Week 1: Calculating our calories, 30 minutes exercise (the Biggest Loser Cardio Max DVD 5-6 days per week). :: I added the personal challenge of exercising 30 days in a row.
Week 3: Calculating calories, 40 minutes exercise.
Week 5: Calculating calories, 50 minutes exercise.
After some limited success, we still felt we could do more. Nate discovered an article in Ladies' Home Journal, of all places. Hey, he was bored at open gym at the camp... ;o) The magazine had a Biggest Loser article, a 7-day diet plan. It was a schedule for 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. Of course, we decided to attempt what proved to be a major undertaking.
Week 7: Calculating calories, 50 minutes of exercise, 3 healthy meals and 2 healthy snacks.
Trust me, that first grocery bill wasn't much fun as our fridge was void of all the fresh fruit and vegetables required by the plan. For a couple who rarely ate breakfast (unless it was a bowl of cereal), threw together a sandwich, chips, and maybe an apple for lunch (on the days we didn't eat at the camp or eat out), and didn't have a regular dinner schedule, this was a huge undertaking. It took me literally hours to even come up with a grocery list!
That week was definitely the hardest week of the 8 so far. We spent more time in the kitchen than ever. Days that we worked late (Mondays or Wednesdays due to Nate's open gym schedule) were torture. Ok, they still are. We get up early, eat breakfast, get dressed, work out, prepare and pack our dinner and snacks, get dressed AGAIN and ready for work, prepare and eat lunch (at like 10:00 am), and get out of the house by 11 am. I'm not even sure how we do it. We get home at 10 pm, if we're lucky. Not that I'm complaining. I know it will become natural and will get easier. It already has.
Oh, but before it gets too easy, let's add on something else! This weekend we bought the Biggest Loser Power Sculpt DVD. Enter today's workout.
Week 9: Still calculating calories, still eating those healthy 3 meals and 2 snacks. However, today we swapped the 50 minutes of cardio with 30 minutes of weight lifting.
I am not hugely excited about weight lifting. It's not my favorite past time. at. all. But it was actually fun! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish it would have been longer. My arms and probably my whole body will be killing me tomorrow, but it's great. I want this flab gone. Now.
Ok, I know that's not realistic. But I'm so excited to see what happens in the next 8 weeks. I thought it would become a drag, but it's not. I don't so much enjoy getting up early every day, but the way I feel when I look at myself in the mirror makes it worth it. And the food we get to eat!
Oh. my. gosh. That could and probably will be a post all on its own. I will have to take pictures and post them. Just wait till I get started on artichoke! I could rave about it all day.
I don't know what week 11 will bring. It seems we add to this newfound healthy lifestyle every two weeks or so. I know that once warm weather hits, Nate can't wait to start running outside.
I promise every blog post won't be about our diet and exercise habits, but as that is what is in the forefront of our minds right now, that's what I'll write about. And if someone else reads and is somehow amused by it, all the better.
:: Laura
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