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Monday, March 26, 2012

3/26/12 Weekly Check-In


Starting Weight: 195.1
New Weight: 191.4
Weight Change: - 3.7

This last week was a very successful week for me.  Since last Wednesday I lost 4.4 pounds (3.7 pounds from my starting weight).  This is a major feat for me.  

The combination of 30 Day Shred, daily walks, and Weight Watchers has helped me see major changes.  I haven't been fully diligent about performing my 30 Day Shred workout every day, especially since I have family in town.  I have missed 3 days of my workout, including tonight, but we have been constantly on the go site seeing, and living in an apartment prevents me from working out in the evenings after Bug goes to bed.

It has also been a major learning week for me, as I have come to recognize many ways that I viewed even healthy food that were sabotaging my weight loss.  But that will be a discussion for a different post.  

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Weight Watchers

With my mom in town we have been talking a lot about Weight Watchers, which she joined in January.  I have looked at the program before, but have never really followed through with it.  Tracking all of my food points has always been too much for me to do.

But since she offered to assist me with it, I decided to give the Online program a try.  I have their App on my iPhone, which makes tracking my points a bit easier because I almost always have it on me.  Today was the first day that I actually tracked my points, and I am proud to say that I was right on target, despite not actually planning my food that way.

For me, the best part of doing this is that I can see exactly how many "points" my fitness activities are earning me.  For 20 minutes of the Shred to equal 5 points is amazing.  Despite not being able to see immediate results to my body I can see what my exercise equals... and what types of foods I can chose to indulge in that negate my efforts.  For example, an ice cream cone at our local scoop shop is equivalent to 1 30 Day Shred workout.  Suddenly that ice cream cone doesn't seem worth it.

As I am just starting my journey with Weight Watchers, and determining how that is going to fit in with the other changes Rainman and I plan to make in our overall lifestyle, I have very little to share.  But please check back and see how we are progressing in the future.  And share any of your success stories with the program too!

Shred Challenge - Day 3

This morning I woke up after two days of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and walking as well to a very sore, stiff body.  I hurt everywhere.  Even the ibuprofen I took didn't relieve the pain I was feeling.  I wanted to curl up in bed and not move all day long.  But with a 9 month old son that wasn't really a possibility.

So up I got.  As far as the couch.  I really wasn't feeling up to doing the exercises at all, and was seriously considering taking the day off.  Yesterday when Rainman told me that today was going to be awful regardless of whether I worked out or not I proceeded on with day 2 and was now seriously regretting it.  Even though I knew I should, it took me an hour to convince myself that I just needed to dive in and do the workout.

I am so glad that I did.  After the first couple of moves my body started to loosen up and I felt semi-human again.  Don't get me wrong, every muscle in my body hurt, but for some reason getting into the activity made it hurt just a little less.  My endurance for the exercises had even increased, despite the pain, and I was able to go longer before stopping to rest than I had when I first started.

After finishing the workout - which Bug decided he needed to "help" with by providing extra resistance every time he could hold on to me or pin me to the floor while doing crunches - I collapsed back on the couch to rest, but felt amazing. So much so that when Rainman got home from work early we decided to all go for a hike through the woods behind our home to a nearby park and played frisbee for a half hour before the rain chased us home.

30 Day Shred, a 1 1/2 mile hike through the woods, and 30 minutes playing frisbee?  Not too bad if I do say so myself.

3/21/2012 Weekly Check-In

Starting Weight: 195.1
New Weight: 195.8
Weight Change: +.7

Over the last week I have spent a great deal of time *thinking* about becoming more active and eating better.  Some of my personal goals were to drink more water, walk every day, and make all of our meals at home.  I would say that across the board I was successful about 50% of the time.

Some may look at that number and say "Wow, she that success rate is not good at all.  She really isn't taking care of her self". But I chose to look at it another way.  That is 50% more than I was doing before last week.  And it takes a great deal of hard work to break old habits and learn new ones, even those as simple as taking a walk or drinking water.

One of the best ways to get in shape, especially to adhere to your physical fitness plans, is to have a buddy.  Unfortunately my husband is rarely home due to his school schedule, and most of our friends in the area are in the same program as he is.  So instead, as you will have seen in my Shred Challenge Post, I have acquired a long-distance fitness buddy.  She may not be able to drag my butt off the couch and make me go walking with her when I feel exhausted, but the competition that we have turned it into certainly gives me some accountability to someone other than myself.

As far as food and water go these are still areas that I will continue to work on every day.  With my mother in town for the next two weeks food becomes a bit easier because she is currently doing the Weight Watchers program, so that is forcing us to eat much better than we may have otherwise.  While she is in town I will be taking advantage of her expertise in finding healthy, wholesome recipes.  And I promise to share these recipes with you as I find our new favorite dishes.

Monday, March 19, 2012

March Goals (for the remainder of the month)

I realized today that though I have mentioned some of my current goals in other posts that I have not clearly identified what goals I am focusing on this month.  I do feel that this is important because otherwise our overall goals can get lost in the shuffle.  By writing down your specific goals in one place you are making yourself more accountable to them.  And at the very least it's easier to find when you need a reminder.

So these are the goals I will be focusing on for the remainder of the month.
  1. Work out every single day... 30 Day Shred Workout minimally
  2. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, not including a minimum of 2 glasses while working out
  3. Make all meals at home and keep wholesome snacks on hand when out of the house to deter eating out.

Shred Challenge - Day 1

Today's work out seriously kicked my butt.  I felt so exhausted after on 20 minutes working out.  I certainly have quite a bit of stamina to build up, and will admit that I stopped a few times to catch my breath and let my muscles have a break.

However, I was able to get all the way through the Level 1 workout without turning off the DVD before the cool-down!  That in and of itself is an accomplishment.  I know that with some determination that I will be able to see huge benefits from this program.

After completing today's workout I felt invigorated and motivated to keep moving.  So I strapped my son into the stroller and with him and my mother I walked 4 miles.  My legs are exhausted and I feel more tired than I have in a long time, but being able to say that I did both (and can still bend over to pick up my son... at least for the time being) is something that I am extremely proud of.

And as an added bonus my sister has agreed to join me for a little "Shred Challenge".  During the next 3 months my sister and I will be doing the 30 Day Shred program, moving through the different levels each month.  You will see her stats for weekly weigh-ins and monthly measurements along with mine, at least for the duration of the challenge, as well as before and after pictures so you can *hopefully* see the results of the program.  (Or until either one of us gives up, but I'm hoping that will not happen).  Each month we will determine who the "winner" is and she will be treated by the "loser" to a non-food prize of her choice... to be redeemed when I visit her in June.

The best part is that no matter which one of us loses the most each month we will both be losing weight and getting ready for Summer!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

30 Day Shred

A number of years ago I purchased the workout DVD Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.  Since then I have put the DVD into the player all of 3 times, and never actually succeeded in finishing a workout without stopping.  My last attempt was about a month after my son was born.  One day was enough to convince me that it would be unwise to continue as I was a Stay-At-Home Mom and with no help lifting my child I could quickly end up in trouble. So back on the shelf it went.

I am blessed with having my mother in town to visit for the next two weeks.  So in addition to spending time with her, and seeing the sights of Atlanta with her and my aunt who will be in for the second week, I decided that there was no better time to jump into the program than now.  I have an extra hand to help if I have a hard time lifting my now much heavier son, and hopefully by the end of the two weeks she is here my body will have adjusted and I'll be able to function on my own.

For those who have not heard of the program 30 Day Shred is an intense workout program designed to make you lose inches and pounds in just 30 days.  20 minutes long, the workout includes a warm-up and cool-down section, as well as three circuits consisting of 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of ab work.  It is a deceptively difficult workout, and I could not get through it without stopping a couple of times. 

An added bonus is that there are three different levels of workouts on the DVD.  I have only ever tried Level 1, and will stick to this one for quite some time.  I assume that they progress in difficulty, which is nice because as you become accustomed to one workout you can challenge your body by switching things up.  Not to mention that if you decide to stick with each level for 30 days each you now have 90 days of fat burning challenges to help you get in shape.

Over the next month (pending me actually being able to stick to the program) I will share my results with the program.  Here's hoping that I can walk after the first day and that I see results fairly soon!

Monday, March 12, 2012

3/12/2012 Weekly Check-In

New Starting Weight: 195.1 lbs

I welcome you all... and myself... back to my journey for a healthier life style.  This is my first week truly focusing on making the healthy changes in my life and that of my family since the death of my father.   It has been a roller coaster, but I am finally coming to terms with our loss and I am determined more than ever to change my health and be a better role model for my family.

In the coming weeks I hope to share with you the little changes we plan on making in our life.  But for today I will simply share with you my "new" starting point.  If you look back through my posts (yes, I know you don't have to look far) you can see the toll in my weight that emotional eating has had on me.  And while I am starting 10 lbs higher than I did last October it makes me even more aware of the struggles I have ahead.

This will by no means be an easy journey.  And anyone who joins me on this quest should know up front that it takes a great deal of planning, execution, and willpower to make the types of changes I have planned for myself and my family.  Recognizing this is the first step towards success.  The second is knowing that while you may slip off of your intended path that each day presents a new opportunity for success.

Don't let your previous failures sabotage your future.  Learn from them, for they can provide valuable information regarding your weakness so that you can adapt.  Then let them go.  Embrace the changes you want to make and the person you want to be.  And get up make yourself a healthy snack and get out and get active.  That's what I'm going to do starting right now.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Back on the Wagon

The last few months have been very difficult ones for me.  In November I lost my father, and his loss has brought up a lot of issues that I had buried for a long time.  In my last post a few months ago I discussed how I am an emotional eater, especially in times of stress.  Well, these have been very stressful months for me.  So for those of you who have visited my blog and seen that it has not been updated in quite some time I apologize and I hope that you will join me as I get back on the wagon.