Weigh-In | 11.29.10

So, how was everyone's Thanksgiving????  I hope that you've all survived the food...and hopefully, if you're watching your weight - you're lighter!  If so, comment and share a tip that helped you this year!

My goal for this past week was to lose, BUT, that didn't happen.  I maintained.  You know, I'm ok with that.  I had a great time with family and friends, indulged in some great food, and was able to get in some rest over the long weekend.  Good stuff!  I followed my plan pretty well.  I had some surprises thrown in, but, dealt with them fairly well.  I ate reasonably on Thanksgiving Day.  I burned over 1,000 calories before I headed to our dinner.  There was a sneak attack Thanksgiving dinner that could have derailed me, but, it didn't.  My dad sent me a text Friday evening and informed me of a dinner that I was not aware of.  It was the same day as my best friend's birthday shindig, and I thought, "Oh no...now I'm gonna have to work out TWICE as hard!  It all worked out.  I didn't eat much there, aside from the desserts that kept getting brought out.....yummy chocolate pie, no-bake cookies, and then.............oh no....my Nanny's peanut butter fudge!   I made it out alive with 1 piece of each.  Calories well spent.  I'm glad I got my work out in! 

So, here I am, the same weight as last week, recharged and ready to fight!  This season is definitely going to be challenging!  Are you up for the challenge???

Weigh-In | 11.22.10

Alright - here we go! 

I pulled it together and finished with a loss this week!  I lost 2.4 lbs.  Soooooo, I lost MORE than I gained last week!  Score!  :)  Total weight-loss:  26.5 lbs.!

I went to the doctor today.  No stress fracture.  Just a torn ligament and burscitis.  I'm not to run on it until pain subsides.  In fact, he recommended just walking.  He said that it burns fat better.  He said that running burns more glycogen than fat.  Mmmmkay, well, running burns more calories than walking.  I'm starting to look into this.......if anyone has any feedback or a good source - please share! 

Well, I don't have much more - I hope you liked my Thanksgiving Tactics.  So far, the plan is in place and I'm adhering to it.  Again, I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving! 

Thanksgiving Tactics

Being on this weight-loss journey and having read numerous weight-loss blogs pertaining to surviving Thanksgiving - I thought I should come up with a few tactics of my own.  After all, I'm giving myself "The Gift of Health" for Christmas, and that means I must survive Thanksgiving to get there. 

I got to thinking about Thanksgiving while I was walking this evening.  So far, I'm not really that worried about it.  I know that the potential is there to MAJORLY screw up my eating for the week.  I'm not stressing about it.  I have a plan!  Hopefully you can make it work for you!

• I'm going to eat well Monday - Wednesday.  If I screw it up during these days, it's going to be even harder on me in the aftermath.
• I will exercise all three days leading up to Thanksgiving.
• I will workout really hard on Thursday morning before I have to hit the road.  Fortunately, I live fairly close to family, and we typically eat late in the afternoon.
• I'm going to focus on my family instead of the food.  I'm thankful for them, and that's what this holiday is all about.  Thankfulness.  I want to make an extra effort to spend time with them all and enjoy them.  They're way more important than that second piece of pumpkin pie.
• I will take it easy on the items that I can have any time of the year.  Seriously?  Loads of mashed potatoes?  I love 'em, and I'll have some, but, I really want to spend more calories on things like Mamaw's stuffing & pumpkin pie.  Moderation is key.  One dessert will not kill me.
• I will eat well Friday - Sunday. 
• I will exercise Friday - Sunday 
• Hopefully, I will wake up on Monday and weigh less than I do tomorrow.
• If my plan fails at any point, I know that "Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it." - Anne Shirley

I hope you all have a GREAT Thanksgiving.  I'll let you know how it turns out!  :)

:::1643:::

See that number?  That's how many calories I burned today!  I ATTACKED those calories!!! 

I spent the morning being a little lazy, and then I went on a walk with my neighbor, Wendy.  Here's Wendy and myself on a walk last month.  We saw this pretty yellow tree and stopped to take a picture.  I meant to post this picture a while back, but it kept slipping my mind...

So, I burned 440 calories from the walk.  Not bad.  I came back home and after a little while I decided to do 30 Day Shred.  253 calories.  How about some Turbo Jam?  Why not!  I put in the 30-minute Fat Blaster DVD and burned another 409 calories.  I was going to stop there, but, as I was walking out of the room - I just felt like I wasn't done yet.  I get like that when I exercise...It's a kind of addiction, really!  Sometimes I just want to see how many calories I can burn before I give up!  Ha!  So, I put in the 45-minute Cardio Party 2 DVD.  I racked up another 541 calories with that workout!  Let me tell ya - I'm feeling it now! 

Do you ever feel that way?  Do you get that "addiction" feeling?  I mean, there are some days that I surely do not feel that way.  I seem to have more of those days through the week - when I really have to make time for exercise.  The addiction days usually happen on the weekends - when I'm not as pressed for time.

After today, I'm definitely feeling more "on-track."  I feel like I have things back in control.  Thank God!  Hopefully, I can bust my rear tomorrow as well and have a good weigh-in on Monday.  I'm going to try to get out of bed EARLY in the a.m. to do 30 Day Shred and get things started.  I have to be at church by 7:45 for sound-check, so I don't know how easily that's going to happen!  I'm optimistic, though!  I have a plan! 

Well, that's probably all for this week - I'll check back in on Monday with my results!   Thanks for reading!  Have a great Sunday!

Resolve, Determination and Ramblings

"No matter how many times you get knocked down, keep getting back up.  God sees your resolve. He sees your determination. And when you do everything you can do, that’s when God will step in and do what you...can’t do."           - Joel Osteen

A friend of mine posted this quote on Facebook this morning, and MAN, did it speak to me!  Honestly, I can apply it to my life in multiple ways, but I did feel a connection to it and weight-loss today.  I'm feeling a little knocked down right now............and maybe some of it is that silly little gain this week?

My eating has been off this week.  Not horrible, not great.  Exercise has been worse, honestly.  I am not really motivated this week!  I mean, I have worked out, but the desire isn't as strong as it usually is.  I've had a HARD time getting up in the mornings to exercise.  I've felt so tired every morning!  30 Day Shred has been spotty.  I was doing so well with that, and after missing some last week - I've been inconsistent since.  I believe it's going to be turned into 34 Day Shred at this point!  I have toyed with the idea of doing it twice a day until I catch up...haha.  That may be too much Jillian Michaels for one person (I kid, I kid...)!  

I do have plans to work out tomorrow.  I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do...other than walk with my neighbor tomorrow afternoon.  I'm sure I'll do 30 Day Shred....maybe some Turbo Jam?  

In other news, I DID make an appointment to get my hip checked out.  I'm eager to do that...find out what's wrong and figure out what I can do to get back to where I was.  I MISS running!  I would LOVE to go for a run tomorrow, but, I'm not going to run on this hip until I figure out what's wrong.  I don't want to run the risk of further injuring myself.  This may be a little far-fetched, but this week I read up on common running injuries.  I'm a little concerned that I may have a hip stress fracture..... I guess we'll see.

So, I know that I really just need to get back up...dust myself off and keep on keepin' on.  I need to resolve this issue and muster up some more determination.  I AM committed to this - and I AM in this for the long haul!  I know that God wants me to be healthy and is going to help me get there!

 

Weigh-In | 11.15.10

I love my blog.  I love writing it.  I love losing weight.  I love sharing my success.  Today I will not be sharing success.  I will be sharing with you about failure.

I gained.  Yup.  I knew it was coming...  I've been worried that things were going too well.  That I was destined to hit a speed bump at some point.  I've maintained only once.  My gains were a big ol' goose egg until now.  Argh!  Now all that's changed.  Sad.  I'm up 2 whole pounds.  UGH!

Well, I know exactly what I did to get where I am today.  I did not eat well last week.  I'm not sure what it was.  I was just super-hungry last week.  This weekend I let the fat girl eat a little bit.  My husband and I went out for Mexican on Friday - and I thought I could totally deal with that.  Man.  We ordered our usual - fajitas.  We always split an order.  The chips kill me.  The endless chips!  And of course, there's the queso.  Ugh.  So good.  So bad for you!  Saturday I did go out for a LONG walk.  I burned a lot of calories, but it wasn't enough.  I missed THREE whole days of 30 Day Shred.  One day turned into 3.  The first was because I hadn't taken a day off in at least 2 weeks.  I ran out of time on Saturday.  Then I was feeling under the weather yesterday and didn't get it done.

See, I'm a little frustrated right now.  The "on my mind" section here on the blog has eluded that there is an issue.  A couple weeks back - when I completed the 45 min. run for C25K, I hurt myself somehow.  I don't know if it was too early to try for that run or what.  Since then, I've been hurting.  My leg hurts where it connects to my hip?  In the joint there... It's varied in intensity, but, the pain hasn't left.  I ran last weekend and didn't feel a thing.  This past Wednesday I went out to run, and immediately felt pain and ended up walking after a couple attempts.  I knew it was better to take it easy - I don't want to hurt myself any worse than I already am.  So - I'm about THISCLOSE to going to get it checked out.  Two weeks is too long.  I just don't know what I've actually done.  It doesn't hurt all the time.  Just when I first stand up, and sometimes lying on that side, and of course, when I run.  Weird.  It's really cut my activity down.  Running was my major calorie burner! 

Well, I got myself started off right this week.  I woke up early and got in 30 Day Shred, Turbo Jam, & a 15 min. walk before 7:30.  I've been eating well today.  We'll see what happens this week........

The Gift Of Health

So, I've been following a blog by a woman named Lorrie @ The Token Fat Girl for a while now.  She has posed a challenge this season.  To give yourself the gift of health for Christmas this year.  I'm taking her up on the challenge!  If you're interested - hop on over to her blog and see what she's doing to give herself the gift of health.

What does health look like to you?  What can you do in the 43 (yep...43!) days left until Christmas to give yourself that gift?  What changes would you make?  Be thinking about these things...I know I am.  I've been on my weight-loss journey for 3 months now.  It doesn't seem like it's been that long.  Things are going well.  I'm excited about my loss - and looking forward to future success.  So, I'm starting to think of different things I could do to further ensure that I give myself the gift of health this year. 

I could always eat even better than I have been.  There have been days that I don't eat enough fruits & veggies.  Most days, actually.  I love fruit.  Veggies are good, but I'm not big on them!  I like certain ones.  I've been thinking of trying a new vegetable every week.  Perhaps I could even sample some that I don't like and see if my tastebuds have changed (they do that), or if there's a different way to prepare them.  I could try some different fruits as well.  I think I'm going to take trip to the store this weekend and look around!  Haha.

Well, if you want to give this challenge a go - visit Lorrie's blog and tell her!  If you have the time, I'd love to know, too! 

Weigh-In | 11.8.10

Hel-lo weight-loss!  I LOVE YA! :) 

This morning I when I stepped on the scale, I was hoping to see 3 pounds.  I knew what I had taken in and knew what I had burned.  I was prepared to see less, but I was SHOCKED to see FIVE pounds!  Whaaaaaa?!?!  AWESOME!!! 

I had barely rolled out of bed...trying to convince myself to get 30-Day Shred over with for the day.  I thought, Well, let me go weigh myself....we'll go from there... Ha!  After doing my 5 lb. happy dance, I was READY for some Jillian Michaels!  I'm thinking, Let's kick it up a notch this morning!  Level 2, here I come!  Well,  I did bump the workout up to Level 2, but, I'm kinda wishing I hadn't.  Ha!  It was pretty crazy.  I made it through, but with MUCH modification... It was tough!  I probably should've stayed on Level 1 for a little bit longer.  I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow.  Level 1 is much easier now, after a full week!  My endurance has gone up, and even if I'm grunting through some of the moves, I'm sticking it out!  I want to quit SO bad, but I'm finding myself pushing harder.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the results of this workout at the end.  I really think that 30-Day Shred has definitely attributed to this bigger number this week.  I hope it continues, though I'm not expecting a 5 pound loss every week.  I wish I had taken measurements before starting.  That's something I really want to do this week. 

This week my eating was pretty good!  I've been staying at or just below goal - which, MyFitnessPal figures your exercise calories into you daily total.  Sometimes I eat some of my extra calories, but I try to avoid that.  I want to maximize my weight loss as much as possible.  This was my second week of using MyFitnessPal, and I'm still loving it.  It makes things pretty easy.  I logged my food all weekend, and was pretty good this weekend.  It's so hard to be good on the weekends!  That's typical "lazy" time, but with changing my weigh-in date, it really has been keeping my eating in check.  I find myself making better choices.  Telling myself no - unless I'm really hungry.  It's working! :)

Fat girl - you're going DOWN! :)

Some Ramblings...

Hey everyone...I don't have any real purpose for writing today, but thought I would share a photo from yesterday.  I got a lot of great comments and likes on Facebook yesterday - which really surprised me!  I thought the picture was just cool - because it was on top of one of the taller buildings in the city!  So, the compliments really took me by surprise!  Black is so flattering, right?!  Haha.  I think I look a LOT smaller in this pic than I really am!  Even with a heavy coat on!  I'm really enjoying the way my body is changing, though.  It's starting to get more noticeable.  I see changes almost daily now!  It's so motivating!

So, I had a great little lunch with my dad yesterday - and he's the one who took this shot.  From the top of the building I work in.  He had called me the night before, but I was asleep.  When I saw the number the next morning - I was kind of worried.  You see, my dad doesn't call me that often.  We don't really have what you call a "great" relationship.  Ya know?  Anywho - I called him back yesterday.  He was wanting to know what building I worked in.  See?  We don't really communicate much, right?  So I told him, and he says, "That's what building I've been working at all week!  What time do you take lunch?"  So I tell him - and we made some quick lunch plans.  Never mind the fact that I had already ordered a salad for lunch........

Lunch went very well.  Good conversation, lots of laughs....as it turns out, he's working for a company that is replacing the lighting on our building signs.  He was talking about being on the roof, so I asked if he could take me up there.  Of course, he agreed.  Now, this building isn't even remotely close to a skyscraper (17 stories), but, I don't know - it was just fun.  I'd always wondered how to get up there, you know...there had to be a way.....

So, in other news, I completed Day 4 of 30-Day Shred today.  All week I have been sore.  I mean, SORE!  It was hurting to WALK at some points!  Stairs were killing me!  It's all those lunges and squats!  I've been dealing with a slight running injury this week, and haven't been out to run since Sunday.  That's starting to feel better, plus, the soreness has started to ease up.  I think my body is starting to adapt.  Don't get me wrong - I grunted, growled & sighed all through that workout this morning...but, it didn't last all day!  Thank God! 

30-Day Shred (Take 2)

So, ok....now that I have totally completed Couch To 5K (something I had started a few times, but never finished), I was thinking I need to tackle something else of the same nature.  About this time last year - I got this video from Netflix to try it.  My sister-in-law talked about it a lot, so I wanted to see what it was all about.  I think I made it 3 days!  Haha.  I remember yelling at the screen A LOT!!!  I gave up! 

Well, it's been in my queue for a LONG time to try again.  Now is the time.  I'm in better shape now than I was a year ago.  Even with that said, putting this DVD in will make you quickly realize - you're not in as good of shape as you thought!  Instead of yelling at the screen this time - I'm growling and sighing.  You don't stop.  For 20 minutes.  Jillian says - if you want to see results in a 20 minute workout - you CAN'T stop.  Makes sense!  I've only tried Level 1 so far.  It's full of jumping jacks, butt-kicks, punches, jumping rope, lunges & other strength moves, and various crunches.  I'm intrigued, but slightly scared of Level 2 right now.  Ha!  We'll see.  I should take a look at all the levels. 

After 2 workouts, I can definitely feel that I worked out hard!  Even though it's short, it's a total body workout.  I feel "the burn," just about everywhere today!

Supposedly you can lose 20 pounds in 30 days with this video.  We'll see what happens.  I'll let you know how I progress through the levels.  Let me know if you give this video a try!

Weigh-In | 11.1.10

Today I’m happy to report that I’m down 2.2 lbs.!  Which FINALLY puts me over the 20 lb. mark!  Tally:  21 ½ pounds! 

This past week I did things a little differently.  I ran across a website called Myfitnesspal.  It’s really pretty cool.  You plug in all your specifics – gender, age, weight, goal weight, how much you want to lose per week, and how much you exercise, and how you spend your day.  It will give you a calorie goal to reach your weekly weight loss.  You can log all of your food on the website - and they have a huge database of food entries.  You can just search for a food and add it to your daily total.  It keeps track of your calories, fat, carbs and protein.  You also log your exercise each day.  One thing I found interesting was that each day when you finish your logging – it will tell you, “If every day were like today, you would weigh X amount in 5 weeks.”  I found that pretty inspiring.  Some days it was more inspiring than others, though.  Haha.  Did I mention that this site is completely FREE? :)

Oh, and this website has a fully-functional iPhone app, too!  You know, I logged my food every single day with this website & app!  I counted very few “real” calories.  The info was on the site/app, and I just plugged it in.  The math was done for me...so easy!  I’m going to continue to use this site, since it helped me to have a more successful week.  One thing I found interesting is that the calorie count for Myfitnesspal is actually lower than Weight Watchers.  I’ve always been told that 1 point is roughly equivalent to 50 calories.  I had a difference of 450 calories each day.  3,150 extra calories per week?  You have to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound……..so yeah…think about it!  Weight Watchers, I love ya….but, I didn’t feel deprived this week with a lower count.  I’m moving on.  Thank you for teaching me some healthy habits.  I’m carrying those on over to Myfitnesspal and using them there….

So, I’d love to share some positive things that went on this week!  There were quite a few that didn’t have to do with the number on the scale!

In one week I:

- Tightened bra straps

- Had some loose shoes (I’m not self-conscious about my feet, but I’ll take it!)

- Wore a pair of jeans to work that I hadn’t been able to wear in MONTHS!

- Ran 45 minutes for the first time in 5 years!  (This was the *official* completion of C25K!)

Well, that's all I have for now.  If you happen to try out Myfitnesspal, look me up as "freendeed280."  I just found out that you can change your user name once.  I just did!  Now you can find me as "skinnygirlfreed."  I love it when everything matches!!! :)