Push ups

I was flipping through reading some Spark People articles when I came across this trainer's blog post about doing push ups. Curious, I gave it a try... could I do 10 "real" push ups? I know I can do 50+ girl push ups in 1 minute. But could I do 10 consecutive boy push ups?

The answer is... YES.

I just did them. Good form, even execution. I can do at least 10. I stopped there because, well, I got out of bed to do them and I really wanted to get back in bed where it was warmer and I could continue doing stuff on my computer. But I can do at least 10.

So really, I'd like to be able to do at least 2 sets of 10. Each day. It's easy enough to do, doesn't require any equipment, and doesn't take much time. I used to do them at The Ridge when I went there, so I don't see why I can't incorporate them into my routine again. I could probably get Eliana to do them with me, or at least help me count. And if I'm lucky she'll be nice enough to keep from sitting on my back!

So there's a goal. Incorporate push ups into my daily exercise routine. Work up to 2 sets of 10 push ups daily. I can do that.

Standing in my way

Who is standing in your way?

Imagine someone regularly tying small weights around your ankles as you try to climb a mountain. Doesn't sound fair, does it? But that's exactly what you can do to yourself, a little bit at a time, if you don't watch out. When you think of who and what is standing in the way of your dreams, it's easy to forget your own responsibility. Even the best of us can be guilty of unknowingly hurting our own progress. Procrastination, lateness, being disorganized, pessimism, not being honest with yourself, severe self-criticism, downplaying achievements, focusing only on weaknesses while ignoring strengths, keeping goals a secret, demanding perfection, giving up after a small setback--these are all ways you can make it tough to be (and do) your best. Smart systems, the right attitude, and a promise to keep going no matter what will make a world of difference.

This quote was in my email today, from Spark People. When it comes to weight loss, I am almost always the one standing in my own way! So this year I am going to work to do my best. I'm going to try to keep smart systems in place, have the right attitude, and keep going no matter what!

Something we were withholding made us weak, until we found it was ourselves.

- Robert Frost

Couch to 5K... again.

Well, I ran my first 5K back in July. And now 5 months later, do you know how many times I have run since then? ONCE. That's it. And that was the next day. So... it seems to me that it's time to start in on the great C25K again.

I really do enjoy running, and it really is a good way to exercise. And I can put Eliana in the stroller and run with her if I need to.

So... Monday, January 5th, I am going to get on my treadmill and run. Well, walk/run. I'll start at week 1 and take it one day at a time. And if all goes according to plan, I should be running 3 miles at a shot by March.

I'm hoping to get others from SP to join me, but even if they don't I am still planning to do the program by myself. It's worth it to me. Hopefully it will be worth it to my body. Either way, it ought to get me in better shape so I can enjoy my summer more, too.

And, you know, a little reduction in the muffin top would be nice, too.

She gets what I don't....

I read a blog post by one of the MT Spark Team members today. I think she gets something that I don't. Read on...

__________________________________________________________________

I had my first real struggle with my lifestyle change after being a Spark member for 8 months. Why did it take 8 months to really start struggling? I gained 5 pounds in as many weeks.

I realized that I let too many things get in the way of my workout routine. Instead of telling myself I could spare just 15 minutes every morning, I told myself I had too much to do first but would get to it later. Guess what? Later never happened. I went from walking an average of 5 miles a day to barely walking one mile.

Something else I learned, or actually was reminded of, was the less I exercised the more I wanted to snack. The more I wanted to snack, the less water I wanted to drink. I found myself starting to slip back into old and bad habits. No wonder I gained.

This is a new week and a new beginning. My new year's resolution is to be more consistent with my workouts even if it means I have to get up an hour earlier every mornig. And I started today. Why wait for the new year? There's no better time than right now.

I wish you all a HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2009!

___________________________________________________________________

Here's what I often fail to recognize... choices have consequences. If I don't exercise, I tend to snack more. If I tend to snack more, I don't want to drink as much. Bad choices, bad consequences. It has a domino effect and I often don't recognize that.

Last night I sat down and wrote out what my ideal schedule for a day would be. I'm not convinced that it's perfect yet, because there are things I'd like to do in there that aren't there yet. I just have to figure out how to factor Eliana in without sitting her in front of the TV for the whole time I want to do something without her. So... working on that. But what I realized in making my plan is that if I don't do the exercise first thing in the morning, I won't do it. It just won't happen. And when I don't exercise, well... it all goes downhill from there.

So it looks like I'm not just going to have to add some exercise in and take some calories out. I'm actually going to have to change my schedule (wake up in the morning! Ack!) and change my way of thinking. That will be a BIG challenge for me. I would appreciate any prayer and encouragement you can send my way!

Team Leader...

Once upon a time I joined Spark People. I love Spark People. I can use it to track my calories and my exercise and have some sort of accountability with people encouraging me along the way. When I am using it, it's great! Unfortunately, I get busy and then I don't even get on there for weeks or months. I just sort of disappear until I decide that I'm fat again and go back to tracking on Spark People.

I go through periods of high activity on Spark People, followed by valleys of absence. It's not a good pattern, but it's one that I follow and have followed since I first joined. It's sort of my pattern in life.

Well, during one of those periods of high activity, I was one of the more active members of the Montana Spark Team. It's a message board and I was on it a few times a week. Well... the team leader at the time decided to make me and another person team leaders, too, since we were the most active team members. I found this out after I had already been made a team leader, but it didn't particularly seem important at the time.

Ups and downs, ups and downs... fast forward to a busy fall and subsequent absence from Spark People followed by a desire to lose weight by the end of the year (which didn't happen, by the way). I returned to Spark People in November and signed into the Montana team only to discover that the other two team leaders were gone! So... I don't know how long the team went without a leader (since I was absent), but that left me as the sole leader for the team. Poor team.

Then, in December I got an email from Spark People saying that they are revamping the state teams and that our team (being the bigger of the two Montana teams, by just a few members) would be the official Montana State Spark Team and that all Spark People members who live in MT would now become a part of our Spark Team. The Spark Team that I am leader of!! New changes, lots of new team members....

Suddenly I'm thinking that I'm in WAAAAY over my head. And then I realized that if I work at being a good team leader, I will also feel like I have to be an example. And I will also have to get on Spark People a little more regularly. And perhaps that would be a good thing for me.

So, I'm not working on losing weight right at this moment. I think I need to step back and refocus first. Make a plan. Figure out how to stick to it. And perhaps make it a priority this time, as I think that's where I get fouled up.

Tuesday night at Mary Kay we're talking about goal setting and spending the time making goals for the new year and working out a plan to accomplish those goals. I've already done that for my Mary Kay business, but I need to do it for my personal life and weight loss, so maybe I'll use the time there to do that instead.

I keep saying I need to make a change, and the desire is there, but it boils down to time management. And I haven't really been managing my time at all. I just watch it slip away and at 1am I am kicking myself because I haven't exercised yet. So, make a plan. Make a plan. Make a plan. that's what I'm going to do.

I can't tell you how much I weigh today...

... because I don't know. But I DO know that today...

... I started the day with some fruit and vegetable juice. My daughter was the motivator for that one. I woke up and rolled out of bed and she looked at me and asked, "Are you tired, Mommy?" I said, "Yes, but I'm getting up." "Oh. Are you hungry? Do you want to have some... carrot juice?" And that prompted me to start my day off with some fresh juice. Turns out that's a good way to start off if you want to have a good day.

... I recorded my calories today. And I'm on track. I did have a piece of cake at Meg's today, but it was a small one and I recorded the calories and cut back on my bread at dinner accordingly.

... I am emotional. I don't know what my deal is (okay, so I have a pretty good guess it's the same thing it is every month, stupid hormones!) but I just feel like I'm an emotional pendulum. Up and down, side to side... no fun. But I have kept my eating under control and that has helped, because I haven't added the fat cow feeling to my down moments. =D

... I am not going to exercise, because quite honestly my chest is too sore to tolerate such abuse. If I get really ambitious I might walk, but I want to get the kitchen and dining room cleaned up first, because...

... I am going to go to bed with a clean kitchen an dining room. My house has been messy off and on for far too long and it's time for a good long clean streak.

... I am making good progress on my goal of drinking 64 oz of water today. 3 more cups (24 oz) to go, and most of those, I am fairly sure, will be filled with peppermint tea on this snowy day.

Well....

*I weighed in. 122. Ugh. Up another lb.
*I didn't record my calories, though I started out the day fine. Snacking throughout the day did me in. Again, Ugh.
*I did my devotions. Hooray!
*I am making a dent in my to-do list. Hooray!
*I didn't juice today because I was in a hurry to get out the door for Bible Study. Sigh.
*I haven't exercised yet, but I am determined to before I go to bed tonight!

Right now I'm working on the DISHES part of the to-do list. I've got some stuff to hand wash and more than one load for the dishwasher. That's going to take a little doing, but hopefully Leif will be done running by the time I get done and I can get on the treadmill. Otherwise I'll DDR it.

Tomorrow....

It's a little late for today, but TOMORROW I will...

... Weigh in
... Juice
... Record my calories
... Do my devotions
... Exercise
... Make a dent in my to-do list

I have been slacking and it's GOING TO STOP. It's time for a change.

Yeah.....

... it's not going so well. Not eating well, not exercising regularly... up 2 lbs. So much for the 2 lbs I was down last time I posted! 3 weeks and 6 lbs to go... ugh. I need to get my booty into gear, I guess.

Down 2 Lbs!

I weighed in at 119 today!! That's 3 lbs down from a week ago. Hooray!!! I'm pretty excited to be out of the 120's and now I have 4 lbs to lose in the next 5 weeks!

4 lbs = 14000 calories
14000/5 = 2800 calories per week
2800/7 = 400 calories per day
I will burn 150 calories through exercise each day.
400-150 = 250 calories less to eat
I burn 1600 calories a day just by living my sedentary lifestyle.
1600 - 250 = 1350 calories I need to consume per day.

And in reverse....

So... does the reverse math work?
1600+150 = 1750 calories burned in a day
1750-1350 = 400 calories lost each day
I need to lose 400 calories per day to lose the weight by my goal, so yes, it works! Hooray! I love it when math works.

So now I only need to burn 150 calories a day through exercise, which is much easier to maintain! And if I burn more, then I'll just lose it quicker, but I'm not tied to 350 calorie exercise a day. That's wonderful!

Feeling yucky...

Yesterday I felt pretty yucky after my flu shot. So, unfortunately, I didn't get any exercise in. But I didn't get all my calories in, either, so it's probably a wash. I'm feeling better today, so things should be back to normal!

MUFA

So... the MUFA post. I really thought I already wrote one, but I can't find it, so maybe it was just in my head!!

MUFA stands for MonoUnsaturated FAts. Supposedly "good" fats. The rumor is that if you eat a MUFA rich food with every meal (at least 4 each day) it will somehow magically help take the fat off your midsection. I'm skeptical about it, but it really can't hurt I guess. I'm still keeping my calorie levels the same, I'm just making sure to have a MUFA with every meal or snack. There are 5 sources of MUFA:

1. Avocado
2. Nuts and Seeds
3. Dark Chocolate
4. Vegetable Oils
5. Olives

I'm not big on avocado, but it's pretty easy for me to incorporate olives, chocolate chips, nuts, and olive oil into my diet. They're higher calorie foods, so you do have to compensate for them, but for me that pretty much means I just need to eat more vegetables. Not a bad thing!

So that's the scoop on MUFA. I'm giving it a try. Like I said, I'm skeptical (perhaps I should measure my midsection now and 6 weeks from now, as well as other areas to compare?) but so far (in the 2 days I've been doing this) I have noticed that when I eat a MUFA with every meal, the meal tends to stay with me longer and I'm not as hungry as soon. So, if nothing else, it's good for staying power.

I'll keep you updated on how the MUFA diet goes, but that's at least a general overview and enough to keep you in the know of what I mean by MUFA!

Back on track!

Well, I didn't do much today. I was pretty lazy, as I didn't leave the house until late this afternoon when we went to get our flu shots. I went to dinner at Mackenzie River with a friend and by the time I left the house at 6:15 for that I hadn't done any exercise or anything. We got the thin crust Thai Pie pizza and each had a salad. I love their salad! I was good and only put about 1 T. of dressing on (though I counted it as 2 on SP just in case it was more - kind of hard to judge when you're pouring out of a little cup) even though I absolutely LOVE their dressing. Then I ate two slices of pizza. I counted it as 2 medium slices of Pizza Hut thin crust pepperoni, and I think that's fair. Pepperoni is usually some of the fattiest pizza you can get, especially from Pizza Hut, so that's what I usually count pizza as on SP. It was a great dinner out and time with a friend (without kids!) and it's so nice to be able to do that without eating a ton of calories!

So because I didn't exercise before dinner, I knew I'd have to after dinner. I couldn't go two days in a row without exercise!!! Especially not my first week back to exercising and calorie counting! So I put on a movie from hulu.com (Bring it On - a cheerleading movie with peppy music. Peppy music is always good when you're exercising!) and I got on the treadmill and walked at 3.4 mph and an incline of 3-5 for most of the movie. I walked for 90 minutes and finally got off to watch the last 15 minutes of the movie in a chair. =D I figure that was PLENTY of walking. I ended up burning 675 calories in that time, too, so I guess I got my 350 in for today! Made up for yesterday, too!

I don't know what tomorrow holds. We'll have to see how Ellie is doing with her flu shot. Last year she was pretty miserable the day after. If she's that way tomorrow we'll stay home. Otherwise we'll go to playgroup!!

Pretty sure I went over my calories tonight....

I didn't mean to, but I think I did. By maybe a hundred calories or two. Nothing too terrible, but it's 10:00 and I haven't exercised yet.

We went to Over the Tapas for dinner and split an entree and two sides. Well, we split one side, I ate one side, and Leif ate the entree (the teeny tiny entree!). He wasn't a big fan of the creamy potatoes, which I love, but I was expecting to eat only half of them when I ordered them. Instead I ended up eating a whole bowl of the cream laden potatoes, which is where a lot of my calories for the night went. Ack! I went into dinner having 900 calories or so to spare, and I guess it wasn't enough! Sigh. But it's okay. We had a GREAT night out and I got some MUFA in with my dinner. (Have I posted on MUFA yet? If not, that sentence probably sounded naughtier than it was intended, LOL!) If I haven't written a MUFA post yet, I will. I'm giving it a try. But that's beside the point.

Maybe tomorrow I'll try to get some extra exercise in. If I get myself organized I can put Ellie in the stroller and walk over to Bible study. That will be something, at least.

Oh, we did walk around downtown (we parked at Over the Tapas, ate, then walked down to T. Charbonneau's and back the other direction to the Co-op, then back to our car, so however far that is...) so I think that should count as exercise for the evening. =D Maybe I'll still do some DDR if Leif will play with me, but we're both pretty beat, so I don't know. And it IS 10:30 at night already... maybe I'll just go to bed.

Date Night

Tonight we are going out on a date. I don't know where we're going, so it's hard to plan my calories. But I will be in town for a good portion of the morning and early afternoon, so I'm hoping that will make it easier for me to conserve calories. But I'm going to pack myself a bento and take it with me so I don't have to eat while I'm in town and that should help.

The hard part may be getting exercise (that doesn't use my already sore muscles!!) in today, but I'm going to do my best!

Oh, and I'm down a lb today! Hooooray!! 121 it is!

Wiiiiii!

I did housework pretty much ALL day today. I don't know if that counts as exercise or not, but I'm sure I burned more calories than sitting on my bum all day! We had a girls' night tonight, so I saved up my dinner calories and decided to eat dinner there. Because 3 of the 4 of us are working on losing weight (before our 30th, 40th, and 50th birthdays this year!) most of the food was healthy. That made it a little easier tonight! It also was good that I went into the evening with about 650 calories to spare... =D

Because I hadn't done any real exercise today and I didn't think I'd have the energy to once I got home (you know how it goes...) I decided to head downstairs and play some DDR on the Wii quickly to see how many calories I could knock out in the 25 or so minutes I had to spare before I needed to leave. I got about 215 burned, which meant I only had to burn 150 when I came home. Hooray! When I got home Leif was in the hot tub, so I changed and joined him for a bit, relaxing in the warm water and talking. Then he suggested we go play DDR, so I took the opportunity to burn those last calories of the day and maintain my goal. Little did I know that we would have so much fun and play for so long.... I ended up burning a total of 550 calories playing DDR today!!

Hopefully that will encourage the scale to move!!

Fleeting moderation

I'm struggling with moderation today. Just a little here and a little there... but it all eats up calories!! I'm going to a girls' night tonight, so I might just skip dinner until I get there. I don't remember if we're having real dinner food or not, but there will be calories there for sure! I'm bringing yummy hot chocolate fixins, and I'd hate not to be able to enjoy them just because I couldn't resist eating a handful of sprinkles earlier in the day!

So... I've got 2 hours to get through without indulging before I go tonight. I need help!

(and really, I should be exercising for a good portion of one of those hours!)

Treadmill time...

Just walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes and burned 365 calories. I've got just under 300 calories left to consume today. And right now? I'm pretty tired... I think I'll make some Christmas cards, drink some hot chocolate, watch a show, clean the kitchen, then go to bed and actually get 8 hours of sleep. It'll be good.

Rethinking the numbers....

Given the new goal of 7 lbs in 6 weeks, it occurs to me that I might need to rethink my numbers. So here it goes...

7 lbs = 24500 calories
24500/6 = 4083 calories per week
4083/7 = 583 calories per day
I will burn 350 calories through exercise each day.
583-350 = 233 calories less to eat
I burn 1600 calories a day just by living my sedentary lifestyle.
1600 - 233 = 1367 calories I need to consume per day.

Interestingly, 1350 calories is my basal metabolic rate, which sort of makes sense. So.... I think I will aim to keep doing the exercise and just eat a little more to keep my body going and still lose at the rate that I want to. According to the numbers, it should still work. =D

So... does the reverse math work?
1600+350 = 1950 calories burned in a day
1950-1350 = 600 calories lost each day
I need to lose 583 calories per day to lose the weight by my goal, so yes, it works! Hooray! I love it when math works.

So the new goal is to lose 7 lbs in 6 weeks by exercising to burn 350 calories a day and consuming 1350 calories. That sound MUCH better!

It has started...

Last night after I wrote out my new goal I decided that it had to start THEN, not sometime in the future. So... I got up and exercised!! I burned 400 calories playing DDR on the Wii for 40 minutes. It is really quite a good way to get some exercise in!

I've been counting calories for a few days now and starting to exercise, so I decided to weigh myself this morning... and I'm at 122! I know it could be standard weight fluctuation, but it's still encouraging to see myself down 2 lbs.... it makes my holiday goal a little more manageable! Now I need to lose 7 lbs in 6 weeks!

A goal!

Okay... here it goes.... I'm going to set a new goal for myself. I know we're getting into the holidays and that's typically a hard time to lose weight, but if I'm going to lose this weight that I've gained I can't wait until after the holidays! I can't keep making excuses, and I can't postpone making changes just because I'm afraid it will be difficult. The truth is... it WILL be difficult! If it were easy to lose the weight, it wouldn't be here!

So I'd really like to see myself back down to 115 by the end of the year. That gives me 6 weeks to lose 9 lbs! It'll be a challenge, but I think I can do it... So, in my typical fashion, here are some numbers to help me think through this goal of mine....

To lose 9 lbs, I need to rid myself of 31,500 calories.
To do it in 6 weeks I need to rid myself of 5,250 calories per week.
That translates to 750 calories per day.
According to this calculator, my basal metabolic rate is 1342 (1350 for easy calculations)
If I eat 1100-1200 calories a day, that means I automatically lose 150-250 calories per day.
So... I need to burn 500-600 calories a day through activity or exercise.
According to the Harris Benedict Equation, calculating for a sedentary lifestyle, I should burn about 1610 (1600 for easy calculations) per day. Through my daily activity, then, I automatically lose 400-500 calories.
So... calculating conservatively (assuming I eat closer to 1200 calories than 1100) I need to burn 350 calories through exercise every day.

I should be able to do that.

Whew! This is going to take some diligence and effort. I am going to have to exercise EVERY DAY. Even weekends. And I am going to have to burn at least 350 calories every time I exercise.

This is going to be a challenge for me.

Finding the balance

I'm on day 3 of calorie tracking. So far so good, I think. I'm staying in my calorie range and the first two days, which are always the hardest, are over. Thankfully I kept busy with Erika Grinder (scrapping on Thursday and canning yesterday) so I wasn't even tempted to snack. Today I'm home all day, so I will have to be on my guard a little more...

So I'm getting back into the groove of calorie counting. Now I just have to find the balance... the balance of fitting it into my day and not getting sucked into the computer just because I'm entering food into SparkPeople. The balance of getting all the nutrients I need, without too much fat. The balance of feeding my family the food they need while keeping my own dietary goals in mind. So now it's about finding the balance, I guess, and that's what I need to work on.

Moderation is not my strong point.

If it's not the 3 glasses of eggnog in an afternoon (at 440 calories per glass!!) it's the other end of the spectrum with a dearth of calories....

I started calorie counting today. I think I might have hit bottom when I got on the scale and saw it up 10 lbs from what I was just a few months ago! So discouraging! But today I did something about it, and it didn't include comfort food!

I started calorie counting today. And I'd forgotten how hard it was to count calories! Not so hard to do the counting, as how hungry I got when I wasn't shoving food into my face every time I felt like it. I was away from home for most of the day, but I limited my beverage consumption to water and coffee (which is calorie free if I drink it black - and I did!) and so I wasn't snacking all the time like I would have been at home. That was a lifesaver! But I got home and entered everything into Spark People and learned that even after calculating my dinner calories (leftover tortilla soup - and I skipped the cheese on it) I was still only at 500 some calories for the day! Sigh... moderation is not my strong point. If I'm not over eating, I'm under eating. Will I ever learn?

The good news is that I'm now up to 850 calories, so maybe I have a little room for a snack later on. I did drink some full sugar pop with dinner, but I limited it to 8 oz, and I don't feel badly about the calories given the rest of my caloric dearth of a day.

So... 300 or so calories to go tonight. That's not too bad, and I will eat them. I also have 32 oz of water to drink still and something else from the fruit and veggie family to consume. I'm making apple butter tonight (because we're canning tomorrow!) so maybe I'll eat an apple.

Anyway, I'm back on the wagon. It's been too long and too many lbs and now I have 20 lbs to lose instead of 10. So... off to change some habits again and see where that gets me.

Struggling...

... both with weight AND motivation. I stink at losing weight this time of year. I am all about comfort food. And I'm up another lb today. Grrr.

It probably won't help, either, that I've had both ice cream AND a few oreos today. I guess the good news is that the oreos are gone, so I won't be eating may more of them. There were only about 5 there anyway, but I'm grumpy at myself for eating them.

We're having chicken tortilla soup for dinner tonight, so at least that's not terrible for me. But it's a rainy, dreary day, and that always makes me less motivated to exercise.

On the plus side, I did play DDR with my mom a couple nights last week, so that has given me a taste for it again. Hopefully that will encourage me to get down there and do it some by myself! I'd forgotten how fun it was!

yeek!

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten on the scale.... I'm up to 122! Perhaps I should give up my hot chocolate laced with heavy whipping cream with breakfast in the mornings....

.... or maybe I should just get off my booty and do some exercise!

I meant to weigh myself today.

Really, I did. But it didn't happen.

Sigh.

From SparkPeople

I just got this email in my inbox and it's got some things I need to remember, so I figured I'd share...

Squeezing in Exercise

Do you feel more like a chauffeur than a parent? We all know that exercise is important for us to stay healthy, but between cooking, cleaning up, budgeting, homework help, and--oh, yeah--sleep, who has the time?

Next time you feel too busy to exercise, try squeezing it in to your schedule with these tips:

During Drive Time
Try some isometric exercises: Squeeze your glutes, contract your abs, and work your calves by raising your legs up on your toes at red lights. Park far from your destination so you have to walk farther. Arrive early to your event, if possible, to allow time for a brisk walk.

At Programs, Practices, and Games
Walk around the facility before or after the event; look for chances to combine a class or activity with those of your children. For example, take aerobics while your daughter has basketball practice at the YMCA.

While Keeping House
Shop at big stores where there'll be lots of walking; do meal prep and cleanup with a little music and dancing. Clean to music, and shun some of your labor saving devices (like remotes). When doing yard work, keep moving! Use your leg and glute muscles (instead of your back) to shovel, rake, move dirt, etc.

When doing laundry, do squats to pick up unfolded laundry from the basket, and take fitness breaks during homework time, such as stretching or jumping rope for a few minutes. (Your kids will love it too!) Become your dog's best friend--most dogs are always ready to boogie!

For Play Dates
Keep in mind the old adage that children live what they learn. If you don't want your kids to be couch potatoes, be a good example. Walk to the library for story hour; plan regular play times at the park or pool; when snow keeps you home, go play in it. By making physical activity fun, you'll lay the foundation for your kids to have healthy, active lives. What's more, you'll rediscover that activity can be fun--not just another item to check off your grown-up list!

I know that I already know this stuff, but sometimes it is just so hard to remember! I feel like I need to schedule it in, but sometimes I just need to squeeze it in even if my schedule doesn't "allow" for it. Exercise is important, and I need to make it a priority.

Need to get back on track...

... but I've been so busy lately it's just been too difficult for me to even think about counting calories, exercising, or anything like that.

Still, I need to make it a priority. Ask me in a week how making it a priority is going....

Tortilla Soup

That's what we had for dinner tonight. It was really good! Especially since I didn't use a recipe! (I was really hoping it would turn out...) I made it in the crock pot, too, so it took minimal effort. I love that! Here's basically what I did...

1 can of cream of chicken soup (I might use a second next time, or a bigger can)
1 can of corn (I would use two next time)
1 can of black beans (I would use two next time)
2 or more banana peppers, chopped (you could also use a can of green chilies)
1 packet taco seasoning

I put all that in the crock pot on low all day. Then I spooned it into bowls, added a handful of tortilla chips, about 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar, and a dollop of sour cream. It was good!! Even Ellie ate it, which is saying something!

Cube Steak with Feta

It sounds gross. It really does. But.... it was really good!

I ordered the menu mailer a while back and haven't really used it since my subscription expired. I got a year's worth of recipes (including nutritional information) and I printed them all out and put them in a binder. Some of the recipes I liked, and some I am just too lazy to make. But this one was easy. I didn't follow it exactly, but here's what I did...

I seasoned two cube steaks with paprika (both sides) and pan fried them in some garlic oil. Then, when they were cooked through, I pulled them off the heat, sprinkled feta over the top, and put the lid on the pan to keep the heat in while the feta melted.

Like I said, it sounds gross, but it was pretty good. I'm glad, too, because I'm sure there's another couple cube steaks in our freezer from the portion of a cow we purchased a couple months ago.

As a side dish I made mashed sweet potatoes. I wanted regular mashed potatoes, but we didn't have any white potatoes and we DID have 2 sweet potatoes that were going to go bad if I didn't use them soon. Not a bad side! I did put butter and salt on mine (as I would have done with a regular potato, though perhaps not as much since these had their own flavor already) and it was good! Full of vitamins, too, which is always good.

So that was our dinner tonight. We followed it up with some hot chocolate, which was just perfect for a cool fall evening. Yum!

Dinner Tonight....

From the Body-Clutter Menu Mailer we're having Cube Steaks with Bleu Cheese. Except that I'm substituting Feta for the bleu cheese. Quick, easy, and relatively healthy. And it uses ingredients I already have on hand and thawed.

One day at a time....

Self control?

Pretty much gone this week. And that's a sign I need to deal with more than just my eating. It's a sign that I've already lost all the self control in the other areas of my life.

Stink.

I hate it when that happens.

So I'm back to trying to stay on top of things. Prioritizing. Making lists. Using a timer. Flylady. Menu planning. Eating right.

I haven't gained that much weight, but my weight has gone up in the past week. I've been binge comfort food eating. And that usually means I'm at the bottom. So... it's time for a change. It's time to head back up!

eeeeEEEEEK!

That's an excited squeal. Because when I weighed this morning I was at 114.6!! That's under 115!! That's a new low number for me!!! =D

I still haven't decided on my "content" weight. I am happy at 115, but I think it's the upper end of where I'm happy, so I will still work toward 110 so I have a little wiggle room in my contentment window. =D Because right now I am not happy with my weight if I gain 2 lbs, which is easy to do in daily weight fluctuations. If I fluctuated between 110 and 112 I'd still be happy, where I'm not between 115 and 117, so I think I'll still aim for 110, at least right now. But I'm not going to pursue it like I have in the past, with counting every calorie, etc. I'm going to work on my moderation and making healthy choices.

Contentment?

I have a number in my head, a goal that I have been working toward. That number is 110, about 5 lbs from where I am now. And yet I can't seem to get past 115, nor can I seem to find the motivation to get past 115. And so it makes my wonder why.

Is it because I am content at 115?

I admit that I am happy with how I look at this weight. It is within the healthy range for my height and frame, and I feel attractive. So why isn't this my goal weight?

I think a large part of it is because I want to "one-up" a friend from college who is at 115 and happy there. I want to beat her weight, just to prove that I can. I was always just a tad smaller than her in college and I want to be there again. Somehow I feel that that will "redeem" me for being overweight the last 7 years. She made a comment once that hurt and stuck with me, and I just want to prove that I'm not the "big" one of the group any longer. But I don't think that's a healthy reason for wanting to get down to 110. Something I need to deal with? Yes. Something I need to use as motivation for weight loss? No.

Part of my reason for wanting to be 110 is because it is one step closer to the weight I was when I got married. If I can get down to 110 I can get down to 105, and that's what I weighed when I wore my beautiful wedding dress. I would love to get down to that size again!

Part of my reason, too, is that I feel like I ought to be the "ideal" weight for my height and frame, according to the doctor's charts. And for 5 feet tall, small frame, that is 100 lbs. So I just keep setting my goal 5 lbs lower each time I reach it in hopes that someday I will be down to 100 lbs again. Then I would be not just average, but small. And oh, I do miss being small!

So I guess what I need to figure out is if I really need to strive to be smaller, or if I should simply strive for daily moderation and healthy living and be content with my weight and size. I guess I need to rethink my reasons behind wanting to lose weight and make sure that they are honorable and right. At what point do I start trying to maintain my weight instead of lose it?

New Plan...

... perhaps....

I have a fear that if I start a new plan and get my hopes up for losing weight by my birthday that I will have a huge gain tomorrow and my hopes will be dashed, just like they were last time. It always seems to work out that way at least...

But here's what I'm thinking. Tomorrow is September 1, which leaves me 21 days until my birthday. 3 weeks. I need to lose 5 lbs in those 3 weeks to make it to 110. I should be able to do it, technically, if I make a plan and stick to it.

So what's the plan? Well, I don't know. But it should involve some exercise, some water, some culinary moderation, and some housework. So I should probably put it into action right now and get on with the housework. And drink some water. That would be a good place to start.

Magic?

Somehow I weigh 115.8 today. Could it be... magic? Pretty sure it isn't my plan of action for Labor Day weekend because, well, I don't have one. =D But this is certainly encouraging me to make good decisions! Of course, Leif took the camera with him hiking today, so I don't have a picture of the scale, but you'll have to take my word (and giddy glee!) for it and believe that it is true. =D

Comfort Food

With the dreary weather today I really wanted comfort food for dinner. I also wanted something quick and easy, so I tried a new twist on an old favorite:

GRILLED CHEESE AND TOMATO SOUP

I love the combination of these two foods! Very comforting and very filling! And the twist is that I used the grilled cheese recipe from Deceptively Delicious. Which means my grilled "cheese" was more like 2 parts sweet potato puree and one part cheese. Much healthier! And to make it even better I added 1/2 C. carrot puree to our tomato soup (and some fresh basil from the garden) so our dinner was both vegetable heavy AND comfort food!! And it turned out really good!

116.8 Today...

... and that's progress from 117.8 yesterday, so I'll take it!!

Still not doing terribly well with eating, exercising, or drinking water, but my attitude is at least better and I'm not feeling like a fat cow any longer. Hurrah!

And at least I knew I WASN'T a fat cow, even when I felt like one, and that's an improvement from what it would have been a few years ago, so I'll just call it improvement all around!

117.8

That's where I was this morning. I've been having a hard time remembering to weigh myself, which is probably just as good since I know I haven't been eating well or exercising. In fact, I'm drinking a coke right now even though I know I shouldn't be. I should be drinking water. But I'm not.

The good news is that I AM getting some cleaning done in my craft room. =D That is always a good thing!!

Fat Cow.

That's pretty much what I've been feeling like this week. I'm frustrated with the weight loss, and, unfortunately, that means I've been having a hard time controlling the urge to eat, which just furthers the fat cow feeling. Add to that the fact that I have had no control over a lot of our meals this week (eating out, eating at friends' houses, baby shower providing dinner, etc.) and it has not been good. I haven't had water in who knows how long, and we've been out of diet pop, so I've been drinking regular. Not good. I hate this feeling.

Forgot the photo....

I forgot to photograph my weight this morning, but I suppose all is well that I didn't... it went the wrong way. I don't even remember the exact weight, but it was 117 something. Up a lb from last week! I've been trying to get my water in, but things haven't been moving along as they should, so that could contribute to the weight gain. In any event, this is the first week I have not met or exceeded my goal, so I'm not too discouraged. I will just keep at it and hope to see the scale move down again. I'm hoping to jump right past this plateau point, but it doesn't seem to be happening that way!!

Today is hard for calorie counting because we're eating dinner at a friend's house and I don't have a clue what we're having. It's sure to be delicious, but I'm afraid it might be pretty caloric as well, so I'll just have to try to eat moderately and make sure I get plenty of water in so I feel full. Most of what I've eaten today (with the exception of some yogurt for breakfast) is fruit and veggie, so I think I'm doing okay. But we'll see.

I went for a little walk/hike today with the mom and me group (this week it was Tracee and Beth who came with) so that gets a little exercise in. Mostly, though, I am still working on organizing and cleaning the house and that means spending most of my day standing, squatting, or moving around. So I think I'm doing fine on my 200 calories burned a day goal.

So far so good...

Well, I'm doing okay on calories for today. I still have about 150-200 calories to eat today, which means I can have a good snack this evening while I'm up late watching the Olympics and cleaning/organizing. I'm also just about done with my water for the day, so that's good. And I didn't get a walk in today, but we DID go for a 30 minute family bike ride tonight, complete with hills to climb! It's the first real workout (aside from hikes, I guess) in a while. My legs were tired, but it feels good to get some exercise in.

Okay... back to cleaning the kitchen / organizing the pantry. Because I really don't care about men's volleyball.

Rebellion...

Yesterday I rebelled. Completely. Totally. Ate whatever I wanted to. And today the scale shows it. Ugh. I did get my 2 liters of water in, and I didn't rebel until dinner, but then I had way too much to eat and I didn't care. Today I care.

So... today I've got to be better. I'm not anywhere close to my goal for Monday (somewhere in the 115 range, but I don't think it's going to happen) and I'm bummed about that, because this is where I always stall!

So if you think of it, pray for me today. I need motivation, consistency, and energy. I should throw myself into some projects (which is often difficult with Ellie around!) and just work hard to burn off some calories. There might be a trip to the splash park today, and I really should squeeze a walk in. I really wanted to go for a family bike ride this morning, but it appears that Leif went without us. I was really looking forward to it, too, but I don't have a bike of my own, so without him I can't ride the tandem. And I highly doubt he'll want to go for another ride today after he does a long ride this morning. So I'll settle for housework exercise and maybe a walk.

Water helps...

Well, I didn't eat myself out of house and home. In fact, I am still within my calorie range for the day. Drinking water this afternoon/evening helped. And I'm drinking water this evening because I'm out of calories for the day. Still, though, I'm happy not to have completely gone overboard. I'm getting so very close to my 115 stall point and I don't want to plateau here! I really want to bust past it, so I'm going to keep myself strong and stick to my calories.

And I've been doing housework most of today (catching up on the loads and loads of laundry from camping and scrubbing (hands and knees scrubbing!) the bathroom floor and doing a few loads of dishes) so that should help in the exercise department.

Tomorrow is another day and I'm hoping I can finish the laundry and dishes projects tonight so that I can tackle some basement reorganization tomorrow!

One of those days....

Do you ever have a day where you're just SO HUNGRY you want to eat everything in sight?? Well, today is one of those days for me. I've had plenty of calories, so I shouldn't be hungry, but I am. Stomach growly kind of hungry. I'm trying to distract myself by doing other things (going through receipts and recording expenses, laundry, playing outside with Ellie...) but I am SO HUNGRY!

I'm going to go drink a liter of water and see if that makes things any better.

Zucchini Bread...

Tonight I decided to make some zucchini bread since I had a few zucchini laying about that were going to go bad if I didn't do something with them! I found a recipe online, then tweaked it so it would be lower calorie and lower fat... And it turned out pretty good! So here is my low calorie, low fat version for zucchini bread...

Ingredients

5 egg whites 1 C. sugar 1 C. Splenda 1 C. unsweetened applesauce 1 tsp. vanilla 3 C. grated zucchini 1 C. whole wheat flour 1 C. all purpose flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp. salt 2 Tbsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Directions

Combine eggs, sugar, Splenda, applesauce, and vanilla in bowl. Add zucchini and mix well. Sift together dry ingredients and add a little at a time, mixing together as you go.
Pour into two loaf pans and bake at 325 for an hour or until a knife inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
Makes 24 slices, 12 slices from each loaf. Freezes well.

Click the link to see the nutrition information, but it's basically 85 calories a slice (not bad for sweet bread!), no fat, and 1.5 g. fiber. Rounds out to 1 WW point, and it makes a yummy breakfast! I made two loaves and froze one, and Leif has all but finished off a loaf already! I had two slices, but it's good to see him enjoying it so much!

Another week down...

I made it through my camping trip without gaining weight! Hooray!! I even lost weight and made my goal again this week! I needed to get down to 116.4 and last night I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but today here I am at 116.0!!

Now to get back on track drinking water, counting calories, exercising, and all that good stuff.

Home again, home again...

Well, we ended up extending our camping trip an extra day, so here it is Sunday night and we just got home! The trip was good. Hard to count calories, didn't get nearly enough water I'm sure, but overall I tried to be moderate and we even got a little hike or two in. And some kayaking, but Ellie was in my boat and ended up falling asleep on my arm (rendering me unable to paddle!) so Leif had to tow us around the lake instead. Guess I can't count that as a workout, huh? But it was good.

I weighed myself this evening when we came home. End of the day, but I figured I'd give it a go so I had some idea of what to expect tomorrow. The scale said 117.4, so we'll see if it goes down in the morning! That would be great! I would still love to see something in the 116 range, but we'll have to take it as it comes. I'm home again, so calorie counting should be a little easier.

Camping....

Back down to 118.0 today, but I didn't have enough water again yesterday. I don't know why I struggle with it so, but I do.

We're going camping for the next two nights, which means camping food. I tried not to pack anything too bad, but it's hard to measure portions, and we end up doing a lot of pasta between mac and cheese and noodles with parmesan sauce... I'm going to try to make it through the trip without eating too much, but I won't be recording either (no internet! will I survive?? LOL!) so it's just up to my internal moderator, which seems to be broken most of the time. So you can pray for me! It's supposed to be hot, and we're bringing the kayaks, so I'm hoping we get to kayak a fair bit around the lake. It's not a lot of exercise, but it is something, and it will work my abs and upper body which don't get a lot of exercise usually, so it'll be a nice change.

So... I'll be absent for a few days, and we'll see what the scale says when I return. Hopefully I will be down to at least 116.8 so I don't have as far to go to meet my Monday goal of 116.4! I just need to drink LOTS of water!

Not so good today...

I didn't get enough water in yesterday, so today I was up to 118.4. I guess I need more water! It's discouraging to gain that much weight just because I drank 1 liter instead of 2. Back to the grindstone!

Weight Loss Schedule...

Weight loss schedule:
7/29 - 120.8
8/4 - 119.4 (made it to 117.4!!)
8/11 - 116.4
8/18 - 115.4
8/25 - 114.4
9/1 - 113.4
9/8 - 112.4
9/15 - 111.4
9/21 - 110.4

I need to lose a lb a week to make it to 110 by my birthday. This is the updated schedule...

Impromptu Barbecue!

That's what we had tonight! Right after my last post Leif asked if he could invite people over for barbecue. I said sure! It was 5:00 and I was pretty sure the other people would already have started dinner, but they hadn't! So he told me about 15 minutes later that we were having the Taylors and the Richters over for dinner at 6! I jumped in the shower, cleaned the house, and cut up some tomatoes for the burgers before they arrived. They provided the salad and desserts, we provided the burgers and fruit, and we had a great evening of it! Really we should do stuff like this more often - it was really fun!

Now I have to figure up my calories for the day, but I'm not worried after today's hike! My biggest thing is getting enough water in. I still need to drink more today!

A HIKE!

Forgot to weigh this morning, because we were all in a rush to eat breakfast and head out for the day. Oops.

But the good news is that Leif is on vacation starting today and to celebrate we went on a family hike!! We were out the door by 8:30 and we headed up to Lava Lake. Ellie started out walking pretty well, but then before we even reached the Lee Metcalf Wilderness boundary she was in the backpack.

On my back.

She fell asleep in there and didn't wake up until we were a few turns into the switchbacks, at which point I had her get out of the pack and walk again because she is heavy!! And between her walking and my walking carrying her, it took us a long time to get to the top. 3.5 hours! I'm not sure it's ever taken us that long before, but at least I got my exercise carrying a 30 lb pack!! SparkPeople seems to think that carrying a 10-20 lb pack for 3.5 hours should burn over 1000 calories. I think that's an overestimate (they actually say 1400 calories!), but I know I burned more than my requisite 200 for the day!!

On the way down I had Leif carry her and I carried the pack with the water, food, and camera gear. It was still over 10 lbs, but much lighter than she is!

So that was my day. We just got home around 4:30 and it practically took us the whole day to do Lava Lake. 3.5 hours up. 2 hours down. An hour at the top relaxing by the lake. Oh, and we picked a bunch of wild huckleberries on the way down. They were delicious!

Now... what are we having for dinner? I guess I should figure that out...

Weigh In

Well, I'm down to 117.4 this morning. It's actually up .2 from yesterday morning, but I'll take it!! That's 4.6 lbs this week! I am BLOWN AWAY. So I need to update my weight loss schedule and see what my new weekly goal is so I have accurate target weights each week. I think that really helps me stay motivated.

As for today... I have 200 calories left after dinner and I've walked approximately 7 miles. A 6 mile walk this morning pushing 2 kids in the stroller and then another mile walking around trying to find a lost shoe after our morning walk! But I found it! And I have a blister because I didn't bother to wear good shoes for walking, and they were shoes I don't wear often. Oops. But I'm counting that as my exercise today! =D

Okay... off to find some dessert with the family!

Really??!

After yesterday's disappointment with the pulled pork sandwich, I decided that today I would get to splurge on the other good things I love at Sweet Pea... cotton candy and kettle corn. I love 'em! And normally we get them, but I was forgoing them this year so that I could have my pulled pork sandwich. And we all know how that turned out.

So I looked up the calorie count on the cotton candy and kettle corn and figured accordingly so that I could have my yummy Sweet Pea treat after all. And boy was I looking forward to it!! We didn't go in as early as we'd planned because Ellie really needed a little nap right after church, but we got there around 2:30 and made a beeline for the concessions. Leif said he'd get me my yummy treats while I took Ellie and went to look at the crafts.

And then I got a phone call.

No one selling kettle corn this year. WHAT??! Seriously? Bozeman is the kettle-corniest town I know! How can there be no kettle corn? But I calmed down my inner comfort food monster and reminded her to drool over the cotton candy that would be coming. Because I had SEEN lots of people eating it all weekend, so I knew it was here!

And it was there. WAS being the operative word. Yes, they had run out of cotton candy shortly before we arrived.

What a disappointment it was! And I had saved up calories so I could really splurge and not feel like I was being restricted, so now we're at the end of the day and I still have calories left. Ergh. I've been trying to eat yummy things to curb the cravings, but I still feel gypped.

The good news is that I was down when I weighed again this morning, so at least I had that to motivate me not to eat everything like a pig a blow all the hard work right before weigh in tomorrow! Because I was tempted to, let me tell you! But I didn't, and now I have calories left today (200 and some!) and I still need to drink some water before I go to bed (I'm convinced if I don't drink my water that I'll gain!) so I just have to figure out what I want. I'm tempted to make s'mores in the microwave. Sad, isn't it? But I am in want of comfort food (thanks to the disappointment over Sweet Pea food AND PMS) and I have the calories to do it, so I think I'm going to. Now... how many calories are s'mores again?

If I actually make it to my goal....

... of 110 lbs, it will be the first time I've been that small since I gained the weight the year we got married, over 7 years ago. I think I was 105 or so when we got married. Wow. That would be amazing!

I really hope I stay with it this time. I always seem to get to 115 and then peter out. I don't know if I just always stall there and get discouraged, or if I just start to slack off when I get to 115 (of course, that's always a goal weight, so maybe this time will be different since my goal is not 115 but 110 instead.) but I really really really want to make it past that this time. I want to see numbers I haven't seen since I gained them!

Whose lousy idea was THAT?!!

Really... I want to know! WHO decided that there would be NO PULLED PORK SANDWICHES at Sweet Pea this year??? I have been wanting one, craving one, and saving myself for one! I had 3 eggwhites for breakfast and grapes for lunch in anticipation of the glorious pulled pork sandwich I always get at Sweet Pea. And you know what I got instead? A pork chop sandwich. It's SO not the same. Very disappointing. *sigh*

And I forgot to weigh myself before I ate breakfast and drank tea, but I weighed afterwards, before I hopped into the shower, and I was at 118.8 (a teeny tiny bit lower than yesterday's 119.0) which means I was really lighter since I'd already eaten and had tea!! Maybe not by much, but it's still nice to see 118 on the scale. I hope I can keep it that way through tomorrow so I have a good weigh in on Monday!

I did fine on calories today. I actually had enough calories for a second dinner when I came home from Sweet Pea! I really thought I'd need to snack more during the day than I did, so I had calories to spare. That helped emotionally, though, after I was so sad about my pulled pork sandwich, LOL!

Tomorrow... well, I don't know what the plan for tomorrow is. We'll go to church and then go to Sweet Pea, but I don't have a definite plan for food. Maybe we'll get lunch before we go and then come home and eat dinner. There wasn't that much there (other than cotton candy! Which I love! Ha ha!) that interested me in the way of food, so I won't be tempted, but I will get hungry at some point. We'll have grapes and cherries along to snack on, so maybe that will be enough.

Sweet Pea Day 1

Well, we got there a little late, but we did make it to Sweet Pea with our picnic dinner tonight! We just went to see the ballet, and not so much for us to see it as for Eliana to. We knew she'd enjoy the music and dance along with it, and sure enough, she did! It was pretty funny to watch her imitate the dancers on stage. She did lots of twirling and slow, gliding movements. We enjoyed sitting outside in the shade and Leif got to use his new 500 lens, which was nice since we were sitting back so far!

As for the kebabs... they were yummy! Mine didn't end up really being kebabs after all, since I was supposed to use short wooden skewers. I have long metal ones that I use for kebabs, but this was not a grilled meal, and my long skewers didn't fit in the pan, so I gave up on using them and just pan fried the chicken without them. They turned out just fine that way! I wish I'd had time to make rice with them before we went, or stir fried veggies, or something. I felt like they needed a side dish, but we were running late as is, so we didn't get one. BUT it was one of the recipes from Deceptively Delicious, so there was a serving of sweet potato hidden in the chicken kebabs! Hee hee!
It's the first recipe I've made from this cookbook, so I'm glad it turned out well! I will definitely be making it again, especially since I have the sweet potato puree made up and ready in the freezer this time.

I stayed under for calories, and I did get all my water in, so I splurged and shared a Splenda pop with Leif over dinner! I don't know why I love pop so much, but I do. Now that we have some in the house again, though, I think I will have to work especially hard to make sure to get 2 liters of water in and THEN drink a pop. Water is so important! I got the Jones Cola this time, and I have to say that it's not nearly as good as the Shasta Splenda Cola. I don't know why, but Leif and I agree on that point. It's just not as good.

Well, planning ahead tomorrow and I've already recorded my dinner. Every year I have to get a pulled pork sandwich at Sweet Pea, and tomorrow for dinner is the time!!! So that's already in Spark People and I will plan my day around it. We will eat breakfast here, probably late-ish, and skip the formal lunch, eating Sweet Pea food for dinner. I've packed snacks in the backpack for tomorrow so I'll have something healthy (dried blueberries and apple slices!) to munch on between breakfast and dinner and I'll bring lots of water to keep me hydrated! Hopefully there will be lots of walking in my day and I can count that as exercise. With a little planning this can be a very successful weekend!!

Up a smidge today

I'm up to 119.0 this morning, but it's still under my goal for Monday, so I'm okay with it! I did manage to get in a 200 calorie DDR workout last night, and even though I didn't eat a terribly balanced set of foods yesterday (no breakfast, a slice and a half of pizza for lunch, no snacks, and 2 fajitas for dinner) I stayed just under 1200 calories, so that was good! I was sure I would have to do a 400 calorie workout to make up for the extras on my fajitas (I put some cheddar cheese on! mmm!) but it turned out fine. Oh, and I got all my water in, though the last liter was just before bed and I had to get up in the middle of the night because of it! I never do that, not even when I was pregnant! Then Ellie woke up at the unheard of hour of 6 am and came to find us, then crawled into bed with us and played. Combine those and I am fairly tired this morning!

Today marks the start of Sweet Pea. We always eat at Sweet Pea, so I'm going to have to make sure I'm really careful this year. Tonight we are going to watch the main act and instead of getting food there I'm going to make some chicken kabobs (a new recipe I've never tried, so it should be interesting!) and we'll eat a picnic dinner. That should be nice! Maybe I'll have time to head into town a little early (or stop by Albertson's on the way back from the splash park) and get some Splenda pop. I've really been wanting pop and so far I've resisted the full sugar stuff we have left over from the camping trip. It would be nice to take some with me tonight to enjoy, especially if I get all my water in before then!

Some perspective for today....

I just read back to when I started this blog, in January 2007. Eliana was just 6 months old! And I was 135 lbs with a BMI of 27. A healthy BMI is 25 or lower, and I was officially overweight.

In a year and a half I have lost about 30 lbs, if you count the last 5 lbs I keep losing and regaining. Right now I am down 17 lbs from where I was when I started the blog, and while I have been recording, I have been as low as 114 lbs, or 21 lbs lower than my starting point.

So on those days when I feel discouraged because I'm not making any progress, I need to remember that I HAVE made progress, and lots of it. I now have a BMI of 23, which is not only in the healthy range, but it's in the middle of the range, not on the "just barely" end! I have learned LOTS of healthy habits, and even if I slip away from them for a period of time it is easier and easier to return to them each time I do. I make better choices now than I did a year and a half ago. I have a better idea of proportion and calorie content in foods. Two years ago there is NO WAY I could have gone to the Bite of Bozeman and limited myself to 100 grams of turkey leg. I wouldn't have even been able to estimate what 100 grams is!

And so, while I have not reached perfection, I have made a lot of progress over the last year and a half. And that's what it's about, right? Progress, not perfection... This is a journey and I am trekking along. No matter what the scale is, I am on my way.

Maybe I SHOULD have joined the challenge!

I didn't want to join the weightloss challenge (you know, against other people, for money) because I just don't lose weight that quickly, and I'm getting down to the part where I have fewer lbs to come off, so they just come off slowly. But this week makes me think that maybe I SHOULD have joined the challenge!!! I weighed in this morning at...

118.4

WOW! I was at 122.0 on Monday, and today is Thursday. That's 3.6 lbs this week so far and I still have until Monday before my next official weigh in! I'm glad to be building in a buffer for the week(s) that I stall, as I inevitably will. But right now I'm high as a kite!!

I survived the Bite!!

And I even survived with calories to spare! Hooray! I was moderate and let Leif eat the larger portion of the turkey leg (though I do love those turkey legs! I'll eat more of one next year now that I know they're not nearly as caloric as I thought they were!) and I just had nibbles and bites of the other things we got. It wasn't nearly as fun this year, and I'm blaming it on the fact that I was keeping track of calories and writing things down. I wish I could have just gone and not worried about it at all, but I am BOUND AND DETERMINED not to fall by the wayside this time around! I have a weight loss schedule and I'm going to stick to it! And that means counting my calories.

I also drank my water today, a full 2 liters. That makes such a difference! As does starting my day in the Word, as I mentioned before. Oh, and Taylor and I went for a walk today, which means my morning walk was about 5 miles! It's better than nothing and I'm pretty sure I burned my 200 calories in that time. I hope I did at least!

Well, it's midnight thirty, so I ought to head to bed. The alarm is set for 7 and Ellie will most likely be up around that time, so I should be too. G'night!

Down again

The encouragement continues today as I weigh... I'm down to 119.4 this morning! I am excited to be .at my goal for Monday already, and I hope I don't have a sudden gain to put a bump in my plans! I really, really, really want to reach my goal this time, and I'm really hoping not to stall around 115 lbs like I always seem to do.

I am getting the rest of my life in order, too, and woke up to a shiny clean kitchen this morning, which was wonderful! That makes Eliana's room and the kitchen that are clean and decluttered. I don't know if I did an hour solid of housework last night or not, but I put effort in at least and am seeing results in both areas that are encouraging! My next room to tackle is the living room, which shouldn't be hard, but there is vacuuming to be done, and then I need to mop the kitchen while I'm doing floors. It helps that I'm starting my days with devotions (and recording them at lou52.blogspot.com, which seems to be helping), and even though I missed them on my way to get out the door yesterday morning (though I did start the morning with fellowship, which was wonderful!) I did them last night before I went to bed. What a difference this is making in my attitude! I hate that I forget how powerful the Word is sometimes.

So tonight is the Bite of Bozeman and I am eating turkey leg for dinner. It's the one time of year that I get it and I'm not giving it up!! But I will be sharing it with Leif (and Ellie, who loves them!) so I should be okay not over eating on it, if I make an effort to be moderate. I'll try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables throughout the rest of the day so that I keep my calories down and nutrition up, since I know dinner won't be that nutritious.

Well, I think I'm going to call Taylor and see if she's interested in taking a walk this morning. We are planning on exercising together anyway, and it looks like it's shaping up to be a beautiful morning, so we might as well go outside!

And now for some math...

Today I am at 120 lbs. I want to be at 110 by my birthday, September 21. That means I have approximately 8 weeks to lose 10 lbs. Technically, that is a doable number. I need to lose a lb and a quarter each week to reach that goal, so I need to get cracking and work on it.

There it is. A new goal.

Weight loss schedule:
7/29 - 120.8
8/4 - 119.4
8/11 - 118.0
8/18 - 116.6
8/25 - 115.2
9/1 - 113.8
9/8 - 112.4
9/15 - 111.0
9/21 - 110.6

This is what I hope to stick with and use as a guide each week. I would like to be at or lower than these numbers at each weigh in to make my final goal. That's a loss of 1.4 lbs each week. Each lb is 3500 calories, so I need to rid myself of 4900 calories each week. That's 700 calories a day. According to a few basal metabolic rate calculators, I burn about 1320 calories a day, just by being alive. If I intake 1100 calories a day, that means I have a deficit of 220 calories. That takes me to 480 calories that I need to rid myself of. According to a couple other daily calorie expenditure calculators, I burn approximately 1600 calories with a sedentary lifestyle. That means I have about 200** calories each day that I need to burn with exercise if I'm going to lose weight according to the schedule above, and a little more if I eat more during the day.

The following exercises will burn about 200 calories, so I need to make time to fit at least one of them in a day:

• Wii, fitness mode, 200 calorie goal (**255 calorie goal)
  
• Housework, 1 hour (1:15)
  
• Backpacking, 30 minutes (10 lb load)
• Bicycling, 12 mph, 30 minutes
  
• Gardening, 1 hour (1:15)
  
• Hiking, 45 minutes (no load)
  
• Jogging, 5 mph, 30 minutes (adding a 5 minute warm up and cool down should do it.)
  
• Walking, 15 min/mile, 45 minutes (50 minutes)
  
• Weight training, 60 sec. between intervals, 30 minutes (35 minutes)
  

So there are some things I can work toward doing. And really, if I worked at housework for an hour straight each day, my house would look a whole lot better AND I would get exercise!! I guess that means I need to start setting my timer while I work, LOL! The Flylady principles come back again!

**after thinking about it I realized that I really have to burn 200 NET calories. If I burn 200 calories in an hour (such as doing housework) then I really need to burn 255, since I will burn 55 calories just by being alive, and they don't count toward my end goal. So it depends on how long it will take me to burn 200 calories.** (adjusted times are in italics)

Down today...

Well, I'm back down to 120.8 today, so that is a little encouraging. It still means I am 10 lbs from my goal, but I'm hopeful that I can reach that by my birthday (September 21, when your challenge ends, if I remember correctly!) if I keep at it.

This morning we had a big lawn party at the Vidmar's house (SO GOOD to see Jenn again, in her own home!) and I made a point to ONLY eat the fruits and vegetables. I stayed away from doughnuts, muffins, breads, and all the other bad for me things. I had carrots, pineapple, bananas, and grapes. And 2 cups of coffee, but I drank it black so it was calorie free!

Today I am trucking along on the calorie counting. We should be having lasagna for dinner tonight (I should get on that or we'll end up just having spaghetti instead!) so that will be fine. I need to drink more water, and I need to exercise at some point (maybe a family walk is in order this evening?) but I am encouraged by my little bit of weight loss and hope that with more work and moderation I can be down to 119 by Monday.

Disappointment...

July 28, originally uploaded by elizabethwickland.

Well, as you can see from the picture, I didn't do such a good job with my eating during our campout. There were s'mores and snacks, and I drank very little water. In fact, I drank lots of pop and juice and lemonade, but not much water. That was bad.

The discouraging part came before all of that, though... before we'd even eaten dinner that very first night. I had two people (TWO!) ask me if I was pregnant. And it wasn't just because our daughter is 2 and that's the current society's timeframe for a second child. No, one of the two commenters actually admitted that they thought I LOOKED pregnant. As in baby belly. Yeah... that was really discouraging.

Of course, the second discouraging thing was then after telling them that I was NOT pregnant they started asking when we were going to have more, etc. What am I supposed to say? Does every passing person REALLY want to know that we have been trying for the last year but that I lost a tube along with the baby in May and that makes things a little more complicated?? So I just smiled and said that someday we hoped to have more kids but that Ellie is plenty active enough to keep us busy right now. Of course, then I had looking pregnant and not being pregnant on the brain all night (in addition to trying to keep track of Ellie among the crowd of people) so our camping trip didn't start out so happy for me. But Ellie did fine with the camping and sleeping in the tent and the next day was much better. So much better, in fact, that we decided to stay for a second night. It was good. It was a fun trip and I'm glad we learned that Ellie camps well.

But food... I did not do so hot at being moderate, I fear. And the scale reflected it this morning. But today I stayed on track ALL DAY! I drank 2 liters of water, ended the day within my calorie range, went for a short hike (not much, but better than nothing!) and planned meals for the coming week. It felt good to keep track and stay on target. I'm just hoping I can keep with it.

Oh, and I started my morning with devotions, which always makes a big difference.

off on a camping trip...

I'm hoping there will be a hike or two involved in this little overnight adventure, but I don't know that we have one planned. It sort of depends on cranky pants, who decided to take a nap today (early enough that I let her) and woke up in a grumpy, grumpy mood. I'm hoping she gets over it soon, because camping with a grumpster might not be very fun!

Whew! Busy day...

The last couple days have been pretty busy, with Ellie's doctor appointment yesterday and spending all afternoon in town, then today going into town at 11 for the Children's Museum and staying in town until after dinner (at the RightNow family picnic). I don't know how I did on calories today - ate both lunch and dinner out. But I didn't snack so I'm hoping that will count for me. I didn't get any exercise in either. I really need to sit down and work out a schedule to help me cope with these no-nap days now. I'm pretty sure the exercise and calorie counting will be spotty at best until I get myself back into a routine.

I weighed this morning and the scale read 119.0, so that's down 1.8 lb in the last 2 days. Hooray! I'm sure it's all water weight, but it feels good anyway to see the scale go in the right direction.

That's pretty much my news for today. Tomorrow we're home most of the day and then we're going camping for the first time with Ellie. Not sure how that will go!

July 22

July 22, originally uploaded by elizabethwickland.

Okay... as much as I REALLY don't want to admit this number, here I am. 2 weeks of eating whatever I wanted and I've gained 4 lbs. Not good. But I'm admitting this number, and next week it WILL be smaller, as will I.

GAME. ON.

Callipygian...

Maybe this should be my next goal, LOL!!

My First 5K!!

Today was the Drop & Trot 5K. I had two goals going into the run...

1. Run the entire 5K, no walking.
2. Complete the 5K in 30 minutes.

The first goal was obviously the more important of the two for me. And guess what? I DID IT!! I ran the ENTIRE 5K, no walking! No stopping to catch my breath or drink water (though I did drink a couple cups of water while running - lots of dribble down the front of my shirt there!), just running! I am proud of myself for that. You see, not only was this my first 5K event to run in, this was the first time I have ever run 5K in one shot. EVER. I'd never even made it past 2.15 miles in my practice runs, so I wasn't sure I could do it. But I can. And I did.

As for my time... I didn't quite make the run in 30 minutes. My final time was 31:52, but I am proud of that! My legs felt pretty much like jelly at the end of the run, so I was just happy that I could push to the end, and even speed up for a good finish! 31:52 is just about a 10 minute mile and I am proud of it!! But my "official" time, after it was adjusted from the "drop" part of the Drop & Trot was 23:42. Sounds a whole lot better, eh?? See, before the run starts the participants have the option of seeing how many push ups they can do in one minute. For every push up you do, they take 10 seconds off your run time. I did 49! I originally wasn't going to do the push up part, because I didn't think I could do very many. But I got to do girl push ups, and I can do more of those for sure! And I did!!

So... Now I have run my 5K. I have made it through the Couch to 5K program, and successfully competed in a 5K run. That was my goal. I don't know if I count myself as a runner yet, but it's a start. And last night Leif and I went on a date downtown for the artwalk and stopped in Chalet Sports to see their 50% off shoe sale. So I got some new running shoes! I think that means it's time to break them in, so I guess I'll keep running! Maybe not 3x a week, and maybe not following the C25K program any longer, but I have a new goal brewing in my mind and my new shoes will help me get there.

I haven't run yet today...

And I really probably should, but it just finally got cool enough to go. And now my parents are out for a walk and Leif is out mowing the lawn, so if I leave the house to run I will leave poor Ellie unattended, and I probably ought not do that, especially if she does what she did last night with getting out of bed a million times declaring she needed to go potty. So I stay home.

But I'm drinking my water.

And I stayed in my calorie range, so that's good. I even have a little extra for a snack tonight.

And I even got to have a Frappuccino today, but I was good and I got the light one with NO whipped cream. It was 130 calories and it was a nice treat!

So... it's getting dark now and I'm not sure that I'll run, but I will do some tomorrow and then Saturday is the big 5K day!!

I bit the bullet...

Yes, I weighed in this morning. Bit the bullet and stepped on the scale. I was afraid I wouldn't see any change from the last time I weighed, but I did! And the good kind of change, too! I've lost 3 lbs from Sunday, so that is encouraging! If I can keep up with the calorie counting, exercise, and pick up on my water drinking (which should be easier now that I don't have any Splenda pop in the house... I just hope I don't fall prey to a sugar filled pop instead!) I think I'll be good to go! Still don't think I can make it to my goal of 110 for Ellie's birthday, but I will be happy with progress. My stalling point seems to be 115, every single time, so I will be very excited to see 113 on the scale, if that ever happens. Just have to keep on trucking.

Cheaper than a gym membership....

So Taylor and I were talking on our walk/run yesterday that we are so much more motivated to work out well when we're at the gym. I find it ridiculous, but true. She has looked in to getting a gym membership, but you have to pay for childcare at all the gyms around here, and with 3 kids now, that gets expensive fast! I told her that before she decides to buy a gym membership, she should head over to my house and we can let the older girls play, the younger girls sleep, and we can workout together! I have 2 steps, 2 DDR mats, a weight bench and free weights, and a few workout video options. She was excited about that idea, so we've made plans to workout together on Tuesday mornings, then have lunch. I think that will be fun and hopefully keep me on the ball so I don't loose motivation and drop out of exercise for a week or two as I am prone to do. I don't know if we'll start this Tuesday since my parents are in town, but we will for sure do it the following week and hopefully every week thereafter! It might not be a full blown gym membership, but it IS a buddy workout, cardio, weights, and free. =D

Chugging along....

Well, I should be chugging along, come to think of it... I'm struggling with my water intake. But everything else is going well. I'm at 1200 calories (1206, actually, I think) for the day, but I might eat just a little snack before bed because my tummy is growling and I'm pretty hungry. Whatever I eat won't be over 100 calories, though, so I'll still end the day under 1300, which is good. I did end up running with Taylor today, though it was much more walking than running, and the running was pretty slow. It was good, though, and it got me out. All told we walked/ran 5 miles, so even if it wasn't a strenuous run it was still decent exercise.

I haven't had the heart to weigh myself after the other day, so we'll have to see if I can do it tomorrow. I will also need to run tomorrow, maybe with Leif in the evening. And I'm hoping to do better on my water.

So far so good...

Well, 2 successful days of tracking my calories and staying at the low end. Actually, at the very low end, as low as I can get and still be within my calorie range! I didn't really mean for it to work that way, but it has.

My parents are here, and I'm going to try to keep tracking and eating well. It's usually not too hard, since I'm spending time with them instead of snacking.

Leif and I ran together for the first time last night, and it was fun! I'm still not sure that I can do the full 5K running on Saturday, but I will try and I will have fun with it!

I was supposed to go for a run with Taylor this morning, but I haven't heard from her yet, and Ellie's already awake, so I don't know if we'll go. Even if we don't run, I'd still like to take Ellie for a good walk this morning so we'll see.

Right now I need to go eat some breakfast.... fried eggwhites and Flax and Fiber toast. Maybe I'll combine them and eat a fried egg sandwich... Mmmm!

I don't think I realized...

Just how caloric almonds are. I recently bought the prepackaged nuts from Costco thinking they'd be a nice way to get some protein and variety in my diet, and give me something salty and crunchy to snack on when I get a bit peckish. They do, but a little bag of 2 oz of nuts is almost 400 calories! not exactly a "little" snack!

Back to recording....

Yesterday we didn't end up swimming in Yellowstone, as all the swimming holes were closed due to high water. But we did get in quite a bit of walking up and down steps at the Mammoth Terraces. I'd never been there before, so it was fun. We always just drive right by it and never stop. Lots of steps, though! We parked at the top and walked down and around to the lower terraces, then all the way back up, down another section, and finally back to the car. Maybe a mile and a half to two miles by the time we were done. My legs were pretty sore from running the night before, so I felt it for sure!!

This morning we "hiked" on the trails around River Rock and Cobblestone subdivision. All told I did a 4 mile walk, since I started from and returned to my house. Not a run (my shin hurts, so I'm going to give it another day before I try to run again - don't want to hurt myself and not be able to go on Saturday!) but it was at least a good walk and I got some exercise in.

Today I've got a ton of things to do in preparation for my parents' arrival tomorrow, but I started recording my food already (recorded yesterday, too) so I'm off to a good start! Recording, exercising... now for the laundry!

Oh man....

I weighed myself this morning. Bad idea. I'm up. Waaaaay up. It doesn't help that I'm bloated and hormonal, so I know that is some of the weight, but probably only a couple lbs.

I haven't been tracking my food. I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to what I'm eating. I have been exercising, which is good, but apparently not enough. And I haven't been drinking any water. And I KNOW that affect my weight, especially since I've indulged in some full calorie soda over the past week. Ack!!

It was nice while I was in denial, but now I'm probably past that. I have GOT to get back on the bandwagon and I am just having a hard time being motivated to do so! My parents are coming into town on Tuesday, so we'll see how that will affect my ability to track calories. It's summer! I want to be free! I don't want to be tied down to calorie counting!!

Ugh. So we're headed to Yellowstone to do a little hiking and maybe some swimming with friends. Yes, that means I'll be in a bathing suit, in public, with other people we know (but who have never seen me in a bathing suit before and who are fitter than I am!)... Kind of a terrifying prospect. But hopefully there will be some hiking so I can get some exercise in.

Still not ready....

... for Saturday's run, that is.

I ran outside tonight (once it cooled down a bit) and ran 2.15 miles in 21 minutes. And that's as far as I could run. Pretty much felt like I was going to pass out or throw up if I went any further, so I walked the rest of the way. Still, it was a 10 minute mile, and it was double the furthest I've ever run outside, so that's improvement! Still, though, I need to be able to run 3 miles by Saturday and I'd like to do it in 30 minutes.

I haven't weighed myself in over a week. I keep meaning to, and manage to get in some breakfast or something to drink first. And I'm not to keen on the idea of weighing after I've consumed anything, so I haven't weighed. No idea where I am in that department. Pretty sure I'm not going to make my July 19 goal of 110. I'll probably be lucky just to be at 115 (no loss, no gain) at that point! My parents will be here Tuesday, so I am not even going to make any promises about this next week. Except that I will be training for Saturday, and that means at least 2 more serious outdoor runs, and maybe even a few endurance (not so much speed/distance) runs in between.

and THIS is me...

after I ran...

(are you ready?)

...30 MINUTES STRAIGHT!!!!

It's true! I started out determined to run 10 minutes, more if I could. But I was going to do week 6 day 2 (run 10 / walk 3 / run 10) and hoped beyond hope in the back of my mind that I could make it to 21.5 minutes, which was my previous record. I got to 10 minutes, then 13, then 15, and I pushed myself to 20. At that point I just kept going and went for another 10 minutes, finding myself at 30 minutes, running 2.5 miles in that time. WOW! I need to step up the speed a little bit to make it to 3 miles in that time, but I'm pretty darn happy with the run tonight!!

I hope I can run outside on Thursday. I could use the outside practice and I need to work on regulating my speed so I can go further and for longer. I'm taking tomorrow off from running, but hope to get in a walk, at least, and hopefully some DDR.

As a sidenote, my run tonight burned 450 calories. Woohoo!

This is me....

... sitting here in front of the computer, not having run yet. I'm dressed for it, I just didn't feel well earlier today. Now that I'm starting to feel up to it, Leif is trying to finish work and I'm watching Ellie. I think I'll see if he's ready to take her now.

Now... do I want to watch a show while I run, or just listen to music? Hmmm....

(picture taken with our brand new webcam!)

Didn't get an official run in yesterday...

But I did get a little running in while we were hiking.

We headed up to Palisade Falls last night to escape the heat, so I thought I could maybe run there. I started running up the trail while Leif and Ellie hiked. I made it about 1/3 of the way up the trail before I felt like my lungs were going to explode! I dropped back to speed-hiking until I caught my breath and then ran a little further, but eventually decided that running uphill 3,000 feet higher than I'm used to isn't such a fun idea. When I hiked to the top, though, I turned around and ran all the way down. Even that got me breathing hard, so I figure it counts for some exercise, even if was downhill, right? When I got to the bottom I turned around and hiked back to the top as fast as I could, then rested a smidge while some thundery clouds rolled in. Leif was taking pictures, so I headed back down with Ellie in the stroller. It looked like it was going to rain any moment, so I ran down with Ellie in the stroller as much as I could without going so fast I thought I was going to lose control! Sure enough, though, we got caught in the rain about half the way down. She was covered with my rain jacket and under the sun shade of the stroller, so she made it without getting wet, but I was soaked!!

The heat has really been throwing me for a loop. It's been hard to run outside with the heat, and we don't have air conditioning, so I haven't wanted to run inside and get all hot and sweaty, either! I really need to, though, because I have a 5K to run in less than 2 weeks!! eek!

So today when Eliana goes down for her nap I'm going to get over it and just run on the treadmill. I might have to take a cold shower afterwards, but I need to run. I've just got to do it.

Going for a hike today...

Nothing big, just a mom and me hike. But I need to go for a run as well, hopefully outside. I'm tempted to do it right now while Leif and Ellie are still sleeping, but I don't know...

I'm going to record my food and exercise today.

And drink my water.

It's been a couple days and I'm ready to jump into this week full force.

It's official

I am signed up to run the 5K on July 12. Leif is going to run with me and be my moral support.

And I ran 3 times this last week in preparation. The first two times I ran on the treadmill, and the third time I ran outside. And let me say, it's harder to run outside, especially if you don't have music to listen to. So I think I'll need to do most of my training outside, at least once, preferably twice a week. The run is in 2 weeks and I need to be able to run 3 miles by then. My goal is to run it in 30 minutes. When I ran outside yesterday I ran 2 miles (with a couple walking breaks no more than a block each time) in 20 minutes, so I'm already running a 10 minute mile, I just need to extend the run by a mile.

So that's my exercise for the next 2 weeks. At least 3 runs a week, hopefully outside as often as possible.

well...

the run I wanted to do isn't in August, after all. it's July 12. think I'll be ready by then?

WOW!

Well, Ellie is awake. That means I don't get my DDR in, unless I want to try to do it with her in the room. That usually doesn't go terribly well as she wants to play, too, and tries to step on the mat. That usually means I spend my time trying not to step on her instead of trying to step where and when I'm supposed to. I might still try. We'll see.

BUT....

I just did my running for C25K and I thought I'd perhaps pick up with week 3 since I did something resembling week 2 on Monday with no problems. Week 3 has a 3 min run / 1.5 min walk / 5 min run / 2.5 min walk / 3 min run / 1.5 min walk / 5 minute run schedule. And I? Well, I was feeling good after the first 3 minute run, so instead of doing the 1.5 minute walk I just kept running... and I ran the whole time! I ran a full 21.5 minutes! That's the most I've ever run! Makes me think that 5K in August is a little more of a possibility.

Oh yeah, and I burned 335 calories in 30 minutes. Not too bad!

(Just looked it up... turns out it's not week 3 that is the 3/5/3/5 run. It's week 4! So I guess this is where I pick up and start running)

Considering....

Oh yeah. I'm considering signing up to run a 5K in August. I'm not 100% sure yet, but I'm considering it.

today...

Today I am recording my food. So far it's 1:45 in the afternoon and I've had 235 calories, leaving me plenty for an afternoon snack and dinner. And actually, I'm planning on vegetable soup for dinner, so I'll have plenty for snacks this afternoon and evening, which will be helpful as I transition out of snack-mode and back into calorie counting mode. I'm over halfway through my protein for the day, but I really need to work on fiber, as I've only had 4 grams and I need another 20 or so more. Dinner will provide me with 180 calories and 8 grams of fiber, so... (thinking aloud here) that puts me at 355 calories and 12 g. fiber. If I add to that 200 g. of strawberries I'm at 415 calories and 16 g. fiber. Now... that leaves me in need of another 9+ grams of fiber and 685+ calories. I can get my 9 grams of fiber in one Fiber One bar, plus 140 calories. Or I could get 10 grams of fiber and 180 calories from 2 slices of Fiber Flax Bread. The Flax Bread would also give me 10 grams of protein, which would be helpful. And if I went that route I'd have 500 calories to blow tonight at Erika's party, provided there will be food there. Something to think about.

It's hard to get back into calorie counting mode.

It's also hard to get back into an exercise routine, but today is Wednesday so I ought to do my C25K run and then, if Ellie is still sleeping, perhaps some DDR. Of course, I could use the rest of her naptime to clean up the kitchen and put laundry away, too. I wish I were a little more productive and efficient with my time sometimes. At least I started my day out right this morning and did my devotions before I let myself check email or do anything else.

Okay... off to run.

DDR and a hike!

Got some exercise in twice today... first I burned 400 calories on DDR. Then we went for a family hike tonight after dinner. We decided to go into town and we walked around the Fish Technology Center for a bit and then decided to hike the M. It's the first time we've hiked the M with Eliana not in a backpack and it went relatively well. We even made it all the way to the M and I didn't feel like dying along the way. That's pretty good for my first trek of the year up the M. It's usually a big wakeup call for how out of shape I am, but this time it was encouragement that I am not so terribly out of shape!!

Didn't record food today, and I'm not sure I wanted to anyway, because I ate horribly! But I'm taking baby steps and perhaps tomorrow will be a day to record. That's my goal at least.

Sweaty Day!

I did a lot of sweating today! It started with an uphill stroller pushing walk with Erika, and then some playtime outside with the girls at the Museum of the Rockies. When we came home and Eliana went down for a nap I ran/walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes, burning 350 calories! Then this evening Leif and I played DDR for about an hour or so. I know that we started with the calorie burning mode and I burned 200 calories, then we switched to a different mode and played for another half hour or so. So... not counting the last bit of DDR or the hike this morning, I burned over 550 calories from exercising today! Hooray!

Now to work on tracking my food again... Maybe that will be tomorrow's challenge.

DDR for the Wii!

Well, I had originally planned to make DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution) for the Wii an incentive prize for when I finally made it down to 110, but we saw it at Target the other day and bought it. But I have been having SO MUCH FUN with it, and that is good because....

I've been exercising!

You can put DDR into workout mode and tell it how many calories you want to burn (after inputting your weight and all that) and then it will give you different songs to "dance" to and calculate your calories based on how much you move your arms and feet! Yippee! I've burned a couple hundred calories playing with Leif already tonight and we're going to play some more once Eliana goes to bed.

I've also agreed to be a friend's running buddy (she doesn't live here, but we'll keep each other accountable for the C25K plan) so I should be getting back into that this week, too.

Recording my food? Haven't in a long time. That's bad. Weight gain? Nope, still at 117. Also bad, but good that I haven't gained any more, just been at a stand still. Still struggling to drink my water, too. Basically, I need to crack down and just not give myself any slack. But I don't want to. I know I need to, though. So that's my current struggle.

So tomorrow is Monday. We have a Mom and Me hike at 10 that should last an hour or so and is 2.5 miles. Then in the afternoon while Eliana is napping I'm going to run on the treadmill. If I'm really good I'll record my food and water, too, but I won't push my luck too far. ;) First I'll just aim to get some good exercise in.