Challenge Results To Date

OK - So, after I said last Tuesday that I was going to do 12 days of exercise leading up to Thanksgiving I promptly forgot about it. I remembered on Friday night, after I went to bed (at 1am after my party, which was a lovely success!). I had to get up and look at the calendar to make sure I hadn't already failed before I started. I hadn't - quite. I had 12 days exactly remaining from Saturday to Wednesday - which meant I was now on a no skipping, no excuses plan. I have failed at THAT too. I ended up skipping on Sunday - which REALLY pissed me off because my first thought when I woke up was that I should get out and take a walk. Instead I ended up cleaning up from the party (yes, I know! I didn't do it on Saturday! it was gross) and then doing laundry - which is a work out in itself considering the stairs - but, hardly counts when you only do two flights up and down once every 40 minutes or so... Then church, then (since I read Emily's blog post on Saturday) menu planning and a trip to the grocery store. THEN I was just lazy and didn't exercise. SO - now I am on no excuses, no skipping INCLUDING Thanksgiving. This is better (I tell myself, not quite believeing it). This means I will get myself in a hard and fast habit with NO days off. Right? I thought so.

So, last night my exercise was a "yoga burn." I love yoga, right? I know yoga can be aerobic - and there are times where I am just pouring sweat and my heart rate is up... This, however, was not one of those times. Don't get me wrong, I was breathing hard and my heart rate WAS up, but I can't imagine what I was doing was beneficial! She moved through the poses SO quickly that you couldn't actually GET into the pose. Furthermore, some of the stuff she had us doing was stuff that only someone who had been doing yoga their whole lives would be able to do (i.e. bend from the waist to the side and "ground your hand into the floor" for Triangle Pose - even yoga magazines and books only takes your hand to your shin for triangle pose. You can easily touch the floor from that angle, however most people would have to bend forward and stick their butt out to hit the floor - and that is NOT triangle pose. Or my favorite, laying on your back reach down and grab your big toe - keeping your leg straight, draw your leg up at an angle towards your shoulder. Yeah. OK. I will get right on that. I can do that perfectly - with a strap that has my hand about a foot from my big toe!). I have done a little bit of Flow yoga - which is where you move fluidly from one pose to the next, and then repeat the sequence. I really like that. It is graceful and smooth and makes you feel stretchy and elegant. THIS, however, made me feel blocky and bulky. I am glad I HAVE been doing steady yoga for the past two years because I WAS able to go from up dog to down dog to plank without having to check what she was doing, and without falling over - but I would have been MUCH better off just planning a sequence of my own and ignoring HER input!! As to the burn... The only thing that was burning by the end were my knees, and one random spot on my back where I think I pinched a nerve!

So, menu planning wasn't hard for me since my menus ARE already planned, with the exception of lunch. That has been my weak spot all along. Katie and I are PERFECT for breakfast and dinner - but from 7:30am to about 7:30 pm I can't get it together. However, over the summer was it? I discovered that if I pack a nice collection of foods (fruit, cheese stick, sandwich and veggies, yogurt and something crunchy - like crackers or pretzels or nuts) and then eat the FRUIT first, I love my lunch. I have the fruit and cheese stick for a morning snack, the sandwich (or left over chile yesterday and left over tilapia today) and veggies for lunch (although I forgot to pack the veggies today!) and the yogurt and cruchy stuff around 4pm, I am good for the day. PLUS, now that I have figured out the formula I am set for the rest of my life. Yesterday's total menu was just under 1600 calories - which is a little low for me now, but will be perfect once I drop about 60 pounds! 8-)

Now, I have to figure out my evening eating. I don't tend to eat much in the eveings - but I do want something sweet at this time. Last night I ended up eating Samoas (6, 450 calories! but kept me under my calorie goal on TDP). When I first went on Jenny Craig I had a nightly snack of chocolate yogurt with slivered almonds mixed in. That was perfect back then, but I haven't been able to find a chocolate yogurt that I like anymore. I will have to think about this a little more.

I have started using The Daily Plate again. That is fun until it gets tedious. I also have to be careful that I don't become so obsessed with my eating again, like I did before.