Flab to Fit - Week 4

I must admit, last week was no bueno.  Okay, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good.  I only worked out 3 days of the week, but each of those workouts was really good.  I left the gym exhausted - which is my goal!  Thanksgiving day ended up being to crazy (because I decided to take on too much in the kitchen) so I didn't have time to workout before dinner with family or work.  Saturday was another "free" day for working out but I had a party to go to in the afternoon and spent over an hour picking out Christmas decor and other goodies at Hobby Lobby before heading home for dinner and a lazy night on the couch. 

Food wise I think I did pretty well, especially considering Thanksgiving is such a huge eating holiday.  Yes, I indulged in sweets but I tried to limit the amount of gravy, mashed potatoes, other fatty foods to make up for it.  Luckily we did not host Thanksgiving, didn't take leftovers home and all the goodies I made for work were inhaled before I left my shift that night, meaning no bad foods hanging out in our kitchen! 

This week is going to be much better for working out!  Although, I'm working 3 in a row (just finished #2 of 3, I have multiple days off the rest of the week including a morning shift, meaning time to workout after I get off!)  Excited to get back in the groove.

Gone Sailing

Our second half of vacation was spent on a cruise with close friends from college.  Thursday we picked up two friends from the airport and made the drive to Port Canaveral.  It took a while, but we eventually made it on board the ship.  After lunch, we met up with the rest of our group and sat down to a game of Phase 10.  It is one of our favorite card games from our TCU days.

It was a short 3-day cruise but we had a great time.  We ate too much food, drank too many tropical drinks and had too much fun.  We quickly learned to avoid the buffets (lines way too long!) and sit down for breakfast or lunch.  You could find us lounging on the cushioned chaises in the "adults-only section" most mornings or afternoons soaking up the sun.  

The ship at night

Breakfast by the sea

The 2nd day of the cruise we docked in Nassau, Bahamas.  After doing some online research I had decided we would head to a beach for the afternoon.  After a ride on a "jitney" (local bus) we dodged traffic to finally arrive on white sand beaches.  Unfortunately, we were starving and there wasn't a restaurant or food stand in sight.  After a long, hot walk, we came upon a resort with nice facilities which we took advantage of for the rest of the afternoon.  After lunch and a dip in the ocean we laid out on beach chairs enjoying the last of the sun.  We headed back to the downtown area (this time by cab) and did a little shopping before making it back to the ship for dinner.

Over the 3 days we made use of the mini-golf course, caught a Vaudeville style show and watched a comedy act.  We laughed until we cried and made great memories.  

Good times

And more good times

The group!

Best of all?  We made plans for a group trip next year.  I can't wait!

Harry Potter, Mickey Mouse and Palm Trees

Like I said in my previous post, our first part of vacation included Universal Orlando, Walt Disney World and just some poolside relaxation.  Our first day we scoped out the resort grounds, caught a motion picture show and relaxed.

Poolside

The next day I got up bright and early, headed for the gym and after breakfast, Corey and I headed off for Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando.  I'm going to be honest, the only reason we paid admission for the park was to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Yep, I'm a Harry Potter fan and proud of it.  So, that was our first destination in the park.  We LOVED it!  We may have ridden those rides a couple times.  We also hit up Jurassic Park, a water ride and strolled through Suess-land.  It was a great day.

Hogwarts! (Great ride!)

Hog's Breath Saloon

Post water ride - we got SOAKED!

 The next day we set off for Walt Disney World.  We made the last minute decision to get a park-hopper ticket allowing us to travel between their 4 theme parks.  Our day started in the Magic Kingdom.  I had no idea how similar it was to Disneyland.  Growing up, we had annual passes to D-land so we went pretty often.  I sorta felt like I was back home.  We did the major rides like Space Mountain (rode it 3 times in fact), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, Teacups, Peter Pan, and many more.  We also strolled down Main Street, caught the end of a parade and did a little shopping.

The view down mainstreet

Since we got lucky and had virtually no lines for any rides (longest we waited was 10 minutes for anything) we did and saw everything we wanted late afternoon.  We then headed over to Epcot to checkout it's multicultural offerings.  We enjoyed Margaritas in Mexico, strolled through China and Norway, grabbed a pretzel in Germany and watched traditional drummers in Japan and more.  It was so much fun and I really wish we had more time to spend there.  We ran out of time for any rides or shows.

Margaritas in Mexico

Japanese drummers

Tired but still smiling

Our last day in Orlando was spent at the resort.  After working out, we had some pool time then played tennis.  Mind you, I've never been good at tennis.  Actually I've always been pretty awful at it.  But I thought it would be a fun afternoon activity.  It was pretty fun despite the fact that both of us were pretty terrible.  I even managed to hit the ball completely out of the gated court and into muddy marshlands, twice.  Oops!

The next morning we packed up and headed to the airport to pick up a couple of our cruisemates then drove to Port Canaveral to board the ship!

Flab to Fit - Week 3

The last two weeks were very successful from a working out standpoint.  Week 2 included me waking up early before work to get a swim in and going in after work on another day for a workout.  Then we went on vacation last week and I am pretty proud of myself for actually making working out important.

The first half of vacation was spent at an Orlando resort.  They had an AMAZING workout room with several treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, free weights and a few weight machines.  The cardio machines were all pretty new looking, well-maintained and best perk of all?  Each had an individual TV you could watch.  I worked out twice there during our 4 day stay.  I learned my lesson after working out hard before heading to Universal Orlando for the day (can you say aching calves anyone?) so I took the day off when we went to Disneyworld.  However, with all the walking we did there I'm pretty sure I burned a ton of calories.  The 2nd half of vacation was onboard a cruise.  A friend of mine and I woke up early two of the three days on the ship and worked out at the gym overlooking the ocean.  We also had an accidental long walk along the beach that I'll count as a mini workout.  So 4 days of workouts while on vacation?  I'm pretty proud of myself!

Despite my great workout choices, my food choices definitely were not the best all the time.  While I tried to continue to eat healthy most of the time including lots of fruits and veggies, I definitely splurged on too many sweets.  Take this for example:

Funnel cake sundae (I didn't eat the whole thing - don't worry)

 Or this afternoon treat at Epcot:

Margarita + pretzel (the beer was Corey's)

I also indulged in dessert every night of the cruise and probably too many fruity alcohol containing drinks.  However, I'm not going to beat myself up over it.  I enjoyed myself, and splurged a little.  Life is about balance, not depriving yourself, right?

This week is going to be challenging thanks to Turkey Day looming.  However, I'll definitely be able to get lots of working out in and I have a plan of attack for avoiding holiday food overload.  (Eat lots of veggies and white meat turkey with only a couple bites of the not-so-good-for-you foods)  I'll let you know how I do!

Riff Ram

Holy macaroni!  That is all I have to say.  I'll be honest, I was convinced we would be slaughtered by Boise State today.  Before the game I told Corey that I'd be happy if we only lost by 7 points.  Well, come half-time I was cautiously hoping for a W. 

We went to a local game watching party and I'm soooo glad we did.  Cheering, yelling, screaming, and high-fiving with everyone made the experience so much fun.  Not to mention celebrating our win twice! (First time when a BS flag took it away, and again when their kicker choked).

So, now we know how it feels to be the perfect season spoiler.  And it may sound petty, but if feels pretty stinking good!  Go Frogs!!

Flab to Fit - Week 1

I plan on posting about my progress attaining my fitness goals on Mondays (maybe every one, maybe every other).  I'll post about my successes and pitfalls and all out failures.  So here goes, week 1:

I started off my week splendidly.  Worked out 4 days in a row and those workouts were great!  I met with a personal trainer about 2 weeks ago and he made me realize that I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I should.  He put it this way: If I could do 45 minutes on the elliptical without wanting to fall over when I got off, I wasn't working hard enough.  He gave me a goal of calories to burn within 30 minutes and I'm busting my behind to make that goal.  It's pretty good motivation!  So, 3 days of the week I did my elliptical routine then some weight training.  The 4th day I swam laps.  I was a swimmer in high school and I know how good of a workout it is, so I'm trying to swim at least once a week.  I swam 1500 yards (30 laps) over about 40 minutes and felt like I was going to die!  But at the same it felt great!  I can't believe I used to do 3 hour swim practices back in the day.

I was feeling pretty dang good about myself working out 4 days in a row.  Then I started night shifts and couldn't find the energy to make it to the gym.  It's hard enough to get to the gym on days I work because the 12 hour shifts pretty much do me in.  But when that 12 hour shift ends at 7 am it's practically impossible for me to head to the gym on my way home.

My eating was pretty healthy throughout the week with the exception of Sunday.  We started the day with brunch consisting of delicious PB & J pancakes, eggs, ham, fresh fruit and mimosas.  I managed to burn off some of those decadent calories by walking the mall for over 3 hours doing some retail therapy with our wonderful brunch hostess.  Then by the time Corey and I made it home from our Sunday funday, both of us were too tired to cook so we grabbed pizza for dinner.

This week my goal is to work out 5 days this week (with one of those being swimming) and continue the healthy eating trend.

Journey to Fitness

For anyone who's known me from my younger years (or anyone who's looked at pictures of me as a child) they know I've never been "skinny".  I've always been on the chubby side of things.  The smallest I've been was in high school when I was a swimmer/water polo player and in college when I had a personal trainer (one of the best gifts ever!)  Once I accepted the fact that I'll never be a size 4, I became more comfortable with my body.  I'm at the age where I don't want to be skinny, but I do want to be healthy.  Since getting married and starting PA school, I've let my sweet tooth and busy lifestyle get the best of me.  Especially over the past year I've noticed my body filling out in ways I don't like.  I like to think of myself as moderately active and have overall healthy eating habits, but I definitely have much room for improvement.

At the beginning of the summer I started the Couch-to-5k running program.  After only a couple weeks I fell off the proverbial wagon.  I like to blame it on work, life and the unbearable Texas heat, but really I just lost focus.  I restarted the same program in August with a goal to run a 5k with a friend at Thanksgiving.  I was doing pretty well, made it to week 5 then had a few setbacks including a minor injury.  I got discouraged and a little scared (of failing perhaps?) and never came back to it.  Although I felt good doing something I didn't really enjoy running, no matter how much I tried to make myself believe I did.  So, what to do?  I did some walking/jogging workouts on our treadmill and the Wii, but got bored and lost motivation quickly. 

Finally, 3 weeks ago, I bit the bullet and signed up for a 2-year gym membership (thank you Costco for a great deal on 24 Hour Fitness!).  While I would love to lose 15-20 lbs, I really just want to be more active, more healthy and fit into my clothes better.  Will I have a bikini worthy body by summer?  Who knows, but I'd be happy with having to buy some new, smaller clothes for our Spring trip to Italy and Greece.

A great friend of mine recently started on her own fitness/weight loss journey and has decided to blog about it.  While encouraging her, I realized perhaps I should do the same.  The monetary investment in a gym membership is a good motivator to get my bum to the gym, but also having someone (even if its only my imaginary blog readers) to keep me accountable will help propel me forward.  So here goes my fitness journey!

I won't be specifically blogging my weight because I'm trying not to focus on a number.  However, I will post a weekly update on my trips to the gym and diet choices.  Won't you help me along?  Keep me accountable, push me and don't be afraid to ask if I've cheated.  I welcome all the help I can get!  After all, it takes a village, no?