Short and Sweet

Day 1 down!

Hauled my butt outta bed at 5:45 and onto the elliptical by 6:15. I only did 20 minutes but I’m starting out slow. Going too hard, too fast makes me resent the exercise and this time around I need to move! I am feeling those 20 minutes this evening in my hips. I reached my fitbit step goal for the first time in forever!

Foodwise, I didn’t struggle today. My theory is that my body still has some sugar and fat reserves so my cravings and hunger should hit me tomorrow.  I did decide that the points I use to have my one cup of coffee in the morning aren’t worth it. I like my coffee sweet and light and I could definitely use those points better. So, bye bye caffeine.

All in all, today was successful (EXCEPT that my tv bit the dust and we had to fork out $900 for a new one!). I’m still looking forward hopeful and excited!

This is titled “Short and Sweet” because I’m exhausted and still have a bunch of stuff to do before I fall down dead in my bed.

Thanks for reading!

Last Hoo-rah?

Welcome to Friday folks!

Sitting here planning my weeks to come with Monday being the day we switch over to Weight Watchers Freestyle and I get my butt in gear and start moving my body. I don’t have unreachable goals, I just need to stick with it so I can reach them. I’d like to be under 200 lbs for the first time in forever! Each time I do this (try to get healthy) that is the goal I’m trying to obtain. A few years ago, my husband and I did a diet called “The Pink Method” and I did lose like 35 lbs and felt great but we just couldn’t keep going with the strict food limits. It wasn’t a realistic life change. It wasn’t sustainable. We eventually became rebellious and began to resent the program and just went crazy eating whatever we wanted and as much as we wanted. It sure didn’t take long to get back to right where I was weight wise.

I’m hoping Weight Watchers will give me the ability to eat well but still have a little bit of the things I love without feeling guilty and in turn giving up. When I tried it early in May last year, I don’t remember feeling starved but I didn’t seek out enough support. With my husband joining me this time it should make things easier!

I will spend the next few days enjoying left over christmas treats and we have a final christmas dinner with my husbands side of the family (was so hard to get everyone together during the holidays) on Sunday. Then bring on Monday! I’m ready to get started.

So, all in all, I’m hopeful. Let’s do this!

Fit Before 40

How many times have I done this?

How many times have I started and stopped?

I will be 40 this year. I’ve always told myself I’ve still got time to get my sh*t together before its too late. Before I’m old and achy. Before things have gone too far. Before I have diabetes. But that door is closing. Potential mid life. I’d like to spend this next half of my life feeling better in my body and my mind.

I’ve been overweight since I was 19 years old.

20 years…

20 years of tired. 20 years of disappointment in my body. 20 years of a screwed up back. 20 years of excuses.

Things need to be different. I need to get off some of my medications. I don’t want to end up a diabetic. I want to feel energetic.  So I need a plan.

Luckily I have one! A plan that is…

Both my husband and I have joined Weight Watchers. I tried this program for a 3 month period early last year and lost a little weight but failed to follow through when the person I signed up with never really participated. Another excuse, I know… I need to do this for me and with me but having some support would be super great! Being on the same plan as my husband will make meal times so much easier since we’ll be following the same route.

Exercise! This is where I usually lack. I go too hard off the bat and can’t maintain so I give up. I need to find a routine that will start me off slow (any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!). More research needed! Things need to change, just not all at once.

So, here I am. Starting. Taking this week to figure things out and on Monday, its on! I’m hoping sharing what I go through will help me sort everything out and keep me on track.  If anyone has taken the time to read this, thank you.  There will be more to come.

Heres to a year of changes and entering my 40th year on this earth as a healthier, smaller person!

 

Week One

First week, done!

Overall it was a good week. My eating was on track but I also gave myself a couple of indulgences (2 glasses of wine and a 6″Subway sub). I pushed myself to get on the treadmill 5 out of 7 days. I made my activity goals on those 5 days but without those treadmill steps, it’s really difficult to reach my daily activity requirements.

Let’s get to the good stuff…

I lost 4.1 lbs! There’s no better feeling that stepping on that scale and expecting a couple of lb loss and seeing double! I know that not every week will have numbers like this but seeing that makes me ready and willing to do it all again this week. My husband and I have been down this road before, lose weight, do well, slip back to old habits, put it all back on again. Usually since he’s a man, he loses considerably more than I do each week. But this week, we were pretty even (he lost 4.6)! I attribute it to my exercise and it only makes what I already know to be true even clearer, I MUST EXERCISE TO BE SUCCESSFUL!

Mind set, mind set, mind set.

Goal!

Yep, yep. Made my steps today! It was a bit of push since I’m feeling rather stiff and sore from hitting my step goals for the last three days but I did it. Just a little “Yay me!” post.

Onward and downward!

So, yeah.

**Sneaks quietly back in, head bowed in shame.**

So, yeah. I disappeared, lost my way. Returned to old habits and had a jolly time. So jolly in fact, that I’ve put all that I lost back on. Yep, back up there. 238.5 lbs… BUT, I’m back at it. 3 days in. Sore from walking and jogging. Hungry from fatless/sugarless foods. But I feel good. New year, new me… (that sounds familiar…)

So this time:

1. I’m not going to be so hard on myself. If I slip up, tomorrow’s a new day. That doesn’t mean, if I slip up I get to eat everything in sight for the remainder of that day. It means I effed up, move on, charge forward.

2. I need new ideas for healthy food (ideas will be greatly appreciated with virtual hugs and kisses!). I was so bored of my previous fail safes and it lead to feeling deprived which lead to me feeling like “Screw this, I’m done”. At the moment, I’m logging what I eat and sticking to a 1200 calorie diet.

3. Get my butt on that treadmill every day! 30 minutes is not an outrageous amount of time and I always feel good (albeit very red faced and sweaty) after I’m done. Must remind self that I NEED to get moving more. I’ve also acquired this lovely Polar loop activity tracker for my birthday and the treadmill really makes a difference in my step/activity count.

This list will probably expand as the weeks and months go by but for now it reflects my thoughts and feelings about doing this long term.

So, yeah.

Back at it.

Lets go!

Goodbye Fat Girl!

MIA

What a two weeks it has been! 

In my previous post, I posted concerns with staying with friends (who’s eating habits are so much different from ours) and giving in to all the foods I crave and miss. Well, it seems, my will power is not where I would like it to be. I gave in. I ate. Lots. But boy oh boy, did I pay for it. I felt like crap and had much tummy trouble to boot! I weighed after coming home and I was up 4 lbs! I’m sure some of that was water since all crappy foods are laden with so much salt. But yikes! 

So I return home, work for two days and my husband gets hit with the flu. Home in bed, laid out, dying sick. (Poor guy) Guess who’s next in line? Yup, me. So, I spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday in bed. Yesterday was the first day I was able to be out of bed for short periods.  Thank goodness my son avoided this sickness, it was terrible! I got on the scale yesterday morning and I’m 2 lbs down from my original weight before I went away to our friends for the weekend. I lost between 4-6 lbs while I was sick. 

In retrospect, it looks as though I’m not ready to be in an uncontrolled food environment. Will I ever be? I struggle a lot with wanting so many of the things I shouldn’t have and if I do have them, I can’t keep them at reasonable portions. Something to think on.

Have a wonderful hump day!

~Jenn

Weigh in, recipes, and exercise. Oh my!

Well, this week has not been as successful as previous weeks. Although I only lost .05 of a lb, I did not gain and weight gone off my body is weight gone! This weeks results stem from a few things. I did not exercise as much as I know I should have, and nibbling (on healthy foods) between meals and while cooking added enough calories so that not much happened. Live and learn and move on! I don’t have many expectations for the following weigh in (other than not to gain) since we are going to stay with friends on the mainland for 3.5 days and I cannot ask them to accommodate our way of eating since it is very much different from theirs. I plan to eat less and not go “crazy” on all those things that I haven’t had (chips, sugar, etc) in weeks. I have planned to have a couple of glasses of wine and may walk/jog with Louie on a couple of occasions to help balance everything out.

My husband and I did try a new recipe this weekend and it was wonderful! For me, eggs are weird and kinda gross. I can eat them scrambled but any other way makes me feel a bit nauseous and oogie. Through some of the blogs I follow, I discovered Carolinafitness and her adapted recipe for egg muffins (you can find them here: http://newfoundfitness.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/give-it-100-egg-muffins/). They were so good, and because they are fully cooked they didn’t turn me off at all. They even had my 15 year old (who HATES spinach) asking for seconds and thats a feat in itself! I doubled up the recipe for snacks and am even having them cold for lunch today w/a small greek salad (Wish it was noon already!).

So let’s talk about exercise…

I’ve decided that walking to work 3 times a week and a couple of sessions on the treadmill are just not cutting it for me. What I really need is some muscle to burn those calories for me even when I’m doing my favourite thing, NOTHING!  But building muscle hurts… I’m a big wienie when it comes to being sore and achy. Who needs to suck it up buttercup? Me…! Thinking that once we get back from our weekend away, I will plop those darn “Pink” workout video’s into the Dvd and just do it. Dreading it, but it has to be done for me to keep succeeding on the journey. Really want to say “Goodbye Fat Girl”.

I possibly should get back to work and quit blogging for today…

Thanks for reading and hopefully you all are having the best Monday possible!

~Jenn

Back on Track

Feeling better today.  I did do my guilt riddled treadmill time last night but I really had to push myself through it. Most times I can zone into the music and get it done but all I wanted to do last night, was get off it.

Started this morning with a walk/jog with my little buddy Louie. Who is now passed out on the couch! (You can see he’s a little pudgy, just like his Momma.) Followed by my protein shake.

 

 

I have a day full of cleaning and an appointment at the hospital this afternoon (which I have to walk to, more exercise!) All I need to do is control my food today. Since I’m at home  (day off for my appointment) there isn’t anything in the cupboards to tempt me into making some bad decisions, I just have to watch how much I eat, darn portion control.

Time to get off my butt and get to it! Hope you all are having a wonderful Tuesday!!

~Jenn

 

 

Bad day.

The title says it all. Bad day today.  There was no filling my stomach today. I was hungry ALL day and all I could think of, was food.

I made a couple of bad decisions, but I’m not going to beat myself up over it. What’s done is done. Tomorrow is another day and I’m going to carry on. 

Hoping though, that my bad decisions don’t affect my weigh in this week. I only lost 2.2 lbs last week but I didn’t exercise as much as I know I should of. Thinking that once my dinner digests a bit, I will visit mister treadmill to try and balance out some of my splurge.

Kinda ready for today to be over. Monday, you suck!