Please note that the before photos were really hard to prepare for because I NEVER stand like that in real life.  It’s amazing how much our daily posture holds us together in our mid-sections.  I had to think really hard about letting it just hang out like that.  The side view of the before photo nauseates me, but that after photo makes me SO PROUD!  There was no sucking it in in the after photos – just flexing those abs and arms!

WP_20140824_09_49_03_Pro (1) WP_20140824_09_49_22_Pro (1)

I worked really, really hard at this, and near the end, it really felt like my job (a job I loved).  Hottie viewed it the same way – we talked about it on Saturday.  I said that I felt like the last 10 weeks was all about me getting back to how I like to feel, how I view myself, etc. and that it felt like a true job, and he agreed.  Hottie was SO supportive, it was amazing.  I don’t know how many mornings he sat up with Bryson in the rocker while I kicked bags at class.  On many occasions, he rushed home from work so I could get to a late afternoon class because I’d been up all night with Bryson the night before and just could not get motivated to go to class at 6:15 AM.  He admitted on Saturday that he got nervous about “the gear” purchases but didn’t say anything because, “I knew it would help you stay motivated, and I wasn’t going to mess with that” (he also said he was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t buy a ton of stuff!).  This really was a team effort, as fitness always is in this house.  It was awesome to both be so focused on my success at this!


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Paleo Week 5 – Last Big Week!

This is the final week of my 10-week fitness challenge and our fifth week of being Paleo.  I told B that we need to stop eating pork this week and focus on lean meats.  If we focus on lean meats but don’t worry about the rest, good things will happen.

HERE WE GO!

Sunday, 08/17/2014  *** Chipo.tle ***

We got back from Chicago around dinner time, and both kids were EXCELLENT in the car the entire time.  We rewarded them with their favorite thing (and our favorite thing – so that worked out!) – Chip.otle!  Because it was a day of limited food, and because it was technically my free day, I had the soft corn tortillas with my tacos and they were great!

Monday, 08/18/2014  *** Pan.era ***

Tonight marked the last night of Matthew’s swim lessons at 7:00 at night, and I had preschool orientation at 5:00, so we decided to just go out to make it easy on us all.  There was no time between both activities to get us all together around our table for dinner.

I kept it Paleo-friendly with a cobb salad with avocados.  It was good.  It always is!  B had some Paleo bowl with eggs, spinach, olive oil, bacon, and lemon.  The boys had chicken.  

Tuesday, 08/19/2014  *** Greek Chicken (Again) ***

Our Greek Chicken hiatus is over.  This one was the best so far.  I remembered to cook the breast side up so that B had lots of crispy skin to enjoy.  We made asparagus again, but knowing that Bryson would eat 3/4 of it, I popped some rainbow carrots in with the chicken with 45 minutes left to go.  I just salted and peppered them and tossed them in.  They were divine.  Absolutely perfect!  Matthew even ate them – we told him they were candies and he agreed!  As expected, Bryson ate 3/4 of the asparagus.  There was no chicken left – Matthew polished it all off.  This meal is a hit!

Wednesday, 08/20/2014  *** Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Pineapple Tidbits (AKA Srirachi Shrimp) ***

Yep – we did this one again!  We both love it and it’s easy.  Because of my lean meats rule this week, I only had the equivalent of 2-3 strips of bacon (which I entered into MyFit.nessPa.l as 3 strips to be safe) but it was still awesome!

I made green beans again and once they were soft in the steamer, I then tossed them into the bacon grease to finish them off.  I thought this would be terrific.  It was just OK.  I’m trying to shake up our green beans a bit, but this is not the way to do it.  Wasted calories.  They weren’t the worst thing in the world, but they weren’t worth doing again.  I figured that the fat grams from the bacon were already included in MFP with those 3 strips (nutrition information is pre-cooked, so accounts for all fat content before cooking it off), but it wasn’t necessary.

Thursday, 08/21/2014  *** Cilantro Lime Chicken Breast with Browned Brussels Sprouts with Maple Butter Chic.k-fi.a-A Dinner ***

I chose this meal for tonight because it’s super easy – at least the chicken is.  Matthew has a haircut at 5:45 so we’ll be rushing home to cook quickly and eat (we usually eat at 6:00 sharp).

The cilantro lime chicken breasts came from the meat counter at our local grocery store.  They’re really good.

If you know me at all, you know that I love, Love, LOVE brussells sprouts!  I don’t really care how they’re cooked as long as they’re not just steamed – they need to be crispy.  When we were at our new favorite place here in town a week ago, we had their brussells sprouts that are cooked in pomegranate molasses – whatever that is.  I don’t care what it is – it is AWESOME!  We won’t use molasses in this house, so I had to find something that was similar in sweetness to satisfy my need.  I found this little dandy while coming home from Chicago because I was looking up recipes for Maple Butter Syrup (had some of that while in Chicago and holy hell – it’s divine!).  I’m not sure that this is a good match for the chicken, but I could care less.  I’m doing it!

Scratch the above – we were way too busy tonight to get dinner made!  With 10-week testing coming up, we decided to go to Chi.ck-Fil-A for dinner since they have the easiest healthy options for Paleo folks and because they were right next to Matthew’s stylist’s studio (he had a long-overdue haircut!).  I got the 12 piece grilled nuggets and fruit, and then ate an extra 3 nuggets that the boys didn’t eat from their meals (we all get grilled nuggets – they have never even tasted fried chicken).  This meal is low in calories, but high in protein, so it was a slam dunk.  It was great!  Good ol’ Chic.k-fil-A!

Friday, 08/22/2014 – *** Greek Chicken (Yes… AGAIN!) ***

This meal does wonders for the scale, so we’re doing it all over again before final weigh-in Saturday morning.  Greek chicken with plenty of garlic?  CHECK.  Lots of asparagus for Bryson?  CHECK.  Tons of carrots for us (“candies” for Matthew)?  CHECK.

The carrots were awesome again!  I swear by using green-top carrots because they’re just fresher and taste WAY better than bagged carrots.  We’ll never get bagged carrots again.  I kept the skins on this time – a secret I learned while in Chicago and dining at the Gran.d Lux Ca.fe.  Keeping the skins on is AMAZING and even Hottie loved it!  We’ll never skin carrots again!  Bryson switched his preferences to the carrots, leaving lots of asparagus for us.  I hardly got any carrots, and we cooked two bunches of them.  Next time – 3 bunches of carrots, no asparagus, and a bigger chicken.  These boys are eating me out of house and home.  No leftovers!

Saturday, 08/23/2014 – *** PARTY ***

Tonight is celebration night – I am eating whatever I want, whenever I want.  The end!

(Back to our regularly scheduled Paleo lifestyle tomorrow!)

Week in Review:

  • Weight Lost This Week:  3.8 pounds
  • Weight Lost So Far (in 5 weeks):  12.2 pounds
  • Fat % Lost This Week:  0.8%
  • Fat % Lost So Far:  3.4%
  • Noteworthy Points: We’re converted.  Eating this way is so easy and so worth it!  I have not missed my secret trips to McDona.lds for my “large #2 with pickles and cheese only please, with a large Diet Co.ke.”  I have hardly missed our many-nights-a-week trips to D.Q.  I don’t miss much.  I kept Diet Pe.psi and Diet Co.ke in my diet because asking myself to give that up is just too much.  I haven’t had fried food in 10 weeks (not even on my free days) and I’m thrilled about that.  THRILLED!  Sure, I’ll have McDon.alds again someday – but not any day soon.  Sure, I’ll have fries again – but it’s going to take a lot of desire to actually order them.  And yes – at this point in the game, I’m dying to go to D.Q for a blizzard with ore.os.  And I will be getting myself a cupcake (or 2) on Saturday after final testing.  But those things aren’t going to be regulars in my life anymore.
  • How I feel:  GREAT!  There is no other word to describe it.  Well, maybe there is… PROUD!


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Goal: Achieved

I did it.

As of this morning, prior to any workouts, water, or food, I weighed 155.6 pounds. I was only expecting to see 156. I hit my 25 pound weight loss goal with a full day of health and exercise ahead. I am shocked!

Even more surprisingly, my body fat is officially down 8%. I’ve lost 23.6% of the fat I was carrying 10 weeks ago. I was shooting for 9-10%, but I’m over the moon with 8%. To lose 10% in 10 weeks, especially being female, is REALLY hard to do. I’ve only seen one woman ever do it, and she started out with a 40% body fat percentage (I started at 33.6/33.8). Regardless, I wish I could have hit 10%. “Hard to do” has never stopped me! 😌

I’ll be posting final stats, before and after pics, and my exercise log on Sunday. Until then, this photo will have to commemorate this day (taken after some serious weight lifting… Still working on that body fat percentage!).

Thank you all for your encouragement here, on myFitnessPal, and via text messages! Fitness is always a team effort!!!