Category Archives: monthly goals

March Wrap Up and Fashion Friday!

The end of the week and just about the end of the month.  I have a fun weekend ahead of me, so I am really looking forward to that!

Breakfast today – oats cooked with some peanut flour and egg whites and topped with coconut butter.  I decided just to photograph the bowl because what was in the bowl didn’t look appealing (although I liked it).

Bowl by local potter.  I have to say that I am finding oats don’t really last me as long as I would like.  Even with protein added.  I was really hungry after a couple hours and had some nuts with  dried pineapple.

I was kind of hoping to make it to lunch without the morning snack because of going out to dinner at night, but I was way too hungry.

Maybe it was a hungry kind of day because I was stomach growling again an hour and a half later for lunch!

Chicken (surprise, surprise) cooked with a bit of tomato basil sauce, which came out of a jar.  Quite good, too.

Anyway – here were my goals for March and how I did:

1.  Finish the 28-Day Shapeover workouts.  Finished and assessed.

2. Follow my 90/10 rule for eating.  Doing really, really well with this. I am on a roll!

3. Cook a few dishes out of my comfort zone.  I did 2.  I made sourdough english muffins and we cooked (John cooked) salmon at home.  I could have done more in this area.

4. Start a new lifting program.  Yes.  I started the Female Body Breakthrough, which I am loving!

5.  Go bowling.  Yes!  Did this once.

I actually did well on my goals this month!  And you know what?  I feel great!  I am loving the new workout program and how I am eating.  John said to me last night that I was looking especially healthy – and who doesn’t love a compliment?  😀  The other bonus this month was how much outdoor biking we got in.  I put just over 100 miles on the bike for the month.

Speaking of biking, I had to get out and ride today.  The weather is looking pretty crappy for Saturday and Sunday I will be busy at the spa (!!!), so today it was.  The temp was 42 degrees, but sunny.  I bundled up with a technical turtleneck, 2 jackets, double gloves and sweats over biking shorts.  I was the Michelin woman!  It was really cold LOL!  It was only annoying when the wind picked up, but when it was calm, the sun felt good.

See my red face from the wind?

I got in a good 10 mile ride today, plus extra calorie burn having to wipe my nose so much.  I was still pretty chilled when I got back inside and John made up some warmth for me.

Wake up kitty!

Okay, this is my attempt at Fashion Friday.  I am not as good as putting outfits together like Shelley is (or posing, apparently).  John and I are going out to a nice dinner tonight and then to a guitar concert at Skidmore College.   We have a Groupon for dinner and decided to make it a nice dinner and music evening.  So, I got dressed up a wee bit.

Top and slacks are from consignment for an outfit costing less than $20!  The slacks are Docker Curvy.  The pants are flared at the bottom – which I didn’t get in the shot.  Good thing I am not a paid photographer.

Anyway, that’s a nice change from always posting me in bike gear.

Posting early as we are off for a fun evening.  Hopefully we will love the food and get some good pictures.  Sunday my mother and I are taking my sister to the spa as a birthday present.  My weekend is going to be awesome!  Hope you have a good one, too!

December wrap up and yearly goals

Last day of the year and I forgot to do my goal wrap up yesterday. Ooops.   :mrgreen:

I had a few goals for December:

1. No weight gain over the holidays.  Fail.  I did gain weight this month.

2. Do some no added sugar days.  I did a very little sugar days and a couple no sugar days.  Of course – I had some all sugar days (I am looking in your direction Christmas Eve!).

3.  Make a video of me playing guitar to post on the blog.  Done and done! 

4. Relax more.  I really don’t know how well I did here.  I did have a 3 day weekend, so that counts, right?

 

And going back to January, these were on my to-do list  for the year:

– We are going to do another 100 mile bike ride this year.  Done, although it was just me this year.

Just for fun, I should count how many helmeted pictures of me there are on this blog.

– Maybe do a half marathon.  Nope. Not with giving up running.

– I hope to do a different duathlon in May 3– Nope. With no running, hard to do a duathlon

– Definitely a few 5K races.  Nope.

– Keep stretching.  Ooops, was this one of my goals??

–I really would like the scal3 to go down further.  I am not shooting for a specific number, but I do have a pair of pants I would like to have less tight. Complete fail here.

– I hope to do more cooking and food recipes on the blog.  Fairly successful here.  One of my favorite recipes? The grain-free banana breakfast pudding.

– I am going to work on my classical guitar this year. I will commit to putting a video of myself on the blog playing something at the end of the year. Done – see above.

Learn to do more than just basic plumbing so that we can install a water softener ourselves (after I save up for it), and possibly install a half bath in our laundry room.  Done!!  My favorite project of the year.  I am so proud of us doing this all by ourselves – and meeting building codes!

– Tinker with the blog a bit.  Ehhh.

– Earn more money.  Success.  Turns out it was getting laid off that turned out to be the catalyst for this.  I got a raise and full time from the second job.

– Just try to be a better person in general.  Always a work in progress.  I did start the literacy tutoring, so there’s something.

I am not sure if I will be making a to-do list or not for the 2012.  I will do my monthly goals, as I enjoy them and coming up with new things to challenge myself with.  I imagine I will have to get on the weight loss train for reals and not just dink around with it.

We are having a family get together for the holiday.  I wish all of you a very happy and safe New Year’s Eve.

 

See you on the flip side!

December Goals

I almost wrote Friday fun day. Whoops, it’s only Thursday! And hello December. Can someone please slow life down?  I swapped my gym days this week because of scheduling.  I may keep a T/Th/Sat lifting schedule now anyway.

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell Squats 1 set of 10 with 65# bar1 set of 8 70#

1 set of 6 at 75#

1 set of 4 at 80#

1 set of 4 at 85#

 Lower Body
Dumbbell Pullover 3 sets of 10 with 25# DB Back
Barbell Chest Press 3 sets of 8 with 55# bar Chest
Dumbbell Stiff-legged deadlifts 3 sets of 10 with 25# DBs (50# total) Hammies, low back
 Trunk Twists 3 sets of 30 Core
Lying Triceps Press 3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs  (20# total) Triceps
Bent lateral Raise 3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs (20# total) Shoulders
Lower Back Extension 3 sets of 10 at 80# Low back

I did the last 6 exercise as supersets where I would do 2 sets  in a row without a rest.   Shweaty! Then it was treadmill walking.

It was cold and I decided on a warm bowl of banana oats this morning.

Topped with some coconut butter and a bit of cinnamon.  Yummy!  I could never really give up grains completely forever.  I love my oats.

It was a busy work day today.  And a good day to get it all done.  This week I have had a lot of schedule interruptors.  We had a girl’s night out on Tuesday with my mom and sister. We got all dressed up and fancy, too!  Then I met with my literacy learner for the first time this week.  That was exhausting, I have to say.  It is going to take time to get used to doing that. Then I got called to make another last minute soap order this week.

Phew.  Not to mention the nagging headache that I have had for the last 3 days.  Just won’t go away even with pain reliever.  I used to get those headaches years ago and now they have returned.

Lunch today was not turkey for a change!

Shrimps!  And yes, eating at the computer here.  The table is full of soap as you see above.

So anyway, it is December and time for some new goals for the month.  Other than just getting through this week, here is what is planned:

1. No weight gain over the holidays.  I am not going to gain any weight! That means being extra diligent on most days.  I will probably lower my calories a few days a week to get some wiggle room.

2. Do some no added sugar days.  This will help with #1. I have been snacking on chocolate chips a lot lately and I need to get out of that habit.

3.  Make a video of me playing guitar to post on the blog.  Eeep!  That original New Year’s Resolution made in January has come to fruition! A year of practice and now you will all get to hear it.  Actually, I might do a couple videos since I have been working on a lot of short pieces.

4. Relax more.  I am really a bad girl when it comes to relaxing. I was getting some tough love from John this week about that, so I am going to do it.

In the vein of relaxing, I think that is enough for goals this month  😉

I took a break today to make the lattes with the new uber machine.  I am almost ready to kiss our new machine.  I love the lattes that we are making!

One more thing going on this week is a garden club meeting tomorrow for lunch.  I just found out my town had a little garden club that meets once a month by accident.  A woman that I met very briefly a couple months ago called me the other day and invited me to their year end party to get to know everyone.

I have to say that while I am looking forward to meeting other gardeners,  I am really shy in person and am quite nervous about this.  It’s one thing to have a group of strangers meet, but a totally different thing to be the only one who doesn’t know anybody at a party.  Awkward. Now that is social anxiety in a nutshell.  I decided against taking pictures of my food at the lunch because I certainly don’t want anyone to know how weird I am! :mrgreen:

John called dinner tonight to grab a slice of pizza.  I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture!

I had a slice and half.  No weight gain this month, remember! LOL.  At least we got in a nice mile walk round trip.

I do get a little relaxing tonight.  John and I are booking our Disney accommodations tonight for the end of January!  I cannot wait for vacation!

Question:  How is your December looking?

November wrap up

Last day of November!  Wow.  Thanks for all of your comments yesterday on the ‘mirror’ post.  I am so much harder on myself than I would ever be on anyone else.  It is such a fine line to walk between pushing yourself hard enough to see progress and starting to expect perfection.

We had one of those rare nights in the Adirondacks where the overnight low was not really cold.  We checked the Weather Channel and the temp was 48 degrees.  You know what that means!!  Biking to breakfast!  Only it wasn’t really 48 degrees.  I thought it was a little colder than that as my eyes were watering a little.  The temp when we arrived at breakfast –

Hmmmmm…. not sure what the discrepancy issue is there.  I want to work in weather where you can be wrong a lot and still keep your job –  and get raises!

North Country Cafe:

My bagel – a little over toasted.

See the bikes in the background.  They finally finished the work on the street.

12 miles for the day.  Okay, now this was probably the last outdoor ride of the year.  I keep saying that and the temps pop up a little.  Very rare this time of year and I am glad I haven’t put the bike on the trainer yet.

I was a little cold here.  It was  a stiff wind on the way home!

So, here were my November goals and the progress I made on them:

1. Go grain-free 4 days a week. I did pretty well with this except for  Thanksgiving week where I ate grains on Thursday when that was a day I normally did not.  A-

2. No eggnog lattes until Thanksgiving Day.  Done!  I have only had 1 and it was on Thanksgiving Day. A+

3. Walk 3 miles a day 5 times a week. I did really well with this goal.  Other than when I sprained my foot and this weekend with 2 days of biking, I walked a lot. A

4.  At least 2 different vegetables a day. I did okay with this.  Veggies are still a struggle for me other than broccoli.  I would say a B- for this goal.

5.  Spruce up the website.  This is really hard.  I was working on the recipe section, but time really is a problem as I need to spend hours  on it.  C-

Quite a good month goal wise.

 

Pixie met all of her goals this month:  bird watching, sleeping,  rolling in cat nip, and lots of lap time.

I am feeling swamped and busy right now.  I feel like my schedule is really out of whack.  I hope to have some goals for December lined up for tomorrow.

 

Have a great night!

November Goals!

The end of 2011 is not far off.  Wow.  The older I get the faster time goes by.  I had a protein drink and headed off to the gym in the frigid weather.  Brrr….  I should wear something more than my workout pants on the way there as my calves were cold.  Or maybe I could warm up the car more.  There’s a thought…

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown 3 sets of 10 at 60# bar Back
Straight Leg Deadlift 3 sets of 10 with 65# bar Lower body
Decline Sit-up 3 sets of 10 Core
Bench Press 3 sets of 10 with 55# bar Chest
Pliet Squat 3 sets of 10 with 40# DB Lower body
Seated Dumbbell Press 3 sets of 10 at with 10# DBs (20# total) Triceps
Incline Reverse Fly (on bench) 3 sets of 8 with 15# DBs (30# total) Shoulders
Lower Back Extension 3 sets of 10 at 70# Low back

I hopped on the treadmill and walked 1.5 miles before coming home to eat!  I wanted something warm in my tummy.  I chose a 1-minute muffin waffle style with apple cranberry topping:

Note I am doing  a grain-free day today.  This lasted me to lunch, along with 3 cups of coffee!  :mrgreen:

Speaking of lunch, this is another of the oopsie rolls.  Or really 2 of them as my bun for the turkey burger topped with laughing cow and some caramelized onions (from my freezer stash).

I hope to get the recipe post up for these tomorrow.  But first, let’s talk about my November goals.

1. Go grain-free 4 days a week. Since the eating season is now in full swing, this will help keep me in line without over indulging too much.  Oddly enough, I am actually looking forward to these days as I like the food choices I make and how I feel. (you would think I would do it more, then, eh?)

2. No eggnog lattes until Thanksgiving Day.  Every year I do this because I love the nog so much!  The nog lattes are available as of 11/01, but I think it should be reserved for between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I wonder how many people love both egg nog and candy corn?

3. Walk 3 miles a day 5 times a week. Biking season is winding down and this is the start of the walking program to get ready for our trip to Disney in January!  I will give a little leeway on this because I will be on the bike instead if the weather is right. (see below)

4.  At least 2 different vegetables a day. I was inspired by Marion and her fruit and veggie challenge last month.  I will count pumpkin and sweet potatoes as veggies.

5.  Spruce up the website.  I will organize the recipes a little better and do some updating.  Just to keep it fresh.  This has been an unwritten goal of mine since early this year, so I figured I have to write it down to get it done!

This should keep me plenty busy this month  :mrgreen:

So, I walked 1.5 miles on the treadmill and was going to do another 1.5 outside today, but 52 degrees beckoned to take the bike out!  I broke a guitar string last night, so John and I decided to bike to the guitar shop in the early afternoon.

I was wearing a technical turtleneck and a fleece jacket, which was almost a bit much, but not until near the end of the ride.  We headed a few miles away to the guitar store:

I got my string!

It was just about the perfect day for biking.  No wind and sunny.  If it was a little warmer, say 65 to 70 instead of 52, it would have been totally perfect!  Happy, happy lady on the bike.   We did 7 miles in about 32 minutes.

I came back and made up lattes to warm up:

That let me settle back in to work for the day. A very busy day, I might add.

I was really hungry by the time dinner rolled around, so I snacked on some nuts while I cooked up dinner.

I had to banish the cashews for a little while as I was cracking out on them.

Dinner is served!  Chicken thighs just pan fried with brussel sprouts and a pear.

I tend to eat rather simply, but it is really tasty to me!  I keep wanting to do more involved cooking during the week, but work gets in the way and I am too hungry to wait 😀

Tonight is practicing with my new string – yay!  Plus a nosh of cheese and fruit.

Question:  Any November goals you want to share – or care to join me in some grain-free living?

Happy Halloween and October Wrap Up!

Happy Halloween!  Meet the Candy Corn Vampire!

John and I started off the day different and went out for a bagel.  I woke up yesterday not feeling well, so we didn’t get our normal Sunday breakfast out.  We decided to go on Monday instead.  Nice treat!

We just didn’t get to spend as long yakking and talking as we do on Sunday mornings because there was work to be done.

Plus shipping out the big soap order.

That took up some time to do.  This is the only person I make soap for and I think she sells it at craft shows.

Lunch time! John made up clam chowder yesterday, so that was on the menu with some mango.

On to the monthly goal wrap up and how I did.

1.  Water conservation.  I am going to get wet, wash my face, then turn off the water to soap up the rest of me and my hair.  Then turn the water on and rinse.  This did not last long.  It was cold and I realized that my daydreaming in the shower doesn’t usually occur when I am soaping up, but while rinsing off.  Instead, we converted our upstairs toilet to a low-flow one with a kit.  Good enough!

2. Post a pink picture each day! I did just about every day (I forgot yesterday). Don’t forget to click on the last day!

3. Keep going with Pilates 2x a week.  I did a mix of Pilates and straight up stretching. Feels good.

4.  Try 4 new recipes this month and post them.  I did 3.  Stupid work getting in the way.

5. Be conscious of wheat.  I did not do too well on this one.  I did have some GF days, but I also ate my share of wheat!

Not a lot of progress on those goals.  C’est la vie!  I’ll have a new set to implement tomorrow 😀

Break time!  Almond milk latte.

I also decided to go out for a walk during the warmest part of the day.  I did 3 miles.

I was hungry for dinner later – must have been the walk.  I cooked up turkey burgers tonight, which I put on an oopsie roll (recipe and technique coming this week).

Tasty!

Now the kids are coming and loving our pumpkins!

I think they get more excited about seeing the pumpkins than the treats 😀

John and I also are anticipating the football game tonight.  We are down to the wire. The winner of tonight’s game gets to pick this week’s dinner!  Come on, Chiefs!  I have dried pineapple just waiting for my game snack, too!

Last pink item of October. This is a basket made as part of the Ubumwe Basket Project, which helps   poor women in Rwanda earn money. They make the baskets and get all of the proceeds from the sale of them.

The Breast Cancer Site

October goals!

Thanks for all the comments on the photo shoot yesterday! It’s funny how everyone has a different opinion on which outfit looks the best.

I will think about getting the pants, but also, I have to think about how often I will really wear them.  Since I work at home, I have no dress code and there is the cat with white fur factor. Not to mention that I usually buy consignment and have not bought a brand new pair of pants in years! I guess that is a little sad LOL.

Funny story.  There was sooooooo much hairspray in my hair yesterday.  I mean crispy candy coating amount. It hurt a lot to try to brush it out last night. Well, I had a sweaty night last night since we put a quilt on the bed (which I didn’t need).  I woke up and my hair was stuck to the pillow because of being sweaty and all the hairspray!  :mrgreen:

Back to the norm today and that called for pumpkin oats!

This was paired with some Peet’s Cafe Domingo Coffee that I recieved through being part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.  When we lived in Colorado, there was  Peet’s cafe that we used to like going to.

They also graciously sent some $2 off coupons for Peets to buy at your grocery store, so if you would like one, please email me at javaqueen01@yahoo.com and I will mail one out.  I have 5 coupons available, so first come first serve.

Finally, a day to just work and get it done.  I got right to work right through until lunch time!  I made up an open face sandwich on GF bread with peanut flour and jam.

Plus the roundest pear ever.  Looks like an apple, but this one tasted like pear!

With all the doins’ last week and over the weekend, I am just finally getting around to posting my October goals.  Better late than never, right? October is a much more relaxed month for us typically, although the business gets busy this month.

1.  Water conservation.  We just got our water bill, so  this is a perfect time to try this.  I tend to daydream in the shower, which can waste a lot of water. So I am going to get wet, wash my face, then turn off the water to soap up the rest of me and my hair.  Then turn the water on and rinse.  I am curious to see if this has any effect on our water bill.

2. Post a pink picture each day! Like the last 2 Octobers, I will be doing the pink picture with the link to click to provide mammograms to those in need. If all my readers click that, we would have well over 300 clicks a day.  This is a much better way than those cryptic Facebook messages like shoe size and what you are craving to raise breast cancer awareness, don’t you think?

3. Keep going with Pilates 2x a week.  This was good for me and I really need to keep doing that or stretching at a minimum.

4.  Try 4 new recipes this month and post them.  Like last month.  I think people seem to like these as my recipe posts get the most traffic (and the fewest comments…hmmm).

5. Be conscious of wheat.  I am not eliminating wheat, but I am going to reduce it as often as I think to.

A relaxed month 😀

For more relaxation, how about a latte?

Paired with a pumpkin cranberry oat bar that I made for all the ladies that were at my photo shoot yesterday.  Did I mention I love pumpkin?

It felt good to get back to standard fare around Casa Radiance for dinner.  We ate a lot of rich foods last week.

John and I took a walk up the street.  On our road there are a cluster of fast food places all about 1/2 mile from our house. Pizza Hut, McD’s, Subway, another pizza joint, Chinese and Dunkin Donuts.  We stopped in for some decaf at Dunkins and I got 2 pumpkin munchkins (ooops on the wheat here).

I used to love DD, but not so much anymore. It just makes me want to make my own donuts at home!

Pink picture of the day.

Don’t forget to click!

The Breast Cancer Site

Question: Any big plans for October?

September Wrap Up!

Dang, where did September go?  This week has been crazy busy, that is for sure!  I did the orientation for my literacy tutoring yesterday and it has been a mad scramble to get in work – although I caught up nicely.  Enough to be able to watch Project Runway last night! (Josh M go home already!)

I made up some yummy oats for breakfast today.  This was banana custard oats topped with maple cream and toasted pecans!

I managed to flip most of this bowl into my lap while at the computer (because I admit, that is where I usually eat breakfast)  I saved most of it, but that was annoying because I had to go change.

After breakfast I took a walk and then spent at least an hour on the phone with the photo shoot coming up on Monday.  That is causing me some stress, and I am stress eating a bit.  It will be fun, but I also feel fairly self conscious about it.  At least it is being done in my home and I can feel relaxed there.

Lunch time:

It kind of looks like dinner, doesn’t it?  Dinner out tonight, so I wanted to make sure I got in my broccoli!

Are you ready for a complete cuteness overload?

Ms. Pixie sleeping on me today.  I really wish I could market her cuteness.

Anyway, here were my goals for September and how I did:

1. Do 1 new recipe and post it each week. I did 3 meals.  Pork with Peppers and rice, GF Banana Bread,  Country Captain Chicken. I just got too busy to do the 4th one.  I actually did do a GF sandwich bread, but I never took pictures or did a post on it.

2. Keep going with Couch to 5K. I did into week 8.  It was just feeling wrong.  I was hating it and how it was hurting me.  It really bothered me that I used to run and now it doesn’t work for me. I realized, though, that I don’t need to run. I just don’t need to do it when there are a lot of other things that don’t hurt me.  It doesn’t make me any less of an athlete.

3. Volunteer for something or join a book club/something like that.  I went to the orientation to start literacy tutoring.  The rest of the track will happen in November, so good to go.

4. Celebrate 15 years of marriage on the 28th. Done and done!

5. Do Pilates 2 times a week.  Sqeeeeaaaakkkk!  Did you hear that? I just barely eked in 2 times a week with it. LOL.

Not a bad month.  I now have to think of some things for October.

Are you ready for a latte? I was!

Please ignore the bowl of chocolate chips and pretzels.  I am not sure what that is doing there… really…  😳

Dinner time we might my parents to take my mother out for her birthday.  Happy birthday Mom!!

We went to the Anvil.

My pictures were horrible in here as it was very dark inside, although quite a  neat place. It is a building from the 1840s.

No garden pictures today as my busy butt just didn’t get out there to take any pictures this week!  My mums will be in full bloom next week, so you can all look forward to that, as will I.

I will return with a recap Sunday night of our champagne breakfast cruise (rain and all, most likely) to celebrate our anniversary.

Question: How was your September?

August Wrap Up and the return of Bagel Wednesday!

Where the h-e-double-hockeysticks did summer go?? 😯  I can’t believe I am doing the monthly wrap up post already.

John asked me to get him up when I got up so we could get an early start on the day because we both have a lot to do today.  I requested no whining when I did so.   It was a gorgeous morning, nice and cool.  We headed out on the path, which was so quiet in the early morning.  We actually saw 3 deer on the path! They bolted before I could get a picture, though.  I said to John, “See how nice it is to get up this early?”.  His answer, “No.”  😈

After 6 miles, we arrived at our destination.

Check out the temperature before 8 am:

I had a wheat bagel with cream cheese and a cuppa joe!

The weird thing? Chewing the bagel.  I have not had any bread product in 3 weeks and there is no other food that has the chew of crusty bread or bagels.

I’m happy now. 😀

So let’s review goals, shall we?  I had 2 goals for this month.

1. Begin C25K.  In progress.  This is a 9 week program, so obviously I am not finished.  I am uncertain as to whether I will finish the program.  The run intervals have been short and I notice little niggling things with my leg, but I have completed the first 4 weeks without incident.

2. Go grain-free for 21 days. I did it!  I might have ingested some accidental grain products, like when I had a few marshmallows (corn syrup), but other than that I did stellar.  And you know what?  It was not that hard.  The hardest thing was eating out.  And let me tell you – going grain free is a lot harder than going gluten free!  Corn is in everything.  Everything!

I did find out some interesting things about me going grain free.  It eliminated pretty much all my cravings for bread products and for sweets.  Not that I didn’t eat sweets, but it really curbed my penchant for over snacking.  Which is a good thing. When I did snack, it tended to be on nuts pretty much.  I ate a *lot* of nuts.  Sometimes fruit as well (especially dried pineapple :mrgreen: ).

I also found I didn’t need grains to get in my fiber.  I averaged 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day. Coconut flour, flax,nuts, and fruits and veggies gave me what I needed.

Was the food I ate boring for 3 weeks? You tell me.

And now, the part I know you all reaaalllly wanted to know.  Did I lose any weight? Yes.  I did.  In those 3 weeks I lost 6.5 pounds.  😯  Now, I do  take 2 pounds of that with a grain of salt because I weighed myself after a long bike ride, which always results in a couple of pounds of water retention.  So even if it was 4.5 pounds, that is an enormous amount of weight for me to lose in 3 weeks!

I have decided I am going to keep grains lower in my diet for the time being because to not have the cravings for food is really so, so nice. It pretty much took care of PMS cravings as well. They were minimal at best.  I am definitely using this strategy for the holidays and letting the grains I eat during that time be the treats and such.

I am so pleased that the no-grain challenge did exactly what it was supposed to do, which was to get me on a better choice path because I was veering off it a little bit. Weight loss was a bonus.

Now I have to come up with some new challenges for September!

August Goals

Fresh new month, albeit a hot and humid start to the month.  Time for some goals!

First, let me show you a graph of my bike mileage. I use Daily Mile to track my workouts.  Here is how I accumulated 505 miles during July:

Of course, the graph cuts off the first couple of days of the month, but you get the picture.  Imagine if I had biked every single day?  Other than going completely insane, it would just be too much.

So, no biking today to start the month off 😀  I did make a good breakfast after a short walk:

1 minute muffin with blueberry sauce.  Classic, full of fiber and antioxidants.  I shall live forever!

So this month I have 2 goals and 2 goals only.

Goal 1: As I alluded to a touch yesterday, the scale is at a standstill now.  I had said a couple months ago that I was serious about taking off the last bit of weight that I have.  Well, it seems to be so very hard for me to get into weight loss mode and stay there versus maintenance mode.  I am not walking the talk, so to speak.  It’s just hard to get that mojo kick started.  So to do that I am actually following a plan.  Normally I don’t do a set plan or things like that as I tend to walk to my own drummer, but I need a big time shakeup.

I had gotten a book out of the library last week called the Perfect 10 Diet.  Upon reading it, this doctor believes a lot of the things that I think are true in eating.  No processed foods, coconut oil is good for you, don’t eat refined grains, don’t be afraid of eggs, whole grains are better, don’t be afraid of fat.  I like that.  Isn’t is always good when someone agrees with you? 😉

Anyhoo, he has a 3 stage eating program, and I am going to follow the first stage (3 weeks) of that, which is to eliminate all grains.  That’s a biggie for me with my love of bagels and oats.  Note – this is *not* low carb.  I will still be eating about 40% of my calories in carbs, but they will come from diary, fruits, and veggies and lentils.  It’s just for 3 weeks and then the whole grains will come back in, but I think I just need to give me some kind of goal to work for.

I am not of the mindset that I will drop a bunch of weight or anything.  That never happens for me.  It’s just that little things are creeping back too much and I need to focus on doing what is good for me and my body. Not that I am not totally awesome as I am, but it’s always good to give tough love to oneself when needed.

So that is going to happen for the last 3 months of August, or starting next Monday. I promise I won’t binge on bagels prior to that LOL.  Should be interesting.

Before getting on with goal #2, how about a lunch break?

Shrimps and some mango! The store had mango spears and they looked yummy.  I hate carving up my own mango with its weird pit, so I was all over these.

On to Goal 2:  I am going to start the Couch to 5K program again! Many of you know that I still have the numbness in my knee and calf from the herniated disk last year (takingforeverthankyouverymuch).  Well, after months and months of no change, from the end of June through July – it got noticeably better.  At first, I wasn’t sure, but then it definitely was much better.  I don’t have all of the feeling back, but a lot of it.  That makes me want to try running again.  I am going to cool my jets with it by doing the C25k program, though, which also will be good to get me off the bike!  I need more cross training other than weights.

Interesting, eh?  It only took about 15 months to start seeing improvement in that numbness.  Of course, if I start running and the numbness comes back, it will be a very short lived goal.  We shall see.

Snack time:

Balance Bar.  This is the new Cinnamon Roll flavor and I hate to say that it is really good.  I just sometimes don’t want to know when things are good, know what I mean?

I ended up nibbling during the afternoon.  Feeling very cravey today.  Can I make up that word?

Poor John is really sick now.  It was a delayed onset of that cold and he is pretty miserable.  He is tucked into bed with the AC on.  Nothing worse than a summer cold.

I cooked up some dinner and ate alone, which was weird.  Summer burger time!

Evening snack — some sugared almonds that John brought me from Trader Joe’s during his trip to buy me off.  He knows my weakness and exploits it.

I’ll have to say bye to these starting next Monday!

Question: Any big plans for August?