Thursday, October 24, 2013

Losing Focus

I been in a rut for the last couple of months, I been distracted in my personal life life and it's really affected what I have been wanting to get done. I'm not sure if it was cause I came far enough to be satisfied, or if it's because my goals somehow became my 2nd priority. It could be as simple as I've gotten LAZY. I am still seeing my trainer 3 times a week, but me doing cardio consistently on my own has completely fallen off. Diet-wise I have been slipping as well. It's crazy how things just seem to snowball and you realize how bad it's gotten, luckily I haven't lost too much progress. So I am gonna get back on track and focus on me and my goals, no more distractions. I have 60 more pounds to go to get to my goal of losing 200 pounds... I need to get my shit together and knock this out.


Monday, June 10, 2013

Phase 2

"Phase 2" is what this Summer is supposed to be about, my schedule is completely wide-open and I have the time to commit myself to my goals. Basically, I want to be as close to my goal weight of 270 as possible by September 1.  

So...
I gained about 14 pounds during the legislative session, putting me around 344. I was working 90-100 hours per week the last month of the legislative session, which completely through off my workouts. I was still able to make it to Paul somewhat, but I didn't have time at all to knock out my early-morning cardio. It's a lame excuse, but I was coming in to the office at 7:30 a.m. and not leaving til 1:30 a.m. ... everyday for two weeks straight. I have knocked off 11 of those pounds in two weeks, so I'm feeling good about that. It's gonna take me a few weeks to get back to a consistent cardio schedule and cooking/eating schedule. 

I'm back on the grind... 

    

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Diet Tips for a Workaholic

I work with the state legislature, which means I am super busy for six months every two years. I'm talking 80 to 100+ hour work-weeks. So, when I started getting healthy it was during the break in between; where I had all the free time in the world to plan, shop for, and cook healthy meals. It was a major concern of mine with what I would do once I was going in to the office at 8 a.m. and not being able to leave til as late as 5 a.m. the next morning. Another concern was me being constantly surrounded by free unhealthy food: donuts, Starbucks, breakfast tacos, cookies, sodas, Red Bulls, etc. I think I have done pretty well at having self-control and avoiding eating crappy.


Here are some thoughts/tips:

Eliminate empty calories as much as possible:
This mainly means eliminating sodas, sweetened teas/coffee, and Red Bulls. Go with water and unsweetened tea or coffee. I think it's hard enough if your crazy work schedule forces you to have to eat something that is not entirely healthy and you double-up on calories and sugar cause you wanted a large soda too. So stick with water and unsweetened tea/coffee. It's weird how easy I find myself feeling dehydrated just from sitting behind a desk, but I do, so I am constantly drinking water.

You have to Snack... healthy:
I go to my grocery store at least once a week to pick up just snacks. I grab enough fruit to last me a few days. I try to stay away from bright fruits as much as possible but for the most part it's apples, blueberries, bananas, avocados, and sometimes oranges.

I buy the individual packs of Fage Greek yogurt to throw in a handful of blueberries or sliced bananas. I also sometime buy the ones with the honey included in case I want something sweet. 

My go-to protein snack is tuna, I especially like the Roasted Garlic Starkist Yellowfin tuna. It has more calories than other canned tuna, but it's packed in olive oil, which is a healthy fat. I'll usually add a half of avocado and eat with a a few multi-grain crackers.

The one thing I have that isn't that great is those cubed cheese they sell in the deli section of grocery stores. I do eat these in moderation though. I usually go with the aged white cheddar.

Don't eat because you're bored: 
This one is easy to understand... eat only if you're really hungry!

Sometimes you have to grab something quick and fast:
It's unavoidable sometimes, so at least try to make the smartest decision and get something that is at least mostly healthy. McDonald's is out of the question. If I'm trying to grab something quick, it's usually a turkey or chicken sandwich with spinach instead of lettuce and no mayo or special sauces and baked chips if I want some texture.

"... or perhaps whole meal of food, if that would be agreeable"
In Austin we have plenty of healthy pre-made meal companies such as: My Fit Foods, Mel's Meals, and Snap Kitchen, I prefer to My Fit Foods. All of these places are little pricey, but I figure I'm paying for the convenience of not having to shop, prep, cook, and package meals when I'm completely exhausted. I get about 75% of my main meals from places like this. I know it's not ideal budget-wise, but if I was working anything less than 60 hours a week, I would be preparing my own meals myself. 








Monday, January 14, 2013

Picture Time!

So it's been 14 months since I made a change and started getting healthy. I'm down close to 130 pounds! I feel a lot better about myself physically, but I still have some work to do. I have 70 more pounds to go to get to my ultimate goal. I've been doing progress pics throughout this process and Paul and I decided to take a few after our session this past weekend. So here they are!