Day 43: Lucky Number 7 (weigh in)

Well, I'm starting out week 7. That's supposed to be a lucky number right? I really hope this turns out to be a good week. I was disappointed (but not surprised) when I weighed in at 182.2 this morning. I am pretty frustrated that in 7 weeks, I've only managed to lose 4 pounds. And by that, I mean I lost 4 pounds in the first week, and I now weigh as much as I did at the start of Week 2. I really need to be more committed to this. I do well for a week, then I do horribly the next week. And It's not even a downward trend, it's just yoyo-ing up and down and ending in the exact same spot.

So even though I was tired and sore and my shins and thighs were crying out for the warm embrace of my memory foam bed, I awkwardly pulled on my exercise gear and did my best not to waddle as I made my way to the aerobics class. I had to modify some of the moves, and I didn't dare try any floor exercises. I could just imagine trying to get up from doing crunches and looking like a turtle stuck on its back. So I may not have gotten in the best workout this morning, but I got up and I went. And I am working toward building a real habit of regular exercise. And I'm really considering getting a pass to the rec center so I can be motivated to stay active all winter long (if I pay for it, I will feel obligated to use it).

I started today off well. I had yogurt for breakfast and stuffed mushrooms for lunch. I got caught up doing lots of things around the house and forgot to log the rest of my food, but I think I managed to do okay.

Day 36: Starting Again (weigh in)

Today I weighed in at 182.4 lbs :(

I hate knowing I've been going in the wrong direction. I guess being sick isn't a good enough excuse to chow down on soup and juice like there's no tomorrow. I'm mostly frustrated that I seem to always gain weight when I don't count calories. Do I really have to count calories for the rest of my life? The idea overwhelms me.

Well, I decided that I should eat lots and lots of fruits and vegetables today, to try to flush all the junk out of my system. I still have a lot of orders to keep up with, so I won't be making anything terribly fancy. But I can still put in a bit more effort to make healthy choices. So for breakfast I had grape tomatoes and an apple. Kind of a weird breakfast, but they were quick and easy. For lunch I had grilled baby portabella mushrooms -- half were stuffed with a parmesan-garlic-sour cream, and the other half with Greek cream cheese and green salsa. Delicious! I also sliced up a red bell pepper and grilled that too. And of course, by grill, I mean George Foreman, because I can do that in my jammies. I had half a cup of baked beans for an afternoon snack because I have an open can in the fridge and need to eat it. And because I love baked beans. For dinner, I had broccoli with ham and cheddar. It was really good, but I was still a bit hungry, so when my daughter asked for eggs, I cooked the yolks for her and cooked the egg whites for me. I seasoned the eggs with sea salt, fresh pepper, and rosemary, and had a bit of salsa with it. I had some diet ginger ale, and then had a cup of candy cane cocoa in the evening.

Day 29: (weigh in)

Well, I was pleasantly surprised with my weigh-in this morning: 180.2! Considering all the food we had over the weekend, and the snacks we ate while traveling, I honestly expected it to be higher. And I'm hoping all of that is water weight and that by next week I'll have lost some actual weight. Although I don't know if I'm going to get any cardio in this week (which makes me real scared for my race in 12 days...)

But I woke up with a sore throat, a runny nose, a gross-sounding cough, and a stomach ache. So I think the worst thing I could do is try to push through it and not be able to fully recover in time for my race.

Day 22: 70's Party!

170's that is. This morning I weighed in at 178.4! I know I won't be seeing such dramatic results as I continue forward, but that was a great way to jump start my refocused commitment to get healthy. Most of that was water weight -- from eating poorly, and from PMS. Still though, I'm pretty sure I lost at least 2 lbs of actual weight.

With that great momentum, I was determined to make good choices today. I woke up and had a slice of multi-grain toast with Greek cream cheese, then went to my workout. Today was strength training and kick boxing. For lunch I made a giant salad with butter lettuce, sliced strawberries, chopped apple, raspberries, and a little bit of poppy seed dressing. It was so big, I actually got full -- really full -- and almost couldn't finish. And it only had 200 calories! Talk about a healthy choice! Just what I was craving after all the sweets and carbs this weekend. I had half a bag of popcorn and some mozzarella as snacks during the afternoon. For dinner I had a chicken burger, which was amazing (thanks to my hubby, who's so good at grilling up meat). And I had a popsicle in the evening.

I did day 7 of my challenges: 25 triceps dips, 40 sit ups, 20 crunches, 20 leg raises, and a 30-second plank. The numbers are climbing so quickly, and every day I want to wimp out, but hopefully I can stick with it all month.

Day 15: Starting Over

I was pretty sad when I weighed in at 186 this morning. That's exactly where I started on Day 1. So basically last week entirely undid my first week. What a bummer. I'm basically starting all over. But now that I'm focusing on healthier goals, hopefully I will be able to stay emotionally strong and see some lasting changes.

As hard as it was, I got up and went to the exercise class this morning. (I woke up at 2am and couldn't fall back asleep for 45 minutes, then my daughter woke up from a nightmare around 5:30 and didn't go back to sleep for a half hour or so.) And I just continued to make good choices throughout the day. For breakfast I had a play on an egg salad sandwich -- a slice of toast with 1 teaspoon of mayo, topped with a sliced hard-boiled egg. For lunch I had a wrap with chicken and avocado, and for my afternoon snack I had a bag of popcorn. For dinner I made squash spaghetti with bean "meatballs." It actually turned out really, really good. I finished up my night with an absolutely delicious and mostly healthy dessert of cinnamon honey apples and quick candied pecans. Really, most of the calories came from the apple and the pecans, so to me it doesn't count against my one sweet treat per week. I'm not 100% sure how to define what I mean by sweet treats, but I guess it would be things whose calories are mostly derived from non-nutritious sources (e.g. sugar, fat, flour).

Well, today was a success and it feels good to be back on track.

Day 8: A Great Start to Week 2 (weigh-in)

Well, I wasn't as good as I intended to be last night. We stayed up playing games until 1am (and boy did I feel it this morning) and I ate about 7 cinnamon rolls and homemade doughnuts (total, not each!) So, I actually hit about 2100 calories yesterday. Mostly from junk. I guess it's pretty obvious what my food kryptonite is... sweets.

But at least I wasn't disappointed when I weighed myself this morning. My official week 2 weight is 182.4! That means I'm down 3.6 lbs, even with all those diet fumbles. I know part of that (if not most of that) is water weight, but it's still a great start in the right direction. Here's to hoping I can be better this week and continue to lose weight!

Well, even though I stayed up way too late last night, I was determined to get up and moving this morning. So I had some Greek yogurt, then made it to the workout, which was about 20 minutes of kickboxing and 30 minutes of aerobics. I really like kickboxing. It makes me feel so tired, but it's also so energizing. I've been looking into joining a gym when the weather gets a bit colder, and I'm hoping to find one with kickboxing and zumba classes. Anyway, I had 8oz of water with breakfast, and 8oz of water while working out (I probably should have had more). For lunch I had a CLT sandwich (a BLT with chicken instead of bacon) and 16oz of water. Throughout the afternoon I snacked on some more knock off goldfish crackers (one carefully measured out serving) and a bag of popcorn. I had another 16oz of water too. I hit a rough patch when my three-year-old was driving me absolutely nuts (I'm trying to potty train her and some days are better than others), and I just needed something sweet to cope with it all. I ended up having half a bibingka (at least I cut it in half and didn't eat the other part!) and 16oz of water. I ended up making a vegetarian dinner (since hubby had to stay late on campus anyway), which I had with 16oz of water. That brought my daily total to about 1450 calories.

Exercise: check! Calorie limit: check! Water intake: check!

Hurray for starting off the week with a happy weigh-in and a successful day!

Day 1: Let's Get It Started (Weigh-In/Photo)

Well, this morning I stepped on the scale and saw a number I hoped to never see again: 186 -- really anything over 175 is bad news and means I've managed to undo a lot of work. But that's where I'm starting, and I hope to make consistent and gradual progress down toward a healthier weight. This is what I look like today. Even though I'm not happy with the way my body looks, I chose tight clothing so I could wear it for every photo and make it easier to see how I'm changing. Hopefully I'll start seeing changes over the next few months, so I won't have to feel so embarrassed about posting a picture like this.

It was so hard to get up this morning. After a whirlwind weekend full of Filipino food, cake, and soda -- as well as 12 hours in the car, eating fast food and snacks -- my body just wanted to stay in bed. But I knew it was the first of many seemingly small decisions I will make over the next year, so I dragged myself out from under the covers and put on my workout clothes. My church stake (made up of about 8 local wards, or congregations) hosts free workout classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. This is an incredible resource I've only taken advantage of on a few occasions. But I got myself (and my daughters) down there on time. Today's hour-long class was a mix of aerobics, kick boxing, and strength training. I don't know if it has an official name, but that's what we did. Boy did it tire me out, and I'm sure my arms are going to be feeling it tomorrow (for all that I'm able to jog 7 miles now, I haven't done a thing with my arms in a long time).

Since I had such a hard time getting up this morning (and took 30 minutes longer than I planned), I just grabbed a granola bar to give me something as I was headed out to the workout class. I really don't think it was enough, so I'll have to plan better next time. I got home and had a cup of almond-coconut milk (only 60 calories, and I love the taste). I try not to drink any of my calories, unless I measure it and consciously consider it a treat or snack. I also replenished fluids with 16oz of water (in addition to the 8oz or so I had during the workout). And I had a low-carb yogurt (Kroger's Carbmaster "cultured dairy blend") to tie me over until lunch. I don't actually feel super hungry in the morning, and if I eat a large breakfast, it makes me overeat throughout the rest of the day.

For lunch I made a wrap using a multigrain wrap, deli sliced chicken breast, sliced mushrooms, an ounce of cheddar, green leaf lettuce, and a bit of mayo and mustard. I had 8oz of water with that, and another 8oz throughout the afternoon as I cleaned around the house. I had two Ghiradelli dark chocolate and sea salt caramel squares when the kids were acting up (I'm an emotional eater, but I'm learning to tone it down). I had a late afternoon snack of pancit (Filipino noodles) and vegetable chop suey (both leftovers from this weekend), along with another 16oz of water. Then for dinner I had teriyaki salmon with white rice and vegetable chop suey. Another 16oz of water, and I made a conscious (and very difficult) decision to forego any dessert, since I already had chocolate in the afternoon. All of that brought my total calorie consumption to 1520. I'm not sure how many calories I burned exercising, since it wasn't intense the whole hour, and some parts actually seemed easy. So I estimated about 300 calories, which would put my net calories at 1200 -- right where I wanted to be after everything I ate this weekend. And I got in 8 cups of water (plus another cup during my workout and a cup of almond-coconut milk).

Mood wise, I was really grumpy today. Probably because I was tired. And my body was going through junk food withdrawals. I also had a headache all evening -- not the debilitating kind, just the uncomfortable and annoying kind.

Exercise, check. Calorie limit, check. Water intake, check. I'd say today was a success! One day down, 364 to go. But all I need to focus on is making tomorrow a success too. I can do this!