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!