Still weighing myself

Ok, even though I know I fluctuate, I am still weighing myself pretty much everyday! Only once a day....if I remember. :-) I am happy to announce that I am starting to go down again. I am back in the saddle again and working toward this goal. My short term goal is to be at 228 by the end of February. I'm not sure I'm going to make it...but it will be close if I don't. I am at 231 today....which means 3 pounds in the next ten days. Doable? Yes. Close? Yes. Will I be disappointed if I don't make it? Yes. Will I give up? NO! Being around 228-229 at the end of February keeps me in line to reach my target by my birthday. Actually, that would have me at reaching my target in November......but I want to give myself a little leeway........ I'm determined to do it. :-)

Inches.....not pounds

Well, the last few weeks have been a struggle. I see my weight drop and then jump right back up. It seems as if I have lost the same few pounds over and over. I have looked back at my food logs and I have not cheated on the days that I saw a rise...or starved myself on the days that I saw a dip....I'm just flucuating 5 pounds different from day to day. I talked to my husband and he said that because we are so big, that our fluid retention will do that...and that when he lost 150 pounds a few years ago...until he dropped down he flucuated 5-10 pounds daily....arrggghh. He said that for him at about 210 down, the scales were more true for him. I plan on researching this tonight to see if he was feeding me a line!

On a good note....I actually measured myself......it has been about a month since I last did it. I have quite a few inches. If I actually add them all together....like 7 inches. Woo hooo!

I'm really not to tempted to eat bad things. Which I find really cool.....I only wish that I could snap my fingers and have this done. I guess though that I am training my body how to proceed so that when I lose it I can maintain the loss!

Well Again

This past week has been rough. Today, 8 days after the flu hit, is probably the first day that I haven't felt sick at all (thus far). We actually went to the gym and did a light workout yesterday. It felt good. However, I know I didn't work out to my full potential. BUT.....I got my feet wet and got back into it.

We got about a foot of snow last night. Today when Todd and I went out to shovel, we realized how much more in shape we are....after only one month of working out. We didn't get winded or overheated. We didn't have to stop and rest every couple shovels of snow (and it was a wet heavy snow today). It was a good thing to see.

My weight has been all over the board. The day before we got sick, I was down to 235. I was tickled! Then the next day I was back up at 240. I didn't eat much the first couple days and dropped back to 235. I went back up to 240 toward the middle of the week...and then started dipping again. Then yesterday, I was right back up there. ARRGGGHHH

Injury

Well, I have been religious about goign to the gym and/or doing cardio at home. BUT about a week ago, I noticed this unnatural bump on my foot...hard....hurts when touched...REALLY hurts when pressed....right on the top of my foot. So, I think I will probably have to head to the doctor. Although right now it isn't too bad. WHen it first happened, I switched from the treadmill to an elliptical trainer (lower impact) and it seemed to help...(I at least didn't notice it all that much) THEN on Friday, I really noticed it again (coincidence that I was on the treadmill for my 10 minute warm up?...hmmm) It seems to have gone down over the weekend. BUT, I don't want to injure myself...the point is HEALTH......lol

BUT honestly, I feel that even if the doctor prescribes me to stay off my foot, I will probably still work out....trying to take it easy on that foot. I am so determined to do this this year.

Cravings

I am just wanting to gorge myself on food. No particular craving. I'm just soo hungry. I don't suffer from cravings...however, I do just get incredibly hungry at 'that time of the month. I'm fighting it though.

I'm concerned about my foot. I have a hard knot sitting ontop of my foot...it hurts when it is touched and even more so when something applies pressure to it. I am going to make an appointment with the doctor. I'm afraid they will say stop exercising...which for me right now isn't an option!

Worked out lightly today, only because I gave myself a rip roaring workout yesterday! Yes, I'm sore today! :-) (sore is a good feeling....means I'm doing something).

After we worked out today we went to Hoss's. I got the salad bar but stumbled with it came to the cake. I got a piece and enjoyed every bite. Part of me feels bad because that was totally useless calories. The other part doesn't feel bad, last night I struggled so much with getting a late night snack....and perservered. No, I know I can't reward myself for every 'triumph'. But if I want to do this forever, then I need to allow myself to be human every once in a while.

Temptation

I know my friends at work are not purposefully being sadistic. However, I seem to be offered junk food/snacks soo much more now. So far I've been able to refrain from joining them. I instead enjoy my grapes/apple for my nightly snack. I'm back down to 240 pounds today. Woo hooo...that makes 90 more to go!

I read the book by Jillian Michaels the other day and walked away with a better purpose in what I really need to do to get this weight off, and keep it off. I did some real figuring to find out exactly what I can have to attain my goal. At this weight, with three work outs a week (30 cardio and 30 weight) I can eat 1250 calories a day and lose 2 pounds a week. SOOO, in typical MF fashion, I decided that I would like to throw some more cardio into the mix.....that way I can eat more...or lose more...depending on the day! :-)

I was also kinda worried about what I'll be allowed to have when I reach my goal. With a sedentary lifestyle (no exercise) at 150 pounds to maintain I would need roughly 1600 calories. That's not too bad....expecially when you add the exercise in to the mix! So there is hope for a long term plan.

Scale Addiction

Ok, I'm addicted! To the scales that is. I woke up this morning and didn't want to get out of that nice warm bed. SOO I laid there thinking about getting on the scales to see where I was/am. I have noticed that my scales, even though they are a pretty good set of scales, are flucuating a lot. Not just from day to day (that is probably me) But I can weigh myself, get off and get back on and get a different weight. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that the bathroom floor isn't that great...it's a bouncy floor and a bit uneven. (gotta love old houses) PLUS, we drag them out from under the ironing board with our feet, weigh ourselves and then push them right back under there. That can't be good on them. SOOOO I drug the scales to the bedroom and they now reside in there. We'll see how that goes!

Meanwhile, I sent my weight to my own weight loss club group. I want to lose 100 pounds. I set a goal of my birthday...just to have something in mind. So that would be actually about 70 pounds by the end of our weight loss thing. However, my REALISTIC goal is 50 by the end of October. That is only a little over 5 pounds a month. :-)

I guess for a closer goal.....I want to be down to 225, or lower by my trip to Indiana in April. That is 20 pounds..in roughly two months. :-) I would love to definitely be in one size lower jeans by then!

Baking day!

Well, I've been doing pretty good. I haven't been able to stay off the scales. And I'm appalled when I have an up day...but equally happy when I have a down day. (Today is an up day......yesterday was a down day) I'm interested to see if it is DIRECT correlation to my workout days. Hmmmmm....I'm not talking about a pound here. I'm talking about 5 pounds difference!

My dearest husband volunteered me to bring dessert to a party we are going to tonight. THANKS (note the sarcasm). As if being there and seeing it isn't tempting enough.....BAKING it is worse! I made brownies and cookies. I had a 1 inch square of brownie and two soft sugar cookies. I never realized how many cookies I probably popped in my mouth when I was baking! I was really fighting the urge! I'm ok with the amount that I had though. I'm not in this to deprive myself of ever having the fun stuff! I mean, yes, I wish I wouldn't have succumbed to the temptation. But I'm happy with the control I ultimately displayed over the situation. (Course the stuff is still in the house....lol)

My arms are still really sore from working on on Wednesday and then again on Friday. It's a good sore though...because it means I'm doing something good. On the other hand, my foot is really giving me problems. I was wondering how long it would take the 'old bone' to kick into action. Well, it happened. Yesterday I decided to move the furniture around in the house. I started at around 8 AM and worked until we left the house (about noon). We ran errends all day and worked out at the gym and got home at about 8. I picked right back up and worked at the house non-stop until about 11PM. Round about 9 or 10 it started. The foot pounded and ached. ARRGGHHH.....but hey, I've lived with this since I was in elementary school. I can tough it out. It can only get better the less weight it has to support! :-) My only concession is that I may try to do some cardio that is not so high impact. I've been doing a lot of treadmill....I may switch to the bike or elliptical for a time being!

Our own challenge

Well, it is official. A group of my friends from college years (and a couple other people) have started our own Biggest Loser challenge. We weigh in this Friday....and take a picture this Friday! Hopefully it will work to motivate us all! Worked out at the gym today with the trainer (my second of three free hours). She worked me harder today.....my muscles were sore sore sore when I left there!

Trying not to dwell!

Ok...stepped on the scales today and I'm up a pound. Eating the same....and working my guts out at the gym. I have to keep telling myself.....it's muscle, it's muscle, it's muscle! I am lifting weights at the gym so I know that I will probably gain a little bit here and there as I gain muscle. BUT...it is still hard to see the weight gain on the scales. Maybe I shouldn't weigh myself for two weeks or so...then just be shocked at either how much I gain...or how much I lose! :-)

Trying new things!

Well, I am trying to cook differently and change the way we eat. Last night I made poached chicken with a mandarin orange and water chesnut sauce. I thought it was pretty good. (Todd said the chicken was bland.....it was poached in chicken broth and garlic). Tonight I roasted a spaghetti squash and had it with sauce. Todd said it wasn't too bad. (His words were, "It was palatable") I didn't like it at all! SOOOO....even though spaghetti squash is better for us, it's back to whole grain pastas for us. :-)

I'm trying to eat more throughout the day. So about midway between my meals, I'm getting some fruit to eat.

I'm going to try to get to the gym tomorrow morning before work!

First hour with a fitness trainer

Today both Todd and I had an hour with a fitness trainer. They went over our general health and then walked us through some of the weights. We came out of there with some good information...and made sure that we actually were using the weight machines properly. (So as to get the most from them). They talked a lot about diet and how that is such an integral part of this process. I just smiled and nodded, because that has been a goal of mine for the last few weeks! They gave us some tips like, when we eat our salad, get the dressing on the side. Then either dip your fork in the dressing then get the food to eat. Or actually get the food on your fork and then dip the food a bit. I have to say, it actually worked. We both got salads for lunch....and we used probably 1/4 of the salad dressing that we would have normally used. Todd said he prefers the fork method...I think I prefer the dipping method. :-) But the result was almost the same....we each had one and a half things of dressing left! :-) AND since the dressing is the bad part...this is actually a really good lesson/idea. Both of our trainers told us to be eating smaller meals.......and both of them expounded on peanut butter! Sounds good to me because I am a peanut butter and jelly fanatic! :-) Homemade jelly! :-)

Feel very good after the workout...not sore...but every once in a while I move and realize that yes, I did work out. This is a very good feeling! I can't wait until I see the pounds start to drop! :-)

Disappointment

Last night, about an hour before Todd got off work I was busily putting our stuff in our bags to take to the gym. We were going to go to the gym and then go to my parents to see them as Dad just got back from the Phillipines and then they are both heading to Flordia on Friday. Todd came up and I could tell that he was exhausted. He insisted that we still go to the gym...however I know that he would have probably passed out he was that far gone. So I told him we didn't have to go. I think he was relieved, and I honestly want what is the best for him. However, I wish he would have told me how he was feeling much earlier because I would have gone to the gym on my own earlier in the day. (His car is in the garage so we have to coordinate our travels to town as we live 25 minutes out of town). We saw my parents and came home. He played around on his computer all evening. I actually DID get on the exercise bike and ride...and I also did my crunches. I can't let him not going....no matter what his reason......cause my stride to falter. I was disappointed enough that I was a little teary!

So, I got up this morning and went to the gym by myself (Todd is working a long day today).

Well, I think I have some divine intervention with my eating. Today, Todd wanted a pizza. I made it and watched what kind and how much cheese I put on......basically I was careful with the whole thing...but knew that I would be going overboard even with 2 pieces. Well, the pizza came out of the oven...it smelled sooo good. I cut it up and couldn't resist...I put half of the pizza on my plate (who wants to walk back into the kitchen to get more). Half way out of there, I bumped the plate and the BIG piece (1/4 of a pizza) fell off the plate and went kersplat on the floor...UPSIDE DOWN. Well, after that first moment of ....awww great on the carpet...I realized that it was good...NO temptation to eat that piece now! :-) Now, the funny thing about this is....this is not the first time something like this has happened in the last few weeks! I went to make toast the other morning (I LOVE BREAD and could eat piece after piece YUM YUM YUM) and popped my toast into the toaster.......I knew something was wrong when I heard something MOVE inside my toaster....right before I heard is squeak! I electrocuted a mouse in my toaster. YES, I threw the toaster away...NO I didn't eat the toast. And even though I have already replaced the toaster, I have like NO desire to eat toast right now!

Crossing my fingers, called the mechanic and they are working on the car RIGHT now....so hopefully we will get that back soon...which will make it much easier for us to work out.....logistically speaking.

The dreaded scales

Well, yesterday I ate really healthy. My calories were low...my fat intake was low. I was actually fully satisfied. I actually didn't eat all of my food, I was so satisfied. So, I'm happy because my body is adjusting to a differnt syle of eating.

I've been getting on the scales everyday up to now. I know some people that say they weigh themselves everyday and some that say they only do it once a week. I guess I kinda like to know what I am doing....except for today. I've been kinda bummed because I was actually a bit heavier. However, I ate my cereal for breakfast and immediately felt ill, and have been in the bathroom a couple of times...so maybe that could have been attributing to why my weight was a bit up.

we are planning on going to the gym tonight when Todd gets off work. That should help! :-)

A loss!

Wooo hooo....10 pounds gone! I'm excited! I know it is small...but I've been working hard to get this done. I've cut my calories to 1500 from my previous 2500-3000 calories. AND I've been working out every day! This is my first day that I am taking a break. Wooo hooo!

The Gym

Yesterday Todd and I went to the gym and did our first workouts there. I did 45 minutes on the treadmill and then did the circuit weights. I have come to a couple conclusions. Yes, my riding my exercise bike and hiking on my own have really helped. BUT, I worked myself much much harder at the gym. In a way, this may be good. I work myself hard at the gym...and then on my off days I still exercise...but not working so hard, giving my body a bit of a rest! The other conclusion I came to. My legs are strong (that would have been fairly obvious if I had thought of the fact that I bike and hike a lot!). On my legs, I was pushing upwards of 100 pounds....but on my upper body....30 about did me in! :-) Today...one day later....it's my arms that are a bit sore! :-) I did the machines for the abs...and when I did my crunches this morning, I could feel that twinge of soreness when I worked them...but otherwise they are ok.!

I'm excited! I'm looking forward to talking to the trainer to see what I need to do to accomplish my goals...and actually getting started on a real routine. :-)

Slow day

Yeah, thank God....Todd's colonoscopy went well! The only downside....we had to take it relatively easy today. SOOOOOO back on the bike for me. The thirty minute preprogrammed ride is still kickin' my butt....arrgghhh! We each go for our appointments with the trainer at the gym next Friday. Hmmm...my goals to tell the trainer.....lose weight, tone to try to keep from getting flabby skin hanging off my body, be healthy. If I lose 2.1 pounds a week..then I can be 150 by my next birthday. I'm gonna ask the trainer if this is a realistic goal....or what she would consider a realistic goal......assuming that I am willing to work. :-)

Doing pretty good with eating...cutting WAY back. After the colonoscopy, Todd wanted a sub sandwich. We stopped and I actually had a package of sweet rolls in my hand and was waiting in line to pay. I had to actually take a deep breath and put them back. It is a thing of totally conquering these bad habits!

Signing Up!

Today my husband and I went to Golds Gym to see about getting a membership. We know that we need the variety that a gym provides. SOoo....we took our tour and plunked down our money. We would have started today...however, Todd is on a liquid diet in preparation for a colonoscopy that he is having performed tomorrow. Soooo...I came home and rode the exercise bike and did my crunches. I had been doing the 20 minute preprogrammed workout on the bike....the first day or two my legs felt jelly like when I got off. But quickly I was hot but not really pushing it.....soooo today, I pushed it up to the next level.....30 minutes. It is a harder bike program...and longer. The last 8 minutes KILLED....but I did it! :-)

Exercise

OK....I've started. In the last five days, I have exercised four of those days. Three days I churned on the exercise bike and then today my husband and I hiked a couple of miles. I stuck to the 20 minute activity. The first day my legs felt a little like jelly. But, I know that I need to turn it up another level. I have also been working on my crunches. Yes, my worst area is my stomach......So, I feel like I am helping my achilles heel by doing the crunches.

Found a great site... www.fitday.com This site is so awesome. You can enter your foods eaten and it will give you the total calories, fat and nutrients for the day. Then you can go and enter your exercise for the day...including various daily activities. After all is entered, the report page breaks it down into how you are progressing...and not progressing. Where they problem areas may be...so on and so forth!

I need to lose 2.1 lbs a week to meet my goal by my birthday of this year!