Saturday Sessions

Update from Last week...


1. I need to work out everyday this week for at least 30 minutes.  I know that this may seem like small potatoes to you, but some days I have no motivation to do this. 
Mission accomplished!! I had a personal training session, attended two group fitness classes and cardio one day at Lifetime Fitness and 3 days at home doing the Biggest Loser 30-Day Jumpstart.  This is really an accomplishment for me because I can eat healthy everyday, but working out everyday is just as important for weight loss and I need to make working out a priority everyday. 

2. I need to eat dinner on my own before 7:00.  My boyfriend works long hours and I love to eat dinner with him when he comes home, so I usually try to wait.  Some days he isn't home until 7:30 or 8:00 and one day this week I didn't eat until almost 9:00 and I try to go to bed at 10:00.  That is not working for me. I need to just eat on my own.
This went pretty good, but there is room for improvement.  I ate almost everyday before 7:00, but two days it was about 7:30, so I need to continue to work on this goal.
3. I just got my three Hungry Girl books in the mail and I am very excited to start cooking with them.  Once I get my camera back from my friend I will work on getting more photos posted and also my experience with the HG recipes.
Love this!!!  If you remember my post a few weeks ago about breaking down bawling because my boyfriend didn't like what I cooked, well I have found a solution and it is Hungry Girl!  I gave my boyfriend the cookbooks and he wrote down all of the recipes he would eat, which was at least 50+ recipes!!  Wahoo!  I was so excited that he found so many things that he liked that were still healthy options for me.  We have only made one recipe, but I am going to post pictures from now on of the meals that I make, so be on the look out for that.


New Goals...


1. Try a 2 new fruits and 2 new vegetables this week.
I feel like I always eat the same vegetables and fruit every week, so I am going to step out of the box and out of my comfort zone and try new vegetables and fruits this week and see if I find new things that I like.  I also really like buying what is in season and local produce if I can, so that is another one of my goals that I am trying really hard to adhere to. 


2. Move my body as much as I can throughout the day. 
This seems obvious, but when you really think about it we probably don't move as much as we can throughout the day and we often take the easy way out.  What I mean by this is that we park as close to the store as we can, take the elevator, take the bus all the way to our destination and so on.   I am going to take the spot at the back of the lot, take the stairs and get off my bus a few stops early every day this week.  I want to push myself to be active as much as I can since my job requires so much sitting.  I heard a story a few weeks ago about an older man who owned a shop right down from hill from his house (about a half a mile or less) that he used to drive to everyday.  He started to walk because the weather was nice and at his next check up his blood pressure was dramatically lower, he had lost 25 pounds and was no longer pre-diabetic.  So, some small changes can make a BIG difference. 


I will post more later today or tomorrow.  I will also update some of my pages, add new recipes and some new photos of me at my worst and best.

Saturday Sessions

I am going to start a new feature on my blog called Saturday Sessions which outlines my goals or plans for the week.  There are some things that are working for me on this journey right now and some things that are not, so this is my attempt to make a weekly plan and hold myself accountable every saturday to see how I did.

1. I need to work out everyday this week for at least 30 minutes.  I know that this may seem like small potatoes to you, but some days I have no motivation to do this.

2. I need to eat dinner on my own before 7:00.  My boyfriend works long hours and I love to eat dinner with him when he comes home, so I usually try to wait.  Some days he isn't home until 7:30 or 8:00 and one day this week I didn't eat until almost 9:00 and I try to go to bed at 10:00.  That is not working for me. I need to just eat on my own.

3. I just got my three Hungry Girl books in the mail and I am very excited to start cooking with them.  Once I get my camera back from my friend I will work on getting more photos posted and also my experience with the HG recipes.

I am growing increasingly frustrated with my job lately in the sense that I am not up moving around.  I sit for the majority of my day and it just kills my energy.  My question to anyone who reads this is what do you do when you are at work to try and stay fit?  Does anyone have any tips or ideas to keep moving at work?  I try and take the stairs, get up and move around when I can, but it seems like sitting at work is hampering my lifestyle change.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.

I am off to visit with my boyfriends family today (she is making a delicious balsamic chicken and asparagus salad today, YUM! Tomorrow I am heading north to visit my Mom with some of my siblings and nephews/niece for Halloween.  It is a fun-filled family weekend and I am very excited about it!  Have a good weekend everyone, make it positive and healthy!

It won't always be easy...

So, today I tried Zumba for the first time and I loved it!  I went right after work and felt amazing after I worked out.  I came home after work and thought about what to make for dinner.  I have been craving pasta all week, so I figured I would make a pomodoro pasta using the delicious tomatoes that I bought at the store the other day.  I also had about 2 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken leftover and some asparagus that I needed to use up.  I made a pasta dish incorporating all of these ingredients as well as garlic and onion.  I used whole grain spaghetti and portioned my noodles out to about 3/4 cup and topped it with about a cup of the sauce mixture (entire recipe is found in the new recipes tab at the top of the blog).

Delicious chicken and veggies simmering.

Hello portion control! It's nice to meet you, my name is Shannon lets be friends forever!

This was my plate.  Holy moly that is a lot of food.  More than I was planning on eating AND more than I did eat!  It was awesome to eat until I was full and not over-indulge. I saved almost half of it for lunch.

Okay, so you're probably wondering why this post is titled what it is if my day seemed so great right?  Well it was great, don't get me wrong, but I made this meal because it was healthy and because I was craving pasta and because I wanted to try and make something that both Ron and I could enjoy.  WELL, let's just say that my boyfriend is NOT a fan of this meal.  He hated the noodles and thought it was too much tomato.  So, what happens when he says this?  I start bawling like a total freak show.  He has been home for all of five minutes and I am now crying.  He looks at me and is like, "it's okay, I like it, i'll eat it, it's great."  I try to explain in between blubbering that it is not that he doesn't like it, it is just that this is HARD.  It is hard to tell my friends that I don't want to go get pizza for lunch today and sit at my desk alone and eat.  It is hard to come home from a long day at work and try to figure out a healthy option to make for yourself for dinner that your significant other can enjoy.  Ron is amazing and he told me that I was doing a great job and to keep going along and that he will try ANYTHING that I make.  He also said that he will always keep an open mind and that he supports what I am doing 100% and is open to the changes that I am making and willing to try and make some of them with me. 

So, not this isn't always easy, but so far it has been worth it.  I feel some of the changes already and am anticipating the ones that will come.  I know somedays I will not always be cheery about my commitment to eat healthy and some days I will want to just cry and that is okay.  It is okay so long as I keep going and that is what I am going to do.