Week 3 Review and Week 4 Goals

Hey my Fab Beauties!

In Week 3, I ordered my Elliptical/Stair machine. I’m excited for it to arrive, but it may be a week or two. It’s already hitting 100 degrees here, and with humidity feels worse! It’s miserable out there. I just can’t handle it. I’m looking forward to getting to work out in the house. I really need to start my workouts. I need to do cardio 6 days a week, and will need to get a toning (weight lifting) program to do 3 to 4 days a week. I don’t  know what to do for that, so I will need to do some research and make a plan. If you have any tips or advice, let me know!

I have done okay with my eating. I have been posting my food logs, so you can check them out: My Food Diary. I don’t know how to cook, which you can tell from my logs! I just kind of eat items, not really meals. I eat cereal, pasta, smoothies (yogurt and fruit), a bowl of tuna, fruit and popcorn. Just kind of grab and go kind of things. I really need to learn how to prepare an actual meal. Any recipes would be appreciated! I have not worried if I went over my calories a little. I did choose the option for 2 pounds of weight loss a week, so this allows the fewest calories a day. Because this was for the most weight loss, I did not think it would be too devastating to my goals if I went a little over. I have noticed I keep going over my carbs by quite a bit, and I really want to get better at planning my meals, so I hit the calorie and carb goal for the day. This is a real learning experience for me. For some reason even though I am eating a lot, I feel hungry throughout the day. Or, maybe I just think I am because I am bored. I do start some classes this week, so that should help.

I’ve done really well with drinking water, and I can really tell a difference if I’m not drinking it. A couple of days this week, we had to run some errands, and I didn’t have my water with me. By the time we got home, I was feeling so dehydrated. I used to drink several sodas a day, and now, I may have one a week. It’s making me feel a lot better, and I think my body really needed the hydration for so long. I rarely drank water before. I now drink a minimum of 10 glasses a day, and often have 12 to 16. I do have to pee all the time, but all the water makes me feel so good.

This next week (Week 4), one goal is to keep drinking a minimum of 10 glasses of water a day. Even though my elliptical machine may not be here for a while, I still need to exercise. This is being posted Tuesday night (sorry, this should have gone out Sunday). I want to exercise Wednesday through Saturday. That will be 4 days this week. I’ve been wanting to exercise 5 days a week, but I have not done any exercising. So even if I do the 4 days remaining this week, it will be a huge improvement. I need to get a better plan for my meals. I am going to be working this week on better meal preparation. We already went to the store, so I won’t buy more food until next week, but I will try to make a better plan. I also want to make sure I keep up with my school work (new classes start tomorrow!)

How was your last week? I hope it was Fab! Let me know what your goals are and what you are doing to achieve them. What are some obstacles you face, and do you have any plans to work through them?

Have a Fab week my Fab Beauties!

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

I finished “The Paris Wife” by Paula McLain. This is a story told from the perspective of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson. It is a fictional account of what their life was like. The author did study their history and the story was based on fact, but of course it was not actually written by Hadley, so fictional. I am guessing the author injected what she thought Hadley’s thoughts may have been about his behavior and her experiences. To be honest, I don’t know that much about Hemingway himself, so I am not sure exactly what I was expecting from the book. I guess I thought it would be a romantic story about the two of them in a bohemian Parisian adventure. There were those aspects in the book, but it also shown some negative light on that lifestyle. We were introduced to some of the people and places they visited during their time together.

As far as the writing, I felt the relationship between Hadley and Ernest was very superficial. The way they would talk to each other, they seemed to be acquaintances, not two people with an intimate relationship. When we knew what Hadley was thinking, she would think about how close they were, so the characters thought they were close, but the language and interactions between the two fell a little flat.

Hemingway seems like some piece of work. I sure would not have put up with him for as long as she did. I am guessing some of his personality traits were based on research and were accurate. He was not a nice guy, that’s for sure. The story was interesting, and looking at it from a viewpoint on Hadley rather than their relationship it was more interesting. The time in history that this took place, there were a lot of changes for women. Many of them were becoming more independent and she herself went through a lot of changes.

3/5

Week 2 Summary and Week 3 Goals

So, for Week 2, I was kinda a bum. I drank all my water every day, but as far as changing my schedule, I was a disaster. I keep trying to get to bed earlier so I could wake up earlier, but it just didn’t seem to be working. Last night, I really didn’t even sleep.  I kept laying hoping for a little sleep, and I finally dozed off after the sun came up. I did exercise a couple of times this past week, but not as much as I would like.

So, for Week 3, I will keep the same goals. I will drink 10 glasses of water per day. I will exercise 5 times this week, and I will try getting on a schedule. I signed up for MyFitnessPal under the name Flab_to_Fab_76. I will start tracking my diet/exercise tomorrow (06.05.2012). I used this program in the past, and it’s a great way to track daily calories and exercise. You can access it via computer, phone and iPad, so it’s very convenient! If you don’t already use a tracking program, check it out. Send a friend request to Flab_to_Fab_76 and we can help keep each other motivated!

When changing diet habits, it can be very helpful to track everything you eat day to day. Sometimes little things like a soda here and a slice of birthday cake at the office can add up. This can help us get a realistic view of our intake. This particular program (MyFitnessPal) tracks: calories, fat, carbs and protein. You may find you are hitting your correct calories for the day, but maybe you are not eating enough protein. This helps track several areas, so you can eat healthier. This is not just for people who need to lose weight. This is to help us be healthy and strong!

I am not a doctor, and this is just information I am figuring out for myself, so I would suggest talking to your doctor before starting any program.

Goals for Week 2

I already posted my last week, so feel free to take a look at it.

For Week 2, I'm keeping the same goals as Week 1. I will exercise 5 times this week. I will drink a minimum of 2 ½ bottles of water. (Each of my bottles is 4 8oz glasses). 

This week, I’m adding a schedule. I think it’s important to be organized and have a schedule to follow. The last few weeks, I’ve not had a schedule, so I’ve been all out of sorts. I’ve ended up staying awake until 6am or so in the morning, then sleeping to 1pm in the afternoon. It is my natural tendency to stay up late; I have always gravitated towards this. Maybe when I get out of school, I’ll get a job that will be in the evening or overnight. As for now, I need to have a more “normal” schedule. I’m going to write it out and do what I can to follow it this week. I know the sleep cycle will be a bit difficult to change, but I can get started this week, and continuing on next week (and thereafter). Eventually my body will get used to the change.  

As far as organization, I have a program that I really love to use. It is called cozi. There is a website and an app to go along with it. This keeps a family calendar (it can list activities for individual people or for the whole family), to do lists (which you can customize, such as one for each person) and shopping lists (which you can organize any way you like, such as by store). These are the features I use, but there are others. You can have a journal, message the family and plan out your weekly meals (maybe we should start using that one!) Now, there are only two of us, but I really like that we can both see all the information on our computers or our phones. My fiancé does a lot of the shopping, and when we run out of something, I just add it to the list, and he knows what to pick up while he’s there. Each person logs in with their own email address, and a common password.  

I also like for the house to be organized. I've been taking the school break to go through some things. I'm cleaning out closets, dressers and the garage. It has been a lot of work but I feel so much better. We have a few large boxes of things to go donate! I feel that things run more smoothly when the house is more organized. We both have our own little things we are OCD about – lol (he hates lots of shoes by the front door, and I have to have the linens all folded pretty in the closet). With only two adults though, things stay pretty picked up most of the time. I'm lucky to have a great guy who is organized and tidy. He does not mind to help out! I would encourage you to do some “spring cleaning” and get rid of stuff you don’t use or need anymore. It really feels good to purge some of the junk from your life! 

How did you do on your goals last week? What were they? What were some things you did to help motivate yourself and what were some obstacles you faced? 

I am not a doctor, and this is just information I am figuring out for myself, so I would suggest talking to your doctor before starting any program.

Week 1

Sunday:  

This day did not start out great, I broke the handle off one of my fave mugs. Then a little while later I broke my bathroom hand mirror. It’s a good thing I am not superstitious! 

I didn't walk today. My goal was to walk 5 days this week, so I will have to make sure I get out there the rest of the week. I drank 4 of my green bottles of water. My goal was 2 ½ of them, so I met that one! 

I know I am not officially tracking my diet, but I thought I would keep track of it. This is a bit better than we had been eating. We had been eating fast food 2-3 times a day. 

Throughout the day I ate:

4 Water bottles (16 glasses)

2 Cups of coffee with a lot of creamer

1 Hot dog at Costco

A few strawberries

Some baby carrots

1 Kids hamburger from McDonalds

1Medium fry

1 Bag of popcorn 

Monday:

I was extra sleepy today and didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t have a productive day, and there were quite a few things I wanted to work on. I have a lot of paperwork to organize. I really didn’t get any of it done.

I walked today for 20 minutes. That leaves 4 more days to walk this week. I drank almost 4 full green bottles of water. My goal was 2 ½ for the day.  

I wanted to walk for 30 minutes, but I got severe shin splints, mostly in my right leg. I have heard that this can be a problem if you push the muscle too hard. I will see how tomorrow goes, maybe I just need to work out my leg a little, for it to get better. I will do some research on shin splints and post that one day. Let me know how your workout is going and any successes or problems you run into. 

I know I am not officially tracking my diet, but I thought I would keep track of it. This is a bit better than we had been eating. We had been eating fast food 2-3 times a day. 

Throughout the day I ate:

        3 3/4 Water bottles (15 glasses)

3 Toast with peanut butter

¼ cantaloupe

Some strawberries

½  Cup of coffee with creamer

1 Hot Chocolate

100 calorie bag of popcorn

A few strawberries 

Tuesday:

I did not walk today. For some reason, I am finding it very difficult to get my butt up and get outside to walk. That leaves 4 more days to walk this week. I drank 3 ½ green bottles of water. My goal was 2 ½ for the day. So I did great on that. 

I know I am not officially tracking my diet, but I thought I would keep track of it. This is a bit better than we had been eating. We had been eating fast food 2-3 times a day. 

Throughout the day I ate:

         3 ½ bottles of water (14 glasses)

1 Toast with peanut butter

A few strawberries

7 inch Italian sandwich from Whichwich

Rice crispy treat

100 calorie popcorn

Small apple

Baby carrots

Large glass of wine 

Wednesday:

Grr, I did not walk again today. My sleep schedule is way off. I am staying up to about 6am and sleeping to about 2pm. When I get up it is the hottest time of the day, so I think I will wait until it cools off and then I start working on things and the next thing I know it is 2 or 3 am, and not a good time to go out walking.  I really need to get a better schedule. Maybe that will be part of my goal for next week. 

I did not walk again today. That leaves 4 more days to walk this week. There are only 3 days left – lol, so to make up for it by walking two times one day. I drank 2 ½ full green bottles of water. My goal was 2 ½ for the day, so at least I made that goal. 

I know I am not officially tracking my diet, but I thought I would keep track of it. This is a bit better than we had been eating. We had been eating fast food 2-3 times a day. 

Throughout the day I ate:

                2 ½ Bottles of water (10 glasses )

                Large bowl of honey nut cheerios with 2% milk

                Toast and peanut butter

                1 snack back of baked cheetos

                Baby carrot sticks

                2 glasses of wine

                Bag of 100 calorie popcorn 

Thursday:

With my sleep schedule off, I did the same thing today I did yesterday. I thought I would try to go to bed earlier tonight, but it is now 5:00am (Friday Morning – which is my Thursday night). I really need to figure this out, so I can get in some good exercise time. I know 20-30 minutes a few days a week will not make that much of a difference in my weight loss. Losing weight is mostly about lowering the calories, but it is so much healthier to exercise and it is key for keeping weight off. 

I missed my walk again today. That leaves 4 more days to walk this week, and tomorrow is Friday, so I will just have to do what I can through the rest of the week, and make sure I do better next week. I drank 4 full green bottles of water. My goal was 2 ½ for the day. I am still making that part of my goal really well, so thumbs up there! 

I know I am not officially tracking my diet, but I thought I would keep track of it. This is a bit better than we had been eating. We had been eating fast food 2-3 times a day. Looking back over the last few days, I see that there is not much I have eaten. I guess it is frustrating to me, that TV and whatnot, always make it seem like overweight people are eating all day. This is really not that much food for the course of a day. We are still struggling with finances right now, so we try to make the best choices we can, but healthier food is just so much more expensive. 

Throughout the day I ate:

                4 Bottles of Water (16 glasses )

                Large bowl of cheerios with 2% milk and ½ banana

                Whole grain pasta w/ EVOO and seasonings

                Whole grain pasta w/ sauce

                1 snack bag of baked Doritos

                100 calorie bag of popcorn

                1 large cup of coffee and creamer

Friday:

We have company coming for the weekend, so I was doing some cleaning and laundry today. Hope we will have a good time!

I didn't walk today, but did a lot of housework. I guess I should have said 5 days of exercise, not walking. I don't care what the activity is, just so long as I get in some physical activity. I drank 2 ½ green bottles of water. My goal was 2 ½ for the day.

I know I am not officially tracking my diet, but I thought I would keep track of it. This is a bit better than we had been eating. We had been eating fast food 2-3 times a day. 

Throughout the day I ate:

2 ½ Bottles of Water  (10 glasses)

2 bowels Honey nut cheerios and milk w/ banana

Tuna with about a tablespoon of mayo and ½ apple

Snack back of baked Doritos

100 calorie bag of popcorn

Toast with jelly

2 glasses of wine 

Saturday:

We have company this weekend, so I have not been watching my diet as much as I should, because someone was visiting, I did not take out any time for exercise like I should have. 

Because I did not exercise today, I have not done well on that goal at all. I only did exercise 2 days this week, and my goal was 5. I drank 2 ½ full green bottles of water. My goal was 2 ½ for the day. I met my water drinking goal every day! I have to pee quite a lot, but I know it is much better for me to be so hydrated. 

I know I am not officially tracking my diet, but I thought I would keep track of it. This is a bit better than we had been eating. We had been eating fast food 2-3 times a day. 

Throughout the day I ate:

                2 ½ Bottles of Water (10 glasses)

                Coffee with creamer

                Honey Nut Cheerios with ½ a banana

                A few slices of pizza

                Soda

                Rum and coke

                A handful of animal crackers

This week was not too bad. I defiantly need to work on getting myself up and exercising! Since buying a lot of fresh fruits and veg is financially tough right now, I will do what I can, but not make that a goal yet. I will keep the goal of exercising 30 minutes a day for 5 days. I will keep the goal of 2 ½ bottles of water a day. I will add getting myself on a schedule. I will write a blog on schedules also.

Let me know what your goals are, and what helps you meet them. What are some obstacles that get in your way? Good luck this week!

I am not a doctor, and this is just information I am figuring out for myself, so I would suggest talking to your doctor before starting any program.

11/22/63 by Steven King

Okay, I said I would write about some other topics as well, and I just finished the book 11/22/63 by Steven King. I wanted to share my review with you all!

This is about a high school English teacher named Jake Epping, who is asked to travel through a "rabbit hole" into the year 1958 (from 2011). The idea, is that he will live in the past until the year 1963 and stop the assassination of Kennedy on November 22nd of that year (hence the title). He has learned that the past does not want to be changed, and the larger the change, the more obstacles someone would have to overcome in order to make the change. The book follows him over the several years he lives in the past, and his detective work to see if Oswald was the assassin and/or if there were someone else involved. As anyone would, who lived in a new place for a while, he makes friends and begins to feel at home in the past. This complicates things when he thinks about going home again. What will happen, when the date in question is over? Will he have stopped the assassination? Will he be able to leave his new friends? Will he get back to the “rabbit hole” and the year 2011 to see how much better the world would have been had Kennedy lived?

This book really kept my interest. It was not scary or a horror story. It was suspenseful. I was always excited to know what would happen next. He does tie in several other books. Jake has a bit of time in Derry, and references are made to children being murdered by a man dressed as a clown (It) and Eddie disappearing (The Dark Tower Series). There are several references to Kennedy in his other books as well. It’s always a lot of fun to have his stories take place in his own unique world, and having them tie into each other. I have not read a lot of his books, so I am sure I missed a lot of the references, but you don’t have to know them in order to follow the story. This is one hunk of a read at about 850 pages, but well worth it.

I don’t know a lot about the Kennedy assassination, and all the conspiracies and theories surrounding it, but King really did his homework when he was writing the book. It all seems extremely plausible that events could have happened as he described - minus the time travel! If you like mystery and suspense I would recommend this as a great escape into the past.

I gave it a 4/5

The Ugly Truth

Okay, this is the really embarrassing part. I am going to tell you all of my Flab secrets. I weighed Sunday (yesterday - 05.20.12) morning, and I weigh 270 1/2 pounds.

To help keep track of my progress, I will take some measurements for comparison. It is important to measure at the same spot each time to be accurate. It is important to measure because when a workout plan is started, muscle mass is gained and fat is lost. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you may be getting smaller even if the scale does not show it. I went to LiveStrong.com and got this information about proper measuring.

Step 1:

Measure your arms by wrapping the tape

measure midway between the elbow and

the shoulder

Step2:

Measure your waist at the narrowest part of your torso. This area usually falls right beneath your ribcage and slightly higher than your belly button.

Step3:

Measure your abdomen by placing the tape measure even with your belly button. Make sure the tape measure is level in the back of your torso. If the tape measure is too high or low, the readings will be inaccurate.

Step 4:

Measure your hips at the widest part of your hips and buttocks. The tape measure should be even at the maximum circumference, located above the gluteal fold.

Step 5:

Measure your thigh at the maximum circumference, beneath the gluteal fold. Unlike the arm, the thigh is not measured in the middle of the bone. The tape measure is usually higher than midway on the thigh.

Step 6:

Measure your calf at the widest part between the ankle

and knee joint.

Their tips and warnings:

All measurements should be taken on the right side of the body using tension-regulated tape. Pull the tape to proper tension without pinching the skin. Measure each site three times, and take the average. 

Arm:

        15 ¾ inches

Waist:

         46 ½ inches

Abdomen:

         57 inches

Hips:

         55 inches

Thigh:

         30 ½ inches

Calf:

         16 ¾ inches 

Well, those are my embarrassing stats. I will weigh and measure once a month. I know some people weigh every week or every day, but for me that’s too often. It will be hard to see changes from day to day, and weight naturally fluctuates. I am afraid if I see a half a pound weight loss in one week, that will just look like a fluctuation, but if I see a couple of pounds over the course of a month, I will know it is actual loss (I hope). Also, seeing a larger loss at one time will be more rewarding. 

I am not a doctor, and this is just information I am figuring out for myself, so I would suggest talking to your doctor before starting any program.