The Mission Continues

So today is Day 3 of this quick beauty mission. Yesterday went really well. I did the 1.4 miles walk/run but I was so extremely sore from the Shred. Its pretty unbelievable. The first time I did the Shred, I thought it was too easy and I didn't feel sore at all the next day. What a reality check. I need my muscles back!!!

This morning I woke up really late (11am) and did some fasting cardio (1.4 miles again). I just ate my new favorite clean treat...the yogurt meal I described in my "I just had an O" post. It is so wonderful. I am about to go tan outside for a little bit. I am not too excited about putting on my bikini but hopefully not too many people will be at the pool, lol. (Ugh, I hope I don't have to think this way in a few months).

I'll probably come back and do some push ups, leg lifts and abs before I shower.

12 Days of Beauty

Well, since I didn't keep up my wedding body as I should have, I have 12 days to trick onlookers into believing that I did. Nicole's wedding is right around the corner and I have to look great for the bridal party pics.

My plan is the type you find in a summer issue of Shape magazine. All the springtime magazines give you 6 or 8 or 12 week plans to shape up for summer and get your "best body ever". Once summer hits, the articles change to something along the lines of...ok lazy ass, you didn't follow our 8 week plan and you now you expect to look good...heh...ok, in one week you can pretend you were good for 3 by tanning, dehydrating yourself, washing your face for a change and staying away from everything you love.

So today was Day 1. I woke up and did level 1 of the Shred. Um, it used to be so easy a few months ago. This morning was torture. I worked 7 hours and ate really well all day. I ate small meals every 2-3 hours and had my last meal before 8pm. After dinner I walked/jogged 1.4 miles. I drank lots of water. Now I am about to go wash my face, pluck my eyebrows and put on some face cream before I head to bed.

Tomorrow I am finally off for a change. I need to get some color, whether real or fake and workout like a mad woman.

I Love Petra Nemcova

If you don't know who she is, you might remember hearing about her after she survived the 2005 tsumani and unfortunately lost her fiance.

Not only is she one of the most gorgeous models out there, but everyone raves about her sweet personality and participation in charity events. She always looks SO put together. She has a unique European style and looks fabulous in anything she puts on.

Thursday, May 21st

Well, I have been eating clean but it hasn't been pretty. I am really sick of the same old foods. I ordered the Eat Clean Cookbook and I can't wait for it to come in the mail.

I cheated the last two days by having white rice with my clean turkey chili. I also had a little bit of sour cream.

Today I started a modified eat-clean diet. I had Kashi Go Lean cereal for breakfast. I think this will be necessary for my sanity. I almost freaked out yesterday and bought a 500 calorie ice cream cone.

I went for a walk on the beach today. I can't wait to live there. I am about to go for another walk (I'll mix it up with some lunges), shower and get dinner ready for my hubby.

By the way...check out this dream home. (I got the pic from someone else's blog a while back and I am very sorry that I don't have the source. Please let me know if you know where its from).

Loving It

Why is this Victoria's Secret Vix bathing suit so expensive? (Top and Botton, $58 each - on sale from $78 each). I am not crazy crazy about the pattern but I LOVE the overall shape (the top has thin straps and slides along the bottom and the bottom has very thin sides without being a side tie) and I think it would look hot with a nice summer tan. The only thing it doesn't have is the "light removable padding" that I unfortunately need but I think that could easily be put in. I have a bunch of gift certificates for VS from my bridal shower so I'll give it some thought.

Back to Clean

As I mentioned in my previous post, I woke up feeling like crap. I was disappointed with myself for having a cheat day. Oh well, I realize these are necessary for my sanity. Maybe I will do a 5 day on, 1 day off plan. Who knows. I will play it by ear. Maybe a cheat meal would be more appropriate, not a cheat day.

Morning weigh-in: 137.2 (darn you cheat day)

BF: oatmeal with a banana, cinnamon and milk, a few bites of my hubby's scrambles eggs (made clean), 2 bites of cottage cheese, Lunch: grapes, 2 hardboiled eggs, Snack: Apple, Dinner: rice pasta, tomato sauce, ground turkey, natural parmesean cheese, salad: lettuce, tomato, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, feta cheese, few olives, Snack: banana, unsalted natural peanuts.

My husband and I went to the park today. We actually went to 2 parks. Both are really close to our soon-to-be new home! The first one we went to is probably about 2.5-3 miles away. It has a nice 2 mile trail, grills, tennis courts, etc. We walked a lot and ran one mile. The other park is less than a mile away and right on the beach. There is even a little restaurant there that serves ice cream! Of course we passed on the ice cream but it was wonderful imagining future date night walks on the beach and boardwalk, family barbeques, jogs and bike rides. We got really excited!

Dirty Day

Morning weigh-in: 136.3!

I am going out of town to visit my parents today so I am not sure how I will be able to eat clean. I would hate to insult them because I am sure my mom will want to cook dinner for us. Just in case she makes a pasta sauce, I am bringing some rice pasta with me. I'll try my best, we'll see how it goes.

BF: Greek yogurt (90), topped with 1/2 banana (55), 10 almonds (120?), sprinkle of oats (10), drizzle of honey (20), blueberries (25)...more to come...

Update:

Well, the day didn't go quite as planned. I went out to lunch with my mom. I had a seafood antipasta salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. This would have been 99% clean: it was made up of grilled squid, shrimp, muscles, clams, lettuce, cucumber and tomato...except, it also came with provolone cheese slices and amazing crispy, right out of the oven rolls. I had 2 rolls. =(

Later, I had some chicken, which was organic and another salad (dressed with olive oil and vinegar) but then I had some chocolate covered raisins (yikes) and ice cream with my hubby (double yikes).

Well, a cheat day it was. And it was pretty wonderful. I felt like crap going to bed that night. I felt even worse the next morning. Its as if I had a one night stand with some chocolate covered raisins. Dirty, dirty girl.

Day 5

I worked another 12 hour shift today and ate clean! I worked at my husband's store today as overtime. The store was pretty busy and I was out of my comfort zone so I didn't have much time to eat. This morning I made oatmeal but I was in such a hurry I only ate half of it (100?), for lunch I had 1/2 c. cottage cheese and 1/2 c. Greek yogurt and an apple (310), I snacked on some carrots later on (45)...when I got home I was starving...I ended up having the final bit of my clean pasta sauce (no pasta this time) (100), some artichoke salad (200) and I cooked a "green" steak (hormone and antibiotic free, raised on veggie diet) (10000000???), ugh, it was a really big piece. I ate a spoonful of almond butter (70) and 1/2 banana for dessert (55).

Day 4

Morning weigh-in: 137.2, I'll take it. I'd like to be 135 by my friend Nicole's wedding, June 6th (which I am super-excited about). I'm in the wedding and I am sure I will be crying like a baby, so my body has to make up for the ruined makeup. =)

I did my morning 1.4 mile run/walk. I ran the 0.7 mile loop in 5:56, definately an improvement. I almost died in the process. My new mini goal is 5:40...we'll see.

Off to a 12 hour shift. Hopefully I will think of some good recipe ideas and get some groceries after work.

I ended up eating clean all day! No cheating! I am really tired tonight and lazy to post all the food but I ate just under 1600 calories today. Much of the same stuff as the last few days.

Day 3

Morning weigh-in: 137.3
Look: eyes have no puffiness, face is completely clear, still pale (I really need some sunlight)
Feel: very sleepy (I went to bed early, sometimes I feel like the more sleep I get, the more tired I am the next morning), still a little bloated

BF: oatmeal (120), 1/2 banana (55), 1/4 c. skim milk (25), Snack 1: hardboiled egg (80), grapes (100), Snack 2: banana (110) and almond butter (90), Lunch: salad (50), whole egg + 1 egg white (100), Snack: pineapple and strawberries (180), Dinner: rice pasta and sauce, same as last night-I made a big batch (400), Snack: almond butter (60), few blueberries (20)...total: 1390.

I worked a 12 hour shift today so I packed a lunch bag full of clean foods (see above)...I felt pretty confident that I could make it all day and I did! Now I need to find some variety before the lack of it makes me quit.

I made a pretty awesome salad. I grew up eating this stuff so I was pretty happy to see all the ingredients were considered clean. Its kinda a different way to eat cole slaw. You shred red cabbage (the salad won't taste good unless it is shredded really really thin), add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pepper and some sea salt. Mix it really well and let it sit and get cold in the fridge. I guess it might be an aquired taste for some but it is really filling and my husband loves it.

I Just Had an O!

Oh my goodness, eating clean can be good! My husband just went to McDonalds to get a McFlurry. Yes, I resisted. I was pretty bummed about it until I decided to make my own CLEAN dessert.

Here is what I used, in layering order: Plain Greek yogurt (100), 1/2 banana, sliced (55), few blueberries (20), almonds (100), spoonful or two of uncooked oatmeal flakes (30), very thin drizzle of honey over entire thing (?)...YUMMY! Worth every healthy calorie.

Day 2

Is it possible for me to feel better already? From just one day of eating clean? It was tough, especially since I went grocery shopping. All I wanted was a huge cookie of some sorts. I went to the bookstore yesterday and looked at the Eat Clean book and Cookbook. I wrote down one recipe in order to try the book out (the pasta sauce I made last night). It was really good so I am going to go back and get it.

This morning:
Weigh-in: 137.4 (I am embarrassed to say that yesterday's weigh-in was 141.8...how the heck did this happen???)
Look: semi-bloated, pale, only one blemish on face
Feel: much less constipated (even though I didn't go), motivated

BF: plain oatmeal (120), 1/2 banana (55), 1/2 apple (50), cinnamon, 1/3 c. skim milk (30) (I grated the apple and mashed the banana and mixed them, I made the oatmeal and mixed in the cinnamon and fruit mixture and poured milk on top, very yummy and very filling), Snack: hardboiled egg (80), Snack 2: 1/2 banana (55), almond butter (90), Snack 3: 1/2 apple (50), Dinner: rice pasta and sauce from last night (400??), salad (30), Dessert: see next post.

Eating Clean: Day 1

I woke up this morning thinking about how I am going to commit to 2 weeks of clean eating and post the goal on my blog. Then I started thinking. I hate saying I am going to do something and not following through. So then I thought, ok 1 week. Well, the truth is, I don't know how long I could actually eat clean without modification. I never tried it. The only reason I want to do it without modification is to get a kick start to looking and feeling better to motivate me to keep it up better. Well, my new goal is 1 day. Thats it. 1 day. And if I decide to not do it tomorrow, no judgement, my goal was only one day.

I decided to occasionally post a few words that best describe how I look and feel in the beginning of a particular day. Here goes:

Look: bloated, breakout on face, pale, blotchy
Feel: constipated (sorry if TMI), itchy for some reason, tired, lazy

Now you know why I wanna do this, haha.

Well here goes...

BF: glass of water, plain oatmeal (100), with about 4 fresh strawberries (25) and cinnamon, 1/3 glass of skim milk (30), Snack: baby carrots (25)-this was complete torture, Lunch: 2 hardboiled eggs plus 1 egg white (180), avocado and black bean salsa I made last night (200?), few strawberries (30), Snack: 1 banana (110) and a handfull of almonds (180), Snack 2: a spoonful of almond butter (80) and a few grapes (40), Dinner: rice pasta (made from one ingredient, brown rice) (?), lentil tomato sauce from "The Eat Clean Cookbook" (?), salad (30). I was so full from the lentil sauce that I didn't even want dessert, which would have been plain Greek yogurt with fruit.

Workout: 20 min of elliptical, few lunges and shoulder presses, 1.4 mile walk/jog later in the day.

Sunday, May 10th

I did the lap this morning in 6:19. 2 seconds slower than last time. I didn't want to run this morning but I figure I'll have to do a lot of things I don't want to in order to get the body I want.

I am getting more and more interested in eating clean every day. My reasons: I feel sluggish and run down a lot, I want to lose some fat but build lean muscle, I plan on stopping my birth control pill next month and I am afraid I will get acne again, I want to sleep better, and I want to look fresh, not blah and bloated.

I just don't know if I can do it. Not because of temptation but because of inventing and preparing meals that I will actually like and be able to take on my 12 hour work days. I know there are recipe books out there and I know I can prepare a day ahead of time, it will just take a while before I get fully into it.

I have to research one question though, and if the answer is no, this whole eating clean thing might not be an option: Is low fat and non-fat dairy (mainly skim milk, low fat cottage cheese and non-fat plain yogurt) considered clean?

Friday, May 8th

I woke up early and completed the same workout from yesterday. About 1 minute into the run my whole butt was one big cramp. I finished the lap in 6:17...22 second improvement from yesterday. I didn't think I would make it but thank goodness I did. I will try for a record time Sunday morning.

I am off to a 12 hour shift. I packed my food for the whole day so no excuses in that department.

BF: Kashi cereal and fresh strawberries (185), Snack: Zone bar (190), Lunch: roast beef sandwich on wheat (280), apple (110), Snack: sample of grocery store meal (200), Dinner: rice (200) and chili (200), pudding (100)...total: 1465 (which includes some over-estimates).

I Feel Some Motivation Coming On

I woke up this morning wanting to run out of the house and workout. I had a huge sinus headache so I took 2 Sudafed and 3 ibuprofen...I'm just waiting for it to go away and its on!

So I ended up eating pretty well today. I had Cherrios with fresh strawberries for breakfast, a sandwich on wheat for lunch, and homemade chili for dinner. My husband makes the best chili. The only fat in it is from extra lean beef. I just had a 100 calorie pudding for dessert. Its not exactly a "clean" food but it killed my craving for sweets.

Speaking of eating clean...I am strongly considering trying it. Who needs processed foods, right? I'll work on it. I keep hearing about how it helps you feel better, clears your skin, obviously helps you lose weight and be more healthy overall. I think my husband and I will take small steps in that direction. I gotta work on my water intake first.

I had tons of errands to run today and only ended up doing cardio. I covered 1.5 miles, of which I ran 0.7 straight. The lap that goes around our development is exactly 0.7 miles. My hubby just started running about 10 or so days ago and has been timing himself going around that thing. Today he set his new record of 4:20. I am sure he will get it even lower after a few more weeks. My time today was horrible. My body felt like moving cement. I didn't try hard to make it as fast as possible. I was scared of pulling something or being too sore since I am currently stiff as a board. So I took it easy in order to run the whole time without stopping. (How pathetic since not too long ago I was doing 4 miles without stopping). Anyway, I did it in 6:39. Please hold the laughter. I made it a point not to look at the stopwatch the whole time. If I had, I probably would have gone faster. Anyway, I am sure I can shave a minute off that time within a few weeks.

What a Year

Last night I was about to leave work and my hubby called me on my cell phone to ask me if I knew what day it was. He said that it was the one year anniversary of him proposing. I knew it was close but I couldn't remember the exact date. When I got home his car wasn't in the parking lot (which was strange since it was 10:30pm). I called him and he said he would be right back. He came home with 2 McFlurries and said we were having date night. We watched a bunch of episodes of a Fox show called Lie to Me. I had never heard of it but it was really good. We stayed up till 2am. We really had a nice night. I proudly didn't finish my McFlurry.

We reflected on the crazy year we had...May 2008-May 2009. This was maybe the craziest year of our lives. It brought huge life-altering changes and we did it together. The changes were both good and bad but they all brought us closer.

We: Graduated, got engaged, my grandmother passed away, we moved to a new city and moved in together, we got jobs, we studied for months for our pharmacy boards and passed them, we became pharmacists and started our careers, we started planning our wedding, his grandmother passed away, we celebrated the holidays in our home together for the first time, we got MARRIED and we bought a house! Crazy to think it all happened in one year.

MIA

Well I have been MIA for a while. I guess it took some time to recover from the weekend. I had a blast at my friend's shower and bachelorette party. For the past 2 days I have been working 12 hour shifts and I have another one today. I have been walking/jogging each morning. I have tomorrow off so I plan on getting back into my weight training routine. I had a dream last night that I was chosen to be in some kinda workout video and I had 10 days to eat clean and slim up. I woke up feeling like crap. Partly because I have my period and mostly because I know I haven't been caring too much about nutrition and fitness lately. What the heck is wrong with me?

You know what I think got to me? I saw some more of our wedding shots and I was disappointed. A few are really good and I look thin in them...but in some I honestly look really chunky next to Frankie. So in my mind I think, ugh, if I looked like that when I worked so hard, is it ever gonna be worth it to do it again? Ok, totally irrational thinking, especially since I know how thin I looked at my cousin's wedding a few weeks before my own.

I just gotta find that great motivation once again. That one great kick in the pants that everyone hopes for. Ok, vent over.

Friday, May 1st

I am off for the weekend for my friend's bridal shower and bachelorette party!!! Hopefully I will come back with lots of pics! I hope everyone has a great weekend!