Weight Loss Journey Week 6

This week I lost an additional 2 pounds!

The steps I logged on my pedometer were:

April 16: 10138

April 17: 10069

April 18: 10191

April 19: 9069

April 20: 10803

April 21: 10412

April 22: 11947

Total weekly steps: 73,529 

Another miles stone is that I crossed 100 miles in the last 3 weeks! Woo hoo!

Here is my nutrition for the week:

I only had one bad day on sodium last week and that was on Thursday 2728 mg and the goal is not to exceed 2300. But overall I'm doing well on my goals. I supplement my magnesium, potassium and calcium with vitamins. I still haven't figured out how to hit the recommended number without going completely over in calories for the day. 

 Sunday

 Monday

 Tuesday

 Wednesday

 Thursday

 Friday

 Saturday

 This week on my team challenge we have been challenged to eat a rainbow. Here is my shopping trip:

Pink lady apples (my favorite), oranges, banana, cantaloupe, strawberries, pineapple, purple grapes, zucchini, bell pepper, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, tomato, carrots and celery. 

I'm still going strong. There are days when I am tired when I get home from working so hard cleaning houses that I wonder how I'll get the energy to do my daily exercises of 30 minutes on my exercise bike, a 25 -30 minute walk and 15 minutes of strength training. I've been able to get my second wind and do my exercises. 

The only day I fell short this week was Thursday and I didn't do my 15 minutes of strength training. It was a huge work day that totally wiped me out. I'm happy to say that I did do the hour of bike and walking. 

I'm happy when I do my exercises and being on a weight loss challenge keeps me going even when I feel like I can't do anymore. I'm in this for the long run to get fit and thin again. 

Weight Loss Journey Week 5

I lost 3.8 pounds this week!

AND

was the biggest loser on the team challenge!

PLUS

My team Cruisin' for Losin' is in first place this week!

(As a side note, I was in 2nd place for biggest losers last week. I've also been the biggest loser on my team both weeks! It's very rewarding to be on the challenge.)

It's all very exciting and motivating to keep going forward with my goals to lose weight this year.

 My SparkPeople user name is THINK2BFIT.

I'm still on a streak for 35 days on:

 riding my stationary bicycle for 30 minutes each day

logging my food

drinking at least 8 glasses of water each day

being active on SparkPeople by logging in each day.

It's nice to work toward streaks and not miss a day.

This past week the steps I took with my pedometer and my exercise minutes:

4/10 Sat: 12705 steps / 84 min of exercise 

4/11 Sun: 6176 steps / 55 min of exercise 

4/12 Mon: 9667 steps / 84 min of exercise 

4/13 Tues: 10440 steps / 93 min of exercise

4/14 Wed: 11255 steps / 153 min of exercise

4/15 Thurs: 9110 steps / 100 min of exercise

4/16 Fri: 9439 steps / 137 min of exercise

 My nutrition information for Sun 4/10 through today Sat 4/16, 2016.

Sunday food log: 

 Monday food log:

 Tuesday food log:

 Wednesday food log:

 Thursday food log:

 Friday food log:

 Saturday food log:

I've been really tired this week because I've did a major clean for one of my customers who purchased a new house. It always wipes me out. I had to really make myself do my exercises on Wednesday when I started the new house major clean and finished it on Friday. I put in 12 hours of major cleaning - 6 hours per day plus the other house I had scheduled to clean. (I clean 2 houses per day).  

In a couple of weeks I am going to clean the old house they are moving out of. Exhausting and I use lots of muscle - but love the extra cash!

I hope that I can continue to lose weight every week and keep on track. It's kind of hard to image I'm on week 5 and still doing well on all my goals. I think blogging helps me stay motivated and accountable.

Thanks for joining in on my journey.

Weight Loss Journey Week 4

I lost 5.4 pounds this week!! Squeal!

I've been consistent for 28 days now and I'm starting to get into the groove of things.

I LOVE my pedometer. I love challenging myself to walk more and be more active. 

Here are my steps:

3/30: 6008 / 2.56 miles 

3/31: 6809 / 2.9 miles 

4/1: 10576 / 4.5 miles 

4/2: 9024 / 4.01 miles 

4/3: 9685 / 4.12 miles 

4/4: 7522 /3.2 miles 

4/5:9775 / 4.16 

4/6: 12150 steps / 6.2 miles

4/7: 9670 steps / 4.1 miles

4/8: 10991 steps / 5.02 miles

I'm still riding my exercise bike for 30 minutes each day. I've even increased the tension from 2 to 3. I'm getting stronger.

I've been going on a 25 minute walk every day too. I've been putting in a lot of exercises to help me with this weight loss journey.

My calorie / nutrition overall for last week. 

I went over sodium on Thursday and Friday - but not too much. 

I'm still not making my Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium requirements.

I didn't meet my Protein requirement on Sunday by only 1 point and Friday by 10 points.

Overall I'm keeping everything in range.

 Sunday's food. I grilled fish/Tilapia and had leftover grilled shrimp for a few days. 

Monday food - left over Tilapia and Shrimp for dinner:

 Tuesday Food.

 Wednesday's food:

 Thursday's Food:

 Friday's Food:

 Saturday's food.

I went shopping Friday and decided to get a few frozen dinners to make it easier on me when the weather is so nice and I don't have to make an effort and time to cook something good. They only thing bad about frozen dinners is the amount of sodium in it.

Also I saw Turkey burgers - which are lower in calorie then beef burgers. I'm going to try it today. I just want to be outside grilling in this weather. (I did grill the fish and chicken from the other meals this week). Sometimes you just want a burger.

I also found sandwich thins for the burger bun.

I also purchased Bagel thins. I ate one this morning with egg and cheese. Yum! 

I am totally a bread person. I need carbs. I also need chocolate - but have resisted. That is the hardest thing for me is sweets. But, fruit helps a lot.

I love that strawberries are in season. Yum!

The other thing I've figured out is that a banana is NOT as filling as an apple or an orange. So, I've completely switched to slicing an apple or having an orange in my cooler during the day while I work.

I've also started putting in a sandwich to eat between houses that I clean each day. That has really helped me stay on track and not be starving when I get home and feel like I need to eat and eat and eat. 

I'm getting this figured out - although my stomach grumbles all the time. It feels like it's starving. 

Here is the amount of exercise I've tracked: 

wed 3/30: 101 min / 1129 cal burned 

thurs 3/31: 100 min. / 1058 cal burned 

fri 4/1: 60 min / 735 cal burned 

sat 4/2: 105 min / 978 cal burned 

sun 4/3: 70 min / 672 cal burned 

mon 4/4: 79 min / 707 cal burned 

tues 4/5: 92 min / 846 cal burned

Wed 4/6:  100 min / 938 cal burned

Thurs 4/7: 78 min / 711 cal burned

Fri4/8: 84 min / 798 cal burned

Overall, I'm trying really hard on this journey and I'm feeling great about my progress.

Weight Loss Journey Week 3

Today I celebrate my 21 day streak on my weight loss journey. I'm still motivated and on track.

There were a couple of changes I made this week.

I purchased an new digital weight scale. Unfortunately it made my weight 5 pounds heavier so I'm back at square one. I'm glad I did this at the beginning of my weight loss journey. This week due to the new scale I didn't have any weight loss but a weight gain of 3 pounds. 

I purchased a food scale. I love weighing my food for a more accurate picture what is a real portion of food I should eat. It also makes logging food easier and really getting a true calorie on what I eat. 

I purchased a yoga mat so that when I'm exercising on the floor it's much better with cushion!

The other thing I purchased is a pedometer. I work and move hard everyday. It's been fascinating to see how many steps I move per day. I received the pedometer on Monday afternoon and here are my steps for the week:

Monday 1/2 day: 3162

Tuesday: 6783

Wednesday: 6008

Thursday: 6809

Friday: 10576 (I worked on taking down my Easter decorations and running a few errands)

To keep me motivated I know I just need to keep going and going, or as Dory says, "Just Keep Swimming".

My overall nutrition for week 3:

Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016: I went over the highest goal of 1550 - eating 1958 calories - Yikes!

 It was Easter and I gave myself a break:

Monday, March 28, 2016 - back on track. 

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Wednesday, March 30, 2016:

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Friday, April 1, 2016: It was a beautiful day and I felt like barbecuing a hamburger and I went ahead and ate a hamburger with the bun - but stayed in my calorie range. Yum! It hit the spot. 

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Today, Saturday I'm going to have grilled shrimp, another recipe I added to SparkRecipe: I will eat it will plain white rice instead of a stir fry, plus steamed broccoli on the side.

This was a yummy recipe that Brady did for a class project. 

Here is the recipe link on my blog for Grilled Shrimp:

Another new activity that I joined this week is a team weight loss challenge. My teams name is "Cruising for losing". The weight loss challenge lasts 8 weeks. This challenge has given me a lot of motivation by not letting my team down by:

following my weight loss goals

 lose as much weight as possible 

staying on track with all my goals.

Here are my goals for the next 8 weeks. The challenge started on Wednesday, March 30th:

Challenge Goals: 

Goal 1: 30 minutes on exercise bike daily. Working on a 100 day streak. Also complete the 30-Day Jumpstart workout challenges each day. 

3/30: 30 minutes on bike/5 miles. Completed 30-day jumpstart challenge - Long Lean Legs in a Pinch 

3/31: 30 minutes on bike/5 mile. Completed 30-day jumpstart challenge - sculpted arms and shoulders. 

4/1: 30 min on bike/5 miles. Completed 30-day jumpstart challenge - work the core. 

Goal 2: Drink Water – 8 cups per day. 

3/30: 8+ water drank 

3/31: 8+ water drank 

4/1: 8+ water drank 

Goal 3: Stay in calorie range by eating nutritious food. Keep sodium levels under 2300. 

3/30: 1236 Calories 

3/31: 1230 Calories 

4/1: 1385 Calories 

Goal 4: 5000 steps per day. 

3/30: 6008 / 2.56 miles 

3/31: 6809 / 2.9 miles 

4/1: 10576 / 4.5 miles 

Worth 25 points 

March 2016 Financial Wins

If you don't know how to save, no amount of money will ever be enough.

March 2016 was a quiet month for financial wins.

The great new is I have $6700 saved for a new roof so far. I'll start getting quotes next month to see how much it is really going to cost me. I estimate that I'll be ready to pay cash for my new roof by June.

Blog Ad Check was zero. 

Swagbuck wins for March was: 8103 or $81.03.

I cashed in $105.00 dollars for Amazon gift cards

3/6: 2200 swagbucks for $25

3/6: 2500 swagbucks for $25

3/21: 5000 swagbucks for $50

3/28: 500 swagbucks for $5

I am starting April with 2794 swagbucks or $27.94.

I didn't earn any extra money with work, but have some extra earning opportunities in April.

I did have a couple of requests for 1 time only cleanings that I turned down again this month. 

Life is so much better when a cloud of debt is gone from your life - it's freedom! 

Another favorite quote of mine:

"All too often a family's spending is governed more by their yearning than by their earning. They somehow believe that their life will be better if they surround themselves with an abundance of things. All too often all they are left with is avoidable anxiety and distress" Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, May 2004