Summer Slimdown Week 8

Week 8
Face your fitness fear!

No change on the scale, I'm sad to say. But not really surprised.

I'm at 254.8 again and still.

I don't even know what my fitness fear is. Maybe it's success! Why else would I be avoiding it?

What threw me off this week was that my kids had their winter break extended. I can't even go to the bathroom anymore without someone pounding on the door or even just walking right in. I'm going to have to start setting some bounderies.

Have you ever felt that anything you do, or atempt to do is destined to fail? That's how I'm feeling right now.

I did succeed in my 5k this week. Julie was hosting a virtual one and I actually thought I had failed that too when I couldn't get my walk in on Wednesday, but then she extended her entries til Sunday and so this morning at 6:30 I got up and walked and walked.

There's proof!! Funny looking cell phone pic!

I walked my 5k in 59 minutes. Very slow, yes, but I did it!
And I did go to exercise class on Monday night and played some volleyball yesterday. Fun!

Other than that... too many cupcakes around this week.

I will be happy to start the next challenge tomorrow, since I actually forgot about it this morning:(

Week 9 - (begin July 29) - NO SUGAR (unless it's all natural) AND NO SNACKING AFTER DINNER

Have a great week!
Casey

Summer Slimdown Weeks 6 and 7

Weeks 6 and 7!

Groan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These last 2 weeks have been awful in terms of weight loss!

Last I updated was a 4.6lbs loss and I knew I'd gain some back because that was a detox week. But I gained back.

I'm at 254.8 again and I am SO ashamed!

I did ok on the vegetarian week, but I had not tracked for detox week and didn't for vegetarian week either. Which was my first mistake! The second one was I was really craving carbs. I think I do better on a low carb diet than a no beef diet.

Last weeks challenge was to commit to a 5K. As we have none at the moment in my neck of the woods, I'll be doing one all by myself, hopefully on Wednesday morning. I'll post my time when I've done it, so hold me accountable, ok!

Since my kids are on winter break, my scheduled exercise time has gone out the window, and I'm having a hard time getting back on track. Tonight I'll be going back to my exercise class (she's been on break for 2 weeks as well.) and if my husband doesn't want to do anything special on his birthday night (wednesday) I'll go play Volleyball for an hour.

Speaking of Birthdays!!! My daughter turned 12 last Wednesday, and will be having a second party on Thursday (she had a small on last wednesday). My husband's birthday is this Wednesday Thankfully he doesn't like sweets! Actually one of the only desserts he likes is flan, so I'll make him that! And my birthday is 2 weeks after his. And unfortunatly, I like sweets! I'll have to come up with a plan!

This weeks challenge was to face a fitness fear. I don't know about this one. I already tried Zumba... I'll have to give this some thought.

So, ladies, I'm back on track today. It's been rough. And I hate the consequences, but it's turning around!

Have a great week!
Casey

Summer Slimdawn week 5

Fifth Week down!!

Weight:
Last week: 251.7 lbs
This week: 247.1 lbs

YEAH! Out of the 250’s.

I managed to lose more than the required 2 lbs this week.  I Lost 4.6lbs!

Like I said  last week, I did a detox, which was not 7 days but rather 5 days since we went away for the weekend.

First day was only fruit. Now don’t get me wrong, I like fruit, but it was hard to do that exclusively. I was surprised that I didn’t feel like I was starving though. Every day you can eat as much cabbage soup as you want. It’s actually very good and you can put in lots of different veggies, just stay away from starch filled ones like potatoes. And since I didn’t prepare for this I didn’t have soup on the first day.

Second day was only veggies. I really enjoyed a baked potato first thing in the morning (which I wrapped in foil and put in the crockpot the night before. It was perfect. Thank you Pinterest!)

Third day was fruit and veggies, but no bananas and no potatoes. Getting a little more difficult, but still didn’t feel like I was starving.

Fourth day, at first I loved the milk and banana idea, but like they predicted, I didn’t even eat the allowed 8 bananas. And of course, there’s the soup. I dreamt about food after this day.  I felt guilty while sleep ing because I kept thinking it was real and I was cheating on my diet.

Day 5 beef and tomatoes. And soup once again!!!

Days 6 and 7 were thankfully eliminated because we spent the weekend at a hotel. It was a spur of the moment decision, so I couldn’t do any planning. But that’s ok.

I had always thought I should try this detox, but in reality I don’t know how much it actually worked on detoxing me. Yes I did lose 4.6 lbs, but I’m not sure that at least half of that won’t be back on by nexrt weigh in.

I only got in 2 exercise sessions in this week. Once 45 minutes and once 60 minutes. A few walks, but nothing very intense. We went for a long walk yesterday and played volleyball with the kids this morning, and although it was quite cold out, I worked up quite a sweat.

And for this week, Rochelle has given us a challenge I don’t know if I even want to succeed at! It’s VEGETARIAN WEEK!

I love beef!!! And I don’t like fish! But my family likes fish, so they will be happy! OK, Rochelle, I’m gonna try! But I’ll tell you now, it’s gonna be from Monday to Saturday, because we are planning on hosting a Barbeque on Sunday. But even that will be amazing!

Oh, and here are the pic’s. I put last months pic’s up again. Can you see a difference?

Have a great week!
Casey

June weigh in

July Weigh in

Week 4 Summer Sizzle Slimdown Challenge

Fourth week down!

Weight:
Last week: 250.2 lbs
This week: 251.7 lbs

This is crazy! All these ups and downs. Ok, I don't mind the downs!
There was a day last week where I was actually in the 240's.

These last few days have been alot of eating out. Not at restaurants, but at other peoples homes. Very yummy, but not helping with the weight loss.
Once again, I didn't get in as much exercise as planned, but I did get 45 minutes or more on 3 days, and that was ok with me!

Water! That part of the challenge was actually not so bad. I kept filling my 500ml water bottle and I got more than 3 liters on most days.  It was good, and I'm hoping to make that a habit.

So, I only posted 1 recipe, and my pictures aren't that great. Sorry. But I can't wait to try some of the recipies I found on the other challengers sites!

The challenge for this coming week: Lose 2 pounds this week! OK, that's not going to be easy!
But, I don't know if what I'm doing is considered cheating, but... I've been wanting to do a detox week and have started today. Of course this promises a few pounds of weight loss, but I'm looking for the headache relief, "abundance of energy and an improved disposition!"
I will definitly let you know how this goes!


Have a great week!
Casey

Spinach Filled Chicken Breast

Spinach Filled Chicken Breast

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast (4oz each)

Garlic, minced

1 cup shredded cheese

1 bag frozen spinach (10oz)

Farmer sausage (I used about 100gr sausage)

2 Tbsp low fat cream cheese (about 30gr)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Trim fat off the chicken breasts. Make a pocket in each, slicing the breast like you are making a pita. Do not cut all the way through to the other side!

2. In a bowl, combine the spinach, cheese, garlic and salt and  pepper. Spoon spinach mixture into pockets in the chicken.

3. Close the chicken pockets with toothpicks. Or wooden skewers!

4. Season with paprika and salt.

7. Place the chicken breasts in a shallow pan. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. At about 375 degrees F.

8. Remove from the oven. Let chicken rest in the pan for 5-10 minutes.

9. Serve and enjoy.

4 servings.   Each serving has 305 calories. (according to MyFitnessPal.com)

 These were pretty loaded.

I've also made them prettier, but never took a picture! :)

My 7 year old son actually requests this meal. He says it's his favorite, and all my kids are happy when I serve it. Who knew?!

Summer Sizzle Slimdown Challenge Week 3

Third week down!

Weight:
Last week: 251.7 lbs
This week: 250.2 lbs (Usually weigh in on Friday, but this is my Wednesday weight)

The tracking has been going well. I made a side challenge with 2 friends that we would track - and stay on track - for at least 10 out of 14 days. (One of the Ladies does not track weekends, so that's why we didn't go for 100%)

I was planning on getting more exercise in this week, and life happened! I got 2.5 hours in, and that included
45 MINUTES OF ZUMBA!!!
which was, of course, this weeks New Exercise Challenge!
And, as planned, I did the dvd at home. REALLY made an effort to do all the exercises. I rarely laugh out loud, but I did that Wednesday morning. Thankful I was not in a class, thankful I don't have a full length mirror in the living room. Thankful I don't have neighbors looking in my windows. And thankful that those 45 minutes were over. I am so uncoordinated on my feet.
I may do it again, but probably not something I'll do regularly.

So this Weeks Mini-Challenge is to drink 3 liters of Water a day.
Since it's getting cooler down here (officially winter now!) I've not been drinking as much water as I should/could be. So, this week, bottom's up!


Have a great week!
Casey

SSSC week 2

Second week down!

Weight:
Last week: 250.4 lbs
This week: 251.7 lbs - a gain, groan:(

I've been tracking fairly regulary, which is so good! I'm glad Rochelle got us doing that first thing because I do believe it to be an important part in weight loss!I've gotten more fruit in this week, yummy oranges and grapefruit are in season here now! And I've been drinking more water, since it wasn;t as cold here as last week!

This weeks challenge was 6 hours of exercise. I didn't quite make it because I was still having intense headaches until Tuesday. So, I got in 4 hours and 20 minutes, walking, pilates, aerobics and volleyball.
Wednesday I decided to go no sugar, no flour for a few days to see if my headaches would ease up, and I think they did. So I'm looking to make that a more permanent thing.

This next week is New Exercise Challenge!
I recently aquired a Zumba dvd, and I've been saving it for this week :) In the privacy of my home I'm going to be making a fool of myself, I'll let you know how it goes!

Also, keep tracking, and I'm going to go for 6 hours of exercise again! Hopefully I can make it this week!

All the best to my fellow Challenge Takers!
Have a great week!
Casey