Weekend Challenge!

When my friend Annalisa called me out for a weekend challenge, I told her

IT'S  ON!!!!!

I realize it's been a while since I last logged on but really nothing exciting has been going on.  Same struggles with food even though exercise is pretty consistent but weight is coming off slowly.  And I mean SLOW!  Right now I'm looking at a 0.2 lbs. loss every two weeks or so.  But a loss is a loss.  Anyway, on to the challenge!

Weekend Challenge

July 8 - 10, 2011

0/240 exercise minutes
0/1800 calorie deficit

Goals are going to be kept pretty modest compared to my normally Weekend Challenges because I've been struggling with a slight knee injury.  Nothing too major (I hope! I have yet to see the doctor) but it gets tweaky when I'm moving a lot.

It's 8:45pm on a Friday night right now but I'm getting ready to head out the door... and go to the gym!  Thanks, Annalisa... you instantly inspired me!  Bring it on, girl!

Lurv it!

This weekend was amazing!  Had lots to do and stayed busy all day everyday but...

... I made my Weekend goals... well I made one of them but only missed my calorie deficit goal by 4 calories!!!  Had I known that last night I would have done 30 jumping jacks before bed.

F:  478 calorie deficit and 115 min exercise (45 min cardio + 70 min upper body)
S:  642 calorie deficit and 120 min exercise (90 min hike + 30 min elliptical)
Su: 826 calorie deficit and 135 min exercise (60 min walk + 75 min  full body)

TOTALS: 
370/330 exercise minutes
1,946/1,950 calorie deficit

But I'm totally happy with my results because the challenge kept me on track.  Shoot for the stars and land on the moon, right?

And so what about the other half of the exercise goal - the part about 120 minutes coming from brand new exercise.  Well I fell short on that too but I did try some new machines out at the gym and think I may have found some new loves!

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Bringing it back... join me!

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Weekend Challenge

April 29 - May 1

Remember, this is a challenge so it's supposed to be something hard to achieve... hence the word challenge.  Go out of your comfort zone, tighten the reigns on your nutrition, or just get in more exercise than you normally do.  Either way, keep it fun and safe.

My goals for this weekend are to get in a boatload of exercise and to make nutrition super clean.  I'll be shooting for a 650 calorie deficit per day and have a 2+ hour hike planned for Saturday which is why my exercise minute are so high.

0/330 exercise minutes
0/1,950 calorie deficit

But not only will I shoot for those 330 exercise minutes, 120 of those minutes have to come from a *new* exercise.  Whether it's an exercise machine I've never used, a class I've never tried, or a workout dvd that hasn't even been opened yet... two hours have to come from something new.  Who knows... I might just find a new love again!

Bring it on!

Weekend Challenge V

Thank you for all the support from my last post.... I loved all the reassuring comments and especially the tough-love comments! You have all inspired me to think of this"failed" experience as something different... MOTIVATION!!!

So I'm bringing back the Weekend Challenge!  Who else is in?!

Here are my goals for this weekend, today until Monday:

0/420 exercise minutes
0/1500 calorie deficit

Failing!!

Okay the whole point of having these Weekend Challenges is to keep me accountable but it's not working!! I have two days to try and make up for bad choices the past several days but pretty sure my calorie deficit goal is down the drain already.

F: 222 cal deficit / 77 min elliptical
Sa: -362 cal deficit / 116 min hike + upper body
Su: -233 cal deficit / 0 min exercise

-373/2500 calorie deficit
193/350 exercise minutes

P.S.
Several people have emailed me about the "holiday" I had mentioned earlier.  Tomorrow is a holiday for some State of Hawaii workers and I'm included in that bunch!

MFD: Weekend Challenge IV

This post was copied from my forum entry on My Food Diary (MFD) where I journal my daily thoughts/feelings about weight-loss.  Although this blog is suppose to do that, MFD is more of my diary and I wanted to include my entire journey in one place.

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Weekend Challenge IV

I'm extending my normal 3-day challenge to a 5-day challenge since it's a holiday on Tuesday (for some of us).

So here are my goals:

0/500 exercise minutes
0/2500 calorie deficit

MFD: Weekend Challenge III: FAIL!

This post was copied from my forum entry on My Food Diary (MFD) where I journal my daily thoughts/feelings about weight-loss.  Although this blog is suppose to do that, MFD is more of my diary and I wanted to include my entire journey in one place.

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Wow... that Challenge blew!

Didn't make either of my goals but still got in some serious exercise.

10/22: 75 min elliptical and -66 cal deficit (which means no deficit; 66 OVER)
10/23: 53 min elliptical and -167 cal deficit
10/24: 115 min hike and 508 cal deficit

TOTALS: 
243/250 exercise minutes
275/1500 calorie deficit

Friday
The day was pretty much perfect... until it wasn't. :(
I had my entire day planned out: meals and exercise.  When the boyfriend picked me from work, we went home like normal and I got changed into my workout clothes.  He then tells me that he took the night off of work (which I'm super happy about!) but that threw a wrench in my plans.  I told him no matter what, I HAVE to get in my workout... which I did.  But then my friend texted me.

See, the boyfriend works at a restaurant and my friend so happened to be eating there on Friday night. So she texted me that she didn't see my boyfriend working and I told her he took the night off.  So she asked if we wanted to go out later... you know, grab a few drinks have a late night dinner.  So I said yes since I never see her anymore.

We went to this cute little French restaurant. The boyfriend and I ordered dinner (I had the yummiest grilled fish with shrimp and beet salad) since we didn't eat yet but my friend ordered the restaurant's famed cheese and salami platter.  That's all I have to say about that right?  That alone killed any hope of a calorie deficit.  :(

Saturday
Buffet wedding lunch with hardly anything healthy... pesto pasta, white rice, Caesar salad soaked with dressing, sauteed veggies swimming in butter, garlic mashed potatoes, prime rib, and fried fish.  And of course chocolate wedding that wasn't even yummy, but I ate it all anyway.  GREAT!

Dinner out with my family landed us at a Japanese restaurant, so nothing super unhealthy but still not the best.  I made the best choices I could but after logging everything into MFD, I came out with a 2200 calorie day.

THE GOOD NEWS: After I got home from dinner, I rested a bit and jumped on the elliptical at 9:30 at night! :)

Sunday
Felt really bloated and disgusting from the previous couple of days so went on a nice long hike all by myself.  It was nice to just be out there in nature and in my own thoughts but kinda scary too.

Anyway, had a really good day except for choosing fried spring rolls at dinner tonight but you win some and you lose some.

Here's to a much better week!

Weekend Challenge III

Another Friday means another Weekend Challenge!

This weekend is going to be a little harder cause I have a lunch wedding and a family dinner tomorrow.  I'm still aiming for my 500+ calorie deficit every day so that means trying to get in extra exercise today and Sunday.

Here are my goals for the Weekend Challenge III:

0/250 exercise minutes
0/1500 calorie deficit

No Appetite...

This Weekend Challenge was a success... I'm loving them cause they keep me accountable on the three toughest days of the week for me: Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

10/15: 448 calorie deficit and 86 min elliptical + upper body
10/16: 772 calorie deficit and 81 min hike
10/17: 629 calorie deficit and 150 min walk + elliptical

TOTALS:
1849/1800+ calorie deficit
317/300 minutes

Next weekend I have to do the same or more but it's gonna be tough cause I have a wedding to go to and we all know what that means... FOOD and DRINKS for everyone!! 

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On another note, the past couple of days I haven't had a real appetite which is VERY unusual but I think it's because I've been stressing about work.  Like, stressing like I never have before!  I know it'll pass and what really helps are my daily exercise sessions... not trying to sound cliche but exercise really does relieve stress!

Don't let this happen to you...

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On yet another note, I made a new fave food discovery: Yoplait light yogurt in all the yummy dessert flavors!

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Don't get me wrong, these are not the healthiest things on earth (sugar, people!) but they beat eating a bowl of ice cream before bed.  I know these have been around forever but I normally stay far away from them - Fage Greek yogurt is still my fave - but since my local grocery store had them on sale 10 for $7, I picked some up.  They are yummy and they definitely fix my sweet tooth for the night. YUM!

MFD: Another Weeken Challenge! BRING IT!

This post was copied from my forum entry on My Food Diary (MFD) where I journal my daily thoughts/feelings about weight-loss.  Although this blog is suppose to do that, MFD is more of my diary and I wanted to include my entire journey in one place.

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Well I'm doing another weekend challenge!

Goal for this weekend (Friday - Sunday):

0/300 minutes
0/1800+ calorie deficit

As of this evening, Saturday 6:40 pm (I'm thinking of jumping on the elliptical for a quick and dirty session):


10/15: 448 calorie deficit and 86 min elliptical + upper body
10/16: 772 calorie deficit and 81 min hike

TOTALS: 1220/1800+ calorie deficit
               167/300 minutes

MFD: Weekend Challenge update

WHAT A WEEKEND!

Had so much to do but when the boyfriend and I got up on Saturday morning, we completely changed our minds and did non-planned things all weekend.

Saturday we got up early to take the dogs walking... a good hour-long power walk in the morning sun get's everyone tired and sweaty. After the walk, the puppers were happy to lay around the house for the rest of the day while the boyfriend and I ran errands. COSTCO RUN!! I fricken love Costco! Stocked up on so much good food: whole wheat bread, fresh fruits and veggies, frozen fruits and veggies, milk, eggs, yogurt, healthy tv dinners, and best of all WORKOUT CLOTHES!!! My local Costco had my favorite favorite Nike shorts on sale for under $18. This suckers normally run about $25 each on sale, so I picked up two. They also had Nike workout tank tops on sale and I picked up three of those.

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It's funny how buying workout clothes is more exciting to me than buying regular, going-out clothes. Loves it!

Sunday I woke up early again to take the puppies for a short jog. Our short (30 minute max) jog turned out to be a longer (60+ minutes) jog/walk and it was amazing! Got home before 9:30 then got ready to spend the day with my mom. She had to go to Costco so while there I picked up more workout clothes. Then we headed out to lunch and tried a new Mexican place that just opened up.

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Grilled Cajun fish tacos Baha style, no cheese/sour cream, and cajun white/black beans are so good!! And good for you according to MFD.

Got home pretty early and jumped on the elliptical while I caught up on the newest season of The Biggest Loser. Don't get me wrong, I think the show represents something good (the fact that as a country, we really need to start taking our health seriously) but is it now a requirement to be obese AND have a heart-felt, tear-jerking story to be on TBL?

Anyway, we ended the evening last night with a dinner of bell peppers, onions, and some chicken sausage I picked up at Costco. Best/most simple/cheapest/healthiest meal ever! The sausage is low fat and low sodium so for a big plate of peppers and onions and one huge chicken sausage, it's only 175 cals!  Have a side of whole wheat pasta to round out the meal and it's perfect!

 And the whole point of this post was to update you on my Weekend Challenges.  Well I did good:

261/250 exercise minutes
1038/1000 calorie deficit

The calories could have been higher and I barley made it yesterday.  If it weren't for my double workouts yesterday, my deficit would have been much less.  Next weekend (and probably every weekend after that) I'll be doing these Challenges so feel free to join in.

MFD: Weekend Challenges! Bring it on!

This post was copied from my forum entry on My Food Diary (MFD) where I journal my daily thoughts/feelings about weight-loss.  Although this blog is suppose to do that, MFD is more of my diary and I wanted to include my entire journey in one place.

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YAY... TGIF!!!

Weekends usually sabotage any good work I've done the previous week so to keep me on track, a friend and I are doing a "Weekend Minute Challenge".

My goal: 250 minutes over Saturday and Sunday

I have a nice 2 hour-ish long hike planned for tomorrow but the weather is suppose to get wet this weekend. If I can't get in the hike, my friend may just win this challenge.

And because we all know nutrition is 80% of the weight-loss equation, I'm aiming for a deficit of 1000+ for the weekend. I think I'm gonna throw this "Weekend Deficit Challenge" out to my friend Polly.

So here goes...

0/250 minutes
0/1000 deficit