A personal training & food journal. Read about our weight loss progress at Train With Ron in Chicago, our nutritional habits and the life changes we're making to get in shape and stay healthy!
February 19thOnce in a while I take the leap and grill salmon for dinner knowing full well that Dan will most likely have a sarcastic comment, turn his nose or flat out refuse to eat it. He just refuses to eat fish at home. I realize I am no Julia Child but COME ON I cook well (you’ve told me this) and it’s good for you! Argh… whatever …. All of this means more nutrition for me, right? Yes, I eventually cave and make him something else and put the salmon in the fridge for me to eat later. continue reading under the picture ….
Salmon Citrus Salad : Boston Lettuce, Grilled Salmon (when your husband just won't eat it), a couple of sqeezes of lemon and a tiny bit of olive oil. I threw on some tomatoes as well for sweetness.
Today I decided to make a quick salad with it. I’ve never done that before. I’ve made it with chicken and other various fowl but not with Salmon. I put the ingredients above, under the picture, so you’ll see it’s not a big ordeal. Even making the salmon is not that painful.
FACTS: Salmon is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and selenium. It is also a very good source of protein, niacin and vitamin B12 and a good source of phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin B6.
So that’s one way I get creative eating at my home office. While some of the temptations are not within reach working from home, some of the old habits are still around and they still have to be battled. For the pros, I would say I can eat smaller portions more frequently and I can have a variety of healthy foods available in the fridge to choose from. The con for that is that it’s easy to over eat if not careful. I work on the computer all day and it would be easy to sit and munch. Too much is too much, bad or good. Another pro is that I don’t get peer pressure from coworkers or extra cravings from going out to lunches everyday. The times when I do go to a business lunch I make it a point to choose a place that will offer something healthy to eat. Luckly, most of the time the company I’m with is flexible.
Yes, everyday I make all of the meals for Dan and myself. Yes, it take some planning and effort but well worth it in the end. When we go to our personal trainers having eaten healthy all week we have a much better workout.
February 18thFinally I have a progress picture to share! Taken in our lovely hallway (where it’s not 20 degrees) 
Pictures Notes: I am really critical of myself and I put that aside to post this progress picture.I love my progress, don’t get me wrong. I haven’t felt better in years and I knowthat I am doing the right things. I just have hated taking pictures of myself these last few years and it’s really difficult for me to post it up for all to see. Especially the before picture below. Ugh! If that doesn’t motivate me to keep going to the gym and working out with the guys, I don’t know what would!
The picture on the left was taken in April 2009. We started working out at Train With Ron in October of 2009.
Birthdays & Valentines Day Notes: February is like the ‘perfect storm’ for us. It has been forever for me, but being with Dan it just upped it a couple of notches. Let me explain. Here are all of the birthdays I have going on in February; my older brother Gabor’s, 2 of my cousins’, Dan’s, our friend’s daughter Brooke’s. 3 friends and my own birthday. Add to that Valentines day and all I’m seeing is swirling & twirling cupcakes in my head. It’s hard not to with all of the celebrations. Oh and thanks February for the short month to squeeze all of this into!
The key is to be strong and think of the damage that could be done with going over board.
With that being said, Dan and I did celebrate my birthday with a nice sushi meal at Japonais. I love sushi! I added a couple of glasses of champagne and we split a dessert. That was the splurge. It made working out a bit more difficult the following evening but the motivation to erase any small amount of damage I may have done with my birthday meal was certainly my drive.
DB frequently talks to us about how changes in our diet can effect our workout and energy levels. This is so true. Smaller changes are harder to notice but it’s crazy how my body cannot handle the foods I used to eat a few months ago. Just having a slice of pizza or a soda will send my body into shock and I can even feel ill.
Closing notes: Dan and I are going to Hawaii at the beginning of April and we are looking to really shed some extra pounds over the next month and half. Not that I haven’t so far but if I can push myself even more at the gym, I will. It’s great to feel that now when I do pull ups on the bar I can actually do 6 in a row properly rather than the sloppy one I used to when I started.
Talk to you soon!
January 21stHello All! Sorry for the long wait between posts, but I had to go to Orlando, Florida for a sales convention. I left on Saturday last week and just returned last night. Since I normally hit TrainWithRon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, this trip really messed with my workout schedule. No problem though, I figured I’d work out at the gym in the hotel and push myself with my normal warm up and a few of the basic strength and core building moves that Ron, Matt, and DB frequently walk us through.
Much to my dismay, the hotel did not have a gym in it! I was kind of aggravated. What hotel doesn’t have at least a rudimentary gym in it? (Apparently, the Caribbean Beach Resort at Disney doesn’t.) So I had to improvise. I ran 1.5 miles on Sunday, with frequent stops for burpees, push ups, sit ups, and mountain climbers. I did 3 more on Monday (but no stops) and 1.5 on Tuesday (again, no stops). I was pretty pleased with myself, especially on Monday and Tuesday since I had to walk the show those days and probably did about 5 miles walking between the two days… minimum. I had blisters on both feet and they hurt like hell but I powered through the runs anyway. I felt so good about it…
Eating healthfully on the trip, however, was even more difficult.
Just about everything served was institutional (understandable since they were feeding 4000 people) – processed meats, everything was in some kind of sauce or gravy… they had salads but the greens and tomatoes and cucumbers weren’t really fresh, lots of white bread, some vegetables (cooked and soaking in some kind butter or oil without exception) fruits from time to time (which were excellent)… there were times when I was forced to eat less than healthful fare. I tried to stick to the veggies and fruits but I found myself starving quite a few times. (Even as I am writing this, Monika placed in front of me a very green, leafy salad with bright red tomatoes and delicious, sweet cucumbers… excellent!) I had two nights where I went to dinner with my account managers to Wolfgang Pucks and I had a steak, salad, potatoes, and vegetables. It wasn’t the most healthful meal, but I needed something of substance and OH GOD was that steak delicious. If I had to grade myself on eating well, I’d give myself a C+. I could have done better, but I could have done worse.
I ran into quite a few people who I hadn’t seen in 6 months and got quite a few “whoa, are you working out” comments – very satisfying! Also talked to a co-worker who hurt his ankle and gained some weight, and we talked about changing his diet and activity level together. I hope he does it!
Tonight I returned to the gym and DB took my weight upon arriving… 250 on the nose according to the TWR scale, so I only lost a single pound since about 11 days ago. I’ve kind of hit a bit of a plateau here, hopefully I’ll break through it soon because I’ve been in this 250ish range for quite a while now. I continue to lose size though… I’m taking about 4 pairs of my dress pants to be taken IN this weekend (TAKEN IN!!! NOT OUT… IN!!! WHOOOHOOO!!!!) and I’m very excited about that. None of my jeans fit at all anymore, even the ones that I finally got back into a few weeks ago… they’re all too big. When I started this I was kind of squeezing into a 46 waist… now a 40 is about right – so 6 inches off the waist!!!
Just gotta bust through this plateau…
