Week 5 Summary

29 weeks left...28.3 pounds to go

I like those numbers!!!

Ok, so this is very exciting!  I'm down 3.4 pounds this week, but there's a "but."  My official weigh-in is Saturday morning and on Friday night I donated blood...and well, with a liter of blood weighing over a pound (can't find a real answer on the exact amount), I have a feeling that my donation added to my big numbers this week.  However, there was definitely some legitimate weight-loss in there.  So my goal for this week's weigh-in is to not go ABOVE the 153.3!

More exciting news for the week.  I had my measurements done, and I've lost 11.75 inches since Jan 6!!  Yay me!  AND 3 of those inches came off my abdominal area and 4 off my hips!  Shrinking that booty....I guess it won't be all about that base too much longer.

Saturday was a great day overall.  Had my big loss, both weight and inches.  Walked over 13,000 steps!  Made over $100 doing a fun 31 party.  And my fitness app said that if all days were like that day, I'd lose 13 pounds in 5 weeks. ..and 140 looked mighty purty on that screen!

Zap-a-mundo is podcast crazy.  He listens to them on his way to and from work every day so that ends about being quite a few each day.  Well, my mornings include 3 talking children and by the time I drop them all off I have about 5 minutes in the car by myself...so it has taken me about 2 weeks to listen to ONE episode.  However, I found one I like called Dishing Up Nutrition.  It's done by a bunch of nutritionists and I find it very interesting.  Now I just need to figure out when I can listen.

Goals for the week:  Be </= 153.3 Saturday morning and figure out some more times to be able to listen to my podcast.

Oh, and as promised, I'll be posting a new progress pic on the right panel. 

Don't forget to share how you're doing!

Getting Back on the Wagon - Wed & Thurs

Ok, so my four things to get back on track are going sucko the past two days...well, three of them are.

But, here's the thing...I don't feel bad about not hitting the goals because I know it's not an end of the world scenario...just a couple day break.  Wednesday my legs seriously needed a rest and what I ended up doing for my body was getting it massaged and it was nice.  Next time, 60 minutes...30 just isn't enough.  On Thursday, we went to the movies to see Breakfast Club on the big screen (awesome), but it meant missing my Thursday Zumba.  I'm going to make it up on Saturday morning so I'll still get my 3 classes in this week!

I tracked my food and water everyday and am doing really well on that side of the house.  

I'll be back this weekend with my weekly update and new progress pics!

Getting Back on the Wagon - Tuesday

As part of my plan to get back on track, I promised to do 4 things and while my thighs feel like complete jello...hot, stinging jello, Tuesday was a rockstar kind of day!

• Take at least 3 5-minute breaks in my day to do the bike -- CHECK and holy moly that last session was a bear
• Log all my food and drink - CHECK
• GO to my exercise classes - Zumba - CHECK
• Reach AT LEAST 75% of my step goal every day - CHECK - Hit 128%!!

I know I owe you all progress pics; I'll update that on Saturday for 5 weeks in.  For those of you just reading via email, I encourage you to check the site.  I've got a progress pic slideshow as well as all my stats.  It's FULL DISCLOSURE kiddos!!  And (as my former manager always says) Make it a Great Day!!

Getting Back on the Wagon - Monday

As part of my plan to get back on track, I promised to do 4 things and even though I didn't do all of them, I do feel that I'm on my way.

• Take at least 3 5-minute breaks in my day to do the bike --this did not happen.  The girls were home from school and that always throws off my day.
• Log all my food and drink - CHECK
• GO to my exercise classes - Pilates - CHECK
• Reach AT LEAST 75% of my step goal every day - HIT 63%

I'll check back in tomorrow with Tuesday's results.  Have a great day!!!

Week 4 Summary

So I learned something about myself this week.  I HAVE to track it.  I was sick this week and not in the mood to track or pay attention.  All my calorie intake for this week is a total guess.  But I still lost 1.5 pounds... I attribute that solely to lacking an appetite this week.  So today I logged all my calories (even the cookie) and came in 99 calories over my goal..not too bad, not too bad.  

To get back on the wagon this week, I will:

• Take at least 3 5-minute breaks in my day to do the bike
• Log all my food and drink
• GO to my exercise classes
• Reach AT LEAST 75% of my step goal every day

Recently my friend, Carol, started her own blog (and FB page) called The Happy Dance Experiment and I want to talk a little bit about it because I think being happy and getting healthy go hand in hand.  She is working on herself just like I am.  I am working to become healthy.  She is working to become a happy person, to push the negative thoughts away and replace them with positive thoughts.  We can use so many of the same techniques to becoming healthier and happier people!  In her blogpost titled "The A Word" she says..."What if I told you that you do affirmations ALL the time? It’s true.  The only issue is they are more times than not negative affirmations.  The definition of affirmation is 1. the act or an instance of affirming, state of  being affirmed.  2. the assertion that something exists or is true.  We are constantly asserting that something negative exists or is true.  It is time to change that.

“Well these negative thoughts and affirmations just pop into my head automatically, how can I stop that from happening?”  The answer is positive affirmations and yes I am going to ask you to talk to yourself.  No reason to fret, again we do it all the time but like I said above, it is usually negative statements that we are using when we do.  Change that and change your life.  What affirmations can do is rewire your mind.  Eventually if you stick with this it will be wonderful, happy, joyous thoughts that will automatically come to your mind.  You will discover solutions to any problems that arise and you will feel an energy that you haven’t felt since you were a child."

"Change that and change your life."  That's what really hit me.  We have negative thoughts all the time, especially on our weight loss journeys...that's too much to loose, I can't do it, he's losing faster than me so I should give up, I'm too busy, I'll never reach my goals.  These negative thoughts can really hold us back; we're letting our thoughts stop us from transcending.  Now, let's change these up and be positive...I can lose that much if I break it down, I can do it, if he can lose that much so can I, I can find some time to exercise, I WILL reach my goals!!  Now imagine if you changed the way you think about your weight-loss and said this second set of thoughts to yourself every morning; you'd be a rock star in your journey to health and complete your goals in no time!!  Carol goes on to say we should write these positive affirmations down and read them to ourselves everyday.  What a great idea!!  Please click the link above to read her whole post and peruse the rest of her blog.

I'm going to leave you with two of my positive thoughts.  I WILL reach my goal and I WILL being wearing one of these cute retro bikinis on our 40s trip.

Week 3 Summary

Well this week didn't go so well...I did my 3 nights of exercise and did fairly well with my calorie intake.  But on about Thursday, I was ready to go get a double-cheeseburger from McDonald's.  I settled for half a Jimmy Johns sandwich on multi-grain, and a diet coke.  I just knew if I didn't 'treat' myself a little bit that I'd be a goner, done for, bye-bye weight loss.  So, there you go.  I think I'm reaching that point, yet again, where I drop the journey...Please don't let me!!  I so want to be a healthy person at a healthy weight by October and I want to have maintained it several months before the big 4-0 hits.

On a positive note, Zapamundo put together our new stationary bike tonight, so I'm really looking forward to putting some time in on it.  Maybe this week I'll take some random 5 minute breaks from work to do some cycling.

How are things going for you, my friends?  I'd love to see some comments; they're great encouragement.

ps-I'll be updating the side bar on Monday.

Week 2 Summary

Hey Everybody!!  How was YOUR week?  Mine was great!!  I lost 1.5 pounds, I worked out 3 nights and I can really see my core changing.  

I did Pilates on Monday and am really excited for this Monday to roll around.  And I went to Zumba on Tuesday and Thursday and as usual had a blast.  Also on the exercise front...Zapamundo and I found a great deal on a stationary exercise cycle and I can't wait to get going on that soon [in 6-10 business days ;-)].  I'm thinking that I want to start running, but may wait until April for that when it's warmer...I am SO not interested in running in the cold.  I know I said this last year, but I'm thinking about do the Buck Knob 5k this year.  I'll need someone to do it with me and I need to figure out when it is so I can do a Couch to 5K.  ZumbAmy, do you want to do it with me??

So here's my plan:  Go to Bodies @ Work on Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays.
                             Rest on Wednesdays and one weekend day.
                             Ride cycle/maybe a pilates video on Fridays and Sat or Sun.

I'll make some revisions if/when I start running.  I may start it and decide it's not for me.  We'll see...

Have a great week everybody!!

Popped My Pilates Cherry

So I was mistaken, no kick-boxing this month.  Turns out that snow days pushed back the schedule and kick-boxing will be in April and this month is Pilates.  And I'm so glad!  I don't know that I ever would have tried Pilates otherwise and I really liked it.  I'm really looking forward to the remaining March Mondays.

So now I have Pilates on Mondays and Zumba on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  They are on the google calendar and Zapamundo is going to help keep me accountable.

Have a good week everyone!!