the results

Here's the scoop on the boot camp results.

I lost 5 1/2 inches and 11 lbs! Most of it came off the hips & thighs, and that is a good thing. I can see a lot more muscle than I used to. I'm back in what I consider my ideal weight range and feel fantastic. I went down a size or two in pants can now do 26 push-ups instead of 5. I've really improved my eating habits and although it's always easy to be critical, I'm really pleased about it in general. I've had so much fun and am so happy about how I feel that I'm going to stay on with Tami and learn to be a trainer! Good times.

These are my before & after shots. I tried to keep the same pose although I'd rather show off my "new" arms. I feel like the real difference is a lot more dramatic than the photos...proof that we should force ourselves to take more of those "befores".

Well Done!

Is it all over? It hardly seems like it was 6 weeks, I had a blast doing the challenge. Now for the next challenge...keeping it going! I'm looking forward to doing my fitness test in the next few days and might even post the highlights, you never know. What I do know is that I'm tightened up all over and have dropped at least one size, both top and bottom.

My girls and I are attending a small wedding on Monday and there will be no shortage of wine flowing and chips for dipping. It's only 2 nights but will be the longest I've been away from my own kitchen since changing my eating habits. There aren't really restaurants available (in my price range anyway) so we'll actually be cooking our own food. It seems fitting to spend a couple of nights at wonderful hot springs to celebrate the completion of this program. Well done to all of us!

the bad with the good

Good
- almost everything...
- smarter eating
- stronger
- more visible muscle tone
- having fun
- working with like minded people
- underwear is saggy instead of my butt

Bad
- strained some sort of muscle in my core ( I think). Have to back off the ab work for now, boo.
- almost over
- have to go underwear shopping

Active Living

It's hard to believe it's been 4 weeks! I'm secretly dreading the end of the 6 weeks, wondering how I'm going to keep up the intensity of exercise. I love to be active but I don't often push myself to do that one last set or those last 15 seconds if you know what I mean. I've had such fantastic results and feel great. My shoulders and arms look quite different (to me) and the muffin top is less pronounced. Now that we've had a few beach days I'm happy to say I'm feeling more confident in my swimsuit.

I'm more aware of good posture and which muscles I'm using for everyday activities. I even noticed yesterday that the core work and focus has improved my centering on the wheel (pottery)! I'm paying more attention to doing active things with my kids. They always like to run around the yard but are so receptive to me engaging them with new ideas. I want my girls to be able to throw a proper spiral with a football, that kind of stuff. They've picked up their biking like crazy over the last week and are building "stunts" on the driveway now. I love that! It feels like a lot of pressure but these are life habits we're setting up for them...

In general I think I'm going to find it easier to keep up the new eating habits. I decided to take the weekend off of Vitabot to see what would happen. I want the changes to become increasingly internally motivated over time, rather than doing it to please a program or person. On Saturday I didn't keep track at all and I think I ended up doing quite well. At a party I parked myself beside the veggie tray instead of the chip bowl and passed on the cake. Today was different. I didn't plan to write it down but I felt so bloated and tired by evening that I decided to go back through my day and log it. Ick. I covered off most of the vitamins and minerals all right, but blew through the calories, fat, sodium and alcohol. It's important to connect it to how I'm feeling, rather than just the "failure" with numbers. Win some, lose some. It wasn't a great day but tomorrow is another one, right?

Looking forward to another week!

Blueberry Bran Muffins

This isn't an officially endorsed recipe, just sharing what I have! I'll list the original recipe first, then note my changes.

Blueberry Bran Muffins

Mix dry ingredients together:
3/4 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c bran
1/2 c wheat germ
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Add berries:
1 c blueberries or other berries if they're chopped small. Frozen is less sloppy.

Mix liquids together in separate bowl and then gently add to dry ingredients:
( no idea what happens if you stir like crazy, less fluffy?)
1 egg
3/4 c buttermilk
1/4 c oil

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, makes about 12.

I often double it and freeze some since we're a family of 5 that eats through them pretty quickly.

My changes:

- replace buttermilk with 1% milk + about 1-2 tbsp vinegar. Let sit for a few minutes to "sour" before using
- replace oil with applesauce. I usually add a bit extra applesauce for moisture or do the 1/4 applesauce plus a tablespoon or 2 of oil, depends how you like them
- you could probably replace sugar with slightly less agave nectar based on what I've read (but haven't tried yet). I've made them without sugar and well, it wasn't the same for me. Maybe I could get used to it over time...
- egg can be replaced by 1tbsp ground flax seed that has been mixed with 2 tbsp warm water - let sit for a few minutes before using. It's not quite as moist but works.

Tannis's Meal Plan

Or rather, what Tannis randomly eats for the first half of the day and then desperately works with to somehow make the grade by bedtime. Today was not nice - 2.55 on the GPA. A feature I hadn't seen until Jennifer posted her smoking score. I'll post one from earlier in the week.

I find I don't have much trouble meeting the Weight Control and Heart Health categories but often fall short on the Vitamins and Minerals categories. What was really fun to see is how my nutrition has improved overall since I started. I keep focusing on the parts I'm *not* getting, rather than how far I've come. That's ridiculous, I've made fabulous improvements thanks to this!

Breakfast
Millet rice cereal with blueberries, strawberries & 1% milk
Small slice whole grain toast with 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
Mug coffee (black)

Lunch
Omelet - 2 scrambled eggs, spinach & peppers (no fat added)
- on small slice whole grain toast, no butter or cheese!

Supper
2 medium baked potatoes, no fat added, peel eaten
A big pile of broccoli & cauliflower, steamed
Home made cheese sauce, 1/4 c
Glass white wine

Snacks
22 almonds
Small, home made, high fiber/low fat muffin with fruit
Popcorn, air popped & buttered, 1/3c
Tea, decaf
Yogurt - plain, non-fat, 3/4 cup
Banana - 1/4 of medium size
Wheat germ, 1/2 cup (mixed into yogurt with banana)

Need Tips

Does anyone have ideas on how to get through the PMS bloat days without feeling like things are going backwards? I know it's a stage and will pass, but right now I feel like I'm losing ground, even though I'm still working out and haven't blown the eating!

Balance

I feel like the challenge is going amazingly well. My eating has improved a lot and I'm already seeing changes in muscle tone. My biggest challenge right now is to find overall balance. I've put a lot more energy into eating well and getting exercise which is essential for well-being and health. It has meant that a little less energy is going into other things I love though, like making pottery, journalling, and gardening. The kids are a bit weary of seeing me at my laptop working on vitabot!

Food-wise I feel like I've taken a step back this week. After a few of my best nutrition days my stomach started acting up. I get crampy and react badly to a whole host of good foods when I'm "off". I have no idea what it is but the change in my diet triggered it and now I have to figure it out. One thing I caught myself doing is "saving" calories in case I'm hungry later in the day. What that amounts to is more eating, later in the day of course. It's not my natural rhythm and not what I want to be doing. I'm cramming in an evening snack to boost my numbers. Deep breath. Balance.

On the upside, I had an insanely fun (and tiring) weekend at a mountain bike camp. I am still a bit stiff but had a blast pushing myself in a different way. Tami worked us hard on Monday too! That was one of my more challenging sessions, which means I loved it. It hit the butt/thighs, upper body, and core while keeping the heart rate up. I was feeling the burn like crazy.

Miracle Food

Apparently wheat germ is the magic bullet for my diet. It comes up almost all the time as a suggestion. Proof that this program is getting under my skin? Tonight I snacked on plain non-fat yogurt with a pile of wheat germ and some token fruit, just to see those "A"'s. These are not choices I've ever made before. I might not make that particular one again, I need to pay more attention at the beginning of the day and plan ahead.

Great workout with Charles today! We had some video trouble which did strange things to the timing but it mostly sorted itself out. I love how he challenges me on some of the strength moves. Was it the Bruce Lee push-up? I'll be trying on getting that one right for a looooong time. I worked some core muscles that I've never isolated before - it was the side hip raise move, that's as technical as I can get with describing it. New tricks! I think he may even have said that one was good for the "love handle" area, woo hoo!

Link

I'm not sure how many blogs I can keep up these days but here's a link to a post I made about the challenge on my personal blog, in case anyone is interested.

Week 2 (for me)

I sure did work up a sweat with Stacey & Tami yesterday, it felt good when it wasn't stinging my eyes. My legs feel a bit fatigued (like when I'm climbing the stairs) but I'm not really sore today, unlike last week. I think I'm still using my quads more than my glutes though - something to focus on next time. Sit that butt back! I probably shouldn't say this for fear of pain, but I think I'd like to push my abs even harder next time. I'm excited about how much stronger I could be by the time I get back into hockey in fall!

Today was my first day that really felt tough on the nutrition front. The excitement is probably wearing off a little bit and last night and throughout the day I felt a cold setting into my sinuses. I feel blah and want to curl up in bed with a pot of tea and a good book. Funny how that doesn't happen when you have 3 kids. I don't think it's a coincidence that today I was really tempted to eat all of my favourite fatty & salty foods. My comfort foods. It worked pretty well to just stay out of the kitchen or try to think of a healthier version of what I was craving. Dry popcorn instead of buttered & salted, cottage cheese instead of cheddar...

Through the food analysis I've realized that my B vitamins tend to be low with almost no B12 at all. Iron and calcium are hit and miss. I don't think I would have come across that information if I hadn't been tracking this closely. Some things to keep my eye on.

Small Victory

I went to a much anticipated party tonight, knowing it was going to be a big food challenge. Although I definitely went over my target calories for the day I managed to enjoy some treats without going overboard with the food or drinks. My body feels a lot better than it normally would after a night out like that!

Loving the Challenge

This is my first post here so I thought I'd do a quick intro. I'm a reasonably fit (I thought) mother of 3 but knew my core had never been strengthened after the babies and my workouts were getting old. I wasn't getting the results as quickly as I used to so I was finally ready to take a good look at my eating habits. This challenge was perfect timing. I had a hint of what I was getting into with Tami from doing a few of her classes in, I hate to say this, the mid-90's.

I have learned more about nutrition from tracking my food for a week than I would have believed possible. It's a bit painful to see the strange things I do - it's hard to log something like 1/2 slice of cheese, 3 broken crackers and a bread crust that I picked off of my kids' plate.

The cardio workout was awesome and completely stunned my body. I was sore for 4 days! I think I'll need a short extra warm-up ahead of time for future sessions. I felt really uncoordinated during Wednesday's core workout (maybe because I was still sore?). I don't have any yoga background and apparently no ab strength to speak of. Initially I didn't think I was working that hard and then I tried those last v-sits and had nothing left, I pretty much fell over. I did my first taped session today and it didn't work out as well. I wasn't at home and the wifi was sketchy. The good news is that although I had more breaks than I should have, I ended up repeating several parts. The ab work at the end was fantastic but really tough!

Here are a few photos in case anyone is interested in seeing what I look like when I'm not blundering around on the ooVoo screen.

Around my due date for #3.


This is closer to what I look like now but it's an older photo. No snow here!