Wednesday, April 29

Week 17 Weigh In ~ SH4SC Wk 4

Woo Hoo! I am so happy that I made the commitment before this trip to make the best of it. Had I not planned (I'm not a planner) to ensure I could make this a successful week I am certain I would have made much different choices along the way while convincing myself that I was "doing ok" and then probably been shocked to see a gain come Wk 5 WI...

Well, I'm happy to say that my 2/day workouts and very conscientious decisions of just what I allowed myself to eat paid off!! I didn't gain on this trip, I didn't even maintain, which would have been a victory in and of itself. This week, and thus far on my trip, I have lost 1.4lbs! For that, I am ecstatic!!

This brings me to a total of 33.4lbs lost tso far this year and 5.2lbs this month in the Sizzling Hot for Summer Challenge.

I wanna thank Shiela for challenging us to our Last Chance workouts. I have enjoyed the programmability of the stair stepper and treadmills in the gym here where I am staying and yesterday really stepped it up to meet the challenge and got myself up to 4.5mph on the "fast" intervals. This is big people! At that speed I can't just power walk I actually have to start the trot and that isn't a pretty sight so this is big! Especially for someone who detests running. So much so that I have been quoted as saying, "I will run...when I'm being chased...and my life depends on it!" (of course 33lbs ago, heck, even now that might not get me very far before I'm captured! ;)

I hope the rest of you are having a wonderful week as well.

Let's really make this next week count my Sizzlin' Sistas!! My goal is to lose enough to change my "I lost 30" to an "I lost 35lbs" banner. What are your goals for this next week?

Monday, April 27

Facing my challenge head on

My last post was about the trip I am currently on and how fearful I was that it would not just keep me from continuing to lose but quite possibly completely derail all of the hard work I had completed thus far. I didn't count points and resist (some) temptations to lose 32lbs only to have a business trip set me back so I took steps to ensure I would have tools available to me to make the trip less scary.

Thus far, I've been pleasantly surprised to find that not only have I made time for exercise, five workouts so far in 2 1/2 days, but the food provided by the conference has had some good choices available! Granted I'd already stocked the fridge I had put in my room with yogurt, cottage cheese, 1% milk, etc and I also have with me some fiber one bars, granola, bananas, apples and strawberry yogurt cheerios but even those readily available healthy things could be undone by a breakfast buffet bar and who knows what at lunch - both meals which are already provided to me in my conference fees. I'm delighted to say that the breakfast buffet includes an omlette station that has egg whites! After my 24min heck of a stairstepper workout this morning, I was rewarded with an eggwhite, spinach, mushroom, & tomato omlette, wheat toast, fresh pineapple and blackberries. Lunch had choices like baked salmon, peas & other grilled vegetables. Knowing that I was eating healthy made it easier to skip the dessert table. (I may just have to take a picture of the dessert table so you all know just how much of a victory passing up that table is!)

Dinners are on our own but we also found an very interesting restaurant just up the interstate. Not only does it have healthy choices available but the menu provides more nutritional information than I have ever seen at any restaurant. I had the saladbar and two filets of the Scrod Floridian. I was stuffed and was again able to pass up the desserts! You should check out their websites menu info: Eat-N-Park

Now, unfortunately I'm not certain that all of this hard work will be "rewarded" with a big loss this week because the scale was actually up today from the previous day and I think that has to do with the incredible shock my muscles must be in from the sudden spike in increased exercise. I can honestly say that despite drinking LOTS of water the past couple days I still feel as if I haven't had enough for my healing muscles and I am distinctly aware of many muscles in my legs that otherwise don't make their presence known with every step.

I am honestly curious how difficult it might be to get out of bed in the morning after (gasp) a full 8hrs of sleep! So long as I am able to make it out of bed and get dressed of my own power I will be in the gym when it opens at zero-six-thirty. I may have to workout at lunch tomorrow too because we've got it on very good authority that the restaurant in the local casino has the best prime rib anywhere and has it on special only from 4-5p daily. Tomorrow is the only day we will be able to make it there that early. I may have a last chance meal rather than last chance workout!

*update: I was actually able to get out of bed this morning but moved so slowly to the gym that I had time for just an 18min stair stepper workout. My glutes are on FIRE today! I think this means its working . . . at least that's what I tell myself as I get up out of chairs and try to begin walking. :)

Friday, April 24

33 days . . .

That’s all the time I have left to shed more pounds and/or get more fit before I head to Florida for a family wedding and vacation. The trip started out so far in the distance that I’d actually made the lofty goal to lose 55lbs between the beginning of this year and departure for my trip. Now it is obvious to me that I will not reach my original goal of 55lbs but I am not the least bit upset because: 1 – I knew that to maintain an average weight loss of 2.6lbs a week, every week, for 21 weeks was lofty but was set intentionally to make myself aim high. 2 – I actually have maintained, thus far, an average of 2lbs/wk for 16wks now and that ain’t shabby!

Now comes the fear. It’s not that I feel as if I can’t continue to try for the next 5wks, I mean, I’ve been at this for over three times as many weeks already but the fact that I have had only minor challenges to overcome during this journey thus far. I had my birthday, Valentine’s day, my hubby’s birthday, Easter etc. but out of the remaining 33days I will be gone, out of town, out of control (for the most part) of what I will be served to eat, for 15 of those days! I don’t want to settle for simply maintaining my current loss – although that in and of itself would be a victory. No, I want to continue to move the scale down and so I knew I had to have a plan!

I will spare you the entire thing and for now concentrate on the trip that begins tomorrow morning. I leave for 10days most of which most will be spent at a gorgeous golf/education resort in West Virginia. I have been there before but still did some homework and checked out the resorts website. While some rooms have refrigerators, none have microwaves. They have a very small gym and lots and lots of gorgeous areas to walk. I called ahead and found out that the area I will be staying in is not apt to have a refrigerator in my room but they will put one in my room if it is requested! Yea!! So, as soon as I arrive I will request one and make a trip to the local grocery store to stock up on healthy snacks, yogurt, cottage cheese, milk & probably some cereal. This puts the food situation a little more in my control. I’ll be packing my exercise clothes and walking shoes for good cardio walking the grounds (or on the treadmill in the event of inclement weather) and have finally broken open a couple of DVDs I bought back In January. I will be able to do the Hip Hop Party and Biggest Loser Bootcamp in the privacy of my own room. Lastly, and this may seem the most odd, I’m packing my scale and taking it with me! You see, this particular trip will conclude with 3days spent at my grandparent’s house. Oh, I can already taste the homemade bread, toast w/ apple butter and other such wonderful things. I must keep my indulgences in moderation and for me weighing daily keeps me in check so being able to weigh while away will keep me from simply thinking I’m doing well and possibly being shocked by the scale when I return home.

*big sigh* I think that, in preparation, I’ve done all that I can do to ensure this trip is not a stumble on my weight loss journey but instead allows for continued successful weight loss weeks. I’ve been so afraid of what effects this (and the next) trip will have on me but the more I think about it, I realize this may in fact be a more successful than normal week for me exercise wise in that I have no children to get ready for school, to pick up from school, to cook and clean for, take to practice etc. Outside of the actual classes I will be attending ALL of the other time will be MY time. What a concept!?

This may actually mean I have more time to post as well. We shall see. Wish me luck, say a prayer etc. I hope to prove that I’ve been nervous for nothing…..

Wednesday, April 22

Week 16 Weigh In ~ SH4SC Wk 3

Chalk this week up to a success! I worked out (once) and kept an eye on my food despite basically being up for 36hrs in a row from Fri a.m. til Sat night - thank you night shift. I was really afraid I had slipped up pretty bad over that time period but when I went back and logged everyting and hadn't actually been "bad". Guess the lack of sleep had me dizzy.

Oh, and since the one time I did workout was on Tuesday I'm counting that as my lastchance workout that Shiela challenged us to - cuz, well, it was more intense than any other workouts that week! :)

I know, I know, I gotta get back in gear.

I lost 1.2lbs this week which for me makes a total of 32lbs even in 16weeks. Ok, so that makes for easy math right? Anyone else become a math genius when it comes to weight loss calculations? I find myself constantly figuring out my average weekly loss, if I loss "x" amount every wk from now til ___ I will be to goal by ____. I'm not normally an obsessive person but I am an impatient one. The most impressive calculation I have this week is that as of today I've lost 1/3 of the weight that I want to lose! That seems impressive...until I realize that means I have 2/3 of the way yet to go....

Ahh, who ever said losing weight was easy? Gaining..now that's easy . . . but not something I wanna allow myself to do anymore.

Oh, and I've finally gotten back to smoothies! I loved these last year. This morning I had one made with frozen peaches, banana (that I froze), orange juice, & fat free vanilla yogurt. It was delicious!! (oh yea, had to add 1/4c 1%milk to thin it some)

Saturday, April 18

I work(out) best under Pressure

I think I have finally figured out the key to my getting my workouts in. It makes no sense to me but I do believe it's true. I get them done when I'm most pressed for time. Kinda like I love a challenge. (who woulda guessed! :)

I do prefer to get them in first thing in the morning and even that is somewhat of a race. I always get up at 6am and if I'm going to get a 45min workout in then I get up brush my teeth, empty the bladder & get dressed. I wake up my son, and wake up my son, and wake up my son...when he's finally awake ~ about 6:15 I can begin my workout. By the time I've started my cooldown he's kissing me goodbye to catch his bus. When I'm done I jump in the shower and after I wake my daughter (about 715am). She leaves at 745 and I typically follow her out the door. Its kinda like a challenge/race to get it in and simply starting the day with a workout starts my day better. I feel better, I eat better etc.

If I don't get it done in the morning I have been known to leave work just early enough to get home and get food in the oven, dinner started etc so I can get my workout in while dinner cooks. I can be done in time to eat and let my kids change to get to the practice of the day. Why does this work for me as opposed to having oh say, all day open, lik eon the weekend, and not getting my workout in as soon as I get up adn while all the others are sleeping or in the afternoon while laundry is washing/drying or in the evening instead of holidng the couch down and surfing the internet or watching shows on my DVR?! I don't know why this is but after the past few weeks and truly opening my eyes to when I workout versus when I put it off I have come to realize I get it done when it seems like a challenge to get it in and done.

I don't know why I would want to add stress to my life or want to feel the tick of the clock but it is what it is. Now how can this realization help me? I guess I can schedule my workouts just like I do all the rest of my life. Meetings, husbands shifts, kids practices and games etc. Maybe that is what I need to challenge myself to do. Schedule this time for myself and get it done!

Anyone else have a similar struggle with workouts?

I also think I have a somewhat skewed opinion of when I've eaten off plan versus when I truly have gone overboard....but we'll save that for another time.

Wednesday, April 15

Wk 15 - SHFSC Wk 2 WI - TAKE 2

Ok, I doubt I could re-create my original post exactly but I did try to include all the elements - here is my 2nd attempt:

This week, I sucked. I had a 2 week plan and did well with it the first week. This week, not so much. I didn’t track, I didn’t post other than my WI last week, I even had a hard time supporting my fellow bloggers. I am reading, I promise, I’m trying to keep up but with some of you posting everyday I have a hard time. My apologies. The worst of it is that I did not exercise. Did you hear that? I did not exercise…at all! I intended to post about how I think I finally figured out just why it is I don’t always get my workouts in but I will save that for later in the week.

Now, just because there are so many things I didn’t do lose weight was not one of the didn’t dos. Yesterday I hit an annual low. I got lower on the scale than I had managed to get to last year before I allowed it to creep back up. I was so excited yet scared that today somehow I would have a gain and not be able to do the "official" happy dance. As a side note, who would have guessed that Lucrecia and I would both hit annual lows on the very same day?! It’s almost scary how in synch we have been lately and so long as we’re in synch with weight loss I’m more than fine with that!

So, I am officially down 2.2lbs this week which puts me at a total loss of 30.8lbs so far! Last year I only got to 29.2lbs lost so my main focus for the next couple weeks will be to keep the numbers getting smaller.

Look, I have a new badge on the right of my blog thanks to Fitago – I’ve lost 30lbs!!
As for Shiela’s challenge for this week, I don’t really track measurements when modifying recipes but I will tell you that one of my favorites so far this year has been my version of a Turkey Meatloaf. I have substituted turkey for the ground beef in a lot of things this year but when it comes to meatloaf I just can’t bring myself to do solely turkey so the one I loved the most went something like this: 1 pkg Jennie-O extra lean turkey, ¾ lb extra lean ground beef (I used a 96/4), egg whites in stead of whole eggs, Panko bread crumbs rather than traditional, various seasonings and a bit of ketchup. I shaped it in a loaf and topped it with a little more ketchup. About an hour later I had one of the tastiests meatloafs I’ve had in a very long time. My daughter and mother even commented on how good it was. Maybe I should have tracked the specifics so that I could recreate it. Hmmm

I had challenged myself to try at least one new recipe each month this year and so since I failed at giving a specific recipe this time I will share with you all now what I plan on trying next: Slow Cooker Lasagna. I will try to give a review when I finally get it made.

Here’s to a great week for all of my Sizzling Sistas!

Wk 15 Weigh In ~ SHFSC Wk 2

I'm mad.

I had started a post earlier today, painstakingly added my links, sat here in the Drs office finishing it when I went to highlight the entire post to change my font (you know, one of those incredibly important things...)

MY ENTIRE POST DISAPPEARED!!! What did I do!? Before I could exit out so it wouldnt auto save...guess what?! It auto saved!!! GONE!

I'm too mad at this point to start all over.

I lost 2.2lbs this week. That brings me to an annual low...lower than I got to last year. I was happy about that but now I'm just annoyed.

Wednesday, April 8

Wk 14 Weigh In ~ Sizzle Challenge Wk1


Wow, looky there, I couldn't seem to find the strength to post my number before last Wednesday and now despite the fact that I showed only a 0.4lb loss this week I am posting my number. It's still more scary than liberating but it's there. I must admit I hope that the fact that I had a business dinner that caused me to eat much later than usually and only moderately more heavy than normally is what caused only a slight loss to show up this morning. (I had a fabulous ribeye dinner - a salad w/ minimal dressing, asparagus hold the lemon butter sauce and one half of a FANTASTIC yeast roll)

Now for accountability for how I held to my two week plan this first week:

Food:
1. Track every bite I eat - good or bad. - DID IT! :)

2. Limit the high point or "bad" days to one per week. - I did have two high point days but also oddly had two days where I didn't meet my full points. Once by 7 - very strange. I am normally very good about hitting my daily points and despite the two "over" days I stayed well within my weekly points.

3. Try a new recipe within the next 2 weeks. - guess I'm gonna have to do that this next week.


Activity:
1. Get a minimum of 45min of exercise 4-5 days each week. - DID IT! Did 4 days of 45min on My Fitness Coach as well as a re-evaluation (which is a workout of its own) that proved I am making progress!

2. Get a pedometer so I can gauge my day to day activity level and ultimately join a distance challenge. - I have been told one was ordered for me I just haven't seen the friend who has it. Hoping to have a pedometer come Saturday when we have our girls get together.

Blog:
1. Take the time to read blogs of other challenge participants and lift them up both in success and struggles. - I feel like I've done a pretty good job. I hope others agree.

2. Find/make the time to blog at least once a week outside of the weekly weigh in. - does my two week plan count? :) I had intended on posting something else but honestly I can't even remember the subject I had had in mind at this moment.

NSVs for the week - I was able to wear two "new" pairs of pants this week. One is the the smaller of the two that showed they were the same size from awhile back. The other I had purchased in late January along with another identical style but they were two sizes different. I wore the smaller ones just yesterday - maybe they had something to do with my willpower at dinner.

Overall stats:

This week: Lost 0.4lbs

14 wk total: 28.6lbs or 11.2%

Wk 1 Sizzle: 0.4lbs or 0.18%

Sizzlin' Sistas here is to a great Week 2!

I spent the day (over 12hrs) at our company's 18th Annual Golf tournament and so I am so incredibly tired. I will catch up on everyone else's progress tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 1

2 week plan for Sizzle Challenge

Ok, so the way I read the "rules" I would have to create a plan for 2wks...and if old hat at the weight loss journey perhaps a menu plan. Well, I have definitely had my share of weight loss journey beginnings but I do not feel that I am old hat nor that I could make an entire 2wk menu that would actually be stuck to soooo...rather I will make some challenges for myself mainly for my diet and exercise.

Food:

1. Track every bite I eat - good or bad.
2. Limit the high point or "bad" days to one per week.
3. Try a new recipe within the next 2 weeks.

Activity:

1. Get a minimum of 45min of exercise 4-5 days each week.
2. Get a pedometer so I can gauge my day to day activity level and ultimately join a distance challenge.

Blog:

1. Take the time to read blogs of other challenge participants and lift them up both in success and struggles.
2. Find/make the time to blog at least once a week outside of the weekly weigh in.

I will revisit these original challenges to myself on each of the next two Wednesdays.