I did it! I weighed myself on Thursday but didn't post the results...I knew a weekend of fun may change the results - BUT, my first a.m. weigh in proved me wrong! I just have to keep it up now for the rest of the week.  Now that the holidays are behind us it feels like it's getting a little easier to follow a schedule...we'll see. ONE WEEK TO GO!  

Ok - so once again I've gotta weigh in. I think I'm going to be down another pound and I feel really great. It could be because I did a HOT YOGA (Bikram) class last night and sweat all of the water out of my body! Man does it feel good. If you haven't done HOT YOGA you need to do it. It's hard as SHIT but when you get out, you feel like you just ran 20 miles in 90 degree weather. Trust me.  Good luck to everyone reaching their deadline! 

I drink too much wine. I can't help it! It's so good! Why can't wine be zero calories? It should be - or it should be LOW calorie. whatever. It's made from fruit. And yes - "1 glass of red wine a night is good for you"  BUT REALLY...who has one glass? 

 It is taking ALL of my will power to not house the plate of cookies sitting in my kitchen right now. I broke down and had a bowl of (low fat) ice cream (and 1 cookie BEFORE dinner - damn) but that's it. By the way - Dryers Slow Churn - have I mentioned how much I love it??? 

We had a great dinner with my boyfriends parents - I miss my family but it was nice.  His parents aren't far off from mine - We left dinner with a plate of 30 plus cookies. Why is it that ALL moms think that two people need 30 cookies. It's unbelievable!  In addition to them - we got all the lasagna and stuffed calamari leftovers. UGH.  Thankfully I have used today as my "cheat" day. I'm on track again tomorrow morning and WILL make it to my goal on the 19th!  I have bouts where I can't control myself (like holidays) but I'll be good in the morning. I SWEAR...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! 

So - Spokane WA is a little different than NYC!  We just got about 2 feet of snow today and it's STILL dumping on us...Because of this - for the past two days I have not been able to go to the gym...to work OR to workout...bummer. Good thing I've got a pretty amazing boyfriend who rented us cross country skis and took me ALL over Spokane for 5 HOURS! How many calories do you think we burned skiing though the frozen tundra! haha.  Enough to allow me a glass of wine tonight...can't wait to weigh in this weekend :)  Take it outside folks! I guarantee it was a better workout than ANYTHING you can get in the gym! 

2 pounds down! How? I've eaten low fat ice cream every night this week.   Well - I actually DO know how.  Exercise. Yes. I know that your diet is 70% of weight loss, but then again, you're not going to see any lasting results without working out.  Since I've moved I've completely shifted my workouts.  I used to do body part training and 30 minutes of cardio per day.  NOW I only warm up with 10 minutes of cardio. The rest of my workout consists of interval exercises. I don't rest at all...I go from one exercise to the next with plyometrics in between.  (jumping rope, box jumps, jump lunges - whatever keeps your heart rate up!)  

I'm telling you. Ditch the steady state cardio...keep moving and you'll keep losing! 

If you need a sweet treat on Sunday - eat this cookie!  One batch is exactly 180 calories (makes 2 cookies)

1/4 cup quick oats (uncooked)

1 tsp of peanut butter

1/2 scoop of protein powder (I suggest vanilla)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and add about 1/8 cup of water and mix until you have a think pasty mixture. 

Divide in half and cook in a frying pan for about 2 minutes on each side. 

These are the greatest little oatmeal cookie treats!  And soooo good for you :)

Try 'em - you like? 

If I need something different, I add a few raisons or crushed nuts! YUMMY

Ok, so we all love Pizza but we all know that it's not one of the healthiest things to eat when you are on a diet.  Secretly - when I eat pizza, I have to eat ice cream afterwards. It's been programmed into my brain. ANYWAY.  Because of my Pizza tooth - and my desire to eat healthy as much as possible - I've become somewhat of a recipe wizard.  I believe you can make virtually ANY food healthy(er).  PIZZA for instance. Last night my BF and I bought a readymade whole wheat pizza crust from the local health market. (160 calores per 1/8 of it) then we bought some low sugar PLAIN pizza sauce (added our own spices) bought TONS of veggies and grilled up some chicken.  Now - he likes traditional cheese on a pizza and I opted for light Feta (Feta is SOOO strong that you don't have to use a lot!)  

Basically we came up with a pizza that I calculated to be about 225-250 calories per slice. NOT BAD!  And the wheat dough is very filling. 

Now - the ice cream...Dryers Slow Churned is AMAZING.  They have ridiculous flavors (we got peppermint and cookie dough - yes, 2) and none of them have more than 120 calories per half cup.  I had a few scoops and added about 250 more calories to my dinner. It was a little higher calorie that most but it was sooooo good and I didn't feel like I had to roll myself to the couch to pass out! 

I can health-ify almost anything so let me know if you have a favorite recipe and I can try to help! OR if you have some :) I'd love to try them...Living with a boy and cooking almost every night - I can use all the help I can get!   

Ok - so I just left my first day on the job as a personal trainer and here I am...sitting on the couch. You think I worked out today? NOPE...why?  I think your body needs rest. It's important to listen to yourself.  I've worked out for the last 5 days in a row and I need to give my mind and muscles some time to recover - plus - I'll go crazy if I MAKE myself workout everyday. I think for everyone here at FLAAB trying to lose - just make sure you don't over do it. Take an "ACTIVE" rest day.  It just started snowing here in Spokane...I'm going to go play in it!   I've definitely been more healthy since I've been here...eating out less and moving more.  Still working towards my goal of a healthy lifestyle!  

 SO, Here I am! Spokane Washington!  I've been here for one full week today but New York City seems like a lifetime ago.  I always tried to be healthy there - but a 9 hour a day desk job and WAY too many happy hours and dinners out made the minutes I spent in the gym seem obsolete. Or maybe I just had to work too hard!  Anyway - My goal for Spokane is to MOVE IT or I'm going to LOSE IT - and NOT in a good way! I'm going to lose all the progress I made in NYC.  I have to keep it going here and pick it up a few notches! The start? I got a job as a personal trainer at a gym!  Now I can motivate not only myself - but others!  We can work together!   I joined FLAAB so that I can work with everyone!  Even if you don't have a lot of weight to lose - you can ALWAYS get in better shape and become more healthy.  Working out is key to being skinny - NOT SKINNY FAT :)