Today I hit the gym for the first time in years. I biked almost 6 miles on the stationary bike, at my target heart rate of 145, I did this in 25 minutes. So on my first day I've already gone past my goal of 20 minutes for cardio.
After the bike, I did some weight training. I did a full body workout. Needless to say I am exhausted! Tomorrow will just be cardio and ab work for me.
The best news: I weighed on the scales that I weighed in on for my fitness assessment Friday and I'm already down another 1.2 pounds! All that despite my stressful weekend. I'm pumped to get back in tomorrow, I know I'm gonna be so sore that it will be difficult to walk, but working out will help.
I just went to thedailyplate.com site and it tells me I need to eat 2275 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. When I was planning my meals out for this week I had a really hard time getting in 1600 a day. That's with eating about every 3 hours too. I'll stick with my 1600-1800 calorie range and see how that goes. If I hit a plateau or don't lose I'll up my caloric intake.
Today is my first weekend at really trying to eat right and get in a little activity. So what happens when I am trying to do my laundry this morning? My washing machine blows a motor! It has been on its way out for a month or so now, we've been holding it together with a little luck, this morning it decides to die.
Normally, in stressfu situations like this, my first response is to chow down on the closest thing I can find. Instead today, we left and found a great deal on a new washer at HH Gregg. I was kept busy all day moving the old washer out and moving the new one in - believe me those things are not light. Helping DH move them around was quite a workout.
After this I went and did my weekly shopping. I'm a coupon shopper, I love this site www.thegrocerygame.com, the lady that runs the sites compares coupons to local store ads so that you can save a ton of money and purchase name brand stuff. Just today I got about $200 worth of groceries for less than $80. Check it out, if you like the site, email me for a referral - I'll get a free month of the service.
Anyway, back to business, I'm sitting down and writing out my meal plans for next week so that I can pack my lunch each night and have it ready to go when I leave for work each morning.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I went to see 'I Am Legend' the new Will Smith movie, last night. It was great! If anyone saw him in 'Pursuit of Happyness' you will really appreciate this one. His acting in this movie was equal to if not better than the 'Pursuit of Happyness'.
Everything I already knew about my fitness levels was just confirmed for me. I have a long way to go before I'm considered healthy, let alone fit. My measurements were horrible! 51 inch hip! The only good thing I can say is that at least my waist was good, I don't carry alot of fat in my stomach area, so my risk for the ailments associated with abdominal fat is less than I thought.
I had a training plan designed specifically for me and every 3 months I will meet with the exercise pysiologist for a new assessment. This should motivate me to stay with the plan. I have set some goals with my trainer and psyiologist for the next three months:
1) Walk to and from my mailbox without being winded. (my driveway is long and straight uphill)
2) Lose 10-15 pounds
3) Workout at least 3 times a week, hopefully 4
I think these are all reachable by March 14,2008 - my first re-assessment.
My new workout plan is as follows:
Mon 20 mins cardio, full body weight workout
Tues
Wed 20 mins cardio, full body weight workout
Thurs
Fri 20 mins cardio, full body weight workout
I'm starting out at three days a week for the first two weeks. In week two I will up my cardio by 5 minutes. I will do this each week until I work into a full 45 minutes of cardio.
Also, I have dropped 7 pounds since I weighed last Monday (almost two weeks ago)! I know it is mostly water weight, but I don't care! It is still 7 pounds gone!
Today I meet with a trainer from my newly joined gym. I will be going through a full fitness assessment and then working on a fitness plan.
I did this a few years ago, got into great shape, so I know it works. I'm wishing now that I had never stopped. I am so nervous, I'm at my heaviest weight EVER and know that ten minutes into the assessment I'm going to be tripping over my own feet. Of course, the whole purpose of the assessment is to get me started at a safe level and gradually work my way up.
I am married to a wonderful guy that just happens to have the metabolism of a 10 year old. He's 34 and can eat/drink anything he wants and not gain an ounce. Me, I can just look at his plate and put on two pounds.
He knows that I want to lose weight, but every time I start a new eating plan he immediately does something to sabotage my efforts. Yesterday, I was counting on him to lay out the chicken breast and grill it or stir-fry it for dinner, he gets home about an hour before I do - getting dinner started is usually his "chore". I get home last night only to find out that he had not laid out any chicken, let alone gotten it ready to be cooked.
We had to pick up DD at a basketball game and didn't make it home until 7:30 or so. Since all of the meat in the house was still frozen solid DH decides that we need take out for dinner. He stops and grabs something on our way home. This particular establishment he knows is one of my favorites and I just can't resist.
Yes, I am at fault for eating the bad food, but why does he have to do this every time I attempt to lose weight? The last time I was on a diet, following Nutrisystem - which worked for a bit - not two days into my eating plan he's bringing home cakes, cookies, chips, crackers, sodas - all things that I love.
I should mention that when I'm not dieting, he doesn't bring in the things that I like. When I'm not dieting I don't tend to binge on the junk, but I do overeat on everything else.
Anyway...that's my gripe! Why is it that those closest to us feel the need to tell us they will support our diet efforts yet the next breath say things like "Let's order pizza for dinner"?
Yesterday I asked, "How did I get so fat?" Oh I know how, I just hate to admit it.
It's from chocolate chip cookies, rolls, pizza, sodas, and no exercise. I hate working out! I can't stand the feeling of not being able to breathe, and since I am so out of shape and overweight, that is what I feel every time I try to work out. I made an appointment to meet with my trainer this Friday to go through a fitness evaluation and set up a fitness plan. Years ago when I was at goal this was what I did and it really worked, until I got lazy and stopped working out.
I have started today off properly:
1 pc of wholewheat bread
1 tsp peanut butter
half a large apple
1 cup lowfat milk
I even packed my lunch and my snacks for the day, to keep me out of the cafeteria at work. I believe the cafeteria food is responsible for at 20 of these extra pounds (since I put those on after the cafe opened).
I have to make a point to keep up with my water consumption today.
I have realized for over a year now that I need to lose some weight. I've tried Southbeach, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, cutting out sugars, cutting out starches, you name it I've tried it. I can stick with things for a few weeks, even a couple of months at a time, but then fall back into my old habits.
Last week I bit the bullet and signed up for a doctor managed weight loss clinic. I will have to attend meetings once a week, meet with a nutritionist once a month, and meet with a trainer at least once a week. This is a six month program. I'm so frugal, I hate to spend my money, that I feel that shelling out some serious cash for this program will make me stick with it.
I have been feeling really bad, physically, for a few weeks now, I stepped on the scale today and the numbers creeped up to 243!!! I have never been that heavy in my life. Almost 250 lbs!!! My jaw hit the floor.
I guess my decision to join the weight loss program was a good one. I just hope it works. I am 100 pounds over my ideal body weight. I don't know how I let myself go like this. Just three short years ago I was at my goal weight (150) and now I can only say that I am FAT!
But no more! I am on a mission now to rid myself of this excess weight!
