Approximately 180 Days

I'm thinking about trying South Beach. As in, I think I'll start right now. I'm going grocery shopping tonight anyway.

Do you think I can run the first few days off the information on the internet? I've requested the book from the library, but it has to transfer in from another branch.

Made it to the gym. I did 20 minutes at 3.5 mph at level 5, so I was cruisin'. By the time I was finished I was sweating so I did get a work out. I then went and did some arm machines and the thigh machine.

I probably won't get there tomorrow, but Cj will be home Friday and I said I'd meet my friend there at 9:30. Always helps when you have a workout buddy.

Sliding back into old habits, that's where :(

Maybe it is because I haven't been to the gym (except yesterday) for over two weeks, but I haven't been eating well lately. Just lots of carbs and no enough fruits and veggies. I haven't lost any weight for a couple of weeks and I keep bouncing up and down the same 3 pounds.

I thought that with the longer days and better moods, I'd be more motivated to workout but that hasn't happened.

So what I am going to do is instead of working out for 40 minutes every few days, I am going to just get to the gym and do 20 minutes in the treadmill every day. My reasoning behind this is that I have started to dread doing 40+ minutes on the treadmill but that first 20 minutes is really easy. If I don't dread going to the gym I will actually go there. Maybe "dread" is too strong a word, but the feeling I get when I think of walking for 40 minutes on the treadmill is pretty blah. Since I am all about avoiding blah as much as possible, I then avoid the gym.

If there was another cardio that I could do, I would. I can manage about 10 minutes on the elliptical before my feet go numb and then I don't want to walk on the tread because my feet are numb :( So I think this might be a workable solution. I have the time to get there for 30 minutes, but sometimes I don't have the time to spend more than that there. We'll see how it goes.

I need some more inches gone to motivate me some more.

So, whereis everyone today?

The past few days haven't been all that great for me food-wise. I've been eating some things I haven't had for awhile. Thursday I pigged out on mini-donuts and cheetos. I had cheetos on Friday and yesterday, too. Well, and this morning as well. I've been having a roast beef sandwich in a whole grain pita for breakfast and lunch lately, with the cheetos on the side. After my pig-out on Thursday, I've only been having the cheetos in moderation (about a serving based on the nutritional info). I haven't had any more donuts, but I did have a blueberry muffin yesterday. Yesterday was kind weird for food, too. For dinner I had pizza (no sauce), some cornchips with cheese dip, and a light ice cream banana split for dessert. And lots of water. I went to bed early (10:30) and when I got on the scale this morning (fully clothed) I weighed in at 219! This means that since I normally weigh without clothes, I probably would have been around 217. Woo!

Makes me happy, happy. I'd like to lose 10 more by Easter, but unless I get very serious about what I am eating I don't see it happening. Five pounds is entirely doable. I can set ten as my goal, though.

Come on, set a goal with me! It can be anything, it doesn't have to be weightloss. It can be exercising, trying something new, whatever.

My goal: 10 lbs down by April 8.



What's yours? Post it here in your own entry.

I made it to the gym 3x this week, the most I've done in a while. I didn't do any of the machines, I just did the treadmill.

I've been stuck at this plateau weight-wise. I just can't seem to get below 220 on a consistent basis. This morning I was down to 218.4, the lowest I have weighed in at since about May of last year. This does make me happy, but I can't seem to keep my weight there. I go up and down the same 3 or 4 pounds and that's where I have been stuck for the past two weeks.

A couple of things I have noticed on South Beach. I just don't have the same bursts of energy that I had before. I guess this means the diet is actually doing what is it supposed to be doing, and that is keeping my sugar levels even. However, it is very apparent when I eat more sugar than I am supposed to because I feel like I have all the energy in the world and I can do anything. Most days, while I am not feeling tired or anything, I just don't have that "ooomph!" that I get from a sugar burst. It's an interesting thing.

It's about half way to my first six months of trying to take better care of myself. What is different? I have lost weight, I have changed my eating habits (to an extent...I still eat too *much* but at least it is stuff that is better for me) and I exercise pretty regularly. This is a big thing, and at this point it feels pretty much "normal". For awhile I was doing great where I was getting to bed earlier, too, and I fell off that wagon. I need to get back on because it's all part of this. I need more than 5 hours a sleep a night. Even if I don't have to get up with the kids in the morning, once the sun is up and the kids are awake, the quality of sleep is not the same and I can really feel that. Maybe that's a reason why my weight loss has stalled. I have seen the correlation before.

I've been doing fairly well. I'm down 3 pounds in the last two weeks, which I'll attribute almost entirely to not eating a giant mocha java and bakery muffin for breakfast. (More cash in my pocket too.) I've been putting half and half in the work coffee and while that's not super healthy, I'm finding I don't really need that much of it for the coffee to taste decent and I still feel like I'm getting a treat. So, yeah.

I've been pretty good about packing my lunch and the day I ate out I got a big salad from Macy's. It was delicious and I think my budget will allow one or two of those a week. It motivates me to walk the skyways on my lunch break and it's a tasty way to add more protein to my lunches since I'm not so smart on what to pack from home yet.

Big deal tomorrow -- I'm going back to yoga for the first time in almost a year. My gym has a new beginning yoga class at a time I can actually make. Keeping my fingers crossed. I really hope I can get back into this. (I told my husband he was getting me yoga pants for Valentine's Day.)

My big 6 month, being ready for the chick hike, is being postponed. The spring hike would take me out of town the entire Memorial Day Weekend and while I really want to do the hike, I don't want to miss a holiday weekend AND my birthday. There's another hike in October and I'm planning on signing up for that. Lake Superior is beautiful in the fall (and significantly less muddy.)

Okay...

Since the day after Christmas I have been mindful of my bad carb intake, as I have insulin resistance and when I eat bad carbs, I gain weight like I'm taking it in through my breath. I am happy to say I have stopped the crazy cycle of weight gain-weight loss by eating really healthy foods and being very mindful of my portions, and I am holding steady for now.

I have not been at my gym -I got a second job instead - but once that gym turns to a 24-hour, I will be a few feet from that gym after my second job hours, so three days a week I'll be right there to work out as soon as I leave work!

Also, I have slowly started introducing myself to my at-home elliptical, which is a ball buster compared to the ones at the gym.

I have not yet successfully incorporated regular exercise regiment into my schedule, but I am making head-way on the food front, which motivates me. It has helped a great deal with depression and feeling awful, so that is something. I need help with the gym factor and the "get off your ass and move" factor, but it's slowly creeping into my life.

Knowing my pals are doing it really helps.

Check out the articles Lift your Spirits and Winter Blues, and Gentle Yoga and - heck, go exploring!

Beating the Winter Blues

Last night I freaked out to see that a can of Squirt pop is over 100 calories per can. It's like 120 or 140 or something. Who needs that shit? Especially when you consider this tasty morsel of information:

400 extra calories per day at 365 days a year = 146,000 extra calories per year.
Divide 146,000 calories by 3,500 (the number of calories in a pound) and you get:
42 extra pounds per year!

When it's all spelled out for me that way, sheeeeet, I don't need all of what I consume, I swear. i like healthy foods, but I know my portions are not what skinny folk eat. HAIL NAW. So I think i need to strike soda pop completely from the law books, and really think about how much good-for-me chicken I really need to eat in one sitting. Unitl I am no longer hungry is the rule of thumb. But it's hard to think when you are hungry. I guess the rule is not to get yourself to that point of being really hungry, hungry to the point that you cannot think about what you - I - am shoveling down my gullet.

I went out to eat with my mom and sister today. We went to one of those awesome Greek places that has EVERYTHING under the sun. I could have had an omelette, a gyros sandwich, all sorts of pies and fried stuff, but i ordered broiled tilapia and steamed broccoli with a baked potato. I felt kind of sorry for myself - my mom was digging into her juicy, greasy patty melt - but as soon as i began eating, i knew i made the right choice. it was yummy and delicious, and I knew I was doing myself a big favor by eating right.

Tomorrow I am eating fish and crab and mussels, and i know I may be picking on a taco salad as well, so I want to be careful about what i put in my mouth. It'll be a long road, but i know I have to watch portions in order to get healthy. It's so easy for me to snack and eat until I am stuffed beyond reason over the holidays; there is so much good "bad" food all around. I have to get a handle of what is enough to eat, and what is overdoing a good thing.

Who knows where I'll be in three months, but I am trying to set my mind into doing what's right so I am 30 pounds lighter by then, and well on my way to better health.