Slacking

Well I have seriously been slacking on keeping up with my blog lately. It's no secret that when "fitness" and "weight loss" bloggers don't post for a while, it's usually bad news. Well...I don't have anything too tragic to report. I didn't gain 15 pounds or lose my job. Nobody died. Everything is business as usual. I have, however, hit a plateau. I've been stuck right around 155 for the past few weeks, and I'm starting to get annoyed. It is my own fault. Even when I stay under my calorie goal, track everything, and exercise, I ruin all my hard work by having too much fun on the weekends and neglecting exercise and healthy food. Idiot, I know. You don't have to tell me.

The Diet Bet is over on Thursday, and we can technically weigh in until Saturday (thank God)! I plan on busting my butt this week and trying my best to meet my goal. It's seriously going to be tough. I still have about 5ish pounds to lose (I think)! haha. Okay, maybe it's not just tough. It's very unlikely. Perhaps it's safe to say it's completely unrealistic. We'll hafta wait and see!

So I'm heading off to relax and try to get rid of this headache before Cardio Dance tonight. I will be better at posting!

It Is On This Week!!!!

Current Weight: 156 lbs.

Up 1 pound from last week

Down 40 pounds from the start

16 pounds until my goal

After logging into Diet Bet, I realize that I've gained one pound and now have about three weeks to lose 7 pounds. It won't be easy, but it is doable. I am determined to win!!

I also realize that not only do I need cardio, but I seriously need to incorporate some workouts that are geared toward the core and abs. Even though I'm still about 15 pounds until my goal weight, my tummy looks kind of like a disaster. I'm definitely not comfortable in my new bikini yet, so these next few weeks are going to be tough. But it will be worth it!

I'm going to go try out a plank circuit I found on Pinterest :)

My Fitness Pal Rocks My Socks

Drum roll please....

When I finished logging my food and exercise for today, My Fitness Pal showed me this exciting news! This is the first time it's ever been down to my goal before, and I am more excited than ever. This is just the push I needed to keep me motivated for the next few weeks! 

In other news, our I picked up our new volleyball t-shirts and tank tops after school today. They are super cute, and I think everyone will be pretty happy with them. I'm not gunna lie though, my tank top is a little snug. I'm going to definitely lose a few more pounds if I'm going to comfortably play volleyball in this bad boy:

I definitely am loving the warmish weather these past few days. It was a little chilly yesterday, but Josh and I headed to JB Park and played some tennis after work. I think we're going to try and play a few times each week. Unfortunately, I forgot my HRM at home. I just ended up using the calorie amount in MFP, but we'll find out for sure tomorrow how many calories I can really burn playing tennis...

Happy Wednesday!

Diet Bet Champion

Oh yeah, baby! I reached my Diet Bet goal with one pound to spare. *relief* Speaking of Diet Bets, the names of them are cracking me up. The last one we did was the "Prior Fat Girl" Diet Bet. The one we've recently joined is called "Life as the Fat Friend." Very clever, people. 

Today I joined a new Diet Bet that Melissa sent me, and I need to weigh in at 149 lbs. in twenty-seven days. Not easy, but doable. I just have to remain focused, which is more difficult than I thought to do when I'm so close to my final goal. Especially since I can't seem to burn calories lately. I was looking into this, and apparently the better shape you are in, the less calories you burn. Basically, you have to either work much harder or longer to get the same calorie burn.

Wish me luck, and if you want to join the Diet Bet go here http://www.dietbet.com/games/10065 

Lifting Weights

Thank you Melissa and Ashley for introducing me to the world of weights!

Since I've enrolled at the gym in December, I've been afraid of the weight section. I mean, c'mon...all I ever see are these super ripped meat heads grunting and groaning as they lift twice their body weight and admire their guns in the mirrors. Unappealing.

Fortunately for me, I can avoid the aforementioned gentlemen by going early in the morning on my days off or late at night.

It's surprisingly exciting! Almost as fun as playing volleyball (don't judge me). I never thought I'd say this in my entire lifetime, but it's kind of euphoric in a way. It's a slightly addicting how your muscles shake until you literally cannot do another rep or lift yourself another time.

Wednesday night was my first time with Ashley and Melissa. Then I went by myself last night. I was seriously sitting on my couch watching TV with my husband, and I thought...hmmmm I really want to lift weights right now and got up to go to the gym. Then I went with my brother this morning, and it's always good to spend time with him. Hooray for weight lifting!

Speaking of weight lifting, no matter what I do lately, my body is not burning calories at the rate that it used to. I am lucky to burn 400 calories in an hour lately, and it's really pissing me off! I don't know why it's happening, but this crazyness has got to stop!!

In other news, I'm bringing all my workout videos to Melissa's house tonight. We are going to do home workout videos and munch on fruit! Then maybe watch a movie, although I really hate watching movies with people. I don't know if I can do it. I'm going to give it my best effort. Josh tells me I need to get over this, and I get it...it's kind of a weird thing I have goin' on in my brain.

Maybe I can explain without sounding like a total mental case: My sister Kelly and my husband Josh are the only two people in the world that I can watch movies with. They know just when to make comments so that you don't miss what the people are saying in the movie. If they have something to say that's a bit more lengthy, we pause the movie and get that conversation out of the way rather than talk over what's happening. Although, this is a rare occurrence because if it's done too much during the course of one movie, it is flat out annoying. They also laugh and get excited at the same parts and in the same ways I do, and they don't have any annoying movie habits (crunching on chips, smacking on gum, slurping their beverages, etc.). Basically, they are just awesome and that is all.

Enjoy the weekend, friends!

Banana Coconut Smoothie...Mmmm mmm!

Yesterday was complete crap. I'm serious. I was eating everything sweet in sight. I even ran two miles just so that I could have a hot fudge sundae. Now that yesterday's done and over with, we'll just move along and pretend it didn't happen :)

As for today, I made a delicious smoothie that I think you will like! I thought it could use some shredded coconut or frozen pineapples, but unfortunately I am out of both at the moment. This is a delicious smoothie nonetheless, and it has a very "islandy" feel to it. Enjoy!

Banana Coconut Smoothie

Directions: Mix the ingredients listed below, and blend. 

• 6 0z. Chobani Greek Yogurt, Honey Flavored
• 1/4 C vanilla almond milk
• 1/4 C coconut milk
• 1 medium banana
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• ice (add until you get your desired consistency - I used about 7 cubes)

Like I said, I think it would have been even better with shredded coconut or frozen pineapple, but it's still quite delicious! 

I'm off to shave my legs so I can head to Zumba, lift weights with Melissa and Ashley, and then play some volleyball! Here's to an active evening!

Sunday Weigh Day

155 lbs.

down 5 lbs. from last week

down 41 lbs. from start

15 lbs. to my goal

I can't even put into words how excited I am this morning!! Only 15 pounds...FIFTEEN POUNDS, until I reach my goal of 140. It just seems crazy to think about how far I've come in the past few months. And 15 pounds? That seems like nothin'. 

This week of being on Spring Break has been really awesome. I've worked out hard this week, and burned over 1,000 calories on a few of those days. It' just that whole pesky having a job and being a grown up thing that gets in the way of everything. Lucky for me, I love teaching kindergarten and it also gives me the chance to keep busy and moving during the day. 

Anyway...I gotta head to the grocery store before it gets too snowy! I can't believe we go back to school from Spring Break tomorrow, and the snow just started coming in. How crazy would it be to have a snow day tomorrow?! St. Louis weather is just so unpredictable! 

Our front yard as of 12:00

We are making Gina's Skinny Taste Turkey Chili Taco Soup tonight. Yum yum!! If you've never made any of her recipes, I would highly recommend checking out her blog. I've made a few things from her site, and I've loved them all. Enjoy the week!