SSSD Challenge Update and Week 11 Goals

I've kinda been missing in action from the challenge for the past two weeks because I've been away. I totally missed out on the Week 9 No Sugar challenge - not intentionally, I just hadn't checked what the challenge for the week was.

Although I hadn't set out a specific fitness goal for week 10, I'd say my overall vacation goal/fitness challenge was to not gain weight while I was away ... so of course coming back with a 6 lb. loss ... and adding another 2 lb. loss since I've been back home has made me quite happy. Seeing the numbers drop has definitely kept me more focused and motivated than before to just keep on going. Though I still have quite a ways to go, I'm getting closer and closer to my goal - I don't want to do anything to detract from it.

Earlier this week I made a huge stir-fry and have been using it to supplement my meals. It's been quick and easy and it's full of lots of good stuff:

I'll post the recipe for it later. I've been adding bits of it to egg whites to make an egg white scramble as my pre-CrossFit meal. It gives me a good dose of protein and veggies. Sometimes I've just been having it plain or with some Greek yogurt to balance out the spiciness. There are other times when I had it with a slice of toast and sometimes along side a lettuce/tomato salad. All in all, having such a big batch of veggies prepared has saved me from mindless grazing - the food is prepared; it is all healthy - I don't really need to worry about portions, though I've still been careful.

I usually take a few days to adjust to being back after vacation and don't start working out for 3-4 days after returning. This time I just took a day to rest and do all those post-travel errands and then got back into it. I was actually planning on taking today off, but then our CrossFit coach texted us about meeting up for a workout. We met at a mall near my place. I thought we were just going to power walk, but boy was I wrong!

Our workout involved walking, jogging, sprinting, running up and down flights of stairs with push-ups, walking lunges, squats, and ab twists thrown in. We did start doing 'box' jumps on the ledge of one of the fountains until security started to approach to shoo us away! ;)

I've been learning the choreography for Body Pump, so after I got home D allowed me to practice 2 tracks with him. We did the warm-up + squat track (150 squats!!) - and after that, I was totally wiped out!

So exercise has been good for me - eating has been really good too (tried another new recipe today - salmon burger on a portobello mushroom - oh so good! Again, will post the recipe soon!)

My goals for this week: Keep it up!!
This week's challenge: Reflect on the past 10 weeks and show your weight loss in food -- will do this at the end of the week :)

This week's challenge comes at a good time for me. I feel like I'm really on a roll with my food and exercise. I've had to make a few adjustments mainly due to the focus I'm giving CrossFit. The main struggle I'm still having is with sleep. Last night I only got 4 hours. I really, really want to get at least 6 hours of sleep. It shouldn't be difficult ... but it is. I find myself waking up after an hour or two and then unable to get back to sleep ... I've actually been trying to take afternoon naps, especially on CrossFit days because I really do need the extra rest and recovery time.

There are only 3 weeks left of the challenge, and though I'll be traveling next week, I still hope that I can be a better participant! I've been trying to catch up on commenting on blog posts, but there have been so many! Hopefully I'll be able to catch up this week!