Week One

I'm reluctant to say my diet and new focus on exercise are a New Year's Resolution. This seems so cliche and generally, New Year's Resolutions fail. But after the Christmas cookie binge that takes place for me each December, it's natural that diet and exercise kick back into gear in January. So, here I am!

I'll consider myself a "health wannabe." I admire people who are dedicated to fitness and who try to eat pretty healthy. I feel like I eat fairly healthy, but of course there is room for improvement and I do want to lose some weight.

Now, in my opinion, the first thing you have to do when changing your diet is to be realistic. Am I ever going to swap regular milk for soy milk? No. Will I ever like cottage cheese? No. (Trust me, I've tried many different types of cottage cheese, plain, with pineapple, with peaches...it's just not for me!) Can I cut back on sweets? Yes. Can I plan healthier meals? Yes. See, those things sound much more positive and realistic than, "I'll never eat sugar again!"

I also feel like if I keep a blog of this, it will help me identify where I can do better. The thought that friends may be reading up on it also makes me feel accountable for keeping on this. We'll see how it all goes.

A little scary to put this out there for the world - but everyone around me knows what I look like so what do the numbers matter?

This morning I weighed 146 pounds. I'm 5'2". At the end of high school I weighed 134 pounds. If I can get back to that, I'll be happy. If I go beyond that - hey, even better. Now I know weight isn't everything, so what I'll be judging the most is clothes. There are several jeans hiding in my dresser that I haven't put on in some time.

First goal: fitting into those jeans!

Here's a breakdown of the week so far:

Sunday

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with a bit of shredded colby jack cheese on top of hash browns with bell peppers and onion

Snack: Special K Red Berries and milk

Lunch: Burger King original chicken sandwich, ketchup only. Hey, fast food is gonna happen now and again. My choice here weighs in at: 420 calories, 16 grams of fat, 3.5 grams saturated fat, and 24 grams of protein. 1,210 mg of sodium...YIKES...thankfully, I rarely eat at BK.

Pre-workout: Jif natural peanut butter on Brownberry 100% whole grain wheat toast

Gym: Shoulder press @ 25 lbs, oblique twists using 10 lbs

30 minutes on the Stairmaster, alternating between levels 8 and 10.

15 minutes on the treadmill, ran for a mile, walked the rest on an 8% incline

Post-workout: Carnation Instant Breakfast chocolate drink mix

Monday

Breakfast: Scrambled Egg Beaters with a bit of shredded Cheddar on whole grain wheat toast

11 a.m. snack: Quaker high fiber oatmeal, maple and brown sugar flavor

1 p.m. lunch: Spring mix salad with Tyson precooked grilled chicken breast strips

*Now, I was completely unprepared for lunch, I'll admit. The Tyson chicken was disgusting, and I didn't have enough in the salad. I learned my lesson and went grocery shopping that night for better salad items!

Snack: Sargento reduced fat string cheese and a pink lady apple

Dinner: Baked mostaccoli (ground beef, spaghetti sauce and mozzarella)

Gym: 7 p.m., boot camp class. I love this class!!! It's an hour long and combines calisthenics, lots of squats, lunges, lifting, push ups, and crunches. The instructor is fun and she helps you with your form if you're off. I've been going to it for almost 2 months now.

Post-workout: Carnation Instant Breakfast chocolate drink mix

Tuesday

Breakfast: Special K Protein Plus cereal with fat free milk

Lunch: Great salad! Spring mix greens, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and FRESH grilled chicken that I grilled last night - with a bit of an olive oil-based light House Italian dressing.

The salad was very good and filling at the time...but it's 2:30 p.m. and I feel hungry again. =/ I feel like I ate lunch too early today, and didn't have my oatmeal mid-morning to help with that.

Snack: Sargento reduced fat string cheese

4 p.m.: Double fiber oatmeal with some walnuts mixed in

Meant to have more of my grilled chicken for dinner, but forgot it in the fridge at work. So I went straight to my volunteering at the cat shelter and was happy to find lots of the babies got adopted! My favorite little Brogan is back from his foster home and I want to take him home!

Came home, had some PB&J on whole wheat, then went to the gym.

Gym: Low rowing machine, 45 lbs, 3 sets of 12

Chest fly free motion machine, 25 lbs, 2 sets of 12

Oblique crunches, 10 lbs, 2 sets of 12

Bicep curls, 15 lbs dumbells, 2 sets of 12

Lower ab lifts, 2 sets of 12

*Treadmill, 30 minutes: alternated between walk/run to each song on my iPod. Walk at 8% incline, 4.0 mph; jogged at 2.5% incline, 5.6 mph.

Alright, all caught up! Other blogs won't be this long!!!