Switching it up!

4:30 wake up's 5 days a week are killing me, SO... now that I have my treadmill at home I'm changing my routine.
New routine:
Monday: wake up at 4:30 to go to the gym and do resistance and cardio.
Tuesday: wake up at 6:15, see hubby off to work, hop on treadmill for 30 minutes, get boys ready for school, take care of little ones, put baby down for nap at 10 and do 30 more minutes of cardio.
Wednesday: Same as Tuesday
Thursday: Same as Monday
Friday: Same as Tuesday and Wednesday
Saturday: Head to gym by 7 to do resistance and cardio
Sunday: walk on the treadmill when and if I have time.

Meanwhile, If I'm watching TV I will be on the treadmill. This means that on biggest loser night I will probably end up walking at least 6 miles just during the show.

Yesterday I walked a total of 6.6 miles on the treadmill AND went for a 2 mile walk with my little ones in the beautiful weather. I've still yet to see a smaller number on the scale however. Hopefully tomorrow I'll see a small difference.
:o)

The treadmill and Biggest Loser

So.. we bought this treadmill about 20 months ago that I admit I NEVER used. When my dad had his heart surgery we brought it over to his place so he could use it for his rehab. My parents (and my big sis') have loved this treadmill but my husband has decided that since I'm working out now, and my parents never "bought" it from him, that it was time to REPO it! We let my parents know and they weren't too concerned because even though they still use it, the weather is getting nicer and they have gym memberships and frequent these places often.

So yesterday for the first time... EVER... I got on the treadmill and realized that it has some KICK-A programs on it. These programs are amazing! The treadmills at the gym do either incline intervals or speed intervals but don't seem to do both. MY treadmill does both! LOVE IT!! It also has a built in fan that blows right in your face. The down side is that there is no screen on it and so I am forced to watch Nick Jr. or Disney stuff while I'm running... BUT... it's awesome! I need to get some good music together and use an mp3 player while I work out. I've found that when music is fast, I NATURALLY push harder and run faster.

Totally separate note. What the HECK was the blue team thinking last night?!?! Hello... why vote off a kick-a player who can lose weight and keep an old man who averages less than EVERYONE else. Seriously.. Ron.. I love you.. but you have got to go. The blue team WILL find themselves in the bottom every week from now on. Last night.. they sealed their fate. Not only did they say goodbye to Dane, but they said goodbye to ANY chance of beating the black team. Luckily, all my faves have moved to the black team so I won't be too sad to watch them go ONE BY ONE!! I do feel bad for BOB though. I actually DO NOT LIKE JILLIAN and I think it's BS that he lost his awesome team.

I loved the lack of game play thus far but now... come on guys... play the game or your ass is grass!

The truth and nothing but the truth! ;o)

Okay.. so today I weighed myself and guess what? The weight on my driver's license, the one that was TOTALLY A BLATANT LIE??? Well... Hmmm.....

(Click on the pic and you will see what I'm talkin' about! ;o)

I had to take a picture because I don't plan on being this weight for long! THANKS NICHOLETTE for letting me come play with your photoshop!

Cheating for hospitalities sake.

So last night we were invited to dinner at my hubbies BROTHERS place. His brother has an amazing wife who is VERY close with her mom. They actually live with her mother and 2 other of her female cousins. I don't know how his bro does it sometimes. Anyway... everyone knows I've given up white flour and sugar and they made this FANTASTIC lasagna (home made noodles and everything) and salad and anyway... her mom cut up a bunch of fresh fruit for me.

Well... I have started a 2 week phase where I am NOT eating fruit or grains... just to try and get past this plateau. I was just trying to not look in the direction of the fruit when her mom announced that she had cut it up just for me. HMMM... what to do? I didn't want to explain that I wasn't eating fruit, especially because her mom had already given me a little talk about how important it is to "allow yourself to cheat and eat carbs once a day" so... I had a few slices of pear. It was THE BEST PEAR EVER and I really enjoyed myself but, it really was cheating a little. I don't feel too guilty about it... I mean it would have been totally rude if I had passed it up! The lasagna, they understood. They didn't even think twice when I didn't ask for a serving of dessert.... but PEARS!! Who am I kidding? That's not even worth explaining.

Heres to getting past this stinkin' plateau!

More calories?

So last night I was able to attend the "girls night out!" SO MUCH FUN!! It was neat to recognize people from their pictures and so fun to just hang out and chat while we ate some dang good food. There was no one trying to sell us anything.. (except the waiter and dessert)! Can't wait to attend another one.

I was excited to kind of talk with everyone about my struggles right now. I realized the other day that I am at the weight I was at for about 5 years between my 2nd and 3rd child. This is kind of the pit I was always in any time I tried to lose weight! It was so great to be able to talk to everyone and get some feedback on what could be going wrong for me. The general consensus seemed to be that I need to EAT MORE CALORIES!! Kind of a bizarre concept but I am definitely going to try it. At this point anything is better than hanging out in a rut. AND I have seen a couple of different instances on the Biggest Loser where eating more calories REALLY paid off. So THANKS for the great advice girls... I'll let you know how it works. :o)

Oh and ROCHELLE.... can't wait to see those AWESOME pics! ;o)

Triumph!

I weighed myself today... I don't actually own a scale so it requires me to go to Nicholettes and I am excited to report that the number did go down! HOORAY!! I'm in the 170's! I till have 8 lbs to go to reach my goal of being in the 160's by the next weigh in but I am going to work my butt off to get there. I actually liked what Kristi was saying about it seeming to take a week to see results because it helps me put it into a better perspective. (Because the week of the weigh in I actually missed 3 workouts due to illness!) I realize too that my new attention to caloric intake may have contributed to my plateau and I'm hoping that my body is adjusting and finally out of survival mode! So hopefully the lbs keep dropping off.

I found a new setting on the treadmill that I really like! It kicks my butt, which I think is why I like it so much. I am having some trouble with my LEFT knee so I've decided to lay off the running for now. I'm replacing it with speed walking on crazy incline intervals 5 days and running on the 6th. I figure that as the weight comes off, my knee will take less of the blow and running will kind of just happen. Probably not a lot of truth to that but I can lie to myself a little right?

Yesterday I found my old college ID cards and my boys and hubby were amazed. They were really cute and telling me that I am going to be that skinny again and asking me questions like "when you are skinny can you go down the big slide at Kangaroo Zoo?" It was awesome to feel like THEY believe I'm going to do it! And it confirmed that they SEE how hard I'm working!!!

2 MORE WEEKS!! (Thanks Vicki) I'll be 169.9 in 2 more weeks! ;o)

Where'd my mojo go?

Kay.. so I'm still going to the gym, I'm even sticking to my diet... but... I just don't have any passion these days. I want to throw my alarm when it goes off at 4:30 in the frickin' morning. I want to burn those damn cookies that are still sitting on my counter from valentine's that I can't eat... (but my boys don't seem to eat either!) I think what I really need is to get on the scale and see a smaller number, but I fear the opposite so I stay away. I'm still frustrated from Thursday and I feel like I'm in a rut.

I actually asked the owner of my gym if she would do like personal training for cleaning... I.E. she trains me, I clean her gym. She said NO! Go figure. Today I found my amazing exercise ball has been popped! So I picked up a new one at wal-mart. I'm mostly excited for the poster that shows all the exercises you can do with it. I am hoping this helps get me back on track. It's amazing how easy it is to stay motivated when you can really see and feel the changes. I guess I need to step away from the scale and try on my before outfit again... or see how my wedding ring is fitting these days. I even went through old pics today trying to find motivational skinny ones. The biggest problem with me is that I HAVEN'T been thin since I was 19, so it feels silly to morn my adolescent size. But at the same time... I want some sort of picture in my head of what my goal "looks" like. I guess it shouldn't be so frustrating but... it is!

I am WAY grateful for this competition and all of you because without you, I might have decided that it wasn't worth fighting for. So maybe I'll throw my alarm when it goes off... but I'm still getting out of bed and that's something right?

Struggle 2/12

Okay... I've been nervous to get on the scale again for fear that I might not have lost anything. Last month just seemed almost too good to be true. Well today I brought myself to step on the scale and.... NOTHING. I am EXACTLY the same weight. It has been a week since our official weigh in and my weight is the same! UGH!!! I've been continuing with my diet and watching what I eat so... I am super frustrated. The only thing I haven't been doing the way I was is drinking water! So my new goal is to get back to drinking 80+ ounces of water a day. Hopefully I will see the scale tip in my favor. For now... I just have to find a way to get over myself. All I can say is stepping on that scale has ruined my day. Maybe I'll stay away from the scale till the next weigh in. It's so discouraging and I don't need anything punching me right in the motivation. Some days are better than others... today is just not my day!

The Belt....

So... I can still totally wear the pants I've been wearing forever but they are starting to fall down. My hubby made a comment about it the other day (love it!) and I told him I just needed to get a belt. I used to have a cute belt but I totally can't find it. I did find another belt in my drawer. I have no idea where it came from but, I've tried it on several times before and I couldn't even suck in enough to get it around my body. So yesterday I figured... what the heck, I'll try it! The "look" was not flattering at all but.. I could buckle it on the first set of holes.

I decided to take a pic because my dad has inspired me to track my weight loss through the holes of a belt. :o) He had heart surgery in April of last year and has since lost 40-50 lbs. Lately he's been bragging alot about how the belt he is wearing didn't used to fit and now he has had to poke a couple extra holes. I figure that anyone who has documented hole progress DESERVES to brag a lot! So here's to movin' on up in how many holes I pass in order to hold my pants up! For now... I think I'll just be excited when I can be on the first one and not sport the mushroom top!

Date Night

So Saturday night, my hubby and I went on a date with some of our awesome friends (who happened to be related to us). I wanted to kind of get cute since I rarely try to be cute and I figure... I lost 14 lbs dangit! I need to get dolled up! So I got ready and asked my hubby to take a picture. He was less than enthusiastic about it so I made a funny face but... here is a date night pic. I think it will be an awesome reference for the future!

On a completely different note. I wasn't really sure what to post after the first months results! Since this is my journal... first I want to do a happy dance! {Throws hands in air and dances around in a circle to the tune of "we are the champions"!} Next... THANK YOU!! Seriously, you have no idea how much this competition is going to change my life (and has already!). I've been fat for years... and never been motivated enough to really stick to losing the weight. I'm not just here for support, or to shed a few pounds, I'm here to CHANGE WHO I AM!!! I am going to come out of this a new woman! I never realized how competitive I was until I saw all you gals posting the lbs dropping off you. YOU MOTIVATE ME TO WORK HARDER! Without this competition... I would probably have ALWAYS been big. I had just totally given in to the fat. I had upped the weight on my drivers license to more accurately reflect my weight (I only have to lose 5 more lbs before I weigh LESS than my licence states!). I went out and bought bigger pants, started shopping in the plus sizes, and I even gotten a Lane Bryant card.

So what I need to say is, "THANK YOU!" I worked really hard and I'm really excited that it reflected in the lbs dropped, and the extra $150 isn't so bad either. Keep pushing me to work harder and I promise I will do the same for you!

Neutral 2/8/09

So... I've really felt like I should "reward" myself for sticking to my diet. I had already decided that my reward would be a Reese's peanut butter cup shake from Arctic Circle. Well, I hadn't brought myself to actually do it but last night, I went for it! I ate about half of a 12 oz shake. I was really hoping that I would take a bite and it wouldn't taste as good as I had hoped, or be way too sweet. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! I loved every bite and I was still proud of myself when I handed over the second half of the shake to my cousin, without the impulse to finish the whole thing. I think it was a trial of my self-restraint and I consider this one a triumph! I can control what I put in my mouth!! Even when it's something I've been dreaming about eating for a whole month! ;o)

Weight Loss Journal

Okay.. so I started this blog before I joined this competition because I really wanted to use it as a journal. I figured that some stray people might find it and read it but for the most part it was meant to be a place to document my struggles and my triumphs. I guess I feel like I have an "audience" all of the sudden and so I don't want to be too bloggy or too boring but... I have decided to go ahead and journal here anyway. I'm sorry if you get annoyed with my daily babblings, but I want to print this into a book or something when everything is said and done. So from now on, this could get VERY boring!!

New month... new goals!

Okay.. so only 3 weeks and 6 days till the next weigh in! Wow.. February is too short.

Here is my focus and goals for this month.
I have made some amazing changes to my diet by getting rid of starch, white flour and sugar. Now I want to really pay attention to caloric intake keeping my original changes implemented.
I also will continue to run.
I want to lose at least 10.7 lbs. This would put me in the 160's, I will have lost more than 10% of my body weight AND.... I WILL HAVE LOST 25 lbs!!
I will continue to wake up at 4:30 5 days a week and go to the gym at least once during the weekend.
Can't wait to take pics again in less than 4 weeks! ;o)

New pics.

Thank you Melissa for making these awesome before/after pics for me! I love the difference side by side! I totally spilled water on my pants and at the time I was just excited to get these pics done but now I'm not so sure. I have rolled the shirt up in these pics so that you can see where the fly is. I was actually able to button them today! Nicholette was a witness!!!

I was even joking that I might have to get some new goal jeans by the end of this thing! ;o) YAY!!!

No more whining!

Okay.. so I was a little sick this weekend and not feeling well yesterday. I did end up at my mom's house however and decided to go ahead and step on the scale. I was totally shocked that I have lost more weight! YAY!! I actually worried that it was wrong and that when I go to step on the scale on Thursday I will have gained it all back. Either way it was fun to see a smaller number on the scale. I also tried on my wedding ring and it actually fit! WOW! Okay so it's snug but I could get it on and off without too much effort. And... I tried on my before pants today just for a boost. Wow! I can't wait for thursday so I can take pics and post them. I'm still not sure how I'm going to swing my Thursday morning weigh in, but I'm sure I'll figure it out between now and then.

Thanks to all of you for all of your support... even on days when I'm feeling less than motivated.

Not my day!

So.. I'm not feeling well these last couple of days and i'm not in a very good mood. I am really frustrated as I'm reading other people's posts to see things like.. I totally cheated and didn't exercise and I'm down 6 lbs or 8 lbs or whatever! I am sticking to my diet and busting my butt every day and the scale is really not very friendly to me. Maybe I need to take a different approach. I feel like I'm failing at this even though I'm giving it 100%. Seriously, I'm cooking cinnamon rolls for my kids and in the back of my mind I can hear little voices saying, I ate a donut or ate whatever I wanted all week and lost 30 lbs! UGH!!! And still... I don't indulge myself. Not even a bite. I feel like I'm punishing myself somehow. Somedays are harder than others and today is just one of those days. Hopefully i'll be feeling better tomorrow. Congrats to all of you who are seeing great results.