My First Week of Trying in a While

My first week of actually trying to eat well and workout in a long while went pretty well overall. Earlier this week I got lunch with my retired teacher friend Chris and we exchanged our Christmas presents. I ate pretty well with getting a grilled chicken breast dieter's plate, but I did have a couple of rolls. It is hard to go a meal without carbs!

My healthy meal that I tainted with dinner rolls.

My present from Chris

The rest of the week I've been eating food that I've cooked myself. I cooked a week's worth of food and finished it all up on Saturday. For those of you who know me, I'm not much for cooking. I don't particularly enjoy it, so I usually don't try too hard. I was actually making dinner and some of those pumpkin muffins all at the same time. It made me at least look like I knew how to cook, although it was pretty simple.

Cooking up a storm

This kit was pretty good. It has lower sodium seasoning and 100% whole wheat tortillas.

The tacos were yummy. I had fat free refried beans, taco meat, cheese, taco sauce, and onions on mine.

Baked up the easiest snack to help with a sweet tooth. It is just a box of cake mix with a can of pumpkin.

Turkey burger on whole wheat bread with sweet potato waffle fries. I love sweet potato fries!

I had 1/3 cup egg whites and a piece of 40 calorie cheese on a 100% whole wheat bagel thin with either yogurt or fruit bites for breakfast all this week.

I had this for lunch on Saturday since I ran out of turkey burgers.

Snacking has been a huge part of why I gained so much weight back. This week I worked on transitioning myself off of the sugary, junk food snacks and more towards what I should be eating. I think that once I get this part under control, I will lose the weight quicker. Anyway, for snacks I've been having anything from a doughnut or cinnamon roll to carrots or apples with string cheese.

Red velvet doughnut with cream cheese frosting. Evil!

This was my meal and snack plan for last week.

As for exercise, I went to the gym and did my first workout with a trainer to show me how to do everything. From now on I get to pull out my card and do the exercises on my own (and ask one of the workers there if I have a question). My workout started with five minutes on the treadmill and five minutes on the stair climber along with some stretches to warm-up. Then I used a bunch of different machines to work my legs, arms, shoulders, and back. For the abs, I did some bicycle crunches, crunches on a ball, and three planks. The planks were the one thing I really struggled with. After that I stuck around and did 20 minutes on the treadmill. I felt pretty good when I left the gym, but I woke up the next day feeling sore all over. The second day after the workout my arms and legs were better, but my abs hurt really badly. It hurt to bend, sit up straight, sneeze, cough, and laugh!

Me getting ready for my first workout. Who knew that I'd feel like my face looks the next day and the day after that?

I also went on two long walks around my neighborhood. I prefer to be outside instead of inside on a treadmill. It has been warm and pretty much snow free for winter so far, so I thought I would try to get outside while I can. I have asthma and the cold air bothers me. I wore a scarf one time and that helped me to breathe a little easier. One walk I took a dog with me and the other one I just listed to music while I walked up and down every street in my little section of town.

I used to be pretty good about blogging every day when I'm eating on track and showing pictures of everything I ate. Since I will be working and going back to school, I won't have the time to do that again. I will try to post my meal plan once a week along with a post about what I actually ate with pictures. It will take a little bit of time to figure out what I will be able to do, but my goal is to be more regular with my posts.