How did I work my goals this week?!

1. Lose 5 pounds per month – I lost 14 pounds over the last 10 weeks. Success!! I have changed my whole outlook on the scale. Fuck it!! The scale is just one piece of the puzzle and I am not living my life according to the scale.  I want to be healthy and strong and that is not any particular number on the scale!

2. Walk 15 miles each week - since starting the Couch to 5K my mileage has decreased! At first, this bothered me! I set a goal and I wanted to keep to it!! On non-”running” days I was walking with Leslie Sansone at least 3 miles. I was so exhausted and my legs were not very happy with me. I have since scaled my mileage back and I am letting my body tell me what it can handle. I did walk with my girlfriends last Saturday and we hit almost 4 miles. I am still getting around 10 miles each week. I am calling this a work in progress! and a success!!

3. Strength train 3x each week, every week -I also completed week 3 of the Bob Green 8, week total Body Makeover dvd that I won from Shrinking Jeans. I actually did 5 Bob Greene workouts this week! I feel so weak when I finish these workouts and I have been so sore! But I feel AMAZING!! Who knew sore could feel so great!?!?!

4. find and prepare one new healthy recipe (or food) - I am not sure I really accomplished this task this week! I did change my eating up a bit. I am sort of following the Body for Life way of eating. This week was a transition into the “clean” way of eating. Last weekend I went to the produce store and came home with a buttload of greens! I swear, I ate some many vegetables this week that I feel green!

What you don’t know about Jen…..

I am a picky eater! I have major issues with texture so certain foods I just would not even try because of the way they looked! I only recently started eating peppers & tomatoes! I hate tapioca and rice pudding, oatmeal bothers me and fried onions make me cringe! I love the smell of fried onions but will not put them in my mouth! I now will eat peppers but they must have some crunch left and I haven’t quite figured out roasted red peppers!

A Reflection on the last 10 weeks:

I have learned so much in the last 10 weeks. I always set out to be better in the new year!! 2010 truly is the year of Jen!! I am kicking ass! I am changing and becoming the strong, healthy, fanfuckingtastic woman I have always wanted to be! I am gaining confidence with each new “thing” that comes my way! I am challenging my mind and body!

Stay tuned!! This challenge may be over but I am just getting started!!

Keep on keepin’ on!!

Fleetwood Mac: Monday Morning

Go ahead!! Click the link and listen to the song!! Ya know ya want to!!

A Change will do you good:

This past week was very interesting! I decided to quit Weight Watchers. I have loved my meetings and I have learned so much but I am starting to waver with why I am at those meetings!! I have also been having a lot of guilty feelings. I have been feeling guilty about what I am eating, guilty about counting & not counting all my points, guilty about spending the money on WW!

I hit the cancel button! I canceled my WW account. As of April 1 I will no longer be a WWer. I feel oddly relieved about this.

Wednesday will be my new weigh-in day! I chose Wednesdays so that I can be in sync with Shrinking Jeans since I LOVE their challenges!! I weighed in at 192.4 for a 2 pound loss this week. I am just recording  the number and moving on. My success is not and WILL NOT be determined solely based on the number on the scale.

I am still training to run a 5K! I have completed week 2 of the Couch to 5K training! I actually LOVE slogging!! I call it slogging ~~ Slow jogging/walking is totally the way for me!! Here comes week 3!! I love challenging myself and this is the way to go! The kid is super happy about my running ventures. She is going to slog with me on days we can hit the school track. I am going to sign up for a 5K at the end of the training and when I can run 3 miles + I have decided to sign up for the Warrior Dash in Maryland in October.  This race looks like so much fun!! I am in training!!

I also finished Week 2 of the Bob Greene 8 Week Total Body Makeover. I love these workouts! They are short but powerful! I feel like I am getting stronger. I have been trying to break into strength training. I want to strength train and I know how good it will be for me but I am so clueless! I love simple workouts at home and this one fits the bill!!

I am revamping my food plan this week. I am cutting out more processed food and concentrating on whole grains and lean proteins and LOTS of fruits and veg! I am aiming for Monday – Friday to be awesome food days (now white flour, no sugar and lots of the good stuff)! This gives me the weekend to let loose a little but still make good choices. This will also allow me to eat without feeling guilty. I can record what I eat without worrying about a certain # of points.

Slogger training has made me hungrier than usual and I want to feed my body so that I can continue to make progress.  I feel like this eating “plan” I am working on will be better for me! I will be eating all the right foods, or clean,  80-90% of the time and I think this will allow me to break my guilty feelings about food.  I will be posting about this more often! I have not blogged about my food feelings very much because I am just now realizing I have feelings about food! I will come back to this topic.

NON SCALE VICTORY:

Yesterday, I put on a thumb ring that I have not been able to wear in at least 6 years! It is not tight either!! It fits perfectly!!

This week, I am going to ROCK week 3 of the Couch to 5K and week 3 of Bob Greene!

This week, I am going to eat so many veggies I may turn green! LOL!

This week, I am going to plan and prep for each day the night before (just like I make my daughter do before bed)!

This week, I am going to enjoy my life!!

How will you enjoy your week?

I forget to take them.

I don’t know how often I should be taking them!

Well, after my horrible scale number on Saturday I got to thinking! And tweeting! and my twitter peeps said I should take measurements!

I looked in my fitbook and I had taken some measurements November 1 and I took measurements on Monday.

Chest: nov 1: 42.5 in,  jan 18: 41.0 in, change: -1.5 in

Right Arm: nov 1: 14.5, jan 18: 13.5, change: -1.0 in

Left Arm: nov 1: 13.5, jan 18: 13.5, change: 0

Waist: nov 1: 40.75, jan 18: 38.5, change: – 2.25

Hips: nov 1: 45.5, jan 18: 42, change: -3.5

Thighs (both right & left measured sep.): nov 1: 27, jan 18: 26, change: -1.0

Weight: nov 1: 198.8, jan 18: 198, change: -0.8

I think the measurements look better than the weight loss itself! When should I take measurements again?

Thank you for reading my blog and being awesome FRIENDS!! Thank you for allowing me to be ME and to learn what the hell it means to be Jen!

Last week: 195.4 {actually this was from 2 weeks ago}

This week: 198

Change this week: +2.6

You may have noticed that Saturday Scale Time did not happen last week! You can thank the wonderful snow storm! I found at today, that I was not the only one who did not make it to WW last week!! In fact, WW canceled the meeting and closed the building!

I must admit that going to my WW meeting was not the first thing on my mind when I climbed out of bed this morning! I had one hell of a belly and head ache!!! I truly think I had a sugar hangover. I love Christmas and part of my traditions include certain foods. We have made somethings healthier but I truly believe in enjoying certain things certain ways and I do not feel guilty about that!

Every year on Christmas we go to my mom’s house for our non-Italian take on the Feast of Seven Fishes! OMG! Calamari and shrimp and crab (jumbo Lump) and Ahi and Alaskan Salmon and Scallops and more crab (Kind Crab Claws)! Last year, we turned it into Seven Fishes Tapas! The appetizers are so yummy and plentiful that we are so full that dinner is almost a waste! This year we only had appetizers and it was perfect!!

Christmas is MY holiday. I do not go crazy with decorations or anything like that! When I was a kid I hated any holiday!! My parents were divorced and the schlepping from one family to the next and all that anxiety in between ruined most of the experience for me. When Q was a baby and I left her sperm donor and came home to my family, the holidays were almost as bad as when I was a kid. I schlepped me and my kid all over the place and I hated it!! When I met Big Man he changed everything about holidays! We were a new family and he helped me make traditions to enjoy the holiday. Our first Christmas together was 6 years ago but our first Christmas living all together was the next year. That Christmas, 5 years ago, changed everything for me! We did not leave our house but invited everyone to “pop” in anytime during the day. I prepared buffet-style, easy picky foods and casseroles so everyone could eat but I didn’t have to spend all day cooking. I have gotten much better at cooking and my meals have evolved but this is how we spend every Christmas now!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

The food has gotten healthier! But the tradition is there!

This year, I made chocolate chip cookies at 9:30pm on Christmas Eve. I know I have a problem with cookies!! ESPECIALLY, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies!! I cannot control myself! I had a ton of cookies (enough to gain 2.6 lbs)!! A TON OF cookies I ate yesterday! And they were so yummy!!

And then…

I woke up with a belly ache and a head ache!! I swear I had a chocolate chip hangover!!

But…

I went to my WW meeting anyway! and I gained 2.6 pounds! Phew!! I thought I was gonna gain about 7 pounds.

and this is where I confess…

I have not been tracking and I have not really been working out! I have been a slacker! But, I went to my WW meeting anyway!!

It may sound crazy, but I think those cookies were good for me! I think waking up feeling lousy was good for me!! I know going to my WW meeting was good for me!!

I am feeling very reflective!! I am also feeling very much in need of some change! Earlier I tweeted it out about taking some time away from blogging and I was hit back with the sweetest and most supportive tweets:

1. PatBarone

   *@bwJen What a great time of year to retreat, play and plan next year! I did a mini retreat for myself Dec.23 to plan next year! about 1 hour ago from web

2. LowFatKat

   @bwJen Heck no! Your blog, your journey. You should take all the time you need! We read bc we like you, not bc you owe us content! about 1 hour ago from UberTwitter in reply to bwJen

3. chivetalker

   @bwJen morning, friend! Hope you had a lovely Christmas! Taking a break is necessary sometimes to refocus. about 1 hour ago from web in reply to bwJen

4. ComplicatedMama

   @bwJen absolutely not.. I did the same a few weeks ago, sometimes a break is good. about 1 hour ago from web in reply to bwJen

5. brimil

   @bwJen absolutely not! that sounds like a good idea actually about 1 hour ago from web in reply to bwJen

6. Fitarella

   @bwJen NOT AT ALL! take time for yourself and figure out what YOU need about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to bwJen

7. debroby

   @bwJen NO. Actually perfect time to do so. Many fewer readers/less activity this week than any other all year. about 1 hour ago from web in reply to bwJen

I will be taking a little trip to the Poconos tomorrow! Me, the Big Man and the karate kid will hit the road sometime before noon and it shouldn’t take up longer than 3 hours to get to our cabin.  We will be home Wednesday night! I cannot wait for 3 nights in a cabin in the mountains with my favorite peeps! I need to get away from everything and (with permission from my tweethearts) I am also going to step back from blogging this week. I need time for reflection and refocus and change!

Stay tuned!! I will be back very very soon!! [There will be a Mindful Menu plan posted tomorrow]