Week two was not as hardcore as week 1 because we had my lovely mother in law visiting. I was still running but I wasn't doing workouts in between run days and I wasn't quite as careful about what I ate. I was still careful and stayed in budget almost all days but I made two batches of homemade ice cream (honey lavender and vanilla bean) and a cake for her birthday.
I weighed in at 141.8 at the two week mark. This is less progress than before but still very good progress. We have been watching a course on nutrition from The Great Courses and during the lesson on weight management she said to expect a lot of loss in the beginning and then a sharp slow down at week 2. But she also said if you just stick with it you will see gradual results.
Week 3 will be more serious. No cake, no ice cream and workouts will be back.
For my other resolution (finishing projects), last night I finished knitting a basket weave blanket I have been working on for about 10 years! I never thought I would finish this thing! One row took so long that I would work on 2 or 3 rows and then put it down for months. This resulted in getting lost in the pattern and not wanting to figure out where I left off. Once I discovered row counters this problem was solved and I would knit a little more often but it still took a long time. It's a cozy blanket and I am very glad to mark that project off of my list.
Weight loss for week 2: 3.4 lbs
Total weight loss thus far: 5.8 lbs
I am ahead of schedule. I only meant to be down 3 lbs by now. I better keep this up!
Today I am running 6 miles and cleaning a lot so it's a good start to an active and healthy week.
So, day 7 is complete and I am doing a damn good job. I started at 147.6 on the morning of 1/1/2016. One week later I am down to 145.2. Not all of that is fat loss but it's still very encouraging.
Each day I stuck to 1200 calories. If I exercised I was allowed a little more.
Every morning I would eat 1 cup of shredded wheat with blueberries, raspberries or strawberries only I used unsweetened almond milk instead of cow milk. 1 cup of almond milk is 30 calories. 1 cup of skim milk is about 85 calories. That's 385 calories I am not consuming.
For lunch I would put 2 oz of turkey or chicken into half of a whole grain pita pocket. I'd add lettuce and bell peppers. My snacks were 1% cottage cheese, fruit, string cheese or almonds. I only ate a small amount and only when hungry.
I went out to eat twice this week. On 1/2/16 I went to a steakhouse. I ordered a 6oz sirloin with a side of steamed, dry broccoli (so no butter or oil) and a side salad with no dressing. I drank iced tea. I estimate this meal was less than 600 calories.
The other night my husband took me on a date out for sushi. I ran 3 miles that day so I was still on budget even with a rainbow roll and 6 pieces of salmon sashimi. I also shared a side of edamame with my husband. I estimate that meal was about 640. A high calorie meal but full of nutrition and the run let me afford it!
A few nights we experimented with cauliflower. We did a yellow curry and put it over cauliflower "rice" on Sunday. It was really good!
Yellow Curry
Then on Monday we made burrito bowls using lime cilantro cauliflower rice. It was so delicious. I ate that for dinner for several nights.
Burrito bowl over lime cilantro cauliflower "rice"
On New Years Day we made Skinny Jambalaya. It was so fan-fucking-tastic.
Skinny Jambalaya
As for exercise...I didn't do anything on the 1st or the 2nd of the new year but I was VERY active on the 3rd. I ran 3 miles, did a 30 minute workout including planks, squats, lunges and crunches, I did yard work and I cleaned quite a bit. Monday I woke up so damn sore! Almost everything hurt. Moving hurt. Staying still hurt. I rested Monday to recover. Tuesday evening I did another 3 mile run. I was still sore but it was not bad. Wednesday I did a 45 minute workout. More lunches, squats, planks, burpees, push ups, crunches...all sorts of things. I was quite sore today (especially my quads!) but I did a 4 mile run anyway.
Estimated calories consumed for the week: 8,661
Estimated calories burned from exercise: 1,529
Weight Loss for Week 1: 2.4 lbs
I am well on my way to my goal. I am really loving using cauliflower as a substitute. This weekend we are trying it in a lasagna instead of noodles. I am really looking forward to that!
I don't miss alcohol as much as I thought I would. If I crave a cocktail in the evening I put club soda over ice and splash in some peach nectar. It's about 35 calories for 1/4 a cup of the nectar but that's better than 176 calories in one bottle of my favorite beer or the 200 calories in a gin and tonic or whiskey and coke. Plus, the nectar has some vitamin C.
I do miss coffee but hot tea is also very nice and my stomach has been feeling really good. Less heartburn!
Okay, on to week 2...I am hoping to be down to 143.5 in one week. Let's see if I make it!
2015 was a pretty great year. In June, Justin and I got married in Portland, Oregon. It was a really fun wedding. We had a pretty long engagement but it was well worth the wait. We chose Urban Studio which is a cool venue in the Pearl District.
Outside of Urban Studio
The room set up for the ceremony
All of the vendors we chose were awesome. The day before my sisters (including my Mollz) and mom all got together to get our nails done at Urbantopia Salon. They shut the whole salon down for us so we had the place to ourselves and they provided champagne, cheese, fruit and crackers. It was a really good time and they were so nice.
Melissa and Nell
The maid of honor
Jules and Mollz
That cheese was really good
The morning of the wedding, Justin and Gavin went to my sister's hotel while Mia and I stayed in our big room to wait for the wonderful Cassandra Kennedy to arrive. While we were getting ready, Evrim Icoz arrived to take photos. They were both really amazing. I totally chose Portland's best vendors!
Cassandra and I
My dress had a lot of glass buttons
Mia's hair is so lovely!
Her face is pretty great, too!
Here are the guys getting ready with photographer Paul Rich:
Justin helping the best man
The rings
Gavin being the best man
Handsome men in my life
And silly, too.
So, my dress...I LOVE MY DRESS. I've been looking at this dress since 2011 even before Justin proposed (I knew he was the one since the day we met). I knew I wanted tea length and I loved Audrey Hepburn's dress in Funny Face.
That's when I found Stephanie James Couture. She makes a dress called The Audrey. You could even have a custom petticoat color. I chose green. My favorite part of the dress was the Swiss dot overlay. Here she is:
Yes, that's right: orange shoes. This wedding was full of life and whimsy. It wasn't stuffy. It was meant to be fun and magical because that's exactly how our life is together.
So, we did photos together with Evrim Icoz and Paul Rich as we headed to the venue. Portland is such a cool place!
Once we got to the venue we did family photos. I have a huge family so this was not easy.
Justin's side
The Europeans
The Wedding Party
Part of my side (dad's side)
Ring bearer running through a picture
My side
Part of my side (mom's side)
After the family photos we went to the venue and prepared for the ceremony. The ceremony was done by one of Justin's oldest friends from college. He did an amazing job. It was a funny ceremony but very sweet which is just what I had hoped for.
My daughter drew the picture for the program cover
Flower kid basket (we had a boy and a girl)
Family completing madlibs instead of signing a guest book
The decor was A Midsummer Night's Dream meets Audrey Hepburn
Our awesome officiant, Eric Carter
The groom
The maid of honor and best man (my kids). I made her dress!
Flower kids and ring bearer (bearing a ring pop)
They went a little nuts...
Here comes the bride (my son's face is so sweet)
My mom walked me down the aisle. We make our own traditions.
When Eric asked how many guests had to travel in for the wedding...oops...
I love the way he looks at me
Eric made sure to humiliate me (it was funny)
Best man duties
The kiss
The kids are so happy
I was, too!
I love this shot.
So, while the ceremony room was being converted into the reception everyone had cocktails and appetizers in the front room.
The reception room was magical. Our wedding designer was Christina Safford of Designs by Muse. She was awesome. She knew exactly what we wanted.
Justin made the table numbers
I asked for lots of greenery (maidenhair ferns) with pops of orange
No two tables looked the same which is just what we wanted.
Loved the woodsy elements so much!
Instead of cake we had voodoo doughnuts
They made a special bride and groom pair for us
The lovely designer: Christina Safford
Next we had dinner. I didn't get much of a chance to eat but I loved what I had and everyone said they loved the food. We even had a kid's buffet. We had buffet style by Pearl Catering. It was so good!
The menu. Justin's dad made the chalkboard and easel. I did the lettering and Justin did the vines.
Caprese salad. SO yummy.
Kids buffet included burgers, chicken strips, tater tots and watermelon.
Pear and walnut salad
Gruyere and cheddar au gratin potatoes
Champagne chicken
Balsamic flat iron steak
After dinner we did toasts:
My son did a beautiful toast
Justin's dad's toast was short...and sweet.
My step dad did a sweet toast
And my dad did a toast
After toasts we had a little time to mingle. People got to play the Cards Against Humanity games we put on the tables. Some of the cards were custom cards placed specifically for the people at that table. It was so fun!
Then we did our dance. Mia sang A Thousand Years (by Christina Perri) and we danced. We meant to learn the Viennese Waltz but Justin travels so much it was not easy. We got one lesson in. So we only did like 20 seconds of that for fun. Mia was very nervous but she did a great job. I was so proud of her!
Then the other dances:
Finally, we did the candy toss. We didn't want to do a bouquet toss...it's stupid. So, we attached bags of candy to parachutes and did a candy toss to the song "I Love Candy"...it was perfect!
We also had a photo booth provided by the DJ (Event Team Entertainment). The DJ did a really great job. He kept things moving the whole day and into the night.
After the wedding, we walked back to our hotel room. The kids went to sleep and Justin and I went back out alone for a drink and some truck food. It was such a fantastic day. The photographer posted photos here.
Since June we have been happily living life. We've almost been together 5 years. Best years of my life, hands down.
I don't do new year's resolutions but this year I decided I am going to this year. I've gained a good amount of weight since the wedding. I just kinda stopped being careful and I was so glad to no longer be planning a wedding! Anyway, I am not overweight from a medical standpoint but I do not enjoy how the extra weight feels. I cannot understand how people are okay with this...just a few extra pounds and I feel so uncomfortable in my own skin. I think in May I was 136 and now I am about 146...yikes! That's a lot of extra weight for a shorty like me. Justin doesn't care but I care.
So, for the next 3 months I will be counting calories. I will also not be drinking any alcohol. We signed up for the 2016 Vienna Half Marathon in April so I need to get to training. With regular running, workouts on non-run days, cutting simple carbs (not cutting complex carbs...people who do that are just ignorant), and cutting alcohol and soda I should be at or close to my goal (128) by the time we go on our next Europe trip at the end of March. This time it's Ireland, England and Vienna. So excited!
I know I will hit my goal. I always do. It just takes some effort and determination.
My other resolution is to finish projects. I start projects or buy things for projects and I don't finish them. I have a list and I am going to finish them all in 2016.
I am a very happy person and it feels amazing to be this happy. We also might buy a house this year...we're still thinking about it!
