Aloha Friday

Kailani at An Island Life does Aloha Friday and here is what she has to say:

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

My question to you is:

When you don’t have time to blog, do you write things down and try to blog about them later? Or do you just let them go?

I write things down…but I’m so far behind I don’t know if I’ll ever really post about them! Besides, who wants to hear my thoughts on American Idol Season 8 anyway?

What I Learned This Week

It’s not my birthday that make me feel old, it’s my kids birthdays. Especially when my baby turns 7…going on 17.

You can see the glass half full or half empty. I chose half full.

Beyonce really is the hottest chick in the game…wearing Jay Z’s chain.

The Diet – Post 4, Day 32

So…I’ve been a bad girl. Last week was a really hard week for me.

#1 – I’m a stress eater. I was feeling stressed about lots of things; planning a birthday party, PTA/Primary duties, regular old motherly/household duties, etc. I’m mean, seriously – how many outfits are my kids wearing a day?? Does anyone else do 10 loads of laundry every few days?? And who has time to fold it all??

#2 – When I’m busy, it’s hard to eat every 2-3 hours. I had a couple of slip ups too. I ate 3 pieces of Papa John’s pizza and a container of garlic sauce at Lila’s birthday party. I’m PRETTY sure that wasn’t part of the diet plan. Although the garlic is healthy…right? Right? Ok, who am I kidding. I get a FAIL stamp on my head for last week.

I was really anxious about going to weigh in because I’d been so bad. But believe it or not, I was actually still down 2 pounds! I’ll take it. And I was down 4 inches around his hips and waist after 2 weeks! Hooray! So it’s working even though I’m not making it any easier on myself. I feel a renewed sense of motivation this week. 2 reasons why:

#1: (Why am I always making lists?…) Skyler gave me a very specific diet plan to follow for the next week. I love it because it’s easier for me to follow something that tells me EXACTLY what to do.

#2: The new CD we are listening to helps you figure out what makes you feel stressed out by identifying self-sabotaging and limiting beliefs. Basically – am I stressed because I think I should be stressed? I don’t know. I enjoy doing all the things I do. Sometimes I just feel like it all comes at once. Maybe it’s all in my mind and I do have the time and resources to get it all done. Can I just change my attitude about it? We’ll see what I learn. If anything, I’ve already learned that these Mastering The Mind hypno-therapy CD’s put me into a coma. But I always seem to wake up right when they are done. Kinda creepy. Kinda interesting.

I’ve made a new and exciting goal for myself: I want to run in the Utah Valley Marathon! Who’s with me? When I was running intervals on the treadmill last night, I was able to do 5 sets at 8 MPH, my fastest yet! My friend Erica told me how much she loves to run fast (10 MPH) and I used to think she was crazy. Now I’m beginning to understand…

We’ll see what the next week brings! I’m feeling good…so bring it on!

#1: I’m wasn’t eating enough. Strange but true! After IdealShape posted an example meal plan of what a 130 pound person should be eating, I was shocked. For example, the breakfast is listed as:

2 Egg Whites
1 whole omega-3 Eggs
4 Strips Extra Lean Turkey Bacon
3/4 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup onions
1/3 cup green peppers
1/4 cup tomatoes
1 oz Cheese

Do you realize how big of an omelet this makes? It’s HUGE! Not to mention the fact you are also supposed to eat 4 strips of turkey bacon. (Which is surprisingly good) The plan is to eat a snack 2-3 hours after you eat this monster omelet and repeat 3 more times throughout the day. So I’ve thrown up my arms and said, “Ok, ok. I’ll eat until I’m full if I have to.” Eating this much also takes a lot of planning. If you aren’t ready, you are going to get off-track really easy. On the days I didn’t take the time to plan out my day, I’ve found that when it comes time for me to eat I’m too indecisive about what to eat. Then more time passes and I find myself starving and ready to eat a cold hot dog. Not good.

#2: I like water. This is a big thing for me. I don’t really like the way water tastes and would only drink plain water when I was super thirsty. I would say I had a small addiction to Crystal Light. But Skyler said even though it contains a sugar substitute and very few calories, it can still give you cravings. I decided to go cold turkey and cut it out while I get myself back into shape. I’ve only had plain water to drink for the last 2 weeks! This is something I haven’t done before with any diet. I’m guessing I would have to attribute some of this to the Mastering the Mind CD I’ve been listening to. It walks me through looking forward to starting my day with a glass of water – and I do. We’ll see what else I uncover as I get a little further into the program. I was also surprised to find that 8 glasses isn’t really that much. I’ve been drinking around about 10-12 glasses a day. I’m getting used to it and the peeing like a banshee is finally starting to subside. (I don’t really know how a banshee pees, but it sounds like a lot )

#3: I don’t have narcolepsy, I was just being lazy. My energy levels have gone WAY up. Last week I didn’t have the urge to take a 2 PM nap with my kids like I usually do. I feel great and I’m sure my husband has been pleased with my rise in production.

So far, so good! I can’t believe I’m starting my 3rd week and I still feel like I’m going strong. I’m usually about ready to give up by now. I feel like this could be a great week so stay tuned for my results next Monday.

#1: Cut out the carbs on my cardio days. No breads, tortillas, potatoes etc. I can have a serving of fruit, but only if I have it with my protein shake.

#2: On the days I do eat carbs, I’m going to keep it to a minimum and only whole grains.

#3: I’m going to step it up (2 tha streets) with my cardio. No slacking! And I’ve found that 5:30 is an excellent time to go to the gym. No one tried to push me off the treadmill and take it. That’s a plus.

#1: Track EVERYTHING you eat on DailyBurn.com and stay within your calorie, carb, fat and protein goals. And by EVERYTHING I mean even the bad stuff you don’t want anyone to know you stuffed down your throat. It’s amazing – they have pretty much every food with a listed nutritional value on the site. And it’s a little surprising how many calories are in each “serving size”. I say “serving size” with “quotes” because a serving size measured out is way smaller than say, the amount of cereal I would normally just dump into my bowl for breakfast. You can also add motivators to your account who can look at your goals and meals you’ve had to help motivate you (hence the name motivators…) and keep you on track. One downside – you have to pay to access all of the features such as advanced meal planning, printable charts and tracking of the other nutritional factors. One upside – If you can refer 3 people to sign up you get a month of PRO for free. So let me know if you want to sign up and I’ll send you an invite!

#2: Eat 6 small meals a day, take your supplementation and drink your shakes. IdealShape has proprietary products that go along with their program. The shake is actually really great tasting and contains a natural appetite suppressant. The ResveraShape supplement doesn’t make me feel weird. It does have caffeine in it, which happens to be a plus for me because I’ve cut out my precious Diet Dr Pepper. I’ve found that eating 6 small meals works better for me. I feel full all (at least most) of the time, so I don’t have the urge to pour Nesquik into my mouth dry and chew it up. I can make it 2 -3 hours.

#3: Listen to the Mastering The Mind CD often. This is where it’s a little strange for me. Although it makes sense, I’ve always had a hard time with hypno-anything. I did take a hypno-birthing class and couldn’t get over trying to “visualize myself as a fetus floating in a warm cocoon of fluid”. I don’t care how much warm liquid I was subconsciously floating in, I wasn’t making it through labor un-medicated! Obviously, the mind is a powerful thing. Yoga and meditation work on the subconscious, people swear by The Secret, even Dan Brown’s new book The Lost Symbol talks about the power of noetic science. Regardless of my personal skepticism, I’m listening to the CD.  They’ve shown that it improves results for others who have tried the program. I only have good things to gain and who knows what I might learn in the process.

#4: Exercise: I go to IdealShape 3 times a week and do a strength training class then do interval/recovery cardio training at the gym on my days off. Working out in a group is good for me because I think I work harder. However, it’s probably bad for everyone else in the class because I am a major goof. (Thanks Dad) Now I can see why I had such a hard time in high school. I’m pretty sure Skyler was tempted to send me out to the hall for disrupting the class. I guess some things never change.

#5: Last but not least, they have the IdealShape wrist band. It’s just a blue rubber wrist band you wear as a visual reminder of your goals. I didn’t really think much about it until last night while I was watching the National Championship game with my hubby and the boys. Every time I went to destroy the plate of poppers, I saw the wristband. I remembered I was going to have to list every single popper on DailyBurn and Skyler would see it. So I only ate 2 – which is a really big thing for me! The wrist band did its job! Way to go!

Well, I’m on Day 4 and I’m still feeling good about the whole thing. I’ve really only had the one crazy thought about dumping the Nesquik into my mouth and only went slightly off track while watching the game. But that’s life! And that’s why I think I’m going to do ok on this program.  Because I can live my life and still make healthy choices. There definitely won’t be any before pictures posted. But you’ll see me around. And hopefully you’ll start to notice the differences I’m feeling. Stay tuned for updates on my progress.