Fat-Free Friday AND Before and After - One Month of Work

So, I'm a horrible blogger, because I totally forgot to share with you some of my workout successes from February!

Basically, at the beginning of the month, I realized that I had become cardio-obsessed and had completely neglected my strength training regiment. So, I decided to put more of a focus on strength once again, including doing two daily challenges (one focused on my arms, the other on my abs) hoping that I would see more definition in my body. Although changes weren't drastic, I'm pleased with the results:



I am thrilled with the changes I see in my arms. I always struggle with them!!! And even though childbearing has completely destroyed my tummy area, I can still see improvement! So I might as well keep trying, right?

Something else to discuss: “Everything in Moderation”

From the moment I began this recent weight-loss quest, I have had one main mantra: “everything in moderation”. I say it here, I say it to myself, and I say it to others. Moderation is something that can be applied to many things in life, and of course weight loss is no exception. I don't believe in depriving myself completely of my favourite things just to make the scale happy.

As you can tell, though, from previous posts, I have not been following my own advice. At least, I haven’t been following it when it comes to sugar – more specifically, CHOCOLATE! I used to be able to satisfy my sweet tooth with a single oreo, or a small chocolate-covered marshmallow egg. Not anymore. Lately, eating chocolate leads to eating more chocolate, junk, and even more chocolate. I wonder if something hormonal is going on…?

Anyway…a few days ago, after yet another session of cramming-chocolate-into-my-face-as-fast-as-I-can-before-bed, I got ticked off. Ticked that I had once again let a certain (delicious) food control me. I figured that the best way for me to beat this new addiction was to go cold turkey – for just three days. So, I set out to not eat even ONE BITE of chocolate before my next weigh-in. I also decided to try to eat a little bit cleaner, because my overall eating habits have been slacking as well. So, how did I do?

Day 1: No problem! I felt great, had only a small taste of something sweet (vanilla flavoured), wasn’t hungry and didn’t miss my chocolate!

Day 2: I was good until about 4:00, at which point I wanted to gouge my eyes out and replace them with oreos. But I resisted the temptation.

Day 3: I didn't eat any chocolate, but I started to think that this whole thing was stupid. Why cut something out for three days that I fully intend to eat again? And I ended up eating too much sugar to help quench my chocolate cravings. Dumb.

I'll consider it an overall success because I definitely do not crave chocolate like I did even a few days ago. So that's a win. Also, I lost another 0.8 of a pound, bringing my weight to 150.6...only 2.6 until I reach my ultimate goal! Hopefully that will happen in the next two weeks.

I’m going to be picking up some healthier chocolate fudge bars that I’ve tried before that are only around 90 calories, and plan to use these as my post-dinner snack. I always feel the need to eat something after the kids go to bed, and I figure a fudgesicle is the way to go because a) it’s chocolate, but doesn’t cause me to crave other chocolate, and b) it takes a long time to eat, which will satisfy my mouth’s stupid desire to have something constantly in it!!!

I also want to continue to eat less processed foods. I don’t mind some (say it with me: MODERATION) but I feel like lately I’ve been relying on it too much, and as a result I’ve been feeling hungrier throughout the day!

Hope everyone had a good week!