Country and Corgis: April 2015

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Meal Plan Week 15

Today I want to share my fitbit workout calendar with you.

Look at that! I have been rocking my workouts the last 2 weeks. And I want you to know that I almost ruined it today. I slept in, like til 10:30 (I went to bed at 11...). I didn't want to get out of my warm bed with the snuggly puppy. I told myself, "Go get breakfast, then get dressed, and you'll have the energy for your T25." I drank my Shakeology while watching Sunday's Kardashians. Then I proceeded to waste the next 45 minutes procrastinating. Facebook, Daily Mail, updates on Baltimore, Instagram, Pinterest... I had zero motivation to get up and get moving. The struggle was real folks. But I did it. And I rocked it. I felt strong the whole workout and even did an exercise without using Tanya (the low impact modifier). When I finished I honestly felt so much better than when I started.

Penny weeds the pool deck while I do my workouts!

Part of the journey is teaching my body to do and enjoy exercise. Learning that eating well and exercise truly does make my body feel good. Everyday is a new chance to build new habits and learn to listen to my body. Trust me, I want to be sitting on the couch binge watching TV right now. But the sun is shining, I'm dressed and ready for the day, and I've got things to do! Here's what we're eating to give this body the energy it needs to get through the next 3 workouts.

Monday:

Cajun Chicken Pasta

*Made this last night. I wish I hadn't bothered with making the sauce. It was a disaster.*

Tuesday:

Zesty Garlic Lemon Tilapia with Roasted Asparagus and Rice

Wednesday:

Cheddar Ranch Chicken Burgers with Baked Fries and a Salad

Thursday:

Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas

Friday:

Mock Lasagna with Salad

*Words cannot describe how good this dish is. I crave it! Most made recipe off Pinterest*

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Meal Plan Week 14

Let this be motivation for you. The scale does not define you. It does not define your hard work. It does not measure the worth of your effort. It is just a number in a box. Don't let the scale put you in a box.

I KILLED IT last week with my workouts. I got a workout in every single day, except for Saturday. I made it to the gym M-W-F-Su, and rocked a T25 workout on T-Th. I even got a little yard work done on Saturday, so I wasn't a complete couch potato. I'm noticing my endurance increasing with my elliptical and bike routines. I'm lifting heavier and for more reps, and adding in new free weight strength exercises.

I knew I was going to have 2 meals out this week, so I tried to pinch my calories where I could. I made a couple dietary mistakes, but I recognized them and talked about them with E so I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

I lost no weight.

It's craft beer week here in Pittsburgh. The coolest part of that is all the collaboration brews. How cool is it that brewers around the city get together to brew unique, small brewed collaboration beers? These beers are only available during craft beer week, and when they're gone, they're gone. Finding these beers often involves a scavenger hunt around the city. This year there were 8 different collabs, and they were all on tap at my neighborhood craft beer and pizza place! Now now, don't worry your pretty little head. I did not drink 8 beers (whew! maybe that's why the scale isn't moving!). I thought I was going to have to drink 8 beers to taste all of the collabs, but thank goodness for flights! Caliente, the craft beer pizza place, offered 4 4oz pours of the beers. So in trying all 8, I only consumed 16oz of beer (I split the flights with my husband).

It's all about choices people. Last year I fo sho would have been drinking 8 beers. Because I needed them after working in the ICU, lol! But really, every little choice that you make helps you get one step closer to being a healthier you. Eat an apple instead of that cookie, swap popcorn for potato chips, take the stairs instead of the elevator.

The scale hasn't moved in a week. It's not the end of the world. I am smarter. I am stronger. I am healthier. Focus on the positive improvements that you're making to your life, and I promise that you will see progress. Good luck with focusing on your goals this week!

Here's what we have on the dinner menu this week. I'm recycling some stuff that didn't get eaten last week.

Monday:

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Tuesday:

Southwest Stuffed Peppers and Mexican Rice

Wednesday:
Ranch Pork Chop Shake 'n Bake

Thursday:

Teryaki Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce and Jasmin Rice

Friday:

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Monday, April 13, 2015

Meal Plan Week 13

Happy Monday lovelies! Life has been busy here in the McCarty household. E has been working 60 hours per week. I have been refocusing my energies back to getting healthy. I said one of my goals for 2015 was to use this blog as accountability, and I'm sorry readers that I fell off the wagon the last couple weeks. I've been struggling with motivation and progress. The past 3 weeks have been a standstill. No weightloss, poor exercise commitment, and poor housewife commitment (haha). It's hard to not see progress and keep committed. One of my problems has been staying on track during the week, but when the weekend comes I feel like it's ok to splurge. Or if I've been to the gym, it's ok to eat those extra 200 calories. I've also been drinking more and more diet soda.

I took some time to refocus myself and realize that even though I haven't lost weight in the past 3 weeks, I also haven't gained any. While the scale hasn't moved, I've noticed progress at the gym and with my workouts. I started this journey barely able to complete the low impact version of T25 cardio. I've been doing the workout now for about a month, probably at least once a week. I can now get through the entire workout without feeling like I'm going to puke and without taking a rest. That's huge progress! Another struggle was maintaining my endurance on the elliptical. This past Sunday I totally rocked my workout. 45 minutes non-stop on the elliptical while maintaining an average speed of 3.6 (w/e that unit of measurement actually is). That's huge progress from only being able to maintain that speed for about 10 minutes or so. Let's remind ourselves that the mirror and scale are not the only indicators of progress.

Are you struggling like me? Just remember to take things one day at a time. Progress and change do not happen overnight, but all of your hard work will pay off!

I've got a couple of events this week, so I really need to kill it with my workouts and really try and focus on my nutrition. My goal this week is to eat an apple if I'm craving a sweet snack, and a 100 calorie pack of popcorn if I'm craving salty. Here's what else we're eating this week.

Monday:

Brother's Birthday Dinner