My last post was what....the beginning of September? Holy Cow!!!
In truth I've not been doin' so good. I haven't really gained anything, but then again I haven't lost anything either. And, last night was the first time that I've been to the gym in over a month. Everything was so hard. I felt like SpongeBob in that episode where he pretends to have these great big muscles but in truth they're useless big balloon arms. I swear I had noodle arms by the time I was done.
I'm just feeling really pathetic at the moment. I'm spending too much time staying up late and then sleeping in and I can't seem to find my sense of direction. Homeschooling is going well but I feel like I could be even more organized and structured than what I've been these past few weeks. Need to get back on track in that department. I've also started working part-time (after 11 years of being out of the work force) and that's got me feeling a little tired and (sadly) grumpy about having to give up my whole week end. Don't get me wrong...we NEED the money and I actually LOVE where I work, it's just going to take me a while to get used to being on my feet working retail for 8 hours a day. Money, huh? It sucks that we need it so much!
Anyway, I've decided that I absolutely MUST get myself back on track (in all aspects of my life). We've got groceries and sports night with the boys, but after that's all done I'm going to sit down and see if I can't do some planning. I hate that I keep fighting the fact that the only really good time for me to go to the gym is early morning (like 6 am), but I might just have to suck it up and start doing it. I'm not getting myself there as it stands now and I need the energy and balance that working out gives me.
Well, that's enough mindless venting for now. DH will be home any second and we have to hit the grocery store.
Our off-line group met last night and I was miraculously down 3 pounds. The scale we use for the group and my home scale don't jive at all, so I never know how I'm going to do. I knew that at the beginning of the week I had gone down some, but by the end things had probably crept back up. I did drag myself back to the gym a few times, but not as much as I should have.
My schedule is still kind of messed up. Kids started back to school today, but since we homeschool that only means more things for me to try and fit into my day. lol Screws up my ability to go with a friend, too...which I hate. If my guys were in school we could just drop them off and head straight to the gym. As it stands right now I'm waiting for my brother (who lives with us) to start his new shift at work. I'm going to try to hit the gym at 7:30 am, while he's home to be with the boys, and then head home and start school for 9 am. This may in fact work well, but I'm not sure if he's game....and I"m also not sure I can do 7:00 wake-up. Seriously, you're talking to the girl that normally sleeps well past 9:30 am on a good day. In the summer all bets are off! This comes from... a) being a homeschooler and not having to conform to the school's schedule and b) working late into the night while the children are sleeping. Over the years we've all just started getting up later and later. I'll need to do some major interal clock re-adjusting to switch to being a morning person and heading to the gym first thing. To be honest, though, there for a couple of weeks during the summer my girlfriend and I were doing our workouts at 9 am and although I hated the getting up...I did love the feeling of starting my day with the workout. I found that I got it out of the way and I didn't have to worry about it for the rest of the day. It also gave me energy first thing in the morning and I found that I seemed to accomplish a whole lot more with my day than I normally would/could.
Anyway, this morning was our first day of homeschool for the year. Things went pretty well, but we had the usual clash of wills that comes from having the entire summer off. The.."Why do I have to do that? How many pages...that's crazy?" and stuff like that. Once we get into our routine everything will be fine.
The one major thing I've noticed is that the more organized I am...the more anal about planning and such...the more I accomplish and the better that I feel about myself and my day. Despite the fact that I woke up at 3:45 with a full blown migrane and slept in to late as a result of the medication..we still had a pretty terrific day. Well, all except for the part where the dog escaped and I thought she was going to get hit by a car. Other than that (she's safe and sound by the way), it was a great day.
So...TOM was here and sucked big time. It's pathetic that I'm rendered out of commission for exercise for five whole days. The folks have the gym have probably forgotten what I look like.
The other sucky thing is that my workout buddy and I are pretty much no longer able to coordinate our schedules so that we can work out together. She's doing great (read: she's been going by herself every day this week), but I have been in about two weeks. I need to get motivated in the exercise department before I up and lose all of the muscle tone (albeit limited) that I've developed. I sooooo don't want that to happen.
And gee, while I'm confessing things I might as well tell you that my eating has also sucked for the better part of an entire month. We've had too much take-out and I started up my snacking again. Not too much damage done...I've pretty much maintained, maybe gained a little and now I'm back to where I was. But the thing is....was it worth it? Here I am almost a month later with noting to show for it. I had seriously hoped to make goal by Christmas, but I may have blown that. It's seriously so much harder for me to lose when I'm doing weights...and I honestly think this last 20 pounds is going to be a LOT harder to shed than the first 40. Ironic, isn't it?
Anyway, the good news is that I have me eating under control once again. No late night snacking. No more take-out. No more being stupid! And, I actually FEEL better and the scale is moving again. I'm just hoping that the old body doesn't go into retention mode, though, thinking that I'm trying to starve it or something. I'm not actually, I'm just "Eating Clean" again, but considering what I used to be like this is probably cause for it to think it's starving. lol
Now, if only I can drag my sorry arse to the gym and get back on that bandwagon. I actually made it up to 4 walk, 4 run with my walk to jog program. Didn't think I would ever make it, but it turned out to be just fine. Who knows if I can still manage it after two weeks of not doing it, though. (banging my head againt the wall for my stupidity).
That's all for now. Hope everyone is working hard and seeing loads of progress.
It's fun (and interesting) to see how quickly I'm able to increase the weights I'm using with this new 7 rep workout routine. I guess I must actually be getting stronger, huh? Whoda thunk it!
The bad news is that the scale has stalled AND m'dang hubby lost five freakin' pounds and now weighs less than me again. I swear...the man goes and plays soccer for 2 hours and comes home 3 pounds lighter. It's disgusting! On well, more motivation for me I guess.
So anyway, I'm liking the new workout schedule/routine. The cardio only every other day and then making sure I'm getting in two upper body workouts and two lower body workouts during the week. My muscles "feel" bigger so maybe that means they actually ARE bigger and that's accounting for the scale stall. In all honesty, I had a few days (birthday, picnic, take out) where I didn't eat perfectly. It used to be that one or two days off program eating*wise wouldn't make much of a difference, but it looks like that's changed. Not sure what to make of it....whether it's just harder the closer that you get to goal, or if it's the weight training, or.....what.
And, can I just take a moment and talk about the many, many benefits of the buddy system? I swear, almost every day this week I haven't wanted to go to the gym. Heck, haven't wanted to get up in the morning and walk to the gym. But, then I think about not wanting to whimp out and let my gym buddy down and I get up and crawl my way there. Once I'm there...I totally don't feel like doing the jog portion of my cardio workout, but again...I suck it up and make it happen. Before you know it the 40 minutes is gone and I can move on to weights. Can you tell I'm liking the weights more than the cardio?
Say...speaking of the cardio and the walk to jog program specifically.... I find I'm really having trouble moving up to the next level. I'm currently walking 4, jogging 3 minutes and doing a total of 5 intervals. I think this is week 2 or 3 and I canNOT imagine moving on to walking 4, jogging 4. Not sure what to do about that and it's freaking me out.
Anyway, I'm must move on and get a bunch of work and then laundry done today, so I bid you farewell.
Ok, so it's straight cardio day at the gym last night. *My* treadmill, the one that sits right in front of TV number 4 isn't working. We had a bit of a storm just before I went, so maybe the power knocked it out or maybe it's sick....don't know, don't care...I just want it BACK.
So anyway, the lovely number 4 isn't working so I foolishly hop on number 2. I swear to God the thing is from OuterSpace. On number 4 I have no problem doing my job at 5.2, but on this baby I hit 4.8 and think I'm gonna die. Why are they so different? Why can't number 4 be working? Why am I so pathetic?!?!?!?
It's all frustrating because I was supposed to do my walk to jog program [4 mins walking | 3 minutes joggin for a total of 39 minutes and THEN do another 20 minutes of walking with a 2.5 incline], but halfway through I just couldn't do it anymore. I spent the next 40 minutes playing around with the walking speed and adding inclines and stuff, but I was just so ticked off that I wasn't "On Program" that I had trouble even sticking out the 60 minutes at all.
So, note to self....if number is out of service go the other way (not to the evil superfast treadmills) and select another normal one.
I guess I'm just not loving the cardio at all these days. Playing around with times and speeds makes it hard to get lost in a television show (which makes time go by faster) and...ah....I don't know really what it is. Maybe I just miss walking outside. No clue, but I have to get over the funk.
The good news is that tonight is upperbody night. Love, love, love doing upper body stuff. Again, we're going to be upping the weights and only doing 7 reps, so it should be interesting. Can't wait till I get to the point where you can actually see the difinition. A lot of fat is goine, but still so far to go. The 160's have NOT come back...morning, noon, or night so I'm guessing that they're gone for good. That's just totally strange! That and the fact that I now weigh the same, if not a pound or two less than my husband...which totally blows me away. Never, EVER have I weighed less than him.
And yet....I still have a good 20 pounds to go. Can't lose sight of that even for a second.
Well my goodness! I think I might actually be out of the 160's for good. Was 157.0 or 158.0 (can't remember which) at bedtime last night and then 157.0 upon waking this morning. I can't believe it folks but I may just have kissed the 160's goodbye for good. Woo Hoo
And...I hate to tell you this but I've changed up my routine yet again. My personal trainer and I had a chat at the gym last night and she was telling me that she actually does less reps (7) with heavier weights when she works out. She thinks it might be a good idea if my workout partner and I do the same. And....just because she's evil she wants us to stick to doing the cardio EVERY day. That's my least favorite part, but oh well...it's what's burning the fat baby.
So, to recap, I'm back to doing my walk to jog every day and I'm upping my weights and lowering my reps (won't take as long which is nice). Looks like I won't be getting a full day off either, since I want to be able to hit upper and lower twice each week. Here's where we're at:
Monday: Walk|Jog Intervals 40 mins. Upper Body 30 mins. Tuesday: Walk|Jog Intervals 40 mins Walk w/ Inclide 20 mins Wednesday: Walk|Jog Intervals 40 mins Lower Body & Abs 30 mins. Thursday: Walk|Jog Intervals 40 mins Walk w/ Incline 20 mins Friday: Walk|Jog Intervals 40 mins Upper Body 30 mins Saturday: Walk|Jog Intervals 40 mins Walk w/ Incline 20 mins Sunday: Walk|Jog Intervals 40 mins Lower Body & Abs 30 mins
For this week the Walk to Jog is set at 4 mins walking to 3 minutes jogging and I'm doing 5 intervals for a total time of 40 minutes. Next week, I believe it goes up to 4 mins walking to 4 mins jogging and perhaps another interval. Can't remember exactly because it's not right in front of me, but something like that.
We're still working on getting the weights right at this new lower rep count, but I feel like I've really worked out by the time we're done. And, I actually love that feeling the next day where you're a little bit achy and just KNOW that you're building muscle.
I believe the darn scale has actually started to like me again. Go figure! TOM came and went and generally made my life a living hell...to the point where I skipped working out Wed of last week and didn't pick it up again until today. I have to say that I missed going to the gym. Felt so good to do my upper body workout today. Tomorrow is cardio day, so not as much fun (to me anyway) but still keeps me working on my walk to job program. I'm up to 4 min walking | 3 min jogging intervals for a total of 39 minutes. Gettin' there!
I've been eating just fine lately, to the point where I'm not even really concerned that I'm going to fall off the deep end in terms of food. I'm even starting to enjoy breakfast....which is something that I had pretty much given up on in highschool. Can't say enough good things about All Bran's Guardian cereal (110 calories per 1 cup serving). It's yummy and unlike some other cereals you actually get to eat a decent serving size. Don't you just hate it when it say 2/3 of a cup or something so tiny that you don't even feel like you HAD breakfast?!?! So anyway, I'll do either that (All Bran Guardian) with some frozen strawberries or I'll have my large flake oatmeal with brown sugar sugar twin. Yummy stuff.
For lunch, I've been on a bit of a soup kick lately (fast and easy to prepare) and since I've always enjoyed Campbell's Healthy Request...I'll just have something from that line...like Tomato Garden Veggie or whatever. Quick and easy. I'll probably follow it with a yogurt. Sometimes I'll just grab a Lean Cuisine and make do with that, but it's more out of laziness than anything else.
Suppers are also pretty simple....some kind of lean meat, a salad or steamed veggies (brussel sprouts are a big fav right now), and either brown rice, baby new potatoes, or whole wheat pasta. Again, if the hubby and kids want something unhealthy I'll grab a Lean Cuisine, but not very often. We're all eating much healthier these days. I've even found a few decent fast food choices that I'm loving for when we just have to eat out. Harvey's makes this really great grilled chicken breast sandwhich and I pair it with a side salad (their salads are really yummy) and use part of the low fat dressing on the sandwhich instead of asking for mayo. Good stuff!
I'm also really trying to up my water intake. I've been limiting my pop to just one a day (sometimes not even that), too, which is good. My pop of choice is diet caffine free pepsi anyway, so not a lot of bad stuff in there to begin with....although I know pop is pop is pop and water is sooooo much better for you. Again, I'm tryin' my little heart out.
On the Personal Trainer Certification front...I haven't really had a whole lot of time to dig into the program. I'll be spending a lot of time in the coming weeks getting ready for September and our homeschool year and such, so I hope to have a plan finalized for just about everything. I work so much better with a plan!
Other tidbits... I'd really like to work towards early (as in 6 am early) workouts at the gym. Don't love how busy it is after work and with homeschooling I can't really get there *during* the day. So....we'll see how that goes. Would like to get the hubby there eventually, too. His dr. mentioned that his good cholesterol was quite low and he needs to be getting at least 30 minutes of exercise in each day. It's hard for him to find the time after work, so maybe I can convert BOTH of us into early morning workout junkies.
Also decided that I'm trying to do too much in terms of working out. Have eliminated the cardio on weight training days as it's really making the whole thing take too long and optimally you should only workout between 45 to 60 minutes anyway. So, back to weights one day and cardio the next. This will cut down on my time at the gym and hopefully have the desired effect. I'll keep you posted.
That's it for now. Fingers crossed that I reach that elusive "150*something" mark mid day at some point this week or next. Will be awesome to be able to permanently say goodbye to the 160's. Getting soooooo very close to the hubby's weight now. Will be so cool to someday weigh less than him. And, if things keep going well I should actually be on track to hit goal by Christmas. How cool would that be!?!? My only concern is that I want to be a "defined" 140, not just 140 and still not toned. Gotta work real hard to gain that definition.
Well, as previously mentioned...I've reached the half-way mark. That's the good news. The BAD news is that I've stalled out. No progress in the last almost three weeks. Sucks!
My Personal Trainer Certification course arrived from ISSA, though, so that's exciting. I have to say that it looks amazing...the text, study guides, business guides, etc. Can't wait to dig in!
Back to the stalling.... I finally reached half-way and then we went on vacation (and I ate too much) and then we had another week of vacation here at home (again, prolly ate too much) and NOW, I'm frustrated.
The scale doesn't love me any more!
I also joined the gym and have been working out for two and a half weeks now. I'm guessing (since this same thing happened to me way back when I first started to try and lose weight) that the added weight training is a big part of "The Stall", but it's still sucky. I was alternating upper and lower body every day (also doing cardio), but I've decided to do things a little bit differently...
Day 1: Cardio (Walk2Jog) 39 mins | Lower Body Workout 30-40 mins
Day 2: Cardio (Walk2Jog) 39 mins Cardio (Walk w/ Incline) 20 mins
Day 3: Cardio (Walk2Jog) 39 mins | Upper Body Workout 30-40 mins
Day 4: Cardio (Walk2Jog) 39 mins Cardio (Walk w/ Incline) 20 mins
And so on.... THIS way, I'll be getting in more cardio than weights and will hopefully trick the scale into moving. Already this week (started Monday) the scale has moved a bit even though TOM is on the way.
Also got together with our offline group this past Sunday (we'd missed almost a month because of vacations etc) and that felt really good. It's time for us to set new challenges for ourselves with rewards/consequences and start filling out our weekly sheets (we get points based on both time spent exercising AND total weight lost each week). Fun stuff!
Nothing really jumped out at me at the meeting, but then as I was walking home I realized that it's almost exactly five months until Christmas. AND, if I can manage to lose 5 pounds per month I can actually hit my 140 lb target. As I was previously shedding at a rate of about 8 pounds per month (1.7 lbs / week) I'm hoping that I'll be able to manage 5 lbs per month and reach goal. Should be doable, but not if this stalling continues. We'll see how it goes!
Anyway, I have to get myself ready and off to the gym. Going with a buddy really keeps me on track, so I hope that everyone tries their best to find someone to pair up with. Makes all the difference!
Yeppers. I've finally reached the halfway point in my weightloss journey. I remember talking with a friend of mine (also trying to lose weight) about starting to take a Personal Trainer Certification program once I reached halfway. That was kind of a goal that in all honesty I really didn't think I'd reach. It goes back to just how many unsuccessful attempts I've made at weightloss in the last five to ten years. I really honestly, in my heart of hearts, probably didn't think I'd ever reach 34 pounds lost. And so now, here I am and I was looking at options for studying to become a Personal Trainer and actually found one that I like. You do the entire thing online and you have up to two years to complete and test for it.
Sooooooo...<drum roll please>.....I signed up and am officially on my way to becoming a Certified Personal Trainer. How cool is that?
I still feel like I have a long way to go (need to get going on my weight training and such), but boy did it feel cool to reach that goal and follow through by signing up.
AND...I walked my little butt up to the gym and signed up there as well. I've honestly been able to shed the 34 pounds just through walking and proper eating, but it's time that I kick things into high gear. My girlfriend and I joined and will hopefully be able to go together most days. I don't love the whole co-ed gym thing...too many guys hanging out in clumps working with the machines and I tend to feel really intimidated. At least if I go WITH a friend I'll be able to focus on her and I and not be wondering if people are looking at me, whether I'm doing it wrong, etc.
So there you have it. Two, no Three very monumental things have happened to me in the last couple of days. 1) I reached halfway. 2) I signed up for Certification Training and 3) I finally joined a gym. Am I on a roll or what? Was it only yesturday that I posted about being stuck? LOL See, that's what happens...I get a bit discouraged and know that it's time to pick a new carrot. Say what? I need a new challenge...new source of motivation to keep me going. Joining the gym makes me feel fantastic. The Certification makes me a whole lot nervous, but it's honestly been a dream of mine for ages and I think what better profession to choose than one that literally keeps you in shape by definition of the business. Even if I only worked at it part-time it would make me money and keep me in shape. You can't get better than that!!!
Ok ladies, hustle your butts and make some real progress this week. I'm on vacation next week, so we'll see how things go. ;o)
So...for the last few weeks I've been feeling really stuck. TOM came (and is about to leave), but I'm not down as much as I'd like to be. Maybe that's just me being stupid. I mean, I'm happy with my progress so far, I'd just hoped to be down more I guess. Then again, down almost 35 pounds in just over three months is pretty darn good.
Maybe it's the lack of challenges? At one point I was going weekly to T.O.P.S., on and EP Challenge, and meeting weekly with another small offline group (with which we had a cool weekly challenge going). Now, all of a sudden nothing's happening. My little offline group doesn't really want to do anything over the summer. T.O.P.S. isn't keeping me motivated for some reason...and again, they're considering not meeting as much over the summer.
Thing is...I obviously NEED to have these mini challenges and weekly check-ins in order to keep motivated. The weight hasn't gone much of anywhere in the last three weeks or so...and that just can't continue. Seriously, it can't!
So anyway, now that my friends munchkins are out of school we're thinking that we'll be able to get together at the gym in the evenings. It's hard to me...because my guys don't like to be left alone...and we homeschool, so my options are somewhat limited. The really sad thing is, that it's a waste of money for me to join unless I have someone to go with me. I hate being there by myself. Just hate it! But, if I can go WITH someone then I'm not worried about looking stupid in front of all the jocks standing around grunting. LOL Seriously though, I feel much better about working out with someone and I'm hoping that a good hour spent there each day will kick-start the old body to start shedding weight again. I mean come ON...I'm officially halfway and all. I can't give up now!
I had actually told myself that I would start looking into Personal Trainer Certification classes when I hit the halfway point, but while I've lost a good amount of weight....I still don't feel like I'm "In Shape" and I think it'd be silly for out of shape me to even TRY to start that kind of business. I guess that's darn good incentive for me to get with it and start weight training then, huh?
And...thinking out loud here, but if I can continue on the way that I have been...I might just be able to reach goal (34 more pounds to go) by September. With kids back in school it'd be a good time for other moms to work out. Then again, because we homeschool...it'll still be hard for me. Crap!
Anyway...it'll all come together. I may get my butt in gear and start checking out places to get certified. That's my next action step. ;o)
