Vacation kicked my butt

I gained 2.5 pounds this week. Yuck. So once again I'm up to 205. I did too much eating and relaxing I guess! So this week, I started a new 6 week abs program (3 times per week) that I found in the Women's Health Training Guide. Both times I've done it this week, I've wanted to throw up for an hour afterwards. It doesn't make me want to keep doing it. Yuck...

I bought a few cookbooks last week and they arrived in the mail yesterday! I bought 2 from the Sneaky Chef and one called Deceptively Delicious. I bought a ton of ingredients and a food processor yesterday. Can't wait to get started! :)

what???

What the heck happened to my blog background? It just disappeared on me!!! I'm too tired to fix it right now... Later.

Going down!!!!

Today I weighed in at 202.5! Yahoooo! I call it the "get sick" diet. Works every time.

I haven't been to the gym in two weeks, but I HAVE been deep cleaning my house, which burns a surprising amount of calories. :)

Green Smoothie Recipes

Martin's been gone for about 10 days now, and I was 204 this morning. Yay! I've been drinking a green smoothie in the evenings to replace my supper. It's a nice nutritious one, so it's not like I'm not eating. I'm logging all my food diligently, and it's making a difference!

Smoothies are an easy way for me to get in my fruit servings, and by drinking "green" smoothies, I can sneak in extra servings of my green leafy vegetables. I feel like I'm getting a treat, and I've really discovered that I enjoy them. This week, I started trying milled flax seed in them and it thickens the smoothie really nicely, and I rather like the texture. It's probably not for everyone though! It adds healthy fats, fiber and protein to the mix.

Here's a recipe for one of my green smoothies (I use FROZEN fruits and veggies for all my smoothies, it's easier to just pour out what I want to use, and everything stays nice and fresh. Plus it makes for a nice cold smoothie):

PINEAPPLE/MANGO GREEN SMOOTHIE

1 cup collard greens

1/2 cup pineapple (about 6 chunks)

1/2 cup mango (about 6 chunks)

1 Tbsp Splenda

3 Tbsp ground/milled flax seed (optional)

1 1/2 cups water (can substitute milk for all or half for a creamy smoothie, good protein)

Dump everything into the blender and blend until smooth.

Calories 278

Fiber 15 g

Fat 11 g

Carb 35 g

Prot 9 g

PEACHY GREEN SMOOTHIE

1 cup turnip greens

1 cup peaches

1 Tbsp Splenda

3 Tbsp ground/milled flax seed (optional)

1 1/2 cups water (can substitute milk for all or half for a creamy smoothie, good protein)

Dump everything into the blender and blend until smooth.

Calories 246

Fiber 14 g

Fat 11 g

Carb 31 g

Prot 10 g

I use collards and turnip green interchangeably. They both are pretty mild in flavor, so they work really well in smoothies! Even 2 out of my 3 kids will help me drink these, especially the peach one! Yum. :)

OK!

I have this persistent tickle in my throat that I have concluded must be due to the "ash cloud" from Iceland. It has kept me tired and fatigued. That, and the fact that I have had a steady trickle of children and other visitors flowing in and out of my house for the past two weeks. Some leave and the next ones come in. My house is sooo trashed. Laundry is overflowing. Same complaints as always but magnified because of how I feel physically and also because there really IS more dirt and laundry to do with all the extra people! haha. And less time to do it because I'm "entertaining". Despite my whining right now, I really have had a lot of fun the last two weeks!

I decided yesterday that even if I can't make it to the gym because of my schedule and feeling fatigued, I can still watch my eating better. Yesterday was good! Yesterday I weighed in at 208.5. I felt really fat all day, but I tried to be careful about what I ate and I logged everything. This morning I felt thinner and I weighed myself. 207!!! There we go! Now the scale is tipping the right direction. I know it's silly, but I really need to see some sort of result in order to stay motivated!!!

Anyway, there's a little update on me. Now I need to check on my 3 kids + 1 extra to make sure they are not reconstructing the living room...

Ug...

I haven't done very well this week. Still trying, but not so good. I'm not feeling the best, so I haven't felt motivated to get to the gym much. I will try to go to Zumba in the morning if that works out. I haven't even weighed myself this week, because I'm scared! LOL

Still here

Well, I've had a few good days with eating, and a few not so good days... But the good thing is that I've been back to the gym and running again! :)

The bad thing is that my right arch is hurting me. :( I talked to my yoga instructor today, and she thinks it may be plantar fasciitis. It hurts and sort of spasms when I stretch it and put pressure on it for an extended time. I have also noticed for several months now that my heel aches in the morning, or after a period that I haven't used it. I need to see a doctor about it to get it formally diagnosed, but that is totally what it sounds like. :( And that is chronic. Ug. That bites. But I'll figure out how to work with it.

Zumba tomorrow again! :)