Banana Split Breakfast

Yes, you heard right.  I had a banana split for breakfast.  And yes, you're right again... there is a catch lol.

Banana Split.  Unapologetically delicious, and dieter approved :)

Let me lay the groundwork: For breakfast, I am allowed egg whites, veggies, and 1 fruit of my choice.  For my AM snack, I am allowed 1 scoop of protein powder.  Now, I'm not sure I'm technically allowed to combine meals, but on the weekends my days are so much shorter than they are during the week (due to the fact that I sleep in a good 5 hours longer than usual) that often I end up eating two of my meals at the same time so I can "catch up".  And most often, those two meals end up being the first two of the day.

My friend Jess (of "The Montreal Veggie") introduced me to banana ice cream about a year ago and I haven't looked back since.  My boyfriend John is lactose-intolerant, and I try to watch what I eat even when I'm not dieting, so banana ice cream was (and apparently still is) a perfect solution to our ice cream cravings.

Here's what you do:
You know those bananas that have gone brown that you usually either throw away or freeze for baking?  But sometimes when you put you put them in the freezer, you forget about them for months??  Well take a couple of those suckers out of the freezer and let them thaw just enough so that their skins soften up again.  Peel said bananas.  Throw them into a blender, and puree until smooth (1-2 minutes, scraping the sides of the blender every once in a while).  And VOILA!  It's as easy as that!  I've gotten into the habit of pre-peeling my bananas before I freeze them, because I find the frozen peeling to be very, er, uncomfortable for my delicate fingers lol.  Honestly, you will NOT notice the difference between this and regular ice cream.  It even passed the boyfriend test (on several boyfriends, might I add).  And consider: 1 banana is about the equivalent of 1 serving of ice cream, but saves you at least 150 calories!!

But that's not all I did to this breakfast treat.  Oh no.  That was just step 1.  Step 2 was the topping!  I recently discovered that if you mix chocolate whey protein powder with some stevia and just a bit of water (as opposed to the usual 8oz), it has the same consistency and taste (well, to me anyways) as chocolate syrop.  So, I whipped up a batch of syrop, and drizzled this on top of my ice cream.

And there you have it.  A totally clean, but completely decadent Banana Split Breakfast.

Emotions getting the best of me

I made a realization this morning.  I was plugging away at my cardio on the bike, giving it a half-hearted effort, and I knew full well that I was capable of pushing more.  I asked myself why it is that some mornings I give it 110%, while other mornings I'm just there to get to that 45:00 minute mark.  I did a full-body scan: are my legs sore from my workout?  No, I haven't had a tough leg day yet this week.  Am I extremely tired?  No, I got 7hrs sleep.  Am I starving?  Not especially.  Am I too warm/cold? Nope.  Insufficient warmup time?  No again.  With all the physical questions answered, I turned inwards: Do I feel strong and powerful? No.  Am I sad and discouraged? Yes.  Aha!  There it is.   

So much of training is mental and emotional.  When I'm in a good mood, my energy and focus are through the roof!  I feel accomplished, strong, sexy.... unstoppable.  And when I'm feeling weak, unattractive and discouraged, my whole body shuts down.  You'd expect it to be the other way around: if you're feeling fat and bloated, wouldn't you want to work that much harder to counteract it?   And yet the reverse is true to my diet!  I don't tend to cheat or overeat when I'm sad - I cheat when I'm happy!  I've never been one to comfort myself with food, but I do celebrate with it.  If I'm in a good place mentally and physically (I've had a good week of clean eating and solid exercise, I'm feeling fit and firm, and I've been productive at work, or am having fun socially) then I somehow convince myself that a treat is deserved.  After all, a small treat couldn't  possibly derail my efforts after such a good week.... certainly I can afford it!  (Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Tess) 

I guess I already knew both of these things already.  But the true epiphany was that I am at risk of falling off the bandwagon when I'm both happy AND sad.... kind of a double-whammy/lose-lose situation, eh?  So, what to do about it?  I'm an optimist by nature, which helps my workouts but hurts my diet, but I certainly don't intend to give that up for the sake of dieting! lol   

I think the realization itself is half the battle.  Just having an awareness of the problem gives me the tools to work on it.  When I'm feeling down and lazy at the gym, I'll try to find something (a song, an image, a memory, a goal) to perk me up again.  And when I'm feeling impervious, I'll self-medicate myself with a good dose of humility, and remind myself that there is always more work to be done. 

Shaking things up a bit

Just for the heck of it, I decided to change up my routine this week.  I didn't just change a couple of exercises or play with the order though.... ooohh no. I'm talking completely different approach here.


Before:  5 day split, 2-3 body parts per day.  Moderate weights. 8-12 reps. 30 sec - 1 min rest between sets.
Now: Full-body circuits.  Bodyweight or light weights.  15-20 reps. No rest between exercises, 1 minute between circuits.  Do this 3 times this week, alternating days.  The other two workouts will be boxing and karate, where I'll practice drills, kata, and shadow boxing non-stop for 10 minutes, rest 3 mins, and repeat.

The circuit:
Step ups (quickly) x 60 secs
Burpees x 10 reps
High pull with resistance band x 10 reps
Mountain Climbers x 20 reps
Dips x 10-15 reps
Walking lunges with dumbbell curls x 20 reps with 12.5lb dumbbells
Single Hops x 20 per leg
Deadlift with dumbbell rows x 10-15 reps with 30 lbs dumbbells
Dynamic pushups
Jump squats x 20 reps
Cardio x 3 minutes on machine of choice
*After completing this 3 times, I finish up with some ab work.

I'll go back to my regular workouts next week, though more and more workouts will begin to look like this as I approach my competition date.

I feel it's important to do this every once in a while, not just for the sake of losing weight (circuits like these really tax your cardiovascular system, helping to burn fat very quickly!), but to work different muscles than you're used to.  Usually I use alot of machines and free weights, and workouts are generally centered around isolation movements.  And that's fine!  It means I can focus on working every single muscle as much as I need to.  But these circuits have me doing more functional and dynamic work.  The exercises themselves are different, there's little to no equipment thus I'm using a greater range of motion, and there are alot of compound movements which really forces the body to work as a unit.  So hopefully this'll give my system a nice little jolt!

The circuit today was brutal (it never fails: no matter how in-shape you think you are, Circuits.Will.Kill.You!!) but I felt so great and jelly-ish after lol.  I'm looking forward to the karate training tomorrow :)

On the 9th day, she rested.... and it was good.

Halfway through my 2^nd weekly leg workout yesterday, I hit a wall.  My muscles, which were still sore from my heavy leg workout a couple days prior, couldn’t lift as much as usual, and were fatiguing quickly.  My cardio was half-hearted as a result of my tired little legs, and I just couldn’t seem to clear my mind and focus.  

The reason for this slowdown was immediately and clearly realized: I’d been going non-stop for 8 days straight.  I don’t do cardio every single day, nor do I weight train every day.  But this past week it just so happened that I did at least one of these activities every day.  

Some people can get away with this; exercising in some capacity every day doesn’t seem to affect them as long as they vary the type of activities.  Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people lol.  At least once per week it’s important for me to take a whole day off of everything.  Though I do have to be careful, because if I take more than one day off, I start to get lazy and lose interest in working out.  Some people (**cough cough… JOHN**) crave the gym; they’re addicted to the endorphins, love the work, and can’t get enough of the pump.  They get antsy if they can’t work out.  Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people either haha.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to move my body, and I can definitely feel it when I haven’t exercises in a couple of days: my back gets anxious (like a pent-up energy), my muscles get twitchy, I feel stiff, and tire easily.  I am a gym rat in every sense of the word.  But the difference is that if it was possible to look great without ever working out another day in my life…. I’d take the opportunity in a heartbeat.  True addicts would keep going just for the love of it.

Long story short: I declare this day a rest day!  And tomorrow: back to working my progressively smaller butt off!

Working up a sweat

"Sweat once a day" is a simple, but effective way of communicating the recommended frequency and intensity of exercise we should all be doing.

But "Sweat three times a day" is the sentence that sums up my day yesterday!  I started out with my regular morning cardio which ended up being super energetic.  There were definitely some big sweat marks covering my tank top by the end. 



Moksha Yoga in Ottawa

Next up was some hot yoga at lunch time.  There's a studio close to my work, so it's relatively easy to pop over for a mid-day stretch. If only it didn't take 2 hours (between getting ready, the class itself, then showing off after), I'd do it every day. Now, I should point out that I'm someone who sweats very easily.  I've heard that people who are in good shape sweat more because their bodies are efficient at cooling themselves off.  I'm not sure if that's scientifically true (though it sounds rational enough), but I do know I had drenched my mat by the time I was done that class! lol

Last, but not least, was weight training at the gym.  It was Chest/Tri/Bi day and I scorched the hell out of all of them.  Giant sets of 3-4 exercises (x4 sets) for each body part, dropping the last set of each.  I'm training them this way because I'm not devoting much time to any single one of these body parts, so I want to be as thorough and efficient as possible in the time I do give them.  I finished off with cardio on the stair climber, then some stretching. 

Needless to say I slept like a baby last night!

Burger and fries

They say necessity is the mother of all invention.  Well, I've been desperately seeking creative ways to cook my food lately, especially as the diet goes on and I find myself to have been eating the same lunch for 4 weeks straight!  I came up with this dudesky one day while I was craving a burger and fries.


Instead of a bun, I used big lettuce leaves (there is a certain lettuce that's perfect for this, but I just used Boston lettuce).  Instead of a burger pattie, I used my cooked chicken.  Topped with pickles (not sure if those were allowed or not, but they're only 5 calories each, and I only used one), tomato, cucumber, onion, and mustard.  I would have LOVED some roasted hot peppers and chipotle mayo but.... these are the sacrifices we make.

I have alot of trouble with Sweet Potato Fries, but these ones turned out alright.  Though it was quite a lengthy process.  After peeling and cutting them, I misted a parchment-lined baking sheet with Pam and spread them out in a single layer.  Sprinkled with seasoning salt.  Baked for 15 minutes at 250, flipping once.  Increased heat to 400 and baked another 5-7 mins.  It's a fine line between crispy and burnt, so I had to watch them carefully near the end.  

I definitely gave myself a nice pat on the back after this one ;)

Not your ordinary diet food

For my third meal of the day, I'm allowed: 4oz chicken, 2 cups veggies of my choice, and 1/3 cup quinoa or brown rice, OR 6oz sweet potato. 

Below are two of the creations I came up with last week, with the help of some spices and herbs :)



Ragout: 1c crushed tomatoes, quinoa, chicken, 1c roasted eggplant, and Italian seasonings.



Thai Stirfry: chicken, quinoa, 1/2c each bell peppers, onion, bok choy and carrots, Thai seasonings, lime, chili flakes, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds.



Hitting Plateaus

It's bound to happen - you work your butt off, giving your workouts your all, and staying true to your diet.  You lose lots of weight in the first couple weeks but then, your progress comes to a screeching halt.  When this happens, it's frustrating, discouraging, and makes you want to just abandon the whole project.  Of course there's a scientific reason for it, and you knew it was coming, but that doesn't help to take the sting out of seeing those unforgiving numbers.

That was me this morning. 

Thankfully, I have an awesome nutritionist who always seems to get me out of my funk and bring me back to reality in surprisingly few words lol.  He tells me "It happens.  Keep working hard."

In addition to these words of wisdom, he often change up my diet too.  There are two ways to deal with a plateau: increase your workout intensity, or change your diet.  He likes to play with diet before increasing cardio or number of workouts.  Think of it: it's much easier to cut 200 calories per day by decreasing your serving sizes than it is to find an extra 20 minutes to work out.  Who has that kind of unlimited time?  Not me! lol 

So tomorrow I start Phase 2 of my diet.  It's basically the same as before, but now I'll have a serving of fruit for breakfast and lunch instead of my usual oatmeal and rice.  It's a shift from complex carbs to simpler carbs, as well as an overall decrease in calories.  I'm excited to see what kind of effect this has on my body, and even more excited to eat FRUIT again!!!  Anybody who knows me knows how much I love fresh fruits and vegetables, so I am going to take full advantage of this change to get some much-needed vitamins into my body, and flavours into my mouth!! 

Plateaus can be frustrating, but they can also be an opportunity to change things up.  I'm thinking: berries and banana tomorrow....

Celebrating small victories

I'm feeling pretty darn happy with myself today :)

My first victory happened last night.  After my little incident with the cupcakes last weekend, I had told myself that if I was going to have a cheat meal, it would NOT involve sugar.  Sugar is like my kryptonite (spelling?) and it's best just to stay away from it.  So last night I was rummaging through the cabinets, considering taking a cheat meal, and I found myself face to face with some Oreo cookies.  Now, I don't usually go for processed cookies.  I like soft, gooey, chewy ones, fresh from the oven if possible.  However, Oreos are one of the exceptions; there's just nothing quite like them.  So there I was, holding two of them in my hands thinking "these are going to be delicious" when I remembered my promise to myself and..... I put them down!  Yup, I put those things back in their box, closed it up, and left those suckers behind.  I was sooooo proud of myself!

My second small victory came this morning.  This past week when I've done my morning cardio I've burned about 400 calories for 45 minutes of work.  Today though I burned 500!!  Now, I'm not saying that that's an accurate read on total calories burned, but relatively speaking, I definitely did better today than I have all week.  Maybe it's because I slept for 10 hours last night.  Maybe it's because I had a bit of extra caffeine before the workout.  Maybe it's because I was listening to some great music.  I don't know.

But I'll take those small victories wherever I can get them!!

Injury Deja Vu

Last year I had signed up with my friend Jess to run our first 10k race together in the Ottawa Race weekend in May.  I didn't love running, but wanted to see what all the hullaballoo was about.  I began training a few months out, and actually fell in love with it within the first week lol.  I started running almost every day!  I was super confident in my abilities and thought I was well on my way to completing the 10k in 50mins..... until I fractured my leg.  Simply put: I ran too much too soon.  I was increasing my distance by 30% or more per week, when everybody (apparently) knows you should only increase by 10% weekly.  The doctor told me it was a stress fracture and I should stay off it for at least 6 weeks, maybe longer, depending on how it felt.  Come race time, it still wasn't completely healed so I opted to walk the 5k instead of running the 10k. 

Fast forward to present day.  I've been taking it super easy the last month or so, only running for 20-25 minutes at a time, and only a few times per week.  I started getting that familiar feeling in my leg a few times, but dismissed it as "phantom pain".  Well, this morning when I ran to catch the bus, there was definitely no mistaking it: that stupid injury is back. 

The bad news is that I'm now restricted to just the bike and elliptical for all my cardio work which gets soooooo boring!  Especially as it starts to get nicer out (it's gonna start happening!!!), it's going to be hard not going out for runs.  I'm also an avid walker (love love LOVE to walk), which I'll have to cut back on, too.

The good news though is that the race isn't for another 15 weeks, so even if I take 7 or 8 weeks off, I could still make it in time.  Heck, I'm pretty sure with the amount of cardio I'm doing on a daily basis right now (upward of 70mins) I could definitely FINISH the 10k no problem, though my time wouldn't be as good as I'd like. 

So for now I'm going to keep off it completely for at least 6 weeks.  I'll test it out at the beginning of April, and just go from there.  Think healing thoughts toward my leg! lol

Best Post-Workout Shake Ever!

Lately my 5th meal of the day (salmon and spinach) has been coinciding with my post-workout shake (whey and water).  In an effort to "shake" things up a bit, and out of inspiration from Jess who is always raving about her Green Monsters (smoothies that have been turned green usually due to their use of spinach), I decided to experiment. 

I don't have a fancy name for it yet (Green Gym Monster?), but I promise you this is delicious!

Ingredients:

1 scoop whey (I use either vanilla or cookies 'n cream)

1 cup chilled chai tea

2 hand fulls baby spinach

1/2 tsp stevia

1/2 cinnamon, nutmeg and/or pumpkin pie spice 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Ice cubes if desired

Blend everything for a couple minutes (takes a while for the spinach to become smooth).  This shake is both tasty and filling.  Enjoy :)

Amaaazing Workout

Wow, workout last night was sooooo good!  It was one of those workouts that makes you wanna puke; it hurt so good.... in a Mellencamp way (Glee fans will get this reference lol). 

I started a new program today where I'm doing Back & Shoulders together, twice a week.  The first workout of the week I'll be using heavy weights, drop sets, and supersets, and focussing on combination movements.  The second workout will be more of a "pump up" where I'll decrease my rest between sets, increase the reps, and focus on the smaller muscles with isolation movements.  Last night was the first one, and Ho.Ly.Cow.  It was a quick one because of the giant sets, but it was definitely intense.  I've found that I've been kind of slacking in the intensity department lately (one of the drawbacks to not having a trainer to push you) but not this time - the workout was intense by its very nature. 

Warm up: Lat pulldowns and Arnie Presses
Superset #1: Pullups, Shoulder Presses, T-bar Rows (3 sets; last was a drop set)
Superset #2: Reverse-grip Chinups, Upright Rows, Lateral Raises (3 sets; last was a drop set)
Superset #3: Low Cable Row, Reverse Dumbell Flyes, Hyperextensions (3 sets; last was a drop set)

I then hopped on an elliptical machine for my 25mins of cardio and again gave it everything I had (I think I freaked out the guy beside me with my heavy breathing and grunting lol). 

I definitely felt that I'd left it all on the gym floor once I was done, and that's such a great feeling!  There's no room for self-pity, or excuses, or doubt when you have workouts like that.  It's such an empowering, character-building feeling.  Like you're well on your way to achieving everything you want in life, and nothing can stop you!

Winter/Work Blues

I've definitely fallen into that work rut this winter.... you know, the one where you sit at your desk ALL DAY and barely move.  In the spring and summer (and early fall) I would go outside every day for a long walk at lunch. And because my office is in such a sweet location, I would sometimes do some tanning too! 

But then the winter hit and it all went down the tubes.  When lunch rolls around I look out the window and shudder at the thought of spending anything more than 5 minutes in that blistering cold.  And on the days it's not -20, it's snowy and damp.  Now, from what I understand about normal human behaviour, this is actually a quite normal reaction lol. 

However, by not getting out for lunch, I now face the problem of sitting at my desk for 8 hours straight 5 days a week.  Muscles get tense, back gets sore, eyes go wonky, laziness sets in, and the boredom-induced munchies come on in full force!  Humans were not meant for this.  Not only that, but all those calories I was burning by walking at lunch (I'm a fast walker, so it was up to about 150 calories per day) aren't getting worked off anymore.

So here is my solution.  There are a few options open to me:
1) When I don't take a lunch, I can go home early and spend that extra hour doing something active at home.  Be it swimming, a yoga class, or extra cardio.  This isn't my favourite option because it means that I'm doing alot of activity in the morning, sitting for 8 hours, then doing a ton of activity again in the evening.  I'm looking for something more balanced.
2) Go to hot yoga during lunch.  There's a hot yoga studio close to where I work, so it'd be easy to go a few times per week.  The only problem here is that yoga is friggin' expensive!  This option will depend on money.
3) Suck it up and go for a walk.  Bring extra socks and heavy mitts, and just get out there.
4) Do activity in 15 minute chunks throughout the day.  There's a stairwell in my office that I could climb at lunch, and we have "quiet rooms" big enough to do some stretching and basic bodyweight exercises like squats, pushups, and crunches. 

So I'm going to try to employ one of these alternative every day until it's nice enough to go out again. 

Have I mentioned I can't wait for spring? lol

My name is Tess, and I am a chocoholic

It never fails that as soon as I get into the sweet stuff, I get carried away.  Sugar is definitely more than just a nice treat for me; it's an addiction.  I wake up, go to sleep, and spend my whole day thinking about it.  If there are sweets in a room, I can't focus on anything else.  I try to justify breaking my diet for just a couple bites of whatever sugar I'm confronted with.  Yup, sugar consumes my thoughts and rules my life.  I'm a slave to my sweet tooth.

This week's cheat meal.  I was totally powerless against them.

My favourites include peanut butter ice cream, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, Reeese's peanut butter cups, dark chocolate with nuts, cherry danishes, peanut M&M's, hot chocolate, honey on toast, straight pure maple syrop, and pecan pie.

For the longest time I didn't think it was really a problem.  When I think of junk food, I think of chips and pizza and fries.  All of those things, thankfully, have never been hard for me to turn down; I don't get cravings for salty or fried foods.  I never considered sugar to be junk because it's "natural".... right? It's a commonly known fact that women love chocolate, and therefore it must be ok for me to eat it whenever, and in whatever quantities I like.

Of course, these are just the same types of justifications a smoker would make in order to keep on smoking. (Ok, maybe sweets aren't AS BAD as smoking, but the root problem is the same)  The problem for me isn't so much that I eat them often (maybe once or twice a week).  The problem is that I can't stop thinking about them, and then when I do finally cave in, I can't stop eating them!!  It's like, once I get that sweet taste on my lips.... watch out!

So, what's a girl to do?  Do you treat it like an addiction and never touch the stuff again?  Do you ween yourself off or go cold-turkey?  Do you switch to "natural", unprocessed sugars only?  What about substitutes like Stevia?  At least when I'm dieting it's a bit easier to keep things in check, because there's obviously no sugar allowed (except in cheat meals).  But what about the other 8 months of the year?

I'm not really sure where I was going with all this lol.  I think I just needed to get it all out in the open.  Though if anybody knows of a nicotine patch-equivalent for chocoholics, or has any tricks they'd like to share, I'd be much obliged!

Yes, LEGS!

Wow, amazing leg workout today!  For the last month or so I've been employing the "pre-exhaust" theory for my legs (specifically, my glutes) and it's definitely been kicking my butt! (Pun definitely intended lol)  Usually when you order a workout, you start with your biggest muscle groups then work your way to the smallest, to avoid fatiguing the smaller ones before you're done your workout.  The Pre-Exhaust theory is that you do the reverse of this.  The idea here is that you really torch the smaller muscle you're targeting, thereby creating greater gains in the end (the more you break it down, the more it has to repair itself.  And of course we all know that the muscle grows when it repairs).  Now, this isn't a technique beginners should use; it's more for intermediate-advanced level people.  But I think it's a really great way to shake up your routine at the gym!

Here's a sample of what I've been doing:
Warmup squats with medium weight
Superset 1 cable kickbacks, weighted step-ups (alternate legs so you do both exercises with one leg, then move on to the other leg, and keep switching back-and-forth)
Superset 2 one-legged bridges on a bosu ball, lying abductor lifts, stationary lunges (alternating legs again)
Superset 3 hamstring curl, walking lunges
Finish with calves

If there are any trainers reading this blog, I'd be interested to get your feedback on this - what do you think?

New posing suits

Yesterday I went to see Joan of Daydreams Fitness Wear (located in Ottawa, ON) for a fitting of my two new posing suits.  Joan designed my suit for the last comp and I was sooo happy with the end product - it fit beautifully and looked great.  Joan is creative and fresh, is easy to work with and has very competitive pricing;  I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a suit, especially people in the Ottawa-Gatineau area.  I must not be the only person who feels this way either, since ALL of the girls in my fitness category were wearing her suits last time!  Seriously, she is going to be the next big thing.... get her while she still has spots open!

Anyways, I was super excited to see what she'd come up with for me this time.  We'd picked out some colours last month and bounced around a couple of ideas, but I didn't know what they would look like until I went down to her studio and saw this:

Sexy, right?  Left is for figure (still needs rhinestones), right is for fitness.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to share pics and spoil the surprise but.... I'm just too excited! haha  Next time you see these suits they will be on ME, and believe it or not, they will look even BETTER!

A Day in the Life Of....

For anyone curious as to the lifestyle, here is what a typical day looks like for me:

5:30am - Wake up, put on my runners, brush my teeth (can't stand doing cardio with plaque lol)
5:45 - 45 mins of cardio at moderate intensity (recumbent bike, elliptical, treadmill, or a run if it's nice out).  Finish up with a bit of stretching
6:45 - Meal #1:  plain oatmeal, egg white omelet with veggies, and water or green tea.  While I make breakfast I'm also running around getting ready for work
7:30 - EAT said breakfast!  Favourite meal of the day.
7:50 - Go to work for 8am.  Savour life-saving coffee on bus
10:00 - Meal #2: whey protein and EFA's.  Get up and stretch. Finish drinking 1L of water.
12:00 - Meal #3: chicken, veggies, and rice or sweet potatoes.  1L water. 
12:30 - Either stretch or go for a walk
2:00 - Stretch again.  By this time in the day, my back is getting very angry with me for having a desk job!
3:00 - Meal #4: tilapia, EFA's.  1L water.
4:00 - Done work!  Jump on the bus and head straight to the gym.
4:30 - Weight training
5:30 - More cardio!  25 minutes of intervals following every weight session
6:00 - Stretch and drink post-workout shake.... feels so good :)
6:30 - Meal #5: salmon and spinach
7:30 - Walk the dog.  By this time I'm starting to slow down and I'm wondering whether the dog really NEEDS to be walked.  But, alas, he needs his exercise too.
8:00 - Meal #6: egg, tea. Prep lunch for tomorrow (cook meat, chop veggies, weigh and measure everything)
8:30- Veg in front of the boob tube.
10:30pm - Goodnight world!

As you can see, it's pretty regimented lol.  I doubt everybody is as "scheduled" as this, but I find it helps me to make sure I'm doing everything I need to do. 

Progress pics

Talk about putting yourself out there....

I've decided to put up weekly pictures and measurements of myself to display my progress.  Hopefully this will serve as extra incentive to follow my diet and workout plan as closely and perfectly as possible.  Either that or it will scar me for life lol.  Hoping for the former!

This is a pic of me today, at 15 weeks out and weighing 129lbs:

Now don't judge... it was early in the morning and I hadn't done my hair or makeup yet!  I've lost 6lbs since I started 3 weeks ago. 

This week's goal is to get down to 127!