Calorie Content

Here is the calorie breakdown for this morning's overnight oats.  And that's about all I have to post for today, sorry!

Overnight Oats

Source: theyummylife.com via Jeni on Pinterest

Inspired by the many posts I've seen in blog land and Pinterest, I'm trying my hand at overnight oats.  I mixed 1/2 cup of oats, 1 container of Greek yogurt with blueberry, chia seeds, a drizzle of honey & almond milk.  I licked the spoon clean after mixing it all together and it already tasted delicious!  I'll probably chop up a banana in the morning to add to it as well.

I didn't get in a workout today, no excuses, just didn't do it.  I'm going to scope out the internet tonight to find something that looks fun to do tomorrow.  Food intake was really good today until dinner.  We went out to Hibachi Bistro and I didn't make the healthiest of decisions.  Looking back I probably should have boxed up 1/2 of it for later, but I was overly hungry at the time so I snarfed it down.  Then I had dessert. 

Will Power, where did you go?!?!  I've noticed a trend that it seems to disappear after I get home from work, which makes me think I need to go back to menu planning for dinners.  What do you think?  Do you plan your meals out ahead of time?

A Hearty Breakfast

Breakfast is very important to a healthy lifestyle. It kick starts your metabolism in the morning after a good night's sleep. While anything is better than nothing, I have found that the heartier the breakfast is, the less likely I am to crave snacks all morning.

This morning I threw together some Irish Steel Cut Oatmeal with Creamy Peanut Butter, Banana, Chia Seeds & a splash of Vanilla Almond Milk (just to thin it out).  This brought me to a 430cal breakfast.  I added in a glass of 100% fruit juice as well which took my total to 560cals.  Below is a breakdown of my morning taken from a screen shot of LiveStrong.com which has been my life saver when trying to stick to a healthier eating plan.

I Lost Weight!

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Woo Hoo! That's right, you heard it...I lost some weight...3 lbs to be exact!  It felt so good to see a number besides 226 on that scale, I swear it's been there for the past 2 months.  I'm going to attribute it to better eating habits over the weekend and getting back into some motion.

I didn't do much of a traditional workout today, but I did do a bit of activity.  I practiced throwing discus with one of my athletes.  It felt good to throw again, and she learned some new things by watching me, double bonus!  I also ate pretty good today too.  Bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, some fruit, a chicken sandwich with cracker chips for lunch, a nature valley protein bar, some string cheese & a home made calzone for dinner.  The calzone is waiting for me on the stove top...smells delish!

Day of Rest

Sunday was my day of rest, and it turned into a "Cheat Day" as well.  I ate like junk and I didn't care, which isn't a good thing.  Time to get back at it today though!  Stay tuned for an update later today.

Weekend Recap

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As I said yesterday, I was on a trip for work.  These trips happen EVERY weekend from January through May, and I usually eat like junk on them.  We walk a fine line between good food & cheap food when we stop for meals.  You see, we provide a cash allowance for all of our athletes (per diem) to eat on for the trip.  And it's not very much.  We try to stop places that provide variety, but inevitably it's all fast food.  There's just so many times you can eat at Subway without getting sick of it, and after hearing my cousin got food poisoning there a couple weeks ago, I'm a bit leary.

That being said, I tried very hard this weekend to make mindful choices, even at the fast food restaurants, it is doable!  Friday, I chose Wendy's, I ordered a sour cream & chive potato and a 5-piece nugget.  Total calories was just over 500 and it only cost me $3, and it was delicious.  For dinner that night, there was a Wal-Mart next to the restaurants we stopped at.  I bought some Sandwich Thins and some Carving Board Turkey and made myself 2 sandwiches and ate some fruit that I had packed in my cooler.  And last night I chose Arby's for their Turkey & Swiss Wrap. 

Breakfast at the hotel was great.  I made a packet of instant oatmeal (maple & brown sugar) and added some peanut butter for protein and a chopped up banana. DELICIOUS! For the time I was at the track I packed my insulated lunch box with lots of fruit & some Clif Bars.  I had leftover Sandwich Thins as well, so I grabbed a couple extra peanut butters & jellies from the continental breakfast at our hotel.  It kept me tided over very well.

No real exercise for the day, but I was on my feet ALL day.  I probably put in over a mile walking back and forth from the hammer ring to the javelin runway, amongst other walking.  Then at the end of the day I had to walk to our van so I could pull it up to the entrance to pick up the athletes.  Mind you, we are in the mountains, I had to walk up a HUGE hill with my 20 pound backpack on, and once I got to the top I had to climb a set of about 25 stairs.  My calves were on fire & I was huffin' & puffin' by the time I got to the van.  So I did get some movement in a nontraditional way.

We'll see what today brings.  I should clean the house, that burns calories, right?

On the road again...

Well, I don't really have much to report today, I did sit in a van for 7 hours though. We are on a road trip to western Carolina university for a track meet.

I think I did much better with my eating than normal on the road.
Egg with cheese on rye for breakfast
Clif Bar for a snack and some cracker chips
Lunch was a Wendy's sour cream and chive potato and 5 piece nugget
Snacked on some kettle corn
Dinner of turkey on a sandwich thin & fig newtons

Much better than the junk I usually manage to eat on trips. I also have lots of fruit and Clif bars with me for tomorrow.

Jump Jump Jump

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This morning I decided to head out to the track before going into the office.  I think it was totally worth it as my motivation to get started was much higher than it is after work.

I decided to switch it up a bit and grab a jump rope.  I jumped for about 10 minutes off & on doing different variations & repetitions.  I started with 100 two foot jumps, and I didn't miss a single jump!  I did some moving up and down the track, I did some single leg & some lunge position jumps and just had some fun.  Boy oh boy were my calves on FIRE!!!  But it was a great workout, I was winded by the middle of it, but was having so much fun I just kept going.

As if my legs weren't completely shot already I added in some Forward & Reverse lunge combos.  10 each side with one forward & reverse counting as 1 repetition.  I rounded out the day with different core variations in sets of 10-20reps.

My food intake was pretty good today, well, except for that trip to the yogurt shop after dinner!

I hope to get my goals put up here in the near future.  I have a few pictures for motivation and some numbers (weight/measurements/jean sizes) that I would like to hit.  What are your healthy lifestyle goals & how do you hold yourself accountable?

What is necessary

Source: loseweight-safe.com via Jeni on Pinterest

It is necessary for me to get off my butt, it is possible for me to lead a healthy lifestyle.  What seems impossible now is being below 200lbs, but by doing the things above I can achieve the impossible.

I took the day off.  There, I said it.  My knee felt like junk so I thought I would give it a rest.  I tried to eat healthier today, and for the most part, I did.  Tomorrow I will get back after the workout and I think I hear a jump rope calling my name. 

Today's Food:

• Bagel thin with deli chicken & 2% cheese; A nectarine & 2 cuties
• String Cheese & Green Grapes
• Cottage Cheese & Marinara Sauce with Pita Chips (same as yesterday...delish!); piece of white chocolate
• Nectarine & Dried Tropical Fruit
• Jimmy John's Italian Night Club & Oatmeal Cookie (this is where I may have went overboard)

Not too bad overall.  I'm eating a TON of fruit right now as there is more and more of it in the stores now coming into season.  I'll have to do some careful planning tomorrow as I leave on a work trip Friday morning through Saturday night and I'd like to not derail myself.
 

You must make the time...

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4% of your day! That's it! But for me, the thought of working out for a WHOLE hour seems a bit daunting right now. I was at the track (coaching) and could have very easily just stayed out there to get in a workout. I, however, went back to my office and ended up having to force myself back out to the track. At least I went, right?

So today's workout lasted about 10 minutes, but it was a fairly nonstop 10 minutes.

• Kettle Bell Swings from a Squat x20
• Incline Pushup against a bike rack x20
• Split Squats with a Sandbag x10 each leg
• Sandbag "Cleans" x20
• Lateral Lunges x10 each leg

I also tried to reign in my eating a bit more today.  I haven't been eating the healthiest lately, but here's a little recap of today.

• Everything Bagel Thin with a light smear of cream cheese & deli chicken; Glass of grape juice
• 3 Cuties
• Cottage Cheese mixed with Marinara Sauce & Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips; String Cheese
• Dried Tropical Fruit
• "Chicken Pot Pie" Calzone (Thin pizza crust wrapped around chicken, sundried tomato alfredo sauce, potatoes, peas, corn, spinach)
• Single Serve Cakebatter Ice Cream Sundae Cup, 2 Cuties

Here's to being better tomorrow!

The Aches & Pains Of It All

And this is where it usually derails.  Day 1 was what should have been an "easy" starter day, but even the easiest of days makes my knees ache.  I had a slight pre-existing muscular injury that affected my knee, so I knew to be expecting some discomfort, but today my old patellar tendonitis reared its ugly head.

Day 2 "Workout"

• 15-20mins of Shooting Hoops

 Yep, you read that right, that's all I did.  The tiniest bend in my knee when shooting a jump shot was the source of excruciating pain...ugh.  I think the basketball method could be a good workout though, but more of running the court for layups instead of just shooting around.  We'll see where this goes.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Project Wonder Woman

Welcome to Project Wonder Woman!  My new blog to help hold me accountable to a healthier lifestyle.  If you have read my other blog, Waiting for Petronella, you know of some of my struggles with my weight.  Here's a quick recap for those of you who are new:

I am an athlete.  I have been an athlete my entire life.  I grew up playing volleyball, basketball, softball, golf, racquetball, and my favorite: throwing the shot/discus/hammer in track & field.  I was always the "big girl" from Middle School through High School, but my weight began to fluctuate in High School.  I am 5'10" and when I graduated High School in 2002 I weighed 185, and while I was the big girl then, I look back at those pictures and realize I was "skinny" compared to what I have become.  Track & Field took me to the University of Nebraska, where I competed for 5 years, and again my weight continued to fluctuate.  Most people have heard of the freshmen 15, try the freshmen 50!  That's right, you heard me, I went from 185 to 235 in that first year.  Granted a chunk of that weight was due to muscle gain in the weight room (my second home!) a lot of it was also due to poor eating, and drinking, habits.  At my highest I got up to 243 around my 2nd year of college, stayed in the 230's my 3rd year, dropped to 212 by 4th year, and hung around the 220's my senior year.  To be honest, I was comfortable in the 220's, I was competing at my highest level and even managed to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the shot put.  Quite honestly, I was one of the smaller girls there at 220, I mean, we're shot putters, people expect us to be the "big girls".  We throw heavy metal objects for a "living" and spend countless hours getting big & strong in the weight room.  After competing at the trials, I accepted a job coaching track & field at a University in North Carolina, and while I tried to continue my shot put training, life got in the way.  I stopped.  Not just my specific training, but working out all together.  I got lazy, and quite honestly, I had only known one kind of training for the past 10 years and I had no clue to what to do if I wasn't training for a competition.  In August 2009 I hit my highest weight ever, 247, and I knew I had to do something about it.  I still had no drive to workout, so I adjusted my diet using the MyPlate app from LiveStrong.com, and it was AMAZING!  I steadily, albeit slowly, dropped the weight.  From August 2009 to August 2011 I dropped 46 pounds, just one measly pound away from my goal of 200.  And I stayed at that weight through October 2011 when I got married and I felt fabulous in my wedding gown.  Then I don't know what shifted.  I started eating like crap again, and still not working out on a regular basis (read once every couple of months).  So here I sit today, weighing in at 225, and I've stayed here for the past couple months.  Something needs to change, so change it will today.

So are you still with me?  I know that was long, but I want you to understand my history with weight.  A history that doesn't need to be part of my future.  So, inspired by a blog I read from another former thrower that I competed against in college (The Workout Chronicles) I am starting Project Wonder Woman. 

Yesterday was Day 1 and here's what I did:

• Triple Extension Warm Up Series & Spiderman Lunges
• 1x20 Walking Forward Lunges
• 1x20 Walking Reverse Lunges
• 1x20 Incline Pushups
• 1x10 Partial Tricep Dips
• 1x10 Bodyweight Squats
• 2x20m "Sprints"
• 2x40m "Sprints"
• 1x10 Incline Pushups

It wasn't anything too intensive, but it was a start, it was SOMETHING!  I got off my but and started moving.