A gain, and a plan...

First of all, another reminder to enter my 150 Followers Giveaway!!!  Entries will be accepted until 5:00 pm central time Wednesday, August 10.  YAY for giveaways!

And now, what you've all been waiting for...  my weigh-in results.  I was up a whopping 2.6 pounds on Saturday morning's weigh-in, bringing my weight back up to a solid 149. 

[image source]

Somehow, I wasn't upset by this.  I knew that I would be up, and I know how to fix it.  This wasn't a "mystery" gain. 

Anyway, I thought that it had been awhile since I had shared what my eating and exercise plan is on here, so I'm going to tell you basically what worked for me to lose 7 pounds in July, which is what I have been back to doing since around Thursday. 

Basically, Monday through Friday I eat simular foods.  Here's a breakdown of what I eat through the work week, which can vary slightly:

breakfast- oatmeal made with almond milk, topped with peanut butter and syrup 300-500 calories

morning snack- either A) bar (Luna or Lara) with a piece of fruit, or B) almonds with a piece of fruit 200-300 calories

lunch- whole grains (either brown rice, barley, or oats), beans, tomatoes, EVOO, steamed spinach, carrots (all mixed in bowl), sometimes skipping the whole grain if I forgot to cook it... 300-500 calories

afternoon snack- (sometimes not hungry for this) same as morning snack usually OR some Coconut yogurt 0-300 calories

dinner- brown rice, beans, lots of steamed veggies, EVOO 400-600 calories

evening snack- different every day.  Usually something sweet under 200 calories

So you can see that through the work-week, I'm eating anywhere from 1300 calories to 2000+ calories, depending on my choices, and depending on how much I exercise.  I try to always have a net calories (calories eaten - calories exercised) between 1300 and 1500.

My weekend plan looks like this:

Saturday- Practice Intuitive Eating for a day.  Eat when hungry, don't track, and enjoy food and exercise however I wish, for one day a week. 

Sunday- Back to tracking, but still no set plan.  Don't worry too much about getting in certain amounts of veggies or vitamins, just focus on calories and enjoying food and exercise today.

Now, I know that to some people my Saturday may look like the controversial "cheat day" but really, it's not!  I hope to one day be a full time intuitive eater, so for now practicing IE one day a week has been great!  And sometimes my IE day does turn into a day of "splurge" foods, but I figure it's as if I was still on Weight Watchers and just ate my weekly points all over the weekend, which was something that I did often. 

I don't really have an exercise plan, but I am about to start a new adventure with a new DVD!  I won a giveaway on my friend Jennifer's really cool blog a couple of weeks ago, and one of the things in my prize package is a workout DVD called "6 Weeks 6 Pack" with Jillian Michaels.

[image source]

I am going to try to do this 30 minute workout 5 times a week!!!  3 weeks of Level 1 and 3 weeks of Level 2.  There will be before and after pictures of my abs, just FYI, that I will post in 6 weeks.  Perhaps I'll have a 6 pack?  LOL, I don't know, but I know that this will only help.  I plan to do this DVD plus 30 minutes of cardio through the week, and my usual cardio workouts with Stacey on the weekend.  One day of rest a week, or as needed.

So, there you have it.  That's my food and exercise plan for the foreseeable future, and hopefully the plan that will get me to my goal weight of 140 by my October 7th birthday!!!  9 pounds in 8 weeks...  Let's go!