Follow Through Friday - # 7

I really buckled down this week and tried to accomplish the goals I set.

Last week:

• Walk my required km for each day - 5.70 km
• Lose 1 lb
• Continue with the 30-Day Water Challenge
• Food Journal EVERYTHING and stay within my calorie limit (1600 as per Lose It)
• TOPS CHALLENGE - Follow Canada's Food Guide (this was my contribution)
• Increase the speed on my treadmill from 2.5 to 2.6

5 out of 6 (details below)

• Walking is now just habit for me, my how things can change
• I rocked this goal this week...I was actually down 5 lbs!
• Some days are still rougher than others, but I find my body craves water more
• I really focused on my food journal this week.  I knew this was my problem and if I wanted to see success, I needed to work on this big time
• I tried to follow this for one day, because it was my contribution after all.  I quickly remembered why the Canada Food Guide does not work for me.  Not enough protein!  1 serving of meat is only about 2 oz., which is not very much and I should only have 2 servings a day.  Without more meat at dinner, I get hungry and by hungry I mean I want a snack in the evening.  I am one of those lucky people that does not have a problem with late night snacking....unless I haven't had enough protein at dinner.
• This was an easy change and it felt...cheap?  As in it wasn't much of a challenge, but I will continue on with my slow increase.

Goals For The Week

• Walk my required km for each day - 5.70 km
• Lose 1 lb
• Finish up the 30-Day Water Challenge
• Food Journal EVERYTHING and stay within my calorie limit (1567 as per Lose It)
• TOPS CHALLENGE - No Chocolate
• Increase the speed on my treadmill from 2.6 to 2.7

Food

I paid such close attention this week.  I weighed, measured and logged everything.  I tried to stay as close to my calorie budget at possible too.  There were some indulgences but it all balanced out.  My breakfast of choice for this week was this:

Peanut butter and banana sandwich and a yogurt

- 1 slice of bread

- 1 tbsp peanut butter

- 1 banana

- 1 Greek yogurt

I look at this as a complete meal.  It has something from each food group, it's simple and yummy.  When I get up, I have the sandwich.  It ties me over until I get to work and I have my yogurt about 9:30.  It's flavored and not low calorie.  The little container is 100 calories, but here is the thing.  Yogurt is not my favorite, especially the low calorie versions.  I don't enjoy them...I buy them and they end up going to waste.  So I decided to buy and eat what I enjoy and just make the allowance for them in my food plan.

Exercise

I am now working on increasing the speed at which I walk on the treadmill.  I bumped it up last week by just a little.  One of the days I decided that for the last 10 minutes I would go from 2.6 km to 3.0 km.  I must admit...that was a real challenge for me (which is the point, right?)  My stride is naturally pretty short, so it was a lot of work to keep up and maintain my stride.  I did it though and my legs protested for sure.  My calves were throbbing in bed that night.  I will do it again for sure, but only for the 10 minutes. I honestly feel that I would not be able to maintain that pace for the full time.  I am also starting to consider increasing my treadmill time from an hour to an hour and a half.  My calorie limit is getting lower so I have to be prepared to compensate for that.  I managed to get a couple of walks outside which was such a refreshing change!