Getting better... slowly, but surely

My working out hasn't been super consistent recently but I still have done some, which is good. And I've lost 2.5 lbs (won't tell you how much I went up before I did that, cause again, this is good). I think I'm finally starting to convince Brent that we don't need to diet anymore, we need to eat better. He went out and got us all sorts of healthy goodies to help out. My next goal (added on to the working out) is to get rid of the afternoon sweet/snack and eating a much smaller amount of dessert after dinner. I have a terrible time convincing myself I don't need that. When I did Weight Watchers before, I never had a snack in the afternoon. Sure I was ravenous a lot by dinner time but that's ok. I need to retrain my brain to remember what hunger is and that it's okay. This time of year I also have a terrible time only having one dessert cause there is usually tons of sweets lying around to munch on. I've actually been really good on this the past couple of days.

Woohoo!

Every victory is great no matter how big or small. <-- Surely that is a quote from something, but I definitely don't know from where. No matter. I worked out with the Wii Fit Plus yesterday and today and lost 2 lbs.! Woot! Going in this direction is much better. It's amazing to me how such a small loss makes such a big difference in my joints. Alas, tis the way it is when you have arthritis. So what have I been doing you ask? Well, before when I got on a workout spurt, I was doing a tailored program that the Fit Plus offers. It just wasn't working. It was like I was targeting all these areas but gaining muscle perhaps and not doing enough cardio. I decided I had to add running exercises into my routine to see any results. After playing with it the past two days, I've decided that I'll warm up with the Basic Run Plus (3 minute run where you're supposed to observe the stuff around you and take a quiz at the end about what you saw), then another aerobic exercise, then end with the Island Lap run which is 14 minutes long. The past two days I haven't had time to do 30 minutes of Wii time, lol. It's been 16 and 17 minutes. Gotta wake up earlier! I've decided it's okay if I don't get 30 minutes in as long as I exercise 5 times a week. That's my new goal!

Need new motivation?

I follow @EatThisNotThat on Twitter. They give helpful hints on restaurant foods and stuff. Today they did a trivia question. What drink has more electrolytes & replenishing fats than sports drinks? The answer: chocolate milk. I'm thinking there will be a gallon of chocolate milk in my refrigerator ASAP! Haha. Sort of kidding, but seriously, how cool would it be to wake up in the morning to work out knowing that a nice cold glass of chocolate milk would be waiting for you after?! I actually had heard that milk was better than sports drinks, but I hadn't heard chocolate milk!

Fed up!

Lol, I just realized the oxymoron in that title. But I am! I am fed up with constantly reading up on new and exciting ways to lose weight fast when I know what I need to do. I'm not going to do a cleanse, I'm not gonna try anymore new supplements, and I'm not gonna buy anymore books! I have to start exercising and eating better and stick with it!

I was pretty good for lunch yesterday, I didn't finish my plate at Cracker Barrel and took home leftovers. But then I had 3 pieces of leftover pizza with garlic butter sauce and a breadstick for dinner after 10:30 at night. Yesterday was a weird day with way too much to do.

I've decided I need to stop avoiding running exercises on the Wii too. I also think I might like to run a 5k next year and then progress to bigger runs eventually. Brent has said before that he'd like to run a marathon and I think it'd be really cool to meet that goal together.

I must say affirmations are pretty cool. Over the last month you may have noticed on my Facebook page that I haven't started up a heated political debate and for the most part, my posts are more positive. There are some things that are hard to be positive about and being sick is one of them for me. And I think trying to be so positive over the last month made it that much easier to be super negative when I got sick last week. Which is also why I think it took me a really long time to get better. I'll have to type up the affirmations I read every day and post them here. The great thing about them is that anyone can tailor them to fit their needs. I try to read them every morning after my shower while I'm getting ready. They are taped between our mirrors. Brent reads them too. I really have noticed a difference in some of our relationships. And it's been a great way to start the holiday season.

Sleepy week

So I have not been good at all. About exercising, eating, nothing! Once the time change hit, I just stopped waking up early. Weird. But I have noticed something this week. I ran out of Acai Berry pills a couple of days ago and I have zero energy. It's pretty ridiculous. I also have been hungrier. I always bring an afternoon snack and with the pills I feel like I was just eating it cause it was there. So I think they were doing something. Dunno if they're actually related, but that's what I'm going with for now.

When I was being good and exercising at least, there was no change at all in weight. I could've just been gaining muscle (or just being that bad about eating). Now I'm curious about doing a cleanse again. Especially since hubby and I are getting away for a weekend soon for our anniversary. It'd be nice to shed some weight before then and before the holidays! I've read tons of reviews and results vary of course depending on which one you use and how long you use it. The number one thing people say it helps though is giving you energy which would be very nice. I dunno. I really don't want to do a 48 hour version but at the same time if the 14 day one effects me too much I'm going to be miserable at the office. I just think if I got a nice jump start that maybe I'd be motivated to stop stuffing my face and actually get off my butt consistently.

If I decide to do a cleanse, I'll probably start Thanksgiving weekend since I'll be close to home for 4 days. Though I'll definitely wait until AFTER Thanksgiving :-)

Wii Fit Plus

I bought Wii Fit Plus last week. And I must say that it is a BIG improvement over the original. I liked being able to pick out each exercise but it was very time consuming choosing each one and having to go through the menu screens. In Wii Fit Plus you can go to one of the screens and choose up to 4 out of 12 options to customize a workout. For example, what I like to choose is Overindulgence (cause I love my sweets), Tummy, Figure, and Arms. I can't remember the rest of the options but that's what works for me. Then I chose "up to 3 at a time" (not sure why they let you choose 4 things and then you can only go up to 3 at a time). So that gave me a seamless 26 minute workout. And not only does it show you the minutes you've racked up at the end, but it tells you the calories you've burned. One thing I don't like about the new version is how they set up the create your own workout options. Rather than letting the computer choose the exercises for you, there is a screen where you can choose. But it only has Strength and Yoga for options. That's really frustrating to me. I'll have to look and see if there is something I'm missing.

I also bought 4 lb ankle weights and 1 lb gloves. Both are awesome. I found the gloves by the Wii games in Target, by the way. I really liked working out with them this morning. And in order to keep the workout seamless (cause I didn't know which exercises came up when) it was easier to keep the weights on for the whole workout.

So I managed to get the hubby motivated again. And since he's the main cook around our house, that was really good! He went out and bought all sorts of stuff to help us eat better. My main goal right now is to eat more fruits and vegetables. But I also know me, so I'm allowing myself to have my sweets, just in smaller portions. I'm hoping this will work out really well and we can keep it up. Not just do this for a little while and then go back to our evil ways. Maybe we'll even go back to competing for weight loss :-) I also really want to buy Jorge Cruise's new book when it comes out in December. It's called the Belly Fat Cure. If you go read his website, his method sounds really good. Instead of cutting out sweets and carbs, he does what he calls carb swapping.

Here's to a good work week and hopefully working out every morning! (That's my plan is to work out Monday - Friday every week.)

Interesting

I worked out Monday this week. That's it. And now I'm down 1.5 lbs. I really wish I understood how our bodies work. I've been thinking about buying that new Jillian Michaels book about mastering your metabolism. I've bought so many "diet" books over the years though that I probably won't. Maybe I'll get it in eBook form. Ooh, for my friends who have the Wii Fit (and for those who don't, I highly recommend it!) there is a new website you should visit. It's www.wiifitroutine.com. It has a workout generator on there that you can use to target a certain muscle area, whichever length of time, and you can tell it to include or exclude the running exercises. Pretty brilliant if you ask me. I had a routine that I liked but I felt like I wasn't getting as much out of the program as I could be getting. Here's the sample 30 minute one I jotted down yesterday:

Bridge (Yoga)
Single Leg Twist (Strength, I think)
Rhythmic Boxing (Aerobic)
Super Hula Hoop 6 minutes (Aerobic)
Rhythmic Boxing x 2 12 minutes (Aerobic)
Balance Game of your choice
Tricep Extension (Strength)
Sideways Leg Lift (Strength)

I put in that weight loss was my goal, 30 minutes, no running exercises, and target legs. Pretty neat. So I think I'll try to generate 5 different ones that I can rotate between so I don't get bored. Also considering buying ankle weights and weighted gloves. I love the boxing!

Hmmm

Well, I worked out 4 mornings last week and worked out this morning. Quite an accomplishment. What puzzles me about this is that I have no results on the scale. Okay, so maybe I'm gaining muscle for now? I can handle that. I am a little disappointed that my theory has been debunked. See when I did Weight Watchers in 2007 I lost 30 lbs between March and September without working out. So I thought if I worked out and just tried to eat smaller portions, that maybe that would work the same way. Now I definitely have not been perfect with my portions but I haven't been as bad as I could be. Oh well, maybe it's not completely debunked yet. I definitely need to learn more self-control! Hoping to have a great week!

Today

So last week was a lot better. I was checking off my chores on the app I downloaded, I worked out, and everything was going great. This week I've realized that I let emotions sway me way too much. I've stopped checking my app. This has been a pretty bad week.

Monday I let a dumb show upset me and decided I just wanted to relax and watch our shows once Brent got home from a meeting.

Yesterday some terrible news about an acquaintenance from elementary school got me super-depressed. And now today I read another horrible story.

But I've learned. And now it's time to move on. I've changed my tune a little bit (I hope). Now instead of take responsibility, it's today is a God-given day and it is wonderful and with His help and for His glory I can and will take responsibility. I have heard way too many stories in the past 12 years that remind me just how short life can be and how quickly it can be taken away. I can't do this on my own. I've tried way too much to do that.

My next goal is to start going to bed by 11 and getting up at 6. I need to work out in the mornings, it's just better for me. I think I'm going to write my new phrase on a sticky note and put it on my alarm clock so I can read it when I wake up to the first alarm!

I've also noticed that Wednesdays seem to be my "kick myself in the butt" days. I think that's cause every Wednesday is serious day on this blog I read every day: http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/

Responsibility

A lot of things that I have been reading recently have discussed taking responsibility for yourself. I know the things that I can do to help motivate myself and yet I haven't been doing them. So I decided to download a chore app on my iPod. There is nothing worst than an unchecked list item. There are so many daily things I've been neglecting that are good not only for my physical but also for my mental and spiritual well-being. With my list I can now look and plan my day and evening around what needs to get done on my list.

So, I have worked out twice so far this week. It was really discouraging to get back on the Wii Fit and discover that my avatar was once again obese (and that it had been 62 days since I'd used it). After the two workouts I'm back down in the overweight category. Persevering now and telling myself I'll stick with it. Working out makes me feel better and when I feel better I can concentrate better which will help me with work and studying for that stupid exam I don't wanna take! My new theme: Take responsibility!

(I just looked up the definition for meme and mantra cause I was gonna use that instead of theme. Those are fascinating definitions. Go look them up when you get a chance! Makes you think twice about using them. They're much stronger words than you might think.)

Whew!

One less thing to blame my lazy lifestyle on. Lol. I got the results back from my bloodwork. Good news is no thyroid issues, no arthritis issues, and no diabetes issues. Bad news is my bad cholesterol levels are bad. Not really surprised, but something I do need to pay attention to. I'm gonna keep taking my fish oil supplement and try to get my butt in gear! I wouldn't be surprised if someone puts me on some cholesterol pill after I get done with having kids though. Heart disease is a MAJOR issue in my family (at least my Dad's side). At the doctor I also found out that my psoriasis has popped up in a new spot. If it's not one health issue with me, it's another. Oh well. Losing weight can certainly help all of it!

Off to Cancun tomorrow, probably gonna have to work really hard when I get back even though I'm gonna try to be good with portions at least.

Acai Berry

I think the Acai Berry is a good supplement. I haven't had any drastic results but I also haven't been eating super good or working out recently. And I'm back down to 172 after a weekend of bad eating (note... not bad food, just not good for you food). So, like any supplement, diet, etc. I think Acai is as good as you make it. If you really make a diet change and work out, I think it'll help you a lot. If not, it might help you maintain.

I'm going to the doctor next week to get my thyroid checked out. I don't know if anyone recalls my bout with psoriatic arthritis, but during that time my thryoid levels were checked out and my doc told me I should probably be checked again to see if I should start treatment for hypothyroidism. (And an aside, my fingers are starting to hurt again... I hope the arthritis isn't back!) I thought at the time that my levels probably looked like hypo just because I was really overweight at the time, so I just dismissed it. But the more I look at symptoms for it, the more I think it'd probably be best to just rule this out. I'm gonna get anemia ruled out too. Apparently women who've had babies and breastfed them are susceptible. And anemia and hypothyroidism can be linked. Again, just wanna rule these things out or if I do happen to suffer from them, wanna get started on treatment BEFORE we go to Cancun.

So stressed out right now because of the stupid CPA exam. I'm trying to be mindful of what I'm eating so I don't overeat due to stress. I may start a food journal just to be nerdy and over-analyze what I eat and what that food has in it. It'll give me something to distract me from my stress.

Pretty good

I think I did pretty good this past week. Not great but better. And that's all that matters, right? I worked out Monday and last night with my friend the Wii Fit. Brendan was cracking up when I was doing the boxing. I guess he liked the animated punching bags Mommy was swinging at. Pound-wise I haven't really changed much and I haven't measured inches in a while but I feel a little better. I also went and visited the GNC store near our house yesterday. I walked in and the lady at the counter asked if she could help me. Normally I would've said nah, just looking but I said actually, I'm curious about your Acai berry products. And she gave me a sample of the fruit chews with Acai berry. Those are very tasty. Then she ushered me to the section with all the different Acai products. She pointed one out to me that she said a lady and her daughter bought earlier today. It has green tea in it too which I've read is a good combo. Then I asked her about colon cleanse stuff and she showed me their 7 day GNC brand cleanse system. It's on sale right now but still kinda pricey, so I said I'd talk it over with my husband cause we're both trying to lose weight so we'd both need a kit. She said it'd be on sale till the end of the month, gave me a few more samples of the chews so he could try, and I bought the supplement she showed me. She's a really good salesperson. Cause it wasn't until I was reading the package later that I realized just how expensive the product she coaxed me into was. You're supposed to take one pill with each meal and there's 60 pills in a bottle and I paid $16.99 for it which is on sale from 19.99. So kinda disappointed about that. (I realize that's less than $1 a day but if you think about for both of us to take it the recommended amount, that's $40 every 20 days.) I think we are going to do the cleanse because she said it's a really good way to jumpstart your metabolism (you'll lose 2 - 5 pounds) and then with the supplement, it'll help you maintain that boosted metabolism (of course assuming you eat well and exercise). She said it's recommended to do a cleanse every 6 months. I think I'm gonna look into buying an Acai berry supplement from Walmart and a green tea supplement. It'll be MUCH cheaper that way and I can't imagine that it's THAT different. We'll probably start the cleanse next Sunday morning. I made sure to ask her just what "flushing your system out" meant and she assured me that it was gentle and I wouldn't have to be stationed near a restroom, hehe. I'll let ya know how it works!

Lack of motivation

We just can't seem to get the weight loss ball rolling. It's very frustrating. I did work out on Monday. I think I'm trying to accomplish too many things at once right now. The biggest thing that has to get done is studying/taking the CPA exam and I've only studied for one hour for that this week. Ugh! I've just got to setup a schedule for myself and say no matter what, this is what I'm going to do. I'm thinking about waking up early to either study or work out since neither is getting done. But that would require going to bed earlier too. Which is something we probably need to do anyway. I read something yesterday that said if you get 7 to 8 hours of sleep at night you are less likely to gain weight. I get six most nights. Off to work on a schedule now...

Ooh, also considering trying one of the acai berry supplements and/or a cleansing supplement... thoughts?

Sleepy

So obviously the weight gained from the weekend was water weight seeing as how I'm back down to 172.5. Whew! Did well with eating yesterday but didn't work out. I could not get Brendan to fall asleep last night. Every time he was almost asleep he'd wake up and start playing. Silly baby. So I didn't get done putting him in bed until 10:30. And then Brent got home, ate dinner, we took our showers, and we went to bed. I didn't sleep well at all last night!

I got my haircut last night and I think I lost 3 pounds just with that! Hehe. My hair was getting so long. My stylist said we cut off 9 inches!!!! Hard to believe it had gotten that long. Sad though cause an inch longer and I think I could've donated it to locks of love. Oh well, maybe next time. Good news is that it feels great and Brendan can't grab and pull it anymore!

*Sigh* Again

Well, we had lots of issues this weekend that didn't help our progress. Friday night was the dress rehearsal for Brent's sister's (Krystal) wedding. The dinner was catered by a VERY good mexican restaurant. Fail number one.

Saturday at the wedding we were actually really good. We ate cheese and fruit and we split a piece of the bride's cake and the groom's cake. And we also danced the longest "Cotton-eyed Joe" we've ever danced! It was like 10 or 15 minutes long... or at least it felt like it. And we were drenched in sweat afterwards.

Saturday night we had pizza... Fail number two.

Sunday we had Sonic for lunch which wasn't as bad as we could've made it but still wasn't good and then we had beer and pizza in the afternoon/evening. Fail number three (and four?).

Good thing about the weekend? I discovered that I fit back into my size 12 Cato jeans! I think their jeans run a little small is the only reason I mention brand name, cause my dress for Krystal's wedding was a size 10. That made me happy :-)

We've decided our hearts weren't in it last week and we are going to try, try again. Hopefully, we can be good this week. The only event for the weekend is a baby shower. And I'll have Brendan with me which usually means less food for me. It's hard to eat much when you're constantly running after a toddler who's getting into everything. Which reminds me... I'm hoping to update the baby blog tonight. There were lots of cute pics taken at the wedding of my boys in tuxes!

*Sigh*

I should've worked out last night. I was bad food-wise. We had donuts at work which I ate because I was coaxed into it. We had tacos for dinner and I should've had 2 instead of 4. And I didn't make my lunch yesterday so I had a sandwich and chips in the cafeteria which wouldn't be so bad except that they give you a HUGE serving of meat on the sandwiches and I can't resist croissants as a choice for bread. Oh, and swiss cheese has a TON of calories (did you know that?). Should've had it on wheat with pepperjack. Live and learn. But I did drink my water for the day. In fact I don't think I've had a soda since Saturday night.

I agree with Miriam... I think one of my issues (especially when it comes to sweets) is that I don't wanna miss out! I think ooh, I better eat that before it goes away or someone beats me to it, I might never get to have it again! Of course this is all subconscious and it's usually over something stupid like an Oreo. When is the world gonna run out of Oreos?! Mindless eating is a big issue for us. Which is why we normally don't have potato chips in our house. We both love jalapeno kettle cooked chips but can't keep them because between the 2 of us, we could polish off a bag in 1 or 2 sittings easily.

I also can agree with Ashley... when the weekend comes it's time for hanging out with friends which almost always means beer/wine/good food.

So the goal for this week is to remember moderation is good and okay and won't deprive me of anything! Maybe I need to say that to myself before every meal, lol.

We might take our measurements too... I tend to get really disappointed by scale numbers but I've never really paid attention to measurements other than my chest size, hehe.

Brent's Goal

So last night I didn't work out. We had pizza but it was a little thin crust pizza. And I ended up losing a pound. I'm at 173 now! Brent said his goal is 199. I just looked up BMI stuff for our heights. 152 - 204 is "normal" for him. 108 - 145 is "normal" for me. So even at my first goal weight, I'll still be considered overweight. Crazy! Again... I think most BMI calculators way under-estimate where a person "should" be. So I'll create a weight tracker for Brent now.

Motivation, Goals, Etc.

Many people in America these days struggle with weight loss. We do too. We've decided to do something about it. I think for me (and I can probably say for Brent too), my biggest motivator is our son. I don't want him to grow up eating junk food all the time and ending up with the same issues that we've struggled with. We have health problems on both sides that can be helped by maintaining a good weight.

Brent and I decided to compete with each other to help motivate us to lose weight. We did good the first week but really goofed this week. Brent started at 235 and I started at 174.5.

Brent will be posting to this blog too, but for now, I'll address my goals and motivation. I really want to get back down to the low 150s as my first goal. That's where I was (152 - 157 range) right before I got pregnant with Brendan in the fall of 2007. The old adage of "eating for two" caught up with me and I ended up gaining 59 pounds with my pregnancy. 216 lbs is way too much for a woman who is 5' 4"! I could blame my doctor for continuing to say "your weight is fine" at each appointment or I could be a grown-up and say it was completely my fault. I'm going with option B. The next pregnancy (God-willing) I intend to be MUCH better. But for now, let's start with getting back down in that range again. These are the things I want to accomplish through this:

1) Eat better. Include more vegetables in dinners. Eat smaller portions especially when we eat out.
2) Exercise regularly (ie, at least 3 times a week). When I lost my weight the first time (I went from 182 to 152 in 7 months with Weight Watchers) I did it without exercise. It was all through portion control and drinking enough water. I want my muscle back. In junior high I had a lot of muscle from swimming and track season (I threw discus and shot-put). Plus I need my muscle for hauling around my 20+ lb bundle of joy!
3) Not be self-conscious in my bikini when we go to Cancun in August!

So my current update is that I weighed 174 this morning. I worked out last night using our Wii Fit. The best thing about the Fit is that it's perfect for my competitive nature. I love beating my old scores on things and being able to see when I improve or backslide. My favorite Yoga pose would have to be the shoulder stand, favorite Strength exercise is the Plank (holding yourself up by your forearms in a push-up type stance for 60 seconds!), favorite Aerobics exercise is tied between the advanced boxing and advanced step, and finally favorite Balance game is the ski jump. In the exercises I do with the Fit, I've been concentrating on the ones that target core muscles. And between that and the balance games, I've noticed a huge difference in my stance. I have got to keep this up! According to the Fit, I need to be 129 to be at a good BMI. Personally, I think that's a little underweight for me. I weighed 130 when I graduated high school and that was with very little muscle. So a long-term goal would be 145 for me. But that probably won't happen until I'm done having children, lol. 152 is my goal. I have 22.5 lbs to go!