Back from the Dark side....

Hi there! I've been MIA from my blog for a few weeks now, mostly because between sprains, resprains, and 4th of July I completely fell off the wagon for awhile there :) 
For the past several days I've been back at it, but because of non-stop summer activities I'm going to be focusing on developing a healthy relationship with food, rather than continuing low carb. My goal is to slowly lose or maintain until school starts and then re-evaluate. 
Thanks for all the support!!!

Week 24 Results...

Week 23 Results...

Week 22 weight: 171.2

Current weight: 171.9

Weekly total: .7 pounds gained :(

All time total: 26.4 pounds lost

I 'm thinking the slight gain was a combo of "that time of the month" and cheating on my diet over Father's Day because suddenly mac and cheese was irresistible (probably because it was "that time of the month" lol). 

I've back on track since then, but today I re-sprained my ankle (this is how it always goes for me) so I'm probably going to have to cheat a bit until I can get around a little easier. My goal is to eat to lose .5 pounds at a sedentary level for half the week, then back up to losing 1 pound and strict with carbs/allergy food after Saturday. 

I struggled with working out last week until I realized that with the new business I don't have the time or energy to workout for 45+ minutes. Once I broke it down into smaller chunks I made a lot of progress. Obviously working out just got harder, but I'd like to do at least 2 days this week. 

Food Goals: My goal is to eat to lose .5 pounds at a sedentary level for half the week, then back up to losing 1 pound and strict with carbs/allergy food after Saturday 

Exercise Goals:  Abs and arms on separate days.

Week 23 Results

Week 23 Results...

Week 22 weight: 174

Current weight: 171.2!

Weekly total: 2.9 pound lost!

All time total: 27.1 lost

I beat the tired this week! Turns out getting adequate sleep and taking the occasional break during the day makes a big difference! The low-carb diet will continue.

I didn't technically hit my exercise goal this week (only 2 of four planned workouts), but I was extremely active. Starting my new furniture business this week had me running all day long (except the aforementioned planned breaks), plus we spent the entire weekend cleaning/organizing our garage to use as my workshop, and cleaning out our back shed (which had seriously not been cleaned out since 1993 according to the dates on paint cans we found inside!). Part way through the week I decided that although my workout goals were worthy, I had to listen to my body telling me that I was already pushing it. And judging by my weight lost, it was the right choice!

I'm going to continue to eat 40g or less carbs and restrict calories this week to the "sedentary" level. My body is used to it now and I really like seeing the scale drop so much! Don't be worried though, when I feel like I need it I add in a low-carb snack, even if it puts me over on calories- carb count trumps calorie intake on this diet. One cheat meal, same parameters. I think I can actually hit 4 days of exercise this week.  

Food Goals: Sticking to my allergy food diet (no dairy, eggs, or wheat) and eating 40g carbs per day or less. One cheat meal.

Exercise Goals: 2 days cardio for 20 minutes, 2 days strength training 20 minutes 

Week 22 Results

Week 20 weight (before injury): 175

Current weight: 174

Weekly total:1 pound lost

All time total: 24.2 lost

I think I'm just changing my check-in day to Tuesday, since I can't seem to get it together on Mondays!

I met all my goals this week (that's $5 in the pot), and am happy about the weight I lost despite lack of exercise. The only problem is that I am EXHAUSTED! This could be due to our crazy busy last week with little sleep, lack of exercise, or that my body is waving the white flag at the low-carb diet. I am giving myself one more week of low-carb before changing course. 

This week I am allowing myself one cheat meal. For the sake of my weaselly mind that wants to go nuts on the bag of Cheetos sitting in our cupboard, I will specify: One meal while on a much needed date with my husband. This does not include dessert or any snacks leading up to said meal. 

Food Goals: Sticking to my allergy food diet (no dairy, eggs, or wheat) and eating 40g carbs per day or less. One cheat meal.

Exercise Goals: 2 days cardio for 20 minutes, 2 days strength training 30 minutes 

Week 21 Results and Photo?!

Yes I am late in posting and yes, again, I don't have a real progress photo. I actually don't even have a current weight to post. But no, I'm not going to penalize myself for it!

After rocking my food goals for 5 days last week, and completing 4 of my 5 days of exercise, I tripped down some stairs and sprained my ankle on Friday. I also undid about 2 months of knee physical therapy during the fall and with hopping to get help, so my knees are actually more painful than the sprain. Thankfully nothing was broken (a big concern because I have some structural problems with the bones in my feet making them very vulnerable to breakage), but today is the first day I'm able to move around the house without too much pain. I figured I'd spare you the nasty bruises and swelling and let the three braces I currently need communicate the extent of my injuries!

Because of those injuries I was not able to stick to my eating goals. Having to ask my husband and children to do everything for me was bad enough without requesting special food as well. We basically lived off take-out all weekend, but I think I did a pretty good job having self-control with foods that generally trigger binge eating for me. 

I also can't do much in the way of working out. I think abs and arms are all I can do (and not even all of those) for at least the next week. 

Obviously, I need to make some changes to my goals for this next week. I've lowered my activity level to sedentary on My Fitness Pal and I'm going to stick to my allergy food diet and 40 carbs or less. I'm aiming for 2 workouts. Same $5 penalty/reward.

I'm back! Week 20 Result and New Goals

Week 20 Results... 

Week 16 weight (after vacation): 184.4 

Current weight (after 3 week faceboook challenge): 175

Weekly total: 9.4 pounds lost!!

All time total: 23.2 lost

Apparently super-focused accountability pays off!

(I couldn't get my act together enough to get a photo this week, so I'm aiming for next week :)

So, aside from stronger accountability my Facebook challenge used money as a motivator. Every week we didn't meet our goals we owed $5. That seemed to work really well for me so I'm going to adapt it for myself. 

Losing my family's money (even a little bit of it) makes me feel really guilty. I'm going to up the ante by saying that instead of weekly, every single time I break a goal I have to drop a $5 bill on the ground somewhere. This may seem silly or extreme but wonton waste of money really bothers me, making this a great motivator! 

On the flip side, for every week I perfectly complete my goals I will put $5 in an envelope toward a dress by Shop Stevie. A friend of mine just became a Rep and I've been drooling over the dresses ever since she announced her shop! It will take me around 10 weeks to earn a dress, and that is also around how long it will take me to reach my goal weight. 

I think celebrating reaching my ideal size with a new dress sounds fantastic! :D

Food Goals: Sticking to my allergy food diet (no dairy, eggs, or wheat) and eating 50g carbs per day or less. 

Exercise Goals: 3 days cardio for 30 minutes, 2 days strength training 30 minutes 

Temporary Tracking Relocation...

I've joined a Facebook weight-loss challenge for the next 3 weeks, so during that time I'll be reporting on there instead of my blog. I will be back with progress photos in June!