Update!

So last Friday I went in for my final session with my personal trainer. We did a final weigh in as well as re-took all of my measurements. Good news! My weight is down to 181, and I lost 2 inches in my waist and hips, and 1 inch in my bicep! YAY! Now that info is kinda deceptive. We re-calculated my body fat, and it was still at 32%. This means that although I have lost fat, I have also lost muscle. Since I have been only dieting the last two weeks, not working out, then both fat and muscle has been falling away. I'm not exactly complaining, but trainer lady did point out the importance of muscle mass in overall fat burn. This week and next week I hope to start back walking and maybe lifting a few weights. My arm isn't completely healed, but I want to remain pro-active.

Happy thoughts: So all this time I've been saying that I can't really see the weight loss. Well this weekend it finally hit me. My pants are simply hanging off of me. I had so much underwear showing in my jeans that I went out and bought a new pair of jeans and a new pair of khakis that fit much better in the waist. They were still a size 14, but it made me happy b/c I think that I've been denying the fact that most 14s were no longer fitting me. I kept looking in my closet and saying all of my pants are 14s and they fit. However, I am realizing that when I would try on 14s that didn't fit, then I just wouldn't get those pants. I never picked out a larger size that did fit. Now I'm going to take 3 pairs of work slacks and have them altered over the break. They are sagging in a major way, and its kinda embarassing. However, I'm just smiling that I've finally opened my eyes and recognized the tangible improvements.

Christmas break will be tough for managing my weight. I am planning to try my best to keep up with my diet (although, I recognize that eating at home will simply be different than eating on my own) and get in a little exercise. My mom and I are planning to walk, and there are weights at home for me to use with my low-impact work out tape. Since I'm still working my way back into exercising anyway, then this is very reasonable. I'll plan on punching it up when I return to work the following week.

Sexy new body, here I come!

Stillllllllllllllllll not able to exercise yet :-(

I miss it. Well I don't miss the actual work outs; you know that those can be ass kickers. However, I feel more in shape and slim/trim when I am exercising. When I don't work out, then I feel like I'm just hanging out gaining wait. I have been maintaining my diet. Oatmeal or yogurt for breakfast, sandwich/salad/grilled or baked poultry for lunch, 100 calorie pack for a snack, and a reasonable dinner. I've been choosing grilled options for my meats (usually poultry or fish), and I even cooked twice this week. I made grilled shrmp w/angel hair pasta and low cal pasta sauce, as well as fresh turkey burgers w/baked fries. Yay me!

I feel as though I need to be more restrictive with my diet, though. Since I am doing absolutely nothing right now, I need to be very particular about what I eat. Most likely I will not begin working out again until the week before or after Christmas, and even then I'm just planning on doing some walking. My arm should be nearly healed by then, but I figure that if I can just walk at a slow-moderate pace for about 45 mins - hour, then I should really sweat very much. I am also thinking that I can walk out door as well. The cool air should keep my temp. down. Until then, I want to be sure that I am maintaining my weight at the very least. Truthfully, I'd like to lose at least a pound or two before the new year simply by dieting. However, worst case scenario would be an increase in my weight. Setbacks are no fun. To aide in this I am going to have to begin a food journal. I absolutely hate food journals b/c it seems like a real hassle to write down everything that you eat. However, it ups you accountability and makes you take a hard look at the food choices that you're making. Then, I'm going to try to enter what I've eaten into Fitday.com. Have I already told you guys about this site? Well it allows you to enter the food portions that you've eaten for the day as well as your daily activity. Based upon the calories consumed and burned, it'll let you know if you've gained or lost weight for the day. Now it isn't completly user friendly. Sometimes its hard to know what was included in food that was eaten out, and you can't always find the foods that you've had in their search engine. However, I think its good enough to give me some rough idea. I suppose that I'll start this tomorrow. I need to pick up a cheap journal to carry around.

Oh, I think that I owe you a weigh in. Well I'm having my final session with my personal trainer next week. Its just an exit interview, so she'll weigh me and take all of my measurements once again. I should be able to report back at that time. TTYL!

Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I know that it has been a hella long time since I blogged. What happened you ask? Sickness and infection. As it turns out, I may have a disease called Hidradentitis Suppurativa (http://dermatology.about.com/cs/infectionbacteria/a/hidradenitis.htm). Pretty nasty stuff, but there are worse things in the world to have to deal with. In short, it means that I am prone to chronic infections of the sweat glands. One of these got particularly intense last week, and I was forced to the doctor. While the infection has been removed, I am now healing, which has kept me off my feet. I am actually a little fearful about getting back into exercising since the infections are generated within the sweat glands. I know that I can't not exercise, but I'm just afraid that as soon as I do, then I'll be back in the same boat battling another infection. The doctor's don't really seem to have any recommentations on how to manage the condition or avoid future outbreaks. I have a follow up appointment on Friday, so I'll try again to coax some helpful hints out of the doctor and his assistant. Until then, I'll have to work harder to maintain my diet. Without exercising it isn't likely that I will lose weight, but I would at least like to maintain it until I am back in good health. I'll go for another weigh in, in a week or so and let you know where we are!

ETA: I read that sweating and being overweight can aggravate the condition. LOL! So I need to lose weight, but I just can't sweat while doing it. Nice!

I'm back!

I finally made it home to my parent's house and my parent's scale. *horror screams echo in the background* After completing a Biggest Loser workout, I made my way to my bathroom scale. I was hesitant to hop on, but a promise had been made. I climbed on and was pleasantly surprised to find the dial landing at 185lbs. That's down 2 lbs from my last personal weigh in out and 3lbs from the trainer lady's weigh in. I am thrilled! At 1st my conscience didn't believe me b/c I originally came up with 2 different #s. I tried weighing myself with the scale placed on the bathroom carpet, which gave me a significantly higher number. Closer, if not into, the 190s. However I moved it to the tile floor, which is where I got the 185 reading. Now you know that I'm paranoid, so I got on and off several times to verify that the number didn't change. Upon hearing the skepticism in my conscience's voice, I proceeded to a different scale in my parent's bathroom the following morning. To my delight it too read 185! So I feel as though this should be some sort of a milestone, as we're down 15lbs from when I 1st began August 1st.

I think that its time for another challenge. I am setting yet another 10lb weight loss challenge for myself. I am going to lose 10 more pounds by 12/31. Do you know what that means? I will be at my goal weight of 175lbs! Down 25lbs in 5 months. YAY!!!!! Now I know that you're saying, "Hey, you weren't even successful in your last 10 lb challenge." I hear ya, and I have a couple of responses. I am learning more about myself and how to exercise, so I think that some of my workouts are more effective/impactful than in the past. Plus, any loss is a success. Although I really believe that I'll be able to complete my 10 lbs in the next 5 weeks, any weight loss is something to sing about.

So before I head off for the Thanksgiving holiday, I have to address the death trap that is holiday food. My family is NOTORIOUS for having what I like to call 'the good stuff' around this time of the year. Egg nog, cookies, nuts, candy, pie, plus that delicious Thanksgiving day meal. However, I do have a plan for getting out alive. Over the next several days leading up to the holiday, I am going to do my very best to maintain my same diet. We do have healthy foods in the house, so I just have to be responsible enough to choose them. As for the holiday favorites, I think that I can successfully skip out on cookies and pies. Egg nog will be limited to 1 small glass a day, and even that will be substituted for tea where possible. The dinner itself...it is what it is. I think I'm ok with an indulgence for Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, I am going to focus on portion control and eating slowly. My goal is to enjoy the meal, but not to stuff myself. Plus plus plus, I plan to keep up my exercising throughout the week. Overall I think I'll come out a winner ;-)

What's happened since I last blogged? Lots of fun exercise :-)

I've had 2 more personal training sessions, completed my Biggest Loser workout video twice, and strength trained and jogged on my own. Yay for me! I can afford to do a bit better on the diet. I've done much better about sticking to my eating schedule, however, multiple team events last week left me with a few unhealthy dinners and lots of wine. As a result, I am opting out of a few of the events this week and choosing to use that time for exercise and rest instead.

Lets talk about perceptions, though. I think that I mentioned before that I never really saw myself as a fat person before. Yes, I thought of myself as 'thick', and yes I've noticed one or two bad photos. However for the most part I was really pleased with my appearance. Well I guess not completely pleased (otherwise, I would never have decided to make this change), but pleased for the most part. However, just the other day I spent time uploading pictures onto my Myspace page. As I went from one pic to the next I saw a genuinely fat person. A really pretty fat person, but there was no denying the weight in my face and body as I looked at the pics. It really made me wonder...when the hell did that happen. I mean its like I never really saw myself before. It again made me wonder if this is the ME that everyone else has been seeing all this time. A pretty but chunky girl, rather than the hot mama that I see. I guess that it just kinda strengthened my resolve to keep working at this. I want the ME in my mind's eye to match the ME on my camera. It also made me focus in on the fact that this really does have to be a complete life change. If I don't make exercise and healthy eating a regular habit from here on out, then its only a matter of time b4 the weight creeps back in. There is nothing worse that an wack chick who thinks that she's fine. I CANNOT be that girl.

I'm heading to my parent's home this weekend where I will again hop on the scale. Giving the exercise successes and the food failures, I'm kinda just expecting to break even. However a weigh in prior to Thanksgiving has got to be much better than a weigh in afterwards. I'm taking the Biggest Loser tape with me though, and I'll give you the results this weekend.

Soooooooooooo it's been more than a minute.

I'm sorry to say, that I really don't have much 'good' to report. I fell off the wagon for sure. In the last week I only exercised twice, and I did not stick to my diet. Here, let me tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good:
- I bought a work out tape. Its a 90 min long DVD made by the people at NBC's The Biggest Loser. It has a warm up, a cool down, a beginners, and an advanced work out. Plus it only cost about $12. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks really good for those rainy days where you don't want to go out of the house.

- I took 2 exercise classes. Step Aerobics (60 mions) and Salsa Moves (60 mins). What's good about the classes it that they were an hour each. Since I typically work out for 30 mins at a time, then I kinda doubled up on those days. The Step class was definitely more high impact. However, since I had the instructor from hell (read: somebody needs to give this chick the definition of the word instruct as well as its synonym teach) I spent most of the class trying to figure out what the hell was going on and catch up. I like the Salsa Moves class much better b/c I knew what I was doing, but it was much more low impact that Step. Both classes did a good job of getting my heart rate up as well as working my legs, but maybe not such a good job at burning fat.

- I had my 1st personal training session. Trainer lady gave me a pedometer to measure my steps as well as some nutrition information. She also confirmed that my weightloss plan is right on target. I'm eating several meals a day. I'm eating a balance diet, which is low in fat and calories. I'm aiming to work out 6 days a week, but at least most days of the week. I'm doing both strength training and cardio. All of this is exactly what she wants me to be doing.

The Bad:
- Since I only attended the two 'average' exercise classes last week, then I didn't really get the amount of calorie burn or muscle exercise that I prefer. Something is better than nothing, but I can do much better.

- I slid right off the diet. This is my biggest detriment for the week. It started with indulging in Mexican and Chinese food the previous weekend, and went downhill from there. The biggest dissapointment that I have is that I allowed myself to snack at the office, and I didn't adhere to my outline of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner w/2 snacks (100 calories or less) in between. Choosing healthy meals is doable when I'm in most settings (read: home or a restaurant w/a variety of healthy options as opposed to a pizza parlor). However, the snacks are the calories that slip through the cracks, but add up on you later.

- My 1st training session was really more of a health consultation than personal training. Trainer lady weighed me, took my measurements, gathered some info, and gave me some info. I felt a bit jipped. I mean its just 5 personal training session, and we didn't even exercise on one of them. Bastards!

The Ugly:
- So during my personal training session Trainer lady took my weight as well as a bunch of other measurements and came up with my % body fat. I weighed in at 188, which is one pound over my last weigh in. I'm not sure if it's b/c of my habits this last week, or simply b/c we used a different scale. Either way, that isn't what really concerned me. I was much more disturbed by the % body fat that she came up with. 32% Yowser!!!!!!!

According to About.com as well as Nutribase.com a normal % is 22 - 25%. Above average is about 25 - 29%, and above that is over weight. Now just how overweight is where the two sites differ. About.com says above 32% is the danger zone, whereas Nutribase.com says that above 35% is the danger zone.

Now I should not be surprised by this. I mean I started off with a goal weight of 175lbs as that was the max weight that my doctor recommended that I be at for my age/height. Given that I am 10 - 15lbs over that, I am clearly 'overweight'. However, it is just surprising to hear that 1/3 of your weight is fat.

Trainer lady said that losing 2% would be about 8 lbs, and therefore losing 3% would be about 12 lbs. That would bring me to my max weight of 175 lbs as well as 29%, the max in the above average range.

Its good to know that I'm on the right track with my goals and methods. I just need to make sure that my motivation and delivery stay in line with that. I'm not discouraged right now, just very very eager to get back on the wagon. The good thing about losing weight is that you can always start again, and luckily...I'm pretty much starting where I left off. I'll push through this week, and let you know how things go!

Wow...it has been a whole week since I posted. Sorry guys, I dropped the ball. I guess that not too much has really happened since last week. I've continued to eat well, although I can definitely see a few areas where I'm slipping. I am still making good choices, but not always the best choice. For instance, I might have Baked Lays Doritos (170 calories and 5 grams of fat) instead of Baked Lays Plain (105 calories and 1.5 grams of fat). Its minor, but I just want to be aware of it, so that these things don't add up on me. I haven't been so great with the exercising this week. I worked out Monday and Tuesday, but then I took Wednesday off and got my hair done on Thursday. I need to at least get in some crunches and lunges or walking this evening, and I need to get in full work outs this weekend.

I also have the task of contacting 24 Hour Fitness, which has failed to contact me regarding my personal training sessions. I really hate when I have to follow up with a business about why they didn't follow up with me. However, its more important not to waist the money, so... I'll give them a call today.

Health-wise that's really all that has been going on. Sorry it isn't more exciting. Maybe I'll hit up a book store this weekend and see about some workout tapes. I can't always make it out to the gym, so these might be a fun alternative. Let me know if you have any recomendations. Cheers!

I think that it was a good week :-)

So I took my 1st aerobics class this week...at least I thought that it was aerobics. In reality it turned out to be 60 tortourous minutes of weight training. I am sooooo sore right now that I can hardly type this. However, I guess I feel stronger and pleased with myself for surviving. Basically we worked upper body, lower body, and abs using anywhere from 8 to 35 lbs of weights. I felt like one of those muscle men in South Beach. Now I'm dying for a massage to take the pain away. I do think that I'll go back to the class, but I am definitely going to adjust the amount of weight that I'm lifting. I should be able to lift the weights more effectively if I lift less.

What I really need to be talking about is my cooking. Basically it sucks. As I have always said...I can keep another human being alive. However, it's just nothing that you'd be excited to eat. My conscience is playing nice, but I secretly think that he's a bit disappointed. He's offered to 'help' me cook now, and I guess I'm ok with that. I really wanted to do a great job on my own and impress him, but that is just not going to happen. He's a good cook, so I'll learn what I can. Maybe oneday I can flip it and surprise him. Anyway, even if I'm not the food genius, I am the planner, so I get to decide what we're eating. Here's what we're going to try cooking this week:

Mon: Baked Chicken Salad (You'll remember that this was one of my successful meals from a few weeks ago. I'd like to try it again)

Tues: Baked Catfish (Not sure how we're gonna season it, but I really like catfish...so its on the menu) w/steamed veggies and red potatoes

Wed: Spicy Shrimp (Ok, I don't really know how we're gonna make it spicy...However the conscience loves spicy food, so I'm sure he'll have some ideas. At the very least we could add a little cayenne or jalepeno to the mix) w/black beans & rice

Thurs: Pasta Salad (I'm thinking of using those tri-colored corkscrew pasta w/Italian dressing, parmesean cheese, and some other miscellaneous ingredients) w/cheesy Italian Bread

Fri: Chicken Breast Sandwiches (Perhaps on our unused French Bread w/red peppers...not the fresh ones, but the ones that come in a jar. I forgot the name...maybe pepperochini. Also provolone cheese, and you guessed it...the seasonings are up in the air.) I'm thining left-over pasta salad can go on the side.

Ok, really we aren't going to cook every night. We'll probably go out to dinner a few nights. Plus I'm sure that HE will have something to say about the menu. However, I think that this is a good start. Cross your fingers that we don't end up in the hospital.

Well, its been a while. Yes it has been more than a week since I last blogged. I guess I've been...occupied ;-)

My conscience is back from Europe! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 5 weeks a part I have dropped at least 5 lbs (sorry, I didn't get a chance to weigh in this Monday) and successfully cooked 3 tasty meals. Although I fell short of my overall weight loss goal, I still feel pretty good. I didn't fall short b/c I slipped up on my diet or didn't work out. I consistently ate healthy and worked out at least 5 days out of the week. I realize that I could lose weight more quickly if I had a more extreme/strict diet (i.e. significantly restricting portion size and calories rather than simply eating healthy foods). However, what I like about my current diet is that it is very doable. Oatmeal w/brown sugar and raisins for breakfast, grilled chicken Caesar salad for lunch, and grilled shrimp, steamed veggies and rice for dinner is definitely something that I can live with long term. Remember this is a lifestyle change, not just a diet.

Sooooo what have I been up to? Well I left a gym and joined another one. Previously I was a member of Curves, International. For those of you not too familiar with their clubs learn a little more here: http://www.curves.com/. Basically its a full body 30 min work out. However the catch is that you rotate between 8 - 12 different machines every 30 seconds, AND THAT'S IT! No classes, no treadmills, no weights just the designated 'circuit'. Now I can't complain too much about Curves. Truthfully I did lose 12 lbs there during my 1st year of joining. However, it is simply too restrictive for me now. Not only do many of the locations close by 7 or 8 pm (making it more ideal for a stay-at-home mom than a working woman), but after a while I simply got bored. I was to be able to do something different sometime.

Since I haven't been using curves for the last several months that I've been traveling, and I'm pretty sure that I won't be returning them when I stop, then I went ahead and faxed over my termination letter yesterday. Ironically, my conscience up and decides that he wants to head over to 24 Hour Fitness to learn more about their offerings. http://www.24hourfitness.com/. They are a traditional gym, and definitely more of what I was looking for. The only issue is that they have no locations in my home city. That kinda sucks b/c I'd love to work out there on a regular basis. However, when I 1st started traveling 7 months ago, I didn't join b/c I thought I'd only be on the road for 3 months. Now that I am slated to stop traveling in 3 months I am faced with the same dilemma. Learning from my original mistake, I decided to go ahead and join on a month to month basis. I'll just cancel it when I return home.

Here's what's really fun. My conscience joined as well. As a matter of fact, right now he's kinda paying for it, so I gotta remember to pay him back for my membership. So as we're getting info on the membership they offer us an opportunity to get 5 - 30 minute personal training sessions for $50. About $10 per session isn't bad. I was hesitant to sign up, but my conscience offered to pay for them for me. YAY! Of course, I won't continue after the 5 sessions, but I can at least get some moves and techniques to incorporate into my personal routine. Plus they do a fitness and diet analysis and give you a pedometer. Ok, I know that I'm a geek, but I'm really excited about the pedometer. They are going to give me a call to schedule the sessions, so I'll let you know when I have my 1st one.

Overall, I'm really pleased with where I am. I'll give myself a weigh in next time that I'm at the gym. I'll also report back on the exercise classes that I want to take, my personal training sessions, and of course the healthy meals that I am beginning to cook. I'll bet you can't wait.

Weigh in #2. Dun Dun Duuuuunnnnnn!

Well after another 2 weeks have passed, it has again come time to weigh myself. Now my last weigh in was slightly disappointing. I had lost weight (2lbs). However, since I felt that I had really committed to eating better and exercising, I guess I was expecting something more drastic. Needless to say, I was not excited about this week's trip to the scale. However, after 2 more weeks of consistently good food choices and nearly daily work outs, I found myself down 3 more pounds. The scale slid into the 180's at 187lbs. That means with one week left to go in my 10lb challenge, I have lost 5lbs. Not bad!

Also, to just take a look back at my progress since I began this blog just over 2 months ago, I have lost 13lbs. Now this number may not wow you right now. However if we blow it out over 2 more months (26lbs in 4 months), then it seems very reasonable. My conscience will be back next week, and hopefully he will continue to be my diet and exercise champion. I plan to keep up the good work and be at my goal weight by Christmas!

Now lets talk about that 'other' part of my challenge. The 3 home cooked meals. Well I have successfully created two meals that I feel very good about. The stir fry shrimp and baked chicken tereyaki were pretty good. That leaves me just one meal short. This week I'll have to put my mind to it and come up with one more tasty treat. I am thinking of a grilled (more like sauteed) or baked chicken salad. I have some fresh chicken strips, so tomorrow I think that I'll cook those up and throw them over a bed of fresh lettuce. Add in a little cheese, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and fat free ranch, and I believe that it will be a hit!

Ok, so I need some practice with the iPod. Yesterday was my first day using it on the treadmill. It was ... alright. Well the run was one of my most difficult. I'm not sure why that was, but it could be one of several reasons that have nothing to do with the iPod. However, the iPod was a challenge. I downloaded what should have been about 8 hrs worth of music. However when I started off with one of my playlists, it just stopped about 10 mins into the music. I don't know if it is a problem with the iPod, or a problem that occurred during the upload. I'm going to listen to the source music on my computer to see if there are any issues there. If not, then I'll try to re-upload it to see if that corrects the problem. Either way, 10 mins into my workout I had no music. I paused and switched to another playlist, but that one starts out with slower songs, so needless to day I wasn't feeling really pumped. I struggled through the run and was incredibly grateful with my 30 mins was up.

Tonight I'm back to strenght training, and I'll wrap up the week with another run Friday evening. I have friends coming into town this weekend, so it might be hard to stick to my diet. However, I'm really gonna try b/c I have another weigh in on Monday, and I definitely want to be pleased. Only a little over a week until my conscience returns and I want my efforts to have paid off. :-)

Yay! I got my Ipod. That's right I picked up this little beauty:

It's so small and light weight. At 1st I was having a tough time figuring it out (apparently directions are a thing of the past). However, by the end of the day I believe that I will have successfully downloaded 6 or 7 music files. I should be good to go the next time that I work out. I also got the armband accessory, so that I won't have to hold it in my hand when I run.

I also cooked again last night. Tereyaki chicken strips (baked) with steamed red potatoes. I let the chicken strips marinate in the sauce for about an hour as it defrosted. The I sprinkled it with salt, pepper, and chicked seasoning. I laid the strips out in a pan and set them to bake for about 10 - 15 mins on each side at 375 degrees. I was worried that they would be really dry b/c I had no aluminum foil to cover them. However, the marinade did a really good job of keeping everything moist. Overall I was very pleased, and I have left overs for tonight!

This evening its back to strength training. This is always challenging b/c it requires more focus than the treadmill. As such a little more determination to get through all the exercises is needed, but I really feel like this works the right areas. Tomorrow I'll try out the iPod on the treadmill. Should be fun!

Ok, so I'm feeling motivated again. Last night I watched the last episode of Celebrity Fit Club, and I was so incredibly impressed to see the weight that the contestants lost in 100 days. They showed before pics, which shrunk into after pics so that you could really see the weight loss. It was phenomenal! I know that they had a lot more assistance and professional support that I do, but I feel confidant that I can keep striving towards my goals. It may not happen as quickly as it did for them, but in time I should be just as impressed with my own shrinkage: the good kind ;-).

Also, two ladies on one of my message boards posted about their great weight loss successes today. One has lost nearly 100 lbs, and the other 50lbs. Both have struggled and gone through their share of ups and downs, but ultimately they are winning the fight. I guess I realized that I can't be perfect at this. There will definitely be days that I lost battles by opting out of exercising or choosing the healthy food option. However as long as i don't completly give up, then I can still win the war.

I have 1 week until I do my next weigh in. At the last weigh in I was at 190lbs. I have been maintaining my healthy eating, although I need to remain conscious of my choices. It is so easy to choose the slightly healthy option over the healthiest option. I exercised Tues, Wed, and Thurs of last week. Although I skipped Fri and Sat, I started back up this week with walking on Sunday, and I will be running tonight. Its a struggle, but I am excited and hopeful that I will keep making strides. Just think, at my next weigh in I could be in the world of the 180s. Its not like its a great weight to be at, but everytime you lose 10lbs it take you into a whole other bracket. Before you know it...you hit your target weight. Very exciting indeed.

Oh before I go, I've been commenting about how tough it is for me to run. I get easily winded, and I count down the minutes until I can stop. Well w/my recent birthday earnings, I have decided to treat myself to an MP3 player. I've been told that running goes much faster with music, so this might take my workouts to a whole other level. WOW, I can't wait!

Wow...I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted.

I had kind of a slow weekend. I think I ran out of steam. I didn't exercise Friday - Monday. However, I have picked it back up this week, working out Tues & Wed. I'll be back on the treadmill tonight. I don't know what it is though. I'm having a tough time with motivation. On the one hand, I've gotten several compliments about my weight loss, and in some ways I can even see it. This does excite me, to be sure. However...I don't know. I just don't like exercising, which makes it though for me. I haven't found a routine that is fun. I like dancing, but I can't really take dance classes at home b/c my schedule is all over the place. I wonder if I can find one to take during the last 3 months that I'm traveling. Also, maybe I'll check out the video store and see if there are some exercise tapes that interest me. I do like aerobics.

Anyway, I've maintained my eating and lost 2 lbs. I'm at 190lbs now. I'm not sure if I'll make 8lbs in 3 weeks, given how I'm struggling now. However, I'll keep trying. Something will be better than nothing. I'll let you know what happens.

Wow...I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted.

I had kind of a slow weekend. I think I ran out of steam. I didn't exercise Friday - Monday. However, I have picked it back up this week, working out Tues & Wed. I'll be back on the treadmill tonight. I don't know what it is though. I'm having a tough time with motivation. On the one hand, I've gotten several compliments about my weight loss, and in some ways I can even see it. This does excite me, to be sure. However...I don't know. I just don't like exercising, which makes it though for me. I haven't found a routine that is fun. I like dancing, but I can't really take dance classes at home b/c my schedule is all over the place. I wonder if I can find one to take during the last 3 months that I'm traveling. Also, maybe I'll check out the video store and see if there are some exercise tapes that interest me. I do like aerobics.

Anyway, I've maintained my eating and lost 2 lbs. I'm at 190lbs now. I'm not sure if I'll make 8lbs in 3 weeks, given how I'm struggling now. However, I'll keep trying. Something will be better than nothing. I'll let you know what happens.

I cooked again!!!!! Ok, this time I went back to the shrimp. That worked out well for me in the past, and generally shrimp is one of my favorite foods. This time I used a little salt, pepper, and tereyaki sauce. I just quickly cooked it up on the stove with more forzen brocolli. I chopped up a small red potato and steamed it in the microwave. Overall, I was very happy with my meal. Now the potato was a little chewy, which I like, but someone else might not have cared for. Overall it was more than decent.

Also, I get a day off of exercising today. Since I'm flying home, then I won't have the time, so today is my break. I'll exercise on Sunday instead. I am so glad for the break, honestly. Last night I really didn't want to work out. I wanted to sleep and watch tv. I forced myself to go through with my strength training exercises, but it was pretty brutal. Tomorrow morning I'll run again, and Sunday I'll be back to strength training. Monday, will be my bext weigh in. I will be nearly half way through my one month count down. Technically its about 5 weeks, but 2 weeks in is a good time for a status report. Hopefully we'll be some where in the 180s. I don't like to be optomistic, but I'd hope that I've lost at least 3 lbs. We'll see!

So last night I attempted to cook a beautifual piece of red snapper...and I absolutely RUINED it! Folks, it was truly tragic. I marinaded it in this lemon pepper seafood marinade, as planned. Then I realized that I didn't have any aluminum foil to cover it with in the oven, although I suppose that I could have broiled it uncovered. Anyway, I tried to sautee it on the stove. Bad idea. My burner was waaaay to hot. It overcooked on the outside while still remaining raw on the inside. I reduced the heat to allow it time to cook within, but I fear that it was already to late. By the time that I pulled it off, it was very tough and generally tasted bad. I ended up trashing it. At the end, I just ate a combination of the steamed corn that I was going to pair with the fish and the rainbow sherbert that I wanted for dessert. Yum Yum!

Running is getting easier! I went home last night and forced myself to work out. I didn't get in until well after nine, so I definitely would have liked to lie down. However I am so pleased about some of the positive changes that I've seen in myself that I don't want to lose any ground now. So I went down to the gym for my 2 mile run/walk. I am so happy that the running segments are getting easier. I was able to push myself through me 4 - 3 min intervals (just over a mile total), and I was able to breathe better. I had much more even breaths, and I was breathing in and out through my nose, rather than gasping through my mouth. YAY ME! Now I think that I want to hold it here for a while. I know that the goal is to keep pushing yourself, but I want to just enjoy this for a little while. Eventually I will step it up b/c I'd like to be able to just run for an extended period of time, and I don't want to hit a plateau. However this is really good for now.

As for cooking, I was way to tired to cook last night, but tonight I will prepare my salmon. I have a marinade that I'm going to use, so hopefully it'll come out great!

Ok, so I made my first meal, and I think that it came out quite well. I did a stir-fry shrimp of sorts. I combined sliced red and yellow bell peppers, and frozen brocolli in a skillet with my shrimp. I added in a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and sauteed the mix for about 15 minutes. Then I mixed in about three tablespoons of the stir-fry sauce that I picked up for the last five minutes. I cooked it until the shrimp were finished and the veggies were tender. Finally I just poured the mixture over steamed white rice. It was pretty decent. I really liked how it turned out. I think that I can improve it by choosing a different combination of frozen veggies. By selecting one with carrots, snow peas, pea pods, etc. it might be a more authentic stir fry mix. However, I had to start somewhere, so cheers for me.

I've also done a good job by sticking to my workouts. I have strength training left to do tomorrow, and Sunday should be my day off. However, if possible, then I'm going to try and go hiking rather than taking Sunday off. I rode the exercise bike today for 30 mins, but I hardly broke a sweat. I don't really feel like I got a very good work out at all. If I can exercise on Sunday, then I'll go for it and just take off a different day later in the week. If not, it's all good anyway.

P.S. I found out that my home scale is the accurate weight. When I went to my parent's home this weekend, I bit the bullet and hopped on their scale. It doesn't require any manual efforts. You just look down and check out the reading. Low and behold it was at 191 or 192 (the display was tiny). Either way it was clearly well below 195, so hooray...the doctor's scale was wrong!

Aaaaand They're Off!

So I weighed myself at the home gym on Monday, and I was still at 192 lbs. This is where I'm setting my benchmark, and I'll aim to be 182 lbs, by this time next month. I think that I'm off to a good start. I successfully worked out the last two evenings, and I'm planning on hitting the treadmill again this evening. I pushed my running up to 3 min/quarter mile segments. I have to admit that it was really tough on Monday. I had such a hard time breathing evenly. Hopefully this evening will be easier. I am also mixing up my strength training work out. Yesterday I added in some new moves, but I think that I need to do a better job of stretching before hand. The work out is pretty leg intensive, and I started to cramp up about 3/4 of the way through. My biggest challenge was finding weights to use during the workout. I really like that I can do the strength exercises right in my living room. For some reason it seems a lot more convenient and the time passes quicker. However, the gym has weights, which are necessary for some of the exercises that I want to do. Last night I used canned foods, but it the future I may just have to bite the bullet and head to the gym.

As for food, I am also off to a great start. I picked up lots of healthy options at the grocery store. I got fresh chicken, catfish, orange roughy, snapper, and shrimp. I also got a variety of marinades and seasonings to use. Additionally, I picked up cereal, turkey, and tuna so that I can make quick meals on the days that I don't feel like cooking. Where I really seem to struggle is with snacking, though. This week I got lots of low calorie/low fat snacks for home and work. 100 Calorie pack, Fat Free/Calorie Free Instant Pudding/Rainbow Sherbert/Rice cakes. I think that I should be able to enjoy after lunch and after dinner snacks w/o having to feel too guilty. Yay for me! I'll let you know when I create my 1st tasty meal.

10lb count down.

Ok, today I'm beginning my 10lb count down. That is, I'm aiming to lose 10lbs by the time that my conscience returns from London - 4 or 5 weeks from now. I'll do a weigh in after my work out this evening. Note, it'll be on my home-gym scale, so who knows if it's right. However, it'll give us a bench mark, so that's what's important. I'm going to re-focus myself on completeing 6 workouts/week alternating between cardio and strength training. Right now, I can comfortably run 5 two-minute intervals on the treadmill. This is just under a mile of running. When I add in the 5 two-minute intervals of speed walking as well as the 2 five minute warm ups/cool downs then I'm at just under 2 miles. I am planning on taking it up to 4 three-minute intervals this evening. I've found that it takes me just about 3 minutes to run a quarter mile, so this should put me at a solid mile of running. Also, I am looking to step up my strength training. I have got some new moves, that I'm planning to incorporate. I think that this will help me to get more out of those sessions. Gotta get that metabolism up!

As for the cooking, I'm probably going to start on my 3 dishes later this week or early next week. I'll still be eating healthy, but I haven't decided what I'm going to try yet. For this week, it'll probably just be salads and whole-grain cereal for dinner. Ahhh, the life of a bachelorette ;-)

Next Steps

Ok, I kinda fell off the wagon this weekend. We had a 4 day weekend at work, and while I continued to watch my eating, I really only exercised once. Bad Lesley! This week I need to re-focus myself and get it together.

Also, I found out that my conscience is probably going to be leaving next week to go to Europe for a month. At first I felt discouraged. I mean, I think I have will power, but having someone there to eat healthy and excercise with you makes a whole world of difference. Even when I really really really want to go off my diet (like having popcorn or candy at the movies) I stick to it b/c he encourages me to do so. I felt like I'd never be able to stay on track with him gone. At the very least, I'd want to eat as comfort food to make up for his absence. However, I decided to re-focus myself and take a different approach to the situation. I haven't really been able to tell if I look very different since I began losing weight b/c I see myself everyday. This is a perfect opportunity to get some real feedback on if my appearance is actually changing. I am challenging myself to loose 10lbs from the time that he leaves until the time that he returns. This will keep me on track and motivated during his abscence as well as allow me to get an honest opinion regarding my appearance. Additionally, I am aiming to master three home cooked meals. As many of you know, I am nooo chef. Anything out of the box or w/directions is my friend. However, I'm going to try personalize three healthy meals to show off when he returns. I know three isn't alot, but I most likely won't cook EVERY day. Plus I'll need to do the recepies a couple of times to get them right. I'll let you know what I come up with.

The Results...

So I went to the doctor's office as planned and hopped on the scale to be weighed. I watched the nurse move the weights back and forth until the scale finally balanced out around 197 lbs. WHAT!!!! I was shocked and horrified. After she left, I hopped back on the scale to re-weigh myself b/c I was sooooo sure that she had done it wrong. I made sure that the scale balanced 1st and then took painstaking measures to be sure that I got the exact weight...196lbs. I was so hurt :-(. I acknowledged that I might not have been perfect in calculating my original weight, but secretly I believed that I had been. As I sat in the exam room awaiting the arrival of the doctor (weighting is always fun!), I sent my conscience a sulky text message with the results. Ever the thinker he suggested that I go back to my original scale and re-weigh myself there. So, I rushed home and hopped back on the scale at my gym. I took my time to get the correct reading...192lbs. Down 1 pound from the last reading! The question still remains, 'Which scale is correct?' However, either way...I lost one more pound from before, so YAY ME!

Eeek! I have to get weighed today.

I was all set to eat right and exercise for the next two weeks. After that, I was going to bite the bullet and hop on the scale. I was feeling very comfortable with that game plan. Then I realized that when I go to the doctor today, they are going to ask to weigh me. Oh my! What if the number is greater?!?!? I'm incredibly paranoid that I didn't do it correctly in the 1st place, so I am dreading getting a 're-test'. Ugh! Ok, I've got to calm myself. There isn't anything that I can do about it. I've been eating well and exercising regularly. Just yesterday I wowed myself by running a mile and walking 2 more miles. I'm sure that it will be fine, and if the number isn't one that I like then I'll just have to re-evaluate my work outs and meals and try harder. Whew!

Speaking of re-evaluating my work outs, I think its time to step my game up on my strength training exercises. They say that if you are lifting weights you should be using the # of pounds that make you feel like you couldn't possibly do one more at the end of your set. I don't really feel like that right now. Of course, I want to stop. However, I feel like I could do another squat or lunge if I had to. Today I'm going to revisit some of my workouts from the Essence magazines and try to incorporate some more challenging moves. I don't want to exhaust myself with every single work out, but I do want to feel like I pushed my body and accomplished something. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Ok, its been nearly a week and not much excitement has taken place. I've been doing a good job of sticking to my diet, but I only worked out 4 times last week. While I am proud of that small number, I don't want to get complacent. I need to keep pushing myself to get up to the 6 times per week that I am aiming for. I guess the most difficult part about exercise is that I never have days that I am not scheduled to work out. Typically, if I don't work out it is because I don't have the time, energy, or motivation to do so. When I miss a scheduled work out b/c of this, then I typically aim to excercise on my 'off' day as a make up. This repeats week after week, so while there are days that I don't work out, it is usually just b/c I couldn't push myself to do so. The real negative about this is that every day that I don't work out feels like a day that I've failed, rather than a well deserved rest. I don't really know what the solution to this is. I'm not willing to sacrafice my goal of 6 days per week yet. That is the easy route, and I don't want to start making these sorts of allowances so early in the game. If I don't push myself now, then I'll quickly fall back into my old habits and end up right back where I started. I guess I'll just have to work harder to stick to my schedule, so I can feel good about my days w/o a workout. Also, I might want to look for some excercises that are more fun and desirable to do. I might not have to worry about the motivation part if I'm preparing to do an activity that I enjoy. Maybe I'll look into checking out some fitness videos from the library.

Other than that, all is well. I think that I can see a difference in how my clothes fit. I'm going to work on myself for about 2 more weeks b4 I head for the next weigh in. Hopefully, I'll be progressing along nicely!

Don't deny yourself...these are the words that virtually every dieting expert utters, but what the hell do they truly mean? Either something is good for you, and you should have it, or it's bad for you, and you should avoid it.

Today my job had an ice cream social. I went and stayed as far away from the ice cream is possible; just like I avoid the brownies at our afternoon team meetings and the kolaches (butter rolls filled w/bacon, egg, and cheese or some other combination) at our morning team meetings. I socialized and interacted with co-workers, but I was dying to have some ice cream. I kept thinking of that phrase, which I've read in nearly every health & fitness mag. Don't deny yourself. I understand the theory. If you really want something then go ahead and have just a little. Don't binge, but also don't make yourself miserable trying to cut out all of your favorites forever. However, how much is really enough versus too much? I mean, whether you want/love something or not, you're still consuming the calories and grams of fat that you're supposed to be trying to avoid. You need to get enough to feel satisfied that you did in fact have the treat that you desired. Yet that much may still be a poor dieting decision. Where do the boundaries lie?

In the end, I asked the vendor to give me a smidgent of Banana Pudding flavor. Trust me, it was indeed a smidgent. We're talking 2 tablespoons max. I guess that was ok. I mean, I got to taste it, which is what I really wanted. Yet, I didn't really get to enjoy it, and what's the point of extra calories if you can't even enjoy it?

The rules need to be more defined. At what point in your weightloss process are you allowed to 'stop denying yourself'? Is it when you've reached your goal weight? Is it when you've grown truly accustomed to making good food choices and exercising? 6 months? And then once you are allowed to re-integrate these things, to what extend should you do this? One splurge a every 2 weeks? Every month? What?

I honestly don't know. I guess I'll go home content with what I did have today. I'm proud that I didn't break down and get the 2 scoops (1 Banana Pudding, 1 Strawberry) that I wanted. Yet, I'm glad that I didn't completely avoid it, like a weirdo (again, I'm trying not to be obsessed). Tonight, I'm cooking chicken and brocolli w/black beans and rice (if I don't get too lazy or run out of pots). I think its best to just banish the ice cream to back of my mind.

Dieting makes you paranoid.

Its true. When you're not watching what you eat, then you don't even think twice about what you select off the menu. You select what you want, and if it happens to be healthy, then HEY pat yourself on the back. You lucked up. However, when you are watching what you eat, then you try your best to select the healthiest option and then obsess over whether or not your choice was healthy enough. It turns you into a crazy person, even when you don't want to be one.

Today I went to Schlotzshy's Deli. I figured that a nice Turkey Sandwich would be good. It came with Pastrami on it, but I asked them to hold that as well as the onions and tomatoes. This left me with sliced turkey breast w/mayo, cheese, lettuce and olives. I selected the Baked Lays as my chips (only 1.5 grams of fat and under 150 calories/bag) and water as my beverage. I thought I was doing pretty good. However, as I began to eat it, I started wondering why I hadn't asked them to hold the cheese and substitute Fat Free Ranch for the mayo. On top of the the bread seemed a little buttery to me. Suddenly my reasonable lunch felt laden with fat. I'm opting to skip my afternoon snack feeling that I've already had quite enough until dinner.

This can not be normal folks. It works the same way with exercising. If you aren't in the habit of working out, and you make it to the gym 2 days out of the week, then you celebrate your efforts. However, if you work out 5 days out of the week, then you kick yourself for missing the 6th day. I see how young girls fall into eating disorders so easily. Its like, the harder that you work at this, the more you doubt yourself or question the effectiveness of your efforts. For instance, one of my skinny co-workers (the one who feels guilty about eating large salads) has been on a liquid diet for the last 2 weeks, drinking only slim fast for lunch. FOR WHAT!?!?! The girl is beautiful, maybe as size 2 or 4 at the most. I can understand eating well and exercising regularly for health reasons, which is what she was doing when we 1st started working together, but dieting to the point that you are basically starving yourself is maddness. Absolute maddness!

I'm trying hard to fight it and just celebrate how well I have done so far. However, it truly is difficult. Now that I've lost weight, I feel the need to try even harder b/c I'm afraid of either gaining it back or be less successful with losing this coming weigh in. Its like, I'm afraid I'll let my game slip, so I constantly feel the need to try harder and harder. Ugh!

Anywho, now that I've finished my little rant. I ran on the lake front on Saturday (moderate walk for 5 mins, speed walk for 1 min, run for 1 min. Alternating speed walking and running for 15 mins, moderate walk for 5 mins - really 10-15 mins b/c I had to make it back to the car) and did strength training exercises on Sunday. Today I'm planning to hit the eliptical machine for 30 mins and go grocery shopping for healthy dinners for the week. I'm looking forward to it, and I'll let you know what fun foods I make.

Finally did the weigh in:

Last night I went down to my apartment complex's gym for my standard 30 mins on the eliptical machine. While I was there I noticed that we had an old fashioned scale. You know, like the ones at the doctor's office where you have to slide the weights down until it balances. Yeah, that one. I was kind disappointed b/c I wanted to use a digital scale, so that I could be 100% sure of the reading. However, as luck would have it, this was all there was. So I completed my workout and went over to face my destiny. I climbed on (barefoot of course), and began to move the 50lb bar. 1st I moved it to 200lbs, and guess what? The bar dropped like a rock. YAY!! I wasn't 200lbs any more. Next I moved it to 150lbs, and I moved to 1lb bar to 50. Still too heavy!. I slowly began to inch back the 1lb bar, and it finally balanced at 43lbs. You do the math folks, 150lbs plus 43lbs is 193lbs. Yay, that's about a 7 lb loss. Now to be fair, I had been making little changes in my eating habits before I committed to doing better 3 weeks ago, so I could have loss a pound or two before I really began my lifestyle change. Either way, I'm estatic!

This was just the motivation that I needed to keep going. Tomorrow I'm going to go running by the lake, and Sunday I'll do my strength training. Next week I should have plenty of free time to exercise everyday, and I'm even going to start trying to cook a few healthy meals (I usually just eat out when I'm traveling). I'm so glad.

Now the question is...do I feel thinner? I don't know. I look at myself everyday, so I can't so much see a change. Some of my clothes (the 2 pairs of pants that had pushed me into size 16) are hanging loose, but then again clothes always loosen up over time. I'll have to keep monitoring it and see what people who haven't seen me for awhile say. Regardless, the scale doesn't lie, so I'm just going to keep pushing on and looking forward to even better things in the future!

Well folks, not much to report today.

This week I tried a new cardio activity...running. Now most who know me are aware that I'm not a runner. In fact I really have no desire to be a runner. However, it does burn calories, and it doesn't require me to get my hair wet (swimming), have a partner (tennis), or a facility/equipment (raquetball). Plus, since I find it torturous, then I'm oddly proud of myself for having endured it afterwards. My conscience (read: boyfriend) and I get out on the track to complete a 3 mile loop. I start out warning him that this is gonna be tough for me (I haven't run for exercise since early in my college career), and I'll probably need to stop about half way through. We start out by walking for a full mile. Then he points down to a mile marker on the ground and informs me that we're gonna run to the next one, a quarter of a mile down. We take off, and I am genuinely surprised at how difficult I am finding this. I can't get my breathing right. I instantly feel exhausted, and I am about as slow as a turtle. My conscience, the picture of perfect health - probably less that 5% body fat, is cruising along and getting increasingly farther ahead of me. So feeling like crap about myself I decide to stop about half way there and walk. Of course this only makes me feel even more crappy for giving up, which is then multiplied when my conscience looks back and gives me a look of mega yet genuine disappointment. So I catch up to him and explain my breathing trouble. He gives me some breathing techniques, but I'm pissed and he's pissed, and now we're just walking in silence. About another 1/2 miles down the road we decide to try it again...well really he give me a look that says "If you really want to prove yourself wrong and show that you can do this, then here's your chance. What are you gonna do?" I take off again, this time w/him running/walking behind me, and I find that I've got a better grasp on my breathing. I keep pushing myself, desparately searching for the next 1/4 mile marker until finally I reach it. YAY!!! We walk another quarter mile and he decides to run ahead to the car and back (about 3/4 mile). I successfully run the next quarter of a mile and walk the last 1/2 mile back to the car. Overall I have a loooooooooong way to go physically. I definitely have to get in better shape so that I'm faster and have more endurance. However, I still felt good about what I'd done, and I was pleased with completing the 3 miles no matter how I got there. I think I'll try it again this weekend.

As for weighing in, I did attempt to take my weight after my run. To my dismay, or maybe relief, there was no scale in the gym that I use. However, today I am going to a different gym where I believe that there are two scales. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have something to report.

Ok, ok, ok...I know that I said that I was gonna weigh in, and I fully intended to when I went to work out this weekend. The problem is that I didn't work out this weekend. I used sickness as an excuse, but that was only part of the problem. The other part, is just that I simply didn't plan my exercise time. I assumed that I'd have downtime in my weekend, and then I'd just use that time to work out. However, if you make a habit of scheduling your workout after everything else in your day, then it will quickly get overlooked. Your schedule gets booked, and pretty soon you're just aiming to double up the next day. So no work out Fri - Sun. I did work out yesterday, but I didn't use the gym b/c all the machines were taken. Instead I did my strength training exercises upstairs. Today, available machines or not, I will get on the scale.

The good news is that I did continue my healthy eating. I stuck with the wise options and I avoided the snacks, which was particularly hard when a co-worker brought brownie's and blondie's to our team meeting. My conscience says that things will get easier as I become more and more adjusted to my new menu. I certainly hope so b/c right now I am definitely struggling. We'll see.

Week 2 update.

So here I am about half way through week two (its really over on Sunday), and I think that I've done a pretty good job. I've definitely been eating differently and exercising nearly everyday. For the days that I haven't exercised, I've doubled up the work out the following day to equal to six workouts (six days) per week. I still feel like a recovering drug addict. Two weeks is hardly out of the woods, and everyday I have the desire to get a McDonald's breakfast or fried shrimp for lunch. Yet, I have to celebrate a little for sticking with it thus far. I also have my conscience (read: boyfriend) raising an eyebrow at me if I reach for the slightest indulgence (like an extra packet of cream for my coffee, 2g of fat & 40 calories each, or a cherry flavored ricola).

The biggest question is...what is my current weight? Honestly, I'm a little scared to hop on the scale. I mean what if it doesn't show any decrease? Two weeks really isn't much time. What if I underestimated my original weight so that while I may have lost weight I'm only down to the 200lbs that I thought I was starting at, or worse 200lbs +? I guess, I'll have to do it at some point, but I'm definitely dreading it. I kinda wanna just go on feeling good about myself and wait for my clothes to get thinner. I guess if I don't weigh in, though, I'll never know if my program is working or not, and I'll never get to celebrate. Le sigh. Ok, this Sunday, at the end of my 2 weeks, I will hop on the scale and come back with a number to report. Wish me luck.

Skinny chicks really are evil.

So today, I'm heading back from picking up my usually breakfast yougurt parfait, and I see a co-worker come in to the shop to order the same thing. I decide to stop and wait for her, and I see that she orders plain yougurt w/honey and just a little bit of granola. This of course makes me think twice about my peach yougurt, also w/honey, but then filled to the brim w/strawberries, pinapples, granola, and bananas. I mean there is a special kind of disdain for someone who can make you feel guilty about your 'healthy' eating choice. Another one of my co-workers, skinny chick, is also trying to lose weight. She can't possibly be more tha 110lbs dripping wet, but she isn't very curvy (read: no booty). I'm thinking that she wants to lose inches in her waist in order to have more of an hour glass figure. Either way, she orders a grilled salmon salad for lunch and complains that it was too big. Now she's going to have to cut back on dinner and put in a few extra minutes on the treadmill. WHAT!?!?! I'm looking at my salad thinking "I really should get a fruit cup or something with this b/c I'ma be starving by dinner." I just keep hearing Monique screaming "Skinny b!t@hes are evil!!!". You just can't keep up with them. Anyway, I'm not going to worry myself over it. Starving myself has never been the goal, and I'd rather be fat than on the East African diet plan. I'ma just keeping doing what I'm doing, which is a huge improvement from what I was doing. However, the next time that you see a skinny chick order a half a chicken wing...just knock her on the head for me ;-)

1st Things 1st: The Goals and The Plan

So I bet that most of you are wondering what my specific intentions are and exactly how I plan to accomplish them. So am I. No, no no, I'm just kidding. Of course I have goals and a plan in mind.

To begin with I am looking to lose 25lbs. According to what doctors say is a healthy weight for my age and height, 175lbs is the max that I should weigh. So to begin with, I'm setting this as my current target weight. Now what does 25lbs really coorespond to? This I do not know. They say that 10lbs is a dress size, which would put me into a size 9/10. I'm not so sure that this is right, but since 175 this is a healthy weight, then this is what I'm going to aim for. From there, I'll take a look at the physical appearance and decide if a new weight loss goal needs to be set, or if I just want to work to maintain the current weight.

I think that the 1st step to good health is a regular exercise program. Currently (for the past week - its still early folks) I've been working out 6 days a week for about 30 mins. This is what I am hoping to maintain until I can tell if any adjustments need to be made. I alternate cardio and strength training each day using a set of 10 strength exercises that I found in Fitness Magazine and an eliptical machine or treadmill. After a month I plan to re-assess and decide if I need to switch strength exercises, increase the amount of cardio, or maintain the same program. While I am out of town, I have ample access to a cardio studio. However, when I return home, then I will need to join a gym inorder to maintain this phase of my workout. I am excited about this, though, because it will open up a whole new set of cardio options like aerobics, pilates, dance, raquetball, and water aerobics.

Now for the dietary changes, the part we love to hate. Essentially I am setting aside the following: fried foods, red meat, sweets, foods w/heavy sauces & grease, refined flour (mostly, non-whole wheat breads and pasta), pop, and most alcohol (I think everyone deserves 1 drink/week). It sounds restrictive, but its not. It sounds permanent, but its not. I've found that there are quite a few food choices outside of this list, and once I have reached my weightloss goals and truly gotten in the habit of making healthy food choices, then I allow myself to indulge in small amounts (1/month for example). For right now, a typical day's meals would be the following: Breakfast - fruit and yougurt parfait w/glass of Cranberry juice (100% juice if possible); Lunch - grilled chicken sandwich w/veggies; Afternoon Snack - 100 calorie pack; Dinner - grilled salmon salad. Plus lots and lots of water. Of course it's not the same combo everyday, but you get the picture.

So there you have it folks. There's the plan. I'm going to push forward this week, and hopefully I'll be a pound or two lighter or an inch or to smaller next week.

Welcome All!

This year, like so many years before, I am turning over a new leaf . I have decided to make my weight and my health a priority and make a serious chenge in my lifestyle. Like most other Americans I've realized that I haven't had the healthiest habits over the last several years. I've been intending to exercise reguarly and eat better. Yet each year, I've been successful only at finding excuses not to work out and allowing myself the occassional (read: daily) indulgence in hamburgers, friend chicken wings, pizza, candy, bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, ice cream and pretty much any other treat that my heart desired. Over the last two years I have seen myself tip the scales at 200lbs. Luckily I am a good 5'11' barefoot and do not look like what we'd consider to be a big (read: fat) girl. Nevertheless, I have little business at the beach in a bikini, and a size 14 (knocking on 16) is just that whether you're tall or short. Therefore, I've decided to keep this blog as sort of my conscience. Essentially, I am hoping that it will give me some accountability during this transiton; helping to keep me on the road of daily work outs and wise food choices. Wish me luck ;-)