Month: February 2018

Humor, Instant Pot, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

Late Evening Short Post

Cruz2Lose

Today completes a full week since I have been working out and I can honestly say that there is already a remarkable difference in my energy level.  Even though I was wondering if I should plan out my funeral after yesterday’s “leg day”, it really wasn’t all that difficult for me to wrangle up the energy to head back to the gym today for another workout.

fullsizeoutput_208dThis evening I broke out the Instant Pot and whipped up Spicy Pineapple Pork from nomnompaleo.com.  This was fantastic! This was full of flavor with just enough heat and spices to kick it up a notch. I didn’t stop there. When the Spicy Pineapple Pork was done, I washed down the Instant Pot and threw in the ingredients to make yogurt, I will know tomorrow whether or not it all worked out.

Working out daily. Making homemade yogurt. Who is this madwoman?!

Humor, Instant Pot, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

Leg Day

Cruz2Lose

I got up this morning and after I tossed down a few cups of coffee, I headed out to the gym. I was actually surprised that I had more energy than usual since I didn’t sleep well last night.  When I arrived at the gym, I thought that I should give the elliptical a try just to mix things up a bit.  Climbing up on this thing was the moment that I was going to find out whether or not Planet Fitness was truly a “Judgement Free Zone” as they promote in their advertizing. I got up on that thing but I can’t say that I did so with grace. I imagine
that I looked more like a newborn giraffe trying to steady itself shortly after birth. A few minutes into my workout I was wondering what in the world I had been thinking. I lasted 12 minutes before throwing in the towel.

Since my thighs were already feeling pain from the elliptical, I decided that today wouldtraining-828760_1280 be “leg day”.   If you aren’t familiar with the term “leg day”, it is the day at the gym you spend your time working on your legs.  This may also be known as purgatory. By the time I walked out of the gym I had found Jesus and was praying for healing.

I may need a day of rest tomorrow.

When I began working out 6 days ago, I got on the scale for a base weight. I checked my weight today and I have lost about 3 lbs. I consider that to be a pretty good start. With that being said, I do not want to get tangled up in the numbers. I am not “dieting”, I am changing my lifestyle.  I would say my eating is more paleo if you break it down, however, I am not counting calories.  My journey is about making healthier choices and finding the humor along the path. There is ALWAYS humor. 😉

No Instant Pot cooking tonight but more healthy recipes to come.

*Disclaimer:  That is not me in the photo. Not at all.

Humor, Instant Pot, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

Shake, Shake, Shake

Cruz2Lose

Day 5 at Planet Fitness:

After getting off the treadmill today, I decided to use the Total Body Enhancement machine.  If you are not familiar with this contraption, apparently it uses red light therapy and vibration to essentially burn fat.  That is the short version. So you step into this machine with pretty much nothing on but your bare necessities, put on a set of goggles to protect your eyes from the light, turn this thing on and choose your program.  I had used this machine a few years back at another Planet Fitness, however, I didn’t recall exactly how it worked. I set the Total Body Enhancement to run program number three out of four programs. Program 1 being a gentle mode and Program 4 having the highest intensity.  As the machine turned on, it alerted me that this mode was suitable for amateur athletes, this is the moment that I realized I may have made a bad decision, however, I decided I was not about to be a quitter.  As the machine gently started,  I was thinking to myself that this level was not going to be a problem, that is when the machine made the announcement that it was in warm up mode.  Once this thing kicked into high gear, I looked around for something to grab onto.  The floor of the machine was vibrating like I was on a back country, gravel road, filled with potholes, doing about 80. I looked up and saw two cords hanging down and I reached up and grabbed on tight like the subway train was going to crash. At this point, I wasn’t thinking about how this was going to enhance my body, and change my life, at this point I was in survival mode.  My previous use of this thing was suddenly coming to the forefront of my memory.  Surprisingly enough, I actually felt pretty energized when the machine stopped and my teeth were no longer rattling out.

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Dinner tonight was left-over Instant Pot pork chops and cauliflower mash.  Now I am taking my tired, achy self to bed. Tomorrow is another day.

Humor, Instant Pot, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

Playlists and IP Cooking

Cruz2Lose

Today at Planet Fitness, I decided to do something a little different while on the treadmill, I decided to listen to music instead of reading. I jumped on the treadmill, turned on my playlist and started my workout. My playlist began with Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling which is a high energy, feel good song. I was pumped and walking on that thing like I was being featured in one of his music videos. Moments later my music choices went quite a bit darker and there I am on the treadmill, after several tracks of Kelly Clarkson, angry AF over I don’t even know what but I am pretty certain it had something to do with every man who had wronged me in my life.  After Maroon 5’s Cold, I was beginning to recognize there was a pattern to my music. By the time I finished my workout I felt like I needed to lay on a therapist’s couch or at the very least the hydrotherapy lounge chair – I chose the lounge chair, much cheaper than therapy.

*Note to self:  Create an actual workout playlist.

After trolling the internet to gather a few healthy Instant Pot recipes for my weight loss journey, fullsizeoutput_207blast night I cooked up a recipe that I had found on skinnytaste.com, Braised Cubed Steak. It was budget friendly, simple and had good flavor. Tonight I threw pork chops and rice into my Instant Pot, HOWEVER, I only ate about a 1/2 cup of rice.  I recently purchased cauliflower as a substitute for rice, I just have to look up some ways to dress it up and give it shot. On a side note, tonight I turned down a glass of wine. It really is all about balance, I ate the rice, I passed on the wine. Next time I could be passed out on wine eating rice.

Baby steps.