The Kat Files

Happy Friday, dear reader! I am currently in Week #2 of the Fast Burn Challenge, and I am holding my own. On Monday morning, I weighed in at 158 pounds. I lost 3.5 pounds in the first week of the challenge. Go, me! As I mentioned last week, I will be happy if I shed 10 pounds by the end of the nine weeks. Becoming a healthier version of me is what I am striving for over the course of the next two months.

Kudos to Me for…

• meeting my daily water intake goal.
• adding ground flaxseed to smoothies and oatmeal.
• meeting my TRF 12:12 goal.
• trying the Tender Baked Pork Chops. YUM!
• continuing to eat more veggies.
• meeting my daily exercise goals.
• prepping most of my meals and snacks for the week.
• choosing wisely when eating at a restaurant.

My hubby bought me some Mason Jars at the grocery store, so I could prep my smoothies for the week. I made a couple of extra smoothies for my friend Julia who I work with at school. It took me about an hour to prepare the Burner Smoothies on Sunday morning; however, it was a game changer and made life easier for me this week. Since my husband enjoys cooking more than I do, he cooked the pork chops for our Sunday dinner. I also asked him to grill a bunch of turkey burgers for me. He used a turkey burger recipe from Dr. Ian’s The Clean 20 book. This was great because I got a dinner and a lunch out of them, fed my youngest son, and froze a few for future weeks.

Challenges

• Drinking a cup of water before lunch during the work week.
• Situations that interfere with eating schedule or menu.
• Making the time to plan meals for the upcoming week.

I think I need to write a note (drink cup of water FIRST) and attach it to my lunch, so I do not forget to consume a cup of water before eating my lunch. I have forgotten EVERY day this week. This is weird to me since I have not forgotten once to consume the cup of water before breakfast or dinner.

I had an unexpected situation crop up at work on Monday morning that required me changing my breakfast at the last minute and caused my snack times to be slightly off throughout the day. Thankfully, I had an extra Burner Smoothie in the fridge to save me some time and get me to work earlier than anticipated. I also had to remind myself to be flexible. In addition, my mother-in-law cooks dinner for my family on Fridays. I found out Wednesday evening that she was making hamburgers (beef) this Friday, so I swapped Thursday’s and Friday’s lunch choices because I originally had a turkey burger on the menu for Friday’s lunch.

As for meal planning, I did better than the previous week and wrote everything out. However, I did not do it prior to my husband grocery shopping, and I discovered after the fact that I needed ground flaxseed for this week. Lucky for me, he had another errand to run near the grocery store, so he swung by and picked it up for me. Kudos to Barry, Sr. for being so kind!

Overall, I am doing pretty well. There is a learning curve when doing anything new for the first time. I must be patient with myself, flexible when life happens, and appreciate the journey. I want this experience to be enjoyable not stressful. It is not about being perfect. It is about showing up and doing my best. Happiness!

“Regardless of how big or small, savor and appreciate your victories. When you build the excitement that comes with success, you build momentum to keep going and achieve results.” ~ Ian K. Smith, M. D., Mind Over Weight