Jodie's Weekly Check In

March 3
Weight: 122 lbs
Body Fat: 23.1%
Measurements: Waist 25; Hips 36.5; Thigh 20.5.

I feared this week's weekly check in! As you can see, I am 1.2 lbs up in weight, although my measurements remain the same. My small weight gain can be attributed to a few things: I'm retaining water (and I look physically bloated) due to my time of the month, I didn't stay as hydrated as normal over the weekend, and I had a few too many treats over the week.

My calories this week were higher than normal. Looking back, I realize that I made a few mistakes with my food choices. I decided to batch cook a number of meals, and to make flapjacks. Good... but what ended up happening was that I got bored with my meals and ended up reaching for the tasty tasty flapjacks rather than being completely disciplined. I could tell that I was eating too much sugar as I felt groggy when I woke up and my mouth felt sore.

We went for Rice & Spice on Thursday and I felt okay about having a curry and not eating all of my rice. That was a great treat that would have balanced out, calorie-wise, if I hadn't gone to a conference on Saturday and taken advantage of the free food! I'm not good with a limitless amount of food in front of me, especially when I'm nervous and want something to do with my hands. I ended up eating a lot of the mini baked goods, which unsettled my stomach the next day due to the sugar and dairy. So, in future I still need to work on how I handle events. I'm finding myself a bit hungrier than I was before; after a splurge it always takes some effort to re-train myself to crave the healthy things.

I completed Week 1 of Ripped in 30, doing 5 days a week. I also went to 3 Zumba classes at the gym, and on one day I did a small amount of Blogilates. I'm finding it really great to do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training, what Jillian Michaels does) in the morning and extra cardio in the evening when my energy has recovered. I didn't think I would like Zumba but it's starting to get into my blood and I would love to do it every day! Unfortunately, since I will not have access to a gym after May, I'm trying to give some thought to how I will keep up the cardio at a later stage. I guess I will be able to go running. I'm not sure I want to do too many at-home DVDs, I'd rather be outside or at a class. I'll have to give this more thought.

As for the weekly challenge, I have to admit that I created the reflection chart with Eleana and Rachael in mind. I wasn't sure how much I would get out of it as I felt like I already knew where I tended to go wrong. But I actually found it extremely beneficial! Keeping a chart made me aware of the fact that I needed to make the effort to get to bed, and that my meal plan couldn't be nutritionally sound as I was suffering from a lot of headaches. I'm not sure I could be bothered to keep one every week but I would definitely recreate it for times that I'm struggling, to make sure that I am being positive and focused.

Although I had good days and bad and remained very active, I feel like this was my toughest week so far. I've lost the weight I gained from Christmas and now I feel back to normal, so there isn't as much of a push for me as there was starting out. My body is noticeably different with more definition in my stomach, and slightly slimmer legs. I love working out and I rarely feel the desire to skip it, but it's been harder for me to tell myself no when it comes to food. I definitely need to refocus on maintaining a healthy diet and meeting my next goal. I'm not far away from my goal weight, but my next mini-goal is to get to 118 lbs, which as of today would be 4 lbs down.

It's going to be tough keeping on top of things over the next couple of weeks as I'll be away in South Carolina. I won't be able to weigh myself next week but I will still do a weekly check in with measurements. I am going to make sure that I keep tracking my meals, get daily exercise, and prepare most of my meals at home. I'm hopefully going to go and work at the local library rather than staying at home all day, which will help with not reaching for snacks constantly. I am a little anxious about staying on track as this tends to be where I veer widely off (from lack of routine) but this is the time to really put some effort in!

Hope you have both had a good week and are looking forward to the next. :)