Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Wednesday Workout Motivation

  



I'm always looking for ways to motivate myself to loose weight.  But a bigger problem is to remember what I've lost, and what I've accomplished.  So I started looking for some motivation.



First, I found this great idea to motivate workouts:  Money.  Let's be honest, that is a great way to motivate just about anyone.  Putting a $1 in the jar for everytime you work out, I think is a great idea.  For me, I'd be a $1 for every point of activities I earn on WW.  I use their activity tracer, so I'm going to use that to help me start tracking money for my work out jar.





The other thing I found that I really liked was using marbles (or pennies, or whatever else I have lying around the house that is small and in large amounts lying around the house) to keep track of pounds to go and track pounds that you've lost.  I think that this was a great idea because no matter how frustrated I get on my weight loss journey, this would always remind me of what I've already accomplished.








For a workout idea this week, I found myself trying to find arm workouts that don't require weights right now.  I don't have any, so I'm starting out slowly without weights until I can afford them.


Both of these workouts have been good, though I'm able to do more with the 5 min to toned arms than the Weight-free Arms.

So here is to loosing it... Slowly, but surely! Cana Elene



Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Weigh-in: August 11

So I didn't loose any weight this week... But I also didn't gain anything!  Yay!  I also discovered that my weight is shifting around.  I lost inches in my waist and hips, but I gained inches in my arms and thighs.

Weight:  265.2 lbs
Dress Size: 20
Thighs:  28.5 in
Arms:  18.5 in
Bust:  45 in
Waist:  41.5 in
Hips:  50.5 in

What I've done this week:
  • I packed all my meals & snacks for my job.  I even pre-programmed them into my weight watchers app.  
  • I walked 4 out of 7 days this week.  
  • I cut down drinking 1 sweet tea only on the days that I work.  The rest of the time I only drink water.
What I'm going to try this week:
  • So, I'm going to try giving up sweet tea this week, just to see if that might help.  Trying all water for a week to see if I see a difference. 
  • I'm going to try some new arm workouts, as well as some of the barre workouts for my thighs.  
  • Going to try and eat smaller point meals.  See how that works, because most of my meals have been high points, plus snacks.  

So here is to loosing it... Slowly, but surely! Cana Elene

Friday, August 8, 2014

Foodie Friday: Work Food

I work for a call center, on 12 hour shifts.  The work isn't bad, but I am sitting for 12 hours, with 2- 10 min breaks and 2- 15 min breaks, so meals and snacks are eaten all in front of my computer.  That can be hard, and if I'm not careful, I'll eat more that I  normal would if I was sitting at a table.  So what do you do?  You do the old fashioned packing of the lunch.

I purchased a 3-pack of snack containers (for snacks and breakfasts) and a 3-pack of long entree containers.  All together they were about $7 (with tax).  I plan on getting a few more of each to help do other packing.

So, lets work on breakfast.





My breakfast for work is generally pretty simple.  I do a packet of instant grits, a hard boiled egg, and a Laughing Cow cheese wedge in Queso Fresco & Chipotle.  When I finally make the grits, it will be with water for about 1 minute in the microwave.  It is simple, filling, and pretty yummy.



Total WW PP: 5 PP





Snacks:


I pack enough snacks for 2 snacks.  I packed 2 cheese sticks, a pack of Vanilla Roast Almonds, and a Big Slice Pure Kettle Cooked Apples (think applesauce, but better).
My first snack is 1 cheese stick & nuts
My second snack is 1 cheese stick & apples

First Snack WW PP: 4 PP
Second Snack:  WW PP: 3 PP


Lunch:


So this week, I'm working only 3 days.  So what I am doing is prepping 3 days worth of lunches.  They are a bit more indepth than the breakfast and snacks, but they are so worth it!

What you will need:  





  • 1 cup of Sugar Snap Peas
  • 1 cup of Summer Squash
  • 1 cup of Carrots
  • 2 medium Onions
  • 1- 10.5 oz potato
  • 8 oz chicken breast
  • 7 oz chicken gizzards (don't knock it till you tried it)
  • 1 Garlic Clove or 2 tsp of Garlic paste
  • Olive Oil Spray (I use Pam, but any kind will do)
  • 1 pack of Idahoan Smashed Potatoes (instant)

All of this is enough to make 4 meals (I had the 4 serving for lunch).


To make the Summer Veggie Mix:
Spray the pan for 2 seconds with the olive oil spray.  Put the sliced onions and garlic in.  Cook until onions begin to soften (you might need to add a bit of water to make sure that it doesn't scorch or stick).  Add  the carrots.  Cook until carrots begin to soften (about 5 min).  Add the snap peas & squash.  Cook with lid on for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally.  Then remove lid and cook for another 10 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated.
 And this is the end result:

Doesn't it look yummy.  You get about 3.5 cups of this mix.

The chicken breast I cut up into chunks and separated it out into 2 servings of 4 oz.  You can season it how ever you want.  What I did was I used Cajun seasoning to help give it a nice bite.

The gizzards were a 4 oz serving for work and 3 oz serving for lunch at home.

I did prep some roasted potatoes.  The prep is pretty easy.  Cut up the potato into chunks.  Spray for 2 seconds on the pan, to ensure they don't stick. Then place potatoes into the pan, and spray them for 3 second with olive oil.  Next, I used about 2 Tbsp of Mrs. Dash seasoning (you pick what you want), and just sprinkled it onto the potatoes.  I cooked them for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Finished Product:  
lunch at home (the leftovers from prepping work meals)
 With all these bowls, I just pack them up into a old plastic bag to carry them to work.  The only thing I didn't account for is my daily does of caffeine, which is 8 oz of sweet tea for 2 PP.



Doesn't it all look good?  The Gizzard Bowl is 9 PP , and the Chicken Breast Bowl is 9 PP each.  If you don't like gizzards, just switch it out for another meat that is low in PP.  

All together, I will use about 24 PP, with 18 PP left for dinner.  

So, see you next Friday for another Foodie Friday.

So here is to loosing it... Slowly, but surely! Cana Elene

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Wednesday Workout Motivation - What gets you going?


Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

What great works to help motivate you to loose weight and work out.  So, what are you doing?

I'm currently walking 5-6 nights a week with my boyfriend Mike, and we've been doing this since the end of March.  But, I realized as I weighed in on Monday that there are a lot of areas that aren't worked on when you are only walking.  So I did something I do a lot of when I need inspiration: Get on Pinterest.  I found a lot of great suggestions.  Below is the one I'm going to use (along with walking) for the next 60 days.  The great thing about this one is that I can do this on my breaks at work (yay! no getting up early to do it!)


I think this will be a simple thing.  It is stair step.  But I've also thought that if I have to, I'll mix it up.  Because if I have realized anything, I have a tendency to get bored.  So I found some great beginner's work outs on youtube.com.

I found this one.  It was pretty good.  I was only able to do about 8 minutes out of a 30 min workout.  But my goal is to try and do this same workout until I can do the whole thing.  It might take a few weeks, but I think I can do it.



So what motivation do you take and where do you get your inspiration?

So here is to loosing it... Slowly, but surely! Cana Elene

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Weigh-in: August 4, 2014

This weigh-in is a partial week.  By healthy eating 3 days in a row, I was able to drop 4.8 pounds.  I do believe that the biggest help was me packing my lunch/snacks ahead of time.  I am going to keep trying that for work, as well as starting to pack my breakfast.... Lets see if that helps more.

Weight: 265.2 lbs
Dress Size: 20
Thighs: 28 in
Arms: 18 in
Bust: 45 in
Waist: 43 in
Hips: 51 in

So here is to loosing it... Slowly, but surely! Cana Elene

Monday, August 4, 2014

It's been so long, let's start over.

Hey y'all.

It has been a while, but I'm fixing that.  I've started Weight Watchers again.  I believe that I need to, and I want to be healthy... And on a completely selfish reason, I want to be a size 16 or 18 for my sister's wedding in October.

So this time, I'm trying something new.  Not only weighing in, but also measuring.  I am also doing some tricks for work, specifically for meals and snacks.

So, I started back on Friday, August 1.  Here were all my weight/measurements for August first:

Weight: 270 lbs
Dress Size: 20
Thighs: 30 in
Arms: 18 in
Bust: 46 in
Waist: 44.5 in
Hips: 53 in

I'll be posting soon my current weight/measurements for August 4th, 2014.  And keep checking back for great ideas for food!

So here is to loosing it... Slowly, but surely! Cana Elene

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Influenster Voxbox: Dr. Scholl's Active Series Insoles


This is a great product. I really liked using them. My main problems were 1.) Size of the product and 2.) the actual fit (like in the shoe). 

The insoles really help my bad knee (runner's knee). While I was jogging, it really made a difference. And when I was doing cardio, it really helped. 

My problem with size is that I'm a woman, and the insoles only goes up to 11. I wear size 12. But if I buy the men's sized insoles, the smallest size they go down to is 10.5 (which is .5 size bigger than what I need). 

My problem with the fit is that it really makes my shoes feel like they are about to fall off my feet.

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

So here is to loosing it... Slowly, but surely! Cana Elene