I just ate 5 cookies worth of frozen peanut butter homemade cookie dough.
I've still got a ways to go, but I've found some tricks that help me get to the Recreation Center where I work out:
My husband has a flexible schedule, but doesn't like to be bound by much of a routine. So I get up in the morning and I ask, "So when can I work out today?" Sometimes it's the morning, or late afternoon, or after dinner. I have just learned to be flexible because beggars can't be choosers!
Once he tells me when it would work for him, as it gets to be closer to that time I think of all the stuff I can get done that will enable me to get there. I get in my workout clothes with my running shoes! I begin some dinner preparations just in case I'm going in the late afternoon. If I get to go in the morning, then I wait to take my shower until I get home. I just immediately get in my workout clothes. If I go after dinner, I again get in my clothes and shoes before I serve everyone. Then I let my dinner settle as I wash all the dishes, and by then I'm ready to go. Have you noticed a pattern here? Right now, I get to go this afternoon sometime. I've taken a shower, but went ahead and put on my clothes. Oh, and make sure my iPod is ready to go, along with my water bottle and any reading material.
Go for at least 45 minutes. What's 15 more minutes when you're already there and sweating?
I tell myself, if I get tired, "I can do anything for ____ minutes!" "It's only ____ more minutes!" "I never regret working out when it's all done!"
Mix it up. Don't do the same thing all the time. I added the stair killer and it IS hard, but good. As soon as I'm not challenged at something, I up the pace, the incline, the level. I've worked up to the 12th level on the elliptical trainer. I can run at 5.0 now on the treadmill. I did NOT start that way. In fact, when I began I did something terrible to my knee because I went too fast.
Get some great shoes. The gal over at Finish the Race suggested going to a running store and getting a gait analysis. I did that over Thanksgiving and discovered that I overpronate, which was contributing to my knee problems. I got a shoe that gives me better support and the problem is solved!
As I think of more things that have helped me, I'll post about it.
I found the coolest blog, via Average Girl that has a whole team of cool people who are in the fight against fat together: One Weigh Or Another
I've found all kinds of great ideas, especially the Real Age Test Be sure to check it out! By the way, my real is 24.3 :)
If you haven't tried these yummy frozen soybeans yet as a snack or in your favorite salad, you are missing out! Now just get yourself past the fact that they are SOYbeans. Put it out of your mind that tofu and all kinds of other strange substances are made from soybeans. Edamame are in pods. You boil them for 2-3 minutes, drain them, then let your kids help you to pop the beans out of their pods. Add the beans to your salad, pasta salad, or eat them plain (I don't eat the pods, but I think you could if you wanted.). They have a slightly salty taste (you can salt the water if you want, but I don't). And while they look a little like lima beans (of which I am not a fan), they don't taste like them. Or peas for that matter (which I also don't like). You can find edamame in your frozen vegetable section. Even my po-dunk Walmart has them.
So here's a quick, healthy salad using your new-found edamame!
Prepare 1 bag of the edamame, popping them out of the pods
shred a bunch of peeled carrots
Wash and chop two hearts of romaine lettuce
Combine these, add some of Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Dressing (or any other Asian inspired dressing of choice). Top with (just a little bit, now) chow mein noodles.
Have you ever fallen off the wagon? Ever since the birthday parties last weekend I've been eating junk food like never before. I've still been exercising, but it seem as though once you get a taste for it again, you're SUNK.
How do you get back on track? Before last week, I thought (deceived myself) into thinking I was really changing my eating habits.
So let me confess what I've eaten today:
3 hershey's kisses
1 handful of Valentine's m & ms
2 chocolate desserts that the church folk left us in the downstairs fridge from last night (I walked all the way over there just to get them)
1 piece of Little Caesar's Deep Dish pizza
4 chicken nuggets
oh, and i licked both the beater and the bowl when I made Sunday morning's apple kuchen.
Is it possible for your stomach to instantly expand as soon as you fill it with junk?
Tomorrow will be better. I hope.
YOU can do it!
I"m officially down to 157 lbs, from 180 back in the fall. It's been slooooooow, but I am fully convinced that there is no other way to do it but to exercise (and break a sweat!) 4-5 times a week and watch what you eat. I don't do well with full-blown diets, I just limit my junk and I've tried to eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day.
Fitness is contagious!
Hiya ladies. I've just found a new "healthy" food that I love! I've had hummus before and didn't think it was all that great. But I picked up some Red Pepper Hummus at our local Kroger store, toasted some whole wheat pitas that I cut into eighths, and WOW.
So my healthy lunch today is:
Julie's Romaine White Bean Salad
two heads romaine hearts, chopped and washed (LOVE my cheapie salad spinner!)
fat free italian dressing or Newman's Own light balsamic vinegrette (how do you spell that???)
1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white tuna, drained
shredded carrots
And toasted pitas and red pepper hummus.
Maybe eating healthy isn't so hard after all...
By the way, a wonderful gal on the forum recommended switching up my work out a bit, so I've added the stair killer, I mean, climber, and running. I'm hoping it's helping me break out of my plateau.
So now the official total of weight loss is: TWENTY POUNDS. It's taken FOREVER, but you must, must, must go slow. I'm totally convinced. Never give up!
Hiya, girls. Not much time today, but I just read in the newest Fitness magazine that the "wiggle test" is a better measure of your fitness progress than the scale. So my scale hasn't moved much this week, but my new size 12 jeans are falling down without a belt.
Now that's exciting! If I can do this, anyone can!
I've been working my tail off since Labor Day to lose weight. I've resigned myself to the fact that it is a slow process, and that only slow weight loss will yield long-term results. With that said, I have lost a total of....
17 POUNDS!!!!
I'm down one size and I can tell my endurance is improved, too. People have noticed that I've lost weight, which I have to say, is GREAT motivation to keep at it and not devour the pizza hubby makes after the kids go to bed.
My latest dilemma, however, is what to incorporate into my weight training routine. I know it's important, and I was doing it, but not seeing much results. I was also in the weight room one day with a woman who totally knows what's she doing and I've asked her for help before, but one day when she gave it, it made me feel silly. So I know that sounds strange, but I've avoided the weight room ever since! I've been getting on-line looking for suggestions, but can't seem to find what I'm looking for. So I'll KEEP looking I suppose, and keep up the cardio and watching what I eat.
Just a quick note to let you know! Now I need to find a treadmill somewhere. Our hotel's exercise room is circa 1990.
Oh, and I've lost a total of 13 pounds!!!!
TWO MILES WITHOUT STOPPING!!!!
This is huge for the anti-athlete that I am. I couldn't run a mile when I was young and a bean pole. Yippee!
That's all I wanted to tell you...
I had some trouble not eating junk food last week, so I didn't weigh myself on Monday. I did it this morning and guess what!? I'm down to 171!
When we were on vacation I was at 180, and I started taking my working out seriously sometime in August, I think. I know it's a very slow process, so I'm just thrilled to have lost 9 pounds. I figured if I could just lose one measly pound a week, by this time next year I'll be where I want to be. I can totally handle that!
I'm also running about 15-20 minutes total (of 45-50 minutes walking, too), then icing my knee when I get home, which has helped tremendously. I'm also trying to lift weights three times a week.
In Galloway's Book of Running it says that the benefit increases dramatically from running two days a week to three days a week, but there's not as much of an increase if you bump it up from three to four.
I'm also taking swimming lessons right now so that I can "cross train".
I took lessons as a kid, but something happened in my brain as I got older so that I couldn't put my head in the water. I've had three half hour lessons and the instructor has helped with my breathing and form, and yesterday I did the front crawl halfway across the pool! This is HUGE for me, because, like running, swimming has never come easily to me. Soooo...I 'm thinking once I can swim, I can do that two days a week, then run and lift the other days. I want to be healthy! Now if only the produce at our little grocery store wasn't all gross and limpy--
I was reading over at Girltalk a while back and it hit me like a ton of bricks: I am vain.
Before children, I was thin without making any effort. I wasn't athletic, I ate what I wanted and I just was skinny.
Mothers out there know what bizarre things happen to a woman's body when she's pregnant! For me, it meant keeping ten pounds or so from every baby as a kind of souvenir.
I've been focusing lately on losing weight. I've been running, walking, lifting. I've dropped 7 pounds so far, with only 8 more to go to get back to where I was when I got pregnant this last time.
But it's occured to me that my whole motivation is to "look better". Why should this matter to me? Is it because I was always thin without having to worry about it? Is it because I'm buying into the world's standard of beauty? I hate to admit, but I think the answer to these questions is YES.
So I've repented of my vanity, something I must do daily. I've committed myself to being healthy, to preventing heart disease, cancer, osteoporsis, diabetes, knee replacements, back problems...so that when I'm a grandma someday, I can be a busy, active, FUN grandma who can enjoy her children's children. That has become my focus, I pray that by God's grace, he will bless my efforts this time since it is from a heart that seeks to bring him glory through taking care of my temple of the Holy Spirit, and not from a heart that seeks to worship myself.
I LOVE this on fresh greens! Whip up a huge batch to keep on hand. It's so much better than store-bought!
1 c light mayo (I like Best Foods/Hellman's)
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning or just oregano
1 T. sugar or splenda
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Whirl in a blender or whisk together. YUM-O!
Got on my new fancy schmancy scale that gives you your weight and body fat percentage and BMI. I thought it would be cool to have, but it's really just depressing...anyway, I got on it this morning and I'm down a pound or two to 175.8. That's encouraging since I've been having knee trouble for almost two weeks. I'm hoping to take a stab at walking/running this afternoon the treadmill. Hoping for the best!
What? A favorite swimsuit? Now THAT'S an oxymoron. With all my knee problems and because sweet baby girl is getting bigger and might enjoy the baby pool at the Rec Center, I purchased a swimsuit. And I LOVE it.
It's modest, easy to put on, comfortable.
Land's End has the best swimsuits around. I ordered the Original Sport Tankini (I tried to post a photo but it didn't take, so if you're really interested, just search for it at www.landsend.com) by mail order and it came quickly and was worth every penny. How's that for not having a Cathy comic strip moment in a department store dressing room?
You're getting three posts today since my family is down watching a movie, sweet baby girl is hanging out in dad's lap, and I have the MacBook (a.k.a. "my precious"). I really should be going to get ice cube trays to freeze all the baby food I made today, hmmm...maybe I'll do a 4th post on that. Anyway-
I was so excited to be running for the first time in my life when after Tuesday's workout my right knee started to ache and it was difficult going down stairs (a bad thing in a tri-level house!). I got on runnersworld.com and discovered I probably have runner's knee, a problem more common in women but common nonetheless. It said I needed to strengthen my quads and hamstrings and possibly wear a knee band when I work out. I gave it until today when I tried running again and my knee just wouldn't take it. I ran for maybe 3 minutes, then switched to the elliptical trainer, which felt fine. I took some advil this morning and it's been feeling better. I still lifted weights, but oh, I want to run like the wind and I can't!
Any of you out there have this happen?
I did 16 minutes of running today and 14 of walking uphill on the treadmill. I also lifted weights. 38 pounds to go!!
It's the latest craze, it seems, so I've jumped on the running bandwagon (would that be a treadmill?). Most of the skinny people I know don't just walk, they run. So I'm now convinced, since I've received a clean bill of health from my doctor, that I will take up running. I have never been able to run. EVER. I used to do a 20 minute mile in school. You can also see from my photo down below that I'm about 40 lbs overweight (I'm the blonde one.).
I've begun. I can now run 12 minutes! I walk the rest of it uphill on the treadmill and yesterday I was so sore I had trouble walking down the steps.
But I like being sore.
And I've weighed myself this morning and I've lost 2 pounds this week!
Let's see if I can continue!
I have 40 pounds total to lose. It seems like it's impossible to get away and exercise with our schedules. I want to do it in the morning, but I'm so tired from being up twice or THRICE (like the last two nights have been), that I can't. I'm going this afternoon, though, with a lady from church. I just don't feel like it at all. I know that as soon as I leave the baby will start squalling and dad won't be able to comfort her... Someday I'll be skinny again.
