12-Week Sprint to the Finish: Week 6
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![12-Week Sprint 2[10]](https://weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/12-Week-Sprint-210-248x300.jpg)
Welcome to Week 6 of the Sprint to the Finish! Can you believe we’re half-way there? Oh, I wish I could say that I’m half-way there as far as pounds lost go. *sigh* I actually thought I was doing pretty good until I realized that we’re at the half-way mark on the calendar, but I’m not quite there on the scale.
When we started, I had 21 pounds to go, so I should be at 10.5 pounds lost to be on pace. I’m not too far off, though. I’ve lost 7 lbs. with a weigh-in tomorrow. Overall, I’m still pleased with how I’m doing.
What about you? Are you where you wanted to be at this point? If you are, way to go! If now, what are you going to do to get there?
I’ll have to be honest, I’m not far enough off my goal to be stressing over getting back on track. I plan to keep doing what I’ve been doing – burning 350+ calories a day through cardio, watching my food intake, and lifting weights.
On the weight-lifting front, I do plan to step that up a bit. On the recommendation of a reader, I ordered a copy of The New Rules of Lifting for Women. It arrived last Wednesday and I’ve been reading it. I’m really enjoying it and I feel like I’m learning a lot of the physiology of weight-lifting for women. I’m hoping to finish the majority of it this weekend and get started on the workouts next week.
Also, a friend loaned me her copy of Get Fit for Free & Ditch the Gym. I’m probably going to have to get my own copy. It’s really cool – it shows you how to modify exercises that use the fitness machines at the gym so that you can do them at home with just some basic equipment like dumbbells, a step, and a resistant band, all of which I already have.
So, that’s my plan for the week – continue to log my food using My Fitness Pal, continue to follow my half-marathon training plan for my runs, and step up the weight-lifting using the techniques I’m picking up from these two books.
What about you? How will you challenge yourself this week?
If you’re interested in my food log this week, here you go:
6/27/2011
Breakfast: Fruit salad w/vanilla yogurt and granola
Lunch: Wendy’s Berry Almond salad (my homemade version), sweet tea
Dinner: Tacos w/black beans, guacamole, Pico de Gallo, sweet corn cake, sweet tea
6/28/2011
Breakfast: Flax cereal w/granola and strawberries
Lunch: Grilled chicken w/black beans, guacamole, Pico de Gallo, sweet tea
Dinner: Hamburgers (grass-fed beef) w/pita chips and hummus, sweet tea
6/29/2011
Breakfast: Fruit salad
Lunch: Turkey burger w/guacamole, onions, and red peppers, black beans and sweet tea
Dinner: Grilled chicken w/fettuccini Alfredo, roasted broccoli, and sweet tea
Snack: orange
6/30/2011
Breakfast: Flax cereal w/strawberries
Lunch: Pizza (2 slices), sweet tea
Snack: Fiber Plus bar
Dinner: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli, salad
Snack: pineapple angel food cake
7/1/2011
Breakfast: Flax cereal w/blueberries
Lunch: Turkey and Swiss sandwich on Ezekiel bread, pita chips and hummus (Then, some left-over roasted broccoli after I went to help my sister jumpstart her car and I came back to find that the dog had eaten the rest of my sandwich and pita chips. Stupid dog!)
Dinner: Chick-Fil-A Chargrilled sandwich w/side salad (with 1/2 packet sunflower kernels, 1/2 packet tortilla strips, and 1/2 packet Ranch dressing), sweet tea
7/2/2011
Brunch: Scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage biscuit, sweet tea
Dinner: Chicken fajitas (w/o tortilla) w/Pico de Gallo, guacamole, light sour cream, Spanish rice (made w/brown rice), black beans, sweet corn cake, sweet tea
7/23/2011
Breakfast: 1/2 cinnamon crunch bagel w/hazelnut spread
Lunch: Turkey on Ezekiel bread, pita chips and hummus, sweet tea
Dinner: 2 fried chicken tenders (breading removed), quinoa w/carrots, three-bean salad, salad w/oil and vinegar, sweet tea.
What about you? How did you do last week? What are your goals for this week?
Do or do not. There is no try.
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.
You're doing great, Kris. I think it really is so much harder to get these last 20 pounds off. Not that the first part wasn't hard, mentally and emotionally and even physically at times, but I mean that the pounds seemed to come off faster. When you go from no exercise to some and cut back on most of the junk you're eating, the pounds are certainly going to come off. But when you've done the big steps already and have to focus on little things here and there that might make a difference, it's harder. And the weight just doesn't want to budge as easily. I realized that I never posted my weigh-in from last week in your weigh-in post… partly I forgot, but mostly I was too angry at the scale (??) to do so. I weighed in several times last Friday and in none of them had I lost any weight. At best I had maintained, but several times during the day I was 1 or 2 pounds over last weigh-in. Ugh. I was feeling so bloated too, so I'm hoping that it was a hormonal thing. I hate that my weight seems to fluctuate so much. I need to get back to weighing less often; I think that's part of the problem. On a good note, one NSV I had this weekend was buying two pairs of shorts in a size smaller than I've been wearing! One goal I had for the summer was to be fully in that size by autumn. There were several shorts of that size that I definitely didn't fit in yet, but these two did fit! I was very pleased. I'm thinking that working out on the elliptical is toning my body in new ways, but maybe adding muscle too. Need to get back on track with MFP this week (was definitely lazier about that last week), keep up workouts every day (already burned 400+ on the elliptical this morning!), and no more constant weighing! Also, want to work on snacking less. One thing I notice about your food diary, Kris, is your lack of snacks. I find that I get truly hungry in between meals and need to have something that feels somewhat substantial. How do you go without snacking? It would really help my calorie intake if I could snack less. Okay, wow, long comment. Sorry. Have a great 4th of July!
I totally agree about getting the last 15-20 pounds off. The last half of my
weight-loss has been much slower and more difficult than the first half.
Weight fluctuations are the pits — especially when they're hormone-related.
Yay on the shorts! I know how exciting that is! I know exactly what you mean
about wanting to fully fit in a size, too. I'm there now with the next size
down. Some things fit and some don't. I want to know that that size is going
to fit. Period.
I wish I knew what to tell you about snacking. I will say that NOT snacking
is not the ideal, based on most of what I've read. Most
weight-loss/nutrition books suggsest 5-6 meals a day with calories spread
pretty evenly between them. I just can't do that. I use way too many
calories that way because I can't seem to get a handle on lower-calorie
lunches and dinners. I do know that we eat dinner much earlier than we used
to because I get hungry earlier and don't want to snack. Then, I do
sometimes have an after-dinner snack, but it depends on how hungry I really
am, how many calories I have to spare, and how close it is to bedtime.
The past week was good. I feel as if I'm back on track. Lots of active time; good meal planning, and under my calorie allotment every day. The forthcoming week will be awfully difficult though, as we'll be traveling again. I am packing lots of fresh fruit though, so at least my snacks will be controlled, healthy, and not at the whim of the convenience store or vending machines!
What do you consider a substantial snack? I find that raw vegetables make me hungrier (!!) so I have fruit (blueberries are a favorite), and occasionally a quinoa/flax cake spread with a Laughing Cow cheese. Total for the cake/cheese: 51 calories. I have a plan/list of available snacks for when I'm hungry so I don't just go grab the first thing I see.
I hope that helps a bit. I'll be glad when I get to the last-20-pound point!
I sit at the halfway point, should be 7.5lbs down, and only down 5. So I've got 10lbs to go in the next 6 weeks. but I *will* make it! We had a bit of a family crisis over the last few weeks that made me quite distracted, but I'm back on the bandwagon now and getting things done!
https://mykidsmydietmylife.blogspot.com/2011/07/sprint-to-finish-week-6.html
Way to go on having a good week! Traveling can be so hard for weight-loss
and activity levels. Good thinking on planning your snacks. Good luck!
Where do you find the quinoa/flax cakes? That's a very low calorie range for
a snack that sounds like it's pretty filling/satisfying and good for when
you're craving something more salty than sweet.
Ten pounds in 6 weeks is definitely within the realm of possibility. Good
luck!
I can't believe we are at the half way point! My goal was to lose 20 along with you. (wish it was MY last 20 : ) I have peeked at the scale a couple of times this week and am having a better result than last week. That means I have lost a little more than half of my goal. I have to say that I surprised myself! I can't believe that I've even made it this far.
I haven't really been setting new weekly goals. I think I have been focused on staying on track with MFP and to keep moving!! It seems to be working!
Also, I am almost through Made to Crave. It is such a great book!
I get them from Costco — Suzie's Brown Rice/Quinoa/Flax cakes — and they are 16 calories per cake. I don't know if they are a Costco-only thing. They are in the same aisle as the crackers, at the front of the store just behind the weight loss shakes and such.
The Laughing Cow cheese wedge really is enough to spread over two of the cakes, but I love how decadent it feels to have that MUCH cheese heaped on one. LOL. I also use those cakes to dip in salsa and guacamole. I haven't measured, but they're maybe 3' or 4' square (?), and I think they're perfect for anything that just needs a way to get from the bowl to my tummy. 🙂
Way to go! It's so encouraging when you surprise yourself. It psyches you up
to complete the journey. I need to reread Made to Crave. I've had it sitting
on my shelf for just that purpose, but I haven't made it to it yet…too
many other books to read. Soon, though. Soon.
Thanks. I'll have to look for them the next time I'm in there.