Week 10 Update

Slow and steady wins the race, right?  That's exactly how I feel about my progress over the last few weeks.  I'm not seeing the big numbers I was posting towards the beginning of this challenge, but I am still consistently getting results and I'm doing it in the healthiest way I know how.  Read on to find out how week 10 of my challenge went!

Physical Activity:
-4/6/13: ran on the treadmill for 45 minutes
-4/7/13: ran outside for 30 minutes (total distance was about 2.7 miles)
-4/9/13: BODYATTACK
-4/10/13: BODYSTEP
-4/12/13: ran outside for 28 minutes (did the same 2.7 mile loop - I got faster!)

The weather is finally turning spring-like in DC, which means I've been able to start running outside more instead of always heading to the gym for the treadmill.  Even though running outside presents challenges in terms of keeping pace etc, it's also much more enjoyable thanks to the changing scenery.  Living someplace like DC really helps because most of the time I go run around the national mall, which means I'm looking at the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building, as well as beautiful museums along the way.  

I also tried another new class this week, and I think I might be hooked!  BODYSTEP is another Les Mills class that they offer at the Gold's Gym I go to.  I've always been nervous about taking step classes because I'm not the most coordinated person and I'm always afraid that I'll trip over the step.  This week I decided to get over that and I ended up really enjoying the class.  The instructor was the same woman who teaches the BODYATTACK class on Tuesday and she is really great.  She's very positive and motivating throughout the whole class and she never makes you feel like you're not doing something right, she just encourages everyone to do what they can and to keep moving.  All in all, BODYSTEP was a great workout and I'd like to keep taking the class to switch up my workouts throughout the week.

The biggest proof that my drive to stay on track with this challenge continues is that I actually woke up extra early on Friday morning to get a run in before going to work.  I had only fit in 4 workouts last week and I knew my schedule wouldn't allow me to exercise Friday evening after work, so I did what I had to do and forced myself out of bed bright and early.  For anyone who doesn't know me, I am not a morning person, so the fact that I woke up even earlier than I normally do on a work day in order to EXERCISE is really saying something.  It all comes down to the fact that I just really don't want to fail in this challenge.  I want to make sure I accomplish this goal I set for myself, so I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to make it happen.

Food:
I have to honest and admit that I did not make the best choices in terms of food and drink at the beginning of week 10.  Last weekend was filled with a lot of food-centric activities, and when that happens it's hard for me to be as vigilant about calories etc.  I can at least say that I was very aware of all the choices I made in regards to food and alcohol, and even when I didn't make the best decisions, I still tracked everything that I consumed, and that's really important.  It would be very easy to just leave things out when I'm tracking my food intake, but that wouldn't be honest and I need to see all those things written down in order to stay conscious and responsible for what I eat and to make sure I balance things out during the rest of the week. 

For example, my friends and I always do family dinner together on Sunday evenings.  It's a wonderful tradition we started to give ourselves one more thing to look forward to every weekend and it's a great way to bring all our friends together to catch up and regroup.  Last weekend we had a guest join us for Sunday dinner and she cooked the most amazing Mexican food for us, she made a dish called Chicken Tinga.  The food was phenomenal, but the problem was I had already treated myself earlier that day at a brunch picnic that some friends and I had attended, and I also ended up consuming more alcohol that day than I originally intended, merely because of the fact that I took on a careless attitude that day.  I definitely enjoyed myself a lot at both activities and I worked hard during the rest of the week to make up for the binging I had done over the weekend, but I still wish that I had made better choices and been a little more selective with my choices on Sunday.  I didn't need to have a bloody mary AND a mimosa at brunch, and I didn't need to have a glass of wine AND a beer at dinner.  I think this is very common for people who are trying to lose weight and are watching their diet.  You want to eat and drink the things you normally would when you're out and about with your friends, but it's important to maintain the balance between enjoying yourself in the moment and putting in effort towards achieving your long term goals.  That's something that I'm definitely still working on!

Cooking:
I decided to tackle something new last week and opted to make dessert!  I had yet to attempt a dessert recipe throughout this challenge and there was a skinny raspberry lemonade cupcake recipe that I had been wanting to try.  It was a gorgeous day when I made them so the raspberry lemonade flavor worked perfectly.  The cupcakes turned out to be a really nice treat and didn't endanger my diet plan at all!  Everybody enjoyed them and I didn't have to feel guilty about eating one, so that's a win-win!  I'll post the recipe later this week.

Weigh-In:
Like I said before, I was really concerned last week because of the decisions I made during the weekend.  I did work very hard and was very disciplined during the week in terms of food in order to compensate, but I was even more nervous than usual before my weigh-in.  Maybe I need to start thinking about those nerves when I'm making decisions about what to eat!  With that said, this week I lost...

1 POUND!!!

I was so relieved to see that I still managed to lose another pound this past week, despite the fact that I was very worried I wouldn't.  I'm happy that I'm still progressing, but I need to use Week 10 as a lesson that cheating too much or binging on the weekend and then trying to work double time during the week to make up for it is not the best strategy.  Moving forward into the last 5 weeks of my challenge I want to keep that in mind at all times.  I'm 12 pounds down and 2/3 of the way through my challenge and the end is in sight, but there's still plenty more work to do!