Most ingredients fit into the chop chop salads, but conserve on your calories by lessening your dressing and adding flavorful vegies and spices!
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One of my favorite things about going to the gym is the opportunity to catch up with my friends. I get to run into old friends I haven’t seen in a while. And I get the opportunity to make new friends at the gym because I LIVE there right now. There is nothing better than having a friend with you during a workout. Maybe it’s a friend that will push you to try a new workout. Or a friend that will laugh with you as you fumble through a class. Maybe a friend that will bring out that competitive nature in you and push you to work harder. My favorite is a having a friend that you can chat with and before you know it you’re done with a great workout. A helpful reminder for me is to make a personal commitment to my workouts and vow not to let workout buddies schedules influence my own workout schedule. You know how when your “buddy” can’t make it to class that day, then you decide to give up and not go either. I’m thankful to have a group of friends that like to workout, so there is usually someone I can drag with me to the gym. Or even better, someone that will drag me to the gym. So a shout out to all my workout buddies who make my workouts more fun…. Sarah, Jessica, Jen, Sara, Katie, Kari, Flicka, Bethany, Cara and of course my hubby Shawn.
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So we’re down to the final few weeks of the challenge and I’m surprised to find myself filled with a bit of fear. Have I done enough to reach my challenge goal? With only a few weeks to go, I have to stay committed to my food tracking and my workout schedule. Anyone else dreading those final pictures? Since I’ve seen my “before” pictures, I’m a little nauseous just thinking about having more pictures taken. I’m praying for MAJOR changes. Lastly, I’m fearful of ever going back to the way I was. I like the way being healthy makes me feel, but for me I know that it comes down to daily commitments to staying healthy. What keeps us from falling back into old habits? Maybe it’s the fear of going through all the hard work again. Maybe it’s just the fear of taking another terrible “before” picture. What will you use to keep you accountable?
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Who else is finding that your weight loss journey is about more than just food? I’ve been working on losing weight for more than a year and I realized that I didn’t get to where I was by mistake. The way that I deal with my emotions is directly tied to the way that I eat. Many of you that know me also know my wonderful daughter, Makenna. She is a beautiful, sweet and intelligent little girl. She was also born with a rare joint disorder that caused her to be born with dislocations throughout her body. She has undergone numerous surgeries, endured many casts and gone to countless doctors appointments. She is a miracle! The doctors couldn’t tell us whether or not she would ever walk. But she not only walks now, she even runs and dances. She has endured a lot and overcome a lot. As parent, it has definitely been an emotional roller coaster. And this past week, I realized again how I turn to food for my “comfort”. We went to an appointment in Seattle for her and leading up to the appointment I so badly wanted to find a comfort food to alleviate my anxiety. Then when we actually received good news at her appointment (YAY!!) all I wanted to do was find food to celebrate. Making the commitment to this challenge has allowed me to recognize the situations where I use food and it’s helping me overcome them. I stayed strong that day and didn’t give in to my emotional temptations. I realized I had the perfect inspiration right in front of me…Makenna! If she can overcome the obstacles that she faces each day, then I can overcome FAT, right? So I challenge all of you to look at your emotional journey and find a new inspiration. Thank you Makenna for being my miracle, my inspiration and my HERO!
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So I was listening to the Miley Cyrus song The Climb. (I have a 7 year old daughter…it’s a requirement) and couldn’t help but see how it related to the challenge. “I can almost see it, that dream I’m dreaming but there’s a voice inside my head saying you’ll never reach it”. Somedays I feel like I’ll never reach my weightloss goals and the negative self-talk can get in my way. I feel like I’m constantly fighting the “uphill battle” of my weight and a healthy life. But I realized like the song says that “I’ve got to be strong and just keep pushing on”. A healthy life is a journey. It’s about being proud of myself right now in this moment. The fact that I’m even doing the challenge! Maybe it’s as simple as completing a workout, an interval or about resisting that extra cookie because you know it’s worth it in the end. All of us can look back and say “I did the Gold’s Gym Challenge in 2010, look at what I accomplished!” This can be the turning point that we look back to. We’re halfway there already! So, in the words of Miley, “Keep on moving, keep climbing, keep the faith, baby. It’s all about the climb!”
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Who else is celebrating a birthday during the challenge? I celebrated mine this last weekend and had to make a few modifications to my normal traditions. My kids were especially disappointed that there wasn’t any cake this year. I wasn’t sure how much FUN it was going to be without having all the “normal” food, dessert and alcohol. I was so wrong. I didn’t really end up missing those things. We went out for a sensible dinner and even went out and burned a few calories dancing. I had lots of FUN minus the calories. I admit that in the moment it was tempting but it was great to know at the end of the night that I didn’t blow my whole diet. Thank you to my friends and family for making my birthday a special one. I realized how blessed I am by having so many wonderful people in my life. I realized that I don’t need “emotional comfort” from food to make me happy. It was a much better feeling to have my friends and family see how far I’ve come on my weight-loss journey. And I got to do a little clothes shopping for my birthday too…it felt awesome to be shopping and FITTING in smaller sizes!
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So we’re halfway through the challenge. I feel like I have the “mid-challenge blahs”. The newness and excitement of doing the challenge have started to wear off. I’m getting too comfortable with my workouts and a little lazy with my food. The scale is still moving in the right direction, but never as quickly and drastically as I want it to be. I’ve had a bit of a bad/frustrated attitude this week. I got a birthday email from the gym yesterday with a “pass” for one day worth of couch sitting, extra snoozing, movie watching, ice cream cake eating ditching the gym day. It was very cute and I sooo badly wanted to cash it in. But I’m doing this darn challenge and I need to stay committed to it. Ugh! I realized that this is the part of the challenge where perseverance kicks in. It’s time to regroup. Change up the workouts, get some new music on my iPod and get disciplined with my eating habits. It’s a new day, and there are new ways. The March class schedule will be out any day, maybe there’s a new class to try. We’ve been blessed with some beautiful weather so maybe it’s time to workout outside. I need to commit to a positive attitude… “I’m half way there and look how far I’ve come”. OK, even writing it I’m feeling a little better, but I’m still saving that “pass” for April…
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For the past week or two, I’ve noticed a lot of fatigue in my knees. I didn’t know if I was doing an exercise wrong or if the increase in workouts was just making them tired. I described my knee pain to “Trainer Kari” and she suggested that it was probably time for new shoes. I was surprised because I bought my shoes at the end of summer/ early fall. But she said that typically shoes need to be replaced every 4-6 months. So it was time to go shopping…YAY! I went to Performance Footwear and got fitted for new shoes. I was REALLY surprised with the results. First, they had me walk in just my socks to assess my gait and determined the right kind of stability I needed. Then, found out that my last pair of shoes was a whole size bigger than what I needed. Next, discovered that I measured for needing a wide width shoe, something I never knew. Yeah, I was wearing an 8 ½ and I actually needed a 7 ½ wide width shoe. The best part was when I put on the shoes and felt instant relief in my knees. They felt so good I didn’t want to take them off. The salesperson told me that a lot of our body’s aches and pains can be a result of our shoes. I admit that my typical method for choosing shoes was more about style, color and cuteness. I happened to catch an article about running shoes that says you should replace your shoes every 350-550 miles, so if you’re doing a lot of movin’ and groovin’ for the challenge it might be time to replace those shoes.
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Who else watches the Biggest Loser? I love to watch that show. I call it my “motivation”. It makes me want to head to the gym in the morning. It’s so amazing to watch the transformations. I wish I could drop 10-15 pounds a week like they do! I’d be done already! But if you think about it, those of us on the challenge are doing our own “real life” Biggest Loser minus the giant scales. (Thank goodness!) I recently got the Biggest Loser Simple Swaps book and it has a lot of good ideas and recipes. Here’s one I tried and liked. I’d love to see what everyone else is eating, so feel free to share your favorite recipes in the comments.
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