Take It Off Mondays

Last week I said I'd buckle down so I could hit my goal. Well thanks to the fact that I'm packing all day and my husband is in the capstone of his training (resulting in 12-16 hour days) I have not worked out in over a week. I did manage to get out walking with Eva 3-4 times. That must have been enough, because this morning I weighed in at...




154.5 lbs

I hit goal #2! Now I will admit, I know that my home scale is a little 'off', so I'm probably closer to 156-157. But that's okay with me. I'm just happy to be in the 150s. And now, my goal is to become familiar with my inner athlete. I played organized sports all through high school and I miss the feeling of being really FIT. I actually enjoy pushing my body to its limit and doing hard workouts. I remember every year during the first week of basketball practice I enjoyed the next-day soreness that accompanied our conditioning. I am an athlete at heart. So now I hope to push my body because I like being muscular and able to jog upstairs without being winded. I doubt I'll keep doing the weekly check-in, but I will keep you posted on my athletic adventures!

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight Loss this week: 2.5 lbs

Weight Loss to date: 13 lbs

Weight Left to lose: 0 lbs - YAY!

First goal: 7.5 lbs (REACHED 4/4/2011)

• Reward: A new craft organization box - PURCHASED (I finally organized it all! Well, I'm packing up the apartment, so I couldn't put if off much longer!)
  

Second goal: 12.5 lbs (REACHED 5/23/2011)

• Reward: A new bathing suit (I'll wait til we get to VA to get this)

Final goal: To fit a size 10 pant

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)

Success: Continued loss this week

Set-Backs: Nada!

Exercise: Once we move I want to start P90X!

Take It Off Mondays

Yeah, yeah. I'm a day late. Big Woop.

In good news, I'm down to 157 - yay! So I'm buckling down this week. I really want to hit 155 next week. Once I hit that I want to start P90X, so I can work on toning up. Unfortunately, we're moving next week, so most likely I won't start until mid-June, once we're settled in the new place.

I did P90X a few years back, and got halfway through the program before losing steam. Even though I didn't finish, I did notice that I had firmed up and definitely felt stronger. I think I have renewed focus and now I'm determined to do the full 90 days!

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight Loss this week: 1.5 lbs

Weight Loss to date: 10.5 lbs

Weight Left to lose: 2 lbs

First goal: 7.5 lbs (REACHED 4/4/2011)

• Reward: A new craft organization box - PURCHASED (I guess I should get to the organizing, eh?)
  

Second goal: 12.5 lbs

• Reward: A new bathing suit

Final goal: To fit a size 10 pant

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)

Success: Continued loss this week

Set-Backs: Nada!

Exercise: I'm sooooooo close to my goal weight. I want to work out at least 4x a week. I've been doing cardio and weightlifting for my lower body. I think it's time to add upper-body exercises now.

Catch-up #1 - Take it off...Thursdays?

Ok, I know, I know. I have been very negligent about posting my weight-loss check-ins. But in my previous post, I explained why I've been MIA. So let's skip the apologies and just get to it ;)

(So I was thinking I only missed 2 weigh-ins, but apparently I missed THREE!) Even though I was traveling, away from my home (meaning I was not grocery shopping or planning my meals), attending parties and baking for Eva's party, I managed to not only maintain my weight loss, but also lose a teeny bit. It might have something to do with the fact that I worked out the night before my Monday weigh-in, but either way, I'm happy to be at 158.5. While I was home, I got a lot of comments from friends and family about my new shape. I tend to be a modest person and sometimes it's hard for me to celebrate my accomplishments - I don't want to brag or lose humility. But I did stop and allow myself to accept their compliments. I think in the past I was so focused on my end weight-loss goal that I couldn't enjoy the small goals I reached along the way. Which in the end, I think, led me to get frustrated and not hold on to healthy lifestyle habits. And the funny thing is, in this week's episode of Biggest Loser, one of the contestants had the same 'ah-ha!' moment as me ;) So here it is at a glance:

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight Loss this week, er, 3 weeks (oops!): 1.5 lbs

Weight Loss to date: 9 lbs

Weight Left to lose: 3.5 lbs

First goal: 7.5 lbs (REACHED 4/4/2011)

• Reward: A new craft organization box - PURCHASED (I guess I should get to the organizing, eh?)
  

Second goal: 12.5 lbs

• Reward: A new bathing suit

Final goal: To fit a size 10 pant

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)

Success: Losing weight while technically on vacation!

Set-Backs: I didn't work out as much as I wanted in Ohio, but I've gotten back into my groove this week.

Exercise: I'm pretty close to my goal weight. I want to work out at least 4x a week. And walks with Eva will just be a bonus.

Take It Off Mondays

I'm kind of tired so this will be a short post.

I was discouraged after last week's weigh-in. But I'm happy to report that as of yesterday morning, I was down to 160. Which is especially great, since I was traveling on Saturday and didn't work out much last week. I was so busy packing and preparing for my trip to Ohio (more on that later) that I only was active about 3 days. But I'm finding that I only need to work out 3-4 times a week, and as long as I keep my eating under control I can at least pull a 1-2 pound weight loss.

Here's the stats at a glance:

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight Loss this week: 2 lbs

Weight Loss to date: 7.5 lbs

Weight Left to lose: 5 lbs

First goal: 7.5 lbs (REACHED 4/4/2011)

• Reward: A new craft organization box

Second goal: 12.5 lbs

• Reward: A new bathing suit

Final goal: To fit a size 10 pant

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)

Success: Not letting my setback last week discourage me

Set-Backs: Eh, I can't think of any this week

Exercise: Since it's pretty cold in Ohio, I'm just going to aim for 4 workouts per week using the Fitness channel on the cable. If we get out for a walk, that's a bonus.

Take It Off Mondays

I didn't want to participate in Take It Off Mondays today. I had such a good week last week and to follow it up with this post is somewhat depressing.

BUT, I committed to publicizing my journey, which thus far, has helped keep me accountable. So I must continue, even though I'm a little embarrassed about this week.

I did well all week, and almost reached my fitness goals (minus one walking session due to the insanely hot Texas weather - it hit 100 degrees on Saturday!) And during the week I ate really well. But on Saturday and Sunday I managed to sabotage my good work. How, you might ask?

I had way too many liquid calories. For some reason both our milk and orange juice went bad the other day. We were out of water and my husband had the car most of the weekend and forgot to refill it. So I drank kool-aid all weekend. Which is so frustrating, because it's not even because of what I ate. But due to drinking liquid sugar for 2 days this is what I saw on the scale this morning:

162.

I gained 3 pounds.

Now to make myself feel better, maybe one of those pounds is additional muscle, because I do feel stronger and I have been weightlifting regularly. But that can't account for all 3 pounds of gain, which I completely attribute to this weekend. It's sad because I had just hit a goal and was hoping to come close to hitting another one, but now I've taken two steps backward. I'm trying to use this as motivation to keep doing what I was the past few weeks. If anything, this proves that what I consume is more important than exercise, as this week was the most active for me since I started.

Okay, I'm done writing, because honestly I just am not in the mood anymore. Here's this week's stats:

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight loss this week: +3 lbs

Weight loss to date: 5.5 lbs

Weight left to lose: 7 lbs

First Goal: 7.5 pounds (REACHED 4/4/2011)

• Reward: A new craft organization box
  

Second Goal: 12.5 pounds

• Reward: A new bathing suit.
  

Final Goal: to fit in size 10 pants!

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)
  

Success: Increased activity

Set-Backs: The liquid sugar that I was doing so well at avoiding...

Exercise: Keeping my exercise goal the same, hopefully I'll finally achieve it! I'm aiming for 3 walking sessions, 3 cardio workouts and 2 weightlifting or ab routines.

Take It Off Mondays

This is the first time I've enjoyed the process of losing weight. I don't feel like I'm working that hard to do so - which I'm guessing is due to two factors: 1 - I am still breastfeeding and that helps burn some extra calories each day. 2 - this is the first time I've actually changed my eating habits and perspective on food. So often you hear it's about diet and exercise and I used to only focus on the latter, while still eating high quantities of junk. And when I was younger, that method did have some success for me. But now that I'm older, I really truly need both. But guess what I learned? If you eat a sensible diet, you do not have to kill yourself in the gym. Case in point: I took 3 walks last week, and only did 1 short cardio session (I had Eva with me and after a short nap in the stroller, she was ready to leave the fitness room). So I didn't expect to hit my goal of 160 this morning. What did I see on the scale today?

159!

I EXCEEDED my weekly goal. Can you believe it? First milestone reached, no - SURPASSED!

Another thing I realized this week was changing my idea of 'treating' myself. I can have daily treats, if I just change my perspective on what that actually is. Since I've been eating my greek yogurt every night for dessert, I don't miss the cookies, cake and candy as much as I did when I first started. Last night we went to a local ice cream shop that is self-serve, and you can add your own toppings. Normally, I would have gotten a large serving of vanilla and loaded up on the toppings. Instead I had a small serving of strawberry lemonade sorbet and it was sooooooooo good! And I think it was about 120 calories, which is AWESOME.

Now does this mean I have given up cookies, cake and candy for good? Heck no! But I now think of those as 'indulgences', meaning I'll eat them sparingly, for special occassions, holidays or birthday parties. I think it's totally doable, now that I've found good replacements for my daily/weekly 'treats'!

So here's the stats this week:

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight loss this week: 3 lbs

Weight loss to date: 8.5 lbs

Weight left to lose: 4 lbs

First Goal: 7.5 pounds (REACHED 4/4/2011)

• Reward: I've decided I need to organize my craft supplies before adding to them. :) I'm waiting on a coupon for Michael's, then I'm off to get my prize!
  

Second Goal: 12.5 pounds

• Reward: A new bathing suit.
  

Final Goal: to fit in size 10 pants!

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)
  

Success: Hitting my first goal!

Set-Backs: Not enough physical activity!

Exercise: Keeping my exercise goal the same, hopefully I'll finally achieve it! I'm aiming for 3 walking sessions, 3 cardio workouts and 2 weightlifting or ab routines.

Take It Off Mondays

This week I was avoiding the scale.

Normally I weigh in on Thursdays, but I had a feeling I wouldn't like what I saw, so I put it off till this morning. I was hoping to have at least maintained my previous weight, because surely there was no way I lost this week.

But I did. I lost 1.5 pounds. Is that great? No. But it's a loss. And I think I reached a breakthrough this week.

I did excellent with my eating this week. I ate nutritious meals and snacks and really got hold of my nighttime snacking. I treated myself with cake balls on Friday and Saturday; (I'll explain in an upcoming post) but considering they probably equalled two half-sized portions of cake, I'm totally fine with that. Because again, I am not on a diet. I am making lifestyle changes. So treats must fit in now, because they will always be around...

So you're wondering why I was avoiding the scale like the Bubonic Plague? I was a lazy bum this week. I walked twice (goal was 5x) and did cardio once (goal was 3x). This led me to doubt that I'd make any progress, especially coupled with the fact that I had cake balls this weekend.

After I weighed myself in I remembered something my friend Ashley (who works in the health & fitness industry) told me: 'If you give your body what it needs, it will do what it's supposed to do'. (I definitely paraphrased there, because seriously that conversation was months ago - do you really expect me to remember what she said verbatim? You get the point.)

I had given my body what it needed. And even though I hadn't worked out, I felt good. I didn't have that nasty stomach bloat you get when you eat junk. Which leads me to the other part of my breakthrough this week:

I don't need sweets as much as I thought. I have stocked up on greek yogurt as a snack, but now it's become a dessert of sorts. I had some strawberry Fage the other night, and I actually savored it. You know, like in the commercials, where the woman takes 2 minutes to eat each bite with a sensual, dreamy look on her face? That's how I ate my yogurt the other night. And after I ate it, you know what I didn't feel? Guilt.

I'm seriously drooling over this picture right now. YUM.

Normally, I would have eaten some kind of junk, and probably 2-3 servings of said junk; and then to accompany the post-binge stomach yuckiness and sugar high, I'd swallow a large chunk of guilt over what I just did to my body. But now, on my new journey, I honestly don't crave that stuff like I used to. And that is just AWESOME.

So here's the past week at a glance:

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight loss this week: 1.5 lbs

Weight loss to date: 5.5 lbs

Weight left to lose: 7 lbs

First Goal: 7.5 pounds (hopefully this will be reached by next week!!!)

• Reward: $15 worth of craft supplies OR a box to contain the unorganized craft pile I currently possess ;)
  

Second Goal: 12.5 pounds

• Reward: A new bathing suit.
  

Final Goal: to fit in size 10 pants!

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)
  

Success: I finally realized I don't need sweets like I thought - the cravings have subsided!!!

Set-Backs: Not enough physical activity!

Exercise: Since I haven't been reaching my previous goal, I'm going to tweak it slightly. I'm aiming for 3 walking sessions, 3 cardio workouts and 2 weightlifting or ab routines. I'm so close to my first goal, so I want to kick it up this week!

Hope you'll join me in my healthy living journey!

Take It Off Mondays

I caved. I mentioned my Inner Struggle last week to avoid the baking. Well I didn't. I made banana bread. Twice. Banana bread is basically banana cake sans icing. And I had 2 pieces Friday, 3 on Saturday and another 2 yesterday. Ugh.

I have come to realize two things about my eating habits (and they say the first step in breaking addictions/bad habits is accepting them right? So I'm on my way, right? - just appease me and say yes)

First, I am a nighttime snacker. During the day I'm busy with Eva, cleaning the house, running errands or doing stuff on my computer so sometimes I forget snacks or go too long between meals. But when I do eat during the day I make good decisions and control my portion size. And then after I put her to bed and commence sitting like a log in front of the TV that's when the cravings strike.

The second thing is, I'm a contact craver (not sure if I made that up - if so, just go with it) I have been doing so well passing up on fast food and eating good when I do occasionally eat at a restaurant. But seeing people eating junk or sweets makes me want it soooooo bad. Hubby got some Sonic this weekend, so I made him get me a strawberry limeade. I pass Sonic everyday almost and have no problem avoiding it, but once I knew he was going I had to have it.

Which is why I do so horribly on the weekends. There are no moms/spouse group activities on the weekend, and I do my chores during the week (except for laundry) and my husband is a homebody who eats all the time. I weigh myself on Thursday mornings and as of last Thursday I was 163.5. Let's just say I didn't maintain that loss over the weekend...I'm hoping to 'reset' and also lose another pound or two this week. So here's the weekly review:

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight loss this week: 1.5 lbs

Weight loss to date: 4 lbs

Weight left to lose: 8.5 lbs

First Goal: 7.5 pounds

• Reward: Still not sure - maybe some craft goods, since I've been hankering to do some new projects...
  

Second Goal: 12.5 pounds

• Reward: A new bathing suit.
  

Final Goal: to fit in size 10 pants!

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)
  

Success: During the week, I ate really well. And I managed to curb my late night snacking. But then I baked, and then the weekend came and - well, you know the story...

Set-Backs: Weekend, late-night snacking and contact craving...

Exercise: My goal last week was to walk 5x. I walked 3x. But I achieved my goal of doing cardio 3x and I also lifted weights twice. So I'm going to try to walk 5x, cardio 3x, and again, any weight lifting is just a bonus. I might even sneak in some ab workouts!

So now I must get off this couch and get walking. Talk to you later, interwebz.

Take It Off Mondays

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight loss this week: 2.5 lbs

Weight loss to date: 2.5 lbs

Weight left to lose: 10 lbs

First Goal: 7.5 pounds

• Reward: I don't know - so often I reward myself with food, which helped create the problem at hand! Any suggestions???
  

Second Goal: 12.5 pounds

• Reward: A new bathing suit. I don't I'll ever go back to wearing a two piece like my high school days. But at the same time, I haven't bought a new suit since my high school days, so once I've lost the weight it's time to invest in a hot mama one-piece!
  

Final Goal: to fit in size 10 pants!

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)
  

Success: I ate really well last week. Still doing good at keeping junk out of the house. And I created a daily chore list, mostly to spread out the cleaning so I don't feel overwhelmed with it all at once. But also, it has helped me reach my goal of being more active, and reduced (some days eliminated) my TV-watching during the day.

Set-Backs:

The water in Texas is not as clean as other states due to their EPA standards. So drinking tap water is out. And a Brita filter pitcher is not strong enough to get out all the grungy stuff. Why do I mention this? Well, we ran out of filtered water the other day. To get more would have required me to go out and buy another gallon or get a refill at the filtered water dispenser. They have them all over town here. Well I didn't get to it until Sunday, so I drank a little more juice and soda than normal this weekend. Eh, what are you going to do?

Then my hubby got KFC yesterday. Of course he couldn't just get an individual meal. He had to get a 10 piece with sides and all. So I had a leg and chicken wing, and of course a biscuit. Then I had a major snack fest last night. Yet another reason why it's best I get to bed early. (you know, besides actually getting a good night's rest)

And working out on the weekends has been non-existent. I have the best intentions, but somehow the days just get away from me. And also I think I just get lazy and want to relax with the fam, since my hubby is home then.

Exercise: Eva and I took a walk 4 days last week. I worked out on the stationery bike once, and I snuck in a couple sessions of pumping iron ;) This week I want to walk 5x and do cardio at least 3x. The weight lifting is just a bonus at this point, so if I do it - great; if not - no sweat.

And there you have it. My first week of officially documenting this weight loss journey. I've got to say, blogging about it definitely makes me more accountable, because I was thinking about this post last week when I had some temptations!!!

Take It Off Mondays

Since I'm currently pursuing my weight loss goals, I'm going to join Jenni from the Blog on her weekly updates. Before I had Eva, I was about 10 pounds above my goal weight. Which wasn't bad, let me say. But since I was so close, I wasn't really motivated to get the weight off. I mean, I exercised 3-4 times a week. But I ate CRAP. All the time. I think I was still in my high school/college mentality that as long as I worked out, I could eat whatever I wanted. However, I am older now, and those days are gone. As Rob Base says 'It takes two to make a thing go right'. Meaning, now I need diet AND exercise.

While I was pregnant, I tried to stay somewhat active with prenatal yoga and the occasional workout. But let's face it - working full time + taking care of your home/husband + extra curricular activities ON TOP of baking a baby don't leave much time or energy for physical exertion. I did do a relatively good job of not 'letting myself go' with food. I allowed myself cravings, but I did not double my calorie intake, just cause I was 'eating for two'. Instead I tried to eat similarly to pre-pregnancy minus some crap, plus some fruits/veggies. And I did pretty well. I gained plus/minus 40 pounds with Eva. At about one month post-partum about 28 of those pounds were gone. By January I was about 5-8 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. And this past Thursday (March 3) I weighed in at 167.5. So nice to see that number! Hadn't been in the 160s in awhile.

So what am I doing, you ask? Because I had a tendency to yo-yo with my weight in the past, I decided that this is not just about weight loss. It's about having a healthy lifestyle. Being active and eating nutritionally, so I not only feel good, but so I set an example for Eva. Now that she's eating a lot of table foods, it's even more motivation for me. If I'm eating good stuff, I don't have to make separate meals for her - she can just eat off my plate!

I still allow myself treats. But I don't keep them in the house, which requires me to go out and purchase them and ensures it's not an everyday thing. I also have not baked any goodies since Christmas. And if you know me, that is a big accomplishment. I LURVE baking and then eating my creations. So I had to curb that habit if I was going to be successful.

I've upped my protein and fiber intake. I eat whole-grains and beans and peanut butter and lean meats. I drink mostly water, with the occasional juice thrown in. And I keep my portion size in check. That's it. I knew I didn't want a diet plan like Weight Watchers or similar, because everyone I know that does so can usually lose the weight, but has problems maintaining after said diet is over. Like I said before I wanted a lifestyle change, so it will be easy for me to maintain the weight loss once I reach my goal. And I should mention that I am relatively active - I take Eva on 1 hour plus walks to and from the park. Last week I added a couple elliptical workouts as well.

My current goal weight is 160. Once I hit that, I want to aim for 155. And once I get there, it will be all about toning and firming. I'm hoping to reach that by Eva's birthday, so I've got about 8 weeks and I know it's totally doable. So let's do it!