Finally an update!

Started eating clean last week. Been really strict with myself in addition to the "no-exucses program" of exercise 3-5 nights per week.

This week:

Monday - 30 minutes circuit training at the house while watching TV.

Tuesday - 20 min stair climber, 20 min weight training, 20 min recumbent bike.

Wednesday - AM - Wt - 165.2 lb!!!!!! - FINALLY got some weight off! WHOO HOO! no workout - bad food day (aromatherapy class, and Christmas party in the evening)

Thursday - 25 min sauna in the AM, 45 min on the recumbent bike (315 cal) then saw Robert, who was getting ready to warm up in the movie room, and walked 35 min (190 cal). Working on better food, but met Mom, Rosie and Kathy for shopping and lunch @ Donato's - had a salad without dressing and pizza with almonds and sausage. If I stay on track, I CAN get some more of this weigh off! Life is good!

Monday

169.8 lb in the evening after workout.
Workout tonight: 25 min elliptical (250 cal burned) + 15 minutes weight training (upper body)

Food for the day:

1 cup cheerioes, milk, banana, DP 16.9 oz

2 cup spaghetti with meat sauce, 2 tbsp parma, DP 16.9 oz

Theraflu

2 handfuls of peanut butter pretzels and 2 servings dried apricots

1 oz cheddar cheese, 1 large green apple. 2 glasses water.

still hungry. Got to be a little hungry I guess.

Saturday.

Am LOVING having a set schedule with Suzana. I think this is going to be fantastic for me!

Today I did 7 minutes on the stair climber (70 cal burned) 30 min with Suzana (arms, abs, mostly. Have a new hate-to-do exercise: the Mary Catherine), then 35 more minutes on the recumbent bike (230 cal burned)

Body feels good, Been working on house work today. Life is good. I just wish I saw some weight loss results from all the extra work the past 2 weeks have had.


PS Suzana reports the rude dude is no longer working at the gym after the Thursday incident. Wow - I am surprized, but not really. He was not into customer relations.

Thursday

Well, it was an eventful day at the gym!

Did 35 min on the elliptical and burned about 300 cal. One of the newer trainers came in and said I was not working hard enough. (I was sick and not working very hard so that I might be able to recover faster) When I said I could not hear him very well, he suggested that a qtip would take care of my hearing loss.

And the foot in mouth syndrome continued for him! He the went over to an asian girl and said, "look out for this Chinese girl. She's a ninja."
The girl gives him a hugely dirty look and reports, "I'm not Chinese."
He replies, "well your asian, so it doesn't really matter."

HAILE SELASSIE! What the heck is this guy thinking???

I complained to my trainer as the asian girl went to complain to management.

Suzana and I did an oblique, ab and plyo heavy workout so that I can continue to get better. Suzana does love the obliques! LOL

Need to get Robert in the gym to work out with me so as to avoid the jerk.

Tuesday

Workout: 25 min on the elliptical (250 cal) then 20 min of weights. I lost another lb of muscle in this last month. Gotta keep what I got.

Food:

2 slices bread (140 cal) with peanut butter on it.

lunch - chicken tetrazzini, peas,

snack - apple and cheese cracker (140 cal)

dinner - boca burger (210 cal) with ketchup and mustard, tomato cut up, with salt, pepper and fiesta lime mrs dash.

Wt this AM 169.4 lb
Wt after workout this evening 169.

Monday post weekend with Robert's mama

Had a weekend with Robert's mother. Ate a lot of bad food. Wt this evening pre-workout 169. Aargh.

Well, no beer and will be getting things back on track.

25 min on treadmill, 230 cal burned.

Food -

1/2 an omelette with cheese, 1/2 banana.

1 cup cottage cheese, whole banana

1/2 cup trail mix (peanuts and raisins)

dinner - 1 cup mac and cheese with mustard, 1 tomato, cut up with salt, pepper and chili powder, 1/2 cup applesauce.

No pop - trying to control intake well to make up for the weekend.

Life is good!

Sphincter Wink??

good day today.

Did 25 min on the stair climber - interval style. 200 cal burned. Then my workout with Suzana, lots of plyometrics. I think that might benefit me a LOT! I need to work on breaking through this plateau.

Breakfast - 1 serving multigrain cereal, with one apple

Mid workout - 1 serving whey protein (100 cal) and 3/4 cup frozen blueberries.

Lunch - 2 slices diet bread, 5 thin slices salami, 6 slices turkey (thin) mustard, 1 small tomato.

late snack - 1 bowl french onion soup from TGI friday's - 219 calories.
with one breadstick.

dinner - handful dried cherries, 1 small bowl of FF lentil soup. 2 bites Rosie's grilled cheese with bacon and tomato.

Gotta keep up the good work - gotta keep up the good work.

Had a good day @ Peyton's today. Early workout with Suzana tomorrow.

Have had SO much positive feedback about the mini! I LOVE being praised like that.

Food today:

2 slices diet bread with peanut butter
coffee with creamer.

1 fresco style taco with med sauce.
apple

1/2 tuna fish sandwich
1/4 cup dried cherries.

3/4 cup cottage cheese with 2 TBSP salsa
6 dried apricots.
1 cheddar cracker nabisco thing (130 cal)

3/4 cup blueberries with 1 scoop Jillian Michaels protein powder (100 cal)
1 maple instant oatmeal packet (160 cal)

Don't think I did too bad today.

Did 30 min HIIT on the elliptical, burned 350 calories. Got to as fast as 9 mph. :)

My First Mini!!

Robert and I both finished our first Half Marathon yesterday, the Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis, Indiana!

Robert finished in 2:20! (Hooray for him! He is a fast runner, but is sore today!)
I finished in 3:15:17, which was below the 15 minute mile mark I hoped for! (I also stopped because a car tried to get into the run route on Washington Blvd. Also during that mile on that street, a 2 car accident. I stopped because one of the driver's was hurt when her airbags deployed, and was laying, numb and shaking on the ground. When the cop got there, and the ambulance was on the way, and the chick seemed calm, I left to go on and finish. Robert tells me this behavior is remarkable, I just did what any responsible medical person would do, right?)

Anyway, I was happy with my finish. I need to work on the back half of my races. I did an avg 13:17 for the first 10K. Since my avg for the back end of the race was 14:55, there is some work to be done.

On the other hand, I can walk reasonable well today.

I am happy - I went out there - I proved that I could do it AND I finished upright and smiling! Life is good!

Next up....

The 500 Festival Mini Marathon in May!

I might have a marathon in me someday. I want to max out the Half Marathon first though!

Friends who showed up:
Matt H
Dan V
Jill V
Mandy E
Paula Z
Kate O (actually: stuck in traffic)
Holly (wanted to be there, car broke down)

JUN friends there in spirit!

10-10-10

The legs here are sore, which is to be expected after the 10 K yesterday, but the surprising element is that the butt and shoulders are also sore. What's up with that, kids?

Feel successful again. Perhaps running is the thing to do to keep myself feeling happy and successful. I need to feel like I have done something and overcome it to make myself feel good. The weight has stopped coming off, and I look great, but that need to feel successful and strong does not go away.

Something to think about: How to keep feeling successful!

10-9-10

Ran a 10 K (6.2 miles) in 1 hour 19 minutes and some seconds! I decided to challenge myself and feel good about getting done and being smiling and happy when I was done. The wheezing and coughing that lasted the rest of the day was less fun, but well worth it to see what I could push myself.

1/2 marathon is on November 6th and it will be so nice to get it done! I think it will be great! The next challenge might be the mini marathon in May! (pace for the mini is an 18 minute mile, which is easily obtained with a brisk walk)

Life is good - Life is good.

Wish I could get these last 20 lbs off, but that might be too much to ask for!

Thursday

I was 166.2 lb this am!!! Whoo hoo! I sooo want to get into the 150's - it would be way less weight to carry when Robert and I do this Half Marathon.

Food -

3 mini donut holes (chocolate) and a med coffee with cream and sugar - also ordered a eng muffin with cheese and egg, but it didn't taste good to me so I had a bite or 2 and gave up on it.

lunch - yogurt, 1 cup each roasted mushrooms and squash, fiber one bar (I needed me some chocolate) Diet Pepsi.

Workout - 5 min stair climber then 50 crunches, 15 min stair climber then 50 cross crunches, 15 min elliptical, then 50 reverse crunches. Total time at gym was 1 hour (so average of 30 min cardio and 30 min weights - mostly upper body, some lower)

snack - handful peanuts and handful raisins, handful pretzels, a beer

dinner - hot chicken dip with a few crackers, baked potato with butter and mrs dash.



Awaiting my plan from my trainer since she is off with her baby (Congrats, Suzana - I am missing you)

I did a time trial - average time was 4.3 miles/hr. Robert did one today and calculated his time as being a 10 min mile, significantly faster than me. We have not yet decided if we will be running our half marathon together or not, I would love to be there with him, but don't want to hold him back. I guess we have time to figure out how this will go - after all, the race is not until November.

Life is good! life is good! Life is good!

Monday

Food for today.

Breakfast - potato adn gravy casserole at work with 3 ketchup pkts.
Lunch - 2 cups santa fe casserole (rice, beans, cheese, eggs, and milk)
snack - sour gum drops
post workout snack - fiber one bar and 1 cup milk.
post shower snack - one banana and 1 cup plain yogurt


Workout - 3.2 mile run in 44.5 minutes - then 20 min of yoga. Need to work on the flexibility and strength training.

Got work on getting better food in tomorrow. Life is good. I am going to miss my trainer for the next 2 weeks while she is on maternity leave.

Wt post workout was 168.4 lb (in the evening and before the post shower snack)

I got this - I got this - I got this! I CAN do the marathon. I just need to practice and cling to the belief that as things get cooler outside, my speed will get faster.



Robert and I watched a movie about Steve Prefontaine - he was one driven guy! Watching that movie (starring Donald Sutherland) was really interesting. He was a driven man. In this movie, he crashed his car and died because of a visualization exercise, planning how to win the next olympics. I was really inspired by the movie, and would love to run like that and believe that I could get to that level, but without the death bit. I want to run, but not get hurt or die. Is that too much to ask for?

Got one more movie from Netflix to watch as a part of my marathon inspiration. There will be more, but this is just to get me started.

Celebrate success, learn to live with not making goals.

Lets begin with the successes!

On Friday, my weight was 167 lb! I am down and staying down in the 160's - Did well on the June challenge, but it turns out that the challenge goes to the end of August - so I have one more month of really challenging myself to get to the best body that I can.

Robert and I did a 7 mile walk on Saturday and did well! :) We got done in 2.5 hours. My feet were so sore and blistered. We also did not take water with us so I was very dry when we were done and had to drink almost a liter of water to get back to normal.

Robert and I had a lovely 4th of July with my family. Life truly is good!

The not making goals part...

I ate too much yesterday and am up to 171,2 lb. Will need to have a very low calorie day and drink TONS of water to get things back to normal. However, I will still continue to enjoy days where I do not worry about what I eat.

I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I cannot yet RUN the 13.1 miles for the mini marathon in November. Robert is challenging me to not make decisions now that about something that I still have 3 months to train myself for. I do feel like I still act childish from time to time. I still got some growing up to do....



Life is good all! Gotta keep training and challenging myself! :)

Oh my - it's been a long time. I started this journey in December of 2008. I have lost and kept off 45 lbs so far. I have been stuck in a plateau for the last 6 months, since I started dating Robert. I am so much happier now that I have ever been. Robert and I started training for a marathon 3 weeks ago. We did our 3rd long run on Saturday in heat and humidity that caused a more experienced runner/friend to stop after 1 mile. We persevered together and got all 6 miles that we indended to do in 1 hour 34 minutes, almost the needed 15 minute mile time for a marathon. I did a cycling class on Sunday and then have taken today off - I cooked tonight - made a big old mess in the kitchen of potatoes, meatloaf and grilled zucchini. I hope robert comes over to eat some of the meatloaf! I think I might be the only one that likes the potatoes or the zucchini. That's ok - there's just a LOT of potatoes. It's been hard to see the scale go up that 5 lbs. I have worked so hard, and now I seem to be stuck where I am. I keep working out and watching what I eat. Please God, don't let all this have been in vain! It's so frustrating to see that nothing changes in the scale even though you are trying to do the right thing. Just gotta keep on plugging away. I hope the marathon helps!

5 month plateau...

Well, it;s been a long time since I have been here - been some slip ups - some weeks where I did not care about food, or exercising. In spite of that, my weight maintains at about 169. I am getting smaller and leaner every day. Suzana wants me to lose 15 lbs by July 4th.. I am not sure this is a realistic goal for me. Seems like my body is not ready to lose the weight. Even so, I am fitter, leaner and healthier than I have ever been.

Have been reviewing some of my pics from this journey and I am amazed at how large I was, and how in denial I was about my weight being way too big. It's a good reminder that this is and always has been about getting healthy and about how much better I look AND feel when I am thinner and working out.

I ordered some MEDIUM scrubs because the larges seem to be just a bit too large right now - I do love me some LA Rose scrubs and look forward to seeing how the new ones fit when they get here in the mail.

Reviewed some pics of my ex-husband and his fat girlfriend of the past 2 years (creepy things we have in common: Jay, Both of us being big girls when we were with him, dark curly hair, and similar lower facial structure.... CREEPY) If I had been with Jay still, I would probably still be fat, hating myself, and selfish as hell. My divorce was the best growing, resurection moment I have ever had. I have felt that I had some chance at Redemption with Robert. Hopefully, Jay has that opportunity with Jamie. I love that Robert wants both of us to be fit and healthy - It's great to be with someone who accepts my body as is, but wants health to be a basic part of the ordinary things we do together.

Life is good - Onward and upward!

Friday

Oh Lord, what a terrible workout week. I can't even remember what I did Monday and Tuesday nights, just that they were so busy that I could not get any working out done. Rosie is in town since Mom and Dad moved to the new house. Between all the business, Robert, Rosie, Family, and stuff, it has been a very very bad week. Robert and I went to a winery and a covered bridge in Rockville, IN yesterday.

Aiee! I got up this morning and my weight was 170lb!!!!! Oh Lord, I KNEW that had to change! I have worked really hard to get to the 160's and I was NOT going to surrender to the 170s again!

I did 20 min High Intensity Interval Training on the treadmill (plus 5 min cooldown) then 20 min on the stationary bike (plus 5 minutes cooldown)

I CAN do this, I will do this!

Tomorrow is another day, and I am going to make better choices, and have a much better weight life!!

Do it right!!

Well, the rest of the week did not go as planned! Life has been so crazy though...

My parents, and my 2 teenage siblings moved out of the house on Friday! WhooHoo! I am glad for them. They are happy to be settling into the new house. I meanwhile, had more cleaning, and grocery shopping to do. So while I planned a workout on Sat, I did not get it done. Sat night also yielded a church dinner party between the older and younger adults, which was, of course a mine field. Sigh. I did come up with an amazing idea for a sauce for roasted pork that should make the boyfriend happy, since he loves port wine and cherries. The hostess made it with port wine and cranberries, but I think cherries will make things lovely.

so anyway between the food, wine, beer, family, and etc, things have not gone as planned. I look forward to a day when my life settles down enough to get back on track!

Thursday!

Had a lovely day!

I went and worked out for 40 minutes (20 minutes on the stairclimber, where my HR got up to 170 during the hard intervals, and then 20 minutes on the recumbent bike.) Got so lovely and sweaty!

Food for today:

Breakfast- lucky charms with milk.

Lunch - 1/2 cup canellini beans, 1 serving whole wheat pasta and 1/2 cup sauce.

snack - a 140 cal yogurt.

snack - 1/2 cup cottage cheese, large apple

dinner - roast - potatoes - carrots.

Also had some cheese ball and pretzels, some of Ben's fruit chews and a few dark chocolate candy bits. - probably negating the workout I had this afternoon.

Will see what the weight is in the morning! :)

Thursday!

Worked out with my trainer, Suzana, on Tuesday - we did a lot of work. I have been absolutely hating the gym lately! I don't really know why. I have maintained since November, but really not been going to the gym that much, other than to train once a week, since then. Somehow, I have not really gained back that much weight. (a DEAR mercy) Suzana plans to try to work my sessions about new sports so that it will be more interesting and varied for me. On Tuesday, we went through a brief boxing regimen! I want more!

Today I did do something I have not done in a long time.... I went to the gym by myself for a self-guided workout! I ran for 20 minutes on the treadmill. (The first mile was a 13 minute 12 second mile!!! that's where I started out at last summer, but it's not a bad time, and it's definitely one I can improve!)

Food for today:

Raisin Bran and milk with Robert and his son.

lunch - gyro with tzatziki with 1/2 pita, salad with greek dressing and feta, a serving of green beans with tomatoes, ate 1/2 potato without skin,

Edited to add: Snack - yogurt (170 cal) and 1 handful blueberries.

Dinner - bowl of chili with black beans and ground beef, handful grated sharp cheddar, pint of green tea.

Snack - chocolate chip cookie (I am trying to use up the mixes I have made. The rest will go with my siblings to swim practice tomorrow)

Wt today - 168.4 lbs.

This weight may be in part due to the 10 beers yesterday. Reason:

Beer spikes estrogen in the body and facilitates fat formation. It was my day off and I had a really nice day with Robert. Anyway - I think I need to give up alcohol in any form until I hit my final weight loss goal. I have done well with giving up pop so far (since Ash Wednesday, I have only had 20 oz total - 4 oz one time, and 12 another)

Reading/Research: Bought a Biggest Loser Cal Counter so that I can commit to keeping a close tally on my calories in. I also am reading Making the Cut, by Jillian Michaels. I plan to follow her diet recommendations for a fast burner. I hope this helps keep me satiated. (It may also explain why I did not do well as a vegan!)

Thanks for reading! Please message me if you have any tips/coments/concerns that you would like for me to talk about!

mmm mmm mmm!

Life is good!

I alternated cardio and yoga on Friday and today. Today - I did 75 jumping jacks, 25 squats, a 30 second plank, and 20 min of standing yoga. I tried to eat well today, but things worked out against me, probably due to lack of planning and willpower.

Food for today:

Breakfast - hashbrown casserole, cheese, gravy, sausage, 4 ketchup packets, pepper, a banana, and some coffee with 3 creamers,

Lunch - 1 cup spinach, 1 serving broccoli and cauliflower, 20 gm green goddess (1 serving = 30gm) one slice bread, 2 slices cheese,

snack - apple, 1 serving pecans.

dinner - mexican.... tooo many chips and fresh salsa, 2 12 oz dos XX, one burrito with red sauce.

snack - small peice chocolate cake, scoop ice cream.



On the intangible side, I went and got my benefits rescreen. My employer gives us a biweekly bonus for being healthy to offset the cost of benefits. I got $30 biweekly before. I had a 20 dollar benefit that I did not get because my weight is too much. I had lost 10 lbs (needed to get 17.5 lb off for the full 20 bucks) I did not get the extra $20 for my BMI, but I did get it for my body fat percentage! YAHOO! I went, expecting nothing and got the full $50 off! It's been a good day - gotta work on the food tomorrow!

It's time for a renewal....

of my commitment to exercise and getting this last 20 lbs off.

Things that made me a successful loser since I started on this weight loss journey in Dec 2008.

• Careful attention to food
• Bringing in own lunch to work
• Less eating out
• Working out - cardio 3-5 times a week, along with strength training. (That's a lot of time at the gym, folks)
• Having a support system
• Food journal sent to my dear sis most days.
• Preplanning what to eat.
• Allowing for things that I still want to enjoy in my daily food.... Things I won't give up: chocolate, alcohol, carbs, and fat. I just eat less of them!
• Tracking my weight and excercise in my daily planner ( I plan to keep this as a record and testament to what I CAN do when I put my head down to it!)

So what's changed since December when I began to slack off?

Well, lets see! I got sick and spent a week at home doing nothing, trying not to spread whatever upper respiratory infection I had, I started dating someone, my family moved into my upstairs (went from being a one person household to 5 overnight!). The boyfriend and my parents do not eat the way that I did before I began slacking off! It's been a real challenge to see how I can work good nutrition in while dealing with not being the person meal-planning. Edited to add: I also finally completed my course of study!! See my WOCN journey blog for details!

What's been keeping me from gaining a lot more back in the past 2 months? Well, will power for one. My trainer for 2. (I love her! She really IS looking out for me)

So I have been thinking, How do I get back on track? At the present moment, I don't want to go to the gym unless absolutely necessary! That mindset - GOTTA GO!

So here's my plan in it's rough stages:

• Workout at the gym on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (Thurs and Sat will be with the trainer)
• On Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays, do yoga or another exercise DVD at home, something fun and not as hard, but that will get me up and moving!
• Start keeping track of food AND calories (this is already begun, my trainer and I have both reviewed it separately to see where things are falling apart)
• Start bringing food into work with myself again. (How will I achieve this when I will be in and out of the house a lot more now? I am going to add this to my "to ponder" list)
• I will remind myself of where I have been and where I want to go! 50 lbs gone! 20 more to go!

That's the plan - now for the action!

February Blues!

Well, it's Feb - still dating Robert, who remains attentive and wants to keep me around! :)

On the weight loss front - I am currently 164 lbs! I have been swimming 1-2 times a week and this week I did yoga. I swam on Monday, did yoga on Tuesday and spent Wednesday and Friday SORE! life is good - I hope to get some more weight off over time.

I love where I am!

Mom, Dad, Ben and Kathleen are still living here. I end up eating a lot of what they eat, but still trying to work in more fruits and veggies. Robert cooks kinda like them too - but he does cook! He planned to make english muffin pizzas this week, and has made spaghetti and pork chops. Its nice to have someone else cook!

I did do better this week in taking my lunch with me to work - so I think that helped.

I also started keeping my food journal again! I have been keeping it in my day planner since I have a monthly page to keep me on track, and then a weekly one to record my food intake.

I dont think I have lost that much weight since November, BUT I do notice that my body is remodeling itself. I love that! I hope it continues to get leaner, meaner, and tighter. I have been swimming because I want to get that lean swimmer's body. That's the end goal in my mind, no matter what the weight.

Valentine's Day soon!

I hope someone reads this - but if they don't, it's good to me to see all the things that I have done and continue to do to keep the weight off! :)

Maintenance Mode

Well, I have maintained my weight since Nov 6th. I remain in the 167 lb area over and through the holidays. I would really like to get the last 20 lbs off, but I do like where I am at right now. I could stand to lose some more belly fat, and arm fat, yes. But I am having a great time in my life right now. I am dating someone, who is nice to me, pays for things, is very attentive. My family is currently living with me, Mom, Dad, Ben and Kathleen, all together here in my 3 bedroom house! They sold their house and are currently looking for a new one. Between that, dating somone, trying to finish up with my educational program, it;s been a real challenge to find time to get to the gym. I have also been sick. I started running fevers the Friday before Christmas, and was off work (owing to all the strict restrictions about H1N1) until Christmas Eve. I still feel a little run down, probably due to the fact that I had both a viral and flu infection at the same time. I guess I needed to slow down though. Robert took care of me and spent a lot of time with me too, which was very nice. He's a good guy.

My first workout in a while was yesterday. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical, some ab work and some weights. I kept having to take breaks in my cardio because I just did not have the strength to make it be a long intense workout. Forced interval training is what you'd call that! :)

Well, I am not displeased. I maintain, and maintaining without any gaining is better than where I started out a year ago this time. It's a great new year, and when some of these lifestyle things settle down, I will get back into the swing of trying to get this last 20 lbs off! Life is sweet!