How did that just happen?

Do you ever ask yourself this question? I do it all the time. It's as if my body is taken over by another soul. A hungry soul.

My plan for dinner was a simple Muscle Milk Light. It was too hot to cook, and too late to eat anything heavy. Protien shake would hold me over until tomorrow.

Then it happened.

You know what I'm talking about. My brain started to tell me that a shake is not dinner and that I was hungry. So in order to avoid this unwanted message, I got online and putzed around looking for distractions. I drank water. I read email.

And the voice was still there. Eat.

I go to the fridge and look at what would be a good, light meal. Now this is when I totally lost it. The next thing I know, I'm sitting down to a bowl full of brown rice, shredded mozarella cheese and enchilada sauce. Leftovers. In a bowl all tossed together, I had my dinner.

How did that just happen? Who put that mess in my bowl? And why was it so darned tasty???

Tomorrow is another day and I'll survive this out of body experience. As it is my body for life...and a lifetime of work is ahead of me!

Update

I wanted to add something to the last post that I made about all of the benefits of exercise. I was thinking, while on my walk, that there are people out there that would pay tons of money to have all the benefits that are listed. Heck, people DO pay tons of money for prescriptions to fix much of what could be "cured" if only they would commit to a regular exercise program. Shoot, if I were to add that it increased libido or enhanced sexual function, EVERYONE would be creating a cardio plan! Maybe I'll start a little rumor to get the sedentary folks motivated. :)

My summer self-challenge to lose 15 pounds by the end of August is moving along well. I was down another two pounds on Weigh-In Wednesday. Yippee-skippee for me. It helps that I'm currently on vacation and am not faced with the buckets of food that I'm surrounded with at work. It will be there waiting for me when I get back and I'm just going to have to stick with my plan. It's a good plan. But it isn't fool-proof. I guess it is my job to not be the fool.

Reading...

I was digging through some old cookbooks and found one that I MAYBE opened twice. The pages are still crisp and clean...no drip marks...no notes. The only reason that I can think that I stuck this away, is that it is very basic. The title is "Quick & Healthy; Low-fat - Carb Concious Cooking". The book is full of just that, low-fat & low carb. The first several pages are loaded with tips on how to take on a healthy lifestyle. I'm going to share what page 34 says:

The benefits of exercise:
lowers risk of heart disease
increases good cholesterol
improves blood pressure
lowers risk of osteoporosis
imporves blood sugar control
increases basal metabolic rate
helps with weight loss
lowers body fat
improves quality of life
improves mental health and reduces depression

I read this and thought, "Duh...this is probably why I never got into this book. Who doesn't know this stuff already?"

Um...well, there are lots of folks out there that are looking for the solution to many of the issues listed above, but refuse to put any effort into a REGULAR exercise program. REGULAR being the key word here. You can't expect results if you don't put your all into whatever it is that you're doing. This doesn't just apply to exercise. Life baby. If you do something half assed, then you're going to get half assed results. Do something with passion and you're gonna see quality results.

I'm going to borrow the words of a wise 60 year old woman that I know through the Internet. Her name is Judy and in my opinion, she is brilliant. She wrote this in response to a post in a forum:

You want to get the scale moving? Then YOU are going to have to move. You can start with a walk, but don't just stroll. Put on some music and MOVE to it. Apply your mind to your body. For 30 minutes out of your day, instead of watching tv or sitting on the computer researching how to break a plateau, DO SOMETHING to break it.

These words are not addressed to any single person. So many here and elsewhere avoid EXERCISE; they say "It's not for me, I don't have the time, I don't like it, I can't do it." What they are really saying is "I WON'T follow this rule, I'll look for a way around it." And then they decide they don't eat enough calories, or they don't eat the right combination of foods, or whatever way they want to justify the stall. Anything but the obvious!

Not everybody LOVES exercise, but many find, to their great joy (as I did) that it's fun and addictive. Even those who don't LOVE it, but DO IT consistantly agree that it WORKS! And because they love the results, they wouldn't trade it for anything.

I'm living proof that it works. There are others here who are living proof that it works. And those of you who are still afraid of it can become living proof too, if you dare. It's just a matter of breaking out of your comfort zone. I know you have the courage to overcome your fear of EXERCISE.

See? She is one smart cookie.

2 Fabulous POUNDS

After applying myself...APPLYING is the keyword here...for the past week, I dropped two pounds. And I'm thrilled. Honest and true, I really feel those two pounds gone.

The key to my success? Extra cardio (my Goddess, it seems that is all I do) and healthy small meals without extra bites of this and that. The bites of this and that are what kept me at a plateau. Evil plateau. No matter how much exercise I got, I couldn't out run the bites that I took in. Plain and simple. Calories in...calories out. I hate that. Oh gosh, hate is such a strong word. Let's just go with I disagree with all of the charts. I know what works for MY body and lemme tell ya what, it is not what all of the calculators say. I would be wafer thin if that were the case. Anyhow, I'm on target for my goal of 15 off by the end of August.

As a side note: I originally said that I'd post my before and after B4L Challenge photos. Well, I've changed my mind. Dang, but those are revealing pictures and I'm just not ready to share them with the world! They're going into my personal folder and someday I might post them. But no promises. I'm pleased with the progress that I made after the B4L Challenge. I gained a lot of good lifetime habits after following it for 12 weeks. It really is forever.

Too good to not write about

Every now and again, I'll make something in the kitchen that is so good I have to write about it or take a picture of it...or both. There is no picture tonight, because I was so taken by the flavors, I forgot.

I'm totally in the zone with my diet. Healthy. Organic. Fresh. Flavorful. I should call it the HOFF diet. :)

So this is what I did. I took two chicken breast halves and sliced them into five pieces. Sort of like chicken fillets. I then added some leftover vinaigrette that I found in the fridge when I was cleaning it today (by the way...bad yogurt is just plain stinky). The chicken hung out on the counter for a while. I did some other things...like dressed my dog's newly injured foot. I have no idea what it is that she did, but it was pretty gross in between the big pad and the little ones. She was sure that licking it was the solution to her problems. Nay-nay little one! Here comes MamaVet with her bottle of blue stuff, cotton balls, gauze, boo-boo juice, an old sock and some masking tape. She would call the folks at PITA if she could manage the phone.

Back to my dinner! Chicken is doing it's thing. Check. I then chopped up a chunk of an English cucumber (those English really know how to grow a vegetable), sliced some cherry tomatoes in half, added some chopped red onion (tons of tears were shed...the dog thought that they were for her), sliced a few green olives and added some low fat crumbled feta cheese. Athenos was the brand and I swear that I'll never go back to the full fat stuff again...it was THAT yummy. The dressing...juice of one lemon and the zest as well, about half as much EVOO, tablespoon of oregano, sea salt, pepper and just a couple of shakes of thyme. I put all of those things in a little Tupperware and shook the bejesus out of it. I then poured about a tablespoon of the dressing over my salad and tossed. Now it was the salads turn to hang out. Chicken was drained and simply done in my heavy skillet on medium. Some fresh pepper...five minutes on each side. Done.

This meal was so fresh tasting. Bright. Verdant <--learned that word from Rachael Ray. It was so good that I lost myself and bit my bottom lip. Did it slow me down? Only for a second.

Delish! HOFF is the way to go.

Here is the feta website: http://www.athenos.com/ProductInfo/crumbfeta_re.aspx

Getting my head on straight

I make myself crazy.

I have the most conveluted expectations for my weight loss. Let me just share with you. I have been super focused on eating right, along with maintaining my exercise program, since July 1st. Let's take a look at the calendar...uh...yeah, it is now July 3rd. I've been fully focused for just over 48 hours. So I step on the scale this morning and see that I've dropped a pound and a half. I'm silent. Quiet and staring at the dial of the scale while reading the digital figure. Quiet disappointment.

HOW CAN THIS BE???? I'VE BEEN EATING RIGHT AND THERE IS ONLY A 1.5 DROP???

Now I know this is crazy, so there is no need to email me or send a psychiatrist to my home. If I step outside of my own head space, I can see that this is better than expected and that in reality, a two pound per week loss is a healthy goal.

But still...

In my head I'm screaming. What would make me happy? Seeing it drop 5 this morning. Again, I know that this is crazy, but it is what I'm feeling. It isn't going to derail my efforts. I'll keep on chugging along with the reality of what is.

More of the same for today...exercise...six small meals...rinse and repeat.

Whadda morning

Did you ever have one of those days that starts out so bad that you just wish you could get a do-over? A Mulligan for Kim please...I'll pay whatever the cost!

It all started with a horrible night of sleep. I was awake three times during the night and when my alarm finally beeped off at 4am, I was in the middle of a dream that someone was trying to wake me up. I'm guessing that the alarm had been beeping for a while and my subconcious was poking my brain with a stick.

My workout went fine, though it is my least favorite...lower body.

I got ready with time to spare and made my protein shake. I mix up berries, water, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, flax seed, marine phytoplanton, psyllium and vanilla whey protein powder. It's an impressive mix that packs a powerful punch. I drink it on my way into work every day. Today there was one small issue. I was in the car and rolling to work when I realized, miserably, that I'd forgotten to add the protein powder. It was a cup of berry plankton with fiber and flax. Okay, did I just hear a groan coming from you? Yeah, me too. Wait, it gets better. Since my body had the workout, it didn't care that the concoction was gross. I drank it. Every. Last. Drop.

Then I scraped my tongue with an old Starbucks napkin and quickly followed that with a piece of gum.

Breakfast of Champions.

Life for this Body goes on

I am determined to get some pounds off of me this summer. I like how my workouts are going. Still getting it done before breakfast, six days a week. Tomorrow is "lower body"...ugh. I mean, whoo-hooooo!!! I get to do squats and lunges and crunches. Oh my.

I've started a Weight Loss Train. Destination: Smallville. It all started because my sweet little friend in the office has been wanting to drop a few pounds and, well, if you know me at all, you know that I'm one to help out another that wants to succeed at their weight loss goals. Only if they want my help. Let's be clear about that! If you're happy with your size, rock on! It's all about finding that happy zone where you are proud of who you are. All aspects of who you are. Eckhart Tolle talks about finding "Inner Peace". If you're happy with who you are, then you are that much closer to Inner Peace. So anyway, back to my friend. I got the brilliant idea yesterday to make a commitment with her. The two of us could each lose 15 pounds by the end of August. That is totally doable and with the support of each other, it will be just that much easier.

Today, July 1st, was our official weigh-in day. We both privately wrote our weight down on a slip of paper and then put them in sealed envelopes. Then we locked them up so that no others could view said numbers. I posted this commitment on FaceBook and offered others to join the Weight Loss Train. Lo and behold, many of my FB friends want to join us on our ride. Pretty dang cool. The more the merrier is what I say. Everyone weighed in and my friend Barbara suggested that we set the envelopes on fire at the end of August. Burn those unwanted pounds in a big old bonfire. I liked that! We are all going to post our pounds lost on FB each Wednesday (or at least that is the plan) and I will post my results here on my blog.

I'm still following the B4L food program with the six small meals per day. Small being the key word. I'm incorporating the AbsDiet with this...they're so similar, it was easy to mesh the two. I logged my food into thedailyplate.com since I hadn't a clue as to how many calories I was taking in with all of these little meals. It turned out quite good. 1250 with over 100g of protein. I wont log my food in every day, just now and then to keep myself in check.

That's what's going on at the moment. Taking a train, dropping some pounds and setting fire to something at the end of summer. Good times.