Thursday, April 29, 2010

Trying something new...

I asked Mark to put my scale really, really high up in our closet. I'm trying hard to not weigh myself until weigh-in day. Focusing on process not progress. Uh, we'll see. I'm sort of addicted to the scale.
I am one-third of the way to my goal of 50 lbs. In 10 more lbs I'll be half way there! I hope that happens in May. I feel like I'm not very good at this dieting thing. It's a self-control issue. Also, I realize that I'm sort of paralyzed by doing it perfectly. If I can't do it just the right way, then what's the point. It's a little bit psycho. Okay, a lot bit psycho. Kind of like weighing myself three times a day.
This morning I took the kiddos to the gym with me. I did 2 miles on the treadmill and they looked so happy playing in their play room that I decided to do 20 more minutes on the elliptical just so they could play some more. Burned about 450 calories according to the machines. After Chloe's morning nap, I took the girls on a mile walk around the neighborhood. I'm borrowing a double stroller from a friend for the 5K on Saturday so we tried it out this morning. That thing's a beast! I think part of our tax return money is going to buy us a double jogging stroller. Chloe's only going to fit in the Baby Bjorn a little while longer!
I'm getting really good at this exercise thing. If only I could get my diet under control. I'm great at planning it out, just not so great at implementing it.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

And the new number is....

165.5
woo hoo! The scale budged! Two pounds less than last week--we're on the move, now.
I have 3 weeks until checkpoint #2 at which time I'm suppose to weigh 150. That's a little bit of a stretch based on weigh-in today. In Biggest Loser world, it's totally doable. :) At my first checkpoint I was 6 lbs shy of goal. If I can weigh in at 156 this time, I'll still have lost the amount of weight I had set up to lose originally. That's only 9 more lbs...still alot but possible!
I didn't eat as well as I could have this last week. I'm going to do better this week. I've been measuring everything and eating more roughage (lettuce, sprouts, spinach, carrots, grapes, melon, etc.). And taking my multi-vitamin!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Monday Morning.

This is what I had for breakfast this morning:
2 scoops chocolate protein powder
1 banana
1 Tblsp. peanut butter
1 cup skim milk
3 ice cubes
Together it was 436 calories. More than I usually have for breakfast--but we'll see if I can stay full until lunch!
I'm looking forward to weigh-in tomorrow. I'm hoping to lose at least 2 lbs. I've been working out nearly every day (I threw in a rest day once I think) and most days have done really well on calorie count. My saboteurs--pizza (on both Thursday and Friday nights!!) and a chocolate cookie dough blizzard from Dairy Queen (I at least split it with Olivia). If it weren't for those three instances, I'd be hoping for more than 2 lbs! ha!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

5K

I did a 5K on the treadmill tonight while watching the Biggest Loser. It took me just over 50 minutes. I'm icing my feet right now and will be taking some Advil in a little while. Hitting the gym in the morning!! I'm sooo determined to get a new number on the scale next week. I can't wait to do a little happy dance like the chick in the Alli commercials. :)

Weigh-in day.

167.5
While last week's weigh-in was 168, it feels like it's no change. I've weighed in at 167 or 168 (plus or minus the half pound) for the past 5 weigh-ins. Grrrr. I've never been such a failure at anything before. I've been thankful to be able to go the gym this past week. I took the girls Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They get to play and I work my tail off, almost literally. We'll go three times this week too. Mark is going tonight at 5 so maybe we'll meet him there. How romantic to be able to work out together! Tonight is the Biggest Loser. I don't usually work out for the whole two hours, but I was thinking about just hitting the treadmill and seeing how far I can get in two hours. Not sure my feet will be happy about it, though. I'm not supposed to workout more than a half hour according to the PT. Maybe if I ice after I'll be okay. I'm supposed to be training for a 7 mile race in July. And I'm walking a 5K on May 1st. Pushing a stroller. With Chloe strapped to the front of me. :) That should burn a few calories!

Friday, April 16, 2010

And I'm back.

I took a little break from blogging. Just didn't get to it, I guess.
I've been stalled since my last entry. Not that I haven't been working on it. But I'm at 167 right now. I thought I'd be much further along by now. My body, apparently, doesn't agree. We had some illness, traveling, holidays, etc. since my March 1st entry so this past week I've been re-committed to food journaling and exercising. I have been having some problems with my feet that make it really hard to exercise. I started seeing a physical therapist in March and that's helped some. We're making progress, however slowly. I had wanted to be at 150 by my birthday, but now it means 17 lbs in 3 weeks. I'm not on the Biggest Loser--not sure it's realistic in real life!! Maybe if I work really hard I could be at 160 by then.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Celebrations.



Met the girls at Applebee's to enjoy a mudslide last night! This was my "goodbye 170s" celebration. Very excited. We had a really nice time and probably wouldn't mind that kind of celebration every week!
Next stop: my goodbye 160's celebration! Not sure what that will be...need to decide soon. Any suggestions?

Monday, February 22, 2010

Crazy-hair Chloe.

 
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First "milestone"

So, I thought that hitting 170 was going to be a piece of cake. I also thought I'd have reached it earlier this month.
Well, even though tomorrow is my official weigh-in day, I couldn't help posting that I hit 169 this morning!!! That's 5 lbs since last Tuesday's weigh-in. Insane. Apparently, all I've been needing to do is walk around for 8 hours or so a day with Chloe strapped to me!
That's been my workout for most of this week. The last day I did an actual workout was on Tuesday when I did a 5K on the treadmill. I had to split it up and do half in the morning and half at night, but I did it! I also have been eating alot more fruit this week. I've been noticing that my cravings for unhealthy foods are lessening. That's cool.
More good news--I found out that I can swim laps at the high school pool. I just have to figure out if it costs anything and how to get in... But then I'm good to go! I'm hoping to have found that out by next week so I can go maybe 2 days. I'm hoping to get set up with a DR. by next week so I can get my foot treated too. I think once I can get that figured out it'll be waaaay easier to exercise! Woo hoo.
So....one more pound and I've hit the 10 lbs lost mark!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

7 weeks in...

I gained a pound from last week. bleh. I'm still down 1/2 pound from the first weigh-in of the month and 4 1/2 overall.
I fit in a size 12 now!
I got my first "I can tell you're losing weight" comment today. It came from an unlikely source which made it all the sweeter, I think.
I wish my weight loss was going faster. I really wanted to weigh-in at 167.5 this morning. I just need to push harder and be more committed to the process. Deny my "wants" and focus on my needs. How appropriate that Lent starts tomorrow. A good time to focus.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

This is why I weigh myself everyday...

1) because I'm obsessed, addicted, etc.
2) because it helps me stay on track.
I usually do a pretty good job of logging food intake and exercise activities, but sometimes I start to slip up. When I see the scale going the wrong way, I know that a change needs to take place. I go back to weighing and tracking every morsel that goes in my mouth and I up the intensity of my exercise. It works. And I'm at a place now that I don't go running to the kitchen or the nearest Sonic to drown my bad weigh-in in 1,000 extra calories.
This morning I was at 172.5--2 lbs less than yesterday. Not sure why today couldn't have been my weigh-in day!! :) This gives me hope that I really might be able to stay on track with my goal by next week. And I'm back to only 2.5 lbs away from my mudslide....
I have changed my tracking websites. I was using www.fitday.com before and it was just okay. I've switched to www.calorie-count.com which I LOVE. I can link my calorie-count account with my facebook account and it has many more brands' nutritional information than fitday. I was able to type in Little Caesar's on calorie-count but not fitday and get the correct information. It's much easier to use and has a more updated layout. It's a perfect fit for me, I think. You should check it out!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

i had immunity this week so i decided to throw the weigh-in

Gained 1.5 this week. Suck.
but--I timed my mile and got 23 seconds faster than 3 weeks ago. Awesome.
And, see my measurement results below. Also, very good.
So next week I should pull a huge number. :)

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Measurements.

It being the last day of the month, I went ahead and took my measurements this morning.
Bad news first--I gained 1 inch in my bust... Dr. Oz says that's due to hormones and the saturated fat in my diet. Not too broken up about that.
Good news next--I lost 1 inch in my waist and 1/2 an inch in my hips! Awesome.
My pants are starting to get looser! I just need my waist to catch up to my hips because I've got saggy butt jeans (at least, I think so). I tried my size 12s on this week and I can get them on and still breathe! They just don't look that fantastic just yet. I'm excited to try them on again in a couple of weeks!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

One more down...45 left to go!

I lost 1 more pound this week. I really thought I'd get two this week, but I'm thankful for the one! If I were honest with myself, I would say that I didn't work hard enough for the two. I worked hard enough for one, though.
In order to stay on track to hit my 162.5 goal I needed to weigh in at 173 today and I did that! I need to average about 1.5 a week from her on out, so I'm going to need to work hard enough to get that!! I am looking forward to taking my measurements on Sunday! I've decided to do that at the beginning of each month.
Last night I did the Bootcamp weeks 1-2 workout which is starting to get more manageable for me! Then I did an ab workout from a Slim in 6 program I bought years ago. I might start doing that every other day or so. It's a little more than 10 minutes and is something I can do during the day when I'm with the girls. Tonight I'm back on the treadmill again!!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Sunday means pot roast for dinner.

Dinner tonight: Pot roast (4 oz), mashed potatoes (1 c), cooked carrots (30 cal.)= 450 calories total! Awesome.
My calorie count for today is about 1700. That's what it is most days, even though I have in my head that I'm going to aim for 1200. I guess it's good that I've got somewhere to go with it and I'm still losing a good amount each week. Then when I hit that plateau I can cut back even 500 cal a day to get 1 lb a week. Tricky math...
Talking about bridesmaids dresses tonight prompted me to check the size chart for the manufacturer. Right now my chest is a size 14, my waist a size 20 and my hips a size 12. Kind of too big... I'll be interested to see what size I get to order in May/June!
February is just around the corner and with it being a short month I think I'd like to do a 28-day challenge. I'm thinking something like 1 hr of exercise every day or 28 miles on the treadmill... Any suggestions?

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Thirsty Thursday

We went out to eat at Tumbleweed tonight to celebrate Mark's birthday tonight. I had a burrito (which I had ordered as a chimichanga, but the waitress knew better) and some chips. 650 calores--not bad for going out to eat. Total for the day=1615 calories.... could be better.
I did the biggest loser last chance workout dvd tonight. I just did the week 1-2 workout--this one's hard! And it's only the 2nd or 3rd time I've done it. And it's a 40 minute workout.
I think tomorrow I'll take it easy and just do a mile on the treadmill. I'm scrapbooking all night tomorrow. One of the girls offered to bring snacks and I said don't count me in, I'll bring my own. Maybe that was rude, but I need to have a plan ahead of time or I'm in trouble! I think I'll bring an apple & peanut butter or some of those 100 cal snacks. We shall see... four days till weigh-in!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Boot Camp, Part Deux

I am on week 3 of Biggest Loser bootcamp. I hemmed and hawed about whether to move on to week 3 since I haven't been doing it every day. But finally decided that I had to go for it! I'd like to do it 4 or 5 more times before weigh-in next week. With adding the week 3 segment to the workout, I did a total of 45 minutes!! I am sweaty! My lower back is tight, but I feel really good about making it through. I think it's cool that I can do the whole workout by modifying some of the moves so I'll be able to go back through them again later and still be challenged by them as I am able to do the moves just like they show them! So cool.
I am not setting a weight loss goal for this week. Instead I'm just looking forward to how much I'll be able to lose by killing it this week!!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Week 37

It seems like I've been doing this for a very long time... But we've still got 37 weeks to go! How fantastic.
I wasn't looking forward to this week's weigh-in nearly as much as last week's. And it seemed like it was a long week. As previously mentioned, I probably ate a pound of cheese this weekend (I wish I were joking) and celebrated two family birthdays.
However, here are my workout accomplishments: 5 1/2 miles on the treadmill and 3 days of Biggest Loser DVD workouts. Not bad, right?!
All of that brings me to what the scale told me this morning: 174
I LOST 1 POUND! Thank you, Jesus. Seriously.
It is so motivating to see the scale move down. It makes me want to make better choices and workout more to see how far down it can go!!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Sabotage.

My arch nemesis:


Mom and Dad came for the weekend and brought some fresh mozzerella string cheese from WI. What were they thinking, right?! I showed plenty of restraint until late Saturday. Then I decided not to count cheese sticks anymore...
So I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's weigh-in quite as much as I was last week, but I'll have to do better next week. Good news is there will be no birthday party (oh, except we are going to Tumbleweed on Thursday to celebrate Mark's b-day) and no massive bags of string cheese in my house!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Friday!

I'd like to give a shout out to my #1 fan--BHerbolsheimer!
Olivia and I just got done making mini-bagel pizzas. For 2 (1 whole mini-bagel), I figured about 150 calories. Not bad. They're for her birthday party tomorrow. I will be having a chocolate cupcake tomorrow. But just one. And if I didn't plan well and didn't make enough cupcakes, then...none. Tomorrow is going to be quite the test to see how well I do on calorie intake. Besides the luncheon birthday party, we also have plans to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. It's already been determined that I'll be sharing the 6 peice chicken tenders with my sister. Those plus the potato wedges with cheese will be a total of 900 calories. Crap... Might need to workout extra tonight. After I clean the bathrooms. What an exciting Friday night.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

37 weeks. 4 days.

I already have so much more energy! This is great...
I've hit 175 already in the past year or so, but this feels so different. I'm really working for it and my body is thanking me for it.
Tonight I brought dinner over to my husband along with my two girls. I kept the little one in her car seat to carry everything into school. Olivia walked on her own and kept up rather well.
So, on one arm I've got Chloe in her pumpkin seat. On the other arm I have my humongous diaper bag (seriously, it could pack enough clothes for a weekend trip), a small cooler bag, and a small pyrex casserole in its carrying case. I've probably got 20 + lbs on one arm and about 15 lbs on the other. And it was nothing! I could've walked around like that all night!
Funny what a little bit of working out will do...
Oh! More good news. Friend S was over today and suggested that sometime in May we go shopping for dresses to wear to friends M & B's wedding in June. I AM SO EXCITED. 1) Because my second checkpoint is in May and I should be about 150--so a much smaller dress size. 2) That will be a fabulous girl-time shopping trip. I so cannot wait...

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

My THREE year old!

 
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My 3rd "mommy" birthday.

My oldest, Olivia, turns 3 years old today! I have been a mommy for exactly that long, incidentally. Birthdays are big deals for mommies, I think. I went through a whole lot of life-changing, body-changing stuff 3 years ago from which I'm still recovering. Included in my "day on the calendar" checkpoints which I use just to make sure I stay on track, I've got some milestone checkpoints that I will be celebrating along the way. I still have 20 lbs to get to my pre-Olivia weight. Then 15 lbs more to get rid of my "happily married weight." Then another 10-15 lbs more to get rid of my "I live alone, first-job, post-college, holycrapImanadult" weight. I can't wait to celebrate each one of them.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

38 weeks.

It seems like this was a really long week. Not in a bad way, but now that I've been working out everyday I was looking forward to weigh-in! That never happens. I hope I can continue to look forward to weigh-in Tuesday!
175 today!
I lost 3 lbs from last week and I'm very happy with that. To meet my goal of 162.5 by March 9th, I needed to be at least at 177ish. So I'm ahead of the game! I'd love to lose 5 more lbs by the end of the month.
I planned my meals out again today and I'm going to try really, really hard to stick with my plan!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

10 Tidbits of Weight-Loss Wisdom from The Biggest Loser: Keep Your Fervor Afire

10 Tidbits of Weight-Loss Wisdom from The Biggest Loser: Keep Your Fervor Afire

Snacks.

These are some of the snacks I've been having the past week:
Peanut Butter Banana Muffins (from J.Seinfeld cookbook): 178 cal each
Kashi Oatmeal Dk Chocolate Cookie & 4 oz choc. milk: 230 cal
100 calorie pack snacks of chocolate covered pretzels and Nabisco choc. chip cookies: 100 cal
Oranges, the cutie kind: 35 cal each
Apple w/ 1 Tblsp peanut butter: 200 cal

I tried a Breakfast Pizza recipe from Fitness Magazine. It was really good and filling. You can find the recipe here:
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/nutrition/dessert-diet/

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Workouts.

I am on Day 3 of the Biggest Loser Bootcamp workout. It's set up for a 6 week program: every 2 weeks, you add on to your workout. The first two weeks is a circuit training that last for 35 minutes. I think by weeks 5-6, the workout ends up being close to an hour. It's good--I am able to do all of the moves but I get really tired and have to modify the last move, lunges where you jump from side to side.
Now that I've done that workout tonight, I'm about to get on the treadmill and do a mile. My husband's been working out with me today and yesterday and it's been AWESOME. There have been a few instances of butt pinching and, "let me show you how to do that move." All in all it's been really good to have a workout buddy, despite the minor distractions.

Friday, January 8, 2010

38 weeks, 3 days.

I feel like these past few weeks have been a wake-up call for me. Our family got together over Labor Day weekend and said that when we got together for Christmas it would be a chance to reveal all our hard work throughout the Fall. I really thought I'd have lost at least 20 lbs. I had more downs than ups, I guess, and just didn't get my act together. So when we all met for Christmas and I was only down about 5 lbs, it really hit me hard. The reality of all that time lost just made me so upset. I was embarassed to be there with nothing to show and disappointed in myself. But something about this time of the year when everyone's really focused on resolutions and making changes has really got me going. I'm tired of setting specific dates and goal weights and not making it. I'm tired of "not being able" to put the work in and failing at this.
I have spent this week totally screwing up by eating something like 12 chocolate chip cookies in a day but then realizing how bad it makes me feel. I did 1 mile a day on the treadmill and worked out using my new Biggest Loser bootcamp DVD and realized how good it makes me feel. I spent some time planning out my meals and choosing a workout plan. I am ready to get my head out of all the diet books, magazines, etc. and really do this thing.
I wonder if 50 lbs in 40 weeks it too lofty of a goal, but I really want to shoot for it. My first check point is March 9, or 30 weeks, and at that weigh-in I will be 162.5. That means almost 2 lbs a week!! That, in reality, might be a lofty goal. I'm hoping that I can hit it hard at the beginning and be really successful to start with. That initial success will keep my motivation up for the rest of the ride!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

39 weeks.

Tuesdays are weigh-in days. Less morning was 178. CRAP. So now my goal is 53 lbs... I guess I let myself induldge a little too much over Christmas holiday.
While we were away, my sister-in-law and I were reading the latest Shape magazine. There was an article with a few success stories. As with many of these stories, the first one started with the woman telling how a sexually abusive relationship was her trigger to her weight gain. My SIL asks, "do you ever wonder if we have some sort of trigger like that?" Neither one of us has suffered sexual abuse that I know of, but clearly there must be some sort of trigger point. I'd love to figure it out during this journey.
The Biggest Loser starts again tonight. I wish we had a DVR so I could speed-watch it. But it does offer a great opportunity to get 2 hours in on my treadmill!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

39 weeks. 2 days.

We had a date night out this weekend and had dinner at Outback. Mark ordered a 12 oz. steak of which I had 3 oz. And I had a baked potato. I don't like sour cream, so I ordered it with only butter, cheese, and bacon bits. The waiter thought he was doing me a favor by putting extra butter in place of the sour cream. He was really excited about it, so waited until he'd left to scrape it all off.