DAY 6, DAY 7, DAY 8

So I have been MIA but I have a lot of good news! The job I interviewed for a couple days ago, I GOT!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited to be employed you have no idea! And that isn't even the best part, this August, I get to travel with the entire lab to South Korea for a conference!

HAHAHA YAY!!!!! So I have been on cloud nine this weekend! My friends and I went out and celebrated for the whole weekend. I don't start until the 15th so I still have awhile to find a new apartment (upgrade) and to relax. So that is my exciting news!

So Jess you had a lot of good advice on finding a protein shake and I think I found one with EAS. It is low in calories and fat, and super high in protein for the serving size. I was browsing online and on a women's health message board a couple of women said it was the best and it was high in fiber compared to other protein drinks. I am going this week to Sam's Club to buy it and look at the info some more but I think that is it! Funmom, I'll keep you filled in on how it is!

My diet this weekend was lax but I still got in a workout on Friday (an intense one with weights and a 3 mile run). On Saturday I went for a long bike ride downtown and back which ended up totaling 12.5 miles (mapmyrun.com) and then today I did a super intense workout again with a 2.5 mile run and weights.

I started an account at fitday and it is really paying off. Especially with how I watch my calories!! So here is the food:

Breakfast/lunch (woke up late): 5 egg whites + 1 egg scrambled with mushrooms, red pepper, onion and two pieces of 35 calorie whole wheat toast with butter

snack: big glass of milk

Dinner: stuffed yellow pepper with a turkey filling made with tomato sauce, onion and spices YUMMY and cous cous with olive oil (splurge)

Dessert: Three small girl scout sugar cookies and glass of milk

So weigh in is tomorrow and I'm super pumped to see how I have been doing. I don't know if I'll lose too much weight because I did have a couple bad days. Hopefully it goes well! I'll keep everyone filled in. Have a wonderful day tomorrow!

Gross, I just weighed in and I didn't change at all!! I'm at 196. Ughhhh. Oh well, at least I didn't gain. This week will be better I know it. Off to eat breakfast and then go on a bike ride!!!

Yes, I am eating breakfast at 11 AM, I also just woke up. It's summer. Hahaha

lol, the way I see it- as long as ya eat when ya first wake up, its BREAKFAST. No matter what time it is! Glad ya got the job- now give it a month or two or your gonna say- goooddddd I wanna be UNEMPLOYED! lol. well, at least thats how I fee some days

Buckeye! where are you? You were doing so great, I hope you haven't given up! I'm still pulling for you!

Hey buckeye! Just wanted to say hey and see how you are doing! Hope you had a good 4th!

Ah! I'm so sorry for my absence! I just had the craziest week ever. Short story: my friends kidnapped me. Yes, they kidnapped me and took me to their lake house on Buckeye Lake (which is really close to Columbus). The craziest part of it all was HOW easy it was to remain on my diet! For food we just bought tons of local fruits and vegies (by we I mean I, because they lived on a diet of bagel bites, hot dogs, and beer). It was so simple every night to just say I was DD and would drive, and I would be DD for the boat. It was amazing! I am so tan and things just went well. You know that feeling when things are going right? That was the feeling I had all weekend.

But don't think I wasn't thinking of you guys!!!!!! There was no internet access and the only thing I wanted to do was update you guys on everything that was going on!

funmom i was thinking of you too! I get my subscriptions sent to me and was reading my email on my phone and I read about all of your progress and you are doing FAB!!!! You and Jess are inspirations to me, the way you guys are on here day in and day out reporting the good (and sometimes the bad) of your lives. I know we can all do this and it feels so great having people like you two there supporting me!

Jess it is so crazy that you say that because all week my friends have been saying the same thing to me. I know I am supposed to be an "adult" but all of my friends are either still in school (nursing, med school, or law school) or have these crazy fun jobs (one of my best friends is a dancer in NYC for a modern company) so it is so strange to all of them that I'm not going to be around everyday to just hang out between classes. Some of us have to grow up...but I don't want to! hhahaha I want to be a kid forever!!!!!

Pastelroses thank you so much! I love reading what you are up to (you are another one of my subscriptions...)

So I really can't recall everything I ate this weekend, but it was next to nothing everyday because my day would be wake up, breakfast (usually tons of fruit and toast), lay out, sleep, drink lots of water, maybe eat a sandwich, then swim, then nap, then dinner/everyone else's drinking time. hahaha

Today when I returned my day was as follows:
Breakfast: 6 egg whites, toast, raspberries
Lunch: Subway turkey sub and baked doritos (oh sweet succulent doritos...)
Dinner: 1 bratwurst on a bun, watermelon, big glass of milk

wow, i thought i ate way more...

Tomorrow is weigh in (gross) and resuming my workout routine which has become nonexistent in the past week (sleeping on a boat is exercise right?).

i'm going to write on everyone else's board and good luck to everyone!!!!!!!

Buckeye,

I'm glad you're in a time in your life where you get to learn who you are and do what you need to do for you. Congratulations on your new job.

Protein shakes are great, too, by the way. The EAS is great. One scoop plus one small banana plus 8 oz unsweetened chocolate almond milk with about 4 ice cubes and you're in for a treat - a great "snack". If you're eating 3 meals per day with 2 snacks (or five meals per day), the shakes are great. Beware, they have a lot of cholesterol.

I'm actually proud of you, you aren't sacrificing yourself for some impossible-to-maintain regiment. I think you're on the right track and look forward to your before/after pics. Keep it up, you're inspiring me in many ways!

Tarazan

By the way...

Didn't you find Chelsea's beginning story (Private Benjamin's daughter) an oddly written story? I have the book and stopped there. While it was cute/funny, it wasn't written in the perspective of a third grader (words/grammar/etc). I'd love to hear that the book gets better - I love Chelsea and am a bit scared to continue with the book!!

Tarazan

Hey buckeye! Glad ya had fun on the lake.. JEALOUS! I got to go to Laurel Mt for fireworks.. woo! lol. Thats sarcasm speaking, cuz its 12miles away, and theres about 3000ppl there, altho for the fourth of July about an extra 20,000show up for the show.. But jeez. One of these years, I'm gonna buy myself a little "cabin" somewhere. Or maybe I'll dream about doing it.. Can't decide, lol.
Get back into your workouts now, cuz UNFORTUNATELY, sleeping and getting tan doesn't count as exercise If it did, I would be signed up for that shiznit.

Welcome back Buckeye! I'm glad you had a good time. Great job eating well while you were gone. I usually have a hard time eating right when I am not at home. Are you working out today? I am about to get my tired butt on the treadmill. Have a great day!

Hey buckeye,
I am glad you had a fab week, so did I... and I even lost weight! Hope you see the same results, Camy

So I guess everyone is anticipating how I did, well here it goes..............................WOOOO!!!!!!!! I lost weight!!!! I lost a whole 2 lbs which was my dream weight to lose! When I stepped on the scale this morning I was in shock of what it said, 194! That just amped me up to go workout, and today work out I did. I ran 3.5 miles, did weights (I'm going to list it later what I have been doing) and then sat in the sauna! I feel wonderful and for once I feel like I am achieving my weight loss goal.

You guys have been so supportive to me, it really is amazing what this site does. Putting myself out there, which is hard for all of us, has really paid off!

Tarzan: thanks for stopping by! Those EAS drinks are amazing, although I'm going to have to try what you suggested. I usually drink one every morning for breakfast with one scoop, 4-5 large ice cubes, 1/2 plain low-fat yogurt, and whichever fruit sounds good to me that day. It really keeps me full for the whole day, but yours sounds decadent! What kind of almond milk do you buy? I've never had it but I love almonds. One of my favorite things to eat as a treat is a mini hershey's chocolate almond candy for desert. MMMMMM Thank you for all of the positive reinforcement and the wonderful advice. ALSO, the book DOES get better. I thought that chapter was a bit off, and to be honest I skipped over a majority of it. Her book wasn't as "good" as I find most humorous books to be (David Sedaris=favorite writer ever) but there were high points in there that had me laughing inappropriately in large groups of people! hahaha Good luck reading it!!!

Jess yeah some day I might have a cabin, but right now I have depend on my friends' rich parents....le sigh. That sounds like a HUGE fireworks display if that many people showed up! The town basically multiplied by 6!! hahaha It sextupled! lol Yeah today was great working out because I was motivated and I think my body was mad at me for being so lazy because it had nothing to do all week. Oh well, everyone needs a luxurious weekend once in a while!

Funmom yeah workout was tough today but worth it! Get on that treadmill girl and DO IT! By Christmas we'll be HOT! haha

Camy thanks for stopping by!!!! Congratulations are on losing weight, it feels great, doesn't it!! You are another one of my subscriptions and you're inspirational to me because of your motivation and drive! Keep up the great work and we'll get it done!

So I decided to write down in a separate post my workout schedule. Here it goes, a weekly breakdown and then a day to day breakdown.

Sunday: Day Off
Monday: running+weights Day A+moderate bike riding (to the gym and back)
Tuesday: long bike ride+long stretching
Wednesday: running+weights Day B+moderate bike riding (to the gym and back)
Thursday:Yoga
Friday: long bike ride+Weights Day A
Saturday: Day Off OR optional bike ride

Long Bike Ride
I start off doing a slow pace, usually on the lowest gear, to get my legs moving and working out. This usually is around 5-10 minutes (or 2-3 songs on my iPod). I then crank it up a gear for every 5 minutes. After I reach the highest gear I stay there for 5 minutes and then work my way down each gear for every 5 minutes. Then as a cool down I bike on the most comfortable gear for as long as it takes me to get home (around 5-10 minutes). For a 10 speed bike, this takes about 1 hour 50 minutes or up to 2 hours 20 minutes. Sometimes I can't do the whole thing due to a time crunch and so I do 2 minutes at each speed.

An alternate long bike ride is usual warm up and cool down, but for the long portion I pedal so that every ten seconds my left leg is coming up 5-8 times. I do this at a speed that is comfortable, and it really does begin to burn. I can usually only do this one 1 hour on a good day.

Running
I am still sticking to the Couch to 5 K program I downloaded on iTunes, however, I am not increasing my speed and extended each week so that I can go longer and harder. I recommend downloading the program, it is so much fun to do! Seriously, I'm not joking. Some weeks seem impossible but if I can't finish them, I repeat the week until I get it right.

Yoga
I go to a yoga class Hatha intermediate. I love yoga. I have been doing it for a couple years and it is mindblowing how relaxing it really is. While relaxing it is also VERY VERY hard. I recommend finding an instructor with a small class that is certified. I have been going to the same yoga instructor for a year now and she knows me and how my body is and my boundaries.

Workout A
Squat 2 sets 15 reps
Alternating Sets:
Pushup 2 sets 15 reps
Seated Row 2 sets 15 reps
Alternating Sets:
Step Up 2 sets 15 reps EACH LEG
Prone Jackknife (rolling in the physio-ball with your legs) 2 sets 15 reps
Abs:
Physio-ball crunches with feet on the ball 2 sets Fatigue
Leg ups 2 sets Fatigue
Workout B
Deadlift 2 sets 15 reps
Alternating Sets:
Dumbbell Shoulder Press with Curl on Physio-ball 2 sets 15 reps
Wide-grip lat pulldown 2 sets 15 reps
Alternating Sets:
Lunge 2 sets 20 reps EACH LEG with medicine ball twist
Physio-ball Crunch 2 sets 15 reps
Abs:
Flutter Kicks 2 sets FATIGUE
Incline with medicine ball 2 sets FATIGUE

Between each set I give myself 60 second break. I found this workout in "The new Rules of Lifting for Women." In the book there is great advice and sample workouts to follow for up to half a year (I'll keep updating what I'm doing). There is some good advice in there, although some of it I did ignore because I am in no position to gain weight right now. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is scared of the weight room and all of those muscley guys, because I certainly was!

Good luck everyone!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the tidbit on the Vodka book - I'll open it back up again now (and check out your other author).

The almond milk is made by Blue Diamond and is typically sold in the same aisle as soy and rice milks. They sell it sweetened and unsweetened, so be sure to look for the unsweetened. Something to note, it doesn't taste like almonds. I've never had it plain so I can't really tell you what it tastes like, but when you mix 8 oz of the unsweetened chocolate with a banana, a few ice cubes and a scoop of protein powder you get a rich, endulgent choco-banana sin shake. The almond milk is low cal and low carb with protein and fiber - you can't lose!

Enjoy,

Tarazan

I never congratulated you on your new job! So, Congratulations on that AND on losing two pounds! How's apt. hunting going??