My Why

Wow!  I can't believe it has been a year and a half since I last wrote.  That tells you how long I have been off the bandwagon.

Well, guess what!  I am back on in full force and today I am going to list out my Why's for losing weight.  Here we go:

1.  For my body!  I want to take all that extra stress off my joints so I can ENJOY exercise and everyday movement.

2.  For my health!  The more I weigh, the higher my bmi and that means increased risk for all kinds of health concerns.  No thank you.  I think I'd rather lose the weight.

3.  I want to look GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.  I want that self confidence and love for myself.

4.  I want to be a good role model for my kids.

5.  Swimsuit season.  Need I say more?

6.  Oh to be able to buy the regular sized clothing again instead of the plus!!!!

7.  To RUN a 5k and maybe even a half marathon!  I'd so love to put that 13.1 sticker on my vehicle!

8.  To be able to cross my legs and be comfortable!!

9.  To release some of my stomach rolls!

So...those are my Why's.  What are yours?

Leisure Ride

Super fun bike ride today!!  My friend and I met at the trail head and rode about 9 miles into this little town called Rocheport.  I really don't think the town has more than 1,000 people...although I can always be incorrect.  :)

Anyway...we rode into Rocheport and then stopped at a little restaurant called Abigail's where we had lunch.  We had a delicious ham, bacon, & cheddar panini plus a delicious salad.  So cute and quaint!!  We rode around the town a bit and then headed back home.  Such a GREAT ride!!!  :)

When I ride by myself, I ride for exercise.  We have beautiful trails in Missouri and I really do enjoy riding, but I'm in it for the calorie burn.  So, I try to ride fast and get it done.  I try not to stop because that just means more exercise.  You get the picture...  WELL, add another person to the mix and it is about SOCIAL TIME!!!  :)  The time flies, we take our time, and I enjoy the ride!!  Today was that day.  What a fun time!  Thanks Lesley!!

What a ride!

Today has become a day all about my bikes. Started out fixing the flat on Trixie. Fixed the flat, but struggled to get the tire back on my bike. Set her aside and took Bessie for a ride instead.

About 2 miles into the ride I see a sign that says ROAD CLOSED AHEAD. Thought about turning around, but curiosity kept me pedaling. All of a sudden the trail turned into a mud pit. Seriously, Amy, I thought of you!! By the time I was able to stop (actually I couldn't go any further) my bike was slathered in mud as were my shoes. I struggled to push Bessie out of that pit and she wined and complained and flung mud all over me. Once I got back to gravel we rode together, flinging mud everywhere. Thankful I decided to take my shower AFTER the ride today. 😎

So, my chain took a few miles to be able to shift again, but after a bit, we were ALMOST back to normal riding.  

So, I stopped at a bench to fill up my water bottle. BIG MISTAKE!! Never stop when you are muddy and sweaty and couldn't find your bug spray before the ride. Without exaggeration, I would say 30-50 killer mosquitoes attacked me, hungry for dinner. I was trying as fast as I could to pour water into my bottle and get back on my bike. Those vicious creatures had me screaming and shooing. I was a sight to see I am sure. Now I've got mud, bites and blood all over me.

But, I finished my ride. 17 miles today. TREACHEROUS!

Ride 3 this summer

Summer is here and it is time to get active and enjoy the beautiful trails!  Today marks 48 of my 500 miles I want to bike this summer.  Headed toward Rocheport, starting in McBaine.  This is all in Missouri.  Lots of butterflies and birds flirting with each other.  Trail was a little wet...we had storms last night.  River is really up!  So close to the bridges.  Makes me wonder if it continues to rain if the bridge will be out for a while...

Today's music started with Smokin' in the Boys' Room by Mötley Crüe.  This got my feet pushing the pedals pretty fast.  :)  I listen to such an eclectic mix.  Here are some of the other songs I enjoyed on my 10 mile ride today:  Free by MercyMe, I Alone by Live, Bongo Bong by Manu Chao (found this song on a World Playground CD and absolutely LOVE it!  Just makes me so happy), Overcomer by Mandisa, Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffet and I finished my ride with I'm Not Ashamed by Rough Draft.  It was a GREAT ride!

I will be riding toward Rocheport again Wednesday with my friend Lesley.  I'm looking forward to great exercise and fun social time!  :)  Rocheport has a winery, so we may just finish our ride with a little wine and cheese.  Aint nobody complaining here!  :)

Back on my bike!

So here is my new bike, Trixi Trek.  She is about 15 years old and my new baby!  I got her April 5th and have since taken her 109 miles, all trail riding.  Since last May I have ridden a total of 891 miles between Bessie Bicicleta (my 18 year old Schwinn), Bárbara Bicicleta (my indoor bike), and Trixi. My goal is to reach 1000 miles by the last day of school, May 27th.

I've definitely got my work cut out for me, but it is totally possible.  Last week Saturday Trixi, my brother, my daughter, and my 2 nephews took a 10 mile ride and then I came home and decided to ride 15 more miles.  25 miles in one day is the most I've ever accomplished.  Today I went 16 miles in an hour 6 minutes.  Trixi is definitely pretty speedy.  Looking forward to getting tan and in shape this summer!  :)

Bright Futures

#bfcec2015

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?