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.