Thursday

I couldn't come up with a more exciting title...

Last night I went to the gym and sped walk (speed walk doesn't seem right either, meh) for 25 minutes on the tread mill, (I can't get over the fact I like the treadmill, never would have guess it) and did weights/machines for the next 35 minutes.  It goes super fast the hour.  Today when I woke up I weighed myself on the Scale That Lies to Me, it's back to saying I am 185, so that leads me to believe I am actually 182, as the Scale That Lies to Me is 3 pounds heavier then the one at the gym.  This excites me.  Monday and Tuesday were both write off days in regards to sticking to my calorie counts.  Grant it, they were healthy calories I consumed but I was ravenous both days so I didn't eat 1600, it was more like 2200.  Bah.  But I did power skate, which I am always ravenous afterwards.  Yesterday I came in right at 1600, slowy getting back on track.  I was so tired yesterday that I debated skipping the gym but I am glad I went in the end.  I am excited to go to the gym on Saturday morning to weigh myself officially (I only weigh myself in the morning, preferably AFTER I go to the washroom, sorry TMI?)  I also can't wait to go swimming Saturday morning.  I LOVE swimming.  I can't seem to time going to the gym well enough on the weekdays to use the pool, so I am excited for the weekends for swimming.(if I time it right!)

"Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)"

I am currently reading "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)" the memoir of Mindy Kaling. If you are a fan of The Office, you would know her as Kelly Kapour. She is hilarious. She also writes and sometimes directs episodes, which I find awesome as any woman doing something kick ass is awesome in my books. Her book is so funny and her stories are so relatable. You may be wondering why I am giving a memoir book review on my weight loss struggle website:

Mindy writes that as a teenager she struggled with her weight. One specific incident is so close to my own it's funny. She has the "cool" guy in her grade nine class tell her that she "would be prettier if she wasn't fat." This asshole mocks her even when she loses weight.   

I myself had a similar situation. A guy in my grade eight class, supposedly my friend and supposedly one of the "cool" guys, let's call him "J", told my friend that I would be pretty if I wasn't fat. She, of course being the dutiful friend, came running over immediately to inform me of this. (I wish she hadn't told me.) This always struck me as funny. I can't be pretty and fat? What the hell? The funny thing was I was 160 pounds in grade 8. I would KILL to see that number again. Most of the time I just laugh it off but here it is going on 17 years later and those words still sting, maybe because he was supposedly my friend. I haven't talked to "J" in probably 10 years now, but I do take great solace in the fact that his receding hair line touches back almost to his neck. (I know I should forgive and forget but isn't karma an awesome bitch??)

Power Skating Kicks my Arse

I am tired.  I am lazy. 

Power skating goes quickly, it's actually fun but a lot of work.  I am always surprised when they wrap it up. 

Still haven't moved on the scale, bah, but the inches are coming off.  Bah.  I don't want to be this weight but muscular, not my goal at all.

Gardening

Today was suppose to be my day off from exercising.  I used the hedge clippers on all the shrubs in the yard and mowed the lawn.  3 hours.  I am exhausted.  This should count as exercise as the lawn mower weighs a ton and all the raking I had to do.  Tomorrow shall be my rest day.

Protein Powder and Baking!

I didn't read the schedule for the pool today so when I got to the gym I missed lane swim, bah!  So used the treadmill and the weights.  I weighed myself, I am 183.2 pounds.  So the scale that lies to me is 3 pounds heavier for me, bah!  I was hoping it would be 5 to 6 pounds :)

Last night hubby and I bought French Vanilla protein powder, it's YUMMY!  I am surprised!  We mixed it with skim milk, it was like a melted milk shake.  We are both tryng to increase our protein consumption.

We are going to tackle two recipies today:

http://dashingdish.com/recipe/strawberry-shortcake-muffins/
http://gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/

We have made the energy bites before and they are SO GOOD.  I am excited to try the muffins!  We both were encouraged to increase our oat cosumption so we thought these were healthy treats (in moderation!) to try.

Personal Trainer and "The Scale That Lies to Me" really is lying!

My hubby and I both went to the personal trainer tonight.  (We both had seperate appointments back to back) The trainer was super nice, I was super intimated but he was so nice it put my mind to ease.  Hubby and I are both working out too much and not eating enough, more specifically not eating enough lean protein and health carbs.  This was an eye opener but it makes sense what he described to us. 

I discussed with him my concern of why I am losing inches and not weight.  He said it could be two things: 1. my body is currently retaining water still and I should see improvement soon, or 2. I am not eating enough calories so my body is shutting itself down as it fears I am starving myself.  He recommended I increase my lean protein and healthy carbs but stay within 1600 calories for a week or two and drop my workouts to 4 times a week instead of 6 and see if that helps, if it doesn't to increase my calories to 1800.

I am very excited, which makes me feel very motivated!  I am so glad we took advantage of the free personal trainer!!!

ALSO hubby found the gym's scale.  Two things about this: 1. Hubby is down 5 pounds in two weeks of healthy living since he was weighed at the doctor's office, yay hubby!!!  2.  I made him weigh himself on "The Scale That Lies to Me" when we got home (I was so excited about what the trainer said I walked out and completely forgot to weigh myself)  The scale at home said hubby was 5 pounds HEAVIER then what the gym's scale said.  AND when he weighed himself at the gym he had his shoes on, which has to be about a pound extra.  "THE SCALE THAT LIES TO ME" truly is lying!!!  I can't wait for Saturday morning, I am going to weigh myself at the gym first thing to get an accurate reading!!!  I really, really, really hope I am down 5-6 pounds on the gym scale!!!  Fingers crossed!!!

Oh I did the Shred this morning!  My knee hurts but meh, I feel good otherwise.

I am a happy girl!!!

Weigh In

I took yesterday off.  I was/am tired.  I have worked out 7 days straight.  When do I get all this energy everyone talks about from being healthy?  I plan to Shred every morning for 10 more days, starting this morning (Level 2, as I found that one to be the most effective).  In that 10 day period I lost a total of 2.5 inches, not bad.  I plan go to the gym every evening whether or not it's working out with the machines, swimming, Yoga class (which I still haven't tried the gym's version) and Zumba (going to give the gym's Zumba one last try.)  I have something planned for June 3rd, so I was hoping I could lose another 2.5 inches by then. 

Yesterday I revamped my successes' spreadsheet, I am such a numbers person.   I love looking at my progress, even if I may not have an accurate weight loss reading device (ahem... The Scale That Lies to Me) I can definitely see improvements in my measurements.

I hope to weigh in and measure myself every ten days in following with what I started this past month.  Yesterday's measurements were as follows:
                                    Yesterday                    Start - Sep 19th, 2011               Difference
Weight                               186                        205                                           -19
Upper Arm                          13.5                      15                                             -1.5
Waist                                    34                        37.5                                          -3.5
Lower Abdomen                 42                         47                                               -5
Hips                                    45.25                    49                                               -3.75
Upper Thigh                      28.5                        30.5                                         -2
Lower Thigh                       21                         23.5                                           -2
Calf                                     15.25                     17                                            -1.75

The weight makes me angry as I count my calories every single day and I not only eat less then the 2000 calories to "maintain" but I usually come in around 1500 to 1600.  I also workout every day (yesterday excluded) Since we joined the gym two weeks ago my workout has increased from a half hour a day to an hour or sometimes an hour and a half.  I am clearly doing something wrong as I gained a pound.  I understand I am turning fat to muscle but at my size shouldn't I have at least lost some weight? 

Tonight I meet a personal trainer from my gym (the complimentary first visit) where they will discuss with me a workout based on what I am trying to accomplish, I feel that this is a very good idea as I am struggling to figure out why I am shreding inches (good) but maintaining weight (frustrating).

I sweat like a pig, so this is good!

I know, I know, pigs don't sweat, so I sweat like a sweaty person :P

TIRED with a capital T

We went to the gym Sunday and today. We worked out for an hour each day. We officially are exhausted and we officially joined the gym!!!

I am so tired. I have not done the Shred as the gym has kicked my arse. My knee is still swollen and is sore periodically. I used the weight machines for my upper body both Sunday and today. Yesterday, I swam laps thinking that would be easy for my knee but I ended up sore afterwards, but it was a good workout. Today I skipped the pool and attempted the treadmill, my first time, I didn't fall off! So that's good. Both days we did an hour workout, which is a lot for me as when I worked out at home I usually worked out for a half hour.

I tried on a pair of capris yesterday as all my pants are falling off of me, I FIT IN A SIZE 12!!! I have been a 14/16 since high school, I almost cried I was so happy; I floated out of the store. I didn't end up buying them as I decided to wait to see if I can get into a size 10 soon. I broke down and bought a bathing suit today ALSO a SIZE 12!!!! I needed a new suit as my suit I currently have is designed more for lounging around the pool and not actually swimming laps, I may have been giving people a free show in the pool. :/ I bought a swim suit with a racer back to keep my girls secured. Size 12 bathing suit!!! I had weighed myself this morning and it keeps giving me a 187 pounds the first reading, I have to weigh myself at least 2 to 3 times in a row to show 185 pounds, bah. I wanted to take my bathing suit and shove it at my scale and say "Ha! In your face!"

Tried to eat healthy yesterday and today but am starving still I think the big workouts are giving me a big appetite. I have a new addiction: Crystal Light Iced Tea. So yummy and low in calories!!! Last night we made these for dinner: http://fitbie.ca.msn.com/slideshow/best-foods-your-core/slide/13
These burgers were super good, couldn't taste the spinach and they were super moist! Will definitely be making them again.

A wee bit of good news and Oh! Oh!

Thursday night I went to a new Zumba class at our gym.  I did not like it.  I used to go to Zumba classes where the instructor was a trained dancer who created really fun, unique routines.  The gym's routines were very lacklusture and felt like they were designed by a 5 year old.  Is that harsh?  Too bad, I did not have fun.  During the class I felt my knee make a tiny pop.  I did not have any pain so I didn't think anything of it at the time.

Friday we went to the gym, I worked out and swam laps in the pool.  I felt great, except my knee kept feeling like there was an air bubble inside of it.  Not painful, but awkward.  We had a hockey game and I worked hard, but my knee didn't bother me.

When we got home, my knee was swollen.  Quite significantly.  Still no pain.

I didn't work out this morning, as the knee is still swollen, I am just icing the knee.  I hope the swelling goes down as I paid for Power Skating and Summer Hockey, I can't afford to drop out of either.  Bah!

I did however drop half a pound!  (Even with a swollen knee!  I assume the swelling will contribute a bit to the weight...) I am back to neurotically weighing myself every day.  I don't know if this is a good thing or not but I find it's a constant reminder that I have to keep up with my healthy lifestyle changes, so I feel that's good.

My Mom, My Support System

My Mom is one of my best friends.  She is so awesome.  She is always the super fun Mom that loves to spend time with us.  When we were younger she always created games for us, read to us, and would take us to the park … simple stuff that a lot of kids miss out on.  She instilled her love of reading upon us girls and we spent many hours at the library growing up.  My Mom is always kind and quiet.  She is smart and loving; she has a kind word for everyone.  She never puts us kids down, always has our backs and always cheers us on.  She always puts her children first and LOVES us.  We are super blessed to have her.  (My Dad is super awesome too, don’t get me wrong, but this ode to my Mom is inspired by the fact of her own personal weight loss.)

She is also a huge weight loss inspiration for me and my biggest cheerleader for my own weight loss struggle.

My Mom was built tall and slender, with legs that go on for miles.  (I inherited my Dad’s short legs, love you Dad!) After having us 3 girls she put on a lot of weight after each pregnancy, successfully shedding the weight after my older sister and I, but kept most of her weight on after having my younger sister.  My Mom’s job packed up and heading to the States so she was out of work and decided to stay home with us. 

I think she always cooked healthy.  I think the problem for her was she was always finishing the food that we didn’t eat.  My younger sister was the worse for this, always handing my Mom at least half of her food items.  My Mom would dutifully finish the plate.  She gained some more.

I am not sure what her total weight was when she decided to make a change but she always says she lost close to 80 pounds when it was all said and done.  My sister was getting married in 1999.  My Mom didn’t want to be the heavy Mother of the Bride.  So right after my sister got engaged, my Mom made a lifestyle change. 

The funny thing is she kept all her challenge to herself for the most part.  I didn’t really notice the small changes, but I did notice when she bought a second hand rowing machine and put it in the basement.  Every morning she went down and worked out for about an hour.  She made some small changes to her diet.  Cutting out any cookies (not that we kept many in the house as my Mom would often sheepishly tell us how she polished off a bag of cookies on her own, I have this same problem, she refused to have them in the house) She always had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast (still does) at lunch instead of having a sandwich she would have a salad and a yogurt and then eat the same lean meat and vegetables she served us for dinner.   At birthdays she would have a small sliver of cake, not fully deprive herself.

By the time my sister got married, my Mom was back to being the svelte tall glass of water she was before.  She looked amazing.  Nine months of hard work and diligence.  Healthy eating, not depriving, and lots of exercise: 80 POUNDS!!! I wish she would let me post the before and after photos as I find them so inspiring.  I have them hanging in my spare room where I workout.  In both photos she is smiling: the before photo she smiles shyly, but the after photo she is radiant, not just because she is skinny but because you can see she FEELS good.  She has gained back about 20 pounds in the course of 13 years, but I think that's pretty darn impressive.  I think keeping the weight off is the biggest part of the battle.

Over the years I have learned never to vent to a skinny person, more specifically a person who has been skinny all of their lives.  My older sister has never been over weight and feels the need to lecture about weight loss.  She has never had to lose weight; therefore I feel she is not the person to listen to.  (Plus, the information she spews out, I am like where the heck do you get this unhealthy garbage? I may be fat but I have common sense when it comes to how to lose weight, I just need to put that common sense into action.)

My Mom is my go to person if I am having a bad day.  She understands the struggle.  She understands the temptations and the feelings of failure.  She lets me vent and then helps me back up and encourages me to keep going.  Sometimes she gives me little helpful hints, but never lectures.  She is also the first person I call when I have a success, she is always wooping and I can hear her smiling through the phone and she always tells me she is proud of me.  You can’t beat that in a support system. 

(I love this saying, I realize now it could mean two different ways, I mean it as my Mom is alive but she is an angel to me :)

Level 3 ... snore ... 20 POUNDS!!!

I am skipping the Shred today, but don’t get too excited, the hubby and I are going to the gym and then we play hockey later.  So two workouts are good enough J

I was not a big fan of yesterday's level 3Shred, I preferred level 2.  Now I am not saying I loved level 2, it’s just something about it felt like it was working my body better.  I don’t know, maybe I am crazy.  I will give level 3 another shot tomorrow.  I am a big believer in giving everything at least 2 tries.  I seem to always  judge the first of anything super hard, so it seems only fair to give it a second shot.

I left my measurements upstairs but I did see improvement after level 2.  Including … wait for it … I am officially 185 pounds!  That means a total of 20 pounds gone!  Now another 35 to go!  (Maybe 45…)

Level 2 Completed!

On Tuesday, I completed my last shred of level 2.I also had Power Skating.Wednesday morning I had planned on doing day 21 of the 30-Day Shred, first day of Level 3. I woke up exhausted.I didn’t fall asleep until 2am as my house was so stinking hot and I had a bad headache.I said to myself I will work out after dinner if my headache disappears.My headache never went away, I would have stayed home from work but I had a pressing issue to attend too but my headache was migraine worthy.

So I took a day off. I am trying not to view that as a failure.I know I shouldn’t as a lot of workout advice is to take a day off here and there to let your body recuperate.I just have a hard time doing this as I worry that the next day I will come up with some excuse to take off as well.I did do a huge work out the night before with my Power Skating.Bah.Still can’t wrap my head around it.I attempted to eat super healthy yesterday, coming in just under my calorie budget, so that was good.  But yet I still feel guilty...

I also took the big step of cleaning out my closet.I officially got rid of a garbage bag full of clothing that not only was too big but was also so worn out it’s not worth having them taken in.I kept my favourite/good pants to have them taken in.As I am down 5 inches in my abdomen, many of my pants are falling off me.I had even kept some of my pants from a few years ago that I had refused to part with when I gained a bit in the hopes I would fit into them again.Score! They fit even better now!

Today I officially started level 3 of the Shred.It kicked my arse.I will also try the gym's Zumba tonight!I love Zumba, it’s so much fun.

I may break down and buy a few pieces at Old Navy this weekend as they are having a big sale, but no new wardrobe until I hit my goal!

Stopping to Think...

I borrowed this from Taking Chances, one of my favourite blogs of a woman and her weight loss journey. (I have never met this woman, but she is a MS Excel junkie after my own heart. I too, have a weight loss graph attached to my food journal spreadsheet: love it!)

1. What types of food were you most likely to overeat? Chips, Chocolate, Candy, Cake, fast food.
2. What times of day did you overeat most often? After dinner.
3. What feelings were you having most often when you overate? Gross, depressed, angry at myself
4. Do you think you have a binge eating disorder? Yes, I claim I have no self-control, is this it?

5. What circumstances in your life do you believe contributed to your weight gain? I gained a bit of weight when I first became a teenager. Then high school hit and I gained about 30 pounds over the course of 5 years. Since then I have been about the same weight. I didn’t enjoy high school, I had a hard time with the fact the people I went to elementary school my whole life moved on. I became very closed off.  I then proceeded to maintain it for the most part.
6. Do you 'blame' anyone for your weight? No, it was solely me. My Mom always cooked healthy meals, every cent I got I spent on junk food. My money, my choices.
7. What other behaviors made you overweight? Stress. I over think everything. When I am stressed out, I hop in the car and drive off for drive-thru burger and fries. When I am not over thinking, I am incredibly lazy and eat out of boredom.
8. Were you active or exercising while you gained weight? No. I was so lazy during high school. I did the bare minimum in class requirements for PhysEd, no extracurricular activities. I came home, watched TV, and did homework: repeat.

9. What made you finally want to change? I wasn’t mocked or made fun of (at least not a lot), I did have to put up with my older sister’s holier then thou lectures on occasion. Those things didn’t bother me (well other then make me angry). Trying clothes on in a store and having them too tight would depress me. But the thing that made me want to change the most was I wanted to play hockey which looked like so much fun but I didn’t want to be a burden to my team. The possibility of letting down a group of strangers was mortifying to me. I also want to try starting a family soon and I know it will be easier if I am in better shape. (Also, I don’t want to gain 70 pounds while pregnant and have to take off 125 pounds instead of just 55).

5 Inches!

The gym kicked my arse.  Yeah! 

I am about to do my last day of level 2 on the Shred!

Yesterday I cheated and measured myself; my lower abdomen (below my belly button) is 42 inches.  This means since September 19^th I am down 5 inches!!!!  Talk about walking around on air yesterday, I was so thrilled!!!  The hard work is paying off!  I will do my official weigh in and measurements tomorrow morning in keeping with my measuring the day after each Shred level completed.

Just have to resist urge of falling back to sleep...

Trying Out a Gym!

Today my husband and I are going to try out our local gym, for free! They allow you three free passes to see if the gym is for you. Fingers crossed that we like the gym as they have an indoor pool, yoga classes, zumba classes, numerous other classes plus all the equipment and an indoor track. If I had a pool I would pretty much live in it, I love swimming.

 My husband has decided to make the commitment to being healthy as well, it sure is easier to have a built in workout buddy!  

I am still doing my shreds in the mornings! I will be completing day 19 shortly today.

Darn tootin!

Skinny Chunky Monkey Cookies Recipe

I stumbled across the most amazing website, it’s full of awesome recipes and they seem to be really healthy.  http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/

I am so making these:

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/05/skinny-chunky-monkey-cookies-recipe.html

Skinny Chunky Monkey Cookies Recipe:

(Makes 30 cookies)

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mash bananas in a large bowl, then stir in remaining ingredients. Let batter stand for approximately 20 minutes, then drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Freezing Directions:
Cool completely, then place cookies in a freezer bag. Seal, label, and freeze.

Nutritional Information (per cookie):
47 calories; 7.5 g carbs; 1.6 g fat; 1.5 g protein; 1.3 g fiber; 1 WW PointsPlus

EDIT: I made these this evening  Not bad!  If I did them again I would cut back the cocoa to about 1/3 of a cup and up the Peanut Butter as they taste a bit dark chocolatey.  But still hits the spot for a chocolate fix!  I am going to freeze them so I can have one or two when I need a treat!

Something I Have to Keep Telling Myself

Day 16 of the Shred

So I broke down today and weighed myself before my 16^th workout, I know I was only going to weight myself when I complete each level but I couldn’t help it, my pants felt a bit loser. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but "The Scale That Lies to Me” claims I am 187, which means I am down 3 pounds!!! Woot! Woot! The potato chips didn’t sabotage me as I had worried … or maybe they did I could have been down 4 pounds instead. Dot!

Before I get too excited, I start over analyzing. (I may be the most over analytical person you will ever meet, I am my own worse enemy) Maybe I was bloated when I weighed in at 190 or maybe "The Scale That Lies to Me”reared its ugly head again and tomorrow I will of course succumb to my OCD and weigh myself again and it will tell me I am 191 pounds. Bah! In the mean time I decided that I would relish in the thought that I am down 3 pounds, it sure added a bounce to my step while I did my workout.

I have a hockey game this weekend so I should be in tiptop shape soon!

"The Scale That Lies to Me"

I used to weigh myself every day to see if I was achieving my goals. I like to see my progress; it helps inspire me to keep going. However, there are times when this backfires, bloating or otherwise can all of a sudden put a pound or two back on to my current weight. Bah. The trick though was not to get frustrated, which I inevitably did each time, this is the reason I decided not to weigh myself daily.

Add to my frustrations I have a lack of confidence in my scale. I am on my fourth scale, which I have aptly named "The Scale That Lies to Me”.

My first scale cost me $10 and it would never settle itself back to zero when I stepped off it, it was always stuck at the 10-pound mark, so I would worry what if those extra pounds was being added to my weight? My second scale was my Aunt’s old scale that she got rid of because it was ancient. I love junk, other people’s junk is my treasure, but I have learned not to accept people’s junk when it comes to bathroom scales! This scale would also get stuck at the 10-pound mark. So then, I bought my third scale. At this time, I was also going to Curves so I thought their scale must be correct and when I would go home I would weigh myself on the third scale and it seemed to add 5 pounds. That can’t be right as I would leave Curves and head straight home to test the scale. Further testing, I used a ten pound weight, placed it on the scale and it claimed it was 13 pounds. Bah! I returned this scale!

This brings me to "The Scale That Lies to Me”. I bought this scale for $29.99, which is the most I was planning to spend on a scale. It is digital as I like to see the half pounds (hey they count!). At first, it matched Curves, and then it started acting funny. I changed the battery. I would scream angrily at it when it showed me up two pounds (it had to be the scale and nothing to do with the cake I ate the night before…yeah that’s it) I stepped on the scale and it gave me a reading. For fun, I stepped off and stepped back on. I got a second, different reading. I stepped back on it; it showed I gained 5 pounds in 2 minutes. I stepped on and off the scale 12 different times and I got 12 very different readings. (I told you I was neurotic) I will sometimes weigh myself before my workout, come back, weigh myself again, and be 3 pounds heavier, that can’t be right. I tried testing the scale with the 10-pound weight but it didn’t register as it didn’t sit properly where the feet were suppose to be.

I hate scales.

Something I Have to Keep Telling Myself

Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred: Day 15 - Half Way There!

I just completed Day 15 of my “Shred” this morning, Day 5 of Level 2. I feel I have more energy as each day goes on. I thought that was just an old wives’ tale about exercising and having more energy afterwards, but it seems to be true. (Or else it is wishful thinking on my part.) In the past, I would weigh myself every day. I told myself when embarking on the 30-Day Shred that I would only weigh myself and measure myself after every 10 days, to see how well each level does for me. Nonetheless, I am so impatient; I am dying to know now! Level 2 is intense. I thought Level 1 was intense when I started but Level 2 takes the cake. (Mmmm… cake…)

I am doing much better at sticking to my diet plan for Level 2. Well, WAS doing much better…I was really, really bad last night. I finished off the last half of a big bag of potato chips. Why did I have the big bag of chips in my house? Because we had guests over for an impromptu dinner last Saturday and for some reason, I threw not one but two big bags of potato chips in the shopping cart. Bah. Why do I do this to myself? Why did I do this to my guests? Everyone was talking about how they should start eating healthy and I go and buy a cart full of junk food. I was doing really well this week but then last night I caved and finished the remaining chips. (This is what the majority of my journal entries of my weight loss journal read like.) I know I should never have purchased the chips in the first place. My husband was on afternoons yesterday, I think I ate them out of boredom.

I should be getting excited. I feel that my pants are looser; the Shred seems to tightening up my muscles. Why can’t I use that as motivation instead of sabotaging myself?

Something I Have to Keep Telling Myself

Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred Level 1 Completed

I completed the first level of the 30-Day Shred!

Weight: 190

Upper Arm: 13.5

Waist: 35.5

Lower Abdomen (below belly button): 43

Hips: 46

Upper Thigh: 28.75

Lower Thigh (Just above the knee): 21.75

Calf: 16

I GAINED two pounds but loss .5 of an inch in a few places. This actually seemed typical with the results I saw from other people’s testimonials, but they sure “Shredded” off the inches! I guess I am gaining muscle. Now I am back to being 15 pounds away from where I started. Boo! Grant it, the weekend I ate very poorly. I typically eat poorly on the weekend we are too relaxed. Bah! I am enjoying the workout though; I find the workout goes very, very fast. I am always surprised when it is over. She works you HARD. I was sweating like nobody’s business. I am now embarking on Level 2, which they say is the hardest level.

Links I Find Helpful

I try not to follow any fad diets. One time someone recommended that I follow a book and DVD from a Reality TV Show Celebrity. I never even looked at the book; I try to take my advice from actual health professionals with actual credentials. I try my best to follow what Canada’s Food Guide recommends; I like to think of it as healthy common sense. By the time you eat all of the recommended healthy serving sizes, you should be more then adequately full.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/index-eng.php

I frequent Fitbie quite often. I find that they don’t update their site for daily viewing but if you stop by it weekly you can find some interesting information. I like when they have articles about healthy snacks as I am always looking for new ideas and I am a big fan of reading the success stories. I can appreciate how difficult it is to lose weight and get in shape so to see people who were actually successful in doing so makes me excited, for them and me!

http://fitbie.ca.msn.com/

Eating When I am Bored

The more I realize that I am doing this, the more I see this as a big problem for me. I work at a desk all day; my brain is tired when I get home. I am very guilty of just vegging out in front of the television with a bowl of snacks and proceed to mindless eat my way through and extra 1000 calories that I do not need.

Tips I have gathered over time to prevent boredom eating (I am bad at following them though):

Call someone on the phone

Give yourself a manicure/pedicure

Knit (I knitted my first scarf this last winter!)

Write in a journal

Garden

Clean the house (pfft… yeah right)

Chew gum (But for heaven sakes, do NOT snap it! Nothing is worse then a loud gum chewer!)

Do arm curls while watching TV

Power Skating

I have been saving up to do Power Skating classes to improve my ice skating. I signed up for an 8-class seminar, once a week for 8 weeks.  The other day I did my Shred in the morning and went to my first Power Skating class in the evening. For 50 minutes, we were put through skating drill after skating drill. I was EXHAUSTED, but I felt good! The next morning I got up and I surprised myself by having enough energy to do my Shred! I have yet to miss a day so far! I had anticipated skipping it today, as I knew the Power Skating was going to be a huge workout so that is a little feather in my cap.

Summer Hockey

I signed up for Summer Hockey! I will now play every week during the summer. I was very scared to play this summer season as they mix us beginners up with people who have played all their lives. I played my first mixed game this past week and I worried for nothing as it was actually a lot of fun, even if I was the slowest person my team.

This week I have my second hockey game of the summer season, looking forward to an intense workout! 

Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred

In the mean time, I was still reading about healthy eating and exercising. I stumbled across a website with actual testimonials to Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred. People were posting their own real personal results. I was impressed; it looked like it was really working at tightening up their muscles. I started doing more research; I found many positive testimonials from real people who did the Shred. I never watched the Biggest Loser, and didn’t know much about Jillian Michaels, but I was willing to try a workout video with circuit training as really the Curves workout is circuit training and I felt successful while using Curves.

The video is split into three levels: you do each level for 10 days straight and graduate to the next level. Each level has a warm-up and three circuits: each circuit has Strength, Cardio and Abs each, then a cool down.

I was able to find Level 1 on YouTube. This allowed me to try the DVD before purchasing, if I felt the workout to be beneficial then I would purchase the DVD to complete Level 2. I decided that in order to see if the DVD truly worked, I would try to complete one exercise every day. No matter how tired/lazy I was!

I took my BEFORE pictures and my measurements again to gauge whether or not the DVD was helpful.

Weight: 188

Upper Arm: 13.5

Waist: 35.5

Lower Abdomen (below belly button): 43

Hips: 46.5

Upper Thigh: 29

Lower Thigh (Just above the knee): 22

Calf: 15.75

Pinterest Addict’s Healthy Recipe Finds:

I am a Pinterest Addict!!! I love being able to find weight loss advice and healthy recipies tried by real people. Two of my favourite healthy recipies that are super tasty and super easy are:

Yogurt Drops - I use Danone Yogurt with Probiotics, yummy and fun!

Apple Sauce Cupcakes – So good!  They claim to be 50 calories (I am assuming BEFORE the icing is added.) But so yummy. I will be making these again. 

Trying to get excited about healthy eating!

Holidays and Then Some ...

Then Christmas came. I started out with a great plan:  I was going to work out on my Gazelle every day for 40 minutes a day (my Curves was done by December 19^thand as great as it was I couldn’t afford to become a full time member.) I was really going to count my calories and watch my sweet intake at my family’s’ holiday meals. (snort… my family are all amazing cooks, like that was really going to happen). I had very good intentions. I also had 11 days off to enjoy the Holidays. Day 1 of holidays I said “Screw It!” and proceeded to eat for 2 weeks straight… and not work out … AT ALL …. insert sheepish look. 

Then came January. I caught a cold. I know, I know, suck it up, but exercising when you can’t breathe really sucks. In typical fashion, my cold lasted me about 3 weeks. I was just getting back on my feet and joining the land of the living when bam, cold #2. It was now half way through February and I hadn’t even stepped onto to my Gazelle. Some how during this I was able to shed 2 pounds, maybe the lack of taste buds during my cold, I achieved the 20-pound mark! Yippee!!!

March came, and I ate poorly and attempted to Gazelle. I was still playing hockey once a week though.  By the time April came around, I gained back 3 pounds and I am now only 17 pounds away from what I started at, BAH! I have no one to blame but myself.

My Early Attempt: September to December 2011

Working up a Sweat:

I bought a groupon for our local Curves. $20 got me 20 visits plus 5 of their Zumbas, GREAT deal! I would go 3 to 4 times a week; I tried really hard to work out at home on a Gazelle I bought at a garage sale in between each Curves visit. I wanted to stretch Curves out for as long as possible. I started going in October and was able to go weekly until the middle of December. I really felt that Curves helped a lot. It is designed to work every part of your body, circuit training with machines. I enjoyed the atmosphere, as everyone was friendly, I also enjoyed that it was for women only; I had never belonged to a gym before so working out and sweating in front of a group of strange men was incredibly intimidating. (It’s funny, as they probably are too busy working out themselves to pay attention to the people around them but it was still a fear of mine. I am self-conscience.)  I was also playing ice hockey once a week.

Watching What I Ate:

I am a numbers person. You don’t typically become a bookkeeper unless you like and are good with numbers. I created my food journal using MS Excel. I tried very hard to keep track of everything I ate. Firstly, I used one of those calculators to find out how many calories I needed in order to maintain my current weight (2000 calories) and how many calories I need to consume in order to try and lose weight. I went on the advice of many of the articles I read to try and eliminate 500 calories a day from my diet so I aimed for 1500 calories a day. Sometimes I was able to achieve this, sometimes not so much. Weekends are the hardest, I eat the poorest on weekends, we are too relaxed and treats seem to be everywhere. However, I kept up with the exercise as much as possible.  

I read a lot of articles on healthy living. Most of it is common sense. I tried really hard to up my fruit and veggie intake, cut out white bread and pasta, making the switch to whole wheat and always having a lean protein to try and help keep me full. I found success with buying those pre-packaged 100-calorie treats, 100 calories of Doritos or 100 calories of chocolate dipped pretzels so I could have a controlled treat when I was really jonesing for a treat. Salty and sweet are my two biggest downfalls. (Embarrassing junkfood addict secret of shame: I would previously have no problem sitting down and eating an entire big bag of chips by myself, with a chocolate bar in the other hand. And I did this often.) If I tried to go without, I would crumble and eat a big bag of chips in one sitting and then beat myself up for the rest of the week. I found allowing myself to have a controlled portion didn’t make me go nutty and feel like I had to have a big bag. I would eat these chips so slow, savouring every morsel. 

My Weight Loss Journal:

I bought a journal from the dollar store. I am not one to keep a journal, but I tried my best to write down my feelings. If I gorged on junk, I wrote down how I felt afterwards, usually bloated and ashamed of myself, as a reminder to prevent me from doing so again. If I had a success, I wrote down how great I felt, MOTIVATION! When I found a healthy living/eating/exercising article that I found had a lot of common sense and touched home to me, I printed them out and stuck them into my weight loss journal. I tried to write goals. I tried to have mini goals “10 pounds in a month”. (I know 2 pounds a week is considered healthy weight loss, but I wanted to aim high.) Sometimes the goals seemed to help, however if I missed the goal I would bum myself out, I would have to read my success entries to make myself feel better.  

3 months after my wake up call, with regular exercise: Curves, my own at home workout on my Gazelle and my hockey one night a week, by December 19^th, 2011 (also the day after my last Curves visit) I was down 18 pounds.

Weight: 187

Upper Arm: 14

Waist: 35

Lower Abdomen (below belly button): 44

Hips: 46

Upper Thigh: 28

Lower Thigh (Just above the knee): 21.75

Calf: 16.25

I would classify this as success!!! Just to keep going.

Wake Up Call

I have always been chubby or “pleasantly plump” as my sister and I joked. I weighed around 190 pounds most of my way through high school and into my twenties. I attempted to diet and exercise on and off leading up to my wedding but never got down below 180. When I turned 30, I stepped on the scale; I almost fell over, on September 19, 2011, I weighed in at my absolute heaviest: 205 pounds. WAKE UP CALL!!! Perhaps that doesn’t seem like a lot to some people but for me at only 5’4” it was a lot! I always thought in my head “At least I am not 200 pounds” as if it was some magic number, well here I was OVER 200 pounds. When you do the math, I am considered very obese. I was 55 pounds outside of my “target” “healthy” weight. I am a bookkeeper, I sit at my desk all day long, I am a self-proclaimed junkfood addict and I most definitely eat my stress. (Embarrassing junkfood addict story: The girl that works at the drive thru Wendy’s down the road from my work commented on my new-to-me car. I was previously driving a rusted out bucket of bolts that you could hear coming from a mile away. She said to me “I thought it was your voice but I didn’t hear your car rattling so I didn’t know if it was you for sure.” She knew the sound of my vehicle through her drive thru headset. This is sad, no?) My back was constantly sore; I am ALWAYS tired, no matter how much I sleep I get; all of my clothes were tight, I couldn’t afford a new wardrobe so I would sit uncomfortably at my desk and hope no one would notice if I undid my pants buttons. It was a time for a change. 

My sister had introduced to me to a hockey league for beginners. I actually signed up to play in the league this past winter; we would play once a week,  late September through to early April. I have always loved watching hockey, but as I am very un-athletic, I never dreamed I would ever be able to skate let alone play hockey. My husband was a big help and went with me to public skating to teach me to skate. My biggest motivation in life seems to be not to disappoint other people, the curse of being a people pleas-er; I didn’t want to let my team down by being the slowest. I also wanted to start planning to have children in the next year or so and I knew it would be harder to get pregnant with the extra weight. I used both of these as my motivation. 

I started trying to do three things on a regular basis: Exercising, clean up my eating habits/counting my calories in a food journal and keeping a weight loss journal. 

I took my measurements and …gulp… BEFORE pictures as I was determined to have a successful AFTER picture. Sorry, but I am not sure if I am going to post these yet, WHEN I have a successful AFTER photo, perhaps I will post it then. In the mean time, ugh... here are the measurements.

Weight: 205

Upper Arm: 15

Waist: 37.5

Lower Abdomen (below belly button): 47

Hips: 49

Upper Thigh: 30.5

Lower Thigh (Just above the knee): 23.5

Calf: 17

My main goal: To lose a total of 55 pounds, in a healthy and safe manner before July 2012 (swimsuit season).