I think it might happen today...

but we'll wait and see!

I finally got off most of that little gain there and have kicked in to gear with food a little better. Sunday (except for a friend's amazing dinner!) and yesterday were good eating days for me - and I feel confident about today's food intake. I made a meal plan for the whole week until Friday and went to the store. The only thing I bought that wasn't on my list was some hard-boiled eggs (and that's just because I forgot to put it on my list). :)

I got up, and prepared my lunch. Much easier than I thought, of course, but I had already showered and weighed in, so I was excited to go make that mamma-jamma salad.

So, 39.2. Please, Please, Please let me hit 40 today!

p.s. - Does anyone know a good recipe for a low-cal/low-fat/something healthier than Pillsbury pie crust?

September has been so crazy!

I am sad to say that I've gained a tiny bit. :o( In the last 2 weeks (one of which was my "time of the month," I've gained 2.6 pound.) BUMMER!

Why is it so hard to stick with it when you're so busy! I've GOT to make eating right a priority! The workouts aren't a problem. I never miss (except one day this week because of work and 1/2 of another day this week because of a class I attended at church) going to the gym and even added a day to my week starting in September.

Honestly, I can say what the trouble is... I've gotten VERY slack in the eating department. I'm not going majorly overboard (eating like I used to), but busyness has kept me from planning well and making good choices.

So, while I was ever so close to the 40 pound loss mark, I haven't made it. Yet.

I will. I know it. I'm not going to stop.

Oh My Gosh Oh My Gosh Oh My Gosh

Since I had that gain over last weekend, I've been trying to watch everyday just to make sure it was coming back off... and it was, little by little, but I wasn't updating the ticker... I knew that I was supposed to officially wait until Sunday. But today is Friday and I'm to my lowest!!!!!!

39.6 pounds lost. I'm over the "need to lose over 200 pounds" hump, too! 198.2 away. Gosh, that seems like so much! And it is... it's more than any of my friends weigh! eek!

Last night, I watched my neice for a couple of hours while her parents went to dinner with a client's family (they are all out of towners and had to meet in to my city for something happening today) and when she got in the car, I was so dumb and said, "hey... do you see how skinny I'm getting?" ha! But guess what she said... "well, i just think you look very beautiful." i almost cried. :) Of course when I brought her home, I made her repeat it to my friend and roommates. haha.

I didn't want to share this with my family yet because we'll be having a short family vacation in just over a month and I wanted to be able to say, "I've lost 50 pounds since the last time you saw me!" When my sister came and picked up my neice last night, though, she said, "Um... so how much weight have you lost?" :) I don't know if she asked because I was still nasty from the gym (ha!) or if she really noticed. I didn't want to find out... so I just said "close to 40 pounds." Little did I know, I really was that close! She smiled big and nodded. Then I said, "Don't tell mom!"

Ahhh...so happy to start my weekend like this. It's been a suberbly awful week at work!

Monday Check-In

Hi all. Thanks for checking in.

I did have a little bit of a gain this week - 1.2 pounds. :o(
I figured it was coming, though, because I've eaten terribly this week - just not made wise choices, you know?

As far as the working out goes, that's staying steady, strong, and growing in intensity... so I feel proud about that.

I met with my trainer on Monday, last week, on Labor Day - I thought that would be a good day to schedule it so that I wouldn't be temped to sit around the house all day and snack, you know? She gave me an even more intense workout for this month... and I'm "doing it" but I'm not "loving it." It's just hard, that's all... you know?

For example, the very first (of the 7) weight training exercises she's having me do each day (now 4 times a week) is a stairs exercise. It's the set of stairs you use in a step-aerobics class.... 4 stacks high. So I do that, 15 times per leg, twice. That's the first thing I do - so I'm already pouring sweat and out of breath! Each time, already, it's getting "easier," though, so that's good - I just really hate to sweat like that... gross.

Then I do other various things - flat bench press (45 (just the bar) pounds, then 50 pounds), a Romanian dead lift (sort of like a squat with weights), a cross fly exercise, a straight bar over-head bicep press, then a tricep/bicep machine... then comes cardio, of course.

On Saturday (the weather wasn't great around here... Thanks to Hurricaine Hanna), the gym was so empty. I mean, seriously... I think there were 2 people there when my friend and I got there. As the morning went on, a few more sprinkled in, but all-in-all, it was desserted. Anyway, as the mintues went by on my walk on the treadmill (I'm trying to stay around 2.5 as an average speed for the 30 minutes now - still slow, I know - but last year when I was going to the gym (very, very, very rarely)... it was tough for me to stay at at 2 for very long) I decided that I would try to "jog" a little. My friends that go with me are runners, so they do that near me while I walk. I'm not intimidated by that at all... go for it! But since no one was really around to watch my body do that running thing, I thought I would try. I couldn't believe it! I jogged!
I only did two 1-minute intervals, but my 30 minutes were almost done before I decided to do it... so I could maybe have done a couple more. My heart rate got kind of high, but I kept my breathing really slow and stopped to let my heard calm down... and it was SUPER hot in the gym that day... but otherwise, I did it okay.

I couldn't believe it!

Now, normally, the gym is pretty crowded at night when I go... so I don't know how I'll get the nerve to run tonight, but we'll see...

i'm still here

no worries - i'm still hanging on.

i didn't even realize it had been 2 weeks since i had updated the blog until today... when i came to post my recent loss. not very much, but i'm so happy to see 340 on the scale. wow... 37 pounds lost!

it's been a crazy 2 weeks, and my eating hasn't always been the greatest, but i've been steady at the gym, so that's been good.

i go today to meet with my trainer for my monthly training. the last time i met with her (at the end of July), i got a more intense workout, and was quite fearful that i wouldn't be able to do it steadily. i've been suprised at myself, though - so while i am a little intimidated at what she might give me today, i feel sure that i can work toward doing it well.

also this week, i move from going 3 times a week to 4 times a week. i'll go mondays, tuesdays, thursday and saturdays. i hope that give me a little boost so that i can see a 40 pound loss soon. i have about 5 weeks to meet a 50 pound goal i set a while back. i'll be seeing my family for the first time since all this began, and they don't know i'm doing anything for weightloss/change. i really hope they can tell... especially if i get to the point of having a 50 pound loss. i will be so sad if they can't even tell! :o(

well, i'm going to make a grocery list so that i can go to the store after the gym, so i'm off for today... thanks for checking up on me!

a week gone

today it's been a week since my friend's had a baby... then lost him only moments later.

this was the trial i briefly shared with you in my last post.

continue to remember them in your prayers as they cling to the only true hope - Christ alone.

on the weight front... i'm down another pound.  34.8 is my total as of this morning.

i haven't had the best (not the worst either) week as far as eating goes (mostly because of the hectic week of schedule with the friends i mentioned), and i missed the gym to attend the baby's memorial/worship service (which i'm so thankful for...wow what a testimony!) - but was glad to be back in there this morning.  

i stayed steady at 3.0mph on the treadmill for about 90-95% of my 30 minutes (after my hour of weight training) so i was really proud of that.  i burned over 400 calories! (based on what the machine said...) yay!

a friend is in town for the weekend, so the food could potentially be a disaster again... eek!

a little more...

well, i'm down another almost 1/2 pound. 33.8 is my total. i haven't seen the weight 344 in a long time. it's still a bad number, of course but i'm forever to stay under 350. i mean that.

my friends and i are in the midst of some trials right now - as we spend time with friends who are grieving. emotional eating can take over... so while you pray for my friends, pray for me, too.

Over the hump!

YAY!

I really need to work on my patience.

33.4 pounds!
85 days at the gym, 108 days all together.

This is the most ever! YAY...

********
update - i just realized that i'm now up to 14% of my goal... and i've lost 8.8 percent of my weight. woo!!!

seriously...

i found this picture on google images. it make me nod my head. so, here you go.

i'm back down 31 pounds, which is great, but i'm growing impatient in getting over the 32 pound hump. hopefully by the end of the week, we'll see some change in the numbers. erg!

This is becoming a big deal to me...

For two weeks now, I've been teetering between the 32 and 29 pound weight loss. TWO WEEKS. I know what you're going to say... believe me.


But really, it would be so great if I could just jump back over that 32 pound total and keep running that number up, you know?


After I got sick, I thought it would take me a few days to get the ice-cream/laying-around-being-pouty weight off, but just about the time that was all coming off, I started my period again. On Sunday, my legs were so tight and swollen. BLEH! I'm still trying to drink water, but it makes me want to dry out! lol.


I got a new "routine" with my trainer last Friday after work, as well... and it's getting more intense. I begin sweating pretty much right away... and she's having me do more things each time, too... plus an extra set. So three sets of 7 exercises before my cardio instead of 2 sets of 4 exercises. WHEW! Monday night I did pretty good, I think... and even increased on one exercise already (not for the full three sets, but I tried to "burn out" on the third set on the "smith machine," not that I even know what "smith machine" means...)


My new routine:

Killer Walk - (three sets of this) - stay in a squatted position, hold a 10-pound medicine ball, and do a side step walk (about 15-17 paces long) and come back. So approx. thirty paces per set.


Balance Lunges - (again, three sets... but mine look a little different for now) - Spread feet apart like scissors - pretty far apart... so that your back foot is only leaning on your toes (like a runner would have his back foot before taking off) Front foot is flat. Now squat. Back straight. Go as far down as possible - with your back knee headed toward the ground. EEK! These really burn... and I have to do 10 on each leg at a time for now. I usually can't get thru the 3 sets. I also have to at least have my hand pressed on a side wall - or I fall over.


Smith Machine - it's basically a bench press. I'm lying back on a bench that is slightly tilted up, not flat. The bar is actually attached to the machine - it's not a free bar that wobbles around. You "unhook" it by twisting and do bench presses. 20 of them. Three sets. Right now I'm doing 10 pound weights (in addition to the weight of the bar). This was the one I "burned out" on last night. My third set was 12.5 pound weights on each side instead of 10. hehe. HEY! Don't laugh.

Straight BiCep Curl - just a short barbell, thirty pounds, bicep curl (with elbows held still pressed into my sides) - twenty of those, three times. Usually, I can do 2.5 times.

Tricep Extension - it's a pull down exercise - 40 pounds - (elbows held still, pressed into my sides) - twenty of those, three times. Usually, I can do 2.5 times.

Row - That's not the full name of it - but I can't remember. I'm seated still on a bench and my legs at straight out on foot pads - knees slightly bent. Back straight. There is a v-grip that I pull toward me. Again, twenty times, three sets. I think I do this one on 60 pounds.

Stability Ball Crunches - This one had to be modified because I'm just not ready to lay down on an exercise ball. What if it bursts? I don't think I could ever open my eyes again. I'd have to just wait until everyone left the gym, then I'd run out to my car and never come back. Seriously. So for now, we do them either on a bench or on the floor. Me? I'm doing them in my room at home. I hate being layed out like that in front of people. 20 of those, three times.

I think that's it. I don't mean like "that's all..." but just that I'm done with the list. :)

Anyway. Whew. Then I do my 30 minutes on the treadmill. I'm up to being able to stay steady pretty much the entire 30 minutes at about a 2.4-2.6 speed. I do the fat burn setting, so it moves me up and down from 3.0 to 5.5 incline for the entire 30 minutes. Hope it's working... and that this weight non-movement is from fat being replaced with muscle.

want to tell me about your gym time?