hard 10 - day five/six recap

I survived! I made it through my day of temptation and forcible confinement without being completely derailed. It was tough. One of my work colleagues is gluten and dairy-free, so the focus group facility had some pretty healthy options available for dinner. I had these delicious little lettuce wraps, stuffed with chicken breast and a tangy lemon dill sauce. I avoided the bowls of chocolate and the dessert platter and managed to get down all of my water. Efforts to exercise were futile.

I plan to make up for the lack of exercise tomorrow by doing an exercise class and a run. Wish me luck!

Oh...and an interesting side-effect of this challenge: I have become obsessed with calorie counting. I am taking it veeEERRy seriously. ha!

Have a good one!

hard 10 - day four recap

Four days down, six to go. I've really started counting the days - is that awful?

Nothing exciting to report yesterday. It is today that has me worried. I am going to be spending all day watching focus groups half-way across the province. This means I have to spend 3 hours on my butt driving to the facility and another 6 hours in a dark room that is stocked to the brim with crappy snacks to tempt me, and then another 3-hour drive home tomorrow. Ugh.

Here's what went down yesterday....

1. 1500 Calories
Success!
Breakfast: rye toast w/ Becel, coffee
Lunch: Healthy Choice microwave lunch, granola bar
Snack: yogurt, 6 dill crispy minis
Dinner: homemade turkey burger on thin bun, roasted leeks & mushrooms, salad w/dressing
Snack: melba toast w/Laughing Cow light cheese

2. Water
Success! All I can think about it Diet Coke. Oh my.

3. Exercise
Moderate success. I did some weights and did a walk/jog for 45 minutes.

hard 10 - day three recap

Day 3 of the Hard 10 challenge begins with a new product rave: Healthy Choice Steamers. I decided to try this microwave meal for lunch yesterday. Expectations were low, but far surpassed.

This was probably the best meal I've ever pulled from the microwave. It seemed like real food. It had only 300 calories and was delicious. Miam! And this is what it actually looked like:


Here are the rest of the details for day 3....

1. 1500 Calories
Success! Much easier than day 1 & day 2. I think I must have included more protein due to all of the dairy I consumed.
Breakfast: ultimate energy bar (homemade), banana
Snack: yogurt
Lunch: Healthy Choice steamer, another small yogurt
Snack: low fat string cheese
Dinner: halibut filet with roasted peppers/onion/olives/capers/onion, baguette
Snack: tea and sugar free biscuit

2. Water - success!

3. Exercise
I did a BodyVibe class at the gym last night with my BFF. It was a great workout: low impact, included weights and stretching.

I'm feeling fired up and fighting the urge to jump on the scale before I reach the half-way point in the challenge. Keep pullin', everyone! XO

hard 10 - day two recap

I survived the second day of the Hard 10 Challenge! I know it sounds somewhat ridiculous to be so celebratory about a 2-day process, but this is proving more difficult than I first anticipated! I must have really been falling off the wagon.

1. 1500 Calories
Success!
Breakfast: kashi cereal with skim milk, coffee
Snack: ultimate energy bar (homemade), grapes
Snack: yogurt, almonds
Dinner: homemade turkey burger on a thin multigrain bun, salad w/ fat free balsamic, roasted leeks & mushrooms in a bit of olive oil
Snack: low fat vanilla frozen yogurt

2. Drinking Water
Success! I gulped down my last 3 glasses just before going to bed. NOT recommended, lol.

3. Exercise
Not quite as stellare as Saturday, but I did squeeze in 3 miles on the treadmill and another good hike with the dog.

20% there! Hope you're all kickin' butts and takin' names, too!!
Rae
xo

hard 10 - day one

Yesterday marked the first of 10 days in the "Pull a Hard 10 Challenge" issued by Dawne. The challenge was inspired by Dawne's daughter, who was encouraged to 'pull a hard 10' while competing in the Ontario Erg Championships. This instruction from her coach lead to a fantastic result.

This isn't about moderation, or making small changes that are sustainable for life. It's about giving it your ALL for a short window of time in order to boost performance.

For me, this means:

1. Getting back to a disciplined meal plan: 1500 calories per day. Period.

2. Drinking water: 10 glasses per day. Drinking water also means NOT drinking diet soda.

3. Exercise like a crazy mo-fo.

4. Blog it.

I can say that Day 1 was a success. Let's review the components...

1. 1500 Calories

This was hard. So very, very hard. This should be a huge wake-up call, because it probably means I have been eating waaay too many calories lately.

Breakfast: scrambled egg w/ whites on whole grain toast, banana, coffee

Lunch: greek salad, rice paper tuna wraps with basil and veg

Dinner: delicious halibut meal courtesy of Rachel Ray recipes! :)

Snacks: fat-free chocolate milk & dill rice crackers

2. Drinking Water

I just barely managed to get in my water. All I could think about today was diet Coke. Totally addicted - gah!! I didn't give in.

3. Exercise

Three solid activities today: zumba class, one-hour hike with the dog, lifting arm weights until I felt a good burn.

Wow. I am pooped today. And now I have to do it all over again. :)

secret weapon

Last week I mentioned a new secret weapon in my weight loss efforts. I thought it was time to 'up my game' in preparation for Katie's March Madness weight loss playoff. Unfortunately, my secret weapon wasn't quite strong enough to beat my competitors. Despite a 2 pound loss, I was out in the first round! How humbling.

Did you guess the secret weapon? I'll give you a hint...


Just kidding. It isn't Laser Cats - but it's something just as surprising. I, Rae, self-proclaimed hater of indoor exercise, joined a gym.

I'll give you a minute to pick yourself up off the floor.

I decided to join the local GoodLife fitness club with my running buddy. I know, I know. It's very unlike me. But folks - it HAD to be done. It is almost April and we got dumped on with another 4 inches of snow yesterday. I am so sick of the treadmill. I needed to spice things up a little. We've been attending Zumba classes a few times a week and have actually hit the weights a few times. I have been surprised by how much I enjoy it. I am going to hit the gym pretty regularly for the next month or so and then plan to back off a little as I incorporate more outdoor (trail!) running when things thaw out. Variety can't hurt, right?

It turns out I have a brand new motivation to kick things into high gear: upcoming beach vacation! Hubs and I have booked some much-needed vacation time in April for an all-inclusive trip down south. We've decided to play a game of "last-minute deal roulette", so we don't know where we're going yet. We'll probably end up in Cuba, Dominican Republic or Punta Cana. Any recommendations??

Have a great week, all!

Rae

xo

march madness

I love me a good challenge. Just as I was beginning to lament the fact that winter is still rearing it's ugly head and it will be a long time before I can golf again, Katie from "Are You Willing?" inspired me to pull up my socks and give my all through her March Madness challenge.

This 3-week challenge is all about weight loss. The participants are going to square off against one another in a round robin tournament.

Starting weight: 225

Goal: 218

I'm going to pull out a secret weapon to help me achieve my goals. I'm not ready to announce it yet...shhhhh!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Rae

xo

ABCs of Rae

A. Age: 34
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore you dislike: cleaning the toilets
D. Dogs: one Boston Terrier...Tito!
E. Essential start to your day: Grande Americano from Starbucks
F. Favorite color: today it's lime green
G. Gold or silver: silver
H. Height: 5’7"
I. Instruments you play(ed): I play the bass and acoustic guitar and used to rock-out in a garage band in high school/university. I also play the piano and am married to a drummer. Very musical household!
J. Job title: Director, Consumer Research
K. Kids: Not yet
L. Live: Toronto
M. Mom’s name: Mary
N. Nicknames: Rae (my name is Reagan), Raegun (from a love of 50's & 60's sci-fi movies),
O. Overnight hospital stays: Once for extreme dehydration. I had the flu when I was 10 and refused to drink anything...I was a stubborn thing!
P. Pet peeves: bad drivers
Q. Quote from a movie: Hmmm...I dunno...."Goonies never say die!" ha ha
R. Righty or lefty: Both...I'm ambidextrous. I write and draw with my left but play golf and other sports like a righty.
S. Siblings: I have a younger sister
T. Time you wake up: 5am. Everyday. I am incapable of sleeping in.
U. Underwear: Yes. How does one respond to this? LOL
V. Vegetables you don’t like: green bell peppers
W. What makes you run late: meetings that run late. It's a chain reaction!
X. X-rays you’ve had: My wrist after I broke it snowboarding. It was S-shaped.
Y. Yummy food you make: I'm famous for my cassoulet and my pistachio-crusted lamb chops on mint cous cous.
Z. Zoo animal favorites: penguins

takin' pills

No, I'm not medicated. But I did suck-it-up and take a piece of this proverbial medication since my last post:

Thanks to all who offered such sympathetic and encouraging comments in response to my freak-out of Charlie Sheen proportions (ie. epic!). Double-thanks to those who forced me to take a hard look at why things were the way they were. I'm not normally one for self-loathing and glass-half-empty perspectives, but I was at my whit's end.

You were right. Things got better. Batch cooking helped. Forcing myself to get in some exercise really helped. Requesting & gaining approval to hire 2 new team members helped even more. ;)

Love you!
Rae
xo