Good morning

Sorry it's been so long in between posts. I really do want to update 2-3 times per week at least, but sometimes I really don't have much to say & other times I'm just pretty swamped & don't have time. I only post from work. Since I work on the computer most of the day, I really don't want to go home & play online. So I take a few minutes away from work & update here when I have something on my mind.

I'm really trying to keep my positive outlook about losing weight slowly, but sometimes I get so impatient. Expecially when I get close to reaching milestones. I'm already thinking about the 20 pound mark coming up. I think it's due to my weigh in on Saturday being at 173.4, which is a 17.4 pound loss. So of course I start thinking about the 20 pounds, what I want to do to celebrate it etc. Of course my weight did end up bouncing right back up. I swear my body weight fluctuates soooooo much. Here are my daily weights from the last week:

176.4

175.2

174.8

173.4

176

175

176.4

So this morning my weight is exactly what it was last Wednesday for my official WI. It's kind of funny. But I am noticing one nice thing. This week my high weight was 176.4, the previous week it was 177.8 & the week before that it was 178. So even the high weight I bounce to is coming down. Yay! I did notice that during TOM this month my highest weight stayed out of the 180's, reaching only 178.

I'm also noticing a lot more firmness to my bicep. I have a muscle! I'm going to keep doing those push ups every morning. I'm up to 20 on my first set (they are still the girlie ones on the knees). It may not be that impressive to some, but heck I started unable to even do 5, so getting up to 20 is a pretty good accomplishment. And next week I'm going to try to bump it to 25.

I weigh in tomorrow & am hoping it will be lower than today. Other than that, not too much to report.

Weight as of 6/26/12 176.4
Minutes of physical activity this month: 2013/2400  (still on track. Barely.)

Our unhealthy relationships with food

I was on one 3FC today & reading through some of the challenge threads that I belong to that's targeted to women in their 40's & it hit me what an unhealthy relationship most of these women have with food. I always read I can't eat this, I can't eat that, oh no! I ate this, I ate that. I started thinking about the people I know who are thin & never need to diet. They don't say things like that. They eat what they want, that piece of birthday cake, the muffin, etc. but then they make sure they either eat less later or move more. But they do this without really ever having to put much effort into it. Or at least to the people I've talked to about this it seems that way.

I think that may just be the difference in being able to lose weight & being able to lose weight & keep it off. I think we need to develop a better mind set about food. You're not horrible or going to get fat because you've had a cookie, or even the whole bag. It's when you eat the whole bag day after day. That's really the mindset I've tried to keep as I try to lose weight. Yes, I am losing the weight very slowly & I know I often whine about that, but I really do think that I'm doing this the right way for me.

I don't want to say it's the right way, because that would imply that if you do something other than what I'm doing then you're doing it the wrong way. God knows I don't think I have all of the answers, or even most of them. I've definitely had my ups & downs & have been very discouraged at times, but when I look at what I've done I'm proud of myself. I'm especially proud that even though I haven't gotten the results I've wanted to, I've stuck with it. Those results are coming, slowly, but they're coming.

I'm going to continue to try to eat less than I burn, move more & darn it, if I want that cake I'm going to have it! But maybe not quite so big of a piece. Wanna split that cake? :)

Yeah, I'm feeling good about myself today. Not sure why, but I am. It may change by tomorrow though. Hey, I AM a woman!

I'm also happy to say that on Saturday I did hit a new all time low of 174.0, but I went up a little since then. Yesterday I was at 177.8 (Mexican on Sunday), but today I'm back to where I was on last week's official WI.

Tomorrow's Wednesday & my official WI, and I'm hoping to see some downward movement on the scale this week. I'm trying to make sure I'm drinking my water today. I guess we'll see tomorrow.

Weight as of 6/19/12 175.6
Minutes of physical activity this month: 1474/2400  (still on track)

So close, but not quite there

It's day two of my period & my weight has started to drop. I was glad to see it back at 175.6 this morning, but I was really hoping for a little lighter. Good bye water weight! I'm hoping tomorrow to see a 174 point something. I would love for it to be less than 174.4, because that would take me out of the "obese" range on my BMI & into "overweight". I still don't think of myself as being/having been obese. To me that is someone much bigger than myself. Funny how we think of things like that.

I've been doing pretty good with my morning workouts, except for today. We went out to eat at a restaurant/night club one of my girlfriend's sons owns last night & she ended up joining us. They had this great bluesy/old school Motownish band there & we ended up staying out way too late. But we had a blast & it was so worth it. I was pretty good & stuck to water, but I had the munchies when we got home & snacked a little.

Needless to say, after getting to bed after midnight, when the alarm went off at 5, I was having none of that! I ended up changing the time to 5:30, but had to get a roast going in the slow cooker before coming to work. Yummy! Hopefully since everything will be done for dinner, there will be no reason I can't get my workout in this evening when I get home.

I was hoping to get together with my girlfriend for a bike ride this weekend, but with the weather supposed to be in the high 80's to 90's, it may be a little too warm. Actually I just looked at the forecast & today is supposed to be 87 & the coolest day until next Friday. Ugh! I like the warm weather, but that's a little too warm to be getting my exercise on outside like I really want to. It looks like me & Jillian will be seeing each other for the next week too.

Weight as of 6/15/12 175.6
Minutes of physical activity this month: 1213/2400  (Over half way to goal! Yay!)

Weekly weigh in & TOM

I just realized that today is Wednesday. "Official" WI day for the week. And I expect to start tomorrow. Ugh! Needless to say the scale is up from last week. But only by a smidgen over a pound. However, yesterday it was at 178. If my body follows it's usually routine, then I should be down a bit more each of the next three days. I usually hit my high for 2-3 days before I start, down about 1-2 pounds the day before I start & then down 1-2 pounds in the next three days. This could put me down to a new low. I'm really hoping so. I wasn't great on my food last week, but I did get my exercise in 4 days.

It is getting pretty hard to get my workouts in after work since I've been working later, so this week I started trying to wake up earlier in the morning to start off my day with a workout. Well, Monday I ended up hitting the snooze so many times I woke up at my regular time. Yesterday I did better, but didn't have enough time to fit in the whole DVD, so I cut it about 10 minutes short. Today I did even better & was able to get in everything except for the cool down. I guess running around making the bed, getting ready etc. is enough of a cool down.

Hubby started working 6 AM-5 PM this week. So that's also part of the reason I'm starting to workout in the AM too. We at least get 5 minutes together in the morning before he leaves & I start working out, but it's nice to be out of bed & awake before he leaves. Newlyweds. :) The OT will be nice on paydays, but the long days suck. The first day he was so tired & I think he fell asleep on the couch before eight. Poor baby. Plus I'm totally spoiled & used to him doing a lot around the house. But with these long days he probably won't have time or feel like doing it. Darn it.

Weight as of 6/13/12 176.6
Minutes of physical activity this month: 1042/2400

It stuck, but...... what's the problem?

It's been a while since I posted anything. I'm trying to post at least 2-3 times a week, but sometimes it seems like I don't have much to say. But mainly, I do write this while I'm at work, so if I don't post for a day or two it means I've been pretty busy at work & haven't had a chance.

I had my "official" weigh in on Wednesday & I was happy to see the scale stay at 175.4, well I would've been happier if it were lower. :) But at least it didn't bounce back up. I guess I do know what I need to do to see the numbers I want, so why do I start to get lazy about working out & then start to eat more? Why am I sabotaging my hard work?

I don't understand these things about myself. I understand that I like food. Boy do I like food. But I really DO want to lose weight & reach my goal in time for a change. It's a reasonable goal too. I really don't feel too deprived with my diet & I don't feel like I'm killing myself with exercise, so what is the problem?

I guess these are the challenges that everyone faces when they're trying to lose weight. It's hard to stay motivated for a long period of time for me. It comes & goes in little spurts. This makes me worried about being able to keep the weight off once I do get to my goal. I'm hoping that I will be able to correct my bad eating & exercise habits & make my better ones a part of my life before I get to my end goal weight so I don't have to worry about putting any weight back on.


Weight as of 6/7/12 175.0
Minutes of physical activity this month: 648/2400

P.S. For May I ended up losing 2.8 pounds thanks to my little dip on the 31st yay! I'm aiming for 4.6 for June.

A new low & muscle aches

Friday I weighed in with a new all time low of 175.6. Yay! Of course it shot up a little Saturday, then down a little Sunday & this morning, but not back down to 175.6. But it gives me encouragement that maybe I will be able to meet my goal of 170 by July 4th.

I did much better with my eating last week, averaging only 1,733 calories. Which considering my goal is 1,700 is not too bad. Especially once you factor in that I averaged about 200 calories a day more than my goal for calories burned. This means my average deficit was 658 calories, where my goal to lose 1 pound per week is 500 per day. Yay me for beating my goal! But I think I would probably be better off to aim for a deficit of 750 since they say people tend to underestimate the calories they eat. This would build in a little bit of a cushion. But heck one step at a time. I'm glad I kept my calories below 1,800.

On Thursday I began doing my Ripped in 30 dvd again. It seemed so much easier than it did the last time. I did the dvd 4 times a week or so for 30 days then took a month off where I did TaeBo. The first time I did the dvd I had a hard time with most of the exercises & had to do a modified version & on a lot of the exercises I couldn't do them for the full amount of time. But on Thursday, I hardly had to modify any of the exercises. So not only am I losing weight, but I'm getting healthier & stronger.

On Friday & Saturday I sure didn't feel healthier or stronger however. Friday I had a hard time walking up the stairs at work because the back of my legs were killing me! Plus, it was just a hell day at work anyhow. So Saturday morning, my legs are still pretty sore, but other than that I felt great, so I decided to go ahead and do the dvd again. It's supposed to be good for sore muscles right? Ha! I did take it a little easier, not squatting so low on the squats, not lunging so low on the lunges etc. But after my shower when I sat down for a few. Yikes!

Of course on Saturday we had tons of running around to do, getting in & out of the Jeep, running in & out of stores. And I'm hobbling like a little old lady. A little old injured lady at that. Sigh.

This is getting better with age??

Weight as of 6/4/12 176.0
Minutes of physical activity this month: 310/2400 On track :)