I just finished Cathe's High Step Training workout. I LOVED it! It had like a gazillion leg presses!!! For those who may not know, a leg press is when you step up on a, in this case, 14" step with one leg and pull your weight up to tap the other leg on the step while holding extra weight either on your shoulders or in your hands. Cathe held a 10lb dumbbell in her hands so that's what I did. (Did that make any sense whatsoever?) You'd think a teacher could explain things better!!
I bought myself a heart rate monitor the other day because I wanted to be able to better determine how many calories I'm burning during my workouts. It's not a really expensive one, so I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I'm guessing, if I can ever figure out how to use it correctly, it'll at least give me an estimate! Today I set the thing, kept it in place the whole time and at the end of the workout hit the wrong button and erased everything! Ugh!!! What a dummy! ha ha
OK, now the crappy news of the day. The scale said 199 this morning. Which is better than the 200 glaring back at me yesterday. I'm not posting the number. Not that it makes any real difference, I mean, it is what it is. I still can't believe it's all fat. My clothes don't feel tighter or anything. TOM isn't til next week, so I can't blame that.
But, the way I see it, I could have used this as an excuse to give up. I didn't. I worked out hard tonight and have stayed within my POINTS for the day, so I'm just going to keep moving forward.
Thank you all for your encouragement and kind words. I soooo love this place!!
Alright, I'm going to try not to get all Negative Nelly in this post (no offense to anyone named Nelly!)
Things aren't going so hot for me right now in the diet department. Eating's been so outta control it scares me! I did end up working out after I posted Thursday evening. I didn't go all-out junk food binge like I felt I wanted to, but I did overeat on the foods I had in the house.
Wednesday I had done a new (to me) Cathe strength workout. Thursday night I was feeling it, but by Friday I was waaaay sore. I was trying to figure out if I should work out at all when J called and wanted to go to a movie, so I skipped the workout altogether. I ate dinner before we went so I didn't even have popcorn! Well, the truth of the matter was that I ate dinner among other stuff so I wan't the least bit hungry by the time we made it to the movies.
Yesterday, I hopped on the scale to assess the damge. I never expected to see what I saw. It was a huge gain. I mean, ugly huge. Bigger than even my holiday gain. Now, I tried to be rational. I tried to think this through...there was NO WAY I could have eaten the thousands upon thousands of calories it would have taken to gain that much weight. AND I had really upped my weights and weight workouts the last two weeks. That certainly could have something to do with it, right?
Well, I didn't feel like working out after that so I didn't. I did do some more house cleaning and laundry though so I was moving around most of the day. My eating was crap though.
I got on the scale again this morning. No change. The number is still way up.
I've eaten well today though and have recommitted to journaling everything. I am not going to try to play around with my POINTS anymore. I am going to follow the program to a tee. And even if I go back to losing a half a pound every week, I will be content. (Please remind me that I said this!)
Now, I've been toying with the idea of not weighing-in for a while. I am trying to figure out if I want to do this so that I can quit focusing so much on the scale or if I'm just trying to avoid being accountable to myself. I don't exactly have an answer yet.
I got up earlier than usual this morning so that I could fit in a short workout before church. I did a Walk Away the Pounds DVD. It was something easier than I've been doing, but Sundays are usually my rest days so something lighter fit right in. And I made my own little stickers that i could put on my calendar when I do something other than Cathe.
I'm upset that I let things spin out of control there for a while. I still don't really know what happened. But I won't let it defeat me. So, here I go again...
That's what you all are! Thank you for all the kind comments about the pictures. I guess I do see a bit of difference, but you'd think 30 pounds would show up a lot more. Eh....whatever.
I've been doing well with my workouts, earning my stickers. But my eating has been horrible. Last night I went on this mini-binge right before bed. I don't know why. I ate healthy snacks but way too much of them. Why? I did better today during the day, but as soon as I got home, I went straight for all of the goodies in the cupboard! Again, my healthy snacks but too much. I don't really know what's going on with me. It's just really stupid.
I know I need to change clothes and at least get my workout in, but I feel so tired and defeated. I just want junk food! I know that's not the answer, but that's what I want.
So, I added a couple of new pictures, at Glory's DEMAND! I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. I HATE pictures. These new ones illustrate why. I look really goofy! In real life I'm much HOTTER! ha ha! (I am sooooooooo kidding!)
I took these right before I Cathed tonight. It wasn't one of my best workouts. My leg still bothers me sometimes and tonight's workout was Imax 3. It's got a lot of jumps, plyos, jacks, etc. and I wanted the tough cardio but it really bothered my leg. I had to stop and rewind quite a few times. Not my best, but I didn't give up, so that's good. Plus, I earned another sticker - that makes 7!!!
Eating's been ok but could be better. We've had work days the last 2 days so we get actual lunch breaks. Yesterday we went to Applebee's and I ordered off the WW menu, but we also had the little party for our vice-principal - that's where I had the brownie and some kisses (chocolate ones...I loved my vice-principal, but I didn't kiss her! ;))
Today we went to Ruby Tuesday's. I stuck with the salad bar, but then they had chocolates at our workshop after lunch. I had 2. Again, it could be worse, and I AM journaling everything and counting the POINTS for it all. Still, I want to do better.
After comparing those pictures I realize I still have a long ways to go.
No, that's not my weight (anymore!) That's the number of exercise videos/DVDs I own. Is that not just ridiculous?!
I spent the day yesterday reorganizing my "office" room. I rearranged the furniture so I had to empty bookshelves and the cabinet. Well, as I put the dern things back on the shelf, I thought I'd count them. There were 227!! I added the 2 more I picked up from the mail today. YIKES! Can we say gluttony!? I swear, if I'm not overeating, I'm overcompensating in some other way. It's a sickness!
I seriously need to get some listed on ebay or something. The shameful thing is that I don't want to part with them! The even MORE shameful thing is that I have all of these resources and I'm still flippin' FAT! Sheesh!
Anyway, after all of that, I won't be doing any of them today since it's my rest day!
Yesterday though, I did Cathe's Body Max 2 Cardio only premix. I got in a good hour of stepping. I bought her calendar this year (I swear, I'm such a Cathe freak-o!) and she sends little stickers with it so that you can keep track of your workouts. So far I have five nice little stickers all in a row. I'm so proud! I think I'll be using it like gettinfit's Victory calendar. (I'm getting so good at these links! ha ha)
The scale says I've only lost a pound. Hopefully it will be at least that nice tomorrow.
Well, I have some more cleaning to do. Yep, all that stuff that I should have been doing all week but didn't want to waste my "days off" doing! Now, I'm scrambling to get it all done before I go back to work. I really need to work on this procrastination stuff too.
Don't worry, this isn't one of my real crybaby posts. I'm just sad that my vacation is over!!! I go back to work on Monday. Spring Break isn't until March!
Our vice-principal is retiring. She has to come back on Monday in order for the semester to count for her and then she's done. She's only been there a few years but I just adore her. I am going to miss her so much. Our principal will be retiring at the end of the year. These women have been the most awesome bosses. The district and state have been so hard on us. Shoving down all kinds of new testing and programs and blah, blah, blah. These women have been soooo supportive and understanding. It will really be hard to fill their shoes. I'm really sad about both of them leaving.
Don't ask what any of that has to do with anything! ha ha
I did Cathe's Drill Max today. I'm glad I don't pull that out very often. It gives me time to forget about how flippin' HARD it is!!! But I did it today. 72 long minutes of the most wonderful torture you can imagine! It was awesome!
I've been playing around with my POINTS this week. I've really been reeling from the fact that I seem to LOSE weight when I go off track. (Well, except when I am severely derailed.) But the weeks that I kinda blow it seem to be the ones when I lose more weight. Glory ((oooo....I wanted to see if I could do that fancy "link" thing you all do!! ha ha) suggested that I might be not eating enough on my on-track weeks, so I thought I'd play with my POINTS and eat a few more every day. Well, now I'm nervous because it seems like I am eating way more than I used to! So, we'll see what happens on Monday.
I also checked out The Daily Plate that I've seen some of you mention. Thought maybe I should track calories for a week and see how that goes. But, that just seems soooo COMPLICATED to me! POINTS are like second nature to me now. So, I don't know about that. But when I checked it out, it gave me a calorie goal that is also way higher than what I think I'm eating now.
I also just got the Body For Life book. I've only browsed through it a bit but I know he reccommends having a "free" day every week. Can I just say that the thought of that just freaks me out!! I don't think I could handle it. I seriously think I would blow all the rest of the week's hard work if I had a day to eat whatever I wanted! I'm sure there are limits to it, but still, I don't know if I'm ready for that at this point.
I hate that saying. Who came up with it anyway? Should I know? But it seems to be true.
For the last week J's daughter has been out of town with her mother and I've had him ALL to myself! And it has been wonderful! Well, she'll be back home today so that means I have to share him again.
Now, before I come off as seeming completely selfish here, let me just say that I think his daughter is terrific. I know he loves her dearly and has missed her while she's been gone. I understand that she is his priority while she's home and I would never make a fuss about it. I know that he sometimes feels torn about spending time with her or coming over to see me. Most times he picks her. And it's fine. I'm not a very needy girlfriend. I have my own stuff going on, you know?
But all that aside, since I've been back in town I have seen him every day. That is very rare. And it's odd to me how when he's around, I just don't get tired of him! ha ha....I have been in relationships before where I will like a guy alright but can't wait for him to leave so that I can go about my business! I have never once felt that way about J.
Anyway, I don't know what any of this has to do with anything. I just realized that things were going to go back to the way they were and that I would have more time to myself.
I've been trying to get back into reading my Beck book but I've also been doing my First Place Bible studies. I think I have to really interconnect my weight loss goals with my get closer to God goals. I love having the time in the mornings to sit and read and get "psyched up" for the day. I don't get that luxury when I'm working. I usually do my reading at night then.
I feel like I'm just babbling here. You're all probably hoping that I'll get back to work soon so that I won't have so much time to write about all of this nonsense! ha ha
I did Cathe's Rhythmic Step today. A solid hour of non-stop stepping and I did it the whole way through, no stops! I know the routine well enough now that I don't have to stop and stare dumbfounded at the TV while trying to catch on. And I'm still a little sore from Supersets yesterday. Here's what I'm planning for my workouts:
I wanted to do this yesterday but I forgot...so here we are, a day late!
Measurements Jan. 1, 2007: Jan. 2, 2008
Chest: 43 1/2" Chest: 42" -1 1/2"
Right Arm: 15" Right Arm: 14" -1"
Left Arm: 14 1/2" Left Arm: 14" -1"
Waist: 39" Waist: 39" -0"
Hips: 45 1/2" Hips: 44" -1 1/2"
Right thigh: 28 1/2" Right thigh: 27"-1 1/2"
Left Thigh: 28 1/2" Left thigh: 27 1/2" -1"
Weight: 212.5 lbs. Weight: 196 lbs. -16.5
Hmmm.....doesn't look too impressive for a year's work. But still, I'm beginning the year 16 pounds lighter than last year. The truth is, I gained a lot of weight between January and May so when I finally buckled down in June, I had more weight to lose!
I also took measurements in April and May of last year and they are a lot higher than January's, of course. My waist was at 41" and the ol' hips were 49"!! Wow! That means I've lost 5 inches off my hips since then! I weighed 226 on April 1st and 229 by May 27th. I think I'm going to try to keep better monthly records of my measurements.
I have totally stuck to all of my resolutions this year! I'm soooo good! ha ha
Happy New Year y'all!! I love reading through all of the positive posts! I can't seem to keep up with all the new "faces" yet but I will keep trying! I hope evryone sticks around and realizes what an awesome group of people we have here.
Resolutions/Goals/Whatever you wanna call 'em:
1. Spend time with God daily- I am usually pretty good about this, but I want to be better.
2. Commit completely to this new healthy lifestyle - I know the things I need to do to treat myself right and feel good. I will continue to work on this forever, I'm sure. I will never be perfect. But I realized over this holiday that splurging just doesn't have any postive results. What's the point? I would have been content with ONE cookie, why have four?!
3. Exercise 5-6 days a week- On good weeks, I can stick to this, no problem. I really want to make this a priority though.
I figure I'd better not make the list too long or I'll never stick to it. The good thing is that these are all habits I already have and just need to be more consistent with.
New Year's Eve was nice and quiet. J and I hung out with his sister and brother-in-law. They had a house-full of family when we first got there but everyone bailed out by about 10PM! So, it was just the four of us for the last stretch of 2007. Their little guy was fast asleep as we bowled and played tennis on the Wii!! ha ha...Pretty funny. A quartet of 30 & 40-somethings playing Wii! But it was fun and there was nothing better than kissing J at midnight.
Oh! And the BEST part. The part that I just keep playing over in my head like a lovesick teenager is that he finally said it! He told me he loved me! And I fell speechless. I heard him say it and I had wanted to hear him say it for so long that I couldn't even reply. So, maybe I need to add a Number 4 to my list:
4. Tell the people I love that I love them - every chance I get.
So, I'll begin here with you guys. I love you all my dear EP friends!!
I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. I HATE pictures. These new ones illustrate why. I look really goofy! In real life I'm much HOTTER! ha ha! (I am sooooooooo kidding!) 
As do I you!
I think I'll be using it like 