Menu Plan Monday

Hello again!  This menu is brought to you by Hub's freakout over our recent credit card bills.  I am not saying these meals are especially budget-friendly, but I am saying that this week I have to make my shopping list and stick to it.  There have been too many impulsive trips to the grocery store lately.  As we all know, a "quick stop for milk" can sometimes end up turning into several bags of unplanned things.  I am going to try very hard to make my list and stick with it.

Chicken soup with dumplings and brownies for dessert
Hamburgers with raw veggies on the side
Tuna Noodle casserole
Beef stir fry with brown rice
Spaghetti and sauce
Hawaiian-style slow cooked ribs

If you need some more ideas to spruce up your family meals check out some other Menu Plan Monday posts at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Check in Wednesday.

Hello everybody!  So, let's just get the bad news out of the way:  I am up two pounds this week, which cancels out my entire loss so far.  It is a good thing I am not using this challenge to lose weight as much as I am using it to get me into a regular workout routine.  That, I did fantastically on.

So, yes.  There was a birthday party this week.  There was some unauthorized snacking.  I am not going to let that get me down because this weekend I worked out for an hour (30 min Power Sculpt DVD + 2 mile run on the treadmill),  and then a friend called and invited my family to go sledding with hers.  My legs were already sore and tired but I said yes anyway.  Taking three kids sledding for an hour is hard work!!  So, I feel like that was a triumph in and of itself.  I was sore for the next two days, but I only took one off from my workouts and got back on the treadmill even though I didn't really want to.  That is why I am doing this.  To make my body strong and healthy so I can take my kids sledding, even after I have worked out.

Here are my stats:
Starting Weight:       159.6
Last week's weight:  157.8
Today's weight:        160.0
Gain:                         +2.2
Total Gain:               +0.4

Weekly Accumulated Miles:  7.27 plus 30 min strength training (according to Run Like a Mother 10 min cross training = 1 mile so you could say I "ran" 10.27 miles this week)

I am so proud of myself for finally learning to fit exercise into my day (that almost always means stepping away from the computer).  It is so easy for me to talk myself out of getting on the treadmill, but then once I tell myself "just 15 minutes"  after 35 I am kicking myself because I feel so good.  Why do I always try to sabotage that???  And dude, I ran one mile farther than I did last week!  The 10K I have my eye on this spring is feeling like it could happen.

How was your week??

Check in Wednesday

 Is it Wednesday already?  I had another good week.  I am getting over my chest cold so I got a couple of good runs in.  I am drinking my water and getting back into the habit of having a big salad for lunch. 

I think in addition to the obligatory weigh in I am also going to record my weekly miles here as well.  I keep track at a website called RunKeeper, and it is very motivating to see the miles pile up under my shoes. 

All right, here are my stats for this week:

Starting weight:         159.6

Last Week's weight: 159.0
This Week's Weight  157.8
Loss                             1.2
Total Loss:                    1.8

Accumulated Weekly Miles:  6.31

 How was your week?

Running with the Sisters.

Yesterday I was supposed to run a Virtual 5K with the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  My body had other ideas.  Starting around Jan 1 I came down with the sniffles.  The sniffles got worse and worse and started moving into my chest.  I pushed through my workouts, being careful not to irritate my exercise-induced asthma.  By this past Thursday I was coughing hard.  I barked like a seal all night on Friday, finally giving in to some cold meds so I could get some sleep.  This didn't leave me feeling very strong yesterday (heck, standing up in the shower made me a bit dizzy because I was so tired)  I rested yesterday and took my Vitamin D and C.  I actually had a good sleep last night and didn't cough.  So, today, to show my support for The Sisterhood who has been with me through all of my ups and downs, I got on my treadmill and did 3.52 miles (5.66K) with a little help from my embarrassing play list (Weird Al and Hanson, anyone?) and my salbutamol inhaler.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was also quite inspired by Jim Carrey's recent apperance on the Jimmy Fallon show, where he did his entire interview from a treadmill.
 
I am SO bummed I couldn't run with everyone else yesterday, but today I stopped the pity party, laced up my shoes and just kept on going.

Check in Wednesday.

Hello everyone!

Today is check in day.  My first week back on the wagon has gone pretty well.  I stuck to my commitment of not snacking pretty well--I fell off the wagon twice, but one night I was SO hungry my stomach was growling.  I reached for a bowl of cereal with milk while my husband plowed through a box of chocolate covered cherries.  Not too shabby!  I have exercised three times, twice on the treamill (named Jillian) and once with a DVD.  I still need to increase my water intake, though.

Here are my numbers:

Last week's weight:  159.6
This week's weight:  159.0
Loss:                            0.6

It is nice to be in a downward-facing trajectory, even if I don't have a weight loss goal in mind.  I am coming down with some sniffles so I am finding it all-to easy to talk myself out of working out today.  I think that pushing the rug shampooer around my boy's room for 45 minutes (after moving all of the furniture out BY MYSELF) will count as today's workout.  I sure worked up a sweat doing it!