I hope everyone is having a good, productive week and reaching your goals =) I am still on my workout schedule, but this week I've increased my cardio to an hour. I am running the bleachers every other workout along with sit ups and core exercises everyday since I think you can work the abs more often.
Today I am going to stop by Target and Academy and pick up a couple sets of dumbbells-- I might use them when I walk or just alone to do some strength training along with the cardio. My appetite is still not 100% so I have been packing my lunch and snacks and trying to get a least 1,200 calories in a day. On Sunday *my birthday =)* I am going to take my measurements again (compared to Feb 1st) and hope for progress!!
I missed the Biggest loser last night so after work I'll be catching up on that. Also, I was thinking of having my pants altered (instead of buying new just yet) to stretch them a little longer. Are alterations worth it? Or should I just invest? In March I hope to be in 14s.... so we'll see then. My 16s are too loose (yea!) but I might be in between sizes. I'll take it!!
The title says it all. Let's just say my Valentine's Day and weekend were a little less than perfect. Rewind to last week.... my workouts (5 regular plus one at home) went well... My meals were good and all planned out. Then fast-forward to Valentine's Day. This is the first year in..... so long I can't even remember.... that I did not have any chocolate, candy or other temptations on VDay. From Thursday until this afternoon the most I could consume was some OJ. That's it. I'm lovesick. For the first time in my life, I could not eat or sleep because of LOVE!!! Me!! A scientist-- a person who is analytical in every sense of the word.... Love! It was like a bad Jane Austen novel, yall. I got it baaaad Bible scriptures and prayer help a little bit but I could not force myself to get more than a few restless hours of sleep. I coudn't even eat. . . But I am slightly better today. I actually had a meal today so maybe I'm improving. Does love always do this???
So I took my measurements on Feb. 1st and took them again today. I've lost 1 inch from my waist and 2 inches from my hips. I think that's a good place to start. I am flying to Cali tomorrow morning for business and I'll be back Thurs. evening. This hotel doesn't have a fitness center and I was a little concerned about how I could get a good workout in while I'm away on business. So my plan is: tomorrow, work out early as usual... Tues, Wed and Thursday, do brisk walks and floor exercises in my hotel room. I am planning to walk for 1 hour on the days I'm there. This is really important to me because I have a goal set for February that I want to reach so this week is paramount for me. I'm gonna make it work!!!!!!!!!!! I can see some minor changes in my body already so it's motivating me to keep going.
I have bottled water, fruit cups, oranges, apples, peanut butter and portioned raw almonds that I am packing for snacks in my luggage. In January this worked really well for me because as I'm travelling I have things with me so I'm not tempted to just eat anything, anywhere.
I hope you all have a great week and reach all of your goals, no matter the obstacles. For all of you taking spin class, I'm reading your blogs and taking notes!! This is something I was really into in college but as I gained weight, I stopped spinning-- so although I'm living vicariously through you all right *now* I see spinning in my near future again! And I cannot wait! My doctor was telling me that with a small to medium frame and an athletic body type, this would be an excellent choice to not only lose weight but tone up at the same time. =) So we shall see.... I'm prepared to start spinning again in March yall!! One more thing--- at 10:00 am yesterday, I got my KANYE WEST TICKETS!! **biggrin** I am the hugest Kanye fan and I saw him in 2005 (amazing, amazing, amazing!)... on this tour, called the Glow in the Dark tour, Rhianna, Lupe Fiasco and Pharell from NERD will be opening for him. The concert is Friday, May 2nd and I am SOOOOO excited!
I wanted to share something with you guys about me that I'm coming to terms with. Have you ever met the person who wants to be 'everything to everybody?' They need to be in control most of the time...some might call them 'Type A' or 'anal' because not only do they want things done 'their way,' but they get angry when things in life don't go 'their way.' These people are strong yet vulnerable and although they *could* say 'NO' to certain projects, activities, invitations, people.... they usually don't because either they don't want to let people (or themselves) down or they don't want to be seen as a failure.
Well, I am that person. I am not a people pleaser but it bothers me when I can't 'hold it all together.' Yes, deep down inside I know that I am not Superwoman.... but for some reason, I feel the most loved, the most valuable and the most needed when I am able to go above and beyond for OTHER PEOPLE. Maybe you're sitting there thinking 'well being helpful and giving is a blessing.' But you know what? Helping others to the point of HURTING me is not good. I am not married and I don't have any children. But I do feel like a lot is on my shoulders. Whether that is a work deadline, the needs of my team, my mom, my friends, my guy...
And I've had enough of it. While I was working out this morning I thought 'I try to take care of everybody. But if I don't take care of myself, who will?' It really hit me like a ton of bricks. I cannot control everything. That is why I give my problems over to God. While I might 'give' them to Him, I can never seem to leave them there! I'm tired of not taking care of KIM. I'm tired of letting my job hold more precedence than my body. I'm tired of putting me last.... Not worrying about how I FEEL about *me*; Not worrying about how I LOOK. If I'm not happy, how can those closest around me be content?
The reason I felt compelled to write this is so that I can look back when I've reached my goals and remember what it felt like to always come in second fiddle to myself. It's not a good feeling. I need peace, joy, happiness and God in my life and being fat and unhappy is not helping me. Knowing what you want is half the battle. I have just been so determined lately and I can't go back now. I would not call what I was doing before 'living.' I'd call it 'sabotaging.' I knew that living healthy and getting back in shape would take a tremendous amount of dedication, willpower, chutzpah, PRAYER and some pulling away from the table. And I didn't feel ready until now. Thank God though because better late than never. So my question is: Who will take care of you?
Today during my workout I did a measly 2 boy push ups. :- I have been doing a whole bunch of the girl variety to try to increase my strength so that I can add 'real' pushups to my floor exercisses. Practice makes perfect, I guess. My other goal is to be able to run/jog the last mile of my workout. I'm not there yet but I can see myself reaching that goal.. hopefully soon. :)
I have been packing small meals to carry with me to work and so far it's working out. I gotta admit something to yall since I'm blogging on here. . . I finally broke my Starbucks habit *looks around* lol. For me their coffee is just average but I was getting addicted to their White Chocolate Mochas. At one point, I would say in 2006, I probably had a Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks iced or hot coffee 4-5 times a week. I can't believe that number, considering the wasted calories- probably close to 1,000 extra calories a week. *shudders* When I was counting points on WW, I switched over to a tall light frappucino, which would only put me about 150 calories in the hole. But as I'm incorporating more 'real' food into my life versus packaged and processed food, it dawned on me that those 150 calories could be used for a much more volume-dense, nutrient filled meal. An actual small meal as opposed to liquid calories that make you crave more sugar. So I started getting the tall non-fat White Choc. Mocha.... then I started drinking only half of that, which was surprisingly more than enough to get the flavor of the coffee. Now I'm totally weaned off lol Yall would be so proud to see me walk past them in the airports with my 1L bottle of water hahaha! =) If I do have a craving though, I'm not going to deny it- I'm just going to have a small portion of it and be done with it.
When I pack my meals now, I always try to include protein and a fruit or vegetable so that I'm never starving and end up eating 'anything.' Another thing I've been doing is just eating when I am hungry. I do eat about 5 small meals a day so that my metabolism keeps churning. Right now I am content with the same types of meals, but I will try to branch out a little more. I just didn't want to get 'caught up' in food for the sake of food, you know? My breakfast is usually regular oatmeal made with water and I add a healthy oil and less than 1/4 cup of skim milk. Some days I put 1/2 a banana in. This usually sticks with me for a loong time afterward... or an egg white omelet with a whole bunch of vegetables. I don't know how (or why!!! ) I skipped breakfast before! These days it's my most important meal of the day...
I am going to hit the sack because I told myself I would workout 5 times this week and I'm going to keep that promise to myself! Have a great weekend coming up
Thank you so much for showing me support and encouragement with your responses. Yall are truly awesome and I don't know how I went without you all and EP. Wow! =)
This morning when I went to work out, I was proud of myself. My endurance and strength isn't what it used to be, but I feel good that I'm actually doing something about it. Just the action of getting up, getting dressed and exercising empowers me and makes me believe I can get this weight off and keep it off. I have been doing cardio in the mornings and ab exercises at night.
Tonight is Mardi Gras and I am soo tempted to go get my favorite things: Dirty Cosmopolitans (makde with Grey Goose) and Margaritas with Patron *looks around*... I'm not even going to put myself in that situation though because I don't want the calories, the salt or the hangover =) It feels soo good when you make a good choice for your body. We all slip up because we are human. But the dedication that we put forth on the journey outweighs sabotage. At least that is what I am believing....
Long time no see, huh? It's been too long since I blogged and once I got an e-mail from ThyckChyck-->> www.extrapounds.com/blog/thyckchyck/ about being MIA I decided to come back and blog. I have missed you all. Thank you Felecia for caring enough to e-mail me and kick my butt into shape! ((((HUGS)))) To everyone else, Heidi, Endurer, BringingSexyBack, BMuffin, QueenB--I have a lot of catching up to do!
I lost my internet connection a few weeks ago and my blog at the same time =( But I'm trying to build it back up again and love the support we give and receive here.
Right now I have been eating well (and by well I mean a diet devoid of cupcakes, icing, ice cream, fast food, take out and allllll the rest that used to be my staples) since October. All of those sugary processed refined carbs that I loved so much (including my former love WW chocolate chip cookie dough desserts) have been replaced with fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, a lot of protein (I didn't use to eat much meat at all), fish and water. I gave up all of my excuses, threw down the crutches and started to really face what was in the mirror. It wasn't pretty though.
If you've ever spent some quality time by yourself and really tried to get to the 'root' of your destructive habits, then you know what I'm talking about. I guess I had been trying to patch up a gaping wound with a bandaid for too long. Because once I started praying over my weight (and I asked my mom to pray in agreement with me), I started to see why I was emotionally dependent on food. Food made me feel great. And I needed to feel great because I was very depressed about my living situation and my father's untimely death. Cupcakes weren't the solution though.
I can't pinpoint when I just decided to let go and let God but I'm glad I did. It takes dedication, hard work and a lot of willpower to lose weight but I am *finally* at a place where I feel strong enough to go to battle. It took about 3 months for me to get my food choices in check. And I still sometimes struggle but it's not nearly as hard as it used to be. Moving to Houston and closer to my mom has really helped me emotionally-- and I've found that when I'm fulfilled emotionally, there is no need to binge. No desire to put unhealthy foods in my body. I felt a sense of peace when I moved and finally got settled. I have found that counting calories (as tedious as that may sound) has helped me to stay right on track. Right now I am working out 4-5 times a week and have been for 2 months. I am soooo shocked and proud and I just want to keep it up. Each day I wake up early (5:00-5:30) and I speed walk for 3 miles and run the last mile. I run the bleachers (if I'm at the outdoor track) or do the elliptical/stairmaster for 15 minutes. Then I work on my core. Everyday I pray for endurance. Right now I am eating anywhere from 1,500 to 1,650 calories a day and tracking it. Staying in my range day after day gives me the boost I need to know I can keep doing this.
I haven't been on a scale in months to tell you the truth. But what I have done is measured my bust, waist and hips and I have lost a lot of inches. I measure my inches every 2 weeks to see progress. Now that I am blogging again, I will keep that updated. My goal is by April to begin aerobics classes (I loved these when I was a smaller size).
You guys don't know how much of a motivation you have been to me. My hiatus from EP wasn't wasted.. I used it to put myself in the right frame of mind so that I could tackle food and exercise and really succeed. I will be blogging soon...........
Also, I was thinking of having my pants altered (instead of buying new just yet) to stretch them a little longer. Are alterations worth it? Or should I just invest? In March I hope to be in 14s.... so we'll see then. My 16s are too loose (yea!) but I might be in between sizes. I'll take it!!
Let's just say my Valentine's Day and weekend were a little less than perfect. Rewind to last week.... my workouts (5 regular plus one at home) went well... My meals were good and all planned out. Then fast-forward to Valentine's Day. This is the first year in..... so long I can't even remember.... that I did not have any chocolate, candy or other temptations on VDay. From Thursday until this afternoon the most I could consume was some OJ. That's it. I'm lovesick. For the first time in my life, I could not eat or sleep because of LOVE!!! Me!! A scientist-- a person who is analytical in every sense of the word.... Love! It was like a bad Jane Austen novel, yall. I got it baaaad 
Bible scriptures and prayer help a little bit but I could not force myself to get more than a few restless hours of sleep. I coudn't even eat. . . But I am slightly better today. I actually had a meal today so maybe I'm improving. Does love always do this??? 
I'm tired of not taking care of KIM. I'm tired of letting my job hold more precedence than my body. I'm tired of putting me last.... Not worrying about how I FEEL about *me*; Not worrying about how I LOOK. If I'm not happy, how can those closest around me be content?
Yall would be so proud to see me walk past them in the airports with my 1L bottle of water hahaha! =) If I do have a craving though, I'm not going to deny it- I'm just going to have a small portion of it and be done with it.
) I skipped breakfast before! These days it's my most important meal of the day...
It's been too long since I blogged and once I got an e-mail from ThyckChyck-->>