Finally, the scale started moving down! Everything still feels the same in terms of how my clothes fit but seeing the numbers go down a little did make me feel a little bit better. Still, I'm no where near where I wanted to be, or thought I would be under GHF, for my sister's wedding in three weeks.

This morning I did a 60 minute tape, alternating weights (8 to 20 lbs) with bursts of cardio; then I did about 30 minutes of thigh/butt work; and 10 minutes of abs. After work I'm taking a spin class.

For breakfast I had egg whites and a whey protein shake mixed with a banana and peanut butter.

I fit into my bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding! I was so worried I wasn't going to. Now for the ironic part: I can't lose any weight until the wedding (no time for major alterations).

Did my interval run this morning and will do some cardio dance later this evening.

As for what I ate:
Breakfast: 1/2 cup egg whites, 1/2 grapefruit, 1 slice reduce calorie whole wheat bread with 1/2 tbsp sugar-free jelly, and 1/2 cup skim milk
Snack: apple
Lunch: 2 slices reduced fat whole wheat bread, 1.5 turkey slices, mustard, and a hard boiled egg
Snack: 2 smart dogs (tofu hot dogs) on lettuce

I decided to give Protrack a try, but I'm having some trouble. Is there a way for the software to tell me how many calories I've burned in a workout? It seems like it wants me to enter the amount I've burned but I have no way of knowing. All I can enter is the duration I worked out. Plus, I workout to tapes where exercises are constantly changing and cardio is included in bursts and I can't quite figure out how to enter in those kinds of workouts. Any advice?

Lisa

Seems as though I've let my calorie intake slip into the 900-1000 range these past two weeks. Not too good. I've been getting in a ton of protein though, and my fat intake is way down.

I decided to add a little more to my runs. I don't want to get stuck in a rut and like to change it up now and then. So here's the run I've been doing this week. I dropped the incline on my hills a little. Last time I took a spin class with my sister she noted that my legs looked very muscular (which would be great except for the layer of fat in the back) so I decided to bring my inclines down a little and drop a little resistance in my spin class.

Ok, I was a little bad today. I baked some cookies yesterday to bring to work today to welcome back a co-worker who has been out on medical leave for the past 6 weeks. I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and they came out AWESOME! I was bad and had two, but it was totally worth it. Anyway, it's a big cardio day for me: my interval run (and I did an extra interval this morning) and 20 minutes of kickbox followed by 30 minutes of cardio dance.

In addition to the cookies:
Breakfast: egg whites, 1/2 grapefruit, skim milk
Snack: apple
Lunch: turkey on 1/2 whole wheat tortilla and a hard boiled egg

Thanks for everyone's encouraging words. Obviously from my blogs you can tell that I work out hard so I'm not going to be giving that up any time soon.

But in response to a couple things: I didn't jump from 900 calories to 1700 overnight. I would've gotten very sick had I done that! :) I worked my way up, and right now it's steady around 1300. I'm not on any medication so that's not causing the problem. And I do think I put weight on first in my hips and abs but it's not budging from there at all.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have been having no luck whatsoever losing weight. I got on the scale this morning and I've gained some weight. Sorry if I sound defensive, but before anyone says that it's muscle, it's not. I have not lost any body fat and feel terrible about the way I look right now. :( I may scrap GHF since it has not been helping me (although I'm happy it's helping all of you!) and do my own thing. I just don't want to get too few calories as I did for several years, but it seems like my body is not responding to the higher calories. I'm just gaining weight.

I realize it's been a long time since I've blogged. Not much has changed though. Still no weight loss, although I think I have added some muscle, especially on my legs. My sister said my legs looked very muscular this weekend while we took a spin class. I'd love to have them muscular but unfortunately I think there must still be fat there because my pants are still tight at the hips and thighs. I've noticed the exercise plan doesn't have targeted inner/outer thigh exercises so I've added some of those in with the hope that combined with the cardio that'll help slim them down a bit.

My diet was all over the place this last weekend. I was out of town visiting family and celebrating my mom's birthday so we ate out a lot. Lots of seafood though. I was in Maryland so I had to indulge in a crab cake and I also had trout, which I think I've only had one time before.

I did a nice long workout this morning: 60 minutes of weight training, then 24 minutes of circuit training (thighs and butt) and 15 minutes of abs. After work I'll take a spin class to get the cardio in. I'm trying to mix things up a little and maybe do a little more of what I used to (hence the thigh and butt exercises) since I haven't been feeling very happy with my body lately.

To replenish after my workout I had oatmeal, 1/2 cup egg whites, and a whey protein shake (mixed with a banana and a little peanut butter). That's keeping me pretty fueled for now. A little later on this morning I'll have an apple and then for lunch I made myself a salad (again, switching things up) with lots of veggies and tofu, and a hard boiled egg. For snacks throughout the afternoon I'll have a 1/2 cup egg substitute and celery and carrot with 2 tbsp of hummus. After spin, for dinner, I plan on having sauteed chicken breast with veggies and spinach and feta orzo. It was a prepared dinner I picked up special. I hate cooking when I get home for spin. It's too late and I don't have the energy. Not that I really cook anyway. I guess I just don't like to "prepare" that late. :)

So I was pretty bad this weekend with eating (never go to Le Gourmet Chef ... free samples galore!). My mom came to visit and we ate a lot of good food. I actually didn't order anything all that bad except for some roasted vegetable lasagna on Friday night. But man, was it good! And lasagna is my favorite food and I almost never have it. So, I'm trying to get back on track today. I sure feel full!

So I'm finally feeling better. The doctor told me I had allergies. I never heard of an allergy that made you nauseous, but whatever. Feeling good now. Of course, I had to sound like a broken record, but I have no lost any weight since starting GHF. I think I'm doing everything right, but for some reason I'm not losing fat and still not gaining lean muscle. :( I'm really at a loss here.

I did my morning interval run and will be doing my weights during the lunch hour.

As for eating, I'm not quite sure what I'll be having for dinner since my mother is coming into town (who recently lost a ton of weight and looks better than me now!) and I have no idea where we'll eat.

I've been completely sick today (nauseous and dizzy, among other things), so I think it's time I finally took a break from working out ... at least for today, and possibly tomorrow. I managed 20 minutes of kickbox this morning and want to take spin class in about an hour, but I know this will be extremely difficult given how I'm feeling and it'll probably be best if I just got some rest. It's the right thing to do, but I totally feel like a slacker. I'll have to see how I'm feeling when I wake up to determine if I should do my morning run (I'm thinking I might substitute it for the elliptical) and weights.

I'm feeling slightly lazy today so I might bypass the gym during lunch to work out at home after work. Did my morning run as usual though.

Breakfast: oatmeal with protein freeze, an orange, and 1/2 cup egg whites. 4 oz fruit yogurt a little later on.
Snack: apple with almond butter
Lunch: turkey sandwich on whole wheat and a hard boiled egg
Snacks: (throughout afternoon) Luna bar, celery and carrot with hummus. After evening workout: whey protein shake
Dinner: 4 oz tilapia over spinach and 1 cup mixed veggies

No weight loss. :(

UGH. I'm so not feeling well today. My stomach is doing somersaults. Not fun. I very well may have to pack it in early today. I did get my kickboxing in this morning. I wasn't feel sick then, but doing my step DVD later may be a challenge.

Anywho, here's my eating plan today:

Breakfast: oatmeal with some protein freeze, 1/2 cup egg whites, an orange, and water. A little later one, 1/4 cup plain yogurt with 1/4 cup sliced strawberries.
Snack: apple with 1 tbsp almond butter
Lunch: turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce and tomato, and a hard boiled egg
Snacks (throughout afternoon): whey protein shake mixed with 1 tsp peanut butter and a banana and 1 cup skim milk; celery and carrots with hummus

It's my high carb day, which means bring on the cereal! :)
I did my run earlier this morning and I'll be doing my weights after work today at home. Taking a little break from the gym where I sometimes have to wait to get a machine. I hate that. I'm far too impatient. That should take another 50 minutes or so.

For food today:
Breakfast: 1/2 cup Fiber One cereal mixed in with 1/2 cup Special K protein cereal, with skim milk and a banana, and a hard boiled egg. About an hour later I had 1/4 cup plain yogurt mixed in with about 1/4 cup sliced strawberries.
Snack: two rice cakes with 1 tbsp of peanut butter

What a big breakfast this morning! I'm incorporating what my nutritionist wants me to eat with GHF. She's trying to get me to eat about 1669 calories, which is proving a little challenging to me. But here's what I'm eating today:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup egg whites, oatmeal with protein freeze, orange, 4 ox. yogurt
Snack: Apple with peanut butter
Lunch: Vegetarian chili with a baked potato (plain)
Snacks: whey protein shake with 1/2 scoop whey protein, 1 cup skim milk, and 1/2 cup sliced strawberries; celery and carrot with hummus and a hard boiled egg
Dinner: salad with 3 oz. chicken, 1/4 cup brown rice, 1 tbsp feta.

I met with my nutritionist yesterday who liked the GHF diet plan, and said it was similar to what she was trying to get me to do, although she didn't think it mattered quite so much when I ate my fruit. But she helped me plan both low- and high-carb days to fit what she wants me to do and GHF. She's also trying to consistently get me to eat at least 1669 calories per day, my minimum metabolic rate. It's not easy for me. For years I ate only about 900 calories and worked out like crazy so this is though. She's convinced that's why I'm not losing weight, but it's very hard for me to do that. However, today I came up with a menu for my high-carb day that should do it!

Yep, my fat day definitely was reflected on my scale this morning. It said I gained 4 pounds this week (and NOT in muscle). Of course, 10 minutes later is also said I gained another half pound so I don't really pay attention to it all that much, but since I wasn't feeling all that great body-wise to begin with these last few days, that definitely didn't help.

This morning was my run and this afternoon is Phase 5/Week 7/Workout 3.

I don't know if anyone else ever has these days, but there are days when I can definitely feel lighter than others. Today is not one of those days. On Tuesday I felt great. Today, not so much.

My workouts today were 48 minutes of kickbox this morning and 45 minutes of aerobic dance after work. I know that I'm only supposed to do one 45 minute cardio workout today but I feel very odd not doing something after work (if I haven't logged in a second workout during lunch, that is). But it's not nearly as intense as the kickboxing.

As for food today:
Breakfast: oatmeal with a couple of small spoonfuls of protein freeze, 1/2 cup egg whites and 1/4 cup skim milk

This morning was a little rough. Last night I took a spin class with my brand spanking new cycling shoes! It really made a difference. I was worried it'd take it's toll on my morning run this morning, but it went fine. It was hot in the gym though (I don't care what they say, I can't feel the air conditioning) and it was muggy outside. A bad combination. But I got through my run and gave myself a nice stretch. It's off to the gym for some weight training at lunch. It should take about 50 minutes or so.

Today is a high carb day! Woo hoo! That means a little more fruit and cereal!

Meal 1: Special K with skim milk and a banana, 1/3 cup of egg whites