Hello Double (and single) Chinners!
Today mark’s the halfway point for the month of January and I am happy to say that I have had GREAT progress for the first half of the month. I feel proud of myself that I’ve been able to keep up with working out four times a week, eating 90% unprocessed foods, and only indulging in my favorite worst enemy, Coca-cola, a few times.
According to my scale that my lovely sister Alyssa gave me, I’m down exactly four pounds since I weighed in on January 2nd. This weight is coming from the current time, Tuesday night, rather than my usual Wednesday morning weigh-in though. I have a feeling by morning, I’ll probably be a pound or two lighter since it was recently that I ate. For example, yesterday after dinner I was FIVE pounds heavier than I was tonight, though I was also wearing all my clothes. I also did my measurements and I’ve gone down 3 inches on my waist and 2 inches from my hips in two and a half months! THANK YOU ACU-HOOP!
Don’t you just love how bodies can fluctuate?!
Here’s what I did to drop the four pounds.
Every week I have been buying pretty much the same basic ingredients from Trader Joe’s. I try to limit the carbs I eat to high-fiber options beans and oatmeal, but occasionally while babysitting I eat a cup of pasta because that’s what was on the menu for the night with the kids. I remember that a serving of pasta is ONE cup and through that, I know that I should be able to keep my meal to under 400 calories.
I haven’t been eating much meat for a few reasons, but mostly because it takes more prep time, money, and I’ve been getting really picky about the quality of meat I’m eating (grass-fed). Instead to get my protein, I’ve been having cottage cheese, soy or almond milk, nuts, and the beans have a bunch of protein as well.
My favorite meal is what I call the “bean bowl”. It’s basically just a bunch of ingredients like lettuce, beans, salsa, avocado, sour cream and cheese thrown together in a bowl. The key to keeping it low calorie and low fat though is to make sure you’re not over-doing it on the cheese and sour cream! You’d be amazed how much flavor a teaspoon can bring! Myfitnesspal lists my meal as only 260 calories, 20 grams of carbs (mostly from the beans), 13 grams of protein, and 9 grams of fat.
My common meal!
When I was losing weight before, my nutritionist at the gym told me that each meal should try to be under 15 grams of carbs, 7 grams of fat, and 9 grams of protein. I think that’s close enough, plus I feel like I need the extra fiber and carbohydrates to get me through all my work-outs.
Speaking of work-outs, remember how I said I was going to be taking pilates and yoga once school started?
Well, school started yesterday and I am definitely feeling the effects of it today. Pilates is HARDCORE. My teacher wasted no time jumping right into all kinds of moves you can do with your pelvis, strengthening muscles that have been left unused for my entire lifetime. A short fifty-minutes of consistent leg lifts and pelvic tilts later, the class was over and I had ten minutes before yoga began.
I’m a big fan of the Hindu culture in many ways but what I am most appreciative for are the Hindu monks who began practicing yoga hundreds of years ago. I first started taking yoga a few years after a big break-up and it immediately changed my life. My posture looked less like like Quazimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame and more like the tall and balanced goddess I actually am.
Here is what I may have looked like before yoga.
I also noticed I was able to sleep better and focus my thoughts more easily. I really believe if there is one thing that a person can do for their physical health, regardless of any age or size, it’s yoga.If you haven’t tried it yet, I *really* suggest you do.
Here is what I look like with yoga.
* However doing yoga in wedge platforms and a dress on glass is normally not recommended
I am really excited to see what my body ends up looking like after the next five months of pilates, yoga, gym work-outs, outdoor hiking excitement, and tennis. One of my biggest goals is to be able to touch my nose to my toes and I look forward to the day when I can post a picture to share of me achieving that goal. I’m only a few inches away from being able to do it now, I wonder how long it will take me to be able to do it. Maybe by the end of the class? By the end of the year? Two years? Who knows! Only time will tell!
So tell me readers, can you touch your nose to your toes? Have you ever tried?
Nose to the toes!
Sincerely,
I have no desire to get my nose anywhere near my toes.
I saw the jumbo Quaker Oats container on the counter this morning. You might want to consider switching over to steel cut oats. They have more fiber and aren’t as highly processed as the ones taking up valuable counter space.
Nose to the toes sounds like a good goal but painful! Owch!
I love me some yoga! And that salad looks really tasty 🙂 Good job with progress!
That salad looks really good! I think I need to start making something like that for my lunch. I’m getting tired of sandwiches! I can’t touch my nose to my toes but when standing I can get my palms to rest on the ground! Good luck and congrats on the weight loss so far!
Thanks guys!
I had a cool experience in Pilates where our teacher had us see how far down our hands dangled naturally while being bent over with our heads down… mine fell to about ankle length. At the end of class she had us do it again and my hands were on the floor! It was incredible!! I think I am going to be really flexible by the time these classes are over!
I’ve been going to (almost) weekly vinyasa classes offered free at my local Lululemon, and I’m really enjoying it. I’d done Bikram tons of times before, but at my current weight there were so may moves that I wasn’t able to do, that I always left feeling worse than when I walked in. Not at all what yoga should leave me with. I’m not great at many of the vinyasa moves, yet, but I am loving the way I feel when I leave.
With all that you’re doing, I have no doubt that you’ll be reaching your toes in no time.