All Aboard The Struggle Bus

It's taken longer than usual, but I have hit a wall. I'm working out, but I'm bored. And I'm not eating well at all. Confession: I ate McDonald's four times last week. And Krystal's tonight. On the plus side, I still managed to be down 2.5 pounds this morning (I swear, I only lose weight when I eat like crap. WTH.)

I'm just bored. I enjoy Bodyworks and Step with Alison, but cardio days are slowly killing my soul. I take a book to read, but halfway through my workout, I can't read anymore for the sweat in my eyes. I try to listen to music and end up wanting to skip every song. There are never good shows on the tv while I'm at the gym, or if there are, it's at my home gym and I can't get the audio.

This week is going to be extra hard due to my after-work commitments. Canstruction meeting tomorrow, trivia on Wednesday, and staying after work for the cable install on Thursday. I'm gonna change into my workout clothes tomorrow before the Canstruction meeting so that I don't have a choice to cancel my workout afterwards. Wednesday is my off day, and on Thursday, I think I may take my step to work and just do some videos while the cable guys are installing their stuff. That's the plan, anyways. Maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't. I'm just so tired.

Foodie Friday: Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Muffins

One of my staples lately is my breakfast muffins. I modified the recipe from the SkinnyTaste cookbook to something that works better for me.

What you'll need:

• 12-count muffin tin
• medium mixing bowl
• scale (optional)
• olive oil spray
• 6 eggs
• 6 egg whites (I used the Kroger brand -- 1 cup = 6 eggs)
• 3 oz. turkey sausage (I used Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles)
• 2 oz. swiss cheese (I used the Kroger brand)
• 3 oz. ham, shredded (I used Oscar Meyer honey ham)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray muffin tin with olive oil cooking spray.

Break 6 eggs into mixing bowl.

Add 6 egg whites to mixing bowl. Beat well.

I use my Ozeri scale to weigh the next three ingredients, but you can just add as much as you want. I place a bowl on the scale, tare it, and then weigh 3 ounces of turkey sausage (I did 2 ounces this time because that was all that was left in the bag.), cook/heat according to the instructions, and add to the mixing bowl.

Repeat the process with 3 ounces of ham (I just tear mine into small pieces, but you can actually cut it up if you'd like. I'm just not that patient.)

and 2 ounces of swiss cheese.

Mix together well.

Once mixed, scoop 1/4 cup into each muffin hole.

It should fill most of the hole.

Cook for 20-24 minutes. Our oven is really hot, and I usually cook for 22 minutes, so you may need to do it a little longer.

Silly me forgot to get the "after" picture, but I've posted them on my instagram in the past if you're interested. What I love most about these is how easy they are. I make a week's worth, but you can make more and freeze them. I pack up ten muffins (5 days worth) and take them to work on Monday. I can't eat first thing in the morning, so I drink a Slimfast High Protein shake (Chocolate) on the way to work along with an entire Camelbak of water. Around 9, I eat the muffins, and that tides me over until lunch. I get 35 grams of protein in 313 calories!

Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Muffins
1 serving: 2 muffins
Calories per serving: 133
Fat: 7.2g
Cholesterol: 199.3mg
Sodium: 315.9mg
Potassium: 145mg
Carbohydrates: 1.6g
Protein: 15.2g

Team Green Challenge: Completed

Last week, I made a goal to reach 10,000 steps each day. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday were easy, as I go to the gym straight after work. On Wednesday, I go straight from work to trivia, so I had to work hard to get my steps that day. I did a step workout when I got home, and halfway through the video, it started buffering! So for the next 20 minutes, I just made up my own combinations of steps. It was tough, but I got there.

On Saturday, I slept in because I hadn't slept well throughout the week. I went to my hair appointment, and I thought for sure I'd hit my goal because we were going to a Braves game that evening, but I didn't quite make it. I was just shy of 7,000 steps. The next day, I hit 14,000 steps to make up for it, and yesterday I hit my goal too, so overall I'd call the #teamgreen challenge a success.

I'm still struggling with my food intake though. For the most part, I stay around my calorie intake, with or without my extra gym calories, but I'm getting lazy. This is where I tend to fall apart. I can't resist when people want to go out to lunch. I'm not excited about the food; I'm excited about the fellowship. My waist and my wallet don't approve. I think I may try the Dave Ramsey envelope system next month, just for eating out. If I don't have the cash, I don't go. Maybe that will help.

My reward tank top arrived yesterday! I'm wearing it tonight to BodyWorks :) I'll try to remember to take a picture and post to Instagram (@lynngetsfit).

In the spirit of honesty, I didn't lose this week. I gained 0.2 pounds. But I'm still under 200, and that's what matters! (Also, I keep accidentally typing or saying "under 100".. if that ever becomes true, someone seriously needs to have an intervention. That's too much.)

Today's Transformation Tuesday isn't about the physical. It's about the mental. That is a HUGE struggle in the weight loss journey. If your mind isn't in it, you won't make it. Lately, this phrase has been showing up everywhere: Progress, Not Perfection. It is a process. It takes time. You'll move forward and back, and that's okay... as long as you keep going. No giving up! I'm determined this time. I want to look back at this blog next year and say, "look how far I've come." I want to be able to look in the mirror and like what I see. Even if I'm only five pounds lighter in a year, I'll be happy. Down, down, down we go.

Transformation Tuesday

My first Transformation Tuesday. I decided to take a picture of me in June 2014 and one from June 2015 to compare.

June 2014 -- at the Georgia Aquarium for the penguin encounter with my favorite triplet

June 2015 -- at the Georgia Aquarium again (pure accident) for my bestie's birthday

the only fullbody shot of me from the day, goofing around and wearing the baby carrier with no baby

Besides the obvious difference in hair color, check out my face. That's a roughly 20 pound difference in weight. The bottom picture is slightly deceptive because the waist strap is holding in my love handles, but still. I'm significantly thinner than I was last year, and WAY more comfortable. I'm getting there, slowly but surely.

First Weight Loss Goal Destroyed!

I am incredibly happy to announce that for the first time in well over a year, I am under 200 pounds!

199.5!!!!!

It's barely under, but it's there! This was after two weeks of not sticking to my meal plans at ALL and not working out as much as I should have. I was absolutely dreading getting on the scale this morning, thinking, "This is *not* how I want to start my week off." I'm sure glad I did! It made my awful commute into work tolerable. All day, when something has started to bug me, I repeat, "Nothing can get you down today. You are back in onederland." The power of positivity, ya'll!

Also, with my goal achieved, I now get my reward:

Purchased this baby this morning! Can't wait for it to arrive. Now I have to decide what my next reward will be. I already know my next goal. It's not far from this one, but it's a milestone: 194. That'll be 25 pounds down. This reward will be smaller since it's a smaller step to the next goal. Any ideas?

On another note, I won both of my dietbets from last month. I was frustrated at the end because I was on my period and carrying more water weight or bloat or something, and I was gonna lose, so I may have fudged things a bit. But it's only because I was THERE for a WEEK until the day before the bet ended. I sure hope ya'll believe me, because I'm not gonna cheat myself this time.

I'm ready to get back into my routine. Between vacation, sickness, and work travel, my workout buddy hasn't been able to get to the gym with me in almost a month! We're both pretty stoked about Bodyworks tomorrow.

This week, I've decided to challenge myself: go green. By that, I mean, meet all of my Fitbit goals. I recently upgraded from the Flex to the Charge HR, and I am LOVING it. My current step goal is 8,000, only because it's so hard to get to 10,000 when I do weights instead of cardio. But this week, I'm upping my goal to 10,000, and I'm going to meet it every day. Wednesday will be the toughest day, since I go straight from work to trivia, so it'll just have to be a late evening of step videos or something. But it's going to happen. I'm already at 5200 steps for the day, and I haven't even left work yet! Normally I'm between 2k and 4k during the work day. Small victories :)