My diet this week was a bit of a mess.  I was seriously stressed out from work and had to work some long and strange hours this week, which meant my normal food prep went out the window on some days.  Overall I did fairly well and I still was able to get most of my exercise in.  I was also able to throw together some quick snacks and meals when I had to, but I ended up gaining 2 pounds.  I’m honestly at a loss when it comes to the Omron.  That thing seems to be pretty flaky depending on when I use it.  Of course I could just be refusing to recognize that I’m up to 26-27% body fat.  I’m thinking about getting a cheap skin fold caliper, but I don’t know if that’s going to be any better either.  I might see if I can just start taking pictures of myself every week in the same position wearing the same clothes so I can see if there are any physical differences.

Last week I interviewed Carlos, and he told me that one of the things that might be going wrong with my diet is that I’m using the Herbalife 24 Formula 1 product.  He recommended that I use the regular soy-based Formula 1 to lose weight.  He stated that he only recommends the 24 Formula 1 to those who are trying to bulk up and gain weight and muscle mass; and that for leaning down he sticks to the regular.  I can’t say for certain that this is true, but I am going to take his word for it and experiment on myself.  So for the next three months I will be ditching the milk-based formula one and moving back to the regular soy-based.  Again, I don’t know if it will make a difference, but who am I to argue when I’m not getting the results I want to see?

I’ve also been thinking a lot about my smoker lately and how it pertains to my diet.  Although it’s a different method of cooking, it’s not too different than slow baking in the oven, grilling over low heat, or cooking in the crock pot.  However, the difference is that it’s new and it’s something else that I can enjoy.  Several years ago I used to make a lot of sushi at home for the same reason; it’s something different.  And even though I eventually stopped making it less and less due to time and expense, it’s still something that I do on occasion because it’s different.  I think that this is a key to changing our eating habits.  Just because we have our old stand-by’s that we enjoy such as fried foods, frozen foods, or whatever it is that we normally cook doesn’t mean that we can’t find new ones that are just as enjoyable; if not even more so.  Heck, I would have never have thought that smoking an already smoked sausage from the store would add so much flavor, but it does.  Or that I would enjoy smoked fish as much as I do.  But now that I know, even if the “shiny newness” of smoking meats fades or waxes and wanes with the seasons in the future I can still pull out my smoker and eat healthy, all the while enjoying myself and shaking things up at the same time.

I’m coming to the end of a 6-week training session, meaning that this week is “de-load” week.  Overall I’m still training hard since my main lifts are the only ones I’m going light on.  Even though there’s a part of me that wants to keep trying for personal records, I can see the importance of going light a week since it’s been a while since I’ve done so.  Mentally it’s good because for the most part I can go on autopilot during my routines.  I don’t have to worry about psyching myself up for a huge lift or think about if I’ll be able to beat it next week.  Physically it’s nice because I don’t foresee myself being nearly as sore as I usually am; which will really be nice.  I just have to remember to keep getting in my cardio and stretching; something I’ve been a little lax on during the past week due to my stress at work.  Cardio-wise I’m still sticking with a 30-minute walk during the day and a 30-minute High Interval Training on my Fitdesk at night.  This seems to be a nice balance for me and a great change from the crazy walks I was doing before.notepad

I also think that I’m going to change up my 5/3/1 routine a bit.  It won’t be anything too different, but different enough so that I’m not falling into a boring rut.  Much like cooking I think that changing things up in our exercise routine keeps us fresh and keeps us interested!

Angie is a leader in the Herbalife Community and a beacon of joy to be around.  She was so much fun to talk to and I have been blessed to know her.  I remember that she gave me a shirt when I lost 100lbs and I was so proud to have it!  I couldn’t ask for a better person to be in my up-line!

Angie’s Bio:

My name is Angie and I’ve been dieting since I was 9 years old. I got started on the Herbalife products and consequently developed the Herbalife Pie recipes because I am a sugar-a-holic!! I found I could eat pie twice a day and one main meal of my favorite food losing 16 pounds my first week and a total of 92lbs in 7 months. Keeping it off for over 9 years I decided to become a 100 lb loser! So, to date, I have lost 101lbs!!

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