Late to write this update as today has been crazy. Day 9 was good. First full day back at home which is always easier for me to manage my food. I also got a great work out in the morning. Despite it sometimes being difficult to work out in the mornings, I always feel like it’s better because I get it out of the way. Some days when I plan to work out in the evenings I really struggle once it’s time to go to the gym. Especially if it’s been a long, trying day at work. So mornings are the best for me, but it doesn’t always work out that way, especially if I have early morning meetings. But today I was able to get 90 minutes it which was super! Stayed within my points range and feel great. 🙂

Date: November 6th, 2013

Days Complete: 9

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: 30 minutes on the treadmill followed by a 60 minute Total Body Challenge class at my gym

Feeling: Energized

Day 8 was a pretty lazy day for me. I spent 6 hours a plane going from NYC to SFO and went straight into work. I was so jet lagged I decided not to work out last night, come home, cook a small meal, unpack and go to bed. I ate pretty light considering the splurge on Monday night and the fact that I was sitting for most of the day. I weighed myself this morning and I’m down 4.8 lbs from last Tuesday. I’m pretty excited and hoping I can keep the momentum. First week is always the easiest (and usually the week you lose the most weight) so we’ll see how this next week goes. I’m still feeling very motivated which is a good thing. My schedule is pretty light these next few weeks as well so that should help me stay focused and avoid distraction.

Date: November 5th, 2013

Days Complete: 8

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: Not unless you consider sitting exercise 😉

Feeling: A little tired, but good

Writing this on a plane. Dedication?! LoL Day 7 I spent in NYC. I was there for a benefit where 2 Top Chefs were cooking. Since I didn’t know what to expect at dinner I tried to be really good during the day. Also got a workout in before working. I probably splurged a bit more than I should of at dinner. I didn’t need to eat the dessert, but I did. It’s a minor setback, but at least I recognize it. I walked about 3 miles around NYC yesterday on top of my gym workout so hopefully it helped. Plan is to weigh in tomorrow since I didn’t have my scale this morning in NYC. 🙂

Date: November 4th, 2013

Days Complete: 7

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: 30 minutes on the treadmill

Feeling: Jet lagged

Today I ran a 5K to help support Pulmonary Hypertension, a disease that my company supports with various therapies. It was a gorgeous day down in Stanford and the run goes around the campus. I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped, but still did okay with a 30:31 finish time (was hoping for under 30). I’ll blame it on no food before the run…haha. It was a tricky day because we went to brunch after the run and it was right before I needed to catch a flight to NYC. So I really had to guesstimate my points because I was eating out all day. I had a buckwheat crepe at brunch with spinach, bacon and mozzarella. Came with a salad. Then on the flight I had a pear and arugula salad that had a bit of brie, almonds, pear and grapes. I took off most of the almonds and barely used the dressing. Thankfully Virgin America put most of the nutritional content I needed to calculate the points. So I’m pretty sure I stayed within my points yesterday, despite eating out and guessing. And I got a run in which was good considering I had to sit on a flight for 5 hrs last night.

Date: November 3rd, 2013

Days Complete: 6

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: 30 minute 5K

Feeling: A little sleepy. Getting into hotel at midnight and trying to fall asleep to be up by 8am was challenging. Probably managed about 5 hours of sleep last night, despite comfy Westin bed!

Quick update as I’m about to fly to NYC. Good day. Splurged a bit more at dinner again but I managed to stay within my points and make good decisions. Tracked, worked out, enjoyed the day! Date: November 2nd, 2013

Days Complete: 5

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: 30 minutes on treadmill walk/run combo

Feeling: Good but rushed at the movement.

Day 4 was an an experimental day with food. The past 3 days I’ve been tracking food on Weight Watchers. For those of you not familiar with WW, you get a set number of points for food each day based on your weight, sex, etc. In their Point Plus program things like vegetables and fruit are 0 points. So because I’ve been mainly paleo the past 3 days, I’ve noticed it’s been a struggle to get to my points target. And since I’ve also been working out, I’ve been slightly worried that I’m not eating enough which can have a negative effect on weight loss as the body can go into starvation mode and you don’t lose weight. So today I decided to do something different, just to see how it goes. While still sticking to my whole foods (ie no processed/fried foods), I added in a bit more carbs. Also because I’m doing a 5K race on Sunday and I usually try to “carb up” 2 days prior. It’s only a 5K but I figure I may as well. Anyway, I added in some whole wheat toast to my breakfast and for dinner had whole wheat pasta with home made spaghetti sauce. What ended up happening is I went way over my points for the day, but since I hadn’t cut into my weekly extra points (I think WW used to call them flex points), I’m fine. I also had a glass of wine with dinner. So it wasn’t a cheat day, I still tracked and stayed within my guidelines. I also tried CrossFit for the first time. Well, I didn’t do the typical workout of the day, but I started 1 of 3 1:1 sessions to learn all the different exercises you do in the workouts. I’m a little sore today (mostly my chest and arms) but I feel good. I think this could be a really great fit to get in weight training with my regular running. All in all, a good day. We’ll see how the scale reads on Tuesday.

Date: November 1st, 2013

Days Complete: 4

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: 60 minutes of CrossFit training

Feeling: Still motivated, surprisingly 😛

Happy Halloween! Where ghosts and ghouls trick you to eating candy….or is it treat you?! I dunno. But I managed to be successful, even ON Halloween. Day started off normal, breakfast, lunch, snacks….all good. The real challenge came when I went over to my dear friend Katie’s house for dinner. I was originally going to get a salad from Mollie Stone’s, but their salad bar wasn’t inspirational. She was planning on picking up Mexican food for her and her family and she said, can’t you do something healthy there? Mexican is one of my FAVORITE foods….. So I thought about it and figured the reality is, I’m going to be faced with these situations on a regular basis….CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. I managed to survive it quite well with ordering a grilled chicken tostada salad with black beans, no rice, lettuce and pico de gallo. I told them to hold the sour cream and put the cheese and guacamole on the side. They put them in quarter cup containers which was great. I did eat the guacamole but it was measured and I had about about 1/8th cup of the cheese. I tossed the shell before I even started eating. Success! Didn’t eat any candy either…but I’m not a huge Halloween candy fan anyway, so it wasn’t too difficult. Bring on November!

Date: October 31st, 2013

Days Complete: 3

Tracked: Yes

Worked Out: Not in a typical sense. I did manage a 30 minute walk at lunch, tho.

Feeling: Good 🙂