The Kat Files

It’s Friday, dear reader, and we know what that means! I am currently in Week #7 of the Fast Burn Challenge. On Monday morning, I weighed in at 152 pounds. I lost 2 more pounds in Week #6 with a total loss of 9.5 pounds. I am literally .5 of a pound away from reaching my weight loss goal of 10 pounds which I realistically set when I started down this path to better health. Of course, I will certainly be happy with losing more by the end of the nine week challenge.

To be sure, my weight loss journey will NOT end when the Fast Burn Challenge ends. This challenge is just the beginning of a healthier me. Truthfully, I would like to lose 30-35 pounds by the end of the year which I feel is doable if I continue following Dr. Ian’s guidelines. His programs are effective, easy to follow, and focus on choosing a healthier lifestyle that emphasizes clean eating, intermittent fasting, and daily exercise.

Even though Week #7 is proving to be a challenging week, I am still managing to have some success in most areas of the program.

Kudos to Me for…

• meeting my daily water intake goal.
• meeting my TRF 14:10 goal.
• continuing to eat more veggies.
• meeting my daily exercise goals.
• choosing wisely (Vegetable Sandwich) when eating at a restaurant.

Despite not planning and prepping my meals on Sunday evening, I am doing pretty well overall with my food choices. Actually, on Tuesday morning I made Sumptuous Strawberry Shakes for Andrew and me for breakfast and prepped Burner Smoothies for me for the remainder of the week.

Since I’ve been out of school, meeting my TRF 14:10 goal has been much easier. And, I’m having no problems following the guideline of waiting two hours after waking up to eat breakfast.

Yesterday, I had lunch with my friend Kimberly at Brady’s in Hammond. She recommended the Vegetable Sandwich which consists of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrots, alfalfa sprouts, red cabbage, and cheddar/swiss cheese with mayo on a special oat wheat bread. I decided to try it minus the alfalfa sprouts, light on the mayo, and added avocado. It was perfect!

Challenges

My biggest challenge this week is having NO snacks. Unfortunately, I cannot make it through the day without snacks. Now, with that being said, I do not need to consume three snacks per day. For the most part, I am choosing healthy snacks and keeping them between 100 and 150 calories. It is too hard for me to skip them, especially on the days I need to reach 12,000 or 14,000 steps.

My other challenge this week is not getting enough sleep. I am going through menapause which makes it difficult to sleep through the night in general; however, my geriatric dog Sophie (13 years old) and my cat Puar have also contributed to disrupting my sleep this week. Since Monday night, Sophie has woken me up at least once during the night to use the bathroom, and Puar keeps waking me up 1-2 hours before my alarm. They have both done this in the past, but not the two of them consistently in one week. Naturally, I know they are not being nefarious. Needless to say, I am dragging this morning. Today will definitely be a REST day (20 minute stroll after dinner). Thankfully, I am on summer break, and I can always take a nap.

Well, dear reader, another week of the Fast Burn Challenge is wrapping up. Only two more weeks to go until this part of my health and wellness journey is complete. Every week, I have learned new health and fitness related information, have tried new recipes or foods, and have gotten plenty of inspiration from the Fast Burn Challenge community. Happiness!

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ~ Arthur Ashe