Thoughts from the elliptical

My love/ Nemesis

I think I am finally getting the hang of working out. For the first time in my life, I feel good when I work out, not just bored at the time then glad I did after.

My weight loss has been stalled, but after dropping my initial 30 pounds, I have kept it off for over a month. I am going to call that a win, and push my self to get off this plateau.

I have also seen a huge increase in my fitness since we started this plan. In November we would go to the gym and do a 20 or 30 minute workout. I would get on the elliptical, set it to "please be nice" aka the easiest setting and just try to survive 10 or 15 minutes, then switch to the recumbent bike for 10 or 15 minutes.

Now I pop back and forth every 20 minutes when the gym is busy, limited only by the "20 minute limit when someone is waiting" rule. And I often get back in line to go back on the elliptical, setting it on 6 or 7.

I was getting pretty pleased that we had increased our workouts to 40-45 minutes, more than double what we were doing some days!

Then this last week I have had what feels like a "fitness breakthrough"; instead of being bored and tired and forcing myself to keep working, I have actually started to enjoy the workout itself. This doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of days where I would prefer to nap on the couch, and I know I have a long road ahead to fitness, but this big step forward is making me feel finally good at the gym.

Pinspiration- Dinner style

I know I posted a while ago about how great of a motivator pinterest can be, since you can pin gadgets you want, or sayings that help remind you that you don't really want to eat that cake.

It can also be home of drool worthy cupcake photos, so when using pinterest one must tread lightly.

However what I want to focus on today are all the healthy ideas you can find on pinterest!

One of our major downfalls is pizza. It is quick, and cheap and convenient, and delicious. Even if it isn't quick or convenient, it is so delicious that- well who cares! It is also LOADED with calories, which is why this onetime staple of weekends has been forced to be an occasional treat.

But here are some ways to help keep pizza in our rotation, without busting the calorie budget (and since they are recipes that you make at home they are easy on the dollars budget too)

I have not tried this one yet, but I am thinking it just might need to pop up on the menu for the week:
Cauliflower Crust Pizza: 
There is a whole blog post, that is totally worth reading, but here is the gist:
CRUST:
1/2 LARGE head cauliflower (or 2+ cups shredded cauliflower)
1 large egg
1 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese (or try another kind!)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic (or fresh garlic)
1/2 teaspoon onion salt


(click the link for the step by step how to) 

I just love this idea! 

In a time pinch, I also love the crust alternative of zucchini! 

No recipe needed, since you just use zucchini in place of a pizza crust! It would be super easy to cut the zucchini in to circles and make pizza bites out of this too, perfect for a sports party in a calorie conscious way! 

So don't get too distracted by all the cupcake pins, there are healthy ideas too! 

The Junk Food isn't going anywhere

Weight loss is mostly not fun. The endorphin rush after a workout is nice, but mostly the partI like the most about this weight loss thing is I weigh less in the morning, and my clothes fit better, or new ones look better.

The actual not eating junk food on the couch part, is kind of lame. I mean, I love eating junk food on the couch!

But the reward of seeing the scale go down in the mornings is finally starting to feel better than a bowl of marshmallow mateys (Don't even Google them, they are the opposite of weight loss).

The view, thinking of junk food as something that will hurt later- like drinking too much booze, is helping me to say no. In fact- the alcohol analogy is a really good one, because just because you don't want a hangover, doesn't mean you cant have a glass of wine with dinner, it just means you can't have a bottle.

 And The mantra that has helped me the most, is that the junk food will still be there when I have lost all the weight. 

I know that seems like a strange thing to say, since obviously Cadbury is doing just fine, but one of the excuses I use to eat junk food is that it is a special, one of, etc etc. It makes me feel like if I eat the birthday cake today, it will be OK because tomorrow I will get back on the wagon aka elliptical and burn it off. But let's look at the year shall we?

Jan 1- hangover food (doesn't count)
Feb- Valentines day- chocolate and fancy dinner
March- David's Birthday/ Our anniversary
April- My Birthday/ Easter
May-whatever fun you do for the may long weekend, plus cinco de Mayo oh and Mother's Day
June- Father's day (maybe a brunch?) Graduations, birthdays, celebrations all over the place!
July- Independence day, summer BBQ's Popsicle season etc.
August- long weekend events in Canada, Birthdays, etc
September- Fall- seems like a good reason to grab a chai, and some baked apple treats
October- HALLOWEEN CANDY
November- Thanksgiving- so much pie!
December- Chocolate Santa Month/ NYE!

And before you know it, another year has gone by, and the diet you meant to start didn't get started, and the cycle starts over.

I'm having a really hard time right now, saying no to Easter candy, because chocolate wrapped in pink shiny foil is all kinds of kryptonite for me. But telling myself- it will be there next year, and next year you will be thinner and maintaining, and it will be OK to have some. So don't think of it as not having any, but putting the treats off till later. Just like I used to do with my diet.

Surviving the holidays.

Eating well is going to get more and more difficult. I LOVE holiday baking. It might be my favorite part of the holidays. And nothing says merry christmas less than sugar free flax cookies, or whatever healthy people eat at this time of the year. But this year my gift to myself and my husband is making good choices about our health, which means saying "No" to the snowballs and fudge, and Buche De Noel and pink peppermint cookies.

I'm just not sure if I can do that. I mean the only way to sustain this is if I don't hate every second of it. SO I need to find a way to have one cookie, not 10. And a slice of cake, not a cake.

Anyone with tips to share, feel free to do so! Any way to decline the treats, skip the eggnog and not feel like you are missing the season? I will post any advice I get as I get it. 

Healthy Holidays everyone.

The white dress.

No it isn't that white dress. The white dress that I walked down the aisle in is done. It was beautiful but I will never wear it again. The white dress that I am going to tell you about is both brand new and almost 7 years old.

The spring break of my junior year of college, I went to Disneyland to visit a friend. While I was there I tried on and loved a white strapless eyelet lace sundress, from BCBG. It fit perfectly, but it cost almost $200, which is just about 5 times what I felt comfortable spending on a dress.

Kind of like this one.

Like I said it fit perfectly and I loved it, so when I got home from the trip, I went online and ordered it. I spent about a months worth of grocery money on that dress, but it would be worth it, I told myself. It was so cute, I could wear it forever.

By the time it was delivered, it was just a little too snug. I could get it zipped, but it just looked tight, so I hung it in the closet, and told myself I just needed to drop those few pounds, maybe 5 and it would fit like it did in the store.

That was the last time I was that small.

Since then my weight has climbed and climbed and climbed, and I am almost double the size I was then. Four times the size I was in high school. Almost double the weight.

I still have that dress. It is hanging in my closet, and someday I am going to wear it, out on a date with my husband. I am going to lose enough weight to look great in a strapless size 10 (BCBG so normal size 8 ish) eyelett cotton dress.

That day will be my victory day.