18lbs! Going, going, gone!

I wish I could say that 20 or 30 lbs were gone, but I am trying to beat it into my head that 18 is plenty, it is enough! There will be many more where that came from I know, but for now the fact that there is progress has to be enough for me, otherwise I will drive myself crazy.
Thanks for the insight and encouragement about what to write about.  I really appreciate the ideas you shared.
So....
A day in the life of...me. :)

5:30 am comes way to fast, but I crawl out of bed anyway to drive down the road to the rec. center to face my trainer if it's Mon, Wed, or Fri. Before leaving though, I always grab something quick to eat on my way to fuel up. For quite a while I was coming home dead dog tired and unable to recoup for a couple of hours, until my dietitian told me that I may not be eating enough before my workouts.  So, I have upped my food from a handful of almonds and a glass of water, to a banana and some almonds & water.  It has helped energy wise tremendously.
My workouts with Travis on Mon. Wed. and Fri consist of weights, weights, and more weights:) I do walk on the treadmill at a 3.5-4 speed for about 10 min. before my workouts to "wake up" my body before pushing it so hard on the weights, and then again after lifting to cool down.  I do squats, leg lifts, bench press, dead lift, bar curls, kettle bell swing, seated row, standing shoulder press, leg curls, incline DB press, cable Tricep Extension, etc. You get the idea. As my hubby says, "That's some mucho workin out!" I really feel it too! It is a great work out! I was so sore for those first few weeks but now my body is used to the workout and it's time to switch up the regiment to get me sore again. Yippee! That will probably happen on Friday :/  I shoveled the driveway and side walks today without hardly feeling it.  Normally I would have had to go in and sit down for a bit to recoup after that, and my lungs would have been burning like crazy. Not today.  It was fun to feel some of the wimpyness gone!
I do cardio on Tues and Thurs on the treadmill, but I just found out about the spin classes offered at 6 am Tues and Thurs. and I can't wait to start that this week. I think it will help my knees a lot as the running gets pretty tough on my joints. I have heard though that you can burn some major cals doing spin class. I'll let you know how that goes.

When I get home from my workout I whip up a protein shake.  I use whatever high protein yogurt I can find on sale that week with frozen blueberry's, spinach leaves, chia seed, pineapple and banana with either milk or pineapple juice. It is such a yummy treat! I love it, and it is very satisfying to me. A couple of hours later I eat a little bit of protein, like jerky, or a cheese stick, or pistachio's, along with some fruit.  Then for lunch I eat a small sometimes slightly modified version of what ever is hanging out in the fridge from dinner the night before.
Another snack with protein and a veggy or fruit is good 2-3 hours after lunch, then for dinner a lot of times I mix myself up another shake with the fruits, veggies, and protein.  If I am craving something I really try to figure out what it is that my body is needing.  I learned from my health coach that if your having a craving, it's most likely for good reason.  The problem is that we are used to feeding the craving the wrong thing.  If after all my attempts to satisfy my craving healthily, I am still left wanting, I will have a treat.  I just don't go crazy.  I am finding that the reason I go a-wall on a treat is because I am feeling guilty and am wanting to eat enough so that I never have to eat it again! Such a dumb thought process, totally unrealistic. But very convincing at the time. So I try to once again follow the amazing advise of Heather (my health coach) and enjoy the treat! Don't feel guilt, don't drive yourself crazy with all the thoughts that can and do eat at you.  Just section out exactly what you can eat, then eat it slowly and enjoy it! No guilt, no calories:) j/k  But I think that it really does make a huge difference to do this.
Dinner is sometimes the hardest time of my day.  Which is why I often resort to a protein shake. I find that I am wanting the old time comfort of enjoying a meal with my family and all the past thoughts and habits come surfacing to the top. So for now I just enjoy me some healthy protein drink and let the family enjoy their meal. It works very well most of the time. I do enjoy fish and chicken, ground turkey and yummy meats with whole grain rice and veggies, I just have to be very careful of the carbs because they do nothing for that number on the scale!
Some snacks I love are...
Raw Almonds,
Beef Jerky
Cheese sticks (not the low fat ones, I can't stand them, and they are only a teeny bit less on cals than the regular ones)
Deli sliced meat. (50-60 cals for 6-7 slices) not bad!
Veggies and fruits
V-8 juice helps me out when I just can't bare to eat another broccoli tree")

A great tip from my dietitian...food is kind of like medicine. If you wait till your too hungry before you snack or eat, it's going to be very hard to manage your hunger. Chances are your going to overdue it.  Hence the reason for eating several small meals through out the day.  It's very important to stay on top of it.  You don't have to eat a lot either, the right combo and amount of foods help immensely. Combining protein with fruits and veggies is really helpful to keep the cals and hunger down and the nutrition up.
Let me know if you have other questions.  I would love to share more if it's at all helpful:)
Hope you are all having a healthy, great week!