February already?

Well, here in Iowa, we're in the midst of a blizzard, so today's a snow day! Actually, the snow part is done (12-14 inches later) but the wind is still howling. Our street hasn't been plowed yet, so we're probably not going anywhere today.

You'll be happy to know I did work out for 30 minutes last night. It was a quick workout while dinner was in the oven, so I didn't put on my heart rate monitor to track calories. For me, January started off so good, 11 days in a row of working out, and then I started to flop. I flopped because I let busy-ness get in the way. Then I got sick. A week later, I'm just now starting to feel better.

So, it's time for some goals for February. February is a short 28-day month (but can sometimes drag on forever), so it's important to make the best of it.

My goals for February are:
-Exercise 5 days a week for a minimum 30 minutes
-Track calories in at least 5 days a week
-Track calories burned during exercise each time I workout
-Drink a minimum of 90 ounces of water DAILY
-Start eating more fruits and veggies again (I've been slacking on this for some reason of late.)

I'll continue my weigh-ins on Saturday and hope to make more than a 2.6 pound progress this month.

What are your goals for this month?

Week 4 Weigh-In

Last week's weight: 243.8
This week's weight: 243.0

Week progress: -0.8 pounds
Total progress: -2.6 pounds

I don't have much to say other than I only worked out twice, I've been sick since Wednesday and I was pleasantly surprised with the weigh-in. I want to get back to feeling normal again. Between my cough and runny nose, this girl is not a pretty sight. Hoping to get rested up this weekend and get back on track next week.

Hope you have a good weekend!

Day 27 of 2011

No workouts today. I have an incredibly massive head cold that has my nose running like a faucet and my head feeling like it's pinned between a rock and a hard place. My stomach isn't feeling so hot either.

So, hope your goals are being achieved today. I'm trying to find comfort on my couch.

Day 25 of 2011

Well, I did it. As I promised, I worked out for at least 30 minutes. I was actually an over-achiever and worked out for 36! According to my trusty heart rate monitor watch, I burned 466 calories thanks to Mr. Billy Blanks. Now, people have given him a lot of crap over the years with his various methods, but I find his workouts challenging, energizing, and I can feel the burn.

Now, back to school work...oh, by the way, it's the 100th day of school tomorrow. I know I teach 4th grade, but the kids still get a kick out of it!

Day 24 of 2011

Have you ever had a day where you can't shut your brain off? Today's that day for me. This job hunting process has consumed my thoughts and I'm having a hard time shutting it off. I'm thinking about my paperwork, the deadline, being called or not being called for an interview, the interview, questions possibly being asked, asking them questions, seeing the school, being offered or not being offered the job, etc.... I even had a dream about it last night.

The best part is...I haven't my paperwork yet. I'm still waiting on a hard copy of one of my letters of recommendation which I will get tomorrow. Then, I have to sign everything on the application and send it off Wednesday.

On top of that, I've been working on a case brief for my Special Ed Law class that I have to present during Wednesday night's class. Let me tell you, I can tell you any little factoid on Least Restrictive Environment in schools. Basically, you have to give a student with disabilities options to learn in an environment with non-disabled peers while receiving all of the accommodations they need. I am briefing a case from my state of Iowa where the state ruled against the school district and in favor of the parents.

Throughout all of this, I'm struggling to maintain my sanity. I am truly watching my food intake, but I haven't been able to workout. I'm taking a mini 5 minute break right now while working on my PowerPoint to write this to let you know I'm here.

If anyone ever told you that working full-time and going to grad school was easy was not being honest. But I'm proud of what I've accomplished, even though it has consumed an enormous amount of time.

Tomorrow night, I have a date with Billy Blanks in my basement. I'm going to bring my "A" game, even if just for 30 minutes. But for tonight, back to my case brief...

Day 22 of 2011

Well, the weigh-in this morning wasn't horrible, but I'll take it considering how this week went.

You know how I promised you that I'd work out for 30 minutes today? Well, according to my friend Polar F6, I burned 402 calories in 30 minutes thanks to Billy Blanks and part of his cardio inferno.

I did it. Did you?

Week 3 Weigh-In

Last week's weight: 243.8

This week's weight: 243.8

How's that for maintenance? On the dot.

This week was not a great week for me, but I still kept in the back of the mind what and how much I was eating. Now, it's time to get back to moving. I promised you 30 minutes each day this weekend, and I'm going to abide by that promise. I owe it to you, but more importantly, I owe it to myself.

Sort of non-scale victory last night...I play Bunco once a month with a bunch of girls I work with. Normally, I would consume 3-5 beers. Last night? One. And then I drank my liter of water I brought with me. I consumed over 3 liters of water yesterday. I felt better. So, as of now, I have 32 ounces down....a good 70 to go! With tae bo waiting for me, that shouldn't be a problem.

Day 20 of 2011

Hi. Remember me? Yep, still here. I'm updating Thursday on Friday because that's what kind of a day Thursday was!

Calories were good...a little over 1700. But...I didn't work out like I said I would. I didn't get home until 7:10. Then I fixed dinner and by the time I actually sat down, it was after 8:00. I was exhausted. My body was exhausted. I'm still fighting something off. I don't know if it's a cold or what. My husband told me I looked like crap (in a sweet way, of course!!) and I made the executive decision to not work out.

This job application thing is nuts. I have 1/4 of the letters of recommendation I need. All of my things are done, so I'm just waiting on others. The reason I got home so late was because I stayed after school yesterday with my principal and went through all of my paperwork. She was impressed with the narrative I wrote, so that made me feel good.

Friday is off to a good start. My teammates and I are having a tech work day. We're going to work on creating lessons with our new technology stuff we've gotten at our school. So, I was in charge of breakfast. Usually, that would be donuts or bagels. But what did I do? SUBWAY!!! Oh my gosh, if you've never tried their breakfast sandwiches, they are delish! I got the Western Muffin with egg whites. It's a whole wheat English muffin, egg white, black forest ham, green peppers, and a half slice of cheese. Toast that baby up and it's like heaven. Only 180 calories!!!! I did also get the four little hashbrowns which added about 100 more, but all in all, not bad. Especially when I could have had a 400 calorie donut or bagel that wouldn't fill me up and would make me feel like crap!!!!

Goals for the weekend:
-Workout both Saturday AND Sunday for minimum 30 minutes and record calories burned.
-Weigh in tomorrow morning, even though I've only worked out once this week. I'm okay with what the results are and would be pleasantly surprised with a loss.
-Drink lots of water!
-Track calories

Day 18 of 2011

Calories: 1831 calories
Exercise: None :(

So, here's how my day has gone....work, come home, spend an hour getting new phones (hubby had to have a new one because his kept dying and we didn't want to pay to fix it), grocery shop, and go home and eat. Now, I'm working on finishing up my cover letter, resume', application, and answering four narrative questions.

Stress level is high because my grad school book is sitting here staring at me because I'm supposed to read two chapters for tomorrow night's class. Speaking of tomorrow night's class....means another night of no exercise. I'm to blame because I'm bringing most of this stuff on myself.

Thursday night, I am working out for a minimum of an hour. No questions asked.

I'm still not giving up. Still tracking calories. I've been too fat for too long....

Day 17 of 2011

Calories: About 1900
Exercise: None

So, today I had a teacher inservice, drove to and from work in snow which turned to icy rain, had no power at home for over two hours and then ended up eating Wendy's for dinner because it's hard to cook/eat/see in the dark.

Now, I have a headache and sore throat :( I've been on the couch most of the night. Hoping it goes away and doesn't turn into anything.

Day 16 of 2011

Calories: 1,993 calories
Exercise: 41 min. Advanced Tae Bo (calories burned=525)

I used my new F6 Polar Heart Rate Monitor during my workout today. A couple of observations....I'm completely and utterly out of shape and here's why. The watch beeps if you are either below or above your target heart rate range. I believe the range is about 132-154. My highest was 184 and my average was 165. So, because I'm so overweight, my heart has to work harder to make it through the workout due to my lack of cardiovascular capabilities...or something to that effect. The beeping was not loud, but when my wrist was remotely close to my head, it drove me nuts. Otherwise, Billy Blanks was drowning it out. Interesting to actually see this is how many calories I burned. Anyone else have one of these or something similar? How did you use it to help you with your lifestyle changes, etc.

I was busy working on my resume' today as well as calling my references. My current principal is ecstatic and is excited to help me through the process. I may not even be given an interview, but I'm still excited for the process. We'll see how things go!

Oh and by the way....don't work out 11 days in a row, take 4 days off and then expect to just pick up where you left off. Your body will hate you.

Week 2 Weigh-In

Starting Weight: 245.6 pounds
Week 1 Weight: 245.0
Week 2 Weight: 243.8 pounds

Weekly loss: -1.2 pounds
Total loss: -1.8 pounds

This week has not been a consistent week for working out. I'm amazed at the results and I'll take them! I'm throwing a curve ball into my balance of life by applying for a job this week. I'm currently an elementary teacher getting my Master's Degree is Principalship. I won't be done until December, but I can get a provisional license to until then, so I can apply for jobs for the next school year. A rural district that's about 30-40 minutes away has an opening for their elementary school due to a retirement and I'm applying. Doesn't mean I'll even get an interview, but I'm going to try.

The process is a complex one, so I'm really going to focus this week on getting everything together, sounding great and try to mail in my application by the end of the week.

In the process, I'm still going to try to track my calories, workout as much as I can, and test out my new heart rate monitor. If you don't get daily updates, it's not because I've given up. I promise.

Day 13 of 2011

Calories: 1565 calories
Exercise: Rest day :(

So, yesterday was a happy face rest day and today is a sad face rest day. My husband is a non-traditional student who is currently student teaching. He's four days in, exhausted and has been frustrated with some of the things the teacher he's with is doing and saying. After our grocery store/other store shopping venture, we had this long pow wow about everything and he just needed me to sit and listen. It is now 9 PM and exercise is not going to happen tonight. My husband apologized up and down because he knows how seriously I'm taking my health right now. But he did need me to listen. We had tears and venting, but he feels better. We just both need the weekend here.

On an exciting note, I got a new toy!!!! When we were out running errands tonight, hubby let me get a Polar F6 heart rate monitor watch!!! I'm so excited to finally get an idea of the amount of calories I burn during a workout. I'm going to wear it all day next Wednesday when I don't workout just to see how much I burn on a normal day.

Tomorrow is Friday, which I'm very ready for....it's been a long week. I'm also ready to get working out after a two day hiatus...I don't want this to be prolonged any more....

Day 12 of 2011

Calories: Not sure...see below
Exercise: Rest Day :)

I have been a good girl today...here's my meals:
Breakfast: Oatmeal and skim milk
Snack: String cheese
Lunch: Turkey/Cheese on Whole Wheat, Baby Carrots, Peaches
Snack: Trail Mix....I admit....I did take some of this so I don't know the calories
Dinner: Chef Salad and Diet Coke (salad had ham, turkey, tomatoes, cheese, and a chopped hard boiled egg. I was handed a large cup of ranch because that's all I can stand to eat on salad, and I barely used 1/4 of the cup of ranch)

Thoughts....I felt good about my food choices. So, for shits and giggles, I stepped on the scale tonight. When I do this at night, I figure I can subtract about 2 pounds and that'll be my weight tomorrow morning. My weight tonight? 248.0 pounds. WTF?!?!!! Are you freaking kidding me?

So, I went on a rampage throwing out "f" bombs everywhere. My husband can only come up with water retention due to the trail mix and Diet Coke. Seriously? I'm retaining water from that? If this weight holds true, I will have GAINED weight this week. GAINED! Un-freakin-believeable. I have worked my ass off last week and this week and I passed up a delicious ham and cheese soft pretzel sandwich tonight for a SALAD.

Trying not to panic....I've got two nights of workouts and two days of good eating (even though I've been good otherwise.....grrr) before I weigh in Saturday morning. My husband's trying to console me saying everyone loses at different rates, I'm on thyroid meds, blah, blah, blah. I'm tired of being the one who can't lose a frickin' pound.

Grrrrrr.....

Day 11 of 2011

Calories: 1514 calories
Workout: Treadmill workout as follows...
0.25 mile @ 3.5 mph
0.25 mile @ 3.6 mph
0.25 mile @ 4.0 mph (slow jog)
0.25 mile @ 3.6 mph
0.25 mile @ 4.5 mph (fast jog)
0.25 mile @ 3.6-3.7 mph
0.25 mile @ 5.0 mph (run for 1/2), 4.5 mph (other 1/2)
0.16 mile @ 3.8 mph

30 minutes=1.91 miles

I had almost talked myself out of working out for tonight. I kept saying to myself, "You've worked out 10 days in a row. You're tired. It's okay to skip."

Then, Biggest Loser came on. There are some women on this show who weigh less than I do. I felt the motivation build. So, I told myself that I would just walk for 30 minutes. Yeah. Try just walking while you're watching them do their last chance workout! They pushed and I pushed. It's been a week since I was on the treadmill last and I felt so much stronger tonight than I did last week.

Tomorrow is my day off of working out because I have my first grad class of the semester. Challenge for tomorrow is getting something within my calorie range for dinner. I've been scoping out places to grab a bite to eat. As much as I love french fries, I'm putting a restriction on them right now. They're full of fat, sodium and calories that I don't need right now....even though they taste awesome.

Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels, right?

I'll report back tomorrow night on my day. I almost feel some anxiousness coming on about not working out tomorrow. I've been on such a good roll, I don't want tomorrow to mess it up. But then again, that's my choice. I will be back to working out on Thursday. That's a promise.

I feel so good about my weigh in coming up on Saturday. After that weenie 0.6 loss last week, I have high hopes. I can do this!

Day 10 of 2011

Calories: 1641 calories
Exercise: 45 min. of "This is Tae Bo"

I made homemade pizza tonight and counted every calorie. I figured each piece rounded off to 250 a piece. I made a cookie sheet size pizza so hubs and I can have leftovers.

As for my goal of fruits and veggies, I had two fruits and two veggies....one veggie short of my goal.

I'm going to be honest here...I'm already feeling a burn out. I've worked out 10 days in a row for a minimum 30 minutes. I have one more day and then I'll get Wednesday off because i have grad class from 6-9 PM. This is a choice I made. But my body is tired. I have done tae bo 10 days in a row. My legs are sore. My arms hurt. So, tomorrow, I'm simply going to walk on the treadmill during Biggest Loser.

I don't want to burn myself out. I just wanted to force myself into the habit. But my body is tired. Walking on the treadmill tomorrow will be good, even though it won't be the burn tae bo is.

One positive to the working out? I sleep so well!!!

Day 9 of 2011

Calories: 1572
Exercise: 50 minutes Advanced Tae Bo (Holy sweatness!)

Today's thoughts: I feel better emotionally today after yesterday's horrible excuse for a weigh-in. Maybe my 45 minute nap helped today! I really pushed hard through my workout. This is old school Billy Blanks and let me tell you, I was sweating just as bad as the chicks on the video!

Eating was good today. I did another one of my breath tests today. This one was for fructose intolerance. It took four hours, so I didn't get to eat until a little after noon, so I again, just ate two bigger meals. I had talked about my sister making a casserole yesterday and not knowing the calories in them.

Well, tonight I made tator tot casserole for dinner. It's a pretty easy recipe...hamburger, cream of mushroom soup, frozen peas, and tator tots. I was a good girl and didn't put cheese on top (hubby did on his). I made an 8x8 pan. One fourth of the pan was 425 calories. With limited ingredients, it's easier to figure out calories for portions. I also saved out just under 1/4 for lunch tomorrow. I figured it out to be about 300 calories for tomorrow. I'll pair that up with some fruit.

Looking back at my meals for the week, I want to set a goal this week of adding more fruits and veggies. So, my goal is to have two servings of fruits and three servings of veggies every day this week (Monday through Friday). Watch for my progress!!!

Have a great week everyone! This is the first five day work week I've had in four weeks, so hoping it goes well!

Day 8 of 2011

Calories: Not sure...see below
Exercise: 40 minutes tae bo

I did one of my breathalyzer tests for my gastroenterologists, so I didn't get to eat until 12:00. That will be the same today. I ate twice yesterday and my sister made a casserole for us to eat for dinner while we babysat my nephew, so I'm not sure the calories in that. I would guess that I ate around 1200-1300 calories.

Had fun babysitting my 15 month old nephew. Little kids never cease to amaze me. He has learned so many words already, but he still has that adorable baby babble!

Still torked about my weigh-in this morning. Unfortunately, I think I will be for a while until I see some progress beyond 0.6. That's just how I handle things....

Week 1 Weigh-In

Starting weight: 245.6
Week 1 weight: 245.0

Results: -0.6

I hate scales. I hate the three digit number that defines me.

Struggling with this result this morning and I have to figure out how to change this for next week.

Day 7 of 2011-Happy Half-Birthday to Me :)

Yep, that's right....I'm 28 and a half years old!!! Remember when you were younger and someone asked you how old you were? It was never "I'm 8." It was "I'm 8 1/2 or I'm ALMOST 9!" This is completely irrelevant to ANYTHING, but I thought it was fun to share!

Calories: about 1800....explain more later...
Workout: 50 minutes "This is Tae Bo"-Billy Blanks newer version of his classic Advanced Tae Bo...Holy crap, I'm dead tired.

So, today's Friday. Awesome. I finally get to sleep in tomorrow. Today had some temptations. In elementary school, when it's your birthday, you obviously bring your fellow classmates treats and then go around and share the extras with former teachers. So a student I had last year brought me a cookie. I said thank you, gave her a sticker and put it on my desk. This was fine as when I'm teaching, I'm anywhere but my desk. Then, when I came back from lunch, I sat down to check my email and there was that evil cookie. It sat there on that napkin, looking so delicious. The colorful M&Ms popped through the dough and I could tell it was one of those soft ones.

"It's okay, Nicole. One bite isn't going to kill you," said my conscience.

So, I took a bite. A large bite. Holy goodness. Chewy. Moist. Sweet. Melt in your mouth, not your hand...

"One more...then that's it." Took another bite. I look at the cookie. Half of it is gone. WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!? I didn't know what to do, so I took the napkin, wrapped it around the cookie, and squeezed it all up. In the garbage it went.

Now, I don't want the "it's okay, you only ate half" lecture. I know that. But I didn't need it at all. But what's done is done and it's time to move on. So, not sure how many calories were in that.

Another temptation....Wendy's for dinner. I was exhausted, I forgot to take something out for dinner and I had no idea what to make. But instead of getting fries, I got chili. It tasted great as the wind chill tonight is around zero, so that was an overall success.

Watched a movie until 8:30 and I stared at the clock. Should I workout? Tonight could be my night off.... What to do, what to do. Well, I got off my duff (while husband continued to sleep on the couch) and did another one my of new workouts, This IS Tae Bo with Billy Blanks. Fifty minutes of torture. You would think the older he gets, the slower he'd get. Ummm...no. He NEVER stopped moving. And in between sets, we didn't march in place. Oh no, we were bouncing back and forth, swinging our arms like robots. I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

Now, finally, scale time tomorrow morning. I'm not optimistic. I've been working out, tracking calories, with really only one slip up. Generally, you'd think I'd lose 3-5 pounds. I just have a bad feeling and I don't know why. My body hasn't been cooperating with me for a while, so why would it now? But I can't give up. Something will click at some point, right?

Dear Scale Fairy,
Please be good to me tomorrow. I've been a pretty good girl this week.
Thanks,
N

Day 6 of 2011

Calories: 1594 calories
Workout: 30 min. cardio tae bo

I didn't end up working out until 8:15 tonight because I was Miss Betty Crocker and made homemade chicken cordon bleu! It was super yummy. I took an 8 oz. chicken breast, beat the crap out of it to flatten it, put a thin slice of deli shaved ham, a slice of provolone cheese, rolled it up, put a toothpick in it, dipped it in egg wash and coated in plain bread crumbs. Turned out to be about 300 calories and I kept myself to one. Had that with a side of broccoli and yummy in my tummy! Best part is I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow! Friday tends to be a tricky day at school. Lots of teachers like to "order in" on Friday so they don't have to bring their lunch. This can be pizza to deli sandwiches (not the healthy kind), so I feel good about being prepared for tomorrow!

I'm also proud of myself with handling the candy jar in our office. This week, I've only had two bite-size Snickers and about 10 mint M&Ms (holy crap those are good). This is a HUGE step for me because every time I go through the office, the bowl sits and stares at you. Thankfully there have been no birthdays, so treats in the lounge haven't been a temptation.

Now, I know a lot of people say that you need to eat small meals 4-6 times a day. Right now, I'm sticking to my three meals a day because I need to work on control of my eating. When I feel in control there, then I can vary and add in snacks.

My first week weigh in is on Saturday (I know I mentioned Friday earlier this week...but forgot I weighed in on Saturday last week, so I want to keep it consistent). Hoping that time of the month doesn't affect my weigh in this week as we all know how that can wreak havoc on our whole life!!! Regardless of what the number is on Saturday, I'm still proud of myself this week and I'm going to work hard to make this a part of my life consistently. Yes, easy to say now during week one, but I really want to work at this. The thing I'm most proud of is getting back to working out and doing it now six days in a row.

What have you done this week that you're proud of?

Day 5 of 2011

Calories-Not sure....going to spill my guts....went out to dinner for Mexican tonight and ate too many chips and salsa....and maybe some cheese sauce. I did only eat half of my dinner and took the other half home.
Exercise-35 minutes of advanced tae bo

Thoughts: I regret making the choices I did tonight and after struggling through a workout, I feel so, so guilty. But one thing I did realize...I still worked out. That's not normal for me. Normally, I'd gorge and eat my ENTIRE meal and then lay on my ass on the couch. But I didn't. I let my dinner settle for an hour and put in 35 minutes of a workout. Will it compensate for what I ate? No. But it won't damage me as much as it would have otherwise.

An update on my trip to the doc (gastroenterologist)...while he doesn't want to diagnose me quite yet, he's leading towards irritable bowel syndrome. I got a blood test done to rule out Celiac disease and I have to do breath tests (think breathalyzer times 4) to rule out lactose intolerance, fructose intolerance and bacteria inside my bowels....so sorry, I know almost TMI...

I go back in mid-March to found out the results of these things and figure out where to go from here. Also got the results back from my thyroid blood test. My regular doc said I'm still borderline low, so she upped my dosage again. She's wondering if this could be one reason I'm struggling some with weight loss. I guess time will tell.

So, I made a mistake today, but I didn't give up. And I'm not going to give up. You just wait and see. Five straight days of working out...that hasn't happened in a while.

Day 4 of 2011

Calories-1672 calories
Exercise-45 minutes fat blasting cardio tae bo

Thoughts: First day back to work was a success. I'm happy to report I had 2 mini snickers (bite size, not fun size) and that was the only thing outside of my planned meals. I found it harder to consume water at work than during break at home. I bring two one liter bottles of water and I went through half of each. I drank more at home, but my goal is to get through those two liters at school.

Tomorrow is my gastroenterologist appointment, so we'll see what the doc says there. I don't think it will be anything that changes my plans for anything. My regular MD wanted an updated blood test to check my thyroid levels, so I should know the results tomorrow.

Until then...

Day 3 of 2011

Exercise-45 minutes of Tae Bo Cardio Inferno (bought it last night when we bought our new DVD player....either it's really hard, I'm really out of shape...but probably just both!)
Calories-About 1400 after dinner (I know it's a little lower, but since yesterday was higher, I'm trying to compensate some)

Tomorrow is my first day back to work after having 12 days off. Work means candy dishes, treats in lounge, etc. as temptation. At home, I got rid of the temptations, so there's no room for slip ups. This is where I have to dig deep into my willpower.

On Wednesday, I will go to the gastroenterologist about my stomach issues I've had. Funny...haven't really had issues the last month. I'll be anxious to see what the doctor says, but I have a feeling I'll have to do testing (colonoscopy...yuck) and then I'll hear that they didn't find anything wrong. Whatever.

Again, I feel good. I'm going to do this. You just watch. First weigh-in on Friday. Hard not to step on the scale until then :)

Day 2 of 2011

Calories: about 1960 (little more than I wanted, but stayed under 2000)
Exercise: 35 minutes on treadmill...2.06 miles

Thoughts...might need new exercise shoes. When I got done with the treadmill, my left foot felt tender like it might get a blister. Sure hope not! Guess that's what friction will do to you when you haven't done it in a while!

Tomorrow is my last day of break. Thank you to my school district for giving us the Monday off!!! Time to plan out the menu for the week and workouts!!!

I feel good. I know it's only day 2 but I feel good.

Day 1 of 2011

I'm back on the saddle again....I hope I can stay on the horse this time around.

Breakfast: Cheerios in skim milk
Lunch: 2 small slices from medium pizza, salad
Dinner: Roast Beef, potatoes, green peas (Didn't go back for seconds!)

Calories: 1680 calories
Exercise: Treadmill (walk 3.5-3.7 mph for 1.76 miles) 300 calories burned

I wanted to do one of my DVDs but our DVD player in the basement isn't reading discs, so we're going to have to get a new one.

This is the first day of the rest of my life.

Happy New Year!

A toast to 2011...

-may it be a year of healthy decisions...
-may it be a year of activity...
-may it be a year of positive changes...
-may it be a year of friendship...
-may it be a year of laughter...
-may it be a year of love...
-may it be a year of happiness...

To you and yours, Happy 2011 and may all of your dreams come true!

It's that time of year again...

It's that time when people, especially women, tend to evaluate their eating and workout habits and make resolutions of how to make a positive change in 2011. Well, friends, I'm going to jump aboard that train. Why? Because I need to.

So, as we go through the last few days of 2010, I reflect back and am not proud of anything in the health-related world. My weight has climbed, my exercise has declined, and I'm not happy with where I am right now with my health.

What better time to change than the new year? A new year. A new Nicole. I'm sure going to give it a shot.

Did you think I ran away?

I haven't. I'm still here. And I'm battling my stomach issues more now than ever. It's gone from once a month to now once a week and this last bout was only after three days. I'm not scheduled for my appointment with a gastroenterologist until Jan. 5th, but I don't think I can wait that long.

I'm trying to think of all of the possibilities: irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's Disease (probably not), colitis, colon cancer (probably not), etc. etc. Of course, I immediately think something horrible, but I really have no clue what's wrong with me. I don't necessarily have bouts after I eat, so that makes me think IBS is out, but hard to tell.

I'm just tired of this. Tired of evenings wasted because of either being in the bathroom or feeling miserable on the couch. I'm tired of feeling uncomfortable with my stomach all of the time. Some say this type of thing can be caused by stress. Well whatever this is, it's giving me stress.

Working out has been non-existent. My diet hasn't been horrible because I'm trying to peg if any of this is diet-related (which I'm not seeing any patterns). My weight has maintained which, whatever. Right now, my goal is to figure out what's going on with all of this.

So, that's my update. I'll keep you posted as I know more.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I'm thankful for:
-My family who has always been supportive
-My friends who I can always count on
-My husband who is my rock
-My cat who's a cuddle bunny when he isn't a holy terror
-My home to keep me warm
-My job that even though it has its challenges, is rewarding every day
-My grad classes that allow my paycheck to rise
-My alarm clock that helps me get to said job on time

and lastly, my health. My health hasn't been the best to me this year as I am still battling monthly stomach issues. I am scheduled to go to a GI doc in January. I've stopped all excess fiber I was trying to consume and just sticking to my regular diet.

I am getting back to exercising. I did two nights on the treadmill for 30-35 minutes, getting in two miles at a fast walking pace. Yes, I was sweating. We have two Thanksgivings this year. One is today at my in-laws and one Sunday at my grandma's in Illinois. I'm not overly worried about the eating because I never usually pig out at holiday gatherings....it's when I'm at home that I go bonkers.

Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving with your families and be thankful for all you have!

A Letter to Me

Dear Me,

I'm going to be frank with you here. You've got to stop letting the excuses run your life. You've got to stop letting food run your life. Do you know how many calories you consumed yesterday? Exactly, because you're not tracking them. By letting food control you, you're blind to everything else. Food controls what you do when...because you wouldn't want to miss snacks in the lounge, right? WRONG!!! Did you need those? How about when you got home? Why do you always go to the fridge/cupboard? When you do, you just grab crap anyway.

You need to get serious. You're health and well-being depend on it. You know your husband is behind you. Look at him running four miles a day. Do you see him snacking all of the time?

And no excuses about the holidays coming up. Remember last year? You kept exercising and watched your portions and you lost weight during Thanksgiving and Christmas. You need to get back to that.

You keep saying I want to weigh under 200 pounds. Well, lately, you sure haven't showed it. I know you've had health issues, but those have mostly cleared up, so what's stopping you?

What's that you say? You. You're stopping you. You're the only one who decides what goes in your body and you've been feeding it crap lately. Seriously...cheese, brownies, chips, bread, etc. And too much of it. It's okay to have one, not three.

And what's with the lack of workouts? I know, you've had report cards, I get that. They're done now and you're free sailing. Get off your duff and sweat. You'll feel better, I promise.

Love,
Me

**Sorry for the discussion with myself, but maybe by rereading it, I'll snap into reality.

Health Update....FINALLY!

Hello!

I haven't been away...I've just been waiting. Here are my updates:

Regular Doctor-Thyroid levels are low enough that she's upping my dose. We will monitor energy level and intestinal movements and go from there. Pap came back normal, so that's always reassuring.

Chiropractor-I had a rib out of place. He put that baby back in place and gave me orders to take Advil and ice it every evening. Being that rib was out of place for over a week, my muscles wrapped around it and now that it's back in place, my muscles aren't. So for the next few days he has be doing that. He also has me limited to walking for the next week. He said that especially since I'm a tae bo fan, any upper body movements like that can easily pop it back out of place. So, unless I wanted to visit him frequently, I need to take it easy on the back. I also talked to him about my intestinal issues. He has me doing an herbal cleanse for the next 10 days. The only reason he's having me do this is because with three months of problems and build up, he said my diet changes aren't helping and my system isn't cleaning out properly. So, I'm giving this a shot. I've learned that fiber drinks (metamucil) are utterly disgusting and my gag reflex has prohibited me from drinking them, so I'm taking a fiber supplement for that part. Anxious to see how I feel after this.

So, that's where I'm at. I feel good about what's gone on and anxious to see if things change. I'm ready to get back into the groove of everything.

Thyroid??

So, I went to my yearly physical today (yes, that dreaded womanly visit) to get my annual done but to also ask about my issues with my health lately. My doctor has a suspicion that my thyroid may not be working up to speed. To backtrack, I am on meds for an underactive thyroid. I have been for about 5 years. I get it tested every year and every year it turns up normal. My doc said that if my thyroid is not functioning appropriately, it can slow my systems down (hence, my intestinal issues). So, I got my blood drawn and will know the results in a couple of days.

Now, before you get all excited for me, she said that may not be the answer. If it's not, then I get to shop in the aisle at the store where everyone over the age of 80 shops....the fiber supplement aisle. She said to make sure I'm getting 25-30 grams of fiber in my diet and then add some additional fiber supplements along with a ton of water (which I already drink due to my kidney stone history).

Awesome. So, granny, what do you recommend....metamucil or benelax? UUGHHHH!!!

I'm hoping to squeeze in some working out tonight, but we'll see how it goes. My back still has a catch in it (get to go to the chiro on Wednesday...FINALLY), so I gotta be careful with what I do. I've got two sets of tests to correct yet, too tonight, so I don't know.

I was talking to my mom on the phone and asked her, "When will I just be normal?" Her response? "Good question!"

I've Hit a Road Block....My body hates me...

Don't worry....not mentally. Physically.

I still haven't made it to my chiro to get my back adjusted. I'm doing okay with Advil and ice as well as a periodic massage from hubby, but I'm in need of an adjustment. My chiro's and my schedules just haven't meshed.

To add to it, I stayed home from work today. This may get TMI....so you are forewarned. The last three months, I've had some gastrointestinal issues. In August, I went to urgent care as I had some stomach pain, nausea and tiny bowel movements. The doc took an X-Ray and found that my upper large intestine was "backed up" so to speak. So I took magnesium citrate to get things moving. I did and things were okay.

Fast forward to three weeks ago. I stayed home with the same issue and also had dry heaves with it. I forgot to mention that this wakes me up during the night and I'm in the bathroom once an hour for about five hours. Hence, no sleep. And no sleep and teaching a class of 20 challenging 4th graders does not work well. I drank a lot of water and it seemed to pass.

Well, last night, it happened again. When I went to bed, my stomach felt weird...full-like, but I ignored it and went to bed. 1 AM rolls around and I'm in the bathroom. This continued until about 5 AM when I proceeded to drive to school and get things ready for a sub since I knew I wasn't going to be teaching today.

I haven't had the bathroom issues during the day today but I still have a "full" feeling in my stomach. I even looked online for colonic massage (things kneading your stomach in the pattern of your intestine to try and get things "moving"). I haven't had much luck. I go to my regular doctor on Monday for my yearly physical so I'm going to talk to her about this tomorrow.

Right now, my head is hurting too and I think it's exhaustion and my body trying to figure out what's going on. Exercise hasn't happened this week as I'm trying to figure out what's going on and my energy level hasn't been there.

So, I'm still here...I'm just hoping I can get this figured out because it's getting kinda old.

Weigh-In and Injury?

So, I kept last week's weigh-in from you.

Current weight 242.0 pounds

Thoughts: Better than where I was last week.

Injury? Last night while I was shaving my legs in the shower, I bent over and felt something "pop" in my back. It literally took my breath away. I slept a lot last night but every time I rolled over, I woke up because my back was uncomfortable (not sure hurt is the right word). I'm unfortunately not working out today because sitting and laying in different positions hurt, I can't imagine what working out could do. If it's still bothering tomorrow, I'll be making a trip to my chiropractor.

Frustrations continue...

30 DS Day #4 plus some Tae Bo

My workout is done and I feel good about it. Added in 20 additional minutes of Tae Bo in a "last chance workout" effort before my weigh in tomorrow.

Now to switch gears. Frustrated. I am a daily weigher. I don't care what the "experts" say and I know it can lead to frustration, but I have been watching my calories and working out as possible and I haven't seen much of a difference from last week's weigh-in flop. I don't know if I'm retaining water or what but I feel like a bloated whale. My stomach feels big and uncomfortable. My time of the month finished back on Monday, so I should be done with that stuff. I just feel blah in the stomach area. It sucks.

Tomorrow is weigh in and another day of a good workout. Trying to really get myself in gear. I'm going to do a Biggest Loser thing for a second. This past week's episode was a good one. As always, the person who is eliminated has a check in to see how they're doing now. This guy has done a tremendous job, losing 100 pounds (or around that) since the beginning. But, he says he works out at the gym for 1.5-2 hours in the morning, works an 8-hour day, works out again for 1 hour after work, goes home to have dinner and a little family time and then goes back one more time for 1.5-2 hours. That's 4-5 hours of working out a day!!! I just wish I had the time to do that.... For fun, I created my typical day with those hours:

3:45-Wake Up
4-5:45-Workout
7:30-3:30 Teach 4th Grade
4-5:30-Workout
5:45-7:00 Dinner/Time with hubby
7-9:00-Workout
9:30 Bedtime

Now, this doesn't include any after school meetings, appointments, grad class, etc. That is not feasible for me. Some times I wish I was a stay at home mom to our cat so I could have more time, but when hubby's in school getting his undergrad and we live solely off of my salary, that's not going to happen!

Just thought that was interesting to put into my schedule. One can dream, right?

On to Sunday!

30 DS Workout #3 Done

This is gonna be short and sweet because I'm kind of in a funk today.

Did my 30 Day Shred workout. Broke a sweat, but didn't do any more. I actually found it hard to do this workout. I felt almost lethargic, and I'm not sure why.

All I can say is TGIF tomorrow. Just hope it's a better one all around.

30 Day Shred Day #2 plus some treadmill

Now don't get too excited about that plus treadmill part! :)

Day #2 with 30DS was great. I was into it. I pushed myself (except those stupid push ups....hate those even "girl style"). I then added 10 minutes on the treadmill. I was getting all into jogging on the second lap (1/4 mile). I made it two minutes in and completely fell apart. No way that was going to continue. So I huffed it through 10 minutes (about 0.6-something miles).

My goal today was to track everything I ate. I did. The only thing I would go back and fix is access to the candy jar in our office. I consumed 3 "fun-size" Crunch bars and 4 "mini" Snickers. Okay, total side thought, but who seriously calls these fun size? What's so "fun" about them? The fact that I could probably eat an entire bag? The fun thought of a tease of a taste??? And the minis...don't even get me started on those!!!

Other that those slip ups, I'm very happy with myself today. I haven't said that in a while. I need to work on the self esteem.

Tomorrow is Wednesday which means grad class. Going to try and plan safely..... Goal tomorrow is once again to record everything I put into my mouth, good or bad. My meals are okay. It's the snacking that's killing me. Bought me some laughing cow cheese and triscuits. We'll see how that goes for a snack instead of raiding the candy jar.

By the way, we have a full size fridge once again....hopefully done buying appliances!!!! Now maybe we can get back to normal eating and living!!!!

30 Day Shred Day #1

Does it seem like I can't make up my mind when it comes to exercise? Well, last year, I gave the 30 Day Shred a try. I did AWESOME for 15 days and got bronchitis and had to quit. I never picked it up again until tonight.

Reasons I like the 30 Day Shred:
-It's fast....25 minutes and you're done
-Circuits....3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs...repeat
-Fast, powerful movements that have you sweating in no time

Reasons I question the 30 Day Shred:
-Not long enough of a workout?
-Not intense enough cardio?

I didn't do any more tonight because I have a butt load of tests and papers to check....which I'm off to do now!!!

Hoping for a longer workout tomorrow, but I did move today. That was my goal.

Tomorrow's goal: Track every bite I eat.

Weigh In......or weigh out?

This is where I have trouble. My mental journey. I don't like to face the facts. I don't like defeat.

This week has not been good. I have only worked out once. There have been other things that have gone on, but I don't need to bore you with them.

My weight is up. That's all I'm going to say. It's my fault, not anyone or anything else's fault.

It's time to go back to square one. Because that's where I am.

Today is a struggle.

I feel like I'm at confession, even though I'm not Catholic. Here it goes....forgive me, health gods, for I have sinned.

-I didn't work out yesterday.
-I got drive-thru McDonald's for breakfast....total of 600 calories....totally not worth it.
-Ate a half of a cake doughnut....again, totally not worth the calories.

I just got done with lunch and I'm already over 1000 calories. Seriously, Nicole? Are you kidding me? I choose to eat crap and then feel bad about it? This is where I need to work on the emotional weight Tara at 263andcounting.com talks about.

So, why am I doing this? Let's break it down.

1. Didn't exercise yesterday. Due to conferences, I didn't get home until 7:30 PM. I then had to finish my paper due for my grad class that had to be submitted by 11:30 PM. I finished it at 9:00 PM. By then, I was mentally exhausted and just needed down time. I feel this is justifiable.

2. Drive thru McDonalds for breakfast. I was running late this morning and didn't have time to make my normal egg on toast breakfast, so I opted for a Sausage McMuffin with egg and hashbrown. Did you know that mcmuffin is 450 calories and the hashbrown is 150 calories? In hind sight, I would have been better off to go to Subway and get one of their english muffin sandwiches. Plus, I wouldn't feel all greasy gross afterwards either. Lesson learned.

3. Ate half of a cake doughnut. So, my teammate occasionally brings in a doughnut and sets it on my desk in the morning. She does this for all three of us. So, when I arrived after eating my greasy breakfast sandwich, I see this cake doughnut with chocolate frosting sitting on my desk. I proved that I didn't have the strength to just throw it away. So, I took a bite. It was good. I proceeded to eat half of it and literally felt ill. So, I pitched it. I'm proud of myself that I was able to do that, but I should have eaten a single bite to start with.

Worst part is that even though I've done all of these things, due to my night class tonight, workouts aren't an option. Awesome. I'm sure the pounds will creep on. I know one thing though...no more McDonald's breakfast. It wasn't worth the 600 calories. I would have been better off with a quick piece of toast at home.

No one said this would be easy, but I'm using this blog as a tool for me to work through this stuff both physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Mixing it up!

In an effort to prevent boredom, I'm mixing up my workouts and holy buckets am I getting sore!!!

Tonight, I went back to my kickboxing day's from Farrell's Extreme Bodyshaping and did some punches, kicks and combos. Did you realize how much of a full body workout kickboxing is? I was watching my form in the mirror and with every punch, your abs and arms are engaged. With every kick, you abs and legs are engaged. When you put it together, it's everything! I'm sure I won't be able to move in the morning. After 20 minutes of that, I added on 15 minutes on the elliptical. I didn't do more than 15 minutes though because my toes fall asleep. Still gotta figure out how to get rid of that.

Oh! and I made an awesome dinner tonight. I marinated boneless, skinless chicken breasts in Italian dressing and grilled them. Then I made grilled chicken wraps! I had multigrain wraps, spinach, shredded cheese, cut up chicken, cut up pieces of bacon and a little ranch dressing mixed in. YUMMY!!!! One wrap was super filling. I guesstimated is to be about 400 calories. This is good because my munchies got the best of me at work...hate when there are birthdays and I go in the lounge. Gotta work on will power.

Holy soreness!

So, for yesterday's workout, I decided to pull out the 'ole Billy Blanks Advanced Tae Bo from probably the 90's. It's a 50 minute DVD that has his super-burst speeds and lots of leg work. I'll admit, I had to stop a few times to catch my breath, but I made it through the whole standing workout and then part of the floor workout. I did some abs on my own and really felt pretty good. Tired, but good.

Fast forward to 6:00 AM this morning when my alarm goes off. As I take the first step out of bed, I'm pretty sure my legs felt like jiggly jello. I raised my arms to put my contacts in and it felt as if they weighed 100 pounds each! I didn't even use weights!!!

Just goes to show that I've got a lot of work to do. But I'm doing it.

As far as today goes, not sure what I'm going to do for a workout. We'll see what the weather is like this afternoon when I get home. Dancing with the Stars is on tonight!!! Go Jennifer Grey!!!!

Weigh-in

Not going to beat around the bush.

Weight 241.0 pounds. Gain of 1.2 pounds.

I didn't exercise much this week and my eating was off. The number shows it.

Time to hop back on the saddle again. Giddy-up!

I've entered a contest...

For those of you who have never visited Jen's blog, you should certainly do so. She is a success story with inspiration. I love that even though she has lost the weight and is extremely healthy, she continues to write about her struggles. Life's not perfect, but she shows how to get through it.

Yesterday, she blogged about wanting a future Prior Fat Girl to join her blog. You submit a letter, Jen narrows it down and then the readers will have the final decision.

Here's my letter:

Jen,
I am writing to you today to submit my application to become the next future “Prior Fat Girl!” The reason I want to become a Prior Fat Girl is because I want a better quality of life for my future.
I am a 28-year old Iowa girl. I’ve been married for three years to my wonderful husband. I am a fourth-grade teacher, and I am currently getting my master’s degree in Administration with hopes of becoming an elementary principal someday.
I have been fighting a losing battle again a better quality of life for most of my life. I was an obese child through high school. When I went to college, I badly wanted to get a boyfriend, so I worked out non-stop and didn’t eat anything until I felt shaky. I dropped about 40 pounds in two months, but soon figured out this wasn’t the way to do it. I met my first boyfriend after losing the weight and stopped working out and ate whatever I wanted. I soon gained those 40 pounds back and added an additional 20 pounds. My then-fiance broke off our engagement because he wasn’t attracted to me anymore. This devastated me.
I went into a massive depression for about a month and lost 20 pounds because I wouldn’t eat. I snapped out of it and decided this was my sign for a better life. I began eating better and working out consistently. I felt good and started to look good. I lost 50 pounds when I met my current husband. I continued working out and eating right, but as time progressed farther, I pushed health to the back burner.
In the five years my husband and I have been together, I have lost and gained the same 25-30 pounds. I currently sit at about 240 pounds, where you started. I need a fresh rejuvenating start. I’ve created a blog, but am afraid to write about the times I fail. I need to have that accountability. I don’t have many commenters on my blog, so I sometimes feel that what I write doesn’t matter because not many people see it.
I’m ready to begin the fight for my life. I want MY life to be something it has never been…healthy. I don’t want to be obese anymore. I don’t want to avoid shopping because I might have to go in the plus section. I want to be proud of what I look like and not just who I am on the inside. I want to be active for my one-year old nephews. I want to be healthy so that my husband and I feel comfortable trying to conceive a child. I want to be a role model for health. I would love nothing more than to have your reader’s support.
Jen, you’ve been such a strong person. I have followed your blog for almost two years and I’m so impressed with your passion for life, your strength in beliefs, and your dedication to fitness and health. You are a role model for me and for me to become a part of your blog world would mean so much to me. I want the accountability. I want the feedback (I love my husband to death, but he’s too nice to be blatantly honest sometimes!). Your readers are passionate people who are real and don’t pretend to sugarcoat things. I respect that.
I have never been a success in losing the weight and keeping it off. I would love the challenge set forth by your readers and you to succeed. I’m tired of making excuses of being busy or too tired. I’m tired of choosing to eat out rather than to make something at home. I’m tired of choosing my computer over a walk, jog, exercise, DVD, etc. I have all of the tools. I have a treadmill, elliptical, hand weights from 5 pounds to 60 pounds (my husband uses those!!), DVDs ranging from Jillian Michaels to Billy Blanks, an elementary school six blocks away with a walking trail around it. I have a husband who is physically fit and I would love nothing more than to give him a wife who is the same. He deserves it. I deserve it.
If I am selected to be a “Future Prior Fat Girl,” I vow to share my successes, my failures, and everything in between. I don’t want to let you down, and more importantly, I don’t want to let myself down anymore. I don’t want to be the girl with just the pretty face…

Sincerely,
Nicole
http://healthierlifeforme.blogspot.com/


Something inside me lit up after submitting this. I feel empowered. I appreciate those of you here who read my blog regularly and comment for me. I love that. I would love to have even more people comment and see my life as I'm trying to change it into the right health direction.

I will work out tonight. I will make good food choices. This will be the first time in almost a week that I've eaten dinner at home. I'm excited for that.

I'm still here, and I'm not about to give up. No epic fail....

Epic Fail

So, I'm upon one of the most stressful weeks of the year. Since my weigh-in on Sunday, I...

-have not worked out
-have eaten like crap
-have slept like crap
-have been nursing a head cold after my bought with the flu
-want nothing more than to be on a beach in Mexico

It's not going to get any better...here's my week:
Today: conferences until 7:00 PM
Wed: class until 9:00 PM
Thursday: get observed by our district cabinet, conferences until 5:00 PM, out to dinner with friends
Friday: Open
Saturday: 1st birthday party for the nephew...not sure how long it will last
Sunday: Open

On those open days, I have to try and squeeze in laundry, cleaning, and grad school work, not to mention working out.

I'm scared. It's weeks like these that turn into months like these. It's hard to manage time and life. Right now, I'm working on an epic fail. Stress does not do kind things to me.

Weigh-In

Good-bye 240s. Please don't EVER come back.

No workout today

Home sick with some sort of flu bug....bummer dudes. Hoping to get rested up today so we can still go to the football game tomorrow.

5K Workout Week 3 Day 2 Done

Did you think I ran away? I didn't. Just been super busy lately.

Went out to the good old path at the elementary school tonight. Here's what I did:

Walk to school: 0.35 miles
1 lap walk: 0.4 miles
1.25 laps jog: 0.5 miles
0.75 lap walk: 0.3 miles
1.25 laps jog: 0.5 miles
0.75 laps walk: 0.3 miles
0.5 lap jog: 0.2 miles
1.5 lap walk: 0.6 miles (with hubby talking, so pace was slower)
Walk back home: 0.35 miles

Total Distance: 3.5 miles
Total Jogged: 1.2 miles
Approximate time: 60 minutes (sorry no timer pic...hubby had stopwatch and the kitchen timer was having issues)

Thoughts: Still love outside and I kind of like doing my own type of workout. Now, some might roll their eyes, but I've gotta find what works for me. My goal is still to be able to jog 3.1 miles by Sunday, November 14th. That'll be the end of the nine week program that I started.

I should be able to get a workout in tomorrow, may try and get something in Saturday morning after my massage but before we head to Iowa City to cheer on the Hawkeyes versus Penn State. We're tailgating and there will be food and there will be beer. My goal is to enjoy but not indulge and overeat. Sunday should be another day of workouts.

I know that I feel better know that I'm working out and I think I'd feel even better if I was stricter about my food consumption. It's like I have the munchies. Those add up. I've also noticed my digestive system is working better when I'm moving more.

So, until next time!

5K Workout Week 3 Workout 1 Done

So, today's post isn't titled C25K because I did my own thing today. I needed to get out and off the treadmill. Since it was absolutely gorgeous outside (sunny, 68 degrees, slight breeze), I decided to head back the good 'ole trail I ran on last year. I loved it. I don't think I've said that yet. Since I didn't want to mess with a timer too much, I did my own workout.

Today's workout:
Walk to elementary school where trail is: 0.35 miles
One lap walk: 0.4 miles
One lap jog: 0.4 miles
One lap walk: 0.4 miles
One lap jog: 0.4 miles
One lap walk: 0.4 miles
Half lap jog: 0.2 miles
Walk one block: 0.11 miles
Jog three longer blocks: 0.24 miles

Total distance: 2.90 miles

Here's the picture of my timers. Yes, it's stopwatch and kitchen timer. I used what I had!! The stopwatch is the total time I jogged and the kitchen timer is the total time out from when I left the house to when I returned.



Treadmill vs. Outside
Treadmill +: Consistent speed, Easy time
Treadmill -: Mental game with time and speed

Outside +: Fresh air, control own speed/distance
Outside-: Speed may not be as fast

Still like outside, but it's getting colder, so I'm going to have to figure out how these workouts are going to go.

I did it! I feel good.

Sunday=Fail

So, you know how I had a decent weigh-in and wrote my challenges as my Week 3 workout for C25K and a work picnic? Yeah, they were challenges because 1. I didn't do the workout and 2. I ate more than I should have at my work picnic.

While I could sit here and beat myself up about it, but I'm not. Today's a new day. I will get my workout in tonight (might try it outside since it's gorgeous outside and see if it's better than the treadmill). Also, back to focusing on what I'm consuming.

Who invented Mondays?????

Weigh-In

I don't know how or why, but I'm down. Weighed in at 241.0. That's a three pound loss in two weeks and a 1.2 pound loss in a week.

It's not a lot, but I'll take it. I really want to get back to the 230s next week.

Challenge today: C25K week 3 and work picnic

Stay tuned later today for the workout update.

Tae Bo Saturday

So, instead of being a lazy lard today, I decided to try tae bo. If you remember me at all from the past, I'm a tae bo fiend. I haven't done it in months, so I thought it was time to pull out the "Fat Blasting Cardio" DVD. This uses the boot camp resistance bands for added burn. Let me tell you. It burned!

In fact, I made it 30/45 minutes. I was pretty happy with that. Holy cow, I'm outta shape! I remember when that DVD barely made me sweat.

I've got my work cut out for me! I'm thinking I need to incorporate more exercise other that C25K (since I know that only burns a couple hundred calories).

Stay tuned for tomorrow's weigh in. Hopes are high!

C25K Week 2 Done....and it hasn't gotten any easier

After two weeks of these workouts, you'd think the runs/jogs would get easier, right? I think they're getting harder. I jumped the treadmill twice tonight because it hurt. My legs hurt bad tonight and I stretched a lot.

Here's the results:


It's just not getting any easier and I'm starting to get discouraged. Any advice?

As promised, here's my journal I created:


One problem is that I haven't recorded in it since Tuesday. So, that changes tomorrow.

Got our school pictures back today. I look disgusting. I have kept a picture every year to compare and this is the worse I've looked in five years. Here's the thing I don't understand. Before starting this, I ate what I wanted, didn't work out and maintained 240-244. Now, two weeks into it, as of this morning, i was 243. I'm watching what I eat and sticking within my calories and I'm adding workouts. I know a miracle isn't going to happen overnight, but shouldn't I see some change? I mean usually the first week you watch calories and work out, you can lose 5-10 pounds. Me? Nope. What's wrong with me??

C25K Week 2 Day 2 Done...and a little strength training..

Hi all!

Well, I'm almost nearing the completion of Week 2 of C25K. I wish I could say it was getting easier. Jillian Michaels would have kicked my butt today. Why? Because I jumped 10 seconds short of completing my second run. Seriously? I couldn't go 10 more seconds?? Yes I could have. But I told myself I was too weak and I did it. Funny thing was that I was watching Biggest Loser while doing this.

Speaking of Biggest Loser, I cried tonight. Not because of some of the sad stories. Not because I was touched by the contestants. Why you ask? Because I weighed more than some of the people who wanted to be on there. I could be on the Biggest Loser. Nice. That does a lot for the self esteem. I watched the people do the 500-step and one-mile challenge. I wonder if I could do that... Do I need a challenge? I just might.

So, back to the workout. Completed the furthest distance yet, so that was a bonus. Added in some hand weights and arm exercises. Started off slow with 2-3 reps of 16. Also threw in two sets of 25 sit ups. Here's my treadmill pic:



And just because I sweat my bootay off, here's a sweat pic. Jen at Priorfatgirl likes to incorporate these. Notice the cheesy smile....it stands for "I'm smiling because I don't have to run again until Thursday!!"



One more thing, but I'll save the pic until Thursday. I created a tracking journal for food and exercise to keep me focused. I like the paper version instead of the online version. It's a constant reminder of what I'm working for...stay tuned for the pic.

Grad class tomorrow night, so probably no blog. Until next time...

C25K Week 2 Day 1 Done!

Here's the 30-minute C25K:


Here's after 50 minutes....kept walking. Sorry, the jogging killed me the first four times around.


Thoughts on Week 2. HOLY COW! Seriously, adding 60 additional seconds to each run is this difficult? Holy cow!! I felt like I was a 90 year old 400 pound woman trying to do those runs!!!! But you know what? I did 'em. I met my 400-500 calorie burn goal, even if the treadmill's count is 100 calories off...

My Plan

I'm putting it here to hold me accountable, but also for me to keep track of what I'm doing. I did week 1 of C25K and that was it for workouts. I'm not going to lose weight by just doing that. So, here's my weekly plan with my options. I like options.

Sunday-Day 1 Week ___ C25K, strength training (weights or resistance bands)
Monday-Cardio (tae bo, walk/jog intervals on treadmill, elliptical, etc.)
Tuesday-Day 2 Week ___ C25K, strength training (weights or resistance bands)
Wednesday-Off (darn grad night class)
Thursday-Day 3 Week ___ C25K, plus additional walk
Friday-Cardio (tae bo, walk/jog intervals, elliptical, etc.)
Saturday-Strength & Cardio

I will work out for no less than 45 minutes (that shouldn't be too hard), with the exception of Friday. Friday, I can do 30 minutes only if I have plans that evening.

Now, the important part that is the make or break part of getting healthier. I can work out to my heart's content, but I'm not going to see a noticeable change if I don't change my food intake.

Breakfast-Limit to 300 calories
Snack-Limit to 100 calories
Lunch-Limit to 400 calories
Snack-Limit to 100 calories
Dinner-Limit to 800 calories

Total: 1700 calories

If I want to indulge, I have to compensate from another meal or snack. 800 calories may seem high for dinner, but I'd rather overplan than underplan and wonder why there are no results. One meal a week will not be counted. That will give me that one chance to have what I want.

As much as I hate it, I'm sticking to my Sunday weigh-ins. Weekends tend to be horrible for me, so I've got to keep myself accountable. I will admit that my weigh-in yesterday probably would have been lower had it not been for the eating Saturday night at my in-laws.

I'm making myself a paper food journal to document what I eat and approx. calories. I've done fitday.com before, but I think having the proof right there in front of me will help.

I want this.

Week 1 Weigh-In

Starting Weight: 244.0
Week 1 Weight: 242.2

Week 1 Loss: -1.8 pounds

Things that went well: C25K workouts

Things that need to change: Food intake volume and kind

Goal for next week 239.8.....I want to get out of the 240's for good!

C25K Week 1 Fully Complete

Wow.

That was a workout. I did three minute walks at 3.5 mph and 2 minute runs at 5.0 mph. Only delay was that I had "bathroom issues" after every single run....four times!!! So, it took me about 10 minutes longer to complete the workout! I guess that's my digestive system enjoying the physical movement. Anyone else had this problem?

Here's the workout:



Slightly longer distance...

I am exhausted. Work is stressful. Grad school is scheduled. I feel like I'm never home to just relax. Because of it, my eating is mediocre. I'm working out a plan so that my busy life doesn't affect my eating. Tonight was pretty good. A grilled chicken wrap and skim milk. Filling.

I may weigh in tomorrow because I'm not sure of this weekend's plans. I know I said I'd weigh in on Sundays, but I have the right to change my mind, right? As of this morning, I had a 2 pound loss so far this week. Hoping it says that again in the morning.

This tired C25K Week 1 grad is gonna get some shut eye. But I did it. And I'm proud of myself. Eight weeks to go.

C25K Week 1 Day 2 Complete

Tired. That's how I can explain it.

I added two extra minutes of jogging but jogged only at 4.5 mph today. Went a little further and burned a couple more calories. That's probably a good thing considering it's about a day before my TOM and I want to ravish everything in sight.

Here's the pic:


Added some stretching exercises at the end mostly because I have an IT band issue from my right hip down to my right knee. Not pain, just tightness. I'm not going to let a tightness issue stop me from doing this.

Tomorrow is class, so probably won't be a blog post. Unless, I get bored in class!!! :)

I'm doing this. It's just going to be a long process. But like I've always said...I didn't get this way overnight. I'm sure as heck am not going to get normal overnight.

Day 2 of getting healthy

Hi everyone! Here I am at the conclusion of Day 2 of my LCJ. Here's how I did:

Breakfast: Special K with skim milk
Snack: 100 calorie granola bar (forgot my fruit at home)
Lunch: 3 inch sub (leftover from Friday), 2 helpings taco salad, 1 helping pasta salad, 1 piece German chocolate cake.....room for improvement here
Dinner: homemade grilled chicken wrap (multigrain wrap, spinach/romaine, some shredded cheese, grilled chicken) and some ranch, waffle fries with melted cheese and some ranch.....cheese and ranch???

Exercise: 1 hour walk around the neighborhood with hubby

Thoughts....food. Food is an issue. I have an obsession with carbs (at least it seems that way), so I'm going to start improving it. I purposely made extra grilled chicken and will be having a grilled chicken salad every day this week for lunch. I also bought Honeycrisp apples (YUM!) so that will round out my lunch. Yes, I will have my regular ranch dressing, but I'm not one to completely soak my salad in dressing, so I don't think that will make a huge deal right now. Breakfast will continue to be special K until I finish my box. Then, I have english muffins and plan to make an egg and put it on the toasted muffin. From past experience, that type of breakfast will keep me fuller longer.

Tomorrow will be Week 1 Day 2 of C25K. I'm trying to decide if I want to do the same sequence I did yesterday (jog 2 min, walk 3 min) or do the original program (jog 60 sec., walk 90 sec.). I guess we'll see what trips my trigger tomorrow!!!

So, stay tuned!

C25K Week 1 Day 1 complete

I bit the bullet and I started it over again. I'm on a mission to complete the Couch to 5K program.

Tonight was Day 1 of Week 1. I modified it a little bit. Here's how my workout went:

Warm-Up 5 min. walk at 3.5 mph
Run 2 min. at 5.5 mph (too fast)
Walk 3 min. at 3.5 mph
Run 2 min. at 5.0 mph (still too fast)
Walk 3 min. at 3.5 mph
Run 2 min. at 4.5 mph (better)
Walk 3 min. at 3.5 mph
Run 2 min. at 4.5 mph (was tough to finish)
Walk 3 min. at 3.5 mph
Cool-down 5 min. walk at 3.5 mph

I ran a total of 8 minutes and I feel like I'm about to die. How did I let myself get this way?

Here's the picture of my workout:


My treadmill asks for your weight before the workout, so I'm going to assume the calorie burn is semi-accurate. In 30 minutes, I made it 1.87 miles. It's not 5K, but it's progress and that's what this is going to be all about. I'm stealing an acronym from another blogger and calling this my LCJ or Life Changing Journey. It's high time I get my ass in gear.

My starting weight of this LCJ is 244.0 pounds. It's only down from here. There will be highs of emotions and lows of scale numbers and everything in between. I've started Couch to 5K and will finish on Sunday, November 14th. I'm going to do my weigh-ins on Sundays to keep me accountable for weekends. The record has shown that I can do okay Sunday through Thursday but when I did weigh-ins on Fridays, I give myself freebies all day Friday, Saturday and then realize about Sunday night that I have a weigh-in in a few days and have to work my butt off to make progress. I don't want to do that. I want consistency. Now, this is hard with football games, birthday parties, class, school, etc., but I HAVE to make an effort.

So, here goes nothing....stick with me here. Please.

Gotta love three-day weekends!

Don't you just love waking up on a Tuesday knowing you only have to make it through four days until the weekend! My Labor Day was jam-packed with football games and family get togethers. And you know what that means? Food. Social gatherings seem to revolve around food. Take Saturday. We went to my in-laws to watch the Iowa game (Go Hawks!). At the end of the first quarter, my MIL, bless her heart, brings out the food. We had sub sandwiches slathered with spread (which I actually don't like), carrots and full fat dip, watermelon, and a plate of Ho-Ho's. Not to mention bag upon bag of chips. I spent most of my time attempting to get the spread off of my sandwich. If there's one thing I don't like on a sandwich, it's any kind of mayo/spread. I like mine dry! So, I ate that, carrots, chips, and the dreaded Ho-Ho's. Why do those stupid little things taste so good? I drank almost two bottles of water, so I am proud of that. Exercise Saturday? No.

Sunday. Family get together and my brother-in-law's house. We had lasagna, cheesy potatoes, homemade mac and cheese, chicken and cheesy noodles, ham, coleslaw, baked beans, you name it. I won't even get started on the dessert table. I took a spoonful of each thing I wanted. Ate that. Went back for dessert but only took a brownie that I made (remember this later...). I was full but not stuffed. Again, downed two bottles of water. Exercise? No.

Monday. Work day. I had classroom stuff and grad school stuff to catch up on. Worked most of the morning and in between, did laundry and picked up around the house a bit. Almost any time I was in the kitchen, I opened up that silver pan containing the cheesecake brownies I had made the day before. I figured if I took a bite that it wouldn't be so bad. By the end of the night last night, I had eaten an entire row and a half! Seriously? I cannot have those types of things in the house. It's an addiction I tell ya. Did manage to get our new grill assembled. It was supposed to take 30 minutes. Instead it took an hour and a half. But it works, so we have our grill back. Nothing beats chicken breasts, steaks, burgers on the grill.

So, here we are. Tuesday. I'm going to write down everything I eat today and add up the calories to see where I'm at. If I don't exercise, I have to stick to 1500 calories. If I do, I can eat half of what I burned working out.

Wish me luck!

The lost is found.

Did you miss me?

I've still been here. I've still been reading your blogs. I've still been thinking to myself, "Tomorrow, I'm going to start." "Monday, I'm going to start."

Start what?

I need to start living. Over the last year, I've been existing. My body is functioning, my lungs are breathing, my mouth is moving, but have I really been living? I've been getting by. I have maintained my weight within 1-3 pounds, but I haven't done anything to decrease it. This week, I've gone on 30 minute evening walks with my husband. It's the most exercise I've done in two months.

I've been eating what I want. In fact, I have a gross confession to make. You know those new, yummy pretzel M&Ms? Yeah, they're the devil. I'm ashamed to say I've consumed about a third of a large bag today. And why? Because they taste good? Do they really? Sure, they've got the sweet/salty combo I enjoy, but after four handfuls, do they really still taste good?

So, why not start living my life now? What am I waiting for? One last french fry? One last M&M? They're still going to be there. I'm still going to eat them. But there's that "m" word....come on now, you know it. MODERATION. What fun is life if you still can't get a piece of pizza from time to time? A piece of cake (although, not a huge cake fan here)? A few french fries?

I've kept telling myself that when tomorrow or Monday comes, it's salad and fruit. HA HA HA!!! Yeah, that's gonna last.

So, it's time to begin recording what I eat, calculating the calories, and getting my butt moving.

Tara over at 263 and counting is a huge inspiration for me. Is it easy? Heck to the no!!!! But you can do it. It's hard and I'm going to want to quit. A lot. But I have to do it.

Want to know what else? My mom called me earlier this week and said she had a physical with the doctor. He had a heart-to-heart with her about losing weight. Her blood tests came back and she's prediabetic. Her cholesterol is borderline high. If she doesn't change, she's going to be on meds or could die. I don't want to be like my mom. She's been morbidly obese for 30-some years. She's just now scared enough to start doing something about it. Her doctor told her she has to eat 3 meals from a dessert plate and work her way up to walking 30 minutes a day. When she does, she will start taking phentermine to help her boost her weight loss. She called me last night. She's to that point right now.

I don't want to take meds. I don't want to die. I want to live.

Ta ta for now

So I started this blog over a year ago to help me and unfortunately, it hasn't helped. So, for now, there won't be any updates via this blog. Don't worry, I'm still following all of my blogs and love to know what's going on with everyone. It's just at this time, writing on this blog isn't a motivation for me. No, I haven't given up. I'm working about 45-60 minutes daily and watching what I eat.

So, ta ta for now all...I might return. Until then, keep blogging yourselves because I'll still be reading!

Today

Today is my 28th birthday. I weigh 240 pounds. I'm going to enjoy today.

Stay tuned for some big changes. Because this 240 won't happen again. 28 is going to be a great year.

Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'....

Well, the busy part isn't hard for me, so guess I'm not dying anytime soon!

I do well on my days off of class, watching calories and working out and then my three days I travel to class, it doesn't go as well. Although, I did go on a 50 minute walk with my hubby tonight. We walked through a gigantic cemetery that's about 5 minutes from our house. I know, some people would think it's freaky, but they have great roads through it with some hillage....it worked for tonight!

Tomorrow's my last day of commuting. Hallelujah!!!! I've got to get going full hog (no pun intended) on this thing. This isn't funny anymore, that's for sure. I turn 28 next week and our three year wedding anniversary is the week after. I'm 15 pounds away from what I weighed on our wedding day, and I know I'm about 10 pounds away from what I was last year. Ironic thing was that I promised on here that I would weigh that much next year....see how well that one worked.

Don't give up on me....

Mixed Feelings

Okay...this isn't totally health related. Rather a vent that I can't do on FB or really anywhere else, so here it goes.

My husband got a call from his brother tonight saying that we're going to be aunt and uncle in January. They've been married five years and have been trying to get pregnant ever since. My sister-in-law is the same age as me. They have financial, slight trust, and other issues I won't get into. They both make good money, but don't know how to save. I could go on and on.

Now, this will be the third time I'll be an aunt as my sister and brother both had babies last year. That didn't bother me. For some reason, this does. This will be the first grand baby on my husband's side.

So, what does this all have to do with me? Well, here it goes. One, I'm too overweight to get pregnant. I weigh almost 240 and I refuse to let myself get pregnant at this weight. I want to at least be under 200, as does my husband. Working on it....slowly.

Two, I have a year and a half of grad school left, and I don't want to have a baby until I'm finished.

Three, my husband has a year left of school and then will be left to look for a K-8 PE teaching job in this crappy economy and low budgets in schools time.

Four, I'm pursuing my degree in Principalship. If I choose to become a principal, will I even be able to have a baby? I mean, I will, but being a principal requires a lot of time. I don't know that I ultimately want to pursue it, but to be honest, the further into my program I get, the more interested I get.

Five, I'm scared even trying to get pregnant. I've had woman issues since I was 16 and I don't even know the possibilities of getting pregnant. There's a chance I may have PCOS, but we won't know until we actually try. Of course, losing weight would help.

I guess I just don't know where I stand with the whole baby thing. Part of me is jealous of my sister-in-law and wants it to be me. Part of me thinks I'll never have a baby. Part of me wonders if I really do want a baby.

I'm just in a weird mood. Doesn't help that my monthly visitor will be coming in a few days. I guess right now, I just have the feeling I'll never be a mother. And I don't really like it.

I'm starting to wonder if that's why I haven't worked harder to lose weight....

Okay, rant done. Thanks for listening.

Monday, Monday...

Exercise: 50 minutes Tae-Bo

Eating confession: I had Arby's drive-thru for lunch. I will compensate calories for dinner.

Thoughts: I'm happy to be getting active again. I should have just went home and grabbed a sandwich rather than Arby's. You live and learn.

Starting Over

Weight: 239.2 pounds

Body Fat: 39.7%

Exercise: 35 minutes Tae-Bo

Thoughts: Here I go again for about the 30th time in my life for the quest of a healthier life. I know I'm busy, but I'm not comfortable in my own skin. When that happens, it's time to do something about it. Back to logging what I eat (at least privately), exercising at least 30 minutes daily, ramping up my water intake, and making better food choices all around. It's not going to be easy, but I've got to work on this. No more excuses.

I'm here

I'm here. I'm just not active. I could give you the excuse that I'm in summer school for my master's. I could give you the excuse that I'm coordinating my school's summer reading program. I could give you the excuse that my sinus/allergy/cold crap is still around and finally went to the doctor to be put on an antiobiotic and steroids to tame it down.

I feel like crap. I'm not active (unless you call a once a week, half-assed attempt of working out active). I'm eating okay. Seriously hasn't been too bad, but I will say that we've eaten out for dinners 4 out of 7 days (hello fat, sodium and calories).

I want to push pause. I want to be active. I leave at 7 AM and drive an hour to class. There until 1:30 PM (hello, college....lunch, please?). Get a drive thru sandwich on the drive home. Get home around 3:00 PM. Get mail, spend small amount of time with husband and cat. Get dinner ready, eat. School work for three hours. When 10 PM rolls around, I'm spent.

I need some help...suggestions?? I did well tonight with food. Made some steaks on the grill. Instead of having macaroni salad like my husband did, I cut my steak up and had a big salad with it. Got my veggies in. I miss walks with my husband. I miss working out daily. The weather hasn't helped as it has rained 6/7 of the past days. Tomorrow is dry but then rain again for the next WEEK. That sucks. Can't get out on our bikes or go for walks.

If you have suggestions, please leave a comment. Thanks :)

Back in the Saddle Again

Running, here I come again!

Like last summer, I'm venturing to become a runner. I lost all progress from last summer, so I'm starting from step 1 again.

Today was easier than the start last summer. I walked 1/4, ran at 4.5-5.0 for 1/2, walked 1/4, ran 1/4 at 4.5, walked 1/4, ran almost the whole next 1/4 at 4.5, and then walked the last 1.4/ Did 2 miles in 30 minutes. Far from competition, but it's a start. Last summer, I was able to run 2 complete miles without stopping. This summer, my goal is 3 miles. I haven't decided whether or not I'll do a 5K at some point towards fall. I have a lot of work to do before thinking about that.

My parents are in town today, so calories are not counted, but portions are being watched. Tomorrow, it's crack down. I'm in two weddings this summer and I don't want to be the flubby, chubby bridesmaid.

Stay tuned. Stats coming tomorrow. I rushed to clean before the parents got here this morning, so I didn't get it done then.

Restart Button

You know how when your computer is running slowly, programs take forever to work, and you get completely irritated with it? What do you do? You restart your computer. By restarting, the computer starts over fresh and functions much better.

Well, I've done the same thing. I was doing so well with the 30 DS, ready to move to level 2, and then I get bombarded with the worst cold/flu/sinus/allergy thing I've ever had. I felt out of it for a literally a week. Now that I'm feeling back to normal, it's time to hit my restart button. There's no way I could be ready for level 2 of 30 DS, so I started back today with some tae bo. I made it through 36 minutes before feeling like dying, so it's better than nothing.

Have you ever hit your restart button?

To continue or not to continue...

that is the question.

I've been having some serious issues with what I thought was a continuation of my allergies, but now, I feel like it's some serious sinus issues going on. My head is so clogged that when I flip my head over to dry my hair and flip it back, I seriously thought I was going to fall over this morning.

So, needless to say, I haven't shredded in three days. I was going to attempt it today, but my energy level is zero. I am supposed to move onto level 2 on Tuesday. If I can work out tomorrow at level 1 and see if I survive, I may still bump up. Otherwise, I'm tempted to go back to tae-bo. So, I guess we'll see tomorrow.

I'm bummed because just as I get back into my groove, something pops up to disrupt it. Why can't life help me out on this journey?

30 DS Day #6

Day 6 done. Feeling a little stronger. Schedule messed up today, so I once again, didn't get additional cardio in. Two days away from a full week in. Next Tuesday is the first day of level 2.

I really hope to start seeing results, but gotta be patient.

I'm working out consistently and that's a good thing for me.

30 DS Day #5

Well, Day #5 of the Shred is done. I feel stronger, but I still have a long ways to go. I didn't do additional cardio tonight, but frankly, it took all I had to get the Shred done.

Small on words today. Half way done with level 1. On to tomorrow...

30 DS Day #4

Not as sore today! YAY!!! Day 4 went okay, but for some reason, the push ups were harder today. I've got this weird popping noise in my right elbow when I bend it a certain way. I'm sure it's 30 DS related. I'm being careful with it and when I go to the chiro in a little over a week, I'll ask him his thoughts (if it's still popping).

I need to stay away from the scale. It is not my friend. I'm expecting instant gratification and not receiving it. As a result, I get pissy. I need to quit. Everyone says with the 30 DS to measure rather than weigh. I measured last Saturday when I started and I won't measure again until Day 30. I just hate the weight I'm at.

I hate how I look. I hate pants fitting, but not as loosely as they used to. I hate shirts grabbing onto my muffin top. I despise my arms that are huge and jiggly. I hate my bootay that shakes more than it used to. I want it to go away. I want clothes to fit loosely. I want people to notice. I want the scale to react. I know, I know...patience is a virtue. Well, that's not helping me right now!!

Okay, pity party over. I'm going to research some people's progression of 30 DS and see what to expect. Obviously, everyone's different.

I really hope to notice something next week when I switch to level 2. Please.

30 DS Day #3

Surprisingly, today was easier! I love that! I felt stronger through the pushups and cardio. To be honest though, those lunges with bicep curls hurt more. I despise lunges with all my being, so it takes literally every bone and muscle in my body to push through those suckers. But I did.

I also did an additional 25 minutes of cardio intervals on the elliptical. Hate that thing. My feet fall asleep after 15 minutes, so I pushed through with tingling feet during the last 10 minutes. Boy, was I a-sweatin' though!!! Fifty-five minutes today. I'm happy with that.

Food? Well, today was my first lunch challenge. They had an Italian restaurant cater spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. I took a scoop of spaghetti, two small pieces of garlic bread and the other half of my plate was salad. Then, there was dessert. Oh Lord, there was dessert. There was a peanut butter truffle that literally was heaven in a bowl. And I ate it. I ate a big scoop and then followed up with a little scoop. I didn't feel guilty until I left. But holy buckets was that good. But, my butt probably enjoyed it even more as it layered it on my cellulite!!

Onto Day #4!!!

30 DS Day #2

So, you'd think Day 2 would be easier than Day 1, right? Doing the same workout for the second time shouldn't be as hard? YEAH RIGHT! Holy buckets! The lunges were torture, and I'm not even going to go into the push ups. But you know what? I did it. Then, I jumped (okay, I didn't jump) on the treadmill for an additional 20 minute workout. I did a five minute warm-up walk, 2 1/2 minute jog at 4.5 mph, walk 2 1/2 minutes, repeat for a total of 20 minutes. Those jogs were tough, and I did shorten one by about 30 seconds for my lung's sake. But I burned an additional 150 calories or so.

Food has been okay. I haven't stuffed myself and I haven't limited myself. We had dinner out last night, but I had a salad with my sandwich. It's little changes like this that I want to help me succeed at weight loss.

Didn't get a chance to win any money for my new wardrobe, but had a fun evening with the hubby! Now, my next challenge is Teacher Appreciation Week this week. Catered lunches each day. I'm going to partake in them, but not indulge in them. I want to show myself that I can handle these types of events.

Wish me luck!

30 DS Day #1

Well, workout 1, Level 1 is done! It was hard. Three minutes strength, two minutes cardio, and one minute of abs seems simple, right? Heck no!!! I was sweating bullets by the time we got through the first six-minute circuit! Jillian Michaels knows her stuff though. My arms could feel it from the weights, my butt from the butt kicks, and I'm not even going to start on my abs!

This just goes to show I need work! I'm giving Jillian these 30 days to prove her stuff. Now, I'm also starting to journal my food (not calories right now, but just what I eat), and add additional workouts to the 30 Day Shred. Today, I did 15 minutes on the elliptical, so all together, I got about 45 minutes in.

On May 30th, I will reveal my measurements from today and the end, as well as weight and body fat. She claims up to 20 pounds in 30 days. That's what I'm going to shoot for. I weigh 238.4 as of this morning, so that would put me at 218. My goal is to be 220 on May 30th. It's not impossible, but it's going to be a challenge. I have the month of May off from grad school, so I have no excuses not to work out daily.

I have challenges my first week already. It's Teacher Appreciation Week at school and our PTA provides lunch for us every day. Now, I'm going to practice moderation and partake in it. But instead of loading my plate up and going back for seconds, it's just going to be a little of things. I want this to be a lifestyle change, not a diet. If there's dessert, I'm going to have a small section, not the entire piece. I really want this to work and it's going to take a lot of effort on my part, but I want to prove that you can eat things in moderation and still lose weight.

Off to clean up and then try my luck at the slots tonight!!! I'd love to save up more money for some smaller clothes in a month!!