Schools back in session!

The kids go back to school tomorrow and I started two online classes (I will not stress eat!), so life is going to be hectic around here, at least for a bit.  My eating has been less than stellar since Friday, I'm not really anticipating a loss this week, but I am exercising every day so that is a good thing, I have not fallen completely off the bandwagon, just partially!  I am planning on getting on the treadmill in the  mornings now, once the kids are off to school, that frees up the afternoons for homework, or a good ass-kickin exercise DVD when the baby is napping.  We'll see how that goes.  My plan is to start going to bed at 10:30, that is a huge downfall for me, staying up late and then wanting to sleep in...bleh!!!  So there will be some changes made around here!

2 days until the KISS concert!!!  wah hoo!!!

I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT

Finally, a decent loss!!

I am happy to report that I am down 2.4 pounds this week, for a total of 3.8 pounds lost in August and 11.8 pounds down total (since the beginning of July), when I started exercising and getting serious about taking this weight off (again)!!  I still get frustrated with how slowly the weight is coming off, after going on so quickly, but I just have to stick with it no matter what the scale says, day after day, week after week, until I get to my goal weight.  I can tell I' m firming up, don't get me wrong I have muffins and love handles all over the place, but I can notice some improvement, and I feel better, so that is a huge deal for me!
I did day two of week two of C25K today, I really didn't feel like, simply because I had a junky fast-food lunch and was feeling so sluggish after I ate, but I got on anyway.  I really felt compelled to get on the treadmill, that little nagging voice telling me not to do it was WAY over ruled by the voice saying I wanted to do it, and that I would feel better once I did it...how cool it is that!!!  Me, developing a desire to exercise!!
So I spent 31 minutes doing the C25K
2.2 miles (alternating 4.1 mph walk 5.0 mph jog)
354.6 calories gone
I had decided I would only do the C25K program and get off the treadmill, but I did another 1.1 miles doing inclines at 4 mph with inclines up to 10.0, and burned another 222.8 calories...not too shabby!!
577.4 calories gone for today, which hopefully will negate SOME of the damage I did at lunch today!
My plan for exercising is going to change when school starts next week, I plan to get Josh off to school and then hop on the treadmill while the little ones are either still snoozing or eating breakfast, that will free up my afternoons to do a workout dvd or something...good plan!  I also plan to start going to bed earlier and getting a better night's rest.  Those are my goals!

Week 2 day1 C25K

I started week 2 of the couch to 5K today, so far, so good!!!  I skipped the Shred DVD today because I have twinge in my lower back that I'm pretty sure Jillian caused, guess I'll try that again tomorrow.  It was a beautiful evening here, took the little girls for a walk and on our way home we stopped at McD's for .49 ice cream cones. As I was sitting there eating my ice cream cone, it dawned on me that this is really what it's all about, watching what I eat and exercising, while still allowing myself the little pleasures in life, like an ice cream cone.  I didn't go in to Mc D's and want a value meal, it wasn't at all about that, I was taking my girls to get ice cream and that is what we did.  I am certain that this is the trick to being successful on any eating plan,  allowing treats without guilt or feelings of failure, just having a treat and continuing on.   No one can be perfect all of the time, perfection for any serious length of time will eventually lead to a huge "fall off the wagon" with immense feelings of guilt and failure, at least it has for me in the past.   I think I may finally have found the key to what works for me (and it's about time), it's not about giving up whole food groups, diet pills, or magic potions, it's about moderation and being happy with any progress I make, taking a bad eating day and leaving it in that day and starting fresh the next, it's all about not feeling like a failure just because I have an ice cream cone with my kids!!  I still count calories, and that is what seems to be working for me, so that is what I will continue to do.

Treadmill stats:
C25K Week 2 Day 1
31 minutes
2.2 miles (5 minute warm up 3.0 to 4.0, alternate jogging 5.0 mph 90 seconds with walking 4.1mph  2 minutes, 5 minute cool down)
347.7 calories burned

Inclines after C25K
17.01 minutes
1.1 miles
206.1 calories burned

Walked with the girls for 30 minutes.

Just a side note...I checked the results for the 5K Josh and I did a few weeks ago and the top male finisher did it in 15 minutes and some odd seconds!!  A 5 minute mile!  Who the hell does that and what kind of mutant runner are they, that's like running 12 mph for the whole 3 miles...crazy!!!

Finished week one of couch to 5K today

I meant to finish it on Friday but just didn't have the energy to get on the treadmill after running around grocery shopping, working and extra shift, getting supper etc.  So I finished it today and I'll start with week 2 Wednesday.   I guess it won't be a bad thing to have the weekend off of exercising when I'm working, and then finishing up a week on that Monday, might work out well.  I did 2.1 miles on the C25K and then continued on for another mile doing inclines and then my friend Jillian Michaels and I did the 30 day shred!!   I had planned to take the little girls for a walk this evening but Mallory dumped a half full bowl of spaghetti on her head, so...it looks like baths will be done a little earlier than I had planned and we will forgo the walk tonight!
I ordered a couple of books off Amazon about the benefits of coconut oil, I'm still waiting for them to come but I am going to try and incorporate it in my diet and see how I feel.  The coconut oil I bought at Wal-Mart is apparently crap, so I will need to go to the health food store and get some.  I started taking my vitamin regimen again so I really hope I start feeling less like a slug here soon!  I started two of my classes, LET THE STRESS BEGIN!!!  Let me reiterate, I WILL NOT STRESS EAT this semester, I absolutely cannot let myself do to myself what I did last semester (I am STILL working on taking those 25# off!)!!!  My  emotions do not need to manifest themselves in my food intake!

Treadmill stats for today:

C25K
5 minute warm up (3.5 to 4.0 mph)
20 minutes jogging 1 minute walking 1 1/2 minutes (5.0 mph and 4.1 mph)
5 minute cool down (4.0 to 3.8 mph)
2.1 miles
30 minutes
338.4 calories burned

Continued on walking at 4 mph with various inclines up to 9.0 for 1 more mile

Grand totals:
45 minutes
3.1 miles
538 calories burned

Then I let Jillian kick my ass for 20 minutes!!!

Disgustingly, Infuriatingly Slow Weight Loss!!

I am down a whole .6 pounds this week.  It is making me crazy!!!  I have exercised like mad and stayed within my calorie range and still only down .6!  I'm ticked off but I will keep my focus and continue on the path I'm on, (but I'm still mad about it!!!!)...
I have been doing some research on coconut oil, quite interesting, I bought some today now I just need to figure our exactly how to incorporate it into my diet.  I suspect I have a sluggish thyroid, I keep getting tested for hypothyroidism every so often, and so far the tests have been normal every time.  My hair is falling out, I'm fatigued all the time, and I have other subtle symptoms, but nothing definitive for the diagnosis as far as lab tests go.  It is my understanding that a person can have a sluggish thyroid for a long time before any  lab test will show a positive results, so it's worth a shot, can't hurt I guess!!  I started taking my vitamins last night again, too, I had really slacked off over the summer with that, so I'm back on track with that too. 
I have to go to work for 4 hours and then try to get some exercising in when I get home, hopefully I'm not too tired!

Forgot to post exercise from yesterday

I did Week 1 Day 2 of the Couch to 5K
which consisted of:
5 minute warm up (3.5-4.0mph)
20 minutes alternating 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking (5.0 mph jog/4.0 mph walk)
5 minute cool down (4.0-3.8 mph)
all at a .5 incline

Totals:
30 minutes
2.1 miles
326.9 calories burned

After I finished the C25K I did 1 mile of inclines
15 minutes 18 seconds
1 mile
200 calories burned 

4.0 mph inclines up to 8.0

THEN
I did day 3 of Jillian Michaels Shred dvd (not sure if I'll ever get off level one...but hey!)  My arms are killing me today, mostly my wrists and elbows, which I think is from push ups, but nevertheless I will do day 4 today!  I took the kiddos for a walk after supper last night, too. So I did well with the exercising yesterday.

I stepped on the damn scale again this morning even though official weigh in day isn't until tomorrow morning and still no loss, so needless to say I am frustrated.  I know I have been burning a ton of calories exercising and staying within my calorie range and still nothing!  ugh!!!

Todays exercise will be:
Inclines on the treadmill (a day off from C25K)
Shred DVD
Walking with the kids after supper if it's not raining.


I feel good about what I'm doing this week, I just hope the scale shows a little progress tomorrow!!

As a side note, is anyone having trouble with blogger when you are typing in your post?  Every time I hit enter it takes me back to the beginning of the sentence I just finished...weird!!

Why do I step on the scale before weigh in day?!?!?!

I stepped on the scale, just on a whim this morning because I figured with the great exercising I've been doing this week and staying within my calorie range I'd be sure to see at least a little bit of a loss...
AND ***ding ding ding*** a freakin' gain of like a pound, gahhhhhhhh!!!!!  It is just so frustrating!!!!!!  Why can't I have a decent metabolism??  I'm so sick of being fat and now I'm fat and frustrated!!!!!  I'm not going to go drown my sorrows in food, I'm going to get on the treadmill in a little bit, but I'm still mad as hell at that stupid scale!!!!

Great exercising day today!!!

 I know they won't all be like this but for now I can enjoy the fact that I burned a butt-load of calories today AND kept my eating in check!!!

I did a 5 minute warm up on the treadmill
 then I did 3.1 miles alternating 3 minutes walking and 3 minutes jogging for the first two miles (4.0 and 4.5 mph) and then walked 4 minutes jogged 2 minutes for the remainder, .5 incline for the whole thing.

 Ended up at 3.1 miles in 44 min 9 seconds and burned 529.4 calories

then did a cool down for 3 minutes at a slow walk


THEN

 I did Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, day one of level one right after I got off the treadmill, yeah, I was a sweaty mess!!
Went for a walk with the kids tonight because it was so nice out, just a nice leisurely walk, but burning calories as well, I'm sure!!


I bet I'm a hot mess of soreness tomorrow...lmao!!

EXERCISE

This week I have challenged myself to get in some form of exercise every day, NO EXCUSES!!!  I did pretty well over the weekend with the 5K on Saturday and walking around at the zoo all day yesterday,  however, my eating was less than stellar over the weekend, crap!  I need to pull it all together,  hopefully one of these days I'll get it!  My plan is to start Jillian Michaels 30 day shred starting today and also hopping on the treadmill all while Mallory is napping, and seeing the weather is so nice I will probably take the little girls for a walk tonight after supper, aside for my plans for today I really plan on following through on the 30 day shred, even though I fully intend on not being able to walk after doing it the first day (I've started it before, I know how it goes!)!!  I think I will do the treadmill first and be good and warmed up before doing the dvd.  Probably treadmilling it and shredding it will be the extent of my workouts for a while and I'll take it from there.  I found some really good interval training workouts online that I printed off (somewhere around here) where you hop off the treadmill at certain times and do push ups or what ever, I may give that a try if I can find them amongst all of my other crap lying around here! 
I registered for my classes today...BOOO!!!!  I really need to not get so stressed that I all out pig out because of school, that will be one task I have to master this semester!  On a good note I should have my Bachelor's degree by this time next year and should be able to slide right into grad school in fall of 2011.  Now to just figure out exactly what I want to pursue for  my master's, I'm leaning toward nurse educator but if I look at money I probably should go for nurse practitioner, I just don't know if that's what I want to do.  Oh well, I have a year to decide!

I'm slamming my water today, are you????

Hank Aaron 5K was today!

Josh and I did our first 5K together this morning, it was humid but at least the sun stayed behind the clouds for the majority of the run.   We did it in 50 minutes, which isn't half bad for the combo of jogging and walking we did.  It was so cool to do this with him and he felt such a sense of pride and accomplishment when he finished it, it was so worth it!!!

I looked at these photos of myself and I could just cry!  I  was in such a great spot, weight-wise, this time last year and now I just look horrible!!  I hate that I let myself back slide so far!  I know I am doing the right thing and exercising and taking the weight back off, but I just can't help but wonder where I would be at with running and such had I kept the weight off.  I know I will never look like those runners that are at the beginning of the pack, but hopefully by next year I can be doing 5K's with alot of this excess weight off!

A gain this week

Yeah, it may have only been .4 of a pound, but  a gain none the less!  I had a feeling that would happen.  Even if I have what I consider to be a decent eating week if I don't exercise, I don't lose, and I didn't exercise this week, at all.  Tomorrow starts the turning over of a new leaf, I plan to do some type of exercise everyday, even if it just turns out to be sit ups or lunges,  I will do something, every day!!  That is my new commitment, along with keeping the eating real of course.

Tomorrow is the 5K with Josh, I think it's going to be rainy, oh well, it will still be fun to do it with him.

Excuses, Excuses!!

I haven't exercised this week, not once!  I blame the heat and humidity, it's sucking the life right out of me, well that and the fact that the minute I walk out the door a swarm of mutant, hummingbird sized mosquitoes attacks me!  However, I know I'm using that as an excuse, I have a treadmill, it's sitting there staring at me, saying "Hey, dummy you could use me in this nice air conditioned living room..." and yet I don't, I own a small library full of exercise dvds, did I do any of those...ummmm nope!  Excuses, excuses, what can I say, it's something I am good at and frankly I just feel like being lazy this week.  When the scale doesn't move down this week I have no one to blame but myself and my excuses!!  I really do feel tired and beat down this week, I have no energy, it just plain stinks, but it is what it is.  Josh and I have our 5K Saturday, this heat and humidity isn't supposed to break until Sunday...ugh!  At least the 5K is at 8:30 in the morning so it shouldn't be quite so stinking hot!!  I am starting back on my beginning running program on Monday without Josh, he didn't progress quite as fast as I hoped he would and I feel like I haven't made any progress walking/jogging with him and may have regressed some, but it was nice to do this with him regardless.  I am sticking to my treadmill for a while, too, I prefer it to running outside.    I think in the spring when Josh has gotten a little taller, we are going to buy bikes and start riding together.  Cycling is something that is intriguing to me and I've noticed many of the bloggers I follow have gotten into biking.  I used to ride a bike, many, many years ago, and I know that is something Josh and I could do together that he will have more success in than running, he doesn't really enjoy running and I don't want to push him to do something he hates, and I know he likes to bike and I know he likes to spend time alone with me ( I like it too!!), so this will be something we can do together next spring/summer.  In the mean time I will keep encouraging him to use the treadmill and get out on his bike to get some exercise.  Hell, maybe I'll be at my goal weight by next spring when we start biking, wouldn't that be cool!!  I'm shooting for the end of 2011, but we'll see how things progress.  My almost non-existent metabolism took an even further dump once I hit 40, so weight loss is just sllloowwwww for me now!!!  I just have to realize that this is going to take a long time, and I also need to remember my past mistakes and not repeat them!  I am still working on taking off the 25# of binge eating grossness from my last slip up and I need to remember just how hard it is to get it off this time, so I don't do it again.  Everyone has bad days but I can't fall off the wagon for more than a day or two without having some really sucky consequences!  It isn't going to happen again!!
I took 6th place in the Awesome by August challenge, which was really a nice motivator for me to keep on going.  I am excited to be participating in the Super by September challenge that Karen is doing, I really think these challenges help to keep me going.  I picked Vemma thirst water for my prize for last month's challenge, sounds pretty interesting.  I'll keep everyone posted on how it works!

A Loss is a loss!

I lost 1.2 pounds this week,  it still doesn't make up for the 2 pounds I gained last week, but hey, a loss is a loss and I'll take it!!!  I'm thinking I will take photos and measurements every 15 pounds instead of once per month, in which case I have a bit to lose before I worry about that.  I had originally thought to do it every month, but because I forgot today I made the executive decision to do it every 15 pounds instead!!
This weight is sure coming off a lot slower than it went on when I was in my eating frenzy a couple of months ago.  As I think about this ( and I think about it a lot!) I believe the reason for this is so that I FINALLY realize that a month long binge is just not worth it and I can't do it anymore!!! Simply because it goes on so fast and comes off so painfully slow.   The yo-yo'ing has to stop every time I do it it becomes more obvious that it harder and harder to take the weight off, besides the fact that it so unhealthy to do it!  Maybe this will finally be the motivator I need to stop the binge eating.  I need to keep this in the front of my mind so that every time I want to binge and binge and not look back I stop and remind myself that it's not worth it because it will take forever to get it off and I'll never get to my goal weight!  Hopefully, hopefully this blogging will serve as a reminder to me, too.  I don't want to keep falling off the wagon and this blog is a good way to remember these times, good and bad!  I love the support and encouragement I can find in the blogging world!  (even if I have to pretend I have readers!)!!!
I wonder what it is about breastfeeding that hops up a person's metabolism, whatever it is they need to bottle it and sell it because I lost 50# with very little effort when I was going to weight watchers and nursing Mallory.  I want THAT kind of metabolism!  (Not bad enough to get pregnant again, though!)
I think I might have had that AH-HA moment just in the last week or so and I hope that I can avert any further month-long binge eating.  A day here or there to splurge, it do-able, just not a month or more!

Here is a great blog article on binge eating...

http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2008/08/26/7-helpful-tips-to-stop-binge-eating/

Until next time!

One big load of stress lifted off my shoulders!!!!

Yeah, this is how I was feeling up until I hit the submit button on my research proposal today!!!!!

However...now that that huge weight is off my shoulders, I should have about....hmmmm, 2 or 3 weeks until the next class starts up!!  What we won't do for higher education!!!  Work has called multiple times the last couple of days, begging for help because we are so short staffed.  I just don't want to do it, I was looking forward to having some time off with nothing but housework and laundry and scrap booking hanging over my head,  instead of homework!  They are having an emergency meeting Monday and I'll bet they start cancelling vacations and making more mandatory overtime.  They had better think long and hard before they do that there are many people I work with who have one foot out the door already.  I really hope my boss loses her job over this, the new step down unit shouldn't have been opened when we didn't have the staff to staff it adequately.  Enough ranting about work.  I had to get that out there because it looks like one stress will be replaced by another!
I didn't exercise today, at all!  It is so hot and humid and I developed a migraine after my jog/walk last night that I was still dealing with today so I opted for a exercise free day.  Normally I would have gone to yoga, but the thought of hanging upside down while my head  is throbbing just didn't appeal to me!

I do love yoga, though.

My eating has been pretty on track, I had pizza tonight but managed to keep it in check.  I am really hoping for a loss Friday morning, I don't think I will handle a gain two weeks in a row, very well.  That's just how I am, I know it's wrong but I am one of those people who need to see the numbers going down, to get that positive feedback from my scale.

 One final thought...

Until next time!!

This is a new week!

I didn't do badly last week, just lost a bit of focus and slacked off a little (2# worth of slacking). This weekend's eating went well and I tracked everything I ate and plan to do the same this week. I think as much as I despise tracking what I eat I need to do otherwise it just becomes too easy to eat a little more of this or that or and extra helping all because it's not visible to me on my food log, so I'm committing to doing it, all week!
Less than 2 weeks until my next 5K. I'll be running it with Josh so I'm not planning on having a better time than my last 5K but at least we will be doing it together. After this 5K I'm so exciting to be doing one in December (yeah, December in Wisconsin, this could be brutal), anyway it runs through a park that is completely decorated with Christmas lights, how cool is that!!!!
I WILL NOT STRESS EAT THIS WEEK! My research proposal is due next Monday, so this will be a very stressful week trying to get it all pulled together.
I




WILL



NOT



STRESS



EAT



!