Weekly Recaps

One month ago, I posted with my health goals.  I'm in a private health group with friends on Facebook and I found myself adding weekly updates every Sunday night based on my 3 goals, so I will share them below.  I find that ending a week on Sunday keeps me accountable over the weekend, especially if I need to weigh in.  I'm going to buy a scale today, but in the past I've found that weighing in on Monday morning at the end of my week definitely keeps me on track over the weekend.  It's so difficult to keep up with healthy habits when you've had a tough week and just want to drink all the wine and eat all the food and lay on the couch watching true crime murder shows on Netflix. 

 But, when I know my week isn't over, I can keep up with the end of my week's goals.  Now, having said this, balance is okay, so if I don't track my food on Saturday, I don't beat myself up about it.  I also don't just shove food into my mouth, either.  My Garmin watch keeps me going, too.  My average step count today is 8,319.  I want to increase my average, so every day I try to beat it.  I try to "Beat Yesterday", which happens to be Garmin's tag line.  Even on Saturday and Sunday I try to get up and do stuff so my average increases or doesn't fall too much and then I have to work extra hard during the work week. 

Here's what I've posted in the Facebook group:

Week 1:

1. Track my food intake and hit calorie goal ✔️
2. Be more active; went to CG and went past my step goal ✔️
3. Get more sleep. Fell asleep before 11 last night and ready for bed now (9:15!) ✔️

Started last week, but it feels good to get back into my routine. I think my students can tell I'm feeling better, too!

Week 2:

1. Tracked food 6/7 days. Stayed at goal 6/7 days!
2. Active (outside of work) 4/7 days. 3 CG workouts and one run. Need to run more! It felt great tonight.
3. Hit sleep goal 4/7 days. I stayed up too late a couple of nights and really felt it at work the next day. Slept a lot this weekend!

Victory: I tried on some pants that were snug when school started and they fit now! Woohoo! I also haven't had an alcoholic beverage since August 28th, which I know is helping me stay on track on weekends and my sleep patterns more regular.

Ready for another week!

Week 3:

1. Logged food and stayed at calorie goal 5/7 days. Chose a healthier meal at Chuy's, even after a crazy work day.
2. Active 5/7 days. Goal achieved! I need two rest days in my week to keep up energy and it was difficult. I fell asleep on the couch when I got home from work on Wednesday!
3. Got enough sleep only 3/7 days. I didn't take melatonin and it's hard to fall asleep early when my husband doesn't get home from work until almost 10, when I need to be asleep. Still working on it, though!

Victory: I wore pants I didn't fit into in August!

Week 4:

1. Tracked and stayed at calorie goal 6/7 days. Yay!!!
2. Active 5/7 days with a long run today. Yay!!
3. Got enough sleep 4/7 days. :( I sleep in on weekends but it's still hard for me to fall asleep at a decent time during the week.

Victory: ran my longest run since April and timed a pretty good mile!

Week 5 ends tomorrow night for me, so I'm not adding another update yet.  After looking back on these updates, I can see that I'm achieving goals and feeling better.  It really helps to go back and see how good sticking to my goals makes me feel.  I'm two weeks away from opening night of our musical, and I've been so exhausted from trying to teach 7 classes and get the show ready.  This week I didn't work out as much because I hit my step goal at work, but I knew I needed to stay on track nutritionally and that has kept me going.  I don't want to go back to coming home and eating everything and sitting around.  I know that does not make me feel good; it makes me feel like I have less and less energy while my body packs on the extra fat from energy I didn't use.

I know my body, and I know staying healthy and making it happy is hard.  Keeping this little record of my weeks has definitely helped.  I challenge you to try it!

Cheers,

Kasey

My CG Fit Experience

I first learned about Camp Gladiator two years ago, right before our wedding.  I received a postcard for a teacher appreciation deal and decided to give it a try.  A year and a half later, I signed up for their 9 year Birthday Deal and went Bold after that 4 week camp.  (Going Bold means you've signed up for at least a year instead of just a 4 week camp.  There's a shirt and everything!)

Since September I've been making time to get to camp 2-3 times a week, along with running.  I'm at 89 check-ins at this point and hope to hit 100 before school starts.  I'm choosing to stick with Camp Gladiator because I believe it really helped me to train better for the half marathon I ran in February.  I only ran 2 days a week, did CG 3-4 times a week, and ran faster than my previous record by 11 minutes! 

Every few months they run a special program called CG Fit.  There's a fee to join and it depends on your Bold status.  I also used points that I acquired by checking in to workouts since September so I didn't have to pay the full price.

I was skeptical at first.  I didn't understand what I was paying for, but I wanted to use the body composition scale, be serious about meal planning, and increase weights at camp.  So, I signed up.

I was really surprised with my first body composition test.  I know I need to lose fat, but I thought my percentage was lower than the scale showed me. As I get older, I'm finding it increasingly harder to lose the weight I need to lose.  My body just wants to make sure I always have a cushion-like seat with me everywhere I go!

I really wanted CG Fit to meal plan for me because my husband and I were in a food rut.  We were tired of making the same things every week and feeling like our options as vegetarians were small.  You can purchase planned meals from an outside company through CG Fit, but I can't afford that on my teacher's salary.  So, I did lots of research online (Pinterest, mainly) and found several recipes to try.  I printed them all, added them into MyFitnessPal, and wrote down their macro nutrient content.  I printed a meal planning page and wrote down what I would be eating at every meal, including snacks. 

CG Fit advised that if I wanted to lose fat, I needed to increase my protein intake.  That was the super challenging aspect of meal planning.  Even when I wasn't a vegetarian, I found it difficult to get 40% of my calories to be protein instead of carbs.  If I worked out that day, I didn't beat myself up about going over on carbs.

The end of the school year is so tough, but I'm glad I signed up for CG Fit to make me stay on track.  That doesn't mean that I didn't skip happy hour on the last day of school, but I considered it to be balance.  Yes, I need to lose weight, but I also need to train my body to learn what balance feels like.  I didn't exclude treats, but I made sure to eat in moderation during CG Fit.

I was concerned about paying for the program, but I felt it kept me going knowing that I did pay for it.  If I ever felt like quitting, I told myself it would be a waste of money to do so.  I paid for it; I better see results!

Overall, I lost 7 lbs and increased my weights at camp.  I didn't run as much as I would have liked because it's so damn hot here in the summer, but I know that will change when temperatures cool in the fall.  That being said, I would love to do CG Fit again because it keeps my results so I can compare to different points throughout the year.  It also forced me to find new recipes and sit down to really meal plan for nutrition instead of just for a shopping list.

Now that CG Fit is over, I need to create new fitness goals to carry me through the rest of the year.  I know I will be running the Wurst 5 Miler in November, but I want another longer race to train for this winter.

Thanks for reading about my experience with Camp Gladiator and their CG Fit program!  If you follow me on Facebook you may be tired of hearing about it!  If you are interested in trying it out, I have a code that will give you the next three weeks free.  If you sign up to be a Bold member, ask me for my email address; I can't "level up" from Bronze to Silver until I get 2 referrals. :)

Cheers!
Kasey

Other dieting things I like or have tried:
Diet Bet:  Find a game, pay your part of the pot, lose 4-6% of your body weight, and win!  I played a game led by Chris and Heidi Powell and won $40, which gave me a $6 profit. :)  If you play with higher pots and less people, then the payout will be greater, though!

MyFitnessPal: This is my favorite calorie counting tool to use.  I mainly use the app on my phone to scan and add foods I eat throughout the day.  It breaks it down into macro and micro nutrients, as well.  I used the website on my computer to copy and paste recipe links to load into my database so when I ate that food for dinner, all of the ingredients were already there in the recipe title.  Super easy!

Nike Run Club app: Before I got my Garmin watch, I loved using the Nike app to track my runs.  Great data break down and I could see my pace on my phone.  I stopped using it because I didn't want to use phone data, but it's still a great app!

Recipes We Liked:
Pinch of Yum: Spicy Sofritas Veggie Bowls
This was really spicy (we added a 2nd pinch of sugar the third time we made it and it wasn't so bad!) but we LOVE putting this stuff on rice with pico, guac, cheese, etc.  It's like Chipotle has come to your kitchen!

One Pot Cheesy Mexican Lentils, Black Beans and Rice - Recipe Runner
Delicious, chili-like meal that's full of protein and very filling.  We cooked the lentils and rice ahead of time to cut the cooking time down.

Greek salads:
I created a greek salad with seasoned tempeh, lettuce, black olives, cucumbers, and italian dressing.

Taco salads:
Taco seasoned tempeh, tortilla strips, red bell pepper, and cilantro-avocado dressing.

And greek yogurt as a snack for protein!