This week not so good.  Well not bad but not good like last week.  Might be TMI but I haven’t gone to the bathroom in like 4 days (ya know bowel movement, lol) and I feel real bloated. 

Ok so here are the results:
weight down 0.2 pounds
lean pounds down 0.61
h2o pounds down 0.32
fat pounds up 0.41

So as you can see each of the categories didn’t change barely at all but the areas that should be going down went up and the areas that should be going up went down.  It seems odd to me though because I worked out all week.  Well I was able to workout 4 days.  And actually the 4 days were kinda skimped too because some days I went late and then I had a short workout because I had to be home so Tony could go to work. 

Overall it’s not that bad of a week, the numbers changed such a small amount.  This week coming up though we are going to try things a little different.  I am going to eat a little bit more.  On my low calorie days I was only eating about 1280 calories and my high days I was eating like 2300.  So on my low calorie days I will eat closer to 1500 and my high calorie will be closer to 2150.  Plus I will add whatever I burned in calories at the gym. 

I really think some of it does have to do with not going to the bathroom.  Let’s just hope next week is better.

The snow came, oh boy did it fall.  The snow started Friday morning around 9:30am.  It snowed ALL day, ALL night and most of yesterday.  I would have to estimate we got at least 2 feet of snow.  Most places were closed yesterday.  Tony’s store was closed.  It was a very unproductive day. 

Tony got word last night that the store was going to try and open today around noon.  His boss wanted him in at 10am to get everything all set up.  Tony didn’t even get outside to start shoveling until around 8:30 and he was out there for about an hour and a half.  Lil Tony came out to help and the snow came up to his shoulders.  LOL! 

Well he shoveled the truck out and got ready for work.  He attempted to go to work but the median/street was too packed with snow.  He got stuck trying to pull out of the driveway.  When he tried to pull back in the driveway he almost got stuck.  LOL!  So I guess he won’t be going to work today.  He has tomorrow off but I have some appts to go to so I hope they get the street plowed by then. 

Here are some pics.

We all went out and ran some errands last night.  First the Food Lion that I had trouble with is closing.  They are not making any profit, there are 2 other Food Lions within 2 miles of the store that is closing.  So because they are closing they had a sale, everything in  the store was 30% off.  The only diapers I like for Lil Tony and Isabel are the Food Lion brand ones, so we went there and got 2 boxes.  Plus we got some wipes and mac n cheese. 

Then we went to Wal-Mart.  I wanted to go because my cell phone was up for renewal at a contract price and I wanted to get a new phone.  They had the Samsung Solstice for free with a 2 yr contract so I thought I would try it out.  It is all touch screen.  So far I am not having any problems.  My old phone is a Samsung Blackjack.  Now I really loved that phone but I was getting bored with it.  I use my phone mostly for text messaging and I use the notepad and calendar.  I love their notepad and calendar.  The Solstice does not have a “notepad” option anywhere close to what the Blackjack has to offer.  Pretty big bummer.  It also does not have Solitaire on it.  All of those may be the deal breaker because I like to play games on my phone and the Solstice does not have the features I like. 

The other great things we got was a new Kitchenaid Stand Mixer and an Espresso Machine.  Both were on clearance.  We got both for the price of a mixer full price.  Tony was so totally excited.  We have been making a lot of breads and tortillas and having this mixer will make things so much easier.   

Last night he made me hot chocolate with the Espresso Machine and this morning he made me a chocolate espresso.  It was really tasty.  The only other thing we need now is a new griddle.  The one we have one of the “legs” broke and so it tilts pretty bad. 

New toys are so fun!  LOL!

The snow storm is coming, the snow storm is coming.  They are expecting it to start falling tomorrow morning around 6am.  Schools are already closed anticipating the weather is gonna be bad during the day.  Today was Tony’s day off and they called him in so they can be prepared for the rush of people coming in preparing to be snowed in. 

I HAD to go to the store today because we were out of milk.  I wish I hadn’t the stores were insane.  I am so tired of the snow already.  Some areas (near Dulles airport) are expecting 30+ inches of snow.  I just can’t believe it.  When we moved to Virginia they said they very rarely see snow.  They said they have not seen snow like this in like 10 yrs.  WOW!  I guess my wish came true.  I asked to see snow this year and boy oh boy we got it.  LOL!

Well hopefully the plows are warming up and preparing for the weekend storm.

Last night was my weigh in.  I had a good week.  I worked out 5 days and I stayed on my moderate eating.  I still count calories and stay within my daily limit.  I have a spreadsheet that Tony set up for me.  It logs my meals and my composition.  When I type in my weight, fat % and h2O % it calculates for me what my daily caloric intake should be.  The number given is just to maintain weight.  For me it comes out to almost 1900 calories for the day. 

So here is how I work my days, for my low calorie days I eat 500 less calories than the maintain calorie amount.  For my high calorie days I eat 500 OVER the maintain amount.  Since I don’t really know how much I am burning when I work out I only add 150 calories to whatever number I am supposed to eat for the day.  For example, today is our high calorie day so 1871 should be the calories to maintain.  Since it’s a high calorie day I am going to eat 2371 and since I also worked out today I will add an ADDT’L 150 calories.  So my total caloric intake for the day should be 2521. 

Tony and I allow ourselves one day a week on our high calorie days to have sweets.  It gives us something to look forward to.  It also keeps us from “falling off the wagon”.  So today coming off 3 low calorie days in a row is our sweets day.  We usually leave about 700-800 calories for dessert. 

The greatest thing and most realistic is that we still eat the foods we love and would normally eat, like tacos and spaghetti.  We also eat a lot of chicken and veggies too.  We eat the chicken and veggies a lot on our low calorie days.  If you could see the size plate I ate last night you would be amazed that it was only about 600 calories.  I had about 8 oz of chicken, 3/4 cup of rice and about 2 cups of green beans.  I couldn’t even eat it all.  I will have to take a picture next time. 

If we do chose to eat tacos or spaghetti or something on a low calorie day (like we did last week) we just didn’t get to eat as much.  Last week when we had spaghetti I think I got about a cup to cup and a half of pasta and a cup of spaghetti sauce.  I am still able to eat the wonderful tasting food just in  moderation.  That is the key. 

So on to the results.  As I said in an earlier post, I am focusing more on lean pounds than I am weight.  Now I won’t ever say how much I way on here but I will tell you my results, up or down. 

So here are the results:
weight down 2 pounds
lean pounds up 2.03
h2O pounds up 1.46
fat pounds down 4.03
Now as far as the water we all know we can fluctuate on a daily basis for our hydration not to mention it is that time of the month so I think I am retaining a little water from that. 

Overall the numbers you want to look at is the lean pounds and fat pounds.  I am going up in lean pounds and down in fat pounds.  In one week I lost 4 pounds of fat.  That there is a good week. 

So this morning I made apple banana smoothies, for a cup and a half it was 204 calories.  I drank my smoothie first thing in  the morning and then headed to the gym.  My time was limited since we still just have the one car working and Tony had to go to work so I worked out for about 35 min.  When I came home I ate a 1/4 cup of oatmeal and a breakfast burrito.  All the things I love to eat.  The breakfast burrito had sausage and egg, cheese and veggies in it.  For lunch I will probably have a tuna melt, my new fav.   I am very careful how much butter I put on my bread, all the ingredients for the tuna is measured (mayo, relish and seasonings) and I use one slice of cheese.  Makes for a delicious lunch.  We will have tacos for dinner followed by about 700 calories for dessert. 

Tomorrow is another high calorie day but we will not have sweets.  So the 700 calories used for sweets today will make for another meal sometime during the day.  I will probably pick up a heart rate monitor soon, one that will track calories burned during my workouts. 

So anyways those are my results for week 2.  I also make sure to drink at least  64 ounces  of water every day.

Well we have almost completed week 2 of our moderation “diet”.  Or shall I say moderation eating habits.  Almost 2 weeks ago, I started taking control of my eating and this week I added the gym to that mix.  I signed up for Snap Fitness.  I love it because it is a 24hr gym, no contract and there was no sign up fee.  It is only $34.95 for a single membership and $54.95 for a joint one.  It is small but it has everything I would need or use.  It has the cardio machines I like and a variety of weight lifting options.

I have entered in to weight loss this time around with a little more knowledge and realistic thinking.  Last year when I jumped in I was so nuts about counting calories and exercise and in the long run it wasn’t very realistic.  I was eating next to nothing in fat.  I wasn’t eating very much at all.  I spent a lot of time worrying about whether I would make it to the gym everyday and spent a lot of time online at MyFoodDiary.com logging my food and making a meal plan.  With 4 kids that is just not something I was willing or capable of committing to. 

I won’t be able to give up sweets forever, I like cheese and pizza and all the things I shouldn’t.  But would I be able to never eat a candy bar or bowl of ice cream again, NO!  

So the key to my success is MODERATION!   Tony and I have started this together.  We are charting our progress on a weekly basis.  Although I weight myself daily just to make sure I am on track, I only count my weight and number once a week.  By numbers I mean fat% and h2o%, both items my scale will tell me.  I am no longer thinking of my health in terms of a number.  I am not going to worry if the scale tells me a high number, it is going to be based on how my clothes fit, how I feel and my fat pounds.  I set a specific number for my fat percentage and I will achieve that rather than a specific number for my weight.  

Basically what we are doing is alternating our days, low calorie days followed by a high calorie.  Well actually right now our schedule is Monday and Tuesday arehigh calorie days, Wednesday is low, Thursday is high and then Friday/Saturday and Sunday are low calorie days.  Once a week on Monday we will have sweets.  It is a high calorie day so we will put a bunch of calories in to a snack of our choice.  Lately it has been Krispy Kreme donuts.  Or it may be brownies (for Tony) and chocolate chip cookies minus the chocolate for me.  That way, we have something to look forward to and we don’t “fall off the wagon”.

So week one was a pretty big success.  I lost 7 pounds.  I don’t remember of that how much was fat pounds though.  What I do know is that this week I think is going to be good too.  Last I checked and calculated (in the middle of the week) I would have lost about 4 pounds of fat.  That is awesome. 

Well tomorrow is weigh in day so I will update you on this weeks progress.

Since the weather has been cold, Tony can’t really go outside and work on his car.  He loves working with his hands, whether it’s working on a car or building something.  I think it’s great he’s handy! 

Well we are starting to get Nicki’s room together.  I spent the last 2 days painting it and Tony worked on her bed frame.  It turned out really cool.  It is a wood frame and then I bought her a bunk bed mattress.  I will buy her some cool accessories for her room too.  I bought this really cool fluffy rug that matches her comforter. 

So now that he finished the bed frame his next project is a new kitchen table.  The one we have is round, wobbly and not very big.  I want a rectangular one.  So he is going to build a table.  I am so totally excited.  We decided to make the top out of cheaper wood and then cover it with ceramic tiles. I think it will be awesome because we are going to make a cool design on the table.  Hopefully by the time he is finished with that it will be nice outside and he can go work on his cars.  LOL!  Keep that man busy.