meals and snack ideas

I don't make elaborate meal plans for an entire week. I just can't, my life is not in that much control. I do typically like to stay within a routine though.

I have egg whites (3) for breakfast- hard boiled & coffee with a small fruit or a Chobani Greek yogurt. 
My lunch is typically packed with protein. I either have boiled fish or chicken with my protein shake. 

For snacks I have fibers bars, pistachios, almonds, or fruit and veggies. 

It's hard to plan an entire day's worth of meals for me, and even harder an entire week. I try to keep healthy snacks and food around the house that will benefit me the moment hunger strikes. 

Here is a list of healthy snacks that I like to keep handy:

1.  String Cheese
2. Banana
3. Greek Yogurt
4. Apple dipped in Peanut Butter 
5. 100-calorie bag of popcorn
6. veggies with hummus 
7. Almonds
8.  Apple
9. Hard Boiled Egg
10. Dried Fruits
11. Pistachios
12.  Clementines
13. Fruit Smoothie
14. blueberries 
15. celery with peanut butter 
16. Trail Mix 
17. Orange Slices
18. Salad with light dressing
19. Guacamole with veggies or tortilla chips
20. Cashews
21. Sugar Snap Peas( i love how crunchy these are!)
22. Steamed Veggies
23. Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges
24. Snack/Granola bar/Fiber Bar
25. Protein Bar
26. Sweet Potato Fries 
27. Wrap (like hummus, turkey, & avocado)
28. Broccoli (I HAVE to have cheese with mine)
29. Peaches 
30. Naked Juice (but only one serving!)
31. Tuna with corn and light mayo and a handful of crackers
32. Chicken Breast
33. Watermelon
34. Oatmeal

more progress

This is a dirty mirror pic. Literally. No, it's not my dirty mirror. Yes, I do take pictures like this at other peoples houses LOL!

I have no idea how many inches I've lost but I can tell it's quite a few. My love handles are slowly but surely disappearing. I just need to tackle my lower belly now.

instructor

New fitness goals mean new opportunities! This week and next week I will begin my journey into becoming some what of a fitness instructor. I will be certified in CPR, I will shadow a boot camp class, I will shadow several weight training floor classes, and spin classes. My ultimate goal is to become a certified spin instructor but along with it I am also becoming a senior (silver sneakers YMCA) cardio and weight training instructor! These are fairly big deals! I never thought I'd be the type to actually go through with something like this. I just need the confidence to actually do it. I know I can lead and be successful in this realm, considering how far I've pushed myself, now I hope to help other get there as well.

brag post!

This here is a brag post. Finally. A good post. These are my guns. Okay, not really. This is the first time I ever have some kind of definition in my arms. I usually have big flabby butter arms. I can see definition now!!!! P90x is awesome. I will have nice arms for this summer. No more hiding in cardigans and long sleeves!

fat face

When I get fat, so does my face. If I gain ten pounds five will go to my arms and belly and the other five will go directly to my face. Seriously. I get big puffy cheeks when I gain weight and I hate it. This is one of the reasons I like to maintain a healthy diet, and stay thin, so that my face doesn't look like I've eaten two cheeseburgers.

Between these two pictures there is a 7 pound difference. SEVEN POUND! WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE ALL 7 ARE IN MY FACE??!?!

I know the picture isn't the greatest comparison but I'm sure you can tell. I was 148.8 on the left (or more) and 141.2 on the right. You can see my eyes look bigger and my cheeks look smaller. It's ridiculous but I wanted to share my almost number 1 reason for staying thin!

month two

Since starting month two this Monday things have been interesting. 
Here are the boring parts:

Day 1 which was Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, was hard. Just like it was hard in month one. I felt defeated and frustrated. I felt like I wasn't doing the moves right and I couldn't do them all the way anyway. The next day I was sore, so sore, and that my friends is a good thing. I was working hard and sweating through it and I felt it. 

Month two is so different, I haven't even completed one week and I'm hooked. I feel like this is such a great program because I don't feel entirely exhausted and defeated at the end. I'm learning so much about my body and seeing immense toning in areas I'd never seen before. My arms are starting to look so much better. I usually had big, fat, flabby arms and now I can actually see muscle and it's so motivating! 

My eating habits have stayed on board. I am not following the eating plan exactly but I still maintain a very healthy diet, one which I plan on sharing with you more frequently! 

progress

The day I posted my progress pictures I knew it may have been a bad idea. I was (TMI WARNING) a bit bloated because it was that time of the month. I am the type of woman that really does bloat during this time. I hold on to my water weight and it's just bad all over. I knew stepping on that scale may have been discouraging but surprisingly it wasn't. The kicker comes in when I got back on a day later, no longer bloated and TWO POUNDS LIGHTER. The official weight loss has gone from 148.6 to 141.2 It's pretty fabulous for a little over 30 days.

I need better pictures, but I'm struggling with how to post them without being immodest and completely exposing myself. I'm sure I will come up with something.

I'm also going to commit to posting pictures, recipes, or ideas of my lunches and dinners. I am a strong believer in weight loss being 30% gym and 70% diet. It really does matter what you eat. You can spend two hours everyday at the gym but if you go home and eat crap, well there goes your workout!

side by side

Here are a few side by side comparsion pictures. The flash and position of the shirt don't exactly help but here's a 5 lb weight-loss.

30 day results

Ah! 30 days later into p90x and... HERE ARE THE RESULTS!

I weighed in at 148.8 lbs

and now... DUN DUN DUN!!!!

I weight 143.8 lbs! 

I am officially down 5 whole pounds!

 I didn't think it would be such a big deal but it is! 

I feel that in the pictures I can't see much of a difference but I sure can tell in my face, which obviously isn't pictured here LOL. I can definetly tell in my arms when I flex but I failed at flexing in pictures. It isn't a huge AMAZING difference but I feel like I've lost quite a few inches over all. I feel that I can see it in my side picture and under my arms when I have them up in the pictures. I can tell that I'm toning a lot as well. This has been a good journey and I can't wait to see what month two has in store for me. If you pay close attention to detail you can see that overall I'm shrinking a little, losing inches over all :)