I spoke too soon

Not about saying goodbye. That, I was spot-on with. But rather, I spoke too soon when I said I was not noticing any changes in my lower half. Or the numbers on the scale. Well, I really didn't mention the scale, but it was fresh in my mind. For the past few weeks, I've been skirting around the same number when I weigh in --131. Oh my gosh, did I just admit that on my public blog?! Now, my scale also claims to tell your body fat percentage as well, not to be confused with BMI. I'm skeptical as to the numbers it gives me and if it is, indeed, accurate. I won't go into details (because it would be perhaps sad embarrassing for me if it really is accurate), but the numbers it normally gives me are in the mid- to upper-20s. That just seems ridiculous and highly unlikely. But who knows. I do know, though, that the body fat percentages it tells me have been decreasing over the past few weeks. Guess that's good. Although, it fluctuates on a daily cycle--higher in the morning than after cardio at night. Once again, skeptical.

Ew, gross feet! Yet, interesting kale reference...

Yet this morning, I was not a skeptic, but I became a believer (of the weight, still not the body fat percentage). I hopped on (well, technically, I gingerly stepped on) the scale, body devoid of clothing--let's be real here, clothing has a weight of its own--and winced at the thought of seeing that dreaded 131.something. I should have known it would be a pleasant surprise--I felt good both yesterday and this morning. Scratch that--I felt amazing! It's like that feeling you get when you know you've had a good night's sleep. But anyway, as I looked down, I don't really know what I was truly expecting. I thought for a minute that the number could possibly creep up, though not due to the way I've been eating (which has been very clean). 129.8. What a relief! This is what I've needed to see all along! And I've finally gotten past that dreaded 131 mark! The obsessive part of me wanted to weigh in again, seconds later, just to be sure...but it was cold this morning, and I was fully willing to accept my victory.

Score--Liz: 1, Scale: 0.

My local retail addiction home-away-from-home.

Now, I do want to go into (brief) detail about why I saw this loss, and why today of all days. First, let me admit that I took off 2 days from the gym last week--Wednesday and Friday. I honestly meant to go both days, but as mentioned in a prior post, Kevin took off Wednesday, and when the time came for me to go, I was just TOO exhausted. Friday was a bit tricky, because Gold's Gym closes at 8 here on Fridays, and I had work from 5 to 9 (which ended up being 2:30 to 9 because I was called in early). I knew I wouldn't be able to get to the gym in the afternoon, so I purposely set my alarm a bit early (7am) so I could get in some cardio before class. Didn't happen. I would make excuses and say I was too tired, etc., but in all honesty, I just decided I wanted to make a pre-class trip to Target instead. Sometimes Target subconsciously calls to me, all 15ish miles away, and I just have to answer to it. Good news is, I got a LOT of stuff for cheap, including some new (to me) gum flavors!

Wow, stream of consciousness... I just realized I'm completely off track here. Back to my reasons why I'm now in the 120s weight-wise. Well, after taking those 2 days off, I decided I needed a kick-ass workout on Saturday and Sunday. I was a little bit constrained for time on Saturday and Kevin wasn't coming in, but I managed to get in a half hour of cardio plus about 100 reps per side on the Ab Coaster (one of my new favorite "toys"). Not to mention, I was on my feet for another 4 hours at LOFT. Then yesterday, as I mentioned here, I just felt ON! I brought my A-game and it paid off. I definitely think that running my HIIT on an incline rather than just focusing on speed helped big time! And the ab routine that Kevin put me through helped me feel my tightened core. This morning I could see definition that I've been aching to see!

Needless to say, today I did a modified run, doing intervals of increased incline at a steady pace for 25 minutes. Also worked on the abs more--can't let a good thing go to waste! In other news, I'm trying to be a bit more domestic (well, not really trying for that, but rather trying my hand at cooking/baking more). Last night, I made Protein Brownies, courtesy of a recipe by The Fit Green Goddess.
Ingredients:

• 1 cup oats- ground up. I used McCann's QUICK 2 minutes steel cut oats
• 4 egg whites
• 2 sccops ISALEAN PROTEIN**
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 8 oz banana organic baby food**
• 3 tbsp. carob powder**
• 4 oz water

Now, I first made these last weekend, substituting carob powder for unsweetened cocoa powder and the banana baby food for a couple almost overly-ripe bananas I had to get rid of. I also used a different brand of protein powder, Brownie Batter flavored (what a coincidence!). This combination proved to be okay, but a tad on the bitter side--needed a bit of extra sweetness. So last night when I was baking Attempt #2, I used Cookies n' Cream flavored protein powder, still used the cocoa powder as a substitute, and used canned pumpkin instead of banana for a different flavor. I also added a tad bit of honey, to give it more of that semi-sweet flavor I was looking for. Let me tell you something--perfection! I will say that I'm more of a baker than a cook, but I can never come up with good creations of my own. Until now...well, it's not my original creation, but the tweaks were my own. I'm curious to see what else I can do with these things, so my next batch (probably made next Sunday) will feature unsweetened (possibly flavored) applesauce, some spices, one of the two aforementioned protein flavors, and a bit of vanilla extract. Will keep you posted!

The whole gang--I'm a proud owner of 4!

That was my baking hurrah, and today I decided to have a cooking fun! I just bought 2 new flavors of Mrs. Dash salt-free seasonings and was all too curious to wait to try them. It just so happens that I was fortunate enough to have a thawed package of chicken breasts sitting in my fridge (since family dinner fell through last night). So I went to town! Cut those suckers up, split the batch in half, and used a different seasoning for each half (1/2 Caribbean Citrus & 1/2 Extra Spicy). Meanwhile, I had kale roasting in the oven for 5-7 minutes and was cutting up a seedless watermelon. I'm afraid I got to the watermelon before it hit its peak ripeness, but oh well--it is what it is. The chicken and the kale were spot-on though! I only tried one flavor of the chicken, but it was to die for! Of course there's a website for everything--now I'm curious to test out Mrs. Dash('s) recipes. Maybe I'll find something suitable for this Sunday's family dinner!

P.S. Note to self: take more actual pictures and don't be too lazy to upload them!