This morning, while running on the treadmill, I was thinking about 2017. It’s hard to believe we’re already 4 months into the new year. I have to say I feel pretty good about this year. My kids are great, I have wonderful people in my life, and my business is doing better than ever. In the beginning of the year I promised myself to stay focused, productive, positive, and keep my eye on the prize. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing and it’s paying off.
I’ve put systems in place, hired the right people, and stayed disciplined. Of course, I’m not perfect – far from it. For example, I had a little extra time on my hands this weekend and planned to finish the last couple lessons of my new online course. Well I got lazy. Like “binge on Hulu for 4 hours lazy”. I tried convincing myself to get off the couch but the couch won. I was tired.
I’ve learned not to dwell, instead I got up this morning, went to the gym, and now here I am writing this blog post. By the way, I’m finishing the slides today. You guys, I’m so excited for this online course. You’ll love it!
Also, I stayed focused on food and hydration. Obviously, I try to eat healthy so I can lose weight and stay fit but my focus is most certainly effected by the food I eat and whether or not I’m hydrated. Over the last few months I’ve really paid attention to my mood, focus, and how I feel overall. When I drink a daily smoothie, and keep up with water, I have much better focus and more energy. Add in exercise 4-5 times a week and I feel like I can solve all the world’s problems. When I’m not hydrated I can barely read my computer screen. So even if I’m not in the mood for a smoothie I’ll drink it anyway. Same with exercise. It makes me happier and more focused so I make it a priority. This is an example of staying disciplined. I might not always want to do it but I do it anyway – most of the time anyway.
Related post: 7 Ways to Create Discipline in Your Life So You Can Lose Weight and Do Amazing Sh*t
Alright, let’s talk about my weigh in. I’m done 3lbs since my last weigh in 2 weeks ago.
Here are my stats:
Starting weight: 177
First goal weight: 145
Final goal weight: 135
Last weigh in: 155.6
This weeks weigh in: 152.6
Yes I’ve lost 3lbs but I’m not going to get a head of myself because truthfully I’ve lost that same 3 -5 pounds for about a year now. Last weigh in I mentioned my thoughts on the problem – wine.
Now I don’t want you to think I’m a lush – cause I’m not. However, I do enjoy drinking wine with my friends. 6 years ago when I started on my weight loss journey I only drank wine on occasion. My kids were little, I worked full-time outside the home, and my time was limited so there wasn’t a lot of wine drinking opportunities. Ha! So it wasn’t an issue. Now that my kids (and all my friends’ kids) are older we like to get together more often and hang out. Anyway, those extra drinks on the weekend have thrown a wrench into my weight loss. Wine has a lot of calories and sugar so it’s easy to ruin all my hard work during the week with a few glasses of wine over the weekend. Like I said earlier I’ve really paid attention to the way my body reacts to food and drink. Plus, I reviewed my past meal plans and identified that to be the issue. Of course, my coffee creamer doesn’t help my cause either. Basically, I need to get control over the calories I drink.
Good news is I really cut down on the amount of wine I drink. I stick to one glass and then switch to water. This was easy for me to do because quite honestly I’m not a big drinker anyway, I just like to be social. With coffee I’m sticking to 1-2 cups a day. Coffee will always be my nemise but I need to stay disciplined because it’s the reason my waist has got thicker over the years.
I could go on and on. The last thing I’ll say is a low-carb lifestyle makes a huge difference in managing my weight. I never thought I would say that but it’s painfully obvious the way carbs effect me now. I get bloated, tired, and it all ends up around my midsection. It’s almost like the weight doesn’t know how to distribute anywhere else. Of course white carbs are the worse but all carbs tend to effect me. Apparently, this is life after 40. But I have to say it’s not so bad. I like the way I feel eating low carb so I tend to enjoy those foods better now. Yes, I still love pizza and pasta but if I choose to eat those foods then I mentally prepare for the consequences.
Okay, with all that said let’s get to my meal plan.
Breakfast
Strawberry, Apple, and Banana Smoothies
Make-ahead instructions
- I still have a few smoothie kits leftover from last week but plan to make more today or tomorrow.
Lunch
Quinoa, Chickpea, Broccoli, and Feta Salad – Basically, I made this Greek salad but substituted broccoli for the other vegetables. It’s what I had on hand.
Make-ahead instructions
- I made this salad ahead of time and portioned into 16-ounce mason jars.
Dinner
This week I got 3 dinners from Hello Fresh.
Shrimp stir-fry
Sausage, broccoli, and pasta
Stuffed poblano peppers
Make-ahead instructions
- I made the shrimp ahead of time but substituted quinoa for the rice and portioned it out using these meal prep containers.
- I made the pasta dish ahead of time and stored in glass pyrex containers. My kids will eat this one because I’m trying to stay low carb.
- I made the filling for the stuffed peppers and will substitute quinoa for the rice.
Snacks
Hard-boiled eggs
raw almonds
cheese sticks
Make-ahead instructions
- I boiled the eggs yesterday and made the no-mayo tuna salad.
- I still have portioned out bags of almonds from a couple weeks ago.
My goals for this week are:
- Stick to 1500 – 1700 calories a day.
- Keep my meals on the low-carb side.
- Drink a daily smoothie.
- Take a daily multivitamin.
- Drink 64 ounce of water every day.
- Exercise 4 times minimum.
What’s your week look like?
Nilsa Durand says
Hi, I am new to you blog too. What is you limit in carbs per day? I’m trying to do low carb and exercise but I’m feeling weak and lightheaded. I think I need to increase my carb consumption. What do you recommend?
Jenny says
I like to buy a plastic clam shell of salad on the weekends, mesclun or arugula-whatever looks good. I chop 3 or 4 kinds of veggies and add it to the salad, divide into one large container and the clam shell. Then I leave half home for dinners, and bring half into work on Monday to eat during the week. I do the same with fruit; melon, grapes, berries etc., and bring a quart of non fat plain yogurt to work for breakfasts. I still make mistakes, but these two steps put me on track for a successful week.
Tammy Kresge says
That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Concie says
Hi! I am new to your blog and been lurking around OYS. I joined loseit to help me on my journey, but I find I am squeezing in wine as part of my caloric intake. I am glad you brought it up and I am going to try to cut it out, first during the week and then on the weekends…I am 54 and the weight is soooooo stubborn. But I am pretty sure the booze makes it even more stubborn. I’d like to do more of a LCHF diet. Loseit restricts calories… do you think Myfitness pal would be more flexible – maybe too flexible? I need parameters.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing more from you and becoming more active in the FB community for the support I definitely need.
Tammy Kresge says
Hi Concie,
I never used Lose it but a lot of people use it and like it. My Fitness Pal also tracks calories and other nutritional information. In my experience it doesn’t matter what you use to track as long as you track. It’s so easy for extra calories to sneak in. Also, any eating plan is going to reduce calories for you to lose weight. It doesn’t need to be restrictive it just needs to have parameters like you said. I look forward to having you in our FB group.