Weigh-In

Weight: 149.2
Loss: 1.8

I'm thrilled to finally be in the 140's (although I've been in the 140's for nearly a week now). I was doing really well and then had a couple bad days but another good day yesterday.

However, 2 things I'm not doing as well on and they were in my week's goals.

1. I have not been tracking my calories. I keep telling myself to start again but I just haven't yet. Today I will start again.

2. I haven't exercised at the gym or at home or Jazzercise (for which I am still paying cuz I missed the cutoff) or anywhere except for my walks. Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy that at least I'm still walking most days. However, I haven't run on the treadmill, used my Wii workouts, or DVD workouts or been to the gym in over a week. The walking is nice, but certainly not a "real" workout. I spent weeks experiencing muscle soreness in various parts of my body and I've probably lost all those muscles I'd gained because I've not really worked out to any significant degree in over a week. So, I told hubby today that I MUST get to the gym.

Today has not started off well (woke with a headache and slept much later than I'd intended to cuz hubby was home to get kids to school) but that doesn't mean it has to end not well. I have a scheduled group walk at 2:30 pm, but I'm determined to go to the gym after. Even though it will be super busy because of the time of day, oh well. I can't keep putting off a good workout because the gym may be too busy or because of something else going on. Working out and eating well must be my priorities.

Okay, back to work...

Feeling down

I don't know why, but I woke feeling down in the dumps. I feel like my weekend flew past without me really accomplishing anything. I didn't do any form of hard exercise, just walks, and my house is a mess with laundry washed but not put away. I kept thinking, what did I do this weekend? I got shopping done and learned the knit stitch, but nothing else. Then again, do I need to accomplish stuff each weekend? Isn't it okay to just chill for a couple days?

Even though I was categorically unsuccessful with my goals last week, I'm going to jot down this week's and make a fresh start of it:

1. Track calories
2. Run at least once
3. Visit gym at least once
4. Work on book at least once
5. Clean bedroom/bathroom

I think I will feel better when my house is cleaner and better organized, hence the last goal. I am pretty good about keeping the downstairs clean and I have a friend coming over on Thursday so I know I will clean then, but the upstairs gets ignored. I think I feel edgy when my house is really messy and cluttered so getting everything put away and cleaned up should help me feel better.

Too busy to eat

It's true that staying busy and away from the house a lot is really helpful in trying to eat less. I've hardly been eating anything the last few days and tonight is the first night I really want to snack. Not surprising since tonight is the first night I've had a moment to sit and just relax. I wish I could always be this distracted from eating. Even grocery shopping was easier because I wasn't hungry or interested in the food other than that I needed to buy stuff to make for dinner. I planned two weeks worth of meals, used coupons and store ads to make my grocery list, and spent less than $200. Not bad for a family of 5! And it isn't as though we aren't eating well: we have spaghetti with ground turkey, whole chicken, two chicken casseroles, chili with ground turkey, and a pot roast on the menu. I also bought lunch stuff, soups, diet frozen dinners, fresh and canned fruit, fresh and frozen veggies, lots of cereals, etc. I never buy cookies or chips anyway, so I didn't get those. But, I got snack crackers for the kids, cheese, 4 gallons of milk, various fruit juice for the kids and even a half gallon of ice cream. So, it isn't as though I didn't get a full spectrum of groceries. I just shopped smartly. It did take a LOT of time to organize my list and hit three different grocery stores, but well worth it. And trying to get it all done, plus I needing to get house work done and laundry this weekend, with a birthday party to attend tomorrow, I was plenty distracted from impulse buying. I still have lots to get done tonight but I also want to learn how to knit, so it's going to be a busy evening as well! Good, I say. I'm definitely seeing results.

The Flu

There's nothing like the flu to create some weight loss. Unfortunately, it's almost all water and you'll just drink it back in over the next few days. Still, I was 150.0 this morning. A 149.8 would have been nicer, but I'll take what I can get. Especially as it'll be back up in the next couple days.

The bad side of the flu is that I haven't exercised all week except for a couple walks. NOT GOOD! I am probably losing muscle as we speak. I'll have to get sore all over again -UGH!

I haven't gotten back to tracking my calories. This week has definitely been a bust. Ah well, tomorrow is another day...

Weigh-In

I'm a little surprised at my numbers this morning. The last couple days I have been eating really badly. I suppose it just hasn't caught up with me yet.

Weight: 151.0
Loss: 1.6

So close to the 140's but just not there. Trying to reign it in over the next few days so I can get the number down. Course, I am becoming way obsessed over the scale, which isn't a good thing.

As far as my weekly goals, I didn't track my calories yesterday; I haven't been to the gym this week; I haven't attended a gym class (I slept through this morning's); and I haven't run. Blech. I need to get my head back in the game.

Food

That's all I thought about today - food. I ate a lot. I don't know how much because I didn't track it. And I ate bad - chocolate, ice cream, candy, McDonald's, coke. Ugh! I probably undid about a week's worth of exercising in one day. And it wasn't that I was unhappy today. I just had no willpower whatsoever. I had no discipline or drive to focus on my healthy eating. I didn't even try to deny myself. I really didn't even justify it other than that to think that at least its been a long time since I've eaten this way - what the hell kinda reasoning is that? I didn't fight myself at all.

So, what's going on... My 2 year old is sick with the flu, which is a bit stressful. Work is, well, work. It isn't that bad at the moment other than I don't want to do it because now that I'm getting friends I have better things to do. Um, I've been super busy, but in a good way, or so I assumed. I don't know, really. I have been really pushing myself with exercise and today was the first day in a couple weeks that I didn't exercise at all, not even a walk, and didn't feel sore in any muscle.

I was feeling guilty over the weekend because of my 16 year old, who is currently living with his father. I was worrying that maybe I haven't been making enough of an effort to touch base with him, check on how he's doing. That could definitely cause me to want to sabotage myself.

Or maybe I'm feeling the pressure of getting close to the 140's and I am struggling with that. I mean, sometimes when you are close to a goal, you start freaking out that you're going to fail so you just give up before that can happen. Maybe that's where my head is?

I really don't know but I hope I can get my game back on tomorrow.

I can say that I have noticed a trend where I have one to three days a week where my calories go way up. Its a wave each week. I start out low, then hit a peak sometime in the middle of the week, then coast back down to a reasonable level. So, I've learned something tracking my calories.

Busy

I can't believe how busy I've become lately. Between work and everything else, I'm starting to get a bit anxious that maybe I'm spreading myself too thin. Today was nearly a nightmare trying to get my work done in the morning, a walk in in the afternoon and the dinner at a friend's house this evening. I then came home to more work I need to do to clear off my desk because I have somewhere to be in the morning. Then, back home to do more work, then a doctor's appt in the late afternoon and a run scheduled for tomorrow evening. I like it but I hope I don't drive myself to the ground. Cuz, this doesn't include taking care of three kids, dinner and a house. We'll see how it goes.

The good thing about being so busy is that I don't have much time to eat. When I'm lazing on the couch watching TV or reading a book, my thoughts always go straight to food. But, if I'm working until late then I am too busy to want to snack. I didn't even eat that much today, which is GOOD! Although, I guess what I did eat wasn't that great. Oh well.

I'm REALLY hoping to hit the 140's at my weigh-in this week. I was so close last week but had a bad day that pushed my weight back up. This morning I was at 151.6 or something like that, so only a couple pounds to get into the 140's. I really want to finally get there.

Weekly Goals

I have so much going on, between my mom's group, walking group and gym classes, that I had to make up a weekly schedule for myself. Which is awesome, by the way. The busier I am, the less likely I am to succumb to mindless eating or binges.

On top of that, it worked out pretty well to have some short-term goals, so I'm going to set some new ones now for the next 7 days:

1. Run twice.
2. Attend at least 1 gym class.
3. Continue to track calories every day.
4. At least 1 day of upper body strength training.
5. Cook 1 new healthy meal.

Sadly, I've only gone to my new gym once. Isn't that pathetic? So, today I sat down with the class schedule and scheduled myself to attend two classes (Turbo Kick) and one free-style to do some upper body work. All I have to do is follow my schedule and keep tracking my calories. Today I am going to the library so I will find a new healthy cookbook.

GOAL!!

Forever, I've had the goal of jogging for 30 minutes straight. Well, tonight was apparently an enchanted evening on the treadmill because, not only did I jog for 30 minutes... I jogged 40 minutes!! Only 2.5 miles, but that's 1.3 miles more than the last time I jogged earlier this week!!! When I got off the treadmill, I had the itchy burning feeling in my leg muscles, so I'm sure I'm going to be nice and sore tomorrow, but WOW it was great. After the first mile, it was actually rather easy. I was "in the zone" I guess. I feel so happy with myself. I also burned off enough fat, glycogen and fluid to get to 150.0 on the scale. 149.8 would have been nice, but I won't get greedy :) (Is it weird that the first thing I do after exercising is to weigh myself to see how much I "lost?")

Weigh-In

Weight: 152.6
Gain: 0.4

About what I had expected. I did super well with my eating today, until dessert. I splurged and ate a danish (or 2) and doubled my calories for the day. Fortunately I had eaten so little the rest of the day that I still didn't go over budget, but it was close. Too close. I'm not going to lose weight eating that way, but I also know that you need to splurge occasionally. Okay, I splurge more than occasionally, but I'm working on it.

My walking group is coming together nicely. I have several people interested in starting next week and three of us commenced our first walk today. We didn't go very far or walk very fast, but it's a start. There's another lady who wants to join but can only do weekends so I'm going to walk with her on Saturday. That means a lot of walking for me! Which is great. I still need to do my other workouts though. Although, I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to have time for everything. Between working full time, having a moms group, a walking group, plus trying to get to the gym for exercise classes, I'm going to be hard pressed to keep up with everything. But it would certainly not be a bad thing if exercising took over some other meaningless occupation, such as sitting and watching television or reading a book.

Don't need my arm to jog...

I got on my treadmill today for the first time in...forever. It was too dark, rainy and windy to go walking today or to use the track. I thought about going to the gym (the one I'm paying for, that one) but I had a lot of work and had to spend a few hours at a kid function so I thought I'd better keep it close to home. I really need to determine which classes I want to take and, oh, I don't know, go to one?

Anyway, I did jog for 20 mins straight and then walked for another 10 minutes. Not a bad workout, really. And I plan on getting on the Wii later tonight. I'm excited to try some of the other new games.

Diet is going well today. My calories were up for a few days in a row but so far, so good today. Last night I was doing well until I opted for an ice cream instead of the orange and then followed that up with some Pringles.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day and I doubt I'll have much of a loss, if not a gain. This morning I was back up to 153, up from 151.6 at the latter part of last week. Oh well...

The Pain

Okay, I've read about Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS) but this is ridiculous. I've been mostly fine all day today and yesterday from my upper body workout on SUNDAY, but now, Tuesday at 4:45 pm, I suddenly can hardly lift my arms. And not because I've done anything today, because I've just been sitting here working or watching my son at play group. Talk about delayed! I was a little sore, but now I feel like the muscles in my arms are tearing off the bone. I finally took a bunch of ibuprofen. How pathetic is that??? I won't EVEN tell you the weight I was lifting, because you would laugh your ass...

Food-wise, have done okay today. I didn't walk or do any other form of exercise yet so I'm a little high on my calories for my goal. However, I already added in the calories I will have for dinner (soup & salad & orange) and I plan on jogging on the treadmill tonight when I get back from my dr's appt. That should put me back on track.

I have started a local walking group. Its twice per week in the afternoons and we'll probably walk at least a couple miles. It should really help keep me going, and gets me out of the house. I'm looking forward to getting more members, but so far there's three of us signed up for it and we haven't officially started yet. Not bad for only having moved to the area a few months ago!

Day 6 Went...

So, Day 6 started out well...but didn't end so well. Firstly, I had a lunch out with my moms group. I did well, eating only a garden salad with ranch dressing on the side. Then hubby and I went out to dinner and, again, I did pretty well, eating only a small steak, baked potato and steamed broccoli (no bread or anything!). Then, when we got home I went for my first workout at the gym.

Let me say here...wow! It was pretty busy even at 8:00 pm on a Sunday night. I was really surprised. I thought for sure it would be a quiet time, but not so. I couldn't do a lot because my calves were still sore, but I walked for a bit on the treadmill and then did some upper body strength training. Enough that I feel a bit sore today.

After getting home from the gym, I had an post workout snack consisting of an apple and crackers w/ low-fat cheese spread.

By that time I was a little high on my calories, but not out of the park. Unfortunately, my eating didn't stop there.

I sat and watched a movie with hubby while consuming the following: More crackers and cheese; a chocolate dipped granola bar; a second chocolate dipped granola bar; and a bowl of pringles. My total calories for the day amounted to approx 2300. Which meant I ate 250 MORE calories than I had burned throughout the day, despite my workout.

Today I did pretty well until dinner. I had bean and ham soup, which was a bit high on the calories because of the beans. Then I ate popcorn and ANOTHER chocolate dipped granola bar. (Fortunately the granola bars are GONE and I will never buy them again because I obviously have no control when they are in the house.) I've eaten about 1450 calories, but fortunately I walked for over an hour this afternoon. I still didn't meet my restriction goal for my weight loss, but at least I didn't eat more calories than I burned. Between yesterday and today, my weight loss isn't going to be as good this week. Ah well...

Day 5 Down

Today went pretty well. My calves are still sore so I didn't go to the gym. I thought about going and just doing upper body work, but then decided to wait until tomorrow. I did go for a walk with a friend. We walk a lot, through our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods, rather aimlessly. Today I took my new heart rate monitor because it tracks steps, mileage, calories, etc. Its so sensitive, that even on my wrist and with me pushing a stroller, it was still counting each step. Anyway, after we were done, I looked at it and saw that we had walked a little over 2 miles in 1 hour and burned nearly 200 calories. Not bad! And pushing the strollers we probably burned a little more. Probably walking a 30 minute mile isn't great, but apparently that's how fast (slow) we are.

I've only had about 930 calories today, but I will eat a snack before I go to bed. I'm really trying to hit the 1200 mark, especially when I exercise even a little. I'm probably okay going under but I don't want to do it too many days in a row and end up with a slower metabolism.

I've been tracking my calories on Fitday and noticed that I'm getting very little protein. I looked into buying a protein shake or protein bar today, but the calories are outrageous!!! In my Eat This Not That book, it says the best after-workout beverage is a choco milk, so I purchased some Organic Horizon single-serve choco milk drinks. Each is 180 calories and 10 grams of protein and isn't made up of chemicals, so I think I'll stick to those.

Day 4 Down & Decision Made

Day 4 went well with regard to eating.

Breakfast was 2 scrambled eggs with canola spray and an apple.

Lunch was a yogurt and cheese (I'm trying to increase my protein).

Dinner was a southwestern style chicken salad and a dinner roll.

Beverages consisted of 1 coffee and several glasses of water.

Total calories for the day: 875

I was actually aiming for 1200 but I just haven't eaten that much. And, weirdly, I'm NOT HUNGRY. I have no idea why this is but I'm going to enjoy it!

So, I was still vacillating about the gym membership. I was dragging my feet. I was leaning toward not getting it. I just couldn't see myself working out in the street, essentially.

Today was a difficult day with work. I had to re-do a coworker's report because she'd messed it up so badly and it pretty much took me my entire day, which meant delegating some of my work to others. I HATE having to fob my stuff off on other people. Plus I feel stressy about my inbox being so jam packed with work, which will mean a stressful Monday. (I don't work weekends anymore, ever, no matter what.) Not to mention that it was head-bangingly frustrating to fix someone else's pile of crap. Anyway, so after work was done I loaded everyone in the van and off we went. Except I didn't actually have anywhere to go. I kept asking the kids if they wanted to do anything, but they were no help. I decided to go grocery shopping. On the way, I decided I was going to stop by another 24 Hour Fitness. This one is their upscale model and I couldn't get it with my insurance discount, but I wanted to see it before I made my final decision.

I knew as soon as I walked in that that was the place for me. Clean and shiney and no asses hanging out the front windows. Its on its own property, so no gawking passersby even if you did have to workout near the windows. And unlike the other gym, no one paid me any attention when I was walking around on the tour. Its bigger, cleaner, nicer and has better equipment. They even have a much better kids play area. I was already calculating how I could come up with the $400 for the year when the salesman told me they were offering a no joining fee special and the monthly is $37. I was like, say what? That's only $2 more than Jazzercise for a helluva lot more. But you have to sign a contract for several years and pay a hefty fee if you break the contract, says I. Not at all, says he. Its a month-to-month, no contract. REALLY??? I was practically jumping up and down in place. I could so see myself working out there. Can you guess what my decision was? :)

Day 3 Down (Yesterday)

So, as far as my goals for this week, here's what I had said I would do:

1. Run at least twice.
2. Attend at least 2 Jazzercise classes
3. Track calories
4. Look into ways to re-motivate myself
5. Find something to look forward to


I ran once this week, so still one day to go.

I only attended one Jazzercise class and there aren't any more this week, so I didn't meet this goal.

I did track my calories yesterday and the day before. I've been keeping to 1000 - 1200 calories.

I have been blogging daily, looking into new ways to exercise, and reading motivational stories of weight loss.

I have made arrangements to meet a neighbor to start walking together. She has a daughter near my youngest son's age and I'm looking forward to having another walking partner / playground buddy for my son.


I played my new Wii Fit Plus game last night. I like it a lot better than the original. It tracks your calories burned (although I think they are very generous with the numbers) and you can set up which exercises you want to do in advance. I played a couple of the new games and I look forward to playing some more. They seem to be pretty cool. My calves are sore today, so I know I did work out! Course, that puts me off running today, which is a bummer.

I have not made a decision on the gym except that I was able to download a free pass and I won't make a decision until I've actually worked out there. I need to know if its something I will feel comfortable doing.

Weigh-In & Question

Current Weight: 152.2
Loss: 1.8

That's actually a re-loss really. I was down to 152.8 a couple weeks ago, and then up to 154 last week from eating too much after xmas. But, it's good to be down. I was kinda expecting more because I've been super good with my diet, but I have to remind myself that: a. I've only been super good for a few days really and b. I've been exercising hard which can cause water retention initially. So, at least it's a loss and next week I will see better numbers, I bet. Not that this is bad numbers.

So, here's my question: I am currently attending Jazzercise for $35 per month. The dance studio is located practically around the corner from me. I'm pretty comfortable going because I'm used to the people and there's always a variety of attendees. Plus I've learned the steps pretty well. Its always a good full body workout, with 30 minutes of cardio, 15 minutes of strength training and 15 minutes of stretching. I don't always work out every muscle equally and the strength training is NOT difficult at all, but at least I always feel like I get a pretty thorough workout considering we are only working out for 60 minutes. The classes are three evenings per week at 6:00.

However, I am considering switching to 24-Hour Fitness. The pros: I can purchase an entire year's membership through my insurance for $220. They have a child care center so I can workout any time of the day or evening or midnight if I want. They have multiple workout classes at various times, including pilates which I've been wanting to take. There is a pool so I can incorporate swimming into my workouts, which I'd like. I'd also like to use the stair master and bicycle as well as the assorted strength training machines. Since I can pay for the whole year up front, I won't have to worry about a monthly fee like I do with Jazzercise. The cons: The cardio and strength training machines are all in one large room with windows all along the front so no sense of privacy while exercising. There were a LOT of people working out when I went to tour the gym, which is understandable since it was 7:00 pm and just into the new year, but considering the popularity of 24 hour fitness, I know there will always be numerous people there. Fortunately, there were people of all sizes. The fuel I'll use on the drive will eat up the money I save on the membership fee. Plus, the long drive might deter me from working out there as often.

I need to cancel Jazzercise before the 15th, so I still have a few days to think about it, but would like some input from others about it. Thanks in advance!

Day 2 Down

Did my jog today. It didn't start out well - in fact, I thought after the first couple laps that I wasn't going to make it even a mile. I did a lot of jumping jacks yesterday when doing my new Wii exercises and my legs were aching once I had started running. I made it about 6 laps before I had to stop and walk. But, rather than just giving up at that point, I kept forcing myself to jog after walking about 10 seconds. I probably walked about 1 lap and jogged 9 laps in total. Not too bad I guess, especially considering my legs are sore. They weren't sore at all before I started jogging but they're very sore now.

I made a start at tracking my calories but then stopped so I need to get back to that.

I've been doing REALLY well with my eating. Scarily well, in fact. Last night I ate a bowl of Healthy Choice soup, 1/2 cup of squash and an apple. And I told myself I could have a yogurt later, cuz I had burned about 200 calories with my exercising, but I didn't. I didn't feel that hungry so I skipped the yogurt and was very happy with myself.

I haven't seen much of a movement on the scale, but I know that when you start exercising more your body retains water so I'm not going to let it bother me.

Today I've eaten a bowl of Total cereal for breakfast and mixed veggies with cranberries for lunch. I'm going to have a cup of choco milk for a snack because it's supposed to be good for an after-workout beverage.

Now I just have to make it through the rest of the evening without going off on one of my binges.

1 day down

First half of my first goal done: I went to Jazzercise last night. It was a good workout. I felt happy with myself for going. It wasn't a full class yet, but I know it will fill up over the next several weeks.

I plan on doing my new Wii workout, which is just a glorified exercise DVD. The nice thing about it is that I can do any kind of exercise I want, be it strength training, aerobic or yoga. Or a little of all three, which is what I plan on doing tonight. Apparently it contains over 400 different exercises and you can choose the music and background. It should be good.

I did well with my eating last night. I ate a bowl of soup, one piece of bread and a light yogurt. And I didn't eat again the rest of the night. Of course, it helped that I went to bed early.

I'm looking forward to the new season of BL starting tonight. Watching the super heavy contestants work their butts off is motivational. I mean, if they can do it at 300 plus or more pounds, then I can certainly do it.

I also need to do a run, but I want to do it tomorrow. My plan is to get up early enough to get a jog in before I take the kids to school. That would be great!

I still haven't decided on WW.

Motivation, Weight Watchers, Running & Feeling Bummed

First off, I'm bummed because its back to the daily grind. The 2 week hiatus during the holidays was a nice break. I was still working, but the kids were home and I had family visiting and it was just a break from the norm.

Eating-wise, I didn't do too hot but neither did I have any binges. It helps when your parents are staying with you :). We ate healthfully, if not necessarily low-cal. And we had pie for dessert two different nights. But, still... no binging and we were eating good home-cooked dinners including salads and steamed veggies. We also ate good breakfasts because my parents are used to cooking breakfast every morning and they are both health-conscious of what they eat. In fact, my mom lost about 40 pounds this year and is as thin as she was when she was in her 20s, so she is pretty conscious of what she eats. We also managed to get some form of exercise in every day, primarily consisting of walks and doing the Wii Fit. My mom LOVED the Wii Fit and plans to buy her own. I'm looking forward to getting my Wii Fit Plus from Amazon, which should come in next week.

I didn't run at all this week. I tried going for a run the day before my parents flew in last Wednesday but it was icy and I kept worrying I was going to slip and fall. Plus, in trying to plant my feet well with each stride, my calves started aching. So, I only managed to jog for half a mile. So, first goal this week is to get a couple days of runs in. Tonight I'm determined to go to Jazzercise, though. I want to get back into the habit before all the resolutioners start filling up the class.

I'm considering joining Weight Watchers. I want to get serious about my weight loss. I haven't made any significant in-roads in my weight loss for nearly a year. I want to get into the 140s and below. But, I seem to have trouble getting motivated. On the other hand, I had joined Weight Watchers in the past and it hadn't helped much. But, then again, I know that the leader can have a huge impact on the success of the program. And your fellow WW's. Besides the cost, I'm loathe to give up one of my Jazzercise class days. Even though I haven't been going every class, if I join WW then I definitely won't go to all three classes per week and I think I should make myself available to all 3 since I'm paying for it. Hopefully that makes sense. On the other hand, if it helps to get my butt into gear with my diet...

So, here are my goals for this week (it's a goal oriented week after all):

1. Run at least twice.
2. Attend at least 2 Jazzercise classes
3. Track calories
4. Look into ways to re-motivate myself
5. Find something to look forward to

Hope everyone survived the holidays!