My last entry accidentally got deleted. This has happened maybe twice since I started blogging four years ago and I think it happened when the server updated and it got lost. So I apologize for that, it wasn't intentional, especially since it took me forever to write and now I have no interest in writing it again.
It's April! I have so many plans and goals for this month that I'm very excited about. But first, I have some updates:
-No Sugar. It's been three months without sugar. I loosely say no sugar. I eat sugar in other forms such as fruit, natural sugars (I've added honey back in), and I will add sugar to a Vietnamese or Thai dish if it calls for it. It has been hard...some days harder than others. Right now I have cake and cookies in my house. I plan to give them away. It's nice to not have them haunt me. I have sugar in the house, and I still bake. My treats are in the form of my glucosamine "candies", Izze drinks, all natural fruit jam on toast/oatmeal/yogurt, and fruit smoothies. I've been hesitant to tell people I'm not eating sugar, in fact, if you don't read this blog you probably don't know.
I don't want to be watched and I don't want "sugar-free" to be confused with carb-free or have people think "oh she says no to ice cream, but yes to pizza! bah!" indeed so. This sugar-free thing is for cakes, cookies, ice cream...obvious sugar. It's not a dietary guideline, it's just me trying to get rid of something I have a hard time not overeating. I like rules.
- No TV. I have to admit I've gone almost five weeks without my regular rotation of TV watching and will confess I've been watching Mad Men on DVD this past week (season four just came out). Not a ton, and not like before when I get obsessed and watch five in one sitting. But, considerably less. I've noticed that I don't miss TV in the mindless sort of way of passing time or procrastinating- I can always find ways to fill my time with work. However- I've come to realize that watching an episode of a good show with Josh is a treat for a days worth of work. We both work from home and it's a nice way to turn off from work and relax together.
- Strength Training. Can I just say that I love strength training? I've been doing it off and on for almost five years now and it's very rewarding. We picked it back up in January and I'm lifting weights that are 10-30 pounds heavier than I was then. We make notes during each session- can we increase the weight or stay the same. On February 3rd I could only do 80lbs. on the pull down machine (for arms, back and shoulders) and said I couldn't do more.
Today I was able to pull down 120 lbs. That's a 40 lb. increase in strength, meaning that I'm gaining muscle. This is the same for almost all of the machines I do. Did you know that for every pound of muscle you gain, your body burns 50 extra resting calories? Gaining 10 lbs. of muscle is 500 extra calories burned a day! I love that and I can tell that it is one reason that I've not gained any weight since January.
-Insanity. This week marks the 12th week of Insanity! I've lost 12-15lbs (it's goes up and down) so far. I just can't believe we've stuck with it for so long. We are already in our second rotation. I will admit that the past couple of weeks have been harder, we've done at least three workouts a week instead of our usual six. So we are getting back on track with six workouts this week.
April plans and goals:
The next two months (and most of summer) are going to be pretty hectic. I really need to step up my organization and will need continued exercise and eating well if I'm going to stay on top of everything. Spring marks the beginning of of jewelry shows and my freelance design business is growing so I can use all the energy I can get.
I'm stepping up my game this month. I'm dedicated to counting calories and keeping a food journal. My goal it to lose 10-12 pounds this month with continued exercise and food tracking. I have no interest (as usual) in doing this by eating "diet" food, my method is to eat less, control portions, eat from home as much as possible and enjoy the food I'm eating.
Continuing with 5 days of the Insanity Workout with one day of strength. We may add yoga and running back in if the spirits moves us. And speaking of us... Josh is wearing all of his jeans now. All of the jeans that just a month ago would too tight. I am still steadily wearing a size 24/22. I'd love to be in a 20/18 by mid to late summer.
What are your April goals?
Great question (and you just inspired me to blog about this too).
April goals… probably the first ones that come to mind are:
1. Keep exercising on a daily basis
2. FORCE myself to go to Swing Dancing lessons (I’m not a natural dancer so any kind of dance intimidates me.. but I think scary things can be very worth-while ultimately)
3. Apply for entry to the next Craft 2.0 (a craft fair I sell knitted tea cosies at)
And that’s about it for now
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Hi!
My goals are to start and stick to my plan, drink more water, and get some sleep!
I like rules too. I can totally relate to not wanting to tell people about your sugar-free’ness — not everything is up for discussion
Well done you! I too am trying to be sugar-free over and above dieting per se. Was sugar free for about 5 months last year. Felt great.Then gradually started sneakily eating ( sneaking on myself!) sugary things here and there. Eventually relapsed. Migraines back, weight piled on again. Now on my 2nd attempt. 23 days in. Tough some days, good on others, but overall pleased with myself. No headaches to date. I felt my relapse began when I started searching for sugar-alternatives and kidding myself they werent sugar -eg for some reason rice milk which I now realise has fermented rice =sugar in another form. Amazing how the body/mind combines to trick you!
Its awesome all the hard work you are putting in! Keep it up you will reach your goal. I am currently trying to drop 20lb and I have found that black beans are like magic. They fill me up give me ton of energy and taste great. I lost 5 lb in 2 weeks.
I know I’m a bit late on this post but I wanted to pat you on the back for the no sugar thing. That is exactly what I’m doing right now, except I’ve told people. And yeah, I do get the same reactions about the white carbs. But once I explain it to them, about how I can’t go changing everything at once or I’ll crack, they get it. And it is so hard. Sugar is my nemesis! So, kudos!