I'm back

Hopefully for good this time.  Since my last post... I had a baby!!  She's almost 4 months old now.  Anyhow, I guess the good thing is I haven't really gained any weight since last year.  I've just pretty much stayed the same.  In 6 weeks I'm going to see family I haven't seen in FOREVER so I figure this is as good a time as any to jumpstart my weightloss.

Lost Momentum

Yes, I've officially lost the momentum that I had at the beginning.  I guess it happens to everyone.  I haven't posted a blog in a week, and am up a pound.  I've been eating right, just not exercising as much.  The stationary bike got really boring really fast... I need some kind of cardio that works my entire body.  I just ordered a rowing machine from Amazon, so hopefully that'll do it.

Today is a big day for me... it is exactly two weeks until my trip to Cancun.  To kick-start my weightloss, I've decided to do David Kirsch's Ultimate New York Body Plan.  It's an extreme (to put it lightly) two-week exercise and nutrition regimen.  I've had the book for over a year, and it's just been gathering dust on the bookshelf.  After reading it the first time I felt completely overwhelmed, so I did nothing with it.  This time around I'm going ALL THE WAY!  Yesterday I bought the DVD that accompanies the book, as well as all the tools that are necessary - dumbbells, a medicine ball, and a stability ball (which I already had).  All I need now is the rower, which should arrive next Tuesday.  Until then, I'll do jumping jacks with shoulder presses as my cardio.  I hope I can keep THAT up for 45 minutes!

The following is the contract from the book... for everyone to witness:

Contract To Achieve My Ultimate Body
I, Mariana, will be accountable and take responsibility for my actions and inactions. I will no longer let the past or any outside influences affect how I feel about or treat myself. A fight with my spouse or a difficult relationship with my family will not provide me with and excuse for eating a box of doughnuts. By entering into this pact with myself, I will immediately gain the power and control over my path.

I pledge to...

• Set aside one and a half hours a day for exercise.

• Stick with the nutrition plan for the next 14 days.

• Follow the maintenance plan to maintain my results.

• Push myself to my limits and beyond.

• Stay in the moment when I exercise and eat.

Signed,
Mariana

short-term goal reached!

So if you read my first blog, you know my short-term goal was to lose 10 lbs by Sept. 15th - the day I go to Cancun.  I'm soooo happy because I've reached that goal - 3 weeks early!  I hope I'm not losing weight too fast; I feel fine though, so I'm not starving myself or anything :P  This weekend I'm going to clean out my closet, and get rid of the clothes that are TOO big.  I'm going to try to do that at least twice a month.  I'm sure it'll be a great motivator.  For now, everything that's a size 20 is OUT!  I'm a comfortable size 18, and not going back.

Tonight DH treated me to Outback - I absolutely loooove their Steakhouse Salad.  I did a few adjustments (dressing on the side, none of the crunchy thingies) and it was still yummy.  I used maybe a 1/10th of the dressing that I usually use.  I would just dip my fork in it instead of pouring it on.  To top it off, I only ate half of it and I was full!  So I have lunch for tomorrow.  I'm following the tips from Self Magazine... drink a glass of water before your meal (iced tea tonight, in my case); put your fork down after every bite; take small bites; chew thoroughly, etc.  I'm finding that I'm enjoying food more, and find that theory that you don't realize you're full until after 20 minutes is really true!  Just a few weeks ago, I would have an appetizer, a cup of soup, some bread, that ENTIRE salad, and some dessert on every visit to Outback.  Today all I had was 2 small bites of a crabcake, and half the salad.  I'm so proud of myself :)  Oh, and I'm not eating after 6pm, and here I am almost 4 hours later still full of energy!

Oh, and I give a to Firefox.  I can put emoticons in my posts, lol!/

Sooo hungry!

It's not even lunchtime yet, and I am starving! It's strange, because the past week I've hardly had any cravings at all. I don't get it... maybe its PMS. My mouth is literally watering just thinking about lunch!

Yesterday Maya did the sweetest thing... I was doing a cardio workout (I tivo Denise Austin's fitness program on Lifetime, I'm cheap LOL) and drank my last sip of water and put the bottle on the floor next to me. Maya picked it up and walked away, and came back a couple minutes later with a new bottle and said "here go". It was so thoughtful. I discovered later that she had put the empty one in the trash.

I got my package from Spiegel last night. I'm more or less happy with my purchases - a black tankini, two cover-ups, and a pareo. They have great swimsuits on clearance, in tons of sizes. The tankini is really comfortable, and hides just the right spots (it has a skirt). I think I still need one more swimsuit, so I'm going to keep looking. Maybe something colorful this time around. I'd hate to wear the same one everyday :D

To weigh or not to weigh... that is the question.

I know it's not recommended to weigh everyday, but I do so religiously. Seeing the numbers drop one by one is totally motivating! Maybe once I reach a plateau I'll only get on the scale once a week, but for now I'm happy doing it first thing every morning. I'm down another pound today, btw. :) I worked out for almost an hour yesterday: 45 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes weight-training. I felt great afterwards. I got so much done housework-wise as well... changed the sheets, did laundry, dusted, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, clean the office. I owe it all to FlyLady! If you don't know what that is, definitely check out the website if you have a few minutes. It's worth it.

Maya napped for a hour and a half in the afternoon, so after my busy morning I had the chance to take a nice long shower, shave my legs, and even paint my toenails LOL! Those of you that have a toddler running around know just how rare moments like this are.

I've just joined Self's "Reach Your Goal" program. There are 4 goals - I've chosen the first one, to start an exercise habit. This seems to be the best one for me, since I've only started working out this past week. It combines cardio and strength training 3x a week. I'm going to try to do the cardio part at least everyday, though.

A quote in the magazine caught my attention - "Getting active doesn't take a lot of energy. It only requires a mental shift." This is so true! I'm changing the way I do certain things so I can MOVE MORE!! Like when putting dishes away I do so one at a time, or I only take half a basket of laundry upstairs instead of straining my back trying to take two full ones. I've been sitting on my balance ball while watching TV, and find myself constantly bouncing and stretching and doing crunches during commercials. Maya thinks it's just so much fun, and grabs her own ball (no matter what size) and tries to imitate what I'm doing. It's hilarious! I also turn off the TV and turn on some upbeat music and we dance, dance dance! I hope I'm setting a good example.. I want exercise to become a habit for her early on!

another pound down

I ate really well at the party yesterday... I filled up half my plate with salad, no dressing, just a splash of vinegar, 1/4 with sweet potato, and 1/4 with baked chicken. I only had a sip of wine, and a sip of champagne... and lots of water. When it came to the cake, it was suggested that I cut it, which was great because then I could decide how big my piece would be. I sliced it as thin as possible without it falling apart, had one bite, and gave the rest to Maya. It's not often that she has cake, so it was a nice treat for her. Today I have to clean the house, like usual, and we might go to the County Fair if it doesn't rain.

My abs hurt!

So yesterday I got on the scale and I'm down another 2 lbs. Of course I had to celebrate by having some cake (note the sarcasm). I stayed on the bike longer to make up for it, and only had a green salad for dinner, but I shouldn't have made that mistake in the first place. It was partly DH's fault! He has this obsession with this bakery down the street, and gives them WAY too much business, IMO. He'll buy like 6 slices at a time, and they'll sit in the fridge calling my name. Today I have to go to a birthday party to boot... no cake for me, though. I'll slyly feed it to Maya when no one's looking LOL.

::drum roll:: First Post!!

I added this site to my favorites a couple of weeks ago, but just today took the time to actually signup. I got my mom on board with me, which will be really great. Too bad she lives to far away to be an exercise buddy, because I really need one!

Anyhow, I don't know who'll be reading this, so I should probably describe my situation a little bit. I'm a 26 year-old SAHM to a beautiful 23 month-old baby girl. My husband works his butt off everyday so that I can stay home with her. I'm lucky :) He's just recently lost around 20 lbs himself, thanks to exercise and a change of diet. Somehow that didn't rub off on me. I've been overweight most of my life, and like everyone else, have tried everything to drop the pounds, but they just pile back on. I still wear some of my maternity pants, and Maya's almost 2 years old, for God's sake! It's depressing.

So you're probably asking... why now? I'm just fed up with being fat. Something clicked last week when I started looking at bathing suits for our upcoming vacation to Cancun. I was mortified at the few options that I have at my size, and I just know that I won't look good in anything. I'm hoping that I can lose at least 10 lbs by the time we leave. I'm down 3 lbs so far. I've stocked the fridge and pantry with only healthy snacks, and have been drinking only water or tea. (The headaches induced by the caffeine withdrawal were awful!!) I started using the stationary bike today, did 3 miles in 10 minutes, as well as some crunches on the balance ball and stretching afterwards. Maya and I went for (a record) 3 walks today! We also danced a lot inside the house ;) She just loves to dance.

I'm hoping I can find support out there!! I know there are lots of other ladies in my position... and I wish you all the best of luck. We can do this!