Week 5: Grief, Mercury Retrograde, a-ha Moments and No More Excuses!

This past week was filled with a lot of moving energy! Between mercury retrograde and the upcoming full moon energy, I’ve personally experienced many moments of grief and major a-ha moments.

Click to Week 5 Food & Exercise Diary

No More Excuses!

I caught myself making excuses this week and decided – that’s enough! I was using my cold as an excuse to not exercise and I’ve been worried for too long about depleting myself again. Truth is, when I put the effort to do at least 20 min of a workout that breaks a good sweat, I feel WAY better and have more energy afterwards. When I had adrenal fatigue, exercise would deplete me further (especially one hour HIIT workouts) and I would become exhausted and very irritable afterwards. The noticeable difference now means by body is ready!
NO MORE EXCUSES

If I want to see the results I envision, I need to MOVE and do the work. This week helped to clarify I need to make some choices in order to meet my goal, and I’m the only one who can make them:

• If I’m not going to reduce my calories further, I need to move more
• If I don’t want to exercise more, I need to reduce my calories further

I also felt more motivated after my Fall and Winter coats were both snug around the hips when zipped up! While I could buy new coats, I really don’t want to. I’m using this as more incentive to shed the pounds.

After I made that switch in my mind mid week, I suddenly no longer wanted to eat the lactose free cheese I started eating on this journey while giving myself freedom to eat whatever I like. While I seem to tolerate parmesan and goat cheese without any issues, regular cheese (even lactose free) causes inflammation. And those mini Halloween chocolate bars… I’m soooo ready for those to be out of the house!

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Week 5 Food & Exercise Summary

Today I am UP 0.4 lbs. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little frustrated. It hasn’t taken me this long to see the scale move in the past but this frustration is helping me to reevaluate where I am and what I need to do to see the changes I want. There are many factors at play since my lifestyle right now is unlike it was in the past, but I’m aware which helps to make the needed changes. Think we can all agree there are things in our lives we wish were different right now.

While my books arrives a couple weeks ago for my nutrition coaching course, I didn’t complete the first chapter until yesterday. My goal is to complete minimum 2 chapters each week and I suspect there will be useful information I can apply for myself and also share.

WEEK 5 – FOOD & EXERCISE SUMMARY	CALORIES	EXERCISE	YOGA
	Average 1708/day
Monday – Mushrooms, spinach, eggs, lactose free cheese on whole grain tortilla – Apple – Home made almond butter brownie – Plain organic greek yogurt, fresh strawberries, salad topper – Whole wheat spaghetti with lean ground beef and tomato basil sauce – Mini Halloween Smarties	1548	6 min weights: 4 exercises x10, 3 sets	28 min
Tuesday – Gluten free oatmeal with blueberries, banana and salad topper – Vega protein bar – Cheese bagel with butter (drive thru) – Butternut squash soap with crackers – Mini Halloween Snickers and Twix	1792		12 min
Wednesday – Mushrooms, eggs – Strawberries – Vega protein bar – Apple – Chicken balls, kale salad with salad topper and poppyseed dressing – Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips	1614	20 min HIIT 24 min walk
Thursday – Smoothie with blueberries and banana – Mushrooms and eggs – Vega protein bar – Apple – Plain organic greek yogurt with mixed berries and salad topper – Whole grain wrap with roasted chicken, avocado and tomato – Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips	1483		20 min
Friday – Plain organic greek yogurt with fresh strawberries, blueberries, banana and salad topper (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries) – Vega protein bar – Salad with romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, parmesan, goat cheese, organic chicken breast, ceaser dressing – Popcorn – Mini Halloween sized Smarties – Decaf coffee with splash of almond milk	1621	58 min walk Assembling furniture
Saturday – Gluten free oatmeal with blueberries, strawberries and salad topper – Home made almond butter brownies – Cheat meal: A&W Teen Burger & Fries	2032	Assembling furniture
Sunday – Mushrooms, spinach, eggs, lactose free cheese in whole grain tortilla – Fresh strawberries – Home made almond butter brownies – Vega protein bar – Salad with iceberg lettuce, mushrooms, goat cheese and roasted garlic chicken – Popcorn – Mini Halloween Kit Kat and Smarties	1872	53 min walk + 289 stairs	27 min
WEIGHT LOSS – /GAIN +	+0.4 lbs	176.7 lbs
PREVIOUS WEEK		176.3 lbs
Total cal/lbs lost since starting Sep 25 and 178.6 lbs:	–6,650 cal	-1.9 lbs

The hardest part, is starting!

Everyone?