Week 29 - Information on my challenge and weekly update

 Okay, I realize that July’s focus is on eating, but I decided to also workout in July since I failed so epically in June. The two experiences fit together well, so I figured why not. *shrug* With that being said, I needed some motivation to get myself back into the habit (which I know takes at least 30 days to build, but at this stage I’m over half way to that) so I did some research to find programs and motivation ideas that I thought would work for me. I’ve already explained the daily workout agreement I created with some friends where we pay $2 if we skip a day beyond our agreed upon breaks. But what I didn’t explain was the additional steps I’m taking during this challenge. I stumbled across the 75 Hard Challenge created by Andy Frisella. Now, I don’t know anything about him, his ideas, or any of that. But I was intrigued by the idea of the challenge. It consists of multiple parts, which alone can be helpful, but when combined together can help change your mindset and body composition. The “rules” for the 75 Hard Challenge are as follows: 

1. Follow a diet/nutrition plan of your choice, no alcohol and no meal cheat days

2. Drink a gallon of water a day

3. Exercise 2x a day for 45 minutes, one of those must be outside

4. Take a daily progress photo

5. Read 10 pages of a non-fiction book daily (physical copy only)

6. If you miss one day of any one activity, you must begin again. 

These daily tasks are to take place for 75 days.  Now, looking at my life and track record of getting things done with such perfection and hard rules, I knew it wasn’t for me to do the 75 Hard Challenge, so I decided to tweak it to fit in my life while still abiding by principles of the official challenge. I decided to call it 75 Soft (which is apparently its own thing, but much more lenient). For my version, I set out the following guidelines: 

1. Monitor eating habits and log into MyFitnessPal to track calories, fat, etc., drinking only on social occasions IF I feel like it, and there are no such things as cheat meals 

2. Drink a minimum of 64 oz of water per day

3. Exercise 20 minutes per day, minimum. Take rest days, but they must be active rest (yoga, walks, stretching, etc.)

4. Take weekly progress photos 

5. Read for 10 minutes a day (the easiest one, honestly) any format

6. If I miss a day, I assess the reason I missed it and determine if I need to restart  (so, laziness over actually being sick).

At the time of writing this portion of my post, I have completed 18 days (24%) of the challenge to their full extent. The tricky part will be when school starts again and I don’t have as much free time to do as I please. But, I have very high hopes that I’ve created a program that suits my life and the goals I have for myself. While losing weight is something that I do wish to do, I also know that I need to build muscle and improve my cardiovascular health. My cardiovascular health has improved since I was hospitalized in 2021, but I’ve given multiple excuses to myself and others in regard to trying to improve my health. I need to get over the mentality that’s gotten me in this place. I’ve done things for my health in the past and kind of fallen off the wagon when one small thing got in the way. However, seeing people in my life that have required surgeries for health issues, seeing my boys not make great food choices, and having my own body betray me by aging have brought into the spotlight things that I clearly need to work on. Since beginning this challenge I have noticed some wonderful (and not so wonderful) things happen. In the past 18 days I have raised the weight I can lift on most of the machines I’ve been working out with at the gym (as I’ve posted about in a few blog entries), I’ve seen the clothes I wear fit in different ways than previously (due to muscle replacing fat, I hope), my mood has been better, and a consistent pain I’ve had in my lower back and hip have pretty much disappeared. But the not so wonderful aspects involve nursing other injuries (stupid knee), sore muscles (I simply hate being sore and refuse to take medication for it), and sometimes feeling like I’m not getting enough food.  Some days are harder than others, but I know at the end of these 75 days, I will have (hopefully) changed my mentality back to the one that loved going to the gym and can promote a better lifestyle to my children so they don’t hit their 40s and realize that *maybe* they should have taken better care of themselves earlier in life.

July 13 - 

Hamburger with bun, pickles, and ketchup

Cottage cheese

Mixed nuts

Strawberries (1 cup quartered)

Sausage and egg sandwich on toast

 Gym workout was good today. I played with the speed and incline on the treadmill today to shake up my routine a bit. There were some moments at the higher speed and incline that I felt like I may have to dial it down, but I persevered and made it through. The cool down was much needed! LOL! For my weight training, I kept it consistent with what my previous weights were, but I’m hoping the 5 lb added weight for one of the machines shows up next time I’m there so I can bump one of them up a bit. The little one also wanted to go for a bike ride after dinner, so he rode around while I walked. I think we got about 2 miles in after dinner. While walking around we got to experience a train going under us on a bridge. Since he loves trains, it was a HUGE deal for him.

 For my eating, I went over on fat intake, but with a burger and sausage, I expected it to happen. However, we have a bunch of eggs at the house so I wanted to use some for protein while also using up some of the bread we have around. Sunday will be better as we’re having pork chops on the grill for dinner and I’ll probably just do some over easy eggs with toast. I do need to figure out some meals for next week, but that shouldn't be too hard. I know I want the kids to try eggplant parmesan, so that will likely be a “new” recipe for the week. I asked the little one what he wanted for dinner in the coming week, he answered with some junk he hasn’t had in a while and also things we just had this week. * facepalm * I guess you can’t win them all. I’ll probably cave and get him one of the junk things he’s asked for since it can be used as his meal when leftovers are the option for dinner. 

July 14 - 

2 Bananas

Cottage cheese x2

Applesauce

Grilled pork chops

Potato and green bean baked dish

Ice cream

Chocolate syrup

 For dinner today, I don’t really trust MyFitnessPal because there was nothing listed like the baked side dish we had, so I had to pick a few things that were sort of close. I had originally wanted to grill some honey garlic pork chops, but by the time I got home and started dinner, I realized the honey had crystallized and I didn’t have the energy or time to warm it up safely.  So, I decided to pivot and just season the heck out of the pork chops before throwing them on the grill. Of course, this was AFTER I realized they were still frozen solid even though they’d been in the fridge to defrost for like 6+ hours. I microwaved them on the thaw setting and took them apart as soon as they were able to be pulled apart. They were VERY moist by the time we were able to eat them. The side dish consisted of 4 Russet potatoes that were cut into 1” cubes (or so) mixed with a can of drained green beans and ¼ of a diced onion. They were all mixed together with some olive oil along with salt, pepper, garlic, some red pepper flakes, and a little bit of grated parmesan cheese. I found the side dish to be acceptable, but my sister LOVED it. She said the red pepper flakes really added a nice kick for her taste buds. The kids didn’t seem impressed, but what else is new?

July 15 - 

Banana

Peanut butter and strawberry preserves sandwich

Dairy Queen chicken strips, small fry, and hot fudge sundae

Cottage cheese

Brownie

 The boys and I needed to go to a nearby town today so the oldest could pick up some books he had on hold so we spent some time at the library while the little one played. We took the trip after I went to the gym, so I knew how much wiggle room I had on eating. I entered my typical meal into MyFitnessPal and was quickly brought to reality on how much fat was in my typical meal. So, I changed it up to something different. I even gave a portion of my fries to the youngest child as his fry container had like 10 fries in it! The ice cream was nice and I’ve noticed that I’m really savoring the flavors of foods that aren’t great for me so that I don’t overeat them. The oldest made brownies the day before in a 9x9 pan, then cut 9 brownies in the pan. I took half of one of the brownies for a snack and really enjoyed it. After that I didn’t want any more brownies. I’d call that a win, because in the past I would absolutely eat an entire brownie then go back for a second. 

 I was over on sodium, but everything else was within range.

July 16 - 

Banana

3 scrambled eggs, 2 slices of toast\

3 slices of pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut

1 ½ cheese sticks from Pizza Hut

Celery and peanut butter

 Today was supposed to be an active rest kind of day. I managed to forget the active part. The little one had a playdate today so we went to the park where they played, stopped by a bakery shop (where I managed to resist baked goods!), and then went to a nearby town that has an indoor playground to get the kids out of the rain. They had a lot of fun, but overall, I didn’t have many opportunities to walk around and be active. I’m not a fan of pacing, so I just sat around and read. By the time we got home, I was tired from driving and answering all the questions that both kids had so I ordered dinner, knowing I couldn’t have a huge amount of it. In the end, it worked out because I paid attention to how hungry I was and the amount I ate for dinner was sufficient for my hunger level.

 My fat was over a little, but everything else was within range.

July 17 - 

Peanut butter toast

1 egg, 1 slice of toast, 3 strawberries

Cottage cheese

Peanut butter and strawberry preserves sandwich

Southwest Quinoa salad

2 chicken enchiladas

 Today I’m doubling up on some cardio, sort of. Since I didn’t do an actual active rest day, I am counting the walk with my friend as my “make up” for yesterday. I hit the gym as usual with a varied cardio workout. My starting pace is now a little faster and I can go a little further in my 30 minutes on the treadmill. I try to mix it up with hills vs some just flat walking and so far it’s keeping me interested. Previously in my time working out I would get on the elliptical machine, but I found that the ball of my foot stayed connected to the machine, which made my feet feel weird. I decided that I’d work on treadmills after that because my foot gets a fuller range of motion and I don’t fear I’ll faceplant (like I do when I pick up my foot on an elliptical). Once I get some more strength in my arms and back, I’ll likely do some rowing as cardio. I guess that also depends on my knee also. Stupid knee. Anyway, today was more of an arms and back strength training kind of day. I actually bumped my shoulder press up by 5 lbs for all 3 reps and returned to my nemesis, the bicep curl machine. I’m SUCH a wuss on that machine.

July 18 - 

Mixed nuts

McDonald’s Cheeseburger and apple slices

Southwest Quinoa Salad (¼ of a serving)

2.5 Chicken enchiladas (chicken, cheese, enchilada sauce, refried beans, red onion, green pepper)

 I’m feeling very defeated lately. I’ve been doing well at eating right and exercising daily. I’ve taken to heart the statement “You can’t out exercise a bad diet”, so I’m really trying to get the amount of food I eat appropriate for my goals. But when I don’t see the changes (because I’m so close to the work and see myself daily) I become frustrated that I’m just failing in general. I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to quit, but I’d really just like a sign or a complement of a noticed change or something to help me see that the work is paying off. I realize that I didn’t put all this weight on in 4 weeks, so there’s no reason to think it will all fall off in 4 weeks, but something changing would be wonderful. Yes, the little victories are amazing, like the pants fitting better, and being able to lift more weights. Those are wins and I will gladly take them, but I really just want to see a drastic change or have someone say something about the difference that I’ve been working toward. I know I’m being whiny and needy. I’m sure it will pass, but today I just want to feel like it’s all making a difference somehow.

July 19 - 

Cottage cheese

2 Chicken enchiladas (chicken, cheese, enchilada sauce, refried beans, red onion, green pepper)

Quinoa

Sloppy joe with bun

Macaroni and cheese

Peas

 Universe, I’d like to thank you for humbling me. I stepped on the scale today and saw no difference, which was frustrating based on my feelings of disappointment yesterday. But it’s Friday, which means photos and measurements in addition to weigh-in. So, I scuttled off to my room, frustrated with the lack of movement on the scale and prepared to be disappointed in the measurements and photos. I put on my 2 piece swim outfit and realized the bottoms were even more loose than last time (which I typically write off as me stretching it out when I try it on). The top was also a bit easier to get on than in week 1, but again I wrote it off as my ability to wrestle it around because I’ve been doing this for 4 weeks now. When it was time to take the progress photo I tried really hard to get almost the same angle today as I did in week one so that it would be a better, more direct comparison of any changes. After the photos, I took my measurements and entered them into MyFitnessPal. Much to my surprise I found out that my waist is down ½” and my hips are down 1”! The difference in my neck was negligible though it did go down also. Finding out the hips and waist went down brought to my attention something that I realized a few days ago, but I only considered in passing that related to how my body composition has shifted in terms of what the skin on my hips would touch when I would be on my side. Seeing the numbers change in one week was absolutely what I needed to see. 

 Today I won’t be going to the gym, but I will be doing yard work, so I’m still being active. The little one is supposed to help me and the big one is working most of the day. I hope to kick out a decent amount of what I’d like to do both today and tomorrow because it looks like there’s more rain on the way next week.

I ended up doing some yard work, but not as much as I had aspired to at the beginning of the day. The little one and I did take a walk to my sister’s house, so that was a nice way to change up my active rest day. I should be doing some yard work tomorrow, after a visit to the gym in the morning. We have a busy day tomorrow so I can’t really slack off too much.

 In terms of my food for today I was over on sodium by a decent amount, but again since MyFitnessPal doesn’t have the exact things I eat I don’t put a ton of stock in that. I’m sure I went over, just not as much as MyFitnessPal says. I was within range in all other areas.