A New Exercise Plan and Free Coupon for You!

Since today was my day off, I got to sleep until 8 AM. It felt AWESOME! I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day! Today was my last full day off of work AND school before I go back to school next week.

I want to welcome all of the newbies out there! Welcome to my blog and I hope you stay around a while. The blogging community is very supportive- and if you haven’t commented to let me know you’re reading- please do so because I would love to follow your blog, too! I have received a few emails with questions about what I am doing to lose weight, and I welcome any emails or questions! Just shoot them over to Bloggergirl23@aol.com and I’ll do my best to respond!

For breakfast, I had a slice of light whole wheat toast topped with reduced fat peanut butter and a sliced banana along with 1 cup of 1% milk for 5 points. All I had left in the house for peanut butter was the stuff I use for baking- bleh- not nearly as good as my natural kind!

I started to think about what my workout schedule would be for the new year and tried to create a calendar with what I would do each day. But then I got to thinking. Some days I just don’t feel like running. And other days I think that a walk sounds really good, or a bike ride sounds perfect. There are even days when I am craving a run. But why should I try to schedule what workout I will do each day? My goal is to run 2-3 days a week, start lifting weights 2 days a week and I would like to start doing workout DVDs and biking again, also. So my plan is to do that, but I’m not scheduling what workout I will do what days. I want to workout 5 days a week with 2 rest days. So that’s the plan! I do want to keep up with my running though. For me, any activity I do is going to benefit me in some way. I am not training for a marathon or anything like that- I just want to get some activity in, burn calories and have fun and enjoy myself while doing it! No more dreading exercise! I think by mixing it up a bit and adding a variety of workouts in, I will have less of a chance of getting bored or dreading working out. Does this make sense? So instead of scheduling my workouts, I am printing off a blank calendar and I will write on it what I have done on each day- maybe even put a sticker on each day I workout.  

So this morning I did a customized workout on The Firm dvd. These ladies are way more coordinated than I am! So I just tried to keep moving and do what I could- but I had fun and worked my whole body and even used 8 lb. weights in some parts. I worked out for 30 minutes and burned 166 calories, which I don’t think is too bad since it wasn’t ALL cardio! Moving my body just felt good. I’ve been focusing on running so much lately that I wasn’t doing ANYTHING else!

After a short break, I biked on the stationary bike for 7.5 miles in 30 minutes and burned 125 calories. That’s 291 calories burned total!

So here is my calendar so far- which I will keep on the fridge! I’m hoping this will help keep me motivated in some way- I have seen other people do the same thing.

For lunch, I had a small side salad made up of lettuce, tomato, carrots and a mixture of light sour cream and BBQ sauce for 1 point.

I also had a wrap made up of a small Mission Carb Balance tortilla, 2 Schwann’s teriyaki chicken wings, tomato and Swiss cheese for 5 points.

For dessert, I had about 1/2 serving left of my No Pudge! Brownie mix- so I made that, topped with a bit of Cool Whip Free for 2 points.

Speaking of, a while back, No Pudge! mailed me a couple of coupons for 25 cents off a box of the No Pudge! Brownie mix. I will give one away to one of you- just let me know that you’re interested in the comments and I will choose a winner via random.org and get that mailed out to you. It doesn’t have an expiration date. You can find lots of delicious recipes on their website, too! The winner will be chosen tomorrow night and entries must be in by 5 PM Central. Every little bit helps, right?

A couple of weeks ago Diet Mtn. Dew tweeted me that I won a 2 liter, I wasn’t sure if it was real or not- but I guess it was because look what I got in the mail today!

I like anything free. We drink diet pop from time to time, so this was a nice win!

Today is Tuesday- my grocery shopping day. We didn’t need a lot of stuff, but I had a list and I always shop for deals even if it’s not on my list. Here’s what I got:

On the way home, I snacked on 1/2 package of glazed pecans for 4 points.

We had an early supper tonight because hubby got home early and we were both hungry- better than snacking! I made one of my new favorites- fish tacos! YUM! I had two of them along with 1/2 cup of FF refried beans for a total of 9 points. I also drank some diet Sunkist.

For dessert, I had 1/2 cup of Vanilla pudding for 4 points.

That leaves me with 4 points left for the day for a healthy snack of some sort. Hubby mentioned he felt like he might be coming down with a cold, so I told him I would make him an orange smoothie- so maybe that’s what I’ll have, too! I want to get some more fruits/veggies in today yet.

Tomorrow is WI day and I will embrace whatever the scale says knowing that I am back on track and will do wonderful from here on out! NO HOLIDAYS FOR A LONG TIME!