Shrinkvivor W1 Results!

Good morning!!

I am so sorry to have been gone.  I promise to be better soon...

Week one of Shrinkvivor is over!  Our weekly challenge was fitness minutes and the mini-challenge was no fast food.  I think I did pretty good, but I peeked in at one of my teammates and she KILLED my fitness minutes!!  Wooooow, Shera!!!!  WTG!! 

Starting Weight: 186
Today's Weight: 184.5
Fitness Minutes breakdown:
     Wednesday - Run 20 minutes, Warm up/Cool Down 10 minutes
     Thursday - Run 22 minutes, Warm up/Cool Down 10 minutes
     Friday - 10 minutes of push-ups and sit-ups, alternating every 30 seconds
     Saturday - Run/Walk with kids in the stroller - 40 minutes
     Sunday - Run/Walk - 30 minutes
     Monday - 10 minutes of push-ups and sit-ups, alternating every 30 seconds
     Tuesday - Run 30 minutes, Warm up/Cool Down 5 minutes, "Tworkout" 15 minutes
Fitness Minutes TOTAL:  202 minutes!  (Shera had 600 minutes, OMG)

This week they are continuing the fitness minutes challenge and the mini-challenge is to get some good sleep.  Yeah.  We'll see how that pans out around here!

So, the "Tworkout" was kinda cute...the website doing the Shrinkvivor Challenge (shrinkingjeans.net) has a lot of cool and motivating stuff to check out on their website.  From 8:00-9:00 PM on Tuesday evenings, they send out exercises to do via Twitter.  It was really fun last night!  I'll definitely be keeping up with those...some of the stuff they send out is things I have never heard of and would definitely not be doing if it weren't for the accountability of someone knowing I was part of the Tworkout crew!  Hahaha.  If you are on Twitter, you should check it out next week.

Slim Fast is not going so awesome, but it is waaaayyyy easier than trying to diet right now.  Just in case somone is reading this here and could ruin a certain surprise I am working on, I will just leave it at that.  ALSO, I'm a little ticked that Slim Fast has gone down to 4 packs instead of the usual 6 packs and they are still the same price!!!  Crazy.  I think I have 2 shakes left and I will finish those up today, but I may just have to somehow track calories for a bit instead.  That is the hardest thing ever for me to do.  Ugh.

The 15K training is going well!  It starts off with such low mileage, that I have actually been running for time instead.  Basically, when it called for 2 miles last week, I just made it a point to run for 20 minutes.  I know I am consistently faster than 10 minutes per mile, so that way - just in case I get tired! - I know I will cover the proper mileage.  It is getting COLD outside and while it does help me to run faster, I am going to need to invest in some gloves!  Yesterday my hands were downright numb when I got home. 

Well, that's all for today.  I will be back to wiring more frequently very soon.  There is a lot going on in my "real life"...good stuff, but it is leaving me with less time to blog.

Have a great day!
xoxo

Week 33: Day 5

Good morning!!!  I cannot sleep.  That is the strangest thing to me...because this girl loves her sleep!!  I woke up a little before 5, and I have just been lying in bed with my eyes wide open.  Sigh.

I usually try to figure out what is keeping me awake and pray about it, but I really can't pinpoint anything!  Maybe I'm just done sleeping for the night?

Shrinkvivor posted a "mini-challenge", that I guess is just done on the honor system, but it is to eat NO fast food this week.  Easy-peasy!  When I read this and subsequently thought "I can so do that", I began thinking about our upcoming move and having to pack food and snacks to keep us happy and, hopefully, away from any drive-"thru"'s.  (side note: I hate, hate, hate when people spell "through" t-h-r-u.  It is ridiculous.  It is incorrect.  However, when I tried typing drive-through, I felt stupid.  Because it looks dumb.  HA!)

So, fitness minutes are going well...except one of the girls on my team said something about doing an hour a day and hopefully two hours each day over the weekend!  What the what?!?  I don't have that kind of time!  I did 30 minutes on Wednesday (5 minute warm up/5 minute cool down and a nice 2.3 mile run!), then 32 minutes yesterday (same warm up/cool down, but I ran almost 2.5 miles), and 10 minutes last night of push ups and sit ups.  I was going to take a rest day today, but now I'm feeling like I should do something!  I do have Jillian Michael's 30 day shred DVD....been hearing good things about it.....

We are having a yard sale today.  Maybe this is why I can't sleep?  That seems like a reeee-diculous thing to be stressed about, but who knows what the inner workings of my brain focus on!?  This morning I am going to help Shaun set up and then my "job" is taking the kids somewhere fun so he can be the awesome salesman he truly is...hahaha.  I'm being completely serious, actually.  Shaun is gooooood at sales.  I have asked him before if he would like to switch careers and be a car dealer!  He says no. 

After our yard sale, we will begin boxing up and getting ready to move.  We were thinking the 17th, but now I kind of would like to go sooner.  We really have nothing else tying us here...and after this whole week of full-time togetherness, I think we are ALL ready for Shaun to get back to work!  We found a website called U-Ship...anyone have experience with this?  It is a division of eBay.  Basically, you post what you are looking to have "shipped" - it can be one item or lots of items or, in our case, a whole house.  Then, movers bid on your shipment and you can accept or decline the various bids!  We put an ad up just to see what happened (our budget is VERY low), and we actually got a really decent offer.  SO, now we just need to accept the offer and get to packing.  (we were looking at about $470 to rent a truck, then you include gas which was estimated at about $256, and Shaun was really not wanting to drive the truck - but would have!; this offer is $859 and all we do is load the truck!)

What else can I bore you with this morning?  hahahaha.

I went back to Slim Fast.  My 15K training has about 4-6 weeks of "easy" stuff before the long miles get in there, so I decided I should cut back on calories and get back to some weight loss!!!  Yesterday with the Slim Fast went well.  For good measure, because I could NOT stop eating dinner last night, I sprinkled my "Bacon Cheddar Quiche" piece with Splenda.  It definitely made me full.  I felt stuffed and even a little uncomfortable.  It was the yummiest quiche I have ever had.  Mmmmm.  Super easy to make, too!  Just a pie crust with 1/2 package of bacon cooked and chopped, 1 cup of cheese on top of that, Shaun blended (yep, made him help with dinner last night) 5 eggs and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream (side note: I didn't specify and he went with the "heavy" before I noticed), poured that on top and baked at 350 for 50 minutes!  We also had salad.

Okay, I guess I will go see what's on tv and start getting yard sale goodies ready...everyone cross your fingers and pray we have a good turn-out!  It's always more fun when you get rid of the things you have set aside and become willing to part with.  :)

Have a great day!
xoxo

Week 28: Day 1

Hello!!

Good ol' Monday.  Luckily, the kids don't seem to upset about my choice of a lazy, lazy day today.  Mentally I have all sorts of motivation to rearrange and clean this house, but physically?  Yeah.  Not happening.  I did start in the boys' room, but quickly lost interest.  I think it's time to paint.

Does anyone else experience this extreme need to move things around?  Frequently?  I have several friends who will tell you that every time they come in to my house it is arranged differently.  I love it.  I love to move things around, I love the freshness of new arrangements, I love the new feel.  I also, however, love new pictures hung and new colors on the walls.  Unfortunately, those last two things can be a little expensive!  Anyway, I think it may be time to paint.  We have only lived here for 9 months, so that might not happen for a bit, but it does take me some time to pick out colors....

I get restless easily.  Unfortunately, my day to day is SO monotonous, I don't get a lot of release for that restlessness.  I guess I could channel it into coming up with new things for the kids to do, but I really feel limited with their young ages and attention spans.  Not to mention intelligence level.  I love my kids, I truly think they are all super smart FOR THEIR AGE.  This does not translate to "smart for an adult".  Right? 

Okay, speaking of restlessness and young children - they really want to go outside and wait for their big brother to get off the bus.  I'll make my point now.  :)

So, my Kindle screen froze.  Again.  This was my 3rd Kindle in a year, and now my 4th is en route to me.  Ugh.  Luckily, Amazon replaces them for free, but unluckily, my 17 day diet book is on the Kindle, so I have to wait for the replacement to get here in order to tell you the meal plan!  I am so so sorry.  I received an email stating the replacement would be here tomorrow, so I will post in the afternoon with details of at least the first week.

Kristin is doing AWESOME.  She wanted me to let everyone know that she did "fall off the wagon" on Saturday.  Friday evening she went out to a concert and drank 3 beers - which she said went to her head way faster than 3 beers usually do!  Haha.  So, Saturday she had a very long day at work and allowed herself to get too hungry, and she ate Subway for dinner.  Gasp!  :)  I told her that was fine, I totally understand.  She ate on "plan" for day 7 of cabbage soup yesterday (brown rice and veggies).  I didn't hear from her this morning, but yesterday morning she was showing a loss of over 10 pounds!!  She also had to do a little shopping because an outfit she had intended to wear to her new job today was too loose to still look good!  I'd call that a successful first week, for sure.

Kristin will do Slim Fast for the next three days (including today).  I set her up with enough shakes and snacks, and we will do an official weigh in Thursday morning before she begins 17 day diet.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

P.S.!!!  i did the random.org drawing today and the E-Mealz winner is Adam Shapaka!!  He has won a 6 month subscription to E-Mealz.com.  Hooray!

xoxo

Week 24: Day 1

Good morning!!  I slept through my alarm (liar, I chose to not get up), so no run this morning.  I plan to head up to the Y when Shaun gets home this evening and run then.  I think I need to switch some things up in order to see any loss on the scale.  I am getting SO discouraged!!!  Not with the running - strictly with the weight loss.  I was reading some other weight loss blogs and I definitely see a plateauing "trend"...seems like when you hit a major goal (for some it's 30 pounds, others it's 100+!), it is so easy to relax your efforts and then get frustrated with no loss, or even some gains.  I haven't seen anything less than 188.5 since July 1st, and I am really, really, really hoping Wednesday's weigh in shows that number or less.  Please oh please oh please!!

So, I had some thoughts.  I do believe I'm gonna get back on the Slim Fast train starting Wednesday.  I know I said I would give Jackie Warner's meal plan a shot, but I feel like I need to do something with less thought and more obvious results right now just to get me mentally back in the game.  I will be able to get to the grocery tomorrow and I can go ahead and get my first week of shakes and snacks.  I bought a "goal outfit" yesterday at Old Navy (thanks Katy H.!!), so I'm going to post my first picture of me wearing it on Wednesday - along with a weigh in picture of the scale.  I told Shaun I was giving myself 3 months to look very, very good in that outfit.  I mean, I can button it and all that right now, but I wouldn't DARE wear it out of the house.  Just for an internet picture.  Ha, ha, ha. 

This upcoming Saturday is the American Idol concert!!  A friend and I bought tickets way back during presale, so we have really, really been looking forward to this.  :)  It's a 24-hour vacation for mom!!!  I will not be sticking to any sort of dieting plan, but I think I can actually stay close.  Obviously, there will be alcohol consumed.  I'll try to stick to some low-cal beer options...Mich Ultra or something?  I am typically just a beer drinker, but after looking at some calorie websites, I might have to switch it up.  Southern Comfort appears to be the lowest in calories...whoooooo.  Anyway, just letting you know this is something we've had planned for a while.  I couldn't have known I would be at such a frustrating point in my diet.  It might actually do me some good to let loose, right? 

I have a  ton of pics of the kids from our adventures over the weekend, but haven't been able to edit any of them yet.  Here's a cute one for you...

At the zoo, squeezed into a double stroller.  That's how we roll!

And here's one more to share a new frustration.  :)  My husband thinks it's ridiculous for me to be in any way "upset" about this...

You like that bra hanging out of the shirt?  I have never had this problem...because I've never worn a bra that actually covered everything!  So, right before I started losing weight a friend gave me 4 brand new Victoria's Secret bras.  I love them, they are pretty and comfortable...and no longer fit.  :(  BUT, I still wear them!  Because I don't have money for nice new bras...I realize it's an awesome problem to not be able to afford new clothes, but need them because you have LOST weight.  Awesome, but no less frustrating.  I have lots of great new stuff in smaller sizes for the winter, but 90+ temps are not exactly suitable for jeans.  Grr. 

Okay, the end.  Have a great day!!

xoxo

Week Sixteen: Day Two

I am nervous, nervous, nervous to weigh in tomorrow.  I gotta be honest...I am losing steam.  Yes, the month of June is a new month!  New goals!  New competition!  However, today is still May.  I have not been a huge fan of May, 2011.

Today's gripes include a minimally (if at all) working A/C in the house, my van which is currently at the Firestone Complete Auto Care getting it's oil changed, and the 90+ degree weather outside.  Oh, and the no school day.  Oh, and I. Am. Hungry.  No...let's keep it honest.  Not hungry - BORED.  Utterly bored.  However, this boredom is a lot like when I was bored in my teens...there is plenty for me to do.  I just don't want to do it.  The more I move around the house, the higher my body temp seems to rise...this is the best excuse for sitting on my butt all day I have ever heard!  The boys are watching a movie, Zoe is taking a (very early) nap, and I am hiding out in my bedroom with the computer, just watching the minutes tick by...and I do mean minutes.  How slowly time passes when all you want is for it to be tomorrow!!  Better yet - I can hardly wait for Thursday!

I guess I should start with dealing with today, though.  So, here's the deal.  Today I will eat my allotted calories, drink my allotted Slim Fast shakes, and drink my required water.  I will walk to Firestone when Shaun gets home (1.3 miles), rather than hitch a ride with someone.  I will NOT step on the scale until tomorrow morning.  I will not beat myself up for having a couple (maybe few) off days this past month. 

Let's see if I can drum up a little excitement for June, though...I did work up my month plan this morning!  First three days will be Slim Fast because I have some left over and I cannot go grocery shopping until Thursday.  The 4th through the 20th will be the 17-day diet.  I have bookmarked the important parts in my Kindle book and I will eat exactly what they suggest for the first 17 days.  At the end of these days, I will decide whether to continue with "Cycle 2" of the 17-day-diet, or switch it up to Special K for the final 10 days of the month.  I am setting my own personal goal of 10 pounds for the month.  This may go up based on tomorrow's weight, but I want my goal to be less than 190 by July.  Technically, based on my original goal and number of weeks, I could weigh 208 and still be on track.  Wow.  I hadn't done the math before right now...

That does fire me up!!  That is awesome!!!  To think I have actually SEEN the 190's already is just flat out fantastic!!  Rock on, sister Audrey.  You have come far.  You are wearing clothes you couldn't even squeeze into 4 months ago.  You are run/walking over 2 miles in under 30 minutes three times a week!!  You are well on your way to meeting Goal #1 of 80 pounds AND Goal #2 of completing a 1/2 marathon!!  Do it.  Not only for yourself and your family, but for the sweet friends and acquaintances reading here and cheering you on.  YEEEEHAW!!!

Yeah, this post ended differently than I thought it would, but I think this is much better.  :)

xoxo

Week Fifteen: Day Two

Good morning!  I am having a fabulous day thus far...it's only been happening for thirty minutes, so I do recognize the potential for "jinxing", but I feel pretty confident about today.  Ha!

I just wanted to say two quick things this morning...

1.  Last night I didn't want to drink my second Slim Fast shake after my workout because it has (energy) calories in it and I was feeling plenty energized for 6:00 pm.  I didn't want to eat a Meal bar because they are 200 calories and I just felt so good after my run, and I wasn't hungry, I was just eating because I knew I could get hungry later.  All of this to say, I have decided to mix up my Slim Fast and Special K plans this week (9 days)!  I will do Slim Fast for breakfast, lunch set aside from the dinner I prepare the night before, and cereal for dinner.  I am eating fruit and vegetables throughout the day as snacks, and I have one box of Slim Fast snack bars if I need them.

2.  I successfully completed my first workout for Week 3 of Couch to 5K!!!  It was hard, I'm not going to lie.  Week 3's three workouts consist of a 5 minute brisk walk, 90 second "jog", 90 second walk, 3 minute "jog", and 3 minute walk...repeat everything after the warm-up once and you're done!  Running/jogging for 3 minutes in a row is interesting...it was tough, but I promise you I did it!  No stopping early, no breaks...it felt SO good!!  I did an extra cool down lap and ended at 2.25 miles.  Not too sore this morning, and I am really excited about getting out there again tomorrow.  I have decided, for this week, if I'm not completely comfortable with the whole routine after Friday's workout, I will do it again Sunday.  Next week, Tuesday/Thursday will be good for me to commit to running, but I am going to have to find someone to help me out over the weekend in order to find time...anyway, focusing on today!  Today I will not do an official workout, but Zoe and I have some big plans so I will be on my feet moving all day. 

Well, for dinner last night I made "Baked Ziti Florentine".  Except I used Rigatoni noodles.  So, maybe Baked Rigatoni Florentine?  According to Shaun and the boys it was delicious, and I am so excited about my serving for lunch today!!  I did the math and set aside a serving that should be about 300 calories...and a piece of garlic bread.  Mmmmm.  Recipe below...

Have a great day!

xoxo

Baked Noodle Florentine!
16 oz. box of pasta (original recipe calls for ziti, I used rigatoni)
1T olive oil
3/4 t salt
1 large onion, diced (didn't have, used onion flakes)
1 lb. ground beef (I used ground turkey...it was on sale!)
3 cloves garlic - minced (again, didn't have...used garlic powder)
24 oz. jar pasta sauce
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
15 oz. ricotta cheese (my calorie count is using "whole milk" ricotta, could use skim)
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (oops, didn't read that part last night.  I thawed it,
               practically cooked it, and drained)
8 oz. mozzarella

Prepare pasta according to package directions.  Heat oil in large pot (used skillet, no oil/just cooking spray).  Add onion and salt.  Cover & cook 5-7 minutes until onion is soft.  Add beef; cook until no trace of pink remains.  (Okay, here I just browned my ground turkey, sprinkled with onion flakes and garlic powder in a skillet).  Add garlic & cook 2 min.  Add sauce & heat 3 min.  Remove from heat.  Add cooked pasta, Parmesan, ricotta, & spinach.  Toss to combine.  Spread in a sprayed 9x13 dish and sprinkle with mozzarella.  Bake @400 until cheese melts, about 15 minutes.

WELL - I combined the parmesan, ricotta, and spinach in a bowl to the side.  The meat and sauce were combined in the skillet.  I put the cheese mixture in the dish first, then the noodles, stirred those up, then added the meat/sauce mixture and stirred it all up.  I didn't use the whole package of shredded cheese because about 3/4 of the package was enough to cover the dish. 

Sorry for all the changes!!  I guess I'm getting a little "cocky" in my cooking and feel I know best.  Ha, ha.