Rear Ended Again...

We attempted to go to a swap meet today - this ended up being a bust. Not much there by the time we arrived. We found an antique shop to peruse and Daniel ogled some long guns, but nothing worth buying.

On the way home, we were sitting at a stop light (on Independence) when all of a sudden the car shuddered and I looked at Daniel thinking he had stalled the car while at a dead stop. He looked at me and said "I can't believe it - we just got rear ended!" Seriously?!?!?

We turned around to see a man in his conversion van giving us an apologetic look. Daniel got out to check the damage. The guys got out and said something like, "Sorry, I was taking my shoe off and my van just rolled forward."

This is the second time in three days that Daniel has been rear ended while sitting at a stop light. Both times by people not paying attention. Thankfully our steel bike rack took the hit instead of our bumper (both times).

When driving, if you have the need to 1) reach down into your floorboard to pick up a dropped item or 2) take off your shoes or 3) anything else that requires you to not pay attention while sitting stopped at a stop light, PLEASE take the time to put your vehicle in PARK.

One Pound

Last night was our eat out night. Normally when we go to a restaurant we will split a dish and we rarely get appetizers. Desserts for us are only on special occasions (generally we will just go out for dessert and split with no other food purchase).

That being said, we had seen a commercial advertising a special at Chili's that was called 3 for $20. Twenty bucks seemed like too good of a bargain to pass up, so we headed to Chili's.

For $20 you can choose one appetizer, two entrees and one dessert. We went with the Skillet Queso, both of us chose Quessadillas (which we didn't finish) and then we split the Chocolate Chip Molten Cake. We both drank water.

The food tasted great. Afterwards, we walked out with a doggie bag, feeling full (probably too full). We went to watch a movie and then home where I looked up all of the calorie info for our massive $20 meal.

Counting the fact that we did not finish the quessadillas, my total calorie count for the day came to 3,308 (for reference I generally eat close to 1,500 cals per day and prior to dinner I had only had about 750 calories).

I informed Daniel of the amount of calories I had eaten and he said "Did you know that 3,500 calories is equal to one pound of body fat?"

Yikes! This morning I weighed and I did in fact weigh one pound more...

15 Books

Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. (I don't tag people, but feel free to play).

In no particular order...

1. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
2. Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortenson)
3. A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson)
4. The Places in Between (Rory Stewart)
5. Juicing the Orange (Pat Fallon)
6. Blink (Malcolm Gladwel)
7. The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
8. TLOTR trilogy (J.R.R. Tolkien)
9. The Princess Bride (William Goldman)
10. Night (Elie Wiesel)

For the record, I read this when I was a teenager, way before it was a part of the Oprah Book Club.

11. Freakonomics (Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt)
12. Anne of Green Gables (LM Montgomery)
13. Where the Sidewalk Ends (Shel Shelverstein)
14. The World is Flat (Thomas L. Friedman)
15. Sense & Sensibility (Jane Austen)

Random Thoughts...

So I am continuing with another six weeks of the Workout 180 Challenge. Daniel is going to give it a go for this six weeks as well. We are participating in two different segments of the challenge - I am continuing with the afternoon, weight-loss segment and he will be doing the morning, lean muscle segment.

The purpose of this post is my observation on the meal plan(s) that the trainer sent to me. Last week I received the female meal plan that is created to provide approximately 1500 calories a day. Yesterday Anna sent me the male plan since Daniel was considering joining the workout.

The biggest difference (besides 2000 calories instead of 1500) is that the men get the option to drink coffee EVERY morning and a beer with EVERY dinner. Neither of us particularly like beer, but somehow this doesn't seem fair... where are the empty calories for the women?

As a side note, I am mostly following the women's meal plan and I have no intention of giving up my morning coffee.

Another random thought... now that I have a dog, I totally understand where the yoga term "downward facing dog" came from. I wish I could do the downward dog with the same agility, flexibility and strength as Sophie. She makes it look so easy.

Six Week Challenge: Results

So did 6 weeks of working out using the Workout 180 benefit me? Well Friday we measured and weighed in to see what physical results we had achieved...

According to the official weigh-in scale, I only lost 0.6 pounds. Since we weighed in the afternoon, with clothes on, I am taking this weigh-in with a grain of salt. According to my home scale, my morning weigh-in had me at 5 pounds lower than when we started this challenge.

As for the measuring, I have lost inches from the following places:
Abdomen: -1"
Arm: -1.25"
Buttocks/Hips: 0"
Calf: 0"
Forearm: -0.75"
Hips/Thighs: -0.5"
Mid-Thigh: -0.25"
Waist: -1.5"

Another way that I can tell that my body has changed is the way my pants fit. I don't think I am ready to go down a size, but my jeans are definitely roomier. I have also been able to tighten my belt a notch.

In terms of energy and how I feel, I really feel amazing. My energy is high. I don't hit that afternoon wall. And I feel strong during our actual workouts.

I am excited to continue the program for another 6 weeks. I am hoping for even better results at the end of the 12 weeks.

The Workout 180 is a great product. It is versatile and I have enjoyed using it. Personally I will probably never be good at being motivated to workout by myself, regardless of the products available to me. However having a great program to attend (at work no less and for free), I will gladly be the first to step up and say it is a great product. The trainer has been great and the group has been fun. I will miss it when we are finished.

Six Week Challenge: Day 36 & 37

Tuesday Workout(s):
Due to a last minute project, I missed the workout. Unfortunately I didn't get home until almost 9PM which meant a no go for Daniel and I to see a movie. Daniel wanted to know if this was Phase 2 of a diet for him (Phase 1 being the time I forgot to buy his cereal and didn't buy lunch meat for him for the week. Phase 2 being, not getting home at reasonable hours and him starving while he waited for me... he did eventually find a snack while he waited).

Meals For Tuesday:
Breakfast: Non-Fat Vanilla Yogurt with Granola and Coffee with Fat-Free Vanilla CoffeeMate
Snack: Missed my morning snack due to last-minute projects needing to get out the door by noon.
Lunch: Two slices of Turkey, one slice of Cheese, two slices of Tomato on two slices of Whole Wheat Toast and a Peach on the side
2:30 Snack: Ate part of my morning snack, a Blueberry Oatmeal Muffin
3:30 Snack: Grapes
4:30 Snack: Two low-fat Graham Crackers with 2 tbsp Peanut Butter
Dinner: Since I didn't leave work until 8:30, Daniel and I agreed that pizza and a movie from Blockbuster would be a good end to a long day. Beef Thin Crust Pizza and 10 oz of Sprite
Total Water: 96 oz
Total Calories According to Calorie Count: 2052

Wednesday Workout(s):
5:30: Tonight's 60-minute workout was a repeat of Week 2 - probably my least favorite week because of the pyramids. I can tell a huge difference, but just because I am in better shape did not make me like pyramids any more.

Meals For Wednesday:
Breakfast: Strawberry-Banana Smoothie and Coffee with Fat-Free Vanilla CoffeeMate
Snack: Oatmeal-Blueberry Muffin and Grapes
Lunch: Healthy Request Chicken Gumbo with 7 Multigrain Crackers
Snack: Two tbsp of Peanut Butter on two Low-Fat Honey Grahams and an Orange
Dinner: Salmon and Veggies
Total Water: 96 oz
Total Calories According to Calorie Count: 1508

Six Week Challenge: Day 38

Workout(s):
5:30 PM: 60-minute workout was the last of our six-week challenge. We did circuits. It is amazing how strong I feel. My energy is high. It is truly amazing. Tomorrow we weigh in and remeasure to see where we are at. We are actually continuing with an additional six weeks, but we will only meet 4 days a week. I will post off and on and share results at the end of the 12 weeks.

Meals:
Breakfast: Strawberry-Banana Smoothie and Coffee with Fat-Free Vanilla CoffeeMate
Snack: Oatmeal-Blueberry Muffin
Lunch: Tuna on two slices of Whole Wheat Bread, String Cheese and and Grapes
Snack: Two tbsp of Peanut Butter on two Low-Fat Honey Grahams and Blueberries
Post Workout Snack: Chocolate Milk
Dinner: Lean Meatballs with on two slices of Whole Wheat Toast
Total Water: 96 oz
Total Calories According to Calorie Count: 1661