Fitness Friday

Let's see, let's see, where to start? There isn't a whole lot new this week. Uhm, oh! I decided to give PB2 a try. I've been seeing it all over Instagram. It's powdered peanut butter, made only of peanuts, sugar, and salt. It's only 45 calories per 2 tablespoons versus the usual 190 in regular peanut butter. You can put the powder on or in anything you want or you can mix it with water or any other liquid to turn it into a peanut butter consistency. I've been mixing it with almond milk and eating it with an apple.

I also put some in a jar of overnight oats with half a scoop of triple chocolate protein powder. It was supa-rich and tasty.

So that's been cool. The taste is a leeetle off from regular peanut butter, but that might be because I mix it with almond milk, so I will try it other ways and see if it tastes more normal.

I'm also eating a lot of eggs/liquid egg whites, still. What's new? And while I've done pretty well with keeping my day time eating in check, I cheated a bit in the evenings.

I ordered this lamb shank with double veggies instead of veggies and mashed potatoes. The veggies were likely sauteed in oil or butter, and the lamb shank was super tender and fatty, but overall it probably wasn't that bad. What was bad was the weekend that followed this lamb shank.

I kind of let things get out of hand last weekend. Having breakfast with friends included a not-so-bad eggs... and regular bacon... and fruit! and a cinnamon roll. That was followed by a day of many beers. The day of many beers was followed by a chili dinner, which was delicious and still probably not that bad... but then I had like 800 pounds of corn bread. With butter.

Whatever, I thought, tomorrow's another day!

Yes, yes it was. Sunday was another day of drinking and eating. Another day with friends, eating rice, beans, meat, snacks, and drinking beers and sangria.

Oh, and I made this:

Oh and it was mighty tasty. A major hit. Yikes.

So I did poorly this weekend, and I felt it on Monday. I felt sluggish and had trouble really pushing myself in spin and Zumba.

Yes, I did still burn 574 calories between spin, pilates and Zumba, but I was pretty bummed that I didn't do better. I mean, the week before, I burned 413 calories in Zumba alone! But then today happened. After burning 340ish calories in Zumba on Wednesday and still feeling like I could have done better, the Zumba instructor really amped it up this week.

She knows I have my Polar, so today she said "We're gonna burn 500 calories!" I was a little skeptical at first, but as class went on, it was looking good. The end of class came, and...

Uh yeah, I did it. 510 calories, dudes. I was pretty stoked about that. I spent a lot of the class with my heart rate up in the 150's and 160's and I'm noticing that I don't feel as awful as I used to when I was up in that range, so, yeah, that's cool too.

And with that, let's check out some progress pics!

Left: 1/4/13, Center: 3/1/13, Right: Today

Left: 1/4/13, Center: 3/1/13, Right: Today

March 1st, 2013 (-since 3/22/13, -since 1/4/13)

• Weight - 148.2 (-0, -5.8)
• Calf - 13.75" (-0, -0)
• Knee - 15" (-0, -0.25)
• Thigh - 23.5" (-0, -0.5)
• Hips/Butt - 40.75" (-0, -1)
• Belly - 38.5" (-0, -1)
• Waist - 30" (-0, -1.5)
• Bust - 36" (-0.25, -2)
• Arms - 11.5" (-0.25, -0.75)

Okay, I can't help but be bummed that I didn't lose any weight this week. I'm actually a little annoyed with this because earlier in the week I was 147, but, really, it's not important. I didn't lose as many inches either, but I still lost some off my boobs and my arms.

At first, I didn't think I could see much difference in today's photos compared to the photos from March 1st, but I took a closer look. What I'm seeing is my back fat and love-handles are smoothing out, my butt's getting a little less lumpy and of course my boobs are deflating (it comes with the territory!) Also, outside of the photos, these workout pants are on their way to being too big. While they're a far cry from being loose, I do find myself yanking them up constantly during Zumba or Body Combat.

Let's break it down, so since March 1st I've lost only .6 pounds, but I lost 3.5 inches! Since January 4th I've lost nearly 6 pounds and 7 inches. If you want to go way back, I've lost nearly 15 pounds and 18.25 inches since June 7th. Those numbers might not be impressive when you consider the amount of time, but I am still of the mindset that I'll have an easier time keeping it off by going slowly.

My struggles this weekend will be alcohol and Easter, then my struggles next week will be not working out on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday while my family is here as well as fooood and more alcohol with them. BUT. I'm giving myself a pass to not stress about it. I will make an effort not to go overboard and to make good food choices, but the family time will be most important.

If I still fit into these jeans after they leave, I'll mark it as a success!