Peeing away the Pounds

Well increasing my water and adding protein at breakfast has had a MAJOR effect. My weight was stuck for days and days and now every morning I see a change on the scale. I am now drinking close to a gallon of water each day. Sure, having to go to the bathroom so often is pain, but I just imagine that I peeing out the pounds - it really makes up for it!!

So I am officially back to where I was when I went off the wagon February 05, 2010. Now I just need the determination to keep going. I think I have it! Woohoo!

Sunshine on My Shoulders Makes Me Happy!

Spent 3 1/2 hours poolside today with the little ones (who will be 6 next week I can't believe)! I have needed sun like nobody's business lately since it has been so gloomy in Illinois for 2 months now. April had a record rainfall not broken since 1957!! And I'm still waiting for my deck to be finished. I have now been waiting 33 days.

Unfortunately because everyone was moving at a glacial pace at Walmart this morning (including the bakery, deli and checkout) I did not get in a work out. Tomorrow I'm doing weights in the morning and then taking a hike later in the morning and then maybe spin in the afternoon...we'll see how it goes...

I don't know anyone who died serving our country, but my dad, my granddad and a very close friend all served our country in different wars. I applaud the courage it takes to risk your life for a country that doesn't always do right by its citizens (whether you chose to or were forced into it (like my dad). My we all strive for an iota of the courage so many men and women have to put themselves in the line of fire so that we may preserve the freedom which we take for granted. I am grateful.

Terrific Twenty

I just jogged 20 minutes. That's right, you read it correctly. I jogged for a complete 20 minutes no walking!! I rock! I even passed one other jogger. I am amazed. I'm leaving you with some of the lyrics from a song that pushes me when I jog..It's the cup of life by Ricky Martin.


The cup of life, this is the one.
Now is the time, don't ever stop
Push it along, gotta be strong.
Push it along, right to the top

And when you feel the heat. The world is at your feet
No one can hold you down. If you really want it
Just steal your destiny. Right from the hands of fate
Reach for the cup of life. 'Cause your name is on it

Do you really want it...(YEAH)
Do you really want it...(YEAH)

Enough!

Enough with the rain, enough with these moods already!!

I can say for sure that my eating has been fine even though I'm crazy moody. I had one day that I was a tad bit off, but not as bad as I've been before in this state. I'm working out through it all though so overall it seems that my habits are changing for the better.

Hope the sun starts shining soon...

Starting the Day with Protein

When I met with the trainer for my fitness analysis, I mentioned that I have these plateaus, that I lose weight for a few days and then I don't for about a week, then I lose again for a few days. She thought this was strange and asked what I ate for breakfast. I told her sometimes eggs, but lately I'd been eating puffed wheat with blueberries. She told me that I really should have protein for every meal (and milk wasn't enough protein). She suggested I try eating protein again for breakfast and see what happened (as well as increase my water to almost a gallon) Yesterday I ate eggs for breakfast and what do you know? The scale showed a loss. Something about carbs making you retain water, hold on to fat...so I am going to try harder to keep up my protein (which also helps with muscles.

I have felt miserably since Monday. Sad and blue. I have not felt this awful in a couple of years. I thought it was PMS but nothing yet. It could be lack of sun since it hasn't been sunny 2 days in a row in over a month (hence I have had an unfinished deck for a month). We are not camping because it is supposed to rain each day this weekend. Blah!

Happy Memorial Day!

Inhibiting the Inhibitors

If you are like me than there are a lot of things that can inhibit you from achieving your goals. They can be things like stocking sweets in your cupboards or eating out a lot, or they can be simple things like not having clean laundry or your socks fall down.

I am making a conscious effort to inhibit my inhibitors. With my C25K training, one thing that was annoying me was carrying my cd walkman. So we upgraded to an Iphone. But then I kept checking the time while I was holding so I bought an arm band to put in in. This made a huge difference! Todays training: 5 minute warm up - 8 minute jog - 5 minute walk - 8 minute jog - 5 minute cool down! Next training: 20 minute jog...

It was much easier to run without holding it and wondering what the time said and the 8 minutes went by very quickly. I might try to train this weekend while camping. We will be up by Lake Michigan, so I might go and run barefoot on the beach.

Our countertops are in so our kitchen looks beautiful. Just great to make lots of yummy food :)

A Pear is Better Than a Apple

Apparently, having a pear shape (a smaller hip to waist ratio) is better for your than having an apple shape. And what do I have? Of course an apple shape.

Today I had my fitness profile done at the fitness center. I've had it done 3 times. The first time when I first started losing weight in 2009, the second time January of 2010 and then today. Keep in mind that I had gained back all I had lost.


Description August 2009 January 2010 May 2011

Weight 289.9 261.9 259.9

Fitness Index 13 14 26 (They added a new test)

Body Mass Index 48.3 43.6 44.8

Waist to Hip Ratio .89 .92 .91

Resting Heart Rate 70 68 60

Systolic Blood Press. 140 130 120

Diastolic Blood Press. 90 92 86

Body Composition(Fat%) 47.5 42.2 44.9

Cardio Respiratory not measured not measured 32.6 (fair)

I find it weird that even though I way less now my BMI is a bit greater and the percentage of fat is also greater. (a little). The body is weird.

The trainer who did my analysis also told me I should be drinking a gallon of water per day? Anyone come close to this? Do you find it helps with weight loss?

Thank you, Dr. Young

Dr. Young wasn't so young (must be in his mid-late 60's) but he was everything a good orthopedic surgeon should be IMHO. I stopped to pick up my old xrays at the a$$hole doctor who told me not to pick up my kids and even though it was 4 years ago almost, I still cringed at walking in there. Dr. Young examined my knees. He called them "crunchy" which made me laugh. He looked at my previous xrays and said that the prior doctors analysis of my knees (meaning no arthritis) was correct but that he was a bit "drastic" in his recommendation of treatment (gastric by pass, buy a new house, don't pick up your kids).

He gave me a prescription of Mobec to help with the pain and told me that I could use some more thigh muscle strength to help. Even when I told him I was jogging, he said that as long as I wasn't feeling pain from it that I could continue to do it. I asked if I needed new xrays and he said "No, I'd just be wasting your money!" THAT is the kind of doctor that I like!. He told me I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing - losing weight, exercising and being proactive about the pain. I LOVE when a doctor tells me I'm doing everything right! Woohoo!

Off to exercise!!

I'm not thinner, I'm tighter!!

There is a woman in Bodyflow who just makes me laugh. I was chatting with her yesterday morning and she told me that she used to be mean in high school, laughing at other people, but somewhere along the way she decided that she had to stop that and now just laughs at herself. She was talking about losing weight and her lack there of over the last few years(and she's not even close to a baby elephant) and then she laughed and said "I'm not thinner, but I'm tighter!" This made me laugh too.. Clearly my choice is to be thinner AND tighter- less flab, more muscle, less inches. It made me think though that a lot of times I focus on the thinner and not the tighter. I push myself in cardio, but not always in weights. If I don't want to be a puddle of flab when this weight comes off I need to be doing both.

Visiting the orthopedic surgeon today to take a look at my achy knees...hoping it all goes well. It would go much better if we actually had some dry days with more than 1 day of sun at a time!!

Happy Tuesday!!

Battling the Blues Brothers...

So I think I'm PMS'ing - or otherwise I'm just being a cranky witch. The weekend has been pretty fine, but I had cravings for Diet Coke (which I haven't had in 2 months) and I was (and still somewhat am) generally unmotivated.

I did go to the gym this morning and jogged my day 1 of week 5 of the C25k. Today I jogged 5, walk 3, jogged 5, walked 3, jogged 5, walked 5. I did download a C25K app that tells me when I need to walk and when to run. I can use it with my own tunes which is helpful. I don't need to keep looking at the clock to know when to transition.

I also did Body Flow (yoga/taichi) Even that made me sweat today! If I keep following the pattern of weight loss I've had (see at the bottom of the blog, I might be in for a slow week of losing. It seems that I stay the same some times between 5-10 days in a row, then I lose a little a day for a few days and then nothing. I haven't been getting too worked up about the numbers, I am more focused on the exercise goal and the training for the 5K.

2 week ago I was over emotional and I guessed that I may have been ovulating. If I do get TOM then I was right. We shall see.

Something that makes me happy: On my IPhone I did the blues riff as my ringtone. That helps me beat the blues!

Happy Monday

Iphone Apps

Well I haven't been blogging this weekend partly because I've been in a foul mood (I'm guessing PMS) but also partly because we got our new Iphone's on Friday so I'm been playing with that a bit.

Do you have any apps that you just LOVE? Let me know because I am really not that technologically advanced here....

Eating has been pretty well...last night I went out to a French restaurant and had a salmon filled crepe and then a fabulous dessert while sitting outside in front of a fireplace. It was a wonderful time with my friend and her daughter who is home from college for about a week before she heads of to be a camp counselor for the summer.

I will probably go and do my C25K running today after church (we are trying yet ANOTHER one...grrr..)

Have a fabulous day everyone!!!

7 Sensational Minutes!

Oh Yes I Did!!!! I just jogged 7 minutes without stopping! I completed Week 4 of the Couch 2 5K. I only had to jog 5 minutes this week, but next week it goes up to 8 minutes so I always try to do one of the times somewhere between this weeks time and next weeks so then 8 minutes won't seem so intimidating!! However the 3rd day of next week is 20 minutes straight jogging! ACK!

I'm feeling strong and happy. The scale has been moving, I'm pushing myself in exercising and overall I've probably never felt this content with my workouts and life. I don't know if it the jogging or not, but I feel great!!

I've been eating very well, but I need to be conscious that I don't get into a metabolic rut by eating the same calories all the time. I don't track anything, but I know I am making good choices!

Happy Thursday!!

10 lbs to becoming a Baby Elephant

I have 10 lbs to get to my first goal of weighing the same as a baby elephant (11 to being less). I'm a bit excited but need to focus because it's always when the goal is near that I start to flounder.

February 2010 I reached 253.5 and that was the lowest I'd been in 7 years. Then I got all weird and let my emotions overtake me and regained 35 lbs in less than a year. If I can keep things in check I will be able to surpass this. I can say that I feel MUCH better emotionally this year than I did in 2010 and I have much better goals. My goals then were to lose 2 lbs a week but when it didn't happen I would get bummed out. This time I don't have a time goal on my weight, I just have a weight goal. Putting time on it puts pressure on me. My exercise goal is the one I am more focused on. The weight will follow if I'm diligent there.

I've been thinking of my next goals. I for sure have two smaller goals. One is to be the lowest I've been as an adult (which was in 2001 (right before 09/11) and then the second is the last weight I remember being as a teenager (in the 11th grade) - which was still above 200 lbs. In January I made the goal of being 212 lbs by 2012. These two goals will get me close.

I'm realizing how important solid attainable goals are. I used to think that they weren't a big deal, that I just had to do the work and I'd lose weight. The problem was I was working towards a hundred lb weight loss and it got discouraging because I was always thinking of the huge amount of time left. Having more attainable goals really keeps me focused on the now (not the later).

Not sure on the workout today. Yesterday I did my 5K training, spun and did weights. I might just take the dog for a walk today. (she has to go to the vet this morning anyhow) I need to make sure I'm resting my body enough.

Ricky Martin is my new jogging partner!

Another successful Couch 2 5K today - I am shocked that I am able to jog 5 minutes straight and a total of 16 out of 31 minutes! I almost wanted to keep going today, but I am determined to stick with the plan.

I picked up a Ricky Martin cd at Walmart for $5 and there are few songs better to run to than La Vida Loca and Shake Your Bon Bon!

Feeling groovy...trying to cut out some fruit, but I love it so much!

I ordered our IPhones today. I vacillate from wanting to avoid technology to wanting to embrace it for our children's sake. Both my and hubby's parents live in the dark ages of technology - no computer, no cell (although K's folks have a trac phone). I don't want to be that way for my kids.

:) Have a happy day!

Resting Day

Normally Monday I take BodyFlow (the Yoga TaiChi class) but today I am resting. My body is just all kinds of tired. Normally I don't work out either or both days of the weekend, but this weekend I did both Saturday and Sunday. My body needs rest. I actually might have worked out all 7 days this week.

So how random is this. The book I quoted last week called "Savor" is written by Thich Nhat Hahn. The book I just read "The Accidental Buddhist" kept talking all about Thich Nhat Hahn! Apparently, he is one of the best Buddhist teachers out there. I just love how things happen like that. I had never heard of the guy and I just happen to pick up a book by him then read another book that talks all about him! Love that.

The sun is shining beautifully this morning. I Love that too!!
Have a lovely day!

Tall Tales

I went to Body Pump this morning and there was this VERY tall man who set up his bench
right in front of me in the FRONT row. This annoys me because he is by far the tallest person in the class and when he is in front, he blocks the view of the instructors (who are on a stage - that's how tall he is). So every time the instructor has to show us things, I need to move to the side so I can see. Ah, it's just a small annoyance really. Sunday classes are packed with people.

Nothing very profound today. I'm reading "The Accidental Buddhist". It was a book another blogger that I follow..(and I can't remember who) was reading. I'm a Christian for sure, but I am very interested in the concept of mindfulness and focus. I am so all over the place in my mind, peacefulness really appeals to me. I think modern Christianity (or really what I call Churchianity)can be a bit spastic - always looking for the next great preacher, worship band, program, mission, serving project - always something to do....I love the simple...basic.

Have a happy Sunday!

Five Formidable Fantastic Minutes

Couch to 5K Week 4 Day 1 - Success!!

Here's what it was - 5 minutes walking, 3 minutes jog, 1.5 walk, 5 min jog, 2.5 walk, 3 min jog, 1.5 walk, 5 minutes jog, 5 min walk.

What that means is that I jogged 16 minutes out of 31!! more than half!!

The first 5 minutes jog was tougher than the second. I ran on a trail today instead of the track which is good and bad. Good because I need to practice running in the elements, but bad because it was a cold dreary windy day today and I had to wear mittens and a long sleeve shirt. Also, the track can be more motivating because I know it takes 90 seconds to do one lap so I can judge how well I'm doing time wise and I have a marker that I know when the jogging time is done without constantly looking at my stop watch.

Today was surely the hardest of the training so far, but I still had success!! Go ME!

My incredible shrinking Butt!

Here's hoping this blog post goes up and stays...What's up with you blogger?

I realized yesterday that I am more than halfway to my goal for exercise for this quarter. I had a goal of 75 hours from April to June.(3 months). This actually was a pretty aggressive goal that I may lesson next quarter, but I am more than half way there with more than a month and a half to go! I feel great.

Great, but not so great...my underwear have been falling down! My butt is shrinking! I do have a box of smaller underwear I bought a long while back so I might need to be pulling that out soon!

Well off to Body Pump! Have a great day!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

I'm feeling MUCH better today. I had a massage last night (love that) and a good evening with the hubby and the scale finally showed a loss after 12 days!! That is the most frustrating thing..when you eat perfectly and exercise nearly every day and there is no loss!

My knees are feeling better so I am going to go out and do my last day of week 3 of the C25K. Even though it says we only have to jog 3 minutes, I'm going to do one of those as 4 minutes to see if I'm ready for next week's 5 minute jog.

*UPDATE* - I just completed the jog and I ran 4 minutes two times!!! ROCK ON ME!

It has been almost 2 months of being Diet Coke Free. I even had a 2 liter bottle of it at our game night the other night and wasn't even tempted!

We now pause for these commercial messages...

I'm taking a break for exercising today because my knees hurt. It did spur me to call a new orthopedic doctor. I have an appointment set for the 24th. The last time I went to an orthopedic doctor was in late 2007 and the jacka$$ told me after meeting me for 20 seconds that I needed to have gastric bypass, needed to live in a ranch home and I had to stop picking up my children. (who were 2 at the time). Needless to say I started to cry and he was unmoved.

So I never went again. And my knees have been okay as I've lost some weight, but now that I'm jogging a little they are starting to hurt. Not to mention this crazy weather...cold wet and then hot and humid.

I took a picture of myself and it made me sad. My face still looks like the freakin stay puff marshmallow man. I'm not motivated to binge (which is good) but this is just making me sad. :/

Have a great day everyone!!

Just call me Camel.

As if I wasn't retaining enough water, yesterdays temp shot up to 90 degrees and humid! When it's like that my body retains a lot! SOOO FRUSTRATING!

Other than that it's all good!

I'm circling the day on the calendar!

I'm circling yesterday on the calendar. Why? Because I had a rotten day. I was moody and cranky and did have a binge. (one little debbie brownie, one rice krispies treat, 5 hostess mini donuts and 3 hostess mini cruellers). It was the first time in 2 months that I've felt like that and I want to figure out why. Sunday I was feeling a little crabby but fought the urge to stuff bad things in my mouth.

I don't want to just excuse it, I want to examine it. Figure out if there is any correlation between my mood and the time of month? I'm also retaining water. This could be to ovulation. It would be about the right time. (but my cycles vary each month by days). Knowledge is Power, people!

I posted a while back about hearing my body. I don't want to just ignore these crappy feelings. There is no emotional reason for it. I want to continue to be aware of what is going on with my body. I believe this is of key importance on this journey. The fact that I am aware shows growth in my spirit, even if my body is not shrinking a long with it.

Just Waiting for the Drop...

The scale is not moving again. I know it will. I've been doing well. I just have a lack of patience today.

My shins hurt a little from the jogging, but nothing to keep me down. My balance today is terrible though. I could barely stand up today during the balance part in yoga. Every day is different in yoga. I love it though!

C25K and Mothers Day

I'm crabby these past few days - not sure why. I might be tired because I've been waking up earlier than usual. Last night we had our monthly game nights (which are always SUPER FUN! We grilled. I ate a bit more than usual, but again I did NOT go crazy. I had one brat, one grilled drumstick, a small scoop of pasta salad and some green salad and some chips with a glass of wine. (MALBEC - my new favorite)

We also got our all new appliances yesterday! (WOOHOO!) I love them!

This morning I got up, fiddled around a bit and then went and did my couch to 5k week 3 day 2. I was tired but I did it again, with jogging two sets of 3 minutes. Really amazing to me that I can jog 3 minutes. (twice). Can I do 5? I have one more day of 3 and then next week I do 5...

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there who give of themselves and sacrifice so their children feel love and accepted in this world! Kudos to you!

OMG! I jogged 3 minutes straight!

I was a little nervous about Week 3 of the Couch to 5K since I went from 90 seconds of jogging to 3 straight minutes. BUT I DID IT!!! Now overall I'm still jogging the same amount of time as I was last week (9 minutes total) but it's broken into two 90 second segments and 2 - 3 minute segments. And honestly, I wasn't even dying out of breath. Each time I finished my 3 minutes I raised my hands in victory. What an awesome feeling, an awesome accomplishment.

I'm Icy Hotting my knees since they are a bit achy but I'm just thrilled to the moon!

I've Got in Under Control

Since we are getting a new fridge on Saturday and I didn't want to grocery shop before and have to take all the food out, I decided to get pizza for the girls tonight. We put in the Lion King and spread a tablecloth out. I decided that I would eat pizza too and I had 4 small slices. (These slices are no bigger than the palm of your hand). Then, I was finished!! There was still a whole lot of pizza left and my old normal response would have been to EAT IT ALL! But I didn't. I was in control! I feel great!

Tomorrow is week 3 of Couch to 5K. 3 minutes of jogging straight. Can I do it? Well I know I can do 2 minutes and 15 seconds. I think I can do 3. Tomorrow will tell.

One annoying thing is my hernia is kind of acting up. It hasn't really been diagnosed as a hernia, but I'm guessing that it is what it is because of where it is and how the pain comes and goes. Unless the pain comes back like a few weeks ago, I'm not going to bother with surgery yet. (because I don't want a cat scan).

Don't Sweat the Sweat!

I finished week 2 of the Couch 2 5K program! Woo hoo! One of the things that I always feel embarrassed about is my sweat. I hate looking all read and sweaty after working out. Some girls don't. So I feel self conscious. Today though I saw a girl that was drenched in sweat, and she didn't look a bit concerned with that fact. It made me think I needed to accept the sweat as part of what I'm doing! Don't sweat the sweat!!

I picked up a book yesterday called "Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life" by Thich Nhat Hanh. Here's one quote that I find particularly meaningful: "Each moment we spend worrying about the future and regretting the past is a minute we miss in our appointment with life - a missed opportunity to engage life and to see that each moment gives us the chance to change for the better, to experience peace and joy" (page2)

I cannot lose a pound a day!

I weigh myself everyday. I like doing it, I don't generally get too depressed with the results because I am very well aware of things like water retention. But somehow today I was frustrated for a few minutes because the scale did not move between yesterday and today. WOAH, I thought. You cannot lose 1 lb every day..I'm not sure that's even possible. Amazing to think of though that in 3 months I could be nearly to goal if you could. BUT, you can't. So I took a deep breath and relaxed. I've lost 21 lbs over the last month and a half. That's not shabby, in fact it seems fast, but this is weight that hadn't been on too long because I had gained it all back from last year. One step at a time. I'm still strong!

Losing the Desire to Eat A Lot

I used to love to eat. A lot and A LOT! I'm not sure if the absence of Diet Coke/Aspartame in my diet has done this, but now I don't think about food, don't want food very much of the time. I used to have these massive internal struggles about whether to eat a box of Little Debbie Zebra Cakes and I usually lost them. Lately I look in the cupboards and even though there are twinkies and chips and cookies, I have no desire for them. I'd rather have a piece of fruit or snow peas.

Was it the Diet Coke with the Depression that made me a crazy maniac around food? I don't know! But I do know for sure my super cravings have stopped since I stopped drinking soda. I'm moving on to a healthier me...

Knees hurt a bit today (this darned cold weather! - Spring/SUmmer where art thou!!)

I'm not entirely fascinated by this Osama Bin Laden stuff. He was one crazy man. There are surely millions more fanatical people in the world and his death will not end terrorism. I am very thankful however for those many soldiers, alive and departed who have served this country courageously during their lives. Our freedom rests on those willing to defend it!

Feeling strong!

I completed Day 2 of Week 2 of the Couch to 5k. This means now that I walk briskly for 5 minutes then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking for 20 minutes. I have one more day of this and then I move on to week 3 which is two repetitions of this:
* 5 minute brisk walk warm up.
* Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
* Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
* Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
* Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)

So I'm not so psyched from jumping from 1 1/2 minutes to 3 minutes of jogging but I might be able to do it! It will be challenging for sure!

Happy Sunday!