Will work out for food!

I want to eat more.  I LOVE food, but I don't love gaining weight and feeling fat!

What to do?

EXERCISE MORE!!!

This summer I took the mantra, "No excuses!" and made it my own.  I can make up all kinds of excuses NOT to exercise, most of them having to do with L-A-Z-Y!!!  Enough already!  What has LAZY gotten me?  Belly rolls, thunder thighs, and tight clothing.

I have learned that if I do a little exercise...

1. I am not just sitting around wanting to eat.
2. I eat less when I do eat.
3. I am intentional about what I eat.

My parents and teachers taught me to work for what I want in life and that is what I have learned to do!  :)  

Right now I am walking on Trudy Treadmill as I type this blog post.  Walking so that I can have a bowl of fancy ice cream and still have calories left over.

This is one tip that has really worked for me!  I've learned that I can burn about 250 calories riding my bike for 30 minutes.  :)

What is your secret?

What's next?

 Bessie and I have been riding a lot this summer and thanks to the help of Bessie's cousin Barbara (my stationary bike), we just hit a milestone:  500 miles!

Never would I have believed I could survive the pain in the butt (quite literally) of bike riding so many miles!  But I did!  And what got me there?  I think it was my hairstylist Kayce because when I told her I was riding my bike, she asked about my goals.  At that time, I really didn't have any goals...I just wanted to ride so that I could exercise, burn calories, and lose weight!

Kayce's question had me dig deep within myself to come up with a realistic number.  I think I started with 200 and worked up from there.  What is my next goal?  1000 miles!  By...?  The year 2015!!!  Can I do it?  You bet!

Successes

Today marks the 45th day in a row that I have logged my food and exercise with MyFitnessPal.  :)

I have spent my summer creating healthy habits.  I started by taking Bessie out to the trail and making bike riding a habit.  Today I logged my 424th mile!!!

Secondly, I got back into the habit of tracking my food.  I started with the Weight Watchers app that I was paying for and eventually switched over to the *FREE* MyFitnessPal app.  There are so many things I LOVE about MyFitnessPal!  I will try to list them here.

• I love how quickly I can add foods.  I need not even type in the complete name and it comes up in the database.  If I eat the same thing from a previous day, I can easily copy my entry from a prior day.  
• I love the scan function!  This was something I was super excited WW had on their app, but with WW it only worked for some products.  On MyFitnessPal I have only had ONE TIME when the scanner did not work.  I find that AMAZING!
• I love that I can have friends who share a similar journey to health!  My friends encourage me by either liking my posts or making positive comments.  This has really helped me continue my journey.
• I also love that MyFitnessPal posts our successes. When I see that my friend has burned x amount of calories by completing some activity, it motivates me to keep up!
• At the end of the day, when I hit the button that says "complete today's food diary", it tells me if I ate every day like today how much I would weigh in 5 weeks.  This motivates me like you wouldn't believe!!!
• I also love that I can see the percentage of fats, carbs, and protein I am eating.
• I love that I can look at a week, month or even a year of staying within my calorie budget.  I can even see the amount of calories I spent each day.  This app is AMAZING!!!!

I am also starting to do other forms of exercise...trying out more DVDs in my basement.  :)  I still have plenty left to try, but I am proud that I am working on this.

Riding with Bessie has given me an endurance I didn't know was possible!  I jogged an entire mile last week!!!  Without stopping!!!

Today's weigh in revealed that since May 31st, 2014 I have lost 17.2 pounds!!  I am about 1/3 of the way to goal.  Feeling good about this!  :)

I'm a LOSER! :)

I feel good about the title of this post!!  While not everyone would like to be called a LOSER, when we are talking weight loss...I always hope to be a LOSER!! :)

At the beginning of this summer I decided to make a change.  I started by riding my mountain bike on the trail.  Interestingly, my beautician was the one who asked, "What is your goal?"  Until that point, I didn't realize that I didn't have one.  Soon after that haircut, I decided I wanted to ride "Bessie Bicicleta" 300 miles this summer.  When I met that goal at the end of July, I decided I wanted to log 400 miles by the first day of school (August 18th).  I am currently at 368.  I will be riding quite a bit this week!  :)

The second thing I started this week was logging my food.  At first I logged with my Weight Watchers online account, but somewhere in the middle of the summer I decided to buy a fitbit and log with My Fitness Pal instead.  The cost of the fitbit was $73 (I am a bargain shopper--found it cheap on ebay), but My Fitness Pal is free.  I was paying $20 a month for my ActiveLink subscription and WW online combined.  In just a few months, my fitbit will have paid for itself!  :)

I really like the My Fitness Pal app!  It has a HUGE database and a scanner that scans everything.  My favorite thing is that at the end of the day when you hit the button saying that your entry is complete, it tells you how much you will weigh if every day is the same for the next 5 weeks.  One time (when I had had a rough week) it told me I would be 191 (this is after I had lost some and was in the early 180's).  That really made me kick it back into gear!  :)  Last night it said I would weigh 169.5!  I liked that one!

I also really like the fitbit app.  Mine wirelessly connects with blue tooth to my phone.  This means that I can just pull up the app to see all my stats!  A feature I really like on this app is how it compares you to your friends.  I push myself to be the first or 2nd every week.  :)

So...back to the title.  Why am I a loser?  Well....because I have lost 14 pounds since May!!!  As much as I want to set a deadline for me to hit my goal, I know that in doing so, that can really hurt my chances of actually reaching my goal.  So....for now I am content with making process goals (exercise daily, earn at least 10,000 steps a day, and track my food in MyFitnessPal).

Are you a LOSER too?  What is your story?  :)

Cycling

So Bessie my bicycle and I have been getting to know one another quite well this summer.  I have ridden 186 miles so far with her and hope to reach 300 by the end of July.  August 4th I will be going back to work as a school counselor.

Cycling has been fairly easy on me.  We have a bike rack that attaches to the hitch on my van and I just throw my bike on there, drive 6-7 minutes to the Katy trail and we go.  When the ride is finished, I am hot, sweaty, and dirty.  My arms might be a little sore, but my legs do pretty well.

I had trouble with Trudy Treadmill because she was really rough on my feet.  Bessie Bicycle doesn't hurt my feet...thank goodness!

How will I keep active once I am back at work...sitting in a desk?

I'm thinking of setting an alarm that goes off every hour so that I get up and move.  Sometimes that means going to the classrooms to pick the kids up rather than having a teacher send them down.

Those of you with desk jobs...how do you incorporate movement into your day?

For 19 years I was a teacher so I walked around the room all day long.  Now that I have an office, I am much more stationary.  I've got to find something I like to do every day so that I keep moving.  I'm interested in your ideas!  :)

Small steps

This is such a true quote.

When I think of weight loss, I think of a journey.  As much as I would like to be 50 pounds lighter tomorrow, that just does not happen.

And what about all those, "I'll start my diet tomorrow"s?  Every day I put it off just means more work down the road.

I have recommitted to tracking with Weight Watchers.  I have an app on my phone and ipad, plus I can also track on my computer.  I have gone 2 weeks, tracking every day and staying within my points allowance.  It has shown on the scale.  I know what I need to do.  The hardest part for me is following through.

Today I checked out the My Fitness Pal app and played around with it.  I entered all my food just as I do for WW.  Even though I am new to the interface, I found it very easy to navigate.  If I weren't doing WW, I would definitely use the FREE app My Fitness Pal to stay on track!

Feedback & Progress

Tomorrow is weigh in day.

When I know that I have been on plan, I look forward to weigh in day.  When I've been off plan a lot or when I've eaten too much the day before, I dread weigh in day.

So why is the scale and that darn number so important???

I have come to realize for myself...if I have a weight loss goal that I hit a certain number on the scale I will get all worked up about what the scale says.  Every time before when I tried to lose weight, my goal was about attaining some magical number on the scale.  I not only set one big goal, but I set monthly and weekly goals too.  When I get really crazy, I write my scale goals all over my calendar.

Yep...it hasn't been a very successful method of goal setting for me.  Now when I look at my calendar I see all these numbers that are unrealistic.

So, if the number on the scale shouldn't be what motivates me, why do I continue to weigh in?

When I weigh in, I hope to see progress, movement in the down direction.  Over time, I hope to see a big change, not only in the scale, but also in the way my clothes fit, and how I feel about myself.

What I've learned about myself is that I need to use goal setting to set process goals, like how many days a week I track my food, how many glasses of water I am drinking, and even what foods I am eating.

Enter Weight Watchers and etools!  (By the way, this is NOT a plug for WW!  I just believe their program to really work and for me, it offers me freedom with boundaries).  Check out what I can see using my etools:

I LOVE these reports!  Love seeing that I have tracked every day this week!!!  I can also see that weekends are when I spend the most amount of points.

This report shows me how many days I tracked and notice...there is a direct correlation between tracking and losing weight!  Pretty stoked that I lost 4.3 pounds last month!  That is the most I have lost for over a year!  Wooohoooo!

These charts show success!  I really needed this visualization.  I am hoping for a loss tomorrow, but know that if the scale does not show one, there are variables beyond my control.  I know that I have been doing my job...and I plan to keep that up!  :)

Excited about weigh in!

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I get on the scale every week and record my weight in a little book that stays in my bathroom.  I do this whether or not I am trying to lose weight.  I think it's been about 4 years that I've been doing this.

I try to post my weigh ins on Saturdays.  I chose Saturday simply because when I went to Weight Watchers meetings, I would go on Saturday (making Saturday my weigh in day).

I like that I write those numbers down because it helps me see the bigger picture.  For example, I can see how much I gain in a year, what my lowest weight recorded is, etc...

Last summer I hit a milestone I wish I hadn't...I hit the 190's.  Highest numbers yet.  At one point this year I was really worried that I might hit the 200 mark.  I don't know why that is so bothersome, but it is.  It is some psychological game we play with numbers.

I can say that I've tried to lose weight this year, but that wouldn't be telling the complete truth.  Truth is, I sure didn't put a whole lot of effort into it.  At. all.  I don't know what my problem is, but I have had the TOUGHEST time being motivated enough to WANT to lose weight.

I KNOW that I dislike my body and the way I feel.  I find it difficult to cross my legs.  Difficult to be comfortable sitting.  I hate looking in the mirror because I do not like who I see anymore.  One of the worst parts of my trip to Puerto Rico was our salsa dancing lessons where we were surrounded by mirrors.  I looked at myself and discovered that in a room of 35 people, I was one of the 5 biggest people.  Until that point, I don't think I realized how big I had actually gotten.  What I saw in that mirror made me disgusted with myself.

Amazingly, since coming back from Puerto Rico on June 16th, 2014, I have started tracking with my Weight Watchers Online tools.  In fact, I have tracked EVERY DAY from last Saturday, June 21st until today, June 27th!!!  I know that doesn't seem like much, but that is the most consecutive days I have tracked for at least a year!  AND...when I got on the scale last Saturday, I was just slightly BELOW the 190 mark, a weight I had not seen since August of 2013!

Tomorrow is my next weigh in day.  I have been getting on the scale nearly every day this week and the scale has not gone below 190 since last week.  Makes me mad, because I have been tracking my food and exercising.  Today I earned 7 activity points!!!  Super excited about that!

So...I am kind of excited to see what the scale says tomorrow.  It may say that I am up, but it may show off my hard work.  Either way, I should be excited that I have completed a full week of diligent food/exercise tracking!  I did use all of my weekly points, but I have also earned 26 activity points this week and I do have 6 of those left over!

I have had a very good, on-plan week!  Yeah!!!!  Now to just keep the momentum going!  :)

Compensating for injury

Wow!  Posting 2 days in a row has not happened in a LOOOOOONG time!

Now that my little finger is misbehaving from too much bike riding, I had to re-think my exercise plan for the summer.  A few friends told me that cycling gloves and lowering my seat will take the pressure off my nerve and help with the cycling palsy (if you are confused, see my last posting).  So...I ordered some cycling gloves which should be coming later this week.  I will take a break from the outside bike until I get my gloves.

In the meantime...I put my shelf back on Trudy Treadmill and I am walking on Trudy while I use my laptop.  This will help to continue getting activity in my day and hopefully will not be so much impact that my plantar fascitis starts up again.

That way Trudy doesn't feel left out!  :)

I also need to be lifting weights.  I have so many dvds and books that show me exactly what to do.  The hardest part for me is just doing it!  I have my yearly doctor's appointment in an hour (and I am typing while walking on Trudy).  When I get home, I am going to conquer a weight lifting session!  :)

On a side note, I am going to lug my 3 trash bags full of too small clothing to Goodwill today!  They have been renting space in our exercise room for WAY too long!  :)

Yeah!  I will feel accomplished today!  :)

Trying to be positive

Wow!  It has been a long time since I posted.

I fell off the bandwagon and really did not have anything to post.  It is a mental game.  I am all gungho to exercise and eat healthy and then some smell wafts by and I am just done for!  :(

Anyway...I have been lazy about both my eating and exercise.  Then, my daughter asked if I wanted to go on a bike ride.  The bike ride had all kinds of issues, but it got me excited about riding my bike and really getting this body back to what it should be.  Yeah!  Motivation!!!

So...I have been riding my bike.  A LOT.  124 miles since June 1st!  Pretty proud of that!!!  I've got the bike carrier hooked up to my van and can throw the bike on and off pretty quickly.  Although my daughter was the one to get this trend started, she has been a fair weather fan and only went with me on that initial ride.

I am very fortunate to live in a town that has lots and lots of trails.  I drive about 5 minutes to park and ride.  My shortest rides are 5 miles or so and my longest have been 19 miles.  I can actually ride my bike to the nearest winery!  (8.3 miles)  How cool is that?!!!  :)

Unfortunately, I came home yesterday from a long ride (19 miles) and noticed something odd with my pinky finger in my right hand.  When I went to wash my hair in the shower I couldn't control my pinky finger.  It didn't join the others.  I thought maybe this would go away, but it was back again today.  The only thing I could think that may have caused this was my riding...

Well...I was right!  After doing a little internet searching, it looks like I have cyclist palsy.  I probably should have a doctor check it out and then it looks like I need to stay off my bike until the symptoms go away.  The linked article did say that I could ride my stationary bike, just to stay away from the handlebars.

So what caused this?  Too much pressure on my arm and wrist.  Usually it means that the seat is not fit properly to correctly distribute your weight on the handlebars.  Disappointing!  Means that my summer time passion will have to wait.  In the meantime, looks like I'll be trying the indoor machine and maybe mixing it up with other activities like walking/running on the trail or working out to those numerous dvds I have at home.

Trying to stay positive!  It is just frustrating because right when I got into running and training for a 5k, I started experiencing plantar fascitis.  Now this.  Just not liking getting old!  :)

Thanks for listening!

Run Like a Mother

I have gotten off track with my exercise movement.  I was doing well for a while, and then I fell off the wagon.

This is not the first time (nor the last I'm sure) that I have given up on my good intentions.  Sometimes it is just so hard to keep going when you don't see results.

Actually, I do see results.  I see the results of what happens when I don't watch what I eat and exercise regulary:  too tight clothes, belly bulge, bigger number on the scale, etc...

I am not sure why I have such a hard time with this!  I do know that I am NOT alone.  So many others wrestle with weight as well.  Even skinny people!  There are people I used to look at and think, "She doesn't have to deal with her weight at all.  I wish it were THAT easy!"  Then, I got to know those people.  One of them had lost over 100 pounds!  So...I have learned that I cannot judge a book by its cover...EVER.

Speaking of books...I picked up the book RUN LIKE A MOTHER by McDowell and Shea last week.  Ever since the 7th grade when we first started long distance running in PE class, I have wanted to become a runner.  I know, THAT IS A HECK OF A LOOOOONG TIME!  I often start and don't finish (one of my flaws).

Well, I had March 15th as the date that I would run a 5k.  Guess what?  That was yesterday.

So...I didn't meet my goal.  Rather than get down on myself, I actually have come a long way toward my goal.  I finished week 5, day 2 of Couch to 5K workout today!  That still puts me in a good position to run the Go Girl race on May 24th.

So...if you are looking for some motivation to run and you are a mother, RUN LIKE A MOTHER is it!  I am only on chapter 2, but so far, it is getting me excited about running.  Lots of tips and stories.  Love it!

So...let me just say that I AM making progress.  I am not be perfect, but I am progressing!  :)

Since January, Trudy and I have walked/ran 41.082 miles.  That is a marathon and almost 5 5K's!!!

Who else wants to be a runner?  I am working on it!  :)

I get up again!

Do you ever feel like you've been off the wagon more than you have been on?  I feel that way too. This is something I really have to watch because if I don't, I will let it bring me down...and that means being off the wagon for an even longer time!

I felt like I was really off the exercise wagon, but here is where having an exercise log really helps! Tonight I went downstairs to visit Trudy Treadmill and when I went to log my exercise, I saw that the last time I exercised was Tuesday, March 4th...less than a week ago!  Maybe not as often as I had planned, but more of a stumble than an all and out fall!  :)

So tonight I completed week 4, day 3 of Couch 25K.  It consisted of:

• Walk for 5 minutes
• Run for 4 minutes
• Walk for 3 minutes
• Run for 6 minutes
• Walk for 3 minutes
• Run for 4 minutes
• Walk for 5 minutes

The runs were HARD!  I barely finished them, but I DID finish them.  When I finished with that, I got on Barbie Bicycle and biked over 3 miles in 15 minutes and THEN I pulled out my 8 Minutes in the Morning book and completed Week 1 Day 1 exercise.  I followed all of this with a stretch.

YEP, I feel accomplished...and back on the wagon!  :)  Someday I would like to put one of those 13.1 stickers on my vehicle as proof that I ran a half marathon.  First I am going to run a 5k on May 24th in the Go Girl Run, then I will see what I need to do to train for a 10k, then comes the half marathon.  Baby steps!!!

The original 8 Minutes in the Morning book--I love it!

Muddy Bike Ride

So, today Holly wanted to take a bike ride with me.  Can I say no to a teen daughter who wants to hang out with me???  ABSOLUTELY not!

So, we hitched up our bikes and headed to the trail.  Little did we know it would be so muddy!  We came home with mud everywhere.  But we both agree we got an extra tough workout because we had mud resistance...AND we had a good time!! 😀

Treadmill Desk

Above you see my good friend Trudy Treadmill.  Last year I asked my husband to help turn Trudy into a walking desk.  It was SUPER CHEAP and EASY!!!  He found this 4 foot by 1 foot piece of laminate at Menards for $2.88 (including tax).  I put a little duct tape on the back side so it wouldn't scratch up the arms of Trudy.  Installation:  just setting the shelf on the arms.  That was it!  Easy on and off.

Running with the shelf on is NOT recommended.  :)

I can walk at a 3 mile/hour speed and work pretty easily on my laptop.  Now, when I grade papers, I have to slow it down a little.

If you find yourself hooked up to your computer and sitting a lot, this is a great idea.

I will be honest.  Since I have been training for a 5k, the shelf has been off for a loooong time.  This is our 4th snow day in a row.  I decided I needed some movement so I put Trudy's shelf back on and decided to conquer my emails and create a powerpoint while walking.  I have been working for 68 minutes and have gone 3.4 miles.  Not athletic training awesome, but doing something on my computer does help me pass the time.

Anyone else want to try the treadmill desk?

Week 4

Today I started week 4 of Couch 2 5K.  I am glad I didn't look ahead to see what I would be doing.  I went from week 3 which includes two 3 minute runs, a 1.5 minute run and maybe two 1 minute runs to TODAY.  Why the caps for TODAY?  Because it was a BIG step!  Today's runs included two 4 minute runs and a SIX MINUTE RUN!  When I saw that, I nearly jumped off Trudy Treadmill!

How was I ready for this?  Really?  What is this app thinking?

Well as it turns out, the app was pretty smart!

I did it!  I completed my training session, running for both four and six minutes!  Wow!  What a feeling of accomplishment!  :)

What have you done that gave you that sense of accomplishment?

Damaging thoughts

What does working out look like for you?

I started this blog because I found 29 workout DVDs in my possession, many which had NEVER been opened!  I wanted to try each one out, in the time frame of one year.

What I have found out about myself is that I don't finish things.  I get very excited about a new workout DVD, spend the money, purchase it, and then never even use it.  OR...I start a new diet/exercise plan and give up before I really see results.

I want to see BIG results in a short period of time.  Totally unrealistic.  I know.

So, I have set the DVDs aside for a while and I am concentrating on sticking to an exercise plan.  I really kicked this in and then I could feel myself slacking.  Telling myself I will exercise more tomorrow.  I have heard myself say this over and over again.  So, to combat that, I exercised this morning!  Trudy Treadmill and I completed the third week of Couch Potato to 5k!  Yes, the third week!  What this tells me is that I wasn't slacking off as hard as I felt I was.  Today is February 1st.  The last time I exercised was January 28th.  Four days of no exercise.  Not ideal, but as long as I got back at it, not something to be ashamed of.

I set a goal for myself of running an entire 5k by March 15th.  It will be done on my treadmill, by myself, but I do plan to complete that!  And guess what?  Having completed the 3rd week of Couch 2 5K, I am right on track!

So, what does this prove?  That my thoughts and perceptions can damage my efforts to succeed.

Thank goodness for my little log book that logs all my visits to the exercise room since January!  That little book tells the true story.  I have devoted this year to exercising and getting in shape.  I am 1/12 finished!  Wow!  That is pretty amazing!  What do you think?

Biggest Loser

So, at my school, we are having a 9 week Biggest Loser contest.

I have tried these competitions before and for me, they do not usually work.  What happens is I pay the fee, get on the scale each week and actually weigh more at the end than at the beginning.  Why?????  Not sure!  Maybe it is that perfectionist in me coming out and saying, "If I can't win the whole thing, then no point in winning."  Isn't a net loss a win?  Of course it is!  

I have decided that this time will be different.  When the competition is over, I would like to be at least 10 pounds lighter.  And if I don't win any money, no big deal!  I paid for someone holding me accountable.  I paid for motivation.  And...I got a heck of a deal!

As I was searching for some images to add, I found the before/after picture of the above girl.  I have never seen the show, but just from the pictures, she reminds me of myself.  I am into the baggy t-shirts because that is all I feel comfortable in anymore.  I could look like the after version if I work at it.  It might take a while, but I really could do that!

So, today was our second weigh in for the competition.  The first week I lost 4 pounds and this week (when I thought I was wearing heavier clothes) I lost 1 pound.  5 pounds BABY!  Here I come!!!!  :)

Set a date!

Let me just say that I really dislike exercise!  Since the beginning of January, I have been exercising for 25 minutes almost every evening.  As much as I did NOT want to exercise tonight, I made myself do it.

Most of my exercise right now is either riding my stationary bicycle or my couch 2 5k running/walking plan.

I would LOVE to say that I ran an entire 5k, but I have too many issues with feet and shin splints.  What I have discovered is that I do ok on my treadmill, but when I run on an incline or on concrete, then I have pain.  Knowing this, I have decided to run a 5k anyway!  I will be running my 5k on Trudy Treadmill, right in my own basement.  This way, I don't have to worry about the weather, the hills, or the running surface.

I felt it important to set a date for this 5k.  This is my goal, what I am reaching for.  If I don't set a date, then I will procrastinate.  No more excuses!

My 5k is scheduled for the week of March 15th.  This gives me some flexibility, but holds me accountable.  It also gives me enough time to train.  I may not run the entire thing, but I will do my best.  Heck, I might even make a t-shirt for the event!  :)

What do you do to motivate yourself?

Data

This is my 20th year as an educator and my first year as a school counselor.  As a teacher, and now even more as a counselor, we base many of our decisions on the data that we collect.  This got me thinking of how data relates to losing weight.

For as long as I can remember I have measured my success in weight loss solely by a number on the scale.  No matter how I really feel, when I weigh in, that number can determine whether I am happy with myself or beat myself up for not being perfect.  Just as we do not measure the success of a student solely on one assessment, I really should not measure my success on one number and nothing else.

When I decided that I was going to incorporate exercise as a normal part of my life and eat less calories than I expend, I started keeping track of my exercise.

I wanted to work out at least 25 minutes a day.  After a few no exercise days, I think 25 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week is a better place to start.

I belong to the online Weight Watchers community and keep telling myself I am wasting my membership by NOT tracking what I eat.  I am still having trouble with this.  At this point, incorporating exercise and other good habits into my life is more imortant than tracking everything I eat.

Today is January 23rd and here are my stats so far:

13 workouts of at least 25 minutes
419.5 minutes
35.8 miles biked
16.75 miles on the treadmill
Finished week 3, day 1 of Couch Potato 2 5K!
Can hold a plank for 45 seconds

That is quite a bit!  :)

Hanging in there!

So, this is kind of how I feel right now.  I've started to make some good habits, but it is getting tough to continue.  It would be so much easier just to give up on this healthy stuff and quit.  Add to that mix a stressful 2 days and I just feel like eating everything in sight!

I came home today and my daughter, having known I've had a rough 2 days, had fresh homeade cookies when I walked in the door.  What a sweetie!

Is it bad to eat a cookie?  No.  Then I had another cookie.  And some pita chips.  And I made some dip for the pita chips.  Next came pizza for supper.

What I am finding, is that when I am under a lot of stress, I use food to make me feel better.  And once I eat a little something "non-healthy", I decide that means I can eat a lot of the non-healthy foods.  Well, today, I decided NOT to let a few poor decisions ruin all my efforts.

You know what?  I have put in 12-25 minute (or longer) workouts since January 1!  That is PROGRESS, BABY!  While I might feel like giving up, I really cannot do that.  I NEED to lose some weight to improve my health!  I am going to Puerto Rico in June.  I want to be able to wear appropriate summer clothing and feel good about it!

SO...I thought of my friend Michele, who runs EVERY morning, NO MATTER WHAT!  Here is a picture of her after her run.  Her caption:  "It can be done at 4 below!"

And I thought to myself, "If Michele can run OUTSIDE when it is that cold outside, I have NO excuse for walking downstairs and getting on my bike or treadmill for 25 minutes."  And, guess what?  I went downstairs and got my workout on!  :)

Keeping track

How do you keep track of exercise?  Do you keep track?

I have a notebook that sits on a shelf in the room with Trudy Treadmill and Barbara Bicycle.  It isn't fancy, but I do write down the date, how many minutes, and how many calories the machine says I've burned.  When I bike, I write the work "bike" by the minutes.  If I complete a workout on a DVD, I write the name of the DVD and the time.  Nothing high tech.

I have another journal that I keep in the the middle bathroom drawer.  That is my weight journal (since Suzy Scale is in the bathroom).  I have been writing down my weight for the past 3 or 4 years, mainly every week.  I have been known to skip a few weeks.  If I have several weights for the same week, that usually means I was feeling good about my progress at that point!  :)

At some point, I may try to create a google form for this stuff so I can have nice, clean, digital versions, but right now I am liking my current method.

I like both journals because they help me see the "bigger picture" that I don't always see.  Right now my exercise journal shows that I have exercised  for the last 8 days in a row.  That is a HUGE accomplishment for me.  INTENTIONAL EXERCISE.  The more days I have down, the more I am motivated to go visit Trudy Treadmill or Barbara Bicycle.  I don't want to let them down.  :)

While the weight journal has not always made me feel good, I can look at it and see patterns.  It really boosts my spirits to find out that I really did not gain 30 pounds since last year.  The pounds have been creeping up much more gradually.  It also helps to know that while I have not had a loss since October, I had one over winter vacation!  Go me!  (Trust me, I have to do these things to pump myself up.  Otherwise, I just feel overwhelmed by the road ahead.)

I found the following picture and I think it fits perfectly!

Journal on!

Six days

I am excited!  For 6 days in a row, I have worked out for 25 minutes or more!  If you only knew what a couch potato I am, you would NOT believe this at all.

Tomorrow will make a full week.  WOW!  Yeah Carey!

I just keep thinking, "Just 25 minutes a day."  If I want to make a change, I HAVE to do something different.  Little by little, I am making positive changes.

Today's successes:

• Week 2 Day 1 of Couch 2 5K COMPLETED!
• I drank 3-24 oz bottles of H20!
• I avoided late night snacking
• I exercised for at least 25 minutes 6 days in a row!
• I did a plank for 20 seconds!

Tomorrow I start the Biggest Loser at my school.  I plan to WIN!

Couch 2 5K

Running seems to be a popular thing nowadays.  I do not look anything like a runner, but I would LOVE to someday be called one.

7th grade PE class introduced me to running.  We had a lake close to our school.  One and a half times around was a mile.  I remember when we were first told we were going to run a "lake road mile".  I was excited!  That didn't last real long because before you knew it, I was huffing and puffing and walking instead of running.  Over the course of several weeks, we finally were able to run the entire time.  I felt so accomplished!  I didn't necessarily enjoy running, but I REALLY liked the feeling I got when I finished!

I still want THAT.  I want to be able to run a mile straight and feel like I really did something.  So, I have started the Couch 2 5K running plan.  Modern technology makes it super easy to train.  If you

have a ipod touch or a smartphone, there are NUMEROUS apps available that allow you to play music while run/walking and voice alerts will tell you when to run and when to walk.  The app I have is called the Ease in to 5K app and it looks like the picture above.  It was free when I got it and I think it still is.  

The app has a different workout for each session.  There are 8 weeks of workouts where you work out 3 days a week.  It starts out slow with day one, running no more than 60 seconds at a time.  I love how you are able to add your music to the workout or sometimes I listen to Pandora and just put my music on pause so I get more of a "radio" variety.

If I leave my glasses on when I run, I can see how much time I have left on my specific run or walk and I can also see where I am in the workout (for example:  Run 4 of 8).  The total time is on the screen as is the time remaining in each walk/run.

Since I am not ready to run outside yet (people--yikes!), I also love the fact that I can pause my workout at any time should I need more water, a tissue, whatever the case may be.

When finished there is an option to post to Facebook or Twitter (not sure why they don't have Blogger on that!).  Another option is to map it so you can see what that looks like.  I don't use the mapping option because I know where Trudy Treadmill is.  An option I do use is the option to journal.  Above is a screen shot of journal.  How cool is that?!  :)

I have completed my first week of the program.  The first day my run/walk session was followed with extreme plantar fascitis pain.  I spoke to a friend about it and she gave me the hint NOT to use the incline option on my treadmill because that is a killer for people who suffer from plantar fascitis.  I listened to her advice and have not had any more trouble!  YEAH!!!  Thank you Lesley!!!

Do I want to sign up for a 5k that takes place this spring?  YOU BET!  But, I know myself better.  If I am going to practice with Trudy Treadmill, then running a 5k with hills and concrete is just going to cause injury.  Before signing up for such a thing, my goal is to run the 5k on Trudy.  

Once Trudy and I run a 5k, I will advance to the high school track.  Maybe after that I'll try hills and concrete, but at this point I will be SUPER HAPPY with a 5k run on Trudy.  

I am going to set a goal of running a 5k on Trudy on or before March 15th.  Who's with me?

Video Review #2: Hit the Spot CORE COMPLETE

Denise Austin is my all time favorite fitness guru!  I know, some people find her hard to swallow, say she is too enthusiastic, makes too many mistakes in her videos, etc, etc.  That is why I like her!

This woman is in her 50s and looks AMAZING!  She as much energy as my 5 year old nephew and she motivates me!

I have almost 10 Denise dvds.  I love that many of her routines are 10 minutes long.  As a teacher, I was SUPER BUSY and found it hard to find any time to fit in exercise.  10 minutes seemed about all I could do before crashing into bed.

I chose this video because it uses the stability ball.

I will be real honest.  I have gained a considerable amount of weight in my belly and I think that is why I am having a lot of back pain right now.  Weak muscles in the front, causes extra stress on my back.  Yep...no fun.

So, the stability ball offers support for my back.  I like that.

This dvd includes:

• 5 minute warm up (5 min)
• Core & upper body workout (15 min)
• Core & legs workout (15 min)
• Core & buns workout (15 min)
• Core Complete Challenge (full body workout=18 min)

Fitness level:  Beginner to Advanced (Denise shows how to modify the moves to fit your level)

Equipment needed:  stability ball and hand weights

Tonight I chose the warm up and the Core & buns workout.  The warm up went fast.  I loved it.  Not difficult, but definitely got my heart rate up there.

The Core & Buns workout also went by fast.  Denise had me going from weights to ball and floor to standing up.  Lots of movement.  There was only one point when I had a REALLY hard time balancing and I felt like a total goon.  I finally, moved the ball and myself close to a chair so I had some stability.  

Other than my own balance issues, I felt like this workout gave me plenty of moves to strengthen my gluteus maximus and my core.  In fact, I could really feel the workout in my thighs after the dvd was over.  No pain, no gain, right?

I would give this dvd an A.

This is a picture of the part where I could NOT keep my balance and looked like a total fool.

Balance

So, what do you do when you go off plan?  Eat way too much?

This is where I throw in the hat, and say, "Ok, I might as well have some cookies, ice cream, etc... because I've already screwed up."  All or nothing behavior.

Why?  Why does that make any sense at all?

Ever watch a thin person eat?  She may eat a big meal laden with calories.  And then what?  She goes to the gym!

As I see it, being at a healthy weight is all about balance.  When I go off plan, I should balance the off plan activity with either healthier food the rest of the day or add more exercise to balance it out.  Easy to say, but harder to follow.

Why is this so hard to follow?  Well, I have had 40 plus years of creating the habits I have.  Breaking a habit, especially one of that age, is not something that happens over night.  But it IS possible.

It just takes a lot of motivation, desire, and faith.  And don't forget a house full of healthy choices.  It is way easier to stay on plan when healthy choices are abundantly found throughout the house.

So...last night we realized that both kids were out for the evening.  I suggested that we go out to eat.  We ate a favorite Mexican restaurant and I ate a lot of cheesy food.  When we left, I felt stuffed.

I am so proud of what I did when we came home!  Gues what?  I went downstairs and said hello to Trudy Treadmill.  Together, we worked on week 1 day 2 of the couch to 5k plan.  I feel so much better having done that than having taken the other route and gone hog wild with food.  AND...because I exercised, I ended up getting in 4-24 oz bottles of water yesterday.  Whooo hoooo!  That, for me, is an accomplishment.

So, today when I was craving the leftovers of my meal last night my husband told me that we left the leftover box in the car all night and temps in the garage were not cold enough to keep the food safe from bacteria, etc.  So...no leftovers.  Kind of sad about that, but it is probably a good thing!

How are you balancing your life?  Would love to hear from you!

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25 minutes

Thanks to Lakeisha and her inspiring video, I went downstairs and had a date with Barbara Bicycle.  I set Pandora to my Black Eyed Peas station, turned up the volume and started pedaling!

25 minutes and (supposedly) 318 calories later, I feel PROUD of myself for cycling 5.4 miles.  Not only did I exercise, but I also drank 2-24 ounce water bottles of water while doing so!  Yeah me!

I can do 25 minutes every day!  

We Are So Smart!

Thanks Ranita for enlightening me on this new information!  :)

Guest video

Sunshine journal:
-Water instead of doctored up coffee
-Avoided snacking in between meals

Today I am in need of motivation so I have a guest speaker in the form of a video.  I am so proud of what this lady has accomplished!  She is amazing!  Are you ready to take a 100 day challenge?
Woman goes to the gym for 100 days and makes this timelapse video. [VIDEO]

Temptation

Do you ever feel like this?  That was me today.

Choosing healthy over delicious is a VERY tough call!  How do you handle the temptation?  Is it wrong to choose the cake, brownie, chips, (you name it) over the healthy dish?  When is it ok to choose the high calorie/fat/carb dish?

We MUST live on food to live; that is what makes it so hard to make healthy choices.

If I have faith that I can be successful at weight loss, then I can choose the healthy option this time.  Sometimes I tell myself I can have both;  I just have to eat the healthier choice first.  If I tell myself I can't have something, it just makes me crave it more.  If I say I can have it after I make a healthy choice, then I feel empowered.  Mind games like these help me make better choices.  And each time I choose the healthier choice, I am strengthening my resistence muscle, making it easier to choose healthy the next time.

For me, losing weight is a mental game.  Sometimes I do not choose the healthy route.  In fact there are days when I make several unhealthy choices.  Skinny people do this too!  They just don't do it over and over again.

My sister is thin, in great shape, and downright beautiful (both inside and out).  Once a year our parents rent a 4 bedroom/bath cabin for my brother, sister, and my family's vacation.  We don't go out to eat;  we take turns making meals and everybody makes delicious food.  We hang out in the cabin, play cards, listen to music, and eat, eat, eat.  It is a GREAT time.  My sister makes some of the best and fattening food/drinks and she definitely partakes in all that is offered.

How does she say so trim and fit?  She refuses to take home any leftovers because her fridge and pantry are only stocked with healthy food.  She has a gym membership and loves going to kick boxing and spinning classes.  In her basement she has a treadmill and a spinning bike...both items that are used regularly.  The great majority of the time my sister is dedicated to eating healthy and being active and THAT is why she is so physically fit.

I am working to follow my sister's lead.  Today I:

• chose water instead of coffee
• wrote down everything I ate for breakfast

Step by step I am changing my habits.  It took me a lifetime to create these habits so it will take a while to create new, healthier habits.  I have faith that I can do this!

What healthy choices have you made today?

Don't compare!

This is something we need to remember as we are transorming our bodies!  Don't compare to others.  Each of us has our own journey.

:) Carey

Leslie Sansone You Can Do! Abs

Cleaning on New Year's Eve I found 29 fitness dvds...many of which I have never used.  I will say that after purchasing each one, I usually watched it for a little bit.  Yes!  Just watched it.  HA!  Real useful that has been.

Well...since finding the dvds, I organized them and decided that I would TRY each one this year and review it.  So, today is the day for the first dvd review!  :)  Happy Day!

I purchased this dvd at Walmart over 5 years ago.  I am sure it was not more than $10.  

Equipment needed:  stability ball

Level of fitness:  Beginner

Grade:  B (because I think it needs to be more intense to experience results)

I chose this dvd to review first because I actually DID this workout once and remember it being easy.  Since my current level of fitness is out of shape, I thought this would be a good starter dvd.  :)

There are 4 choices of workouts on this dvd.  I chose the core workout which was surprisingly short.  It didn't even feel like 10 minutes.

Let me start out by saying that I really never carried weight around my middle until this past year.  Carrying that extra belly weight has caused a lot of back pain so I am a little hesitant to do any exercises that might hurt my back.  

This is a GREAT starter dvd!  The moves were simple and Leslie Sansone walks you through the moves step by step.  I feel that using the stability ball for the exercises really stretched out my core muscles and actually made me feel better.  I did feel like a big dufus trying to get my balance while doing the leg lifts.  Maybe my core muscles are too out of shape or maybe that is just how it is.  I gave up on the ball and just did the leg lifts on the floor when she switched to the second leg.  

While I was pleased that the workout was finished before I expected it to be, I think that to see results I would need to run through it twice or maybe even three times.

Will I do this again?  YES!  I think I will try it out for a week and see how that goes.  :)

What fitness dvd have you tried this week?  I'd LOVE to see your comments.  :)Carey

Weight Watchers ActiveLink

I have been wearing my Weight Watcher's ActiveLink since the day I got it (almost 2 years ago)!  If you are unfamiliar with the ActiveLink, it is similar to a Fitbit in that you wear it and it tracks your activity.  In my opinion, the ActiveLink is better because it tracks the intensity of your movement and it tells you how many Weight Watchers points you earned through your activity.  It syncs with the Weight Watchers app and shows you charts on your activity by the hour, day, week, month, 6 week period, or year.

Of course, you have to have an online subscription to Weight Watchers for this to work.  I will say, that is why I have kept my subscription going.

Today has not been the best day as far as weight watching goes.  It started out with a good breakfast, a bottle of water, and even my daily multivitamin.  

Because I have faith in my ability to succeed at losing weight, I am going to concentrate on the positives, not the negatives.  So...my post is short today, but I am still working for a more positive me!  :)

Sunshine Journal 1/2/14

• I tracked all my points today!
• I drank 2 (26 oz) water bottles.
• I refrained from after meal snacking.
• I controlled my food intake!