Dropping and Looking for a Spa Day

I dropped another 2.4 lbs this week!  I knew it was another loss but I didn't think it was more than a pound.  Sorry, I forgot to weigh myself before going to bed to get the naked weight.  So instead, this morning I tried something different.  (There still was a 2 lb difference between Weight Watchers and my scale.)

I've read so many places that you shouldn't weigh yourself right after a workout.  I did the Rockin' Body Party Express workout this morning (25 minutes, 203 calories).  It wasn't a huge workout for me yet the scale reflected a .2 lb gain.  So I'll have to agree with what I've been reading.

These are the final days for Rockin' Body and I don't have a program lined up since the 21 Day Fix is on backorder.  I know I'd get bored if I continued for another month.  So I'm going to be exploring the library's collection again this week to see what I can come up with.

I've decided that I want to do some kind of spa day to celebrate my first year.  Now to figure out where and when....There are so many places and I don't know anyone that goes regularly to get any recommendations.  What sources do you look at for service referrals such as this?

Best Burn of the Week



Two days in a row with the same calorie burn but Monday was a little shorter timeframe.

 

Linking up with

Clothed or Naked

Well, I was up 1.2 lbs again this week because of TOM.  Oh well...I'll be back to losing next week.  It's supposed to be in the 40s next week, even near 50, so I might be able to add some kind of activity outside.  I'm so tired of being cooped up indoors!

I've always been curious what the true weight difference is when you weigh yourself with and without clothes.  Yesterday I received an Ozeri scale that I'll be reviewing after playing with it a while.  So before I went to bed I had to try it out.

I was wearing a turtle neck, jeans, leggings, bra, panties, and socks.  I removed everything but my glasses (and the phone) to take the picture.  So what I wore yesterday weighed about 3.8 lbs.  At Weight Watchers I normally don't remove my shoes (but did so at last night's weigh in) so there's probably another pound or so on my official weigh ins.  Would you like me to share the clothed or naked weight each week?

While writing this post my phone started acting weird, asking for my Google password, and not letting me do anything else.  I tried pushing the power button for a restart but that didn't work.  So I did the old force shutdown by removing the battery.  Now it's stuck on the Samsung startup screen. Guess they'll be sending me another phone....

 

Best Burn of the Week

 

Linking Up with



Almost Back to Where I Was

I was sooo close!  The past two weeks I'd gained 3.4 lbs.  This week I lost 3.2 lbs!  I'd still like to consider it a wash.  What do you think?

Disco Groove is still my favorite Rockin' Body workout so far.  My calorie burn dropped below 300 on my HRM so I need to mix it up with another workout.  Because I'm not following the recommended schedule I'm probably going to go ahead and do Rockin' Body through the end of February.  Today I had heartburn and didn't want to do too much.  Somehow the Hard Core Abs made that all go away!  I heated up right away and wanted to do more but there wasn't any time.

I'm exited about the new program coming out next month - 21 Day Fix.  From what I've seen it's kind of a mix between Weight Watchers' portion control and a 30-minute Beachbody workout.  You can lose 10-15 lbs in just 21 days with daily workouts and food portioned out in the containers that come with the kit.  Our team has a webinar tonight with one of the coaches that went through the program during the testing phase.  Register here if you're interested in attending the webinar.  I'm considering the 21 Day Fix for my March program.  Anyone want to join me?

I relaxed too much this weekend and stayed off the computer so I didn't get those recipes typed up.  One night I heated up the little bit of leftover clementine salsa with my dinner.  It was totally gross!  That's a leftover I don't want to have again.  BLEH!

This afternoon's the next round of fillings at the dentist.  When this all started I could've sworn they only said 2 appointments for fillings.  Last week he said there'd be two more appointments - tonight and whenever we schedule the next one!  I'm so confused now about what the dentist is doing.  Part of tonight he's supposed to sand down (I think) the bone spur that's formed out the side of my gum where the one tooth was pulled.

Something I've noticed since last week is that my teeth on my left side (both upper and lower) have become sensitive to both heat and cold.  I drink warm tea or ice water on that side of my mouth and it hurts.  Something to ask the dentist tonight I guess....

Another Gain but Back to Working Out

I've started working out again but the scale isn't ready to believe it yet.  I was up another 1.2 lbs last night.  Gotta get this body back to losing again!

Exercise
My workouts started last Wednesday with Rockin' Body.  I feel so uncoordinated trying to do these dance moves.  My body just doesn't shake/twist/move/etc the same way theirs do!  Best burn so far was when I made a combo day.

Even though it was before my time (wink wink) I felt better coordinated with the disco days.  This is also the workout that so far produces the highest burn alone.  You can see with how high my heart rate averages (nearly at the max) and maxed out 10 above my max setting.  The average was a little lower the second time I did it.

Rockin' Body has to go back to the library this weekend but I've gone ahead and purchased it so I can continue.  (Shh Benny doesn't know this!) 

Meals
Last Wednesday night I made the Chicken Cordon Blue Bake recipe from Relish.  I didn't think it had enough flavor then but when I heated leftovers for lunch yesterday...OMG it was sooo delicious!  I guess it's one of those recipes that's better the second time around.

Thursday, instead of Relish's Salmon Burger recipe I just did my regular salmon cakes recipe (from grandma)...so nothing really special.  I made the meatballs and sauce for the Swedish Meatballs recipe that night also.  The meatballs baked nicely but I just couldn't get the sauce to thicken.

Friday, I used Relish's Flank Steak Gyros recipe for the meat but my own recipe for the tzatziki.  What they had listed just was missing a little something.  No pictures were taken but Benny said the Flank Steak was the right meat so now I know what to get when we want to go Greek again LOL

I saved the Swedish Meatballs meal for Saturday since Austin said he likes them.  The sauce still wasn't thick so that was blah but the meatballs were wonderful!  Melt in your mouth type meatballs!  I wish I'd at least taken a picture of the steps for them to share.

Sunday I made a modified version of the Slow Cooker Pizza Casserole....modified because we use ground beef not ground turkey, we don't like olives, and I didn't pick up any pepperoni.  I did take pictures of this one and will have a post for it sometime this weekend.  Here's a sneak peak of the leftovers...

 
Monday I made the Chicken with Clementine Salsa.  The recipe calls for it to be grilled but we don't own a grill and it's way to cold to be outside anyway.  OMG it was sooo good!  There were a couple of things I changed with the recipe but it was wonderful anyway.  Here's a sneak peak of my plate...

What workouts or new meals have you tried recently?

Sleeping through Tai Cheng Week 12

Image courtesy of renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I busted right on through the 30 lb weight loss barrier that holds so many back!  There's only about 19 lbs left until I reach my second goal of 50 lbs.  Will I manage to reach it by my birthday week or my birthday month?  Only time will tell!

I haven't thought of my goals between the 50 lbs and my target weight of 130 lbs.  What do you recommend for the next stages?

During this week's Weight Watchers meeting they were talking about building a better salad.  I was saying that I'd have a fruit salad because I don't like so many vegetables (yet), especially raw ones.  Because I'd hit another 5 lb loss target the leader asked me to say what my total loss was.  Everyone seemed to be in disbelief that someone could've lost 30+ lbs without eating much fruits or vegetables!  All I've done is eat smaller portions, stopped drinking soda and started drinking water (almost exclusively), started eating at least one fruit or veggie a day, and started exercising.  So again I say, if I can do this ANYONE can!

Tai Cheng has become completely boring not putting all 18 moves in sequence.  I just wasn't able to concentrate on any of it this week.  It feels so blah during the Neural Reboot.  I did each the sequences once on each side (faster than they were doing them on the DVD) then skipped to the next one.  When I was done with the third sequence I let the DVD play out while I finished making a fruit smoothie.  This 4 point smoothie tasted good but it wasn't filling so I need to figure out what I want to add to it to make it last.

One morning this week I peeked at day 1 of week 13 since it's on the same DVD.  It was EXACTLY the same as week 12!  Two weeks of boredom is going to make me pull out my hair!

Someone requested the Hip Hop Abs and Rockin' Body DVDs so I had to return them to the library.  That, in combination with not really having anything to cover up that big window in the front room, is leading me to do Slim in 6 next.

Tai Cheng Week 11 Completed

Photo Credit: Mason Masteka via Compfight cc

Another pound gone.  I'm .8 lbs away from the big 3-0!  This week I've read many posts where others have reached this milestone and plateaued for weeks.  I'm hoping to not be just another statistic stuck at the 30 lb loss.  I must reach the peak of this mountain and move on to the next one.

Photo Credit: Patrick Gensel via Compfight cc

Still trying to stretch out doing the splits during the reboot.  Nothing changed there.

In the same format as last week the Tai Chi portion repeated the second and third sequences (weeks 6 & 9). This piecemeal business is for the birds!  I'm thinking about skipping out on the last two weeks for the sequence portion.  Just do the Neural Reboot 4 and pop in the master scroll to do the whole sequence in one fluid motion.

After Tai Cheng this morning I took a look at "Hip Hop Abs: Hips, Buns, & Thighs" and "Rockin' Body".  I was thinking that his voice sounded familiar.  Suddenly it dawned on me.  Shaun T is a buffed up Will Smith! Is it just me or does anyone else see this too?

Will Smith Photo Credit: Alan Light via Compfight cc.  Shaun T Photo taken by me of the Hip Hop Abs cover.

I might be able to do the "Rockin' Body" workout if we can get a TV and DVD player set up in the front room.  Where we have everything set up for TV viewing just isn't big enough with the furniture.  We're currently just using the front room for storage.  I might want to put something to cover up the window though so everyone driving by won't see me working out LOL.

Weight Watchers & Tai Cheng Journey - Phase 3 Complete

I've made it to the 16 week mark with Weight Watchers! Another charm to add to my ring.  When everything is all said and done I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these charms.  Fellow Weight Watchers meetings members, what are you doing with your charms?

WW 16 Weeks Charm

I was up .4 lbs this week and mostly attribute that to the weather.  This daily rain keeps me from my gardening so I'm not getting in that extra little bit of exercise.  I did try riding the exercise bike but only lasted about 5 minutes; my heart pounded so much when I was exerting so little.

Finally convinced Benny to buy the romaine lettuce.  It's SO much better than iceberg!  No aftertaste whatsoever so I'm not burping up romaine all day like I did with iceberg.  Benny can keep the iceberg for himself; I'm sticking with romaine.

Workout Weeks 7-9

Every time a phase is complete I wonder what challenges await me on the next Neural Reboot.  Each time Dr. Cheng introduces a new area of foam rolling.  Since the last time we started the rotator cuff I'm assuming it'll be another upper body location.  I still barely feel any pressure on my shoulder blade.  I have had issues when I twist a certain way but those pains have been at the top not the back.

DVDs 7-9

One side of me isn't as balanced as the other.  I noticed during Sequence 3 I'd wobble a little during the rolling kick.  The wobble seemed to alternate legs each day so I couldn't say which truly had this problem.  I'll have to monitor this more closely when doing this sequence again in week 11.

This next phase is different than the previous ones.  First of all there are 4 weeks instead of 3.  Secondly, no more static moves; I'll strictly be working on the sequences.  I'm so ready for these sequences to be together so everything will be one fluid motion.

This next phase also marks decision time.  What program should I try next?  It's crunch time and I must make a decision over the next month.  If you have any recommendations please leave a comment; I'll see if the library has the program and will check it out.

I watched the first DVD from Slim in 6 and it doesn't look too bad.  Since I don't have all the extras checking the DVDs out from the library I'm just not sure what the schedule is supposed to be between the three speeds - Start, Ramp, & Burn.  I looked at the auto-schedule on the Team Beachbody's Supergym but it didn't really make sense to me.  "Start It Up!" is only used for Day 1.  The rest of the first two weeks is "Ramp It Up!".  The last four weeks is "Burn It Up!".  No where does the schedule mention the other two portions on each DVD - "Slim & 6-Pack" and "Slim & Limber".  I thought it would be 2 weeks of each speed with the other two tossed in.  I'm thinking that with this schedule I'll get bored.

I've also checked out a couple of Shaun T's DVDs from the library - "Hip Hop Abs: Hips, Buns, & Thighs" and "Rockin' Body".  I'm still way down on the list to get "Hip Hop Abs: Fat Burning Cardio; Ab Sculpt; Total Body Burn; Secrets to Flat Abs".  Just watching clips of Shaun T's various programs exhausts me so I'm sort of afraid of these workouts.