almost at 15lbs!

so far so good, I have almost already met my first step of losing 15lbs and I am very happy about that. I have to admit however i think i have been a little soft on my workout routine, and i know i need to stick to it.
I may be repeating myself in these blogs but it's more to reinforce myself than anything and it's always good to keep reading about my guidelines later on.

I have cut out the bad habit of the double/double in my coffee, I now have a cup of black coffee with my morning meal and that's it. (no more 5-8 coffees a day) I am also keeping at the water intake with a lot more ease now actually, before I didn't really like water because not matter what I got there was always this odd taste to it - I think it's just become habit and it's now a matter of mind over matter.

I believe 95% of what I eat is fresh, save for the odd time that I am in a hurry and do not have the time, which I will grab some frozen vegi's or when I have my bran on the occasion. I am still using my Whey Protein powder as a meal replacement, I usually whip up a cup in the morning for something quick while I get my day ready. I plan on changing up the Whey Protein powder to a 100% natural when I am done this batch, I just use a little less than the recommended dose each time to account for the uber sweet taste - my favorite is mixing a cup of protein powder with a frozen banana and 2 tbsp of milled flax seed. i also take 2 multi vitamins a day with 2 CLA capsules one at breakfast and one at lunch.

I have gotten in the habit of eating a handful of something every 1.5 - 2 hours up until about 8-8:30pm. My critical time is from that time to the time that I go to bed, because I get in the habit to want to nibble, I have taught myself to curb that habit by forcing myself to drink 500-750ml of water in one sitting each time. sure I am up a billion times in the night to use the bathroom, but in the long run it will be worth the effort. I have also gotten into the habit of adding to my workout routine at that point in the evening, it's not so much intense rather then a lot of stretching and flexing. (more to make sure i am not that sore the next day)

I read up that people generally like to get a little bit of protein into themselves with each meal they eat, I have left that mostly up to the 3 main meals in the day, when I started to eat protein each time I ate (6-7 times a day) and because my fitness level and activity level wasn't up there yet it ended up adding weight to the scale. I intend to continue with three servings of protein a day and substitute as many as the others with more high fiber content until such a time where my workout regiment gets into a place where I want to switch over to feeding my muscles more.

My sleeping patterns are still a little mess, in that I have a hard time falling asleep at night - I have always had an issue for as long as I can remember, my mind still keeps running and even when it's not I am tossing and turning. I remember waking up at 4am this morning frowning at the fact that I only managed to get sleeping for two hours before I woke up again. What happened to the time when I was a kid and I was out like a light when I hit the pillow?. I don't want to use any chemicals to get me to sleep, music sometimes keeps me up rather than helps me sleep... I am going to try two things next I think, either read for an hour before bed or listen to an audio book, or start taking up a sport that will tire me out but will be fun - If it wasn't for the fact I am in the city and it was winter I would be out there each day hitting the countryside for an intensive 20-50K bike ride like I use to do when I was younger. (yes I could get a stationary which I may still do, but it's not the same)

I purchased a curl bar the other day so that I can do the french press better, I have also started to use the core ball more as well, I did research and I was amazed at the magnitude of different things you could do with it.

I signed up for a 6 month challenge today, I believe I have the knowledge to make good things happen within that time, no matter how I progress - as long as it's my true effort put forth towards my life fitness goal I will be happy.

Everyday has been a day to learn and adjust, I am happy with the progress I have been making and really look forward to getting more into it all with each day. The hardest part has yet to come, that will be when I start going back to work - I have already started to schedule my activities in sync with a typical day at work though, which I think will make it easier to maintain once I start to work again. I am up for the challenge either way!