Getting Back to Basics

I've decided to give myself a fresh start this week and get back to the basics that worked for me last summer to lose weight (and halfway quickly too). I've been re-reading the Six Week Body Makeover book with a focus on the eating plan. I am also measuring my food again until I get used to the portion sizes again. Here is my generic menu for this week:

Breakfast

• 2-3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup oatmeal (with some kind of flavoring such as stevia, cocoa, or Cinnamon)
• banana

Morning Snack

• 5 slices of lunchmeat
• 1 cup (or more) salad with extra veggies
• light or low-fat dressing

Lunch

• 2 oz. baked chicken breast
• 1/2 cup rice
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup of veggies

Afternoon Snack

• 2 oz. canned chicken (low salt, packed in water)
• 1 cup (or more) salad with extra veggies
• light or low-fat dressing

Dinner

• 2 oz. baked chicken breast
• 1 small or medium potato with salsa on top
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup of veggies

Evening snack

• 1/2 cup of mixed berries with stevia

I've also decided to up my walking for cardio into doing Couch to 5 K Training (C25K). I've only done week one, day one since it is the beginning of the week. I don't necessarily plan to run a 5K, but wanted to do something extra with a goal in mind since I'm not working and have extra time to workout. The two days I don't walk/jog, I would like to do some strength training. Here is the workout schedule this week:

Monday- C25K
Tuesday- strength training
Wednesday- C25K
Thursday-strength training
Friday- C25K
Weekends- I'm leaving them open to either resting or an activity of my choice.

Here are the stats for today's walk/jog. I'm not going by distance right now to train, but will be going by time. I don't have any fancy equipment, I just used my pedometer from the walking challenge at work.

• 3,464 aerobic steps
• 1.46 miles
• 28 minutes of aerobic activity

Playlist for this week's C25K training:

• Clocks by Coldplay as my 5 minute walking warm-up
• Got to Get You Into My Life by The Beatles
• Can't Get Enough of You Baby by Smash Mouth
• Birthday by the Beatles
• Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker
• Eight Days a Week by The Beatles
• Easy Livin' by Uriah Heep
• Celebrity Skin by Hole
• Hold Me Tight by The Beatles

I don't have a fancy phone for the C25K app, so I decided to make playlists on my iPod to help with the timing. The eight songs after my warm-up song are around 2:30 minutes long. This means that I run for the first minute of each song and then walk the rest of the song. Repeat this pattern with each song and I have over 20 minutes of walking/jogging.