Week Recap

Its been over a week since I posted…lots has been going on.  I worked out 4 days the week prior.  It felt good but I felt like I was behind the gun so to speak.  I weighed myself and had gained almost a full 4lbs.  :(   I started to read about Garicnia Cambogia extract and the weight loss benefits.  Then I came across the Green Coffee Bean again.  I had bought a bottle some time ago but never committed to using it.  So I decided to give the Green Coffee bean a try along with eating smart and exercise.

I started taking it on Monday, Feb 17th.  For me the evenings are the biggest challenge.  While at work I am able to have more self control but once home….. you know how that is :)   So I have been taking it 30min or little more prior to dinner.  It has helped to curb my appetite.  Once I have dinner I really do not feel the inclination to "snack".

Now, for a test.  This weekend is the first weekend while taking it.  Weekends, I tend not to be as strict with myself and I can tell that has hindered my progress.  All I am doing it trying to recoup any progress I made and lost over the weekend come the next Monday.  I had 3 good solid workout classes this past week and plan to go the gym today.  I plan to weigh myself on Monday so that I can get a full week in and see how it went. {{nervous just thinking about it!!}}

I had promised pics sometime back.  Here they are.  They are from January, when I first began this blog.
Til Monday….Happy Weekend!
~SeekSoulBalance!!

Back in Class!

I worked out on Monday -- 3mi on elliptical, bicep curls, shoulder press, v-ups & one other exercise with weights but I cannot think right now.
Worked out today, Tuesday, in a class with a trainer I had been going to up til about December of last year.  It sure was nice to be in his class again.  I enjoy them.  We did dead lifts, single leg lunges, v-ups, side planks, knee lifts, and a bunch of other stuff I cannot recall.  It was a GOOD workout! I am going back tomorrow.  He teaches on Tues - Thurs evening.  My goal is to go to his classes those evenings and fit in my own workouts in between on the other days.

I found a NEW FAV yummy today!!! If you like chips like I do and want to eat them with out too much guilt, you will enjoy these.  Kashi Black Bean chips, Chili Lime flavor is what I tried.  But they have SOOO many different ones that I almost could not choose.  They are not too spicy at all.  I was worried they may be.  27 crisps are only 130 calories!! Who doesn't like that!!!  Check out the link below for the chili lime plus you can see all the other flavors.
https://www.kashi.com/our-foods/crisps/kashi-black-bean-crisps-chili-lime

Thanks for reading!
~SeekSoulBalance!!

Time to Get Back on the Saddle….

Last week was not a great week on many levels.  But pertaining to food and exercise and with my Grandmother's passing - let's just say food and exercise were not something I paid tons of attention to.
Today I stepped on the scale…..drum roll….. it said 207.6lbs.  So its not horrible all things considered, but it does mean that I have some ground to make up.

I packed up my workout bag and all day long I was thinking about how I did not want to go and workout after work.  Its been cold, dark, windy, and gloomy all day and all I could think about was coming home and just vegging.  I drug myself to the gym staring from work and it was not the hardest workout but at least I went right?!?!?

I plan to go to a workout class Tuesday through Thursday and then work in a day or two somewhere on my own.  Plus, I need to get back to eating right.

Now, to get a shower, eat dinner and enjoy my evening with my sweetie!
~SeekSoulBalance!!

Emotional Ride

As I am sitting her waiting for my sister to arrive so we can work on arrangement details for my Grandmother's service,  I am feeling a wave of emotions come over me from time to time.  I am not sure from one moment to the next if I am angry, upset, hurt or if I just need a good cry.  My emotions and thoughts run the gambit from my feelings about her passing, her, death in general, how fragile and fleeting life is, how others impact you and your feelings, why do I feel deeply about some things and other do not, but in other situations they feel deeply and I feel nothing.  My mind is racing at a very intense speed this morning.

I have done things to occupy it.  Got dressed.  Put away dishes.  Stripped the bed and put new sheets on.  Put a load of laundry in.  Folded and put away a few things from a load yesterday.  Kitchen all cleaned up.  It is very quiet in the house.  Only the dryer running right now, sigh from my dogs every once in awhile and the keys of my computer as I type - that is it.  While I see the flicker of the candle I lit for my Grandmother.  It is cold and gloomy outside.  This is feeling like it will be a weird emotional ride sort of day.

I am thinking I NEED A GOOD CRY!

~SeekSoulBalance!

A Little Update….

Yesterday was a sad day.  I was awoken a little after 5am with a phone call from my Mother.  The nursing home called and my Grandma is not doing well.  We all should get there.  She called me once she got to the nursing home, she is going into hospice and they think she will pass on Saturday or Sunday.  I waited a little while before going to pick up my sister.  On the way there, my Mother called that my Grandma had passed away.

I really had wanted to be there.  But I took it as a sign that for her, she only needed her daughters there with her so she could move on.  The caseworkers at the nursing home told my Mother, "she is up in heaven giving them hell".  That pretty much summed my Grandmother up.  Fiesty, opinionated, could be cruel at times if I am honest, not an emotional touchy feel person, but she loved to cook, to tell dirty jokes, her frosty beer mug, and her family.

It was hard to see her in the last state her body was in when she passed.  But it is a part of death I have not witnessed before so I am sure that is also why it took me a moment to gather myself.   After we took care of what we needed at the nursing home. I came home and decided I needed a good sweat and went to the gym.  I worked out on Thursday and we did A LOT of arm work & I was VERY sore.  The workout helped some but gosh was I still sore afterward.  It felt good to workout.

Today, we go to the funeral home and then some family time afterward.  Then I have to come home and get ready for a Super Bowl get together at my house.  Right about now I am really just not feeling like cleaning up and all the clean up after.  I did some straightening up and laundry that I wanted to get done this morning.  My BF said he'd come over and help out with the cleaning.  That would be nice.  Now it is time to get ready to see my family.

So….all this to end with I may not be updating too much here this coming week.  But I may pop in when I can.  I will still work on eating healthy and trying to get in some exercise when I can.
~SeekSoulBalance!

Look What I Bought!!!

Guess what I finally bought last night?!?!?
A scale!!

Ugh! I know right!? But I actually was okay buying it and figured this morning I would step on it.  I weigh 205.0lbs on the dot.  Now even more so I wish I had weighed myself to see where I was at.  I can tell I have lost some weight - I just simply have no way of knowing how much.  I would venture to guess 3-5lbs.  But again, its hard to say.

I am thankful that now I know where I am starting from so I can better monitor it.  It will also help me determine a goal.  Right now, I am going for a final goal of 185lbs.   But in my 9 weeks I can very close.  If I can try to lose 2lbs a week for 9 weeks = 18 lbs - 205 = 187lbs.  YIKES!!  I say that because it kind of scares me.  I am going to think positively and take it one day at a time.  Trying not to be too hard on myself along the way.
Thanks for reading.
~SeekSoulBalance!

Hump Day 1 of 9!!

Today is day 4 of my journey to try and change my lifestyle to a healthier one.  I have exercised on Sunday and Tuesday.  Been logging what I eat in my journal since Monday.  Feeling pretty good today.   Buying a scale is still on my list of things to do before Friday is my goal.  With work, etc… it just hasn't panned out.
Sometimes my work can become stressful and often I would turn to something sweet.  As a closet/secret eater normally I tend to do all my bad eating at home.   But sometimes I just need to grab something at work during a stressful day.  Today I had a moment when I felt that.  I resisted but a lady at work gave me a piece of dark chocolate bark thins with pumpkin seeds.  It was not the best piece of chocolate but it did satisfy me and then I realized something.  It really didn't taste all that great and I didn't have that feeling of wanting more.  Hopefully I can work toward having more of those moments and not reach for chocolate when they do happen.
Today is almost over and was a good day.  Tomorrow is a new day & looking forward to it.
~SeekSoulBalance!