Weekly weigh in 2

I'm pretty sure I missed a weigh in but whatever this is the second time I've weighed myself since I started this blog so it's number 2. The number on the scale this morning doesn't make me happy, however, the fact that its lower than last time makes me happy. My weight currently sits at 157.8 lbs. unfortunately that's only 1.2 lbs since I started 22 days ago, if my weight loss continues this slowly it's going to take me two years to get to my goal weight. So I have set up a new challenge for myself.
It takes 21 days to create a habit (or so I'm told) so for 21 days there will be absolutely no:
-chocolate
-candy
-biscuits or cookies
-cake, doughnuts, or muffins
-pastries
-white bread
-chips
-fast food
-Nutella or other naughty spreads
-ice cream
This seems pretty strict but in reality it's just no junk food and doing this before I've lost 5 lbs in the 21 days. Much better than what I've done this month. The biggest thing I have to remember is to not binge at the end of it. It's okay to indulge every once in a while but small portions and not very often because deprivation will cause a binge. I've learned that from not only seeing other people but from my own experiences as well. So here goes nothing!
But now back to the present, so far I've just had a few grapes and some apple slices and am about to have more before going to the gym right away here.
Went 1.15 miles in 15 minutes on the treadmill, 0.84 in 10 minutes on the elliptical at level 14 resistance, and 1.30 miles in 5 minutes on the bike. I did a bunch of core and arm workouts too to let my legs rest a bit.
Afterwards I had half a scoop of my protein powder and a bowl of whole wheat pasta without any sauces, just some vegetable seasoning that's low in sodium. And for dinner I had a chipotle turkey panini on multigrain bread. Yummy!

Woo!

I realize with my busy schedule I haven't been keeping up with this but I figure gym is more important than blogging. Today was a bit of a lazy day for me so I didn't eat like I should have. I had some shrimp and a lean burger for lunch then before the gym just had a bit of toast and kicked that gyms ass for 2 hours!
I definitely found my energy today and took all of my frustrations out into that treadmill. I've also been increasing my weight and reps for the ballet boot camp workouts and it feels awesome! I'm vowing to wake up earlier every day so that I can ensure I get an awesome workout each day!!

Vitamins

A while ago I was talking about how I've heard about the importance of taking a multi vitamin and then I was trying GNC's Women's Ultra Mega Active. The girl at the store made the vitamins sound really great telling me that there's a calcium supplement and all of this stuff that should be great. However my experience with these vitamins was anything but great. At first I was nauseous but wasn't sure if it was because of the vitamins or something else so I stopped taking them for a bit then when I tried taking them again today they made me very sick within minutes of taking them. Thankfully GNC was willing to give me a refund on them but I would not recommend these to anyone! I'm not sure what a good multi vitamin is but I'm working on finding one.

The challenges of being away

Sigh...after having worked out of town for almost a week I am not very happy. Although my hotel had a gym it was undergoing renovations so I was unable to actually use it. I did do some exercises in my room but I must admit after having worked 15 hour days I didn't do much. During this time I was thinking about what would be better; to work out or to rest. Considering the stress I'd been putting on my body over the past 5 days it seemed like those days would be ok to not have an intense workout since I'd been working hard all day and needed to get my body prepared for the next day. And although cooking wasn't an option I refused to let fast food be an option either. So working out of town didn't allow me the opportunity to do what I normally would but I did watch what I was eating so I suppose it wasn't too bad. I'm just thankful that I don't have a job that forces me to be away consistently.
Now that I'm back I am definitely trying to make up for lost time. I already went to the gym and really kicked that gyms ass. Although I'm not sure doctors would recommend working out until you puke, but I had a lot of time to make up for. I'm so happy that I can get back to my normal routine, if only for a few weeks!

Weekly weigh in

Today I sit at 158.2 lbs. So I haven't lost a whole pound even but thanksgiving weekend did just pass and I wasn't exactly watching what I was eating as much. And besides any weight lost is better than weight gained.
As I continue with the ballet boot camp I feel happy. Each day brings me one step closer to where I want to be and I know that if I work hard I'll get there soon enough. But my next challenge is around the corner. I'm going to work out of town which means a few things.
1) I won't have access to my gym
2) I'll be working 13+ hours a day
3) I won't be able to cook like I normally do
What I will do however is make sure my hotel has a gym and to go to the local grocery store for my meals. Even if I only do a short run on the treadmill it'll be better than nothing.

Excuses

I often hear people say they don't have time to go to the gym and heck I even used to be one of those people, but with 24hour gyms everywhere that's not a valid excuse. So this morning when I woke up with a stomach flu I felt like I could skip the gym and not feel guilty about it since I'm sick. I wasn't up for even an hour before I decided that wasn't a good enough excuse. I could still go to the gym and work out just not as hard as normal. So I got off my butt and went. Once I got there I hopped onto the treadmill and since I knew there was no way my stomach could handle a run I went for a brisk walk. Sure it only lasted 10 minutes and wasn't a run but its a lot better than sitting on the couch. After the treadmill I started doing random half assed workouts and a few minutes I stopped and asked myself what I'm doing. I'm already at the gym I may as well work up a sweat and deserve that protein shake. I needed to make my muscles sore and I needed to work hard. Once again I got up and this time I did the ballet boot camp and I was really starting to sweat. By the end of it my stomach still didn't feel great but I felt happy knowing I just did something good for myself :)

Research says...

Because losing weight and keeping it off is very important to me I've been doing a lot of research on what I should be doing to get the best results. Apparently, not taking a multivitamin can actually be damaging and can not only deteriorate muscles but turn everything into fat rather than muscle. This explains why even with working out 6 times a week I've been gaining weight- and not from muscle mass.
Also, after reading multiple articles I've found the importance of protein powder. Yes I knew that protein is required to help your muscles recover but I always thought of protein powder as something for guys. I was wrong. It's a good way for women to help their muscles recover and can aid in weight loss as long as we're taking the right kind of powder.
Things for women to look for: a lower amount of protein per serving - about 25g is good, vitamin B6, folic acid, fiber, iron, and amino acids. Also women need ones with lower amounts of carbs, fat, and calories and less than 7 g of sugar. Whey isolate is ideal since it has a lot of amino acids. You definitely want to look out for potassium benzoate and potassium sorbate which make you feel hungry faster.
After comparing many different brands I noticed that the cheaper ones tend to be better. They have fewer addetives and also they aren't sponsored by celebrities so the prices don't have to be hiked up so much. I started with my protein powder today and it actually tastes great which was a big surprise to me, I was worried it was going to be something gross that I would have to mix with various foods and/or juices to make it taste good. I use North Coast Naturals all natural 100% whey protein isolate.