Weekly Update - Breakthrough!

Well looky here!  This morning I showed a great number on the scale and I couldn't be more excited.  I am officially below 150!!!  I had a feeling I'd get some good news this morning because I've been doing some serious running and when I went thrift shopping with my ladies over the weekend (and purchased what the girls were calling a "trophy wife shirt) I was fitting into size 6 pretty consistently.  Remember, I'm only 5'6" so no, I'm not too skinny - I still have a badonk-a-donk booty, thankyouverymuch.  Not to toot my own horn here, but (toot! toot!) I look and feel great. 

People ask me if I'm doing this for my upcoming wedding... sure - I need to fit into my dress, of course, but this is about more than looking good in pictures for one day of my life.  When I hit 30, I will be in the best shape of my life.  That is a goal worth celebrating.

Weekly Update - Halfway There!

Goodbye to two more pounds and an inch off my waist!  I am officially at the halfway mark to my ultimate goal of 30 pounds lost.  This feels great.  Even though my clothes are getting baggy bordering on frumpy, I'm working wonders with belts and safety pins so I don't have to go buy interim clothing.  Thank goodness jackets with asymmetrical button details are in right now.

Yesterday I wasn't able to get any cardio in, but I did have a great weight-lifting workout at lunch.  Today I'll do a 5-mile run on the treadmill.  Running has made all the difference

I'll admit, I haven't really wanted to work out for the past couple days and grudgingly made myself do it anyway, but seeing these numbers in my weight and size has reignited the spark in my workouts.  I can't wait to get to the gym today.  It's amazing what a little victory does to boost my excitement for working out.

Week Two: Sticking With It

I reported last week that I had indeed stuck to my ambitious work-out schedule.  I didn't see any change from last week to the next, weight-wise, but I felt great about staying on it, and making the early morning workouts consistent.

This past week, I was able to pull it off again!

Dance practice was more of a day off than an actual workout, but we were dancing around for three hours, so I can't just leave it off - that's some serious time I put in!

Here's the kicker - I stepped on the scale yesterday and it told me I actually gained a pound!  Booooooo!  I'm confused about this because I don't think I build muscle quite that fast, but I have been feeling leaner.  I'm going to take this in stride, and if I don't see positive results by next week, I'm going to have to take a good hard look at everything else in my life and see what's what.

Did I Make the First Week of My Goal?

I'd taken some time away to play the role of the brand new bride, and though I'd been running pretty regularly, it felt strange not to check in here.  Then, last week I set a goal for myself: for the next month I will work out 6 days a week, and at least two of those days will be double work-out days.  Did I do it?

You're darn right, I did!

I had a cool graphic of a calendar with all my workouts to post, but I apparently can't upload it from this machine on the new blog format.  In the meantime, here's a hastily slapped together text version:

Monday, 9/20:
6:45am - 20 min Step Aerobics
12noon - 4 mi Run
6:00pm - 3 mi Walk

Tuesday, 9/21:
6:45am - 20 min Step Aerobics
5:30pm - 3 mi Run

Wednesday, 9/22:
12noon - 3 mi Walk
5:30pm - 3.5 mi Elliptical

Thursday, 9/23:
6:45am - 25 min Step Aerobics

Friday, 9/24:
6:45am - 25 min Step Aerobics

Saturday, 9/25:
11:00am - 4 mi Run

Sunday, 9/26:
Rest

So to sum it up, I am on track with my personal goal for the week.  Having that burst in the morning has been really valuable.  Especially with my day and evenings being really busy on Thursday and Friday, keeping up with the morning step aerobics helped me stick to the plan.  I'm also grateful that I have invested, piece by piece, in home workout equipment like light-weight free weights, a yoga mat, and generously donated step aerobics benches and a fitness ball.  I feel like I'm more likely to fit something in before work if I can just power it out in my living room.

I'll check back in next week with another update on how well I'm sticking to this plan, and perhaps I'll have some physical results to show for it.

And Now I'm Back.

Hello.  I'm still working out and watching what I eat, just nothing seemed update-worthy as of late.  Namely because I gained back about three pounds and now I'm in a holding pattern.  I think I need to get back to two moderate workouts a day and just force myself to get up early in the morning to make it happen.

I bought my wedding dress today.  It looks great, but I still want to kick that extra 10 lbs before I get fitted for alterations.  I guess that's just double motivation for be to do what I know I need to do.

Running seems to be my thing, so I'm going to go with that as my main exercise still.  I'm also going to start wrapping up half my sandwich (I'm a sucker for sandwiches, especially if they are grilled) and setting it aside for the next day.  I can get by on less, I just love to eat delicious food.  It's all a matter of retraining myself.

My challenge for the next month:  work out 6 days a week, and at least two of those days will be double work-out days.

walkin'

I don't know what the hell I was doing all morning, but it wasn't dishes and it wasn't packing my gym bag.  Finally, at 7:40 this morning when I realized there was no way I was getting out the door on time with everthing I'd planned, I ran frantically around grabbing whatever I could.  Got my shoes, my makeup bag, and a little frozen-lunch-whatever.  It looked like coconut curry quinoa with chicken from what I could tell.

The weather was pretty decent at noon today, so instead of going to the gym like I had planned to if I'd been able to get my act together, I just put on my shoes and struck out down Westlake.  It was a nice little 30 min trip before I dug into my frozen lunch.

Turns out what I thought was quinoa with chicken fir my lunch was actually old frozen potato salad.  Dangit.  Not gonna eat that.  Luckily there's a Whole Foods nearby.  I went and got some cholay chicken over rice and zuke.  It was delicious, but about 45 minutes later I was not feeling so hot.  I'm better now, but I'm wondering if my lunch had anything to do with my upset tummy.  Don't worry - no ralphing.

Anyway, I'm feeling good that I squeaked a walk in today because the rain came back shortly thereafter.

Overall, I'm noticing my body is leaner and firmer.  It's a good feeling.  After watching Biggest Loser last night, I had a dream about having a Jillian-style trainer and I came out with rock-star abs.  My 2010 goal is to get a midsection I'm proud of - something I've never had before.

guess what

I weighed in this morning after eating breakfast, and have struck 167.  Yay and double-yay!  I then did 20 minutes of wii-fit yoga before jumping in the shower.

Anyone else watch Biggest Loser and cry last night?  I sure did.  I love that show.

my initial weigh-in

I'm cringing as I write this.  Admitting the hard facts is... well... hard.  My hope is that it will help me come to terms with my body and more dedicated to fitness and being a size I like.  I haven't truly felt fat in a long time, but I've definitely been in better shape and there's no excuse I can't maintain it.

So my "before" picture is just how they do it in the magazines: unflattering picture in lumpy, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing, bad hair, no make-up.  This will make for a more satisfying transformation later, don't you think?  That being said, it's still cringe-tastic to look at.

Yesterday I started tracking my nutrition and exercise on The Daily Plate, which is also where I got the estimates for my % body fat and BMI.  It's one of the most fantastic fitness sites I've come across.  To be honest, I feel less guilty about the two slices of pizza I had at dinner last night after factoring them in and seeing I still came in under my daily projected calorie allowance (1,637) after my workouts.  It's also kept me from eating the cheesecake that appeared in our breakroom today.  Go me.

My first goal to meet is going to be to lose 15 lbs and get to a size 8.  When that's achieved, I will reset the goal.  This time, I will not give up and get lazy once I'm at my goal.  I need to continue to challenge myself.

Have you been to The Daily Plate?  What do you think of it?