Damn TOM

I am having cravings.  I am thankfully able to control them and this morning I put my mind to think NO CRAVINGS!  NO CRAVINGS!  NO CRAVINGS!  

And it has absolutely worked.  I talked to myself reminding me that it's just food.  It's not even healthy food I was craving.  So I made it a point to snack on strawberries this afternoon vs anything out of the pantry.  Mind you, I don't have much junk in the pantry.  I have some 100 calorie pack of cookies and some strawberry newtons but that's about it.  I made sure of that since it is TOM and I know how that can wreck havoc on my healthy lifestyle.

I have eaten very well today.  I need to make some progress for my weigh-in on Thursday.  My weight loss has lowed down and has averaged 1.6 pounds per week, which Is just great!  I have been doing weekly weigh-ins consistenly for the past, I think, 17 weeks and I'm down 21.2 pounds.  I should put 21.2 pounds in a backpack and tote it around and see how it feels . 

What's weird is I have to look back at my bigger pictures to really realize how far I've come.  It's hard to see it in the mirror.  I look at myself but still sort of see the fatter version of me.  There are times I look and think, "Wow, I'm getting thin!!"   But that's not the normal feeling.

I need to turn around that attitude and celebrate each and every pound of fat I remove from my body.  It hasn't come particularly easy, though my eating habits have changed and are habit now except for the occasional craving, but that's normal.  I can handle it now!! 

Like my new background?  it's upbeat and happy!  A little hard on the eyes, so I'll change it soon, but I wanted something more cheerful.  The last background was more a relaxed feeling. 

have a great week!

Dance Dance Dance!

So today my exercise was a cardio dance video!   I have NO rhythm but I don't care.  I had a great 45 minute cardio workout.  I was sweating.  My heart was pumping.  I was moving and a grooving   that's all that matters.

I'm so glad to have my exercise done in the morning hours.  Now I don't have it on my mind that I still have to do it.

I need to do some tweaking of my schedule and get some priority things done before I do other stuff.  My days could be much more productive.

I had lunch with my girlfriend today and it was great.  We both had two chicken tacos with no cheese and just a few chips each.  We sat and chatted for an hour and 45 minutes.  It was just a great time.

I couldn't believe all the obese people who walked by our table. And I'm not talking just chunky.  My friend Jen noticed it too.  She actually made the comment about it.  Then we both agreed we should be grateful we aren't in their shoes and how we felt sorry for them.   they just need to be shown the way to a healthier lifestyle.

I'm off to pick up my little one from kindergarten.  Such a big girl she is.  I'm so proud of her.  She had one "yellow light" the third day of school from talking, but she quickly learned the ropes and has had green lights ever since.  Hard to believe she's been in kindergarten for 3 weeks already.

I am praying i'm comfortably in a 12 soon.  I have a couple pairs of 12s here and they are still too snug. Maybe by time I get to 172 or so they will be fitting.  I sure hope so.  I'm ready to make that leap to the next size and rid my house of size 14 once and for all.

Be good to your body and have a fantastic weekend.

weighed in

I'm down 1.2 pounds in the past week. I can't complain!  That's not too shabby.  I'm out of the 180s which is great.

I did a crunch cardio ab sculpt dvd last night.  It was fun and I can feel it today.  My legs are still sore from the past few workouts but not sore to where i can't exercise thank god.

Today's plan is to do a Firm circuit DVD and really work hard and see some progress in the next few weeks. 

I gotta go.  Have a great day!

Yummy treat

I made some fat-free, sugar-free chocolate cook and serve pudding for an afternoon snack.  I added about 10 miniature marshmallows to it, and it was like heaven!  I enjoyed every bite. And if you stick to 1/2 cup, the pudding is only 70 calories. The marshmallows add a few calories, depending on how much you eat

I was about to go get on the treadmill cause I feel bloated ater eating just over one cup of the pudding and i get an email from hubby asking what time we are to go to our daughter's school tonight to see what they're up to in class!  It'll have to be a late workout again.  I feel like I don't lose as much weight when i work out in the evenings.

Starting tomorrow morning, my butt is getting up at 6:15 to get in my exercise before I start the day.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I know I'll feel better and it'll be out of the way and I'll feel great just starting off the day!  I'm a grumpy girl if I don't get in my exercise.  It just makes me feel so good.

Have any good low-cal desserts to share?  Feel free!

Pilates kicked my ass

So I have this netflix device that allows me to watch all these videos "now" as opposed to waiting for a DVD to arrive.  This is very handy as I can really change up my routines.

Last night was the Crunch bootcamp.  Way fun and way hard.  I could feel it in my legs, and now that I think about it, my shoulders as well.

So tonight I decided to keep it low-key because I wasn't even starting until 8:45 and didn't want to be so awake I wouldn't sleep tonight.  So I did a pilates/yoga combo video.

It was 40 minutes long!  By time minute number 33 came along, my legs were trembling.  All that pointing of your legs to really lengthen the muscle really worked my legs like they haven't been worked in a long time.

I remember doing pilates back in 2000 and remembering how sore I was for like 3 days afterwards.  I only went once!  LOL  I'll be sure to do this video at least once every 10 days or so to change up my routine.

Ate healthy yet again.  It's the norm lately.  I don't even crave junk food.  If I did, I wouldn't hesitate to eat it within reason.

Yea! yea! yea!

I was 179 even today!  So that's at least one pound down for my weigh-in this week.  I'm a tiny step closer to 175.  OMG!  It's sinking in.  Once i hit 175, then I'm only 25 pounds from my first major goal.

i'm eating on plan. I'm getting in my exercise.  I'm doing what I need to do, and it all comes natural and like it's just an everyday thing.  No real thinking is required.  This is my life as I know it and I am so happy I've taken the path I have.

I hope I have inspired someone else to do the same.

Seeing cute clothes is motivating

I just got back from a trip to the mall with my daughter. We didn't find any shoes -- bummer!! -- but I did see lots of cute clothes and seeing those cute clothes makes me want to work even harder to get small enough to fit into all those cute clothes.

I can just imagine how wonderful it will be to dress so cute, especially for work.  Now I can wear pretty clothes, sure, but I'd love to be able to wear skirts.  I saw a manequin wearing this blouse and a skirt together and it was so pretty.  I wouldn't have ever paired it together either. Time to start watching What Not to Wear!

I walked 45 minutes on the treadmill today, did a 30 minute kickboxing video Thursday that was just a ton of fun.  I worked muscles I didn't know I had! That's what i love about changing up my exercise. My body doesn't continously work the same muscles on the treadmill, the bike, elliptical, etc.  My stamina is improving.  I just feel fabulous. 

I hope you feel fabulous too

Only 30 pounds to go

I remember staring this with at least 75 pounds to remove.  Now I only have 30 left!  I have removed enough weight to make up a child.   I have removed 45 pounds and my daughter weighs 42.  i can't imaginc carrying her around all the time now.

I'm still on track with eating and getting in my exercise.  I need to bump up the exercise a bit, though. I'm not feeling challenged.

Be good to your bodies, and have a great day.

is it Friday yet?

not to bore you guys but i'm working on a boring-ass job and it's killing me!  I can manage a few pages and then i have to divert my attention or I'll scream.  I'm glad I'm getting paid 10 bucks a page for it or it would really suck!  I have 55 pages left.  Whew!

I was 179.6 today. That seems so weird to say.  I keep wanting to say 190-something or even 180-something.  Being in the 170s feels odd and I'm just kind of blah about it. Sure I'm happy but not as happy as I thought I would be.  i think it's the stress from work that's keeping me from jumping with joy.

We bought this cool device so we can watch Netflix movies that they have on their website as a "view now" so now i have the option of like 20 exercise videos to do every day, or I could watch a movie while on the treadmill or the bike.  I am excited about this!  There are 12,000 selections total and they keep adding more.  Very nifty.

I'm a bit sore from weights on Sunday and Tuesday, so I'll keep to cardio today.  Happy Wednesday!

PAST 180

I was 179.8 this morning both times I got on the scale.  I'm not getting too excited about it until I see it closer to 179 even.  I should be ecstatic!  It took me just 6.5 weeks to go from 190 to 179!  That's something I should be proud of.  I spent all of last year mainly about 190-192 with a couple weigh-ins below 190 but not for long. 

I think the last time I weighed 180 or below was back in 2000 or possibly 2001.  That's a long time ago. That's a lot of years I spent unhealthy and overweight.

When I look at unhealthy food, say, at a restaurant, i don't want it.  I don't want it because of what it will do to my body, my organs, my arteries, my heart.  It's not that I'm scared the scale will go up for a day or two.  I think about the effects it has on my body and I don't even want it.

I was reading an article in Fitness about a woman who was 38, I believe, and she had a heart attack.  She didn't know what she was having, but she finally went to the hospital and found out she had had a heart attack. She was rushed into surgery and had to have bypass surgery.

She thought she was healthy. She isn't overweight. She exercised regularly.  We just don't know when it will happen to us, but i'd rather prevent it as much as I have control over.

I took a tip from the article and I'm going to start eating almonds.  I need to look and see what else it says.

We all should respect the only body we have and treat it as well as we are capable of.  We are all capable of turning down the greasy, unhealthy, artery-clogging, fatty foods.  Each one of us makes the choice to eat said food or to refuse it.  What will you do the next time you're confronted with it?