enroutetoahealthylifestyle

Week 2

2011-06-06T23:59:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I made it to the gym 2 times and weighed in at the same as last week - 165.4 lbs - so all in all, not a bad week. again, i tried to stick with staying away from sugary temptations but will admit to caving to low fat ice cream and berries ;) I didn't snack between meals unless it was healthy or nutritious (e.g. carrot sticks, celery w/peanut butter, fruit). So for week 3, I am upping my exercise component up to 4 times per week by adding Baby Boot Camp in for the next three weeks to make up for missed sessions. Once I have completed those, then I will replace them with the Tracy Anderson Post-Pregnancy video.

Week 1

2011-05-29T20:27:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I only did the diet plan I noted for the first 3 days, but since I woke up with a massive headache day 3 again and then was sick due to the headache, and not pumping much milk, I decided to go off the plan and just eat healthfully. So I weighed in this morning at 165.4 lbs, so I think I did pretty well. I just stayed away from junk food and only had healthy snacks (celery w/peanut butter, grapes, berries, etc.). Tried to ensure I was drinking 8 glasses of water a day and so far it seems to be working! Now, just to get the workouts on track! I only made it to the gym once last week, so next week I will go twice and try and get the Tracy Anderson Post-Pregnancy DVD in 3 other days....wish me luck!

Day 2 - Tracy Anderson diet plan

2011-05-23T20:27:00.002-06:00

Okay, so day 2 is almost over...started with a really bad headache and I'm not sure if it was due to the lower quantity of food I ate or the rainy weather we're currently having here...oh well. This morning I weighed in because I was curious and I was at 167, so down 2.2 lbs from yesterday morning...so tomorrow I will do the post-pregnancy video again plus I also have a 30 min session with my trainer. I had planned to do it today but we woke up late and baby kept me pretty busy, my plan is to do it when she's still sleeping in the morning. Okay, not much to report today, didn't feel too hungry other than I think I want food for the sake of wanting food, not really hungry. As I mentioned, I'm a nursing mom so I pump milk every morning and this morning I pumped a lot less then yesterday but since some days it is just like that, I'm hoping it's not my diet that is contributing to the lower quantity...ok, that's it for now!

Post-pregnancy weight loss

2011-05-22T21:20:00.008-06:00

Okay, so it's been quite a while since I posted and I've had a few life changes...for the good! I have a 7 month old baby girl who was born in October, so now I need to lose the rest of my "baby weight". Since I was given the go ahead from my doctor back in December I have been working out 3-5 times per week. This was done through a Mom and Baby bootcamp I attended on Mondays and Wednesdays called Babies, Bellies and Beyond, Tuesdays and Fridays I met with my trainer at Goodlife Fitness for a 30 min session, then on Thursdays I went to a Mom and Baby Challenge at the community centre where I live. I have done alright but haven't really followed an eating plan and I didn't sign up for the next boot camp or challenge since the summer is upon us and I want to have less commitments and enjoy the last few months of my mat leave but I still need to kick the last 15-20 lbs to get me back to my pre-pregnancy weight and then continue a little further. So I feel like I am now strong enough to do home videos, so I have ordered the Post-pregnancy workout from http://www.tracyandersonmethod.com/ and tried it a couple of times and it's quite doable (I previously ordered her cardio and mat routine prior to finding out I was pregnant but thought they would be a little too much for me right now as I remember the cardio workout almost impossible and the mat workout was very challenging so I will have to work up to those). I have also decided to try out her 6 week diet plan posted at:

http://www.oodora.com/fitness/fat-loss-and-cellulite/madonnas-trainer-tracy-anderson-on-how-to-lose-20-pounds-in-6-weeks.html

I'm a little ansy about trying it as I am still breastfeeding and it's pretty restrictive but is only supposed to be used for a short term so I will see how the first week goes...Day 1 went ok so far...not feeling hungry more just want to snack out of habit not out of hunger which is definitely something I need to change.

Okay, so here's my progress...

January assessment was as follows:
Weight 177.8 lbs
BMI 34.7
Waist 40.25 in
Hips 46.5 in
Upper arm 14.75 in
Chest 43.75 in
Thigh 26 in

April assessment was:
Weight 173.2 lbs
BMI 33.8
Waist 38.75 in
Hips 44.5 in
Upper arm 13.75 in
Chest 43.25
Thigh 25.75 in

Today:
Weight 169.2 lbs
Waist 37. in
Hips 44 in
Upper arm 14 in
Chest 43 in
Thigh 24.5 in

So follow me along my journey and cheer me on to a lower weight!

Day 1 after the Lemonade Diet

2009-04-09T22:12:00.002-06:00

so...I started the day out with 16 0z of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (on account I don't like oranges) but my stomach started to get all growly so I decided to have a mini mango smoothy from Jugo Juice and then a tomato soup from the food court. That seemed to be okay and keep my stomach happy...later on I had an herbal tea from Starbucks. Then for dinner, since I didn't have time to go home, I had another smoothie, a Brazilian Thunder from Booster Juice, which all went down fine. Also, I should note that I drank water throughout the day...so all seems to be going well so far. I tempted some unsalted saltines, which I just have about 5, so we'll see how my stomach takes it...I think it will be alright...was kind of afraid to eat anything solid today so...we'll see tomorrow!

Day 4 of the Lemonade Diet

2009-04-08T21:31:00.006-06:00

Okay, so Day 4....I am actually thinking this is not too bad, I could likely go on for a few more days. This seems very doable...I even managed Pilates class today with no extra effort. Energy levels still good!

Anyway, I think today will be my last day for now due to the fact it's Easter weekend and I invited family over for Easter Dinner on Saturday, and since it takes a couple of days to get back to solid food....so my first tip is, plan! I honestly didn't know how long I would last but this cleanse isn't that bad. I haven't been as hungry as I thought I would be. There's been a couple of moments today where my stomach growled so loudly that my coworkers couldn't believe that was my stomach! Oops...

I will have to say, that for the first couple of days I didn't have any bowel movements, which I was a little concerned about after I spoke with my friend who's also doing the cleanse. Of course, then I drank more of the laxative tea and then have had a total of four #2s today. I purposely avoided the salt water & water mixture as I heard that was pretty nasty....and I didn't want to deal with it at work. My friend said it cleaned her right out and was pretty gross...thanks, I think I will pass this time...

So for the first couple of days I experimented with drinking a hot concoction the first couple of days but then realized it tastes much better cold. Really, it tastes like lemonade, and pretty tasty. Thirst quenching even!

So tomorrow will be interesting....I believe I am supposed to start with orange juice, which is a bit of a problem, considering I don't like the stuff. Maybe I will substitute with grapefruit juice...stay tuned to find out how the re-introduction goes...

Day 3 of the Lemonade Diet

2009-04-08T10:04:00.000-06:00

So Day 3 came and went. Energy level was better due to the fact I got a better night's sleep the night before. I felt okay but was pretty tired by the time I hit my 8:45 pm dance class, which is pretty high energy so my coordination was a little bit lacking....kept tripping over my two left feet. So not sure if that was a factor of the diet or not. I did have a crazy stomach pain in the afternoon, but I it seemed to correlate with the cayenne pepper pill I took. I suddenly got a sharp pain and then felt really hot and clammy, if that makes any sense?

I was talking with my friend who is also doing it with me and she noted that she had done the salt concoction in the morning, which totally cleaned her out. In contrast, I haven't had a single bowel movement in the three days...hmmmm....doesn't sound good, maybe I'm not drinking enough of the laxative tea?

Day 2 of the Lemonade Diet

2009-04-06T21:15:00.003-06:00

Okay, so we're at the end of day 2. The day started off not too bad. Mixed up my lemony drink in my thermal coffee mug and took it to work. Sipped on it throughout the day, making more as I needed. Lunch came and went, and I pretty much worked through it so didn't notice if I was hungry or not. No headaches today but by the end of the day, I was feeling rather low on the energy factor, which I guess I pretty much expected anyway. This was compounded by the fact that I stayed up until 1 am last night reading...not the smartest of moves, I guess.

So I got home earlier than usual. Mixed up another drink, read some more of my book. So about 7:30 or 8 pm, my stomach started to feel hollow and empty and that "hungry" feeling came along. So I decided to go and make the laxative tea that the recommmend, which isn't all that bad but doesn't seem to be making the situation any better. I think it's time to go to bed soon...tomorrow's another day!

Day 1 of the Lemonade Diet

2009-04-05T19:50:00.003-06:00

So it's now 8 pm and I've gone the entire day sipping the lemonade diet concoction as I described yesterday. So far, not too bad. I ended up taking cayenne pepper pills vs. including the spice in my drink. The drink is a sweet lemony hot drink, kind of reminds me of neo citran or lemon-honey tea, I'd say. Near the end of the day, I started to get a bit of a headache and had a big growling moment from the stomach....think I should probably be drinking the mix at least once an hour to fend away such sounds. They recommend 6-12 8-oz glasses per day, I think that I should go towards the maximum end as when boredom creeps in, I start to think about food (probably because it's forbidden). A friend of mine also decided to try it with me, much to my husband's dismay. He is vehemently opposed to this experiment....

I think I will go to bed earlier today, catch up on sleep and well, not think about food!

2009-04-04T18:03:00.004-06:00

Okay, so tommorow I've decided to start the "Master Cleanse" also know as the "Lemonade Diet". A colleague of mine has tried it before and highly recommended it. It involves an 8 oz. concoction of maple syrup, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and hot water to be drank 6-12 times per day for 10 to 40 days. According to my colleague, she managed 6 days and only stopped due to the fact she lost 9 lbs in 6 days and that was not her intention. Other than that, she said she didn't feel hungry or have any lack of energy and in fact, did hot yoga twice during those 6 days. She actually felt that she had more energy then she normally did. So today I went out and bought the ingredients and plan to start tomorrow. So follow me on my journey as I try this detox out - which will be the one and only detox I have ever tried. I am hoping this will kick start my plan...stay tuned!!

One week later...

2009-04-01T00:48:00.003-06:00

It seems I haven't gotten any further than where I started last week for two reasons: 1) work got a little crazy and I ended up working all weekend 2) last Thursday I ended up getting a sinus cold and have been battling it ever since by popping cold tablets...

So my plan was to get on a plan towards living healthfully and exercising regularly. I will say, I do regularly attend two classes during the week. On Tuesdays, a friend and I attend a dance class called Burlesquercise (http://www.burlesquercise.ca), which is lots of fund and a really good work out. Today was the last one of this session but next week we are starting something called Cabaret Cane! Should be fun! Then on Wednesdays, I am taking a beginners Pilates mat class at a studio here in Calgary http://www.bodyandmindworks.com which was recommended by my dance instructor's Pilates instructor. I am really enjoying the class and plan on signing up for another session. On top of that, I have signed up at a new yoga studio here in Calgary (http://www.yogasantosha.ca) but have only made it to one session....

Okay, clearly my next step is to organize a solid eating plan that I will be less likely to stray from. In the past I have tried weight watchers, ediets, losin' it, Dr. Bernstein, and various other crazy diets...trying to decide if one is better or if I should try and make a real attempt at just trying to eat better and within certain times of the day....suggestions?

2009-03-25T22:35:00.000-06:00

Okay, so how many of you out there sit in front of a computer all day at work? I know there's a few of us, and lately I've noticed my posture, eating habits, and exercise habits have all gone the wayside. On this blog, I am going to focus on ways to embrace a healthy lifestyle via making the right choices albeit exercise, diet, activities, whatever works to get me to the end goal of getting in shape, living a healthier lifestyle, and losing weight so that my back and body are strengthened and my attitude and outlook is more positive. Please join me on this journey as I experiment with different options to get me there!