Day 2, Week 2

A new week a fresh start! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous. I came home from work and took Lucky for a walk then went for a run. I just couldn't bring myself to spend another hour inside a stinky gym when it was so nice outside. My husband was actually home for dinner (miracle), so we grilled porkchops and asparagus. I had a wheat bun on the side and voila- fully sanctioned meal. I didn't take a picture because I didn't want it to get cold and I was so hungry!

I have drank 2/3 of my water for the day. My team is really motivated and I'm so happy to be with people who are taking the game seriously. I don't feel alone and I tell myself, "If everyone else can do it, so can I." I'm not gonna lie- when I got home from work, I was exhausted. The last thing I wanted to do was go run. But I forced myself and did it. I also ran a mile split faster than the last time. I think it helps to be hydrated.

I have only had 4 meals for the day, so I think I'm going to try this bananas foster recipe as dessert:

Sautéed Bananas

Sautéed banana with honey-  when bananas are cooked add to top of plain Greek yogurt.  Top with almonds and a little drizzle of honey. 

 

Viola!! Fix my craving for some sweet!!!!

Day 1 of week 2

Hello! 

It's a beautiful Sunday morning. I just finished making this for breakfast: 

All egg white omelette with wilted spinach, fresh mozzarella cheese, and tomatoes. I cooked the veggies in a basil olive oil for my healthy fat. I'm going to use feta next time for more flavor; it was a little blah. My husband asked, "Are the tomatoes supposed to be the flavor?" What a charmer. 

He really seems like a jerk, but he loves me deep down. He got me these on Friday for the end of my first week and making my goal weight: 

Stuff like this makes him a little more tolerable ;) 

I'm off to run in this beautiful sunshine! Enjoy your Sunday! 

ONE WEEK DOWN

I made my goal weight!! And our team is in the lead :) :) :) Check out my score at the end of week one: 825/850. Our team averaged 825 points (which was weird because that was my exact score)  and lost over 10 lbs between the 4 of us. We all lost at east 1% of our starting weight and got the 20% bonus points. Wahoo! I lost the least amount on my team, but that didn't surprise me. I am not someone where the weight just falls off in the first week, but I wish I was! I can't believe all that for less than 2 lbs. I guess an average healthy weight loss is supposedly 1.5-3 lbs. per week. Everyone on my team was within that range, so we must be doing something right! I have to remind myself it's not about the weight lost, it's about forming a healthier lifestyle.

I celebrated with a dinner out as my meal off tonight. Ironic? Before you judge me, I ordered a chicken dish that wasnt entirely unhealthy, but I did steal a few little peices of pizza from my husband (and I didn't even feel guilty about it).

Next week, I really need to up my work outs. I know myself and that's what my body responds to. I also would like even more points in my total so WHEN I make weight again, I can have a higher amount of points for the 20% bonus. Boom! And it was payday. Double boom!

Day 7

It's been almost a full week since I started the Game On diet. I do feel more satisfied eating smaller meals now that my stomach has adjusted to the portions. I find myself making healthy choices and not being as tempted by bad foods. My body feels good without chemicals; this clean eating thing isn't so bad!

I walked into work and there was a birthday celebration today complete with cake. I remember the Game On book specifically saying, "You don't have to be the person at the party who can't have the cake. Just have a little of it." So I had the cake: breakfast of champions (just kidding, I really had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, this was my breakfast's dessert). My 100 (ish) calories of whatever was officially gone the first half hour of my work day.


 Here is what I just finished for dinner:

 

 

The pineapples were considered my carbs, sadly. I think I cheated a little because I put a dash of brown sugar in the pineapple juice. It was light brown sugar, for the record. Hey, a week ago I would have been making a whole marinade to soak it in...

 

On a sidenote, I worked another football game tonight against the school district I used to work for. I saw two former students on the field because they are in middle school now! They recognized me and it was so neat to see them :) They kicked our butts.

 

Wish me luck on my weigh-in tomorrow morning. I'm really nervous. I may have put on pounds from stressing about what I am eating constantly and worrying about all this being for nothing. Is this normal? I feel like next week I'll have the hang of it and not stress so much. Cross your fingers- I'll let you know if I lost anything...:/



Day 6

I have exactly 27 minutes until I need to be sleeping in order to get my full 7 hours. I'll have to make this quick...

I went to a Zumba class with one of my teammates today. That's twice this week I've done something active with a teammate. The social component of it makes it something to look forward to, instead of ,"I have to make myself work out today." I would recommend making exercise fun and inviting a buddy for anyone who is reluctant to working out after a long work day. Chances are, I would have talked myself into the walk I had with Lucky counting as my activity today. But-- I made a time and place to meet a friend, so I was held accountable and actually danced for an hour as opposed to a measly 20 minutes of walking. If you haven't tried Zumba before, you must! You forget you're even working out (and proably working parts of your body you didn't know you could work).

 I like the fact that I am making it a point to do SOMETHING every day during the Game On challenge, but I do feel like I am slacking off in the exercise department. If I want to seriously lose some weight, I need to up my game in that department. I used to be someone who could eat whatever junk I wanted, as long as I worked out. Then I hit 25 and that went down the drain. The hardest adjustment for me is the eating component (clearly, I talk about food a lot on this blog). I enjoy being active, but I do admit that some days I just want to come home and relax. So, I'll consider this week as my body adjusting to clean eating, being hydrated, and getting a full night's rest. Next week I'll make it a point to get some real workouts in (resistance training, running, and hopefully I can get to my kick box cardio class). 

Sorry for the short post today. I had to watch the season premier of Nashville!!!! Can I say? It did NOT disappoint! It's the little pleasures in life :)

OBSESSED.

 

Day 5

Hey there, friends!


Tonight I worked the football game after school and a kid broke his arm :( Nothing like the shrilling cries of pubescent pain.

 

 

After that eventful game, I headed home to take Lucky for a 10 minute walk and go for a run before it got dark out. I did make it home as the sun was setting and the streetlights were glimmering (before 7:30, might I add). Bad news is that I have only drank a liter and a half of water and it's almost 8 PM. I will be up all night peeing.


My half of a plain sandwhich and sunflower seeds really aren't holding me over. My husband is on his way home from work (earliest all week), so I ordered take out so he didn't have to suffer through one of my "ethiopian meals," as he likes to put it.


I would recommend ordering take out from Chilis, I think it saved me $15 and a ton of calories. They actually have a lighter choices menu, so I was able to order Margarita Chicken with rice and cinnamon apples for dessert (my free 100 caloreies for the day, but not horribly unhealthy). It would be too hard to sit in a restauant and druel over apps and beer and fried food. This is the way to go, dieters! Plus, it doesn't hurt that it's right around the corner from our house :)

Enjoy your night- I'm going to enjoy this!

Day 4

I'm baaaaa-aaackk!!
I took my first day off yesterday (only two days in, I know). I've decided I can take a day off during the weekend because it leaves enough time to make up for my gorging before weigh-in on Friday. I enjoyed my day off contantly thinking about food. We went to pumpkin farm to welcome autumn (it was more like mourning the loss of summer to me). Check out my perfect pumpkin I found:

Today wasn't the best day. I found out one of our teammates forfieted the game this morning. But before that, it did actually start off well. Here's why: one of my co-workers complimented me and said I was looking "fit." She's a sweetheart, and it was from a distance, aaannd I was wearing my new dark brown dress pants. In any event, it was nice of her to say and it made me feel like I may actually be getting results from all this. It's sure a lot of effort, so to be complimented by someone who didn't even know I was doing the Game On challenge made my week get off to a fantastic start!

I stuck to my fully sanctioned meals all day and I walked some trails with a one of my teammates after work and before we headed to the school board meeting. I really like the commradery of this game. We had so much to talk about while we walked and I felt like I wasn't the only one going through this after walking with her. I stopped at my parents' house to say hi to my dad after we finished. I thought I could spice up my daily diet by raiding my mom's fridge for some healthy fat. I found black olives in a little snack bag. It was like she knew I was coming-- portioned for me in a snack baggie and everything! I went to eat them while chatting with my dad on the back porch and low and behold- MOLD growing inside of them! Good thing I didn't eat too many. However, if I do get sick, maybe I will lose my pound and a half for the week....?

I was introduced to the school board members as a new hire tonight, so I didn't make it home by 7:30. No old habit points for me today.  There's a neat Italian fresh market  on my way home, so I stopped there to buy some food for tomorrow (3rd trip to a food store since I started on Friday, I'm going broke). On the up side, I have all my meals planned and portioned for tomorrow. It does take a lot of time to to that, but it's worth it when you don't have to decide what to eat the next day (impulse eating= fast and cheap).
Here are some meals/snacks I've had recently:

 The new Yoplait blends taste awesome!! They are all natural, too!

This was called : "I'm about to go out to eat and I can't really put one more thing in my mouth today, so my next meal is going to be whatever I can find in the house" Not very exciting.

 This was my din-din :) Can you tell I went to the Italian market? Whole grain pasta, parmesean cheese, wilted spinach tossed in olive oil, and tomato sauce (my 100 calories of whatever for the day).

This will be my morning snack/2nd "meal" tomorrow (2% cottage cheese, peanuts, and  organic black grapes).

Time to finish my water and start getting ready for bed!

Day 2

Greetings! I'm drowning.

I grocery shoppped again last night. This is really starting to add up. I'm trying to buy organic when it is on sale and doesn't cost a fortune. I'm hoping once I buy all this food it will last a while because the portions are so dang small! I did make it home by 7:30 last night (with a half hour to spare)! I was offered a donut at my husband's work when I stopped by and refused without hesitation! Take that, you sweet tooth temptress! I went home and made this healthy dinner:

 

I just made it up: wilted spinach and argula, cooked cherry tomatoes, a thin chicken breast (Purdue Fit & Trim), cooked in olive oil and seasoned with garlic and lemon. It was quite delicious. When I served it to my husband, he asked if I was high (I've never done drugs in my life, so he should have known the answer to that question-- but I think it was retorical). Then he proceeded to have two sandwiches with the leftover roast I had made earlier this week. That was after going through the entire process of ordering a pizza online in front of me AND drinking my favorite bottle of wine, savoring every sip and telling me how delicious it was. He loves taunting me.

 

 

 

As you can see, I successfully finished my 3 liters of water by 10 PM! Not to mention how happy Lucky looks that I was home to spend time with him :)  I'm going to try to finish it 2 hours before bed from now on because I did wake up in the middle of the night to pee for THE NINTH TIME!

 

I can't wait until I've done this for a week and I don't have to think about everything so much. However, within an hour of waking up (let's just say I surpassed my 7 hours of sleep I was supposed to get), I had already completed this many points:

 

My breakfast consisted of one serving (which is 3/4 cup by the way) of Special K in almond milk with 3 tablespoons of cooked egg (whites only) and a cup of herbal tea. I'm sure I will be hungry in another 20 monutes, but that's the beauty of this game: I get to eat in another 20 minutes! Until then, I'm going to go for a run on this beautiful Satuday afternoon! Sometimes ya' just need a Saturday in life. Enjoy yours! 



Day 1

Hello!

Well, I took full advantage of my last night of freedom yesterday. I didn't get home until almost 10:30 and I went to my parents' house for a delicious pork chop meal :) I didn't make it to the grocery store to stock up on enough healthy food to last me through today until after 9. Can you believe mothers bring their small children grocery store on a weeknight after 9 PM?! I had no idea. On my way home I stopped by the Marine recruiting office to see my husband for the first time with his eyes open all week. My poor dog was absolutely crossing his legs by the time I got home. Good thing I gave him a pig hide bone to make up for being the worst dog mom ever. I really was planning to get home by 7:30....and this is why I made this my bad habit to change.

I woke up and chugged some water. Then I spent about 10 precious morning minutes planning for my small "meals" of the day. Here is what I ate for breakfast:

 

Turns out, the Greek plain 1% yogurt is nasty. It has no flavor whatsoever. I added a dash of honey and it was actually not bad! My table spoon of peanut butter was my healthy fat. My whole grain toast was my carb. Protein-carb-healthy fat- DONE and DONE! On my way to work I picked up an Americano at Starbucks because I knew I couldn't get through an entire day of meetings on a Friday without some caffeine. The barista was so accommodating when I asked her to just put a dash of skim milk and some agave nectar in it to sweeten it. I later learned whatever I put in my coffee is my extra 100 calories of whatever I want. Darn.
At the grocery store last night, I  found these nifty little snack packs that have extremely small portions. So my second meal consisted of carrots, hummus, and sunflower seeds. I then had some celery as a snack (the only snack allowed) later on when THIS table of tempting goodness was making me crazy:

 

Seriously?! This is what I walked into after I was feeling so proud of myself for being motivated.

Panera, you did not get the best of me! I just drank my water every time I wanted something from the table. By the end of our long day of meetings, I had drank a whole liter by 3:30. I realize I have 2 more to go. I figure I will go for a run when I get home and then I'll be thirsty enough I will WANT to drink water. That way I won't drown either.

I just finished my 3rd meal which was apples, a little bit of yogurt, and a tiny bit of granola. It's 5:00 now and I'm heading home (on time yippee)! I have two more meals to go and 2 liters to drink before bed. I have communicated with my team and I have done my good habit by reflecting on here.  Good news: I can sleep in tomorrow and my dog will love me again. Bad news: tonight will not be a Friday Wine and Pizza Night ;(

Gearing up

I finished reading the Game On book tonight! I'm feeling inspired and determined to get healthy! I am so excited this isn't just a fad diet (I refuse to do those). I really hope it will change my habits and give me a new way of life! Here are a few things I did today to prep:

1. Finished reading the book (duh) and checked out www.gameondiet.com

2. Downloaded a PDF file of the FYT food list 

3. Tried drinking my coffee black this morning (that lasted about two sips..I decided I prefer my cup of joe tan and no other way)

4. Went to a resistance training class for an hour at my gym (in the middle of a monsoon- that's motivation)

5. Worked out an eating schedule ( 5 times a day...eek, hope I don't forget)

6.I made skinless chicken breast with a little but of rice for dinner (then had Ben & Jerry's for dessert)

This is the last time I will be posting after 11 pm....Baby steps. 

This definitely helped my current  "get it all in while you can" mentality. 

Aaaaand this is what I've been doing for the past two days. Living' it up while l I can. Friday will be a rude awakening.....

 

 

The start of a life-changing, excellent escapade!

 

 

Hello, fellow bloggers!

I have never written a blog before, but I thought I'd give it a shot as a part of a "new habit" I am trying with the Game On challenge by Krsita Vernoff and Az Ferguson. I journaled throughout my entire childhood and I find it a great way for me to gather my thoughts and reflect. At this point in my life, I am choosing to blog as a way of stress relief, and I am going to try very hard to not have it turn into one more thing to add to my to-do list.....

Why have I decided to start blogging, you ask? I started a new teaching job in the district I grew up in and my coworkers are starting The Game On Diet. The staff is doing this as a way to promote groups working toward a common goal. For the teachers out there, it is a way to reinforce the idea of PLCs- but for me, it's way to get my butt back in shape (literally). This blog is a way to hold me accountable. I'm puttin' it all out there, baby- for the world to see (yikes)!

A little background and why I would ever want to add so many restrictions to my daily life in the midst of starting a new stage of my career:
The last time I changed positions in the teaching world, I put on 15 lbs. Part of it could have been I had an extremely challenging group of students that year, I started my masters, and my boyfriend proposed to me all within two weeks, but I digress. As you can imagine, in the midst of a rigorous graduate program, a full time new job, over two hours spent commuting every day, and, let's not forget- planning a wedding-  my waistline was not shrinking as most brides hope for it to do. I am now fully aware that stress = extra weight for my body. With stress comes little time to plan healthy meals, late work nights, less sleep, and oh yeah-the dreaded emotional eating thing ;(

Nevertheless, I have struggled with weight issues since I put on the extra pounds three years ago. I am 5'7" and I graduated high school at 120 pounds. I ran varsity track all four years in high school and continued to run NCAA track in college. This obviously kept me in shape. Will I ever get back to that body? Without coaches pushing me to my physical limits for 2-4 hours a day-- more than likely not;  but I don't expect to. I have accepted that with age comes a slower metabolism. However, I would be happy being back to my size 6, 130 lb. frame (I would even be okay with 135, which is a perfectly acceptable and healthy weight for my height). I am not one to try fad diets or ever starve myself (I just love food way too much). I am also not one to buy the next size up in pants because, to me, that means I've been defeated. I've lost control (and I'm a bit of a control freak). So what did I do to look good for the big day? I tried Weight Watchers, like the rest of the women who can see the program has clearly been good to Jennifer Hudson (Jessica Simpson, well, let's not go there).  I eventually shed the extra pounds and was happy with my body image. Don't get me wrong- it was a lot of work and self-discipline to get me to a satisfying weight (a roller coaster of emotions, to put it lightly. Let's just say, I'm glad my husband still married me. I'm pretty sure he reconsidered every week when it was time to step on the dredaed scale).

I successfully kept the weight off for over a year because I had developed healthier habits as a result of the Weight Watchers program. I learned portion control, gave up most sweets, and rarely went near a drive-thru. I also made it a point to get to the gym no matter how tired I was at least 3 times a week. Now it has been a little over a month of working at my new position and I am already starting to see the extra pounds creep on (on top of some that came with rarely seeing my husband after a job-change in his career-- emotional eating, you are the devil). It wasn't until the first casual Friday when I went to put my on new jeans and struggled to button them. I successfully buttoned them, but I was in pain the rest of the day. When this Game On Diet was proposed, I jumped all over the idea, got a copy of the book, read 8 chapters, and I plan to start this Friday.

So that's the reason for this blog and for beginning this new escapade. It will be tough- they don't call it a challenge for no reason! I won't be perfect and there will be a learning curve, but I will try my best. I am deciding to commit 100% to it now and hopefully change my entire lifestyle to be healthier in general. I hope other women can identify with me as I go through the ups and downs that this challenge will bring. I appreciate anyone who follows and encourages this decision. Here's to hoping it turns out to be a good one! :)

Until next time,

Ashley
Game on Ammature Extraordinaire