Feeling of progress!

So- Today I finally lost another pound! That means I've lost a total of 8 lbs! I'm so happy, mostly because I'm finally below 150lbs! Only 2 lbs away from my bet with Dave to lose 10 lbs first. And for those of you who have been following along, I did not work out that day, I decided I really needed to have a day off. So I did, then I worked out the next day, and then yesterday was another day off, today again i kicked my butt and I will again tomorrow. Especially since I am now seeing some results =]. I know I'll be able to do this, and get down to what I want to look like! Its going to be amazing when I get there! I'm not sure what brought on this confidence but whatever it was I'm grateful for it!

Wish me luck!

To work out or not...

Today was my day to relax, or relax as much as one can when they have to work. I've worked out 6 days in a row and today I needed a break. It was a day for my mom and I, for us to both have a day off, one of a few before I move to Colorado. We had decided a few months back to try to visit as many Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives as possible in the az before I leave, and so far we had only made it to 2 places - Thee Pitts Again and Al Forno's... So after contemplation- We decided to go to Giuseppe's on 28th, and we shared our meal, and it was delicious. I still feel like I should be working out tonight, like I'm cheating, and cheating doesn't help my situation at all. My mom says I deserve a day to myself, but to me I feel like I should just cut back, ya know just do a 20 minute workout instead of the normal 60-80 minute workout. That way its enough to make me feel like I did something but is also a break from the normal. I dunno, I'm just not sure what I should do. Want a break, but feel the need to keep it going.

Wish me luck.

Feeling a little disappointed...

So, I've been at this for a few weeks now, 2 months from when I came back from Disney, strict fitness and weight loss for about 3-4 weeks of that... And I feel like I'm stuck. My starting weight was 157 lbs, and my starting body fat was 35%. In 2 months I've lost 7 lbs and 4.5% body fat. Which is awesome, however in the last week and a half or 2 weeks I haven't lost a pound! And I've only lost .5% body fat in that time! I feel like I'm busing my ass with little result. Its really disappointing.

Food wise I've been eating pretty healthy, I mean my calorie counts over the last 3 weeks (thanks to livestrongs - the daily plate for making it an easy comparison) has only ranged from 900-1500 calories, with only 2 days being above 1350! And those 2 days happened to be a family bbq and a special night out with the family to Outback steakhouse... And most of the days my net calories are anywhere from 700-900 calories after working out, minus my days off which are still in the 1000-1200 calorie range... I feel that with keeping track like this and being sure to put every little thing I put in my mouth on here, keeping track like no tomorrow, I should be dropping weight super quickly, and unfortunately I'm not.

I've noticed that I like working out 2 day on, 1 day off, 2 days on, 1 day off, and I'm trying to get passed that to doing 6 days a week. Its been hard to but today is day 5 for this week! Although yesterday I only did a 20 minute work out, i figure 20 minutes is better than nothing. I've maintained doing my fitness DVDs, which kick my ass every time I do them. "Burn It Up" by Slim in 6 is a staple and so are The Biggest Loser "Cardio Max" and "Boot Camp". Every day I do them I'm sweating within 10-15 minutes, and I keep that up for 50minutes to an hour!

I'm just really disappointed that I'm not losing weight as quickly as I feel I should. I'm still not down the 10 lbs I bet my boyfriend I could be before him. Granted he isn't either, but I really want to be the one to pick where we go on out "first date" back together after being apart for 8 months. And after 8 weeks of working at it, and 4 weeks of that, kicking my ass, I feel I should be there already. I'm not going to stop at it, I just need to re-evaluate the way I'm eating and the times I'm working out and adjust to make this a more successful fitness plan. Today so far has been an excellent day with an 80 minute cardio kick, doing both burn it up and level 3 cardio max! I've also eaten very healthy today with protein powder oatmeal for breakfast and lunch being turkey lunchmeat and a slice of cheese. Dinner I'm unsure about but I'm determined to make it a healthy option!

Wish me luck.

Just one of those days...

Today was just one of those days... you know, where you're just tired most of the day, mentally... Physically I felt like I had all the energy in the world but my brain was working in slow motion. I still managed to work out today after I got off of work and after dinner, which was a tasty bbq chicken salad. Still having an issue with Kraft light ranch dressing, but nothing I can do about it... other than no eat it anymore, and once the bottle is gone, that will be it.

While working out tonight I did feel awfully exhausted, my asthma seemed to kick in earlier than it usually does during the same workout. I also had to take more water breaks than I usually do. I'm not sure what this means, other than maybe I was pushing myself too hard, too many days in a row.

Tomorrow is Les Mills Bodycombat with my mom, she is a veteran of doing that system, and I've never done it before. I'm excited though, I like to switch up my dvds and fitness classes, and what better way than to do it with mom!

Refridgerated pools?

Although today was a fairly uneventful day, I feel tired today. I kicked my ass in my workout (burn it up, slim in 6) and then went swimming (only for about 10 mins). Why you ask, did I swim for only 10 mins? Well... I jumped in just after my workout, dripping sweat, super hot and in need of something refreshing, and I jumped into the pool expecting it to be like 86 degrees or something around there, and it was 92 degrees... It was hotter in my pool than it was for a high in Denver today... How could that possibly be refreshing? Oh wait, it couldn't! So I jumped in swam for a minute or two then jumped out to have the breeze cool me off (it was unseasonably windy today), did that a few times until I just didn't want to anymore. You see, our cool decking got a new sealant put on it about 6 months ago, and it didn't take, so the cool decking is about 120 degrees which was hard to stand on while cooling off... All in all, an annoying day for swimming. I know there are such things as heated pools, why are there not such things as refridgerated pools for those of us living in the desert? Aside from that, and cooking a veggie burger for dinner, I didn't really do anything...

Overcoming Difficulties

I've noticed that I have days where I really want to work out, but I'm just so tired. Long days at work, lots of running around, whatever the reason I have a hard time pushing myself to work out. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But I try to at least do something, even if its just 2 sets of 10 push ups, or a couple sets of crunches, anything to at least burn a couple calories and make me feel like I didn't waste a day. Other days I would shorten my workout from 1 hour to 20 minutes. A good set of DVDs to do this are "The Biggest Loser" dvds, they are customizable to how long you want them, and you can do a 5 minute warm up, 10 minute work out, and 5 minute cool down. Its enough to make it feel like you did something worth while but not so long that you drain yourself. It is also a good thing for if you are running out of time or just need to fit in a quick workout. The point is to do something, anything to get yourself moving, if its taking your dogs for a walk or going window shopping at the mall, but speed walking while doing it, or swimming. Anything that will keep you moving that day to help out with the exhaustion that seems to happen every so often.

The Epiphany

When I returned home from Disney, staying with my parents for 2 months, I decided I needed to get in shape, mostly because I needed an outlet to get out my frustration and aggravation about random situations (that lets admit, we all have). Not just that but after being away from my boyfriend for 5 months and another 2 on the way I wanted to look amazing the next time I saw him. Not because he would love me any less looking the way I looked coming home from Disney, because he would, but because I wanted it, for me, to look better. It was finally that time- to take charge of my life and make it happen.

My dad offered to pay for a 1 month membership to the gym my mom goes to, but to do that would have cost $59, which even though my dad would be paying for, I didn't want him to have to pay that much. At that point I started looking at other options. My mom has always been one to get random fitness things and had Slim-in-6 on dvd so I decided I would just do that for a few weeks and see how it went. The first week went well, I worked out 5 out of those 6 days that you are 'supposed' to. However once the 2nd week came around to do the "Start It Up" dvd, I was bored! SO BORED! (Which tends to be a reoccurring factor with me in all aspects of my life, but I can't be alone in that right?). Being bored slowed me down a little bit, I found myself not wanting to work out that week, just because I didn't want to do the same thing day after day, so I decided to skip up to the "Ramp It Up" dvd, and that helped drastically. I felt the burn again and was suddenly motivated once again to get into shape.

After a week of "Ramp It Up" it happened again, I was bored. Luckily there was a third dvd to this program "Burn It Up", and although you aren't supposed to start that one until you've mastered both of the other programs, I couldn't do those anymore they were too boring. The third dvd kicked my butt! The first time I felt like I was going to die, it was so intense, I was sweating within the first 15 minutes which was nice for a change I finally felt challenged, in a good way. Towards the end of the workout I didn't think I was going to make it, but finally just as I couldn't do anymore, it was over. I was so relieved, proud... exhausted. This continued for a couple of days. I seemed to be maintaining a 2 days on 1 day off workout schedule, which worked for me, it still gave me about 5 days a week but with a day off in the middle so I didn't feel overwhelmed or exhausted. And before I knew it after 3 weeks of working out I was down 4% bodyfat and 7 lbs!

Aside from the workout aspect I decided I needed to keep a handle on what I was eating regularly to see what could be improved upon. A few years ago I had found the daily plate which is a food tracking website that has just about every food on the planet on it to enter into your food journal. I started tracking my food intake, not just major things, but minor things too, every single thing I put into my body I put on this site. It helped a lot, I realized how much I was overeating in certain aspects of my life. Excess in snacking, drinks, and in going out to eat. This taught me to be a little more conscious of what I was putting into my body. I stopped drinking soda alltogether and decreased the juices to a minimum, allowing usually just 1 glass in the morning with breakfast. I started eating healthier snacks like a handful of almonds or a Fiber One bar instead of a candybar, something just as satisfing but that would keep me feeling full longer, making it so I would eat a little less.

Although keep in mind I like the taste of Fiber One bars, you may not, this doesn't mean you have to eat them, just try to find something that is high in fiber, lower in sugar, higher in protein and lower in calories, so that it keeps you feeling satisfied longer. Even something like a Nutrigrain bar is better than a candybar. It has more of a natural sugar rather than refined sugar and is filling with whole grains. The point is- don't just do things because its what someone else did, find something that you like to do in order to make this a lasting situation.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be to keep a food journal, espcially using the daily plate. If you have a blackberry or iphone, they even have applications you can download so you can do this straight from your phone as you are eating regardless of where you are. It is more convenient than ever, and makes it so much easier to keep track of things. It also helped me to make a more educated decision on what I was eating when I went out to eat, especially if I was going to a place that doesn't have the nutrition info listed. I could look things up before I left the house to give me an idea of what would be a healthier option when I did go so that I wouldn't feel excluded by not being able to eat out cause "I'm on a diet." Come on you know, you've all heard that excuse used by someone or you yourself have used that excuse. Well I'm here to tell you that you don't have to use it! You can still go out to eat with friends and family and eat normal food. You may have to compromise a little, for instance- if I'm going to eat some of the bread that is brought to the table before the meal (or chips and salsa) I make sure to eat a meal that has veggies instead of mashed potatoes. Just little things that help lower the calorie count to make it a little healthier.

In the beginning...

Ok, so here is some back story. I've struggled with my weight all my life, well most of it, and for all of my adult life. I've had skinny times and fat times just like most of us, but unfortunately my fat times have been more prevalent than fat times. At my skinniest I was at 138 lbs after doing the Cookie Diet, which helped me lose 20 lbs. Unfortunately while in culinary school with my hectic schedule I managed to gain it all back. My problem was I lacked the time to work out... Seems like a lame excuse (typical but lame), but that was my excuse. Once out of culinary school I moved to Florida to do my externship working for Disney. Which was an amazing experience but not so much for the weighloss aspect of it. There wasn't room in the fridge for healthful foods (sharing an apartment with 5 other girls) and Disney serves HUGE portions, which are so amazingly tastey that you eat the entire thing. I was there for 5 months and upon my return decided I needed to do something. So here we are. The beginning of my road to fitness.