Hot 100 Update and Weekly Fitness Totals

Another week has gone by. Yikes-- the year's end is coming quickly! My doctor appointment with its weigh-in is three weeks from Tuesday and the new year will be later that week. I gotta stay focused! LOL

Here's my Hot 100 Goals and how I did for the week-- along with my new goal and some adjustments that I am announcing here.

Exercise a minimum of 5 Hours a week - I did this but will put the details in my weekly fitness totals below.

Eat Foods Rich in Omega 3's at least 3 times a week: I aced this, as usual. Thank God I love salmon, and flax seed on my oatmeal. LOL

Complete all three months of the ChaLEAN Extreme Program: This is a work in progress. I did all of my scheduled work outs this week and will include more details in my fitness totals below.

Consume at least 5 fruits and veggies a day: There were a few days this week where I felt mysteriously "unhungry" and ate very sparse meals based on a small serving of protein and nothing else. So I probably didn't succeed in this.

Eat 5-6 small meals a day: When I made this goal I felt like this was something I needed to do at the time to avoid getting too hungry- which I feared would lead to binging. I no longer feel this way or have those fears -- so I honestly feel that I have outgrown the need for this challenge.

What I have actually done this week is to only eat when hungry. (Imagine that? what a concept) For instance, some mornings I wake up so ravenously hungry that I need to get downstairs right away and make breakfast.

Other mornings, I feel like I can wait to eat -- so this week, I did. Looking over my food journal, some days I ate 2 meals and no snacks. Some days I did not eat breakfast. Some days I did not eat lunch-- or else I would have my lunch in the middle of the afternoon. Other days I was hungrier and had all three meals and snacks too-- but never let myself go over my calorie limit-- even last Sunday when I was at that Birthday Party-- I did not have any cake, not even a taste.

So I am replacing this challenge with a new one-- which will be TO EAT ONLY WHEN HUNGRY for the remainder of the year. I will not eat based on the clock or based on anything except my own body telling me it needs fuel.

I believe that last week I mentioned a NEW GOAL of trying to get into the 200's before my doctor visit on the 29th -- which would mean losing 8 pounds. Well, I have been really applying myself to that goal, actually, to surpassing the 8 pounds to whatever degree possible.

So it's like I put myself in a 30-day boot camp. LOL! I dialed back the calories by only eating when hungry and only consuming MEASURED SERVINGS of the lowest fat choices available. No sauces, spreads, or treats or extras of any kind. NONE! I added jogging intervals to my walking and forced myself to walk and do the ChaLEAN and other exercises in spite of a busy work week.

This ultra strict, sparten regime is not something that I could ever maintain for any length of time and I know it. But I am going for it in the short-term to give myself the gift of being in the 200's on New year's eve.

FITNESS TOTALS FOR THE WEEK

Gym - 1 hr and 10 minutes
Walking with jogging intervals - 3 hours and 20 minutes
Cardio and ChaLEAN dvds- 2 hours and 10 minutes

For a total of 6 hours and 40 minutes of exercise. Not bad.

I SHOULD be starting the final phase of the ChaLEAN program on Monday-- but since I didn't do the chaLEAN last week, I am a week behind. So this week will be the final week of the PUSH Phase and I'll start the last and most challenging phase of the program next Monday.

One thing I am definately aware of is the increase in my strength and muscle size. There is still enough fat on my arms that looking at them, they seem like the same pudgy arms that I had two and three months ago. However, underneath that they change in composition more and more every week -- in a way that I can see and feel-- especially when I flex my arm muscles.

When my weight drops down enough for my arm muscles to be visible it is going to appear to everyone that I developed them over night. But actually, I've been working on this for months. Same thing with other areas. My arms and legs seem not to be getting smaller so much as swapping fat for muscle mass.

I shouldn't have, but I had the tape measure out to measure the dimensions of the medicine bags I was listing on eBay for a Lakota teen....... so yes, I checked my main measurements, even though my December progress report is still two weeks away....... and I lost 1/2 an inch of my waist and and inch off my hips. My arms also went down another 1/2 an inch.

The way it looks, I'll have more inches lost this month than the last-- so I am keeping my fingers crossed!

This coming week, barring anything unforseen, should be a good one for food and exercise. It should be an average work load and I have no social engagements or business luncheon meetings. I should have no problem getting the fitness hours in and staying the course with the food.

I have been thinking that if I get a one piece leotard type thing for my progress pics it will show the changes each month better than what I've been wearing. So if I can possibly get one before my next progress report in two weeks, I will. It is just a question of affording something like that. Money is ridiculous for us right now.

I surprised myself by starting to jog this week-- I didn't think I'd be doing that until spring........ So it looks like I'm setting myself up for some cold weather running as I cannot stand treadmills.

I wonder how long it will take me to run a complete mile................

Anyway, hope you're all enjoying the weekend! Be good to you today