Hola Everyone: Vacation Blues.

Howdy Ya'll!

It has been some time since my last post, true true.

We had March Break on the last two weeks of March. I went to my parents' house for a week and then to Edmonton with my fiance for a week. Let me tell you something: HOLIDAYS ARE THE WORST! Thank goodness I can't afford to take a million vacations because my eating was OUT OF WHACK for two whole weeks. It was awful. I literally ate lunch and dinner at a restaurant every day for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. Even when trying to choose "healthier option" I had the most difficult time. 

It wasn't pretty... and I knew what I was doing... and it resulted in a whopping 5.2lbs gain (on April 1st). INSANE. NOT HAPPY. WHAT WAS I THINKING!? Ugh... would it have killed me to meet with someone after lunch and have a healthy lunch at home? Apparently... YES. Apparently when I go to hangout with people or catch up with people it HAS to be over a meal. Is anyone else like that? I ate out more during those two weeks than I have my ENTIRE weight loss journey. It was insane. UGH.

The past week has been a big pity party for myself. While I haven't gone out to eat, I still have not been making the healthiest of choice: having 2 wraps instead of 1, eating junk, having second helpings, etc. I have been stepping on the scale every day to try and see that 5.2 pounds leave, but not even taking any steps in the right direction to see that weight melt off. (Yes, I know stepping on the scale every day is not healthy... I know... but I couldn't help it). Last Sunday I was so upset about the weigh gain that I did not meal plan or meal prep. 

I was feeling so bad about myself and having a huge pity party instead of getting my head back in the game and working my ass off (literally).

So this Sunday has been different. I made a list of things I love about myself and what I am proud of. I have come such a long way since 202.6 lbs and I can't let this set back ruin my success. I was honest with myself and told myself  that gaining 5lbs is not work losing all of this progress. If I kept doing what I was doing, I would gain it all back (and quick). 

(Side Note: isn't it funny how long it takes to lose 5lbs but it took me 2 weeks to gain 5lbs? This is how people get to be 500+ lbs so easily- imagine what it would be like to eat fast food every day).

SO:

This week WILL be different. 150% different. Alex and I have planned out our meals for the week and I have started meal prepping too.  I have some goals for this week and I will stick to them. Here are my goals:

Goal #1: WATER BABY. Get that water in. 

Goal #2: Breakfast (Shakeology or something else... but get it in!)

Goal #3: WORK OUT

Essentially my goals are to get back to the basics.

Weigh In:

Original Weight: 202.6 lbs

Last Weight: 176.0 lbs

              Current Weight: 179.6 lbs

Weight Lost From Last Time: +3.6 lbs

Total Lost: 23 lbs

HAVE A GREAT WEEK :)

Stay Focused,

-Becky.

Second Round 21 Day Fix

Round Two is OVER!

This round of 21 day fix I focused a lot more on eating than I did working out. Unfortunately it is Report Card Season, and it really does not leave time for working out (I know it is an excuse, but I feel okay with it this time...). Report card season means a lot of stress. Stress (normally) means over eating and not taking care of myself. These past couple weeks have consisted of trials and errors and a small journey of how to cope with stress without stress eating. I admit, week #2 was tough and stress eating won a couple of times (2), but I reflected and rebuilt myself from those failures.

I did my measurements this morning and lost another 11.5 inches this round. This makes my grand total 23 inches since January 7th! It is unbelievable. 

I also had another non-scale victory this week. I fit back into some size 12 pants that never fit me! I bought them in 2014 (ish) and they never really fit because I ordered the wrong size. I should have gotten a 14. I always kept them (I have two pair in two different colours) because I wanted to fit in them one day. Well, this week (Tuesday I think) I needed black pants for an outfit and I could not find my regular black pants. I saw these old, never worn pants in the closet and decided I would put them on for the heck of it... not expecting that they would fit at all. AND THEY DID. They fit! I could button them up with no muffin top! They are still a little tight but I still wore them to work and it was a GREAT day. I was so happy. Below are a picture of me in the beige pair. I took a picture in the beige ones so you could see they are same pants!

This week will be a quick week, I don't really know what to write about to be honest. Here is my weigh in update!

Weigh In:

Original Weight: 202.6 lbs

Last Weight: 179.4lbs

              Current Weight: 178.2 lbs

Weight Lost From Last Time: -1.2 lbs

Total Lost: 24.4 lbs

Have a GREAT week!

Stay Focused,

-Becky, xo.

Courage

I was looking at quotes about success and failure (which I will share down below) and I decided to call this blog post courage from the following: 

https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/failure

This quote really stood out for me. Since I failed this week at sticking to my goals and eating nutritionally, I needed motivation. So here I am to give you motivation (if you need it) and share with you my weekly reflection.

If you have already read my update this week (click here if you haven't) then you know this week has been a rough week. I have not be strict with  my nutrition and I have not been exercising. It was rough. I was putting myself down (a lot) but not getting up do do anything about it. It wasn't until Thursday (Pizza day at school) that I realised something needed to change. There is not point in talking myself down and not doing anything to fix what was going on. 

http://dailyquotes.co/failure-inspires-winners-success-quotes/

So, I made a weekend plan.  Starting on Friday, all the way to Sunday. I had a goal in mind, I set out my intentions for the next few days (short term goals) and set out to do them. No cheat meals, no guessing what I was going to eat. I could make no over eating decision because I had a plan. I sat down with my fiance and we planned meals (all of them) and that was that. It is 1 pm on Sunday, and I must say this weekend has been one of the most successful I have ever had!

http://consult4sales.com/fail-plan-plan-fail-2/

That may seem harsh, but a huge part of being successful in this journey is planning. Setting out weekly intentions, planning meals, prepping meals... it all has a huge part in my success. This gets my mind in the perfect framework to be successful. 

What I am going to do this week:

Only Plan Mon-Wed in detail so that I am not losing sight of the rest of the week.

On Wednesday I will play Thursday/Friday

On Friday I will plan Saturday/Sunday

http://fitnessfunatics.ca/2015-new-years-resolution/

I want to see if this will work differently for me this week. Instead of planning the entire week, I will do a few days at a time to focus and remember what I am doing AND to reflect and improve. I should be reflecting throughout the week, not just on Sundays.

Anyways, now to get to the knitty-gritty... what you all came here for:

Weigh In:

Original Weight: 202.6 lbs

Last Weight: 179.8 lbs

              Current Weight: 179.4 lbs

Weight Lost From Last Time: -0.4 lbs

Total Lost: 23.2 lbs

It wasn't a crazy amount this week (we all know why) but it is still a loss. I noticed what was happening and turned it around for the rest of the week to wholeheartedly deserve that 0.4lbs. My smallest weight loss in 2018, but so far my proudest.

https://www.askideas.com/87-most-famous-failure-quotes-sayings/

Have a great week.

Stay Focus,

Becky. xo

So far 2018 has been Eggsellent!

HOLA! 

So the past week has been quite an interesting experiment. I have NEVER enjoyed hard boiled eggs. I can't stand the smell of them and so I have never even remotely been interested in eating them. Until New Years Day... 

On New Year's Day I decided to make my fiance some Devilled Eggs because he loves them and his best friend always makes them for New Year's Eve. Since we are so far from home I wanted to cheer him up and make some eggs for him. I fully intended on making them just for me and not trying one at all... I really wasn't interested.

However, after they were cooked I decided to take a bite. I wanted to taste what I made for my fiance and prove to myself that all these years of not eating boiled eggs was okay because boiled eggs taste disgusting.

I was wrong.

They were DELICIOUS and I have been hooked ever since. I have been playing around with the recipe to try and make them slightly healthier. I think today is the day! The day that I have created a more healthy Devilled Egg!

Original Recipe:

2 Eggs (boiled... obviously)

1 tbs of Olive Oil Hellman's Mayonnaise 

.5 tsp of French's Dijon Mustard (we have the Chardonnay kind)

Pinch of Garlic Powder

Pinch of Onion Powder

Salt/Pepper to taste. 

By making small changes (since the spices/mustard really flavour the yolk) I have cut this recipe from 267 calories and and 23g of Fat to 190 Calories and 16g of Fat. How you might ask? GETTING RID OF THE MAYONNAISE!

I thought that having the Olive Oil Mayonnaise made it okay, and I am sure it is better for you than regular mayonnaise, but honestly... 100 calories in 1tbs is WAY too many calories for me! 12g of Fat in 1tbs!? Are you kidding me!?

So I looked around in my fridge and was looking at what I could substitute mayonnaise with and came up with Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Honestly, it went so well. I thought they tasted wonderful and I wasn't wasting away on a processed food that is completely beneficial to put in my body.

Here's what I did today:

2 Eggs

0.5 tbs Philadelphia Cream Cheese    (23 calories, 2g fat)

0.5 tsp of French's Dijon Mustard'

Pinch of Garlic Powder

Pinch of Onion Powder

Salt/Pepper to taste

I must say, I am pretty proud of myself for this. Usually I would just say "meh, 267 calories for breakfast isn't that bad... I don't need to change." But this new mindset where I am thinking about what I am putting into my body is really sinking in. I now can have a snack a couple hours after my breakfast and not feel guilty or worry about whether or not I am over eating. It has been lovely to tell you the truth. 

Just wanted to get this out there, and hopefully re-reading this in the future will remind me to try new things. Sticking to what you know is what has gotten you into this predicament. You are only going to be a new you if you change. Get out of your comfort zone. Experiment. Try new things. This is going to be my year. I can tell. 

I know, I know... where have I been?

Hello Everyone!

I know I made a deal with myself to keep blogging once a week, and it failed. To be truthful, I was just getting tired of writing the same old thing. The plateau hit me hard, and I couldn't seem to get under 192 and maintain it. I didn't know what was wrong with me.

Honestly, I was getting tired of writing positive blog posts when inside I felt like crap because I could NOT get past that 192. Sometimes I would be 191.8, but it never lasted long. 

Anyways, I am back! I am also here to announce that I have KILLED the plateau! I am officially under 190! It has taken me MONTHS, as you all know if you have been following along with me. I weighed 202.6 lbs in October of 2016 and I sit here now 7 months later finally under 190. It has been so frustrating. This is the slowest I have EVER lost weight. I thought for sure I'd be AT LEAST in the 60s by now. 

It has been incredibly difficult this time around, which is good. I am hoping I remember how hard this is becoming and it will help me keep the weight off. Last time I lost 25-30 lbs in three months. So I always though "it's okay, I can just lose it." Not this time. It has been a STRUGGLE. 

So here is my Weigh In:

       Original Weight: 202.6 lbs

Last Weight (27 March): 194.0 lbs

              This Weigh In: 189.6 lbs

Weight Lost From Last Week: -4.4 lbs

Total Lost: 13.0 lbs

My goals are to continue exercising (it is getting so much easier now that it is nice outside), and to continue drinking water. 

Stay Focused.

Have a good week.

Becka.

Two Game Changing Items

Whoa, lucky you!

I will be publishing three blogs in a row after I do tomorrow's weigh in! 

Today I really want to talk to you about some items that have been game changers for me the past month or so. As some of you may know, I have been counting calories and being very picky with what I put into my mouth the past little while. It has been great but I realized that perhaps it wasn't being all the accurate. 

A while back Alex bought a food grade scale (he makes homemade beer and liquor) so I decided to try out measuring my food by weight rather than just estimating. I found that by doing this I got more accurate readings of the calories I am am eating. 

For example, I usually write that I am eating 1/4 of an avocado when I am having breakfast. I know I am not actually eating 1/4 but I say that just to be safe. With a scale I can write in the actual grams of avocado I am eating and have it come back with a much more accurate reading. When I put in a lunch of 1 taco with estimates it came to 245 calories, and I was perfectly happy with that. That's a great number for lunch (I would consider that low actually). Today I put in the exact measurements of EVERYTHING and it came to 198 calories!!! Can you believe it? 

I was able to add in a healthy snack to go with it (about an hour later so I could spread out my food).

Measuring lets me eat more (usually) because I am using more accurate numbers. I always think I am eating more than I am!

The second item that has been a game changer is this 5$ cup from independent grocers.

I have found on  my weight loss journey that I am more disappointed with myself when I don't get enough water in than when I go over calories for the day. I don't know why, but it is just how it goes. Drinking water is something that comes so easily to me so there should be no reason why I don't drink 8 full cups. This little tumbler thing has really helped me to get the water in. I don't know why but every time I fill this bad boy up I have the whole thing finished within minutes. I love it. I've even started to bring to school with me.

Well, that's it from me for now.
Cheers!

Becka
xo

Importance of Breakfast

Note: I am currently writing this on my iPad mini because Alex is on the computer and 

I am feeling very inspired!

Hola Amigos !

Okay okay, I know 

. What a silly title. Everyone and their dog knows that breakfast is important. I got it. It is written on every fitness blog, every chat room, and grandma has been telling me for years. However, I am a stubborn human being and I go against societal norms and I am living proof that one can survive 25years without breakfast (even if I am overweight... Minor Side effect). There stubborn Becka has said her bit. 

This week my goal was to eat breakfast everyday. This had a couple of slight setbacks right from the get go... Let me explain. 

1. I am on March break right now and therefore in order for me to have a proper breakfast I must be an adult and wake up at a reasonable time so that breakfast doesn't become brunch/lunch... What a road block for me.

2. I have to get out of this silly mindset that I simply am not hungry when I wake up. I say that will 100% honesty here... I am NEVER hungry the moment I wake up (unless I wake up at noon and go straight to lunch). 

That being said... This week I have been making sure that I have a nutritious breakfast that is well balanced and delicious. I have given myself a little bit of extra sleep in time, forcing myself to have breakfast between 9am and 10am. I set my alarm for 9am and told myself that I had less than an hour to get hungry and have breakfast. If I didn't get hungry I had breakfast at 9:45am anyways.

I have had 2 different kinds of breakfasts this week. I had either had an omelette or a smoothie. I honestly don't know which one I prefer, but I enjoyed getting up and making them.

Here is one of the omelettes I made this week.

I know it isn't the prettiest thing, but dannnnnnng is it ever good. 

Here are the ingredients:

1 Whole Egg

1 Egg White

4 Slices of Sun-dried Tomato

Chopped Onion to Taste

1 Pressed Garlic Clove

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tbs Frank's Red Hot Sauce

1/8 cup Cheddar Cheese OR 1/4 of a Crushed Avocado

Calories: 215   Fat: 14g  Carbs: 10g    Protein: 13 g

Here is a picture of my GREEN Smoothie, something I thought I would legitimately never make.

Again, not the pretties picture... But really yummy!

Here are the ingredients:

1 Banana

8 frozen strawberries

1 cup chopped pineapple

1 cup Spinach

1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt (new addition)

3/4 cup Water 

Calories: 266   Carbs: 59g. Fat: 2g.  Protein 7g

Note on the Greek Yogurt: I bought plain 2% Greek yogurt to put in my smoothie because I found I was a bit more hungry at lunch time without it. Since I was eating virtually no protein. I've only used it once and only added a little bit because I was afraid my smoothie would taste too much like yogurt if I added more. I think next time I make this, I will add more to the smoothie.

Alright, so, how did I go?

It went really well. I didn't feel like I was forcing myself to eat the breakfast. By the time I was done making it I think I was so excited to taste the food that it made me feel like I was hungry, which is good in my books. I really enjoyed waking up have and having breakfast. It just generally boosted my day! 

I also found that I was able to have smaller lunches because I wasn't feeling so calorically deprived from my huge break from food (dinner to next day lunch). I was able to have a healthy turkey taco wrap that held me over for quite some time. I decided to use half a tortilla while making my lunch because I didn't need as much carbs to get me through the days (I still used the same amount of filling I would normally use). It was just slightly tricky to eat a half a wrap. You don't  realize how much bread product you are needlessly consuming when you have a wrap! 

Anyways, back to breakfast. 

So, here are the three benefits that I want to remember about breakfast.

1. You will eat less bad foods if you start eating earlier in the day. Having a stready flow of food throughout the day is so important. You have experienced this during the course of this week. 

2. You will be more excited to wake up and cook and eat if you have a nice breakfast. I've just woken up is such a good mood all week (is this because I am on vacation or because of the food? I don't really know).

3. You can actually accomplish your water goals if you wake up and start eating breakfast (I had a big glass of water with eat breakfast).

I think it will take a while longer to see some of the other benefits that come a long with eating breakfast such as a boost in my motabolism, but I will for sure keep an update on here.

Only one more thing left to chat about. My only concern here is how I will  keep up with this breakfast trend when I go back to work. I can't make these foods and eat them before I leave for work. I am that kind of person that makes up 30 minute before I have to leave. I may to actually wake up at a proper time. That seems like such a silly thing to say, but I am just trying to be honest with myself here. 

There's no way of knowing until I get there. For right  now, I am really enjoying this change. I  hope to keep it up literally forever.

Becka

Xo

Week Twenty: What went wrong?

So, if you take a look at my weigh-ins I have updated it with the information on the app that I downloaded. Let's be real here: in the past week I have gained over 4lbs. 

WHY?

My weigh-ins have been fairly regular, my biggest jump being 2 lbs. What happened when I was doing so good (the lowest I have been last week) to back above 195 lbs. I seriously do not understand. 

Looking back on this week I see that I have had A LOT of pasta.

Most days for lunch I had left over healthy chicken Alfredo (small portion) [Here is the recipe]

Wednesday I had Spaghetti for supper

Saturday I had Mac and Cheese for supper

and Sunday I had Lasagna for supper.

I usually only allow myself to have pasta once a week, last week I didn't even realize how much pasta I was having.

I also wasn't eating a proper breakfast. I may have only had "breakfast" (yogurt and an apple) twice this week. Either I didn't make breakfast before work OR I slept in and skipped right to lunch. We also ran out of eggs last week (which is my main breakfast food when I do not work) so I had to make other options or just skipped to lunch.

NOT GOOD.

Goals for Week Twenty-One 

(a lot of the same goals as the beginning of this journey)

#1: Eat Breakfast! I started today and had a wonderful omelette (with sun dried tomatoes, onion, garlic, avocado, and a tsp of hot sauce... it was delicious). I have bought fruit (frozen and fresh) to have a smoothie if I want something quicker and I am looking up lots of egg dishes to get myself started. I will NOT skip breakfast everyday and I will try to wake up between 9-10 (I am on March break) to make sure I have breakfast.

#2: Drink Water! It is as if I have completely forgotten that water exists. Ugh... I have been drinking diet coke at an incredibly fast rate. At one point over the past month I had 6 diet cokes in ONE day. I was shocked when I saw the cans lying around. I only had a glass of water when I woke up in the morning. I am going to switch that COMPLETELY. I will only have one diet coke per day and I will have 6+ glasses of water. 

#3 Just Be Mindful in General! I just need to focus again on what I am putting into my mouth. Am I needlessly snacking? Am I giving up and having extra cheat days? When am I snacking? Why am I snacking? Just enjoy each bite and be mindful of what is going on eating wise.

The next couple months are going to be hard with my fiance leaving for Ontario for two months. I will be alone, and probably bored so that leaves a lot of room for needless snacking and stress eating. 

Back on Track.

Here we Go!

Becka, xo.

Big News!

Good Morning (afternoon, night) to you, 

I know, I know... I haven't been on here for quite some time (my profile tells me 71 days).. is that even possible? 

I realize that I need to start blogging again because it keeps me accountable. If I stop telling people what I am doing, I stop doing good things. 

Anyways: 
BIG NEWSSS!!! 

I AM ENGAGED!   

Our date is set for August 25th 2018! I am going wedding dress shopping on May 19th and therefore I need to get my butt into gear. 

I want to be down 20 lbs by May 19th (this year obviously). 

I have already lost 8lbs (which isn't very much), but I am more motivated than ever to get going. That leaves me 12lbs by May 19th, I think that is extremely achievable. 

I have been doing alright when it comes to diet. I don't know what has gone wrong but this week I gained 4lbs, and I don't know why. I haven't been stopping myself from the goodies and have been having a "cheat meal" twice a week instead of once. This leads me to new goals and focusing.

Here's the thing.

My new fiance is leaving for two months (military life) and therefore I will be alone up here in Yellowknife until June. I am hoping (here are my goals) to be at 182lbs to go wedding dress shopping (May 19th: -12lbs) and under 180 when he comes home in June (-3 to -5 lbs by June 3rd).

That means that by June 3rd I would like to be AT MOST 179lbs meaning I will have to lose at least 15 lbs from where I am now, making my grand total 22.7lbs.

There, I said it. It is out there in the universe. 

Now I need to make it happen!

So this is just a post to get me started again. 

I am so excited for the future! 

Becka, xo. 

Day 45: Being Active and Fixing my Diet

Fixing What I Eat!

This is written on day 45. I am doing this so I can properly reflect on my meals and see where I am going wrong. This is my attempt to be accountable.

So, without further ado: Monday Brunch and how I fixed it for Wednesday!

Brunch:

Admittedly, I did not have breakfast on Monday so I ate much more than I usually would. I was hungry and I could justify having the extra calories. I didn't realize how much fat was in this meal. I knew it would be high calorie, but the fat shocked me. I usually have half an avocado on it which would bring the fat up to 56g and the calories to 710. The sad, funny part about this is that I consider this sandwich healthyish. I would have this over a cinnamon roll or something like that beacuse I thought it to be healthier... 
I've got to change this recipe. 

Here is what I ate:

Becky's Breakfast Sandwich

Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread

1 Egg and 1 Egg white omelette (with green onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder and 1/8 cup shredded cheese)

Tomato Slice

1 slice of bacon

Franks Hot Sauce

President's Choice Monterey Jack Jalapeno Cheese Slice

President's Choice Smoky Bacon Mayo (1/2 tbs)
1 tbs of butter (unsalted)

Total Calories: 601

Total Carbs: 20

Total Fat: 46g (yikes)

Total Protein: 33g

Total Fiber: 6g

I also chugged back a huge glass of water with this meal.

Reflection: 

Okay, so this was not the healthiest of lunches. I did well to start, omelette sandwich (one egg and one egg white), it is the extras that I put on that makes it less healthy. I always put one slice of bacon on my egg sandwiches because of the flavour. The Mayo and extra cheese are not needed. I should have either put cheese in the omelette OR a slice on the sandwich, not both. I mean, since I didn't have breakfast, I wanted a lot of protein to fuel me. 

Breakfast (Brunch):

I remade my breakfast this morning, cutting out everything unhealthy, just to see what would happen and if I would like it. I was literally about to cook the bacon and thought NO it is not worth it. Too much fat. So I did not. Here is my new and improved breakfast-- and I really enjoyed it!

(This is a picture from google, I forgot to take a picture)

Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread

1 Egg and 1 Egg white omelette (with green onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder)

Franks Hot Sauce

1/4 tbs of butter (unsalted)

I also had 2 big glasses of water with my breakfast this morning.

                      Monday                                                             Wednesday

          Total Calories: 601                                             Total Calories: 166

               Total Carbs: 20                                                    Total Carbs: 10

                    Total Fat: 46 (yikes)                                         Total Fat: 8

           Total Protein: 33                                                Total Protein: 13

               Total Fiber: 6                                                       Total Fiber: 4

Reflection

Now it seems as thought I am under eating at breakfast. I think I need to add something dairy to the meal, perhaps yogurt or a glass of milk. I didn't have yogurt on hand so I couldn't eat some. I also could add fruit to my breakfast but its grocery day, so I am out of apples and bananas. I was just as full as Monday after I had my breakfast today, but I am sure I will be wanting a snack sooner than Monday. It is time now that I sort out what that snack should be.

I have created this blog entry to be more accountable in my daily life. I can see the difference here. This is why I am not losing weight like I would like to. Just because something isn't sugary does not mean it is healthy. Just because you are FINALLY eating breakfast doesn't mean it is healthy. I ate 50% of my calories in breakfast alone on Monday, and I didn't even realize it until I sat down to make this blog post. I even tracked my calories on Monday (for breakfast) and it didn't compute that it was a huge number until today when I had to write them down for this post. The saddest part is that on Monday I said it was okay to add extra cheese and bacon and mayo because it was "brunch" and therefore I could eat the calories of two meals. I need to stop doing that. I need to be more active in my life. I cannot just assume something is healthy, or eat unhealthy because I woke up after a reasonable time to have breakfast.

I don't know if anyone is still reading this. I don't know if this helps anyone in anyway... but today's post has opened my eyes to make me see that I am not eating like I should be, and that is why these 2lbs have been so hard to lose!

I've got to sort this out.

Have a great day!

Make good choices,

xo