Day 2 and 3

Well day 2 and 3 have passed and I have not been able to log onto the computer... so I will give a brief synopsis of what the last couple days have been like.

Maybe this will scare anyone who reads this away, or maybe it will encourage you or help you... but I am going to log the food that I eat and the exercise that I do daily, and I am doing this for 2 reasons. The first is because I have to have accountability. If I am typing out each calorie I took in and each that I burned, it may be a realization of what I can change and do better. Also knowing that there might be people reading each thing will challenge me to do my best because I don't want to embarrass myself by eating 3 brownies after a heaping helping of burgers and fries... that wouldn't make for a very good weight loss story. The second reason is because maybe you are in the same predicament I am in... habits are hard to break, and food is just too good and exercise is hard. If I start seeing results, maybe you could follow the pattern and we can do this together! So hopefully unlike "How to lose a guy in 10 days" my food and exercise log won't bore you or disgust you. (And I am not worried about Randall knowing, because if I haven't got rid of him after 3 years... I don't think him knowing everything I eat will shoo him away quickly!)

So my last blog was on Wednesday... this is what happened since then.

Thursday I went to the gym and worked out on the elliptical. I really enjoy using the elliptical mainly because it doesn't hurt my knees and back as much as the treadmill. I prefer having the elliptical set on the "Random" mode because there are several resistance levels within the time that spend on it. I spent 25 sweaty minutes on it, and burned approx. 280 calories and distanced at approx. 3 miles.
I have learned from watching other people exercise on the elliptical that there are some very effective and difficult exercises. I have challenged myself with these observations, so hopefully they will also challenge you.
1. Find a speed that pushes you past a comfortable limit that you are able to maintain (for me I try to stay at or above 7.5)
2. Every 2 or 3 or 5 minutes put your legs into a slight squat and use your heels to move the elliptical as fast as possible for 1 min.
3. Increase the amount of time by 5 min and the resistance level by 1 every couple days to a week that you use the elliptical.
These are just a few tricks that I have found to make the elliptical harder and more challenging for me. If you know of other tricks, please share them for me and other readers to use!

Thurs. I also did a 30 min. core class at Golds. It seemed simple enough while I was doing it, but Friday I really felt it. Some of the exercises that we did during that class that I really liked were:
1. laying in sit up position with my legs slightly apart. Extend my arms out with my hands clasped and doing quick crunch pulses. Shoulders never touching the group and hands going through my legs.
2. PLANKS... oh the dreaded plank!!! Get in almost a push up position, rest your upper body on your elbows, your legs straight out and on your toes (no knees!) touch your knees, things, and butt cheeks together and lower your hips so that your legs and elbows are parallel. Tighten your abs and wait for the burn to begin!!! Its almost like a wall-sit for you abs.

Thursday's meal plan wasn't so great. Although it is going to sound like an excuse... and it is... it is a big struggle. Randall is here visiting, so we have gone to his favorite restaurants and gone out with our friends to eat... so the temptation is harder than ever and I am just trying to portion control.
We had Mongolian for lunch... stir fry. Mine is filled with noodles, pineapples, and carrots with sweet and sour sauce.
For dinner... the all delicious but horrible for you... Texas Roadhouse. I limited myself to 1 roll (it was so difficult!! I really would have loved to have had several). I had a house salad with blue cheese dresses on the side so I could dip my fork into it rather than dousing the salad with dressing. And I ordered potato skins. I only ate 3 because I filled up on the salad and saved the rest for leftovers (which my dad ate... I guess I am thankful that he did so I wont).

Now onto Friday....
I had a breakfast burrito that is filled with eggs and sausage with a little salsa (these are unfortunately very high in calories and fat... so I don't think I will be eating them anymore).
Because my dad ate my leftovers... and I had to run errands during my lunch I stopped at taco bell (Mike, the trainer, told me this is a good option if you have to get fast food. Stick to the basics though he said) so I got a bean burrito... hopefully will help with my protein a little, a cheese wrap up, and fiesta potatoes. After eating it I realized I should have gone without the potatoes... just in case I go again, it is good to know I can do without them.

After work I challenged myself to go on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Recently I have only been able to do it for about 12 min. So this was going to really stretch me. I set it on Random Cardio (the speed and the resistance automatically changes) and at an incline of 2 (the incline also changed as the speed and resistance did, it is important to know that it will increase and decrease, so if you have it set on random, it will change for you automatically). This workout was really hard for my legs and feet... I really almost quit... but I knew I could push past it. When I hit 7 min. left I thought my legs were going to give out and the time clicked by slowly and finally I was finished! I did a bit of stretching before I left.

As I was walking out a friend of mine who works at Golds stopped to talk with me and I shared with him my struggle of getting enough protein, so he asked if I would try one of his protein shakes. It was made with the APEX chocolate protein mix (2 scoops) and peanut butter (2 scoops) mixed together with ice and water... unlike other protein shakes this was DELICIOUS!!! It is a meal replacement and only has 220 calories and a days worth of protein! Excellent! They cost $3 each for Golds to make it for you, or you can buy a HUGE jar of APEX and make them yourself for $28 and make different types and flavors. I think I am going to try to do that to stay away from the breakfast burrito and lessen my appetite for lunch!

I would like to thank you again for reading... I am really going to try to not combine days anymore like these two because the blog gets really long and I forget what I ate and did. Please feel free to comment for others who are reading and myself! Also if you have any good recipes, workout tips, or suggestions, please let me know!
Thanks and I will let you know how Today (Saturday) goes tonight!
God bless!

Alyssa