Losing Weight - Day 11: Fitting It In

Today was a busy day I am going to go fast.

Whew!

When your day is very busy it's hard to stick with your weight loss of fitness goals.

Deadlines, sick kids, stress and life in general can take a toll on your most well-laid plans in your weight loss journey.

Today I was very busy with both kids home from school. I needed to sub out my Spinnning class, much to my dismay and sadness. I tried to stay on top of my eating but remembered only one fruit and a wilted spinach salad. I was too busy to even crave carbs.

I did a briefer-than-brief upper body workout today followed by 10 minutes of punching a boxing bag. That was all the exercise I could do before sitting back down at my desk.

Why bother with so little, you ask?

Weight Loss Checklist

There are few basic "checklist" items to lose or maintain weight that I try to stick with when busy:

• Drink lots of water (fail)
• Eat a fruit
• Eat a vegetable
• Eat some protein (eh)
• Give yourself one treat

If you can remember just those few simple things you should be able to get through the day without completely sabotaging yourself.

I had a moment this afternoon where I wanted enchiladas. I wanted enchiladas and five bowls of chips so badly I could taste them. If I closed my eyes I could see them, dripping with cheese and sauce.

But then I got caught up in a project, so I had some sparkling water and worked until the craving finally diminished. That was the only thing I craved today interestingly enough.

Eating Healthy: Nobody's Perfect

Not to mean that I was perfect - in fact, today was a less than stellar day nutritionally. I had four handfuls of Chex Mix somewhere in there. It wasn't very good, but it was salty and crunchy and much-too-easily consumed.

I put the bag away in disgust after I licking my fingers, vowing not to do that again. I hate it when I eat things I don't really like, just to eat them.

One apple and that spinach and tomato salad were my only fruits and veggies today. I really need to focus on the "5-a-day" more (the 9-a-day are far out of my league). Somewhere between the carbs and the dairy I am faltering with what is most important....what comes from the earth.

Other than the Chex Mix (which was simply a dumb choice - high fat, high carb and not enjoyable), I made some strange coffee smoothie concoction to keep me awake: Coffee, stevia, nonfat milk blended with nonfat frozen yogurt. It was my treat, was filling and kept me going.

The Quick Workout

I am starting to feel out of sorts since I have not taught a Spinning class since Tuesday morning. I will not be back on the bike until Saturday. That's pure misery for a Spinning freak like me.

Spinning not only burns calories and keeps my cardiovascular system in great shape, but it helps me with my head as well as my body. It releases much-needed endorphins - one of our pain killing hormones - and seems to clear the cob webs to allow for clearer thinking.

While I did not release much in the way of endorphins,  I performed a brief bout of strength training. I worked my upper back/shoulder area/triceps with my Gravity Bar (which is similar to the TRX Suspension system. I love both of these systems).

I proceeded to do isolated kettlebell pressups for shoulders, then push ups (modified) with my Perfect Pushup until repetition failure (which means I couldn't get back up). I can only do modified push ups (except for maybe 5 or 6 full) with the Perfect Pushup because it is so hard. Somehow the rotating handles seem to challenge the muscles more.

I can usually do 25 full push ups on the floor. Now I alternate between some days using the Perfect Pushup and some days doing the full floor push ups. I finished off with kettlebell bicep curls (this time adding my lower body), then cycled through one more set. That was it.

I moved from exercise to exercise, with no rest, working hard and steady. That was all I could do, but I was able hit everything in my upper body - in record time.

No Strength Gain, But No Strength Loss

No, there were probably no strength gains today, but the goal was no strength losses. Whenever we go on any kind of "diet" (and I use that term loosely), we lose muscle along with fat.

My goal is to try to maintain what I have for muscle and lose some of what I have of fat.

Onward and forward.
Until tomorrow.
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TODAY'S STATS
6.5 hours of sleep.

• Plain oatmeal with flax seeds, nonfat milk, walnuts pieces and chocolate chips (60% cocoa - a must) - breakfast.
• Green apple - snack.
• Lean Cuisine Roasted Vegetables Pizza - lunch.
• Four big handfuls of Chex Mix - snack.
• Coffee smoothie with nonfat milk and nonfat frozen yogurt - snack.
• Wilted spinach salad - dinner.
• World's tiniest slice of pumpkin pie that my son baked. Awww - dessert.