out of the 130's!

The scale told me I was 129.8 this morning. Thank you, scale! =D

I had Aerial Dance this morning and I got a good workout from it! The last time I went (2 weeks ago) I learned how to do some standing stuff on the low trapeze (1 foot off the ground) where it was safe enough for me to experiment and try to find my balance and play with how it feels to stand up there. This week I got to try all my standing stuff on the trapeze that is 5 feet off the ground. It was FABULOUS! I really love that class!

I have been consistently making MK calls a couple nights a week and being on the treadmill walking while I do so! That means I've gotten at least 3 days with 45 minutes to an hour of cardio this week! Hooray! Now to keep it up!

Tomorrow is a busy day with Leif off skiing with a friend in Yellowstone, so I am hoping to get exercise in, but might not. Worship team practice, church, Cheryl's baby shower, home, Ellie to bed, and then... a massage! I'm excited for that! =D

Well, it's almost 10, so I should get some shut-eye before too long. Goodnight!

131

That's what the scale said this morning. Yay!

Yesterday I took a belly dancing lesson. Ha Ha! It was fun, and a good workout! And I've been walking on the treadmill while talking on the phone and making calls. An hour each of the last 2 days!

So... that's where I am. Right now I'm tired and have a headache, so I'm going to bed, but I had to blog the progress. A number tracked grows (shrinks?), right?

Off to a slow start...

But I'm down 2.2 lbs so far. Not the best, but it's something, and I'll take it! I have been getting up and meeting with people at 6 am every weekday morning, and I'm settling into a routine. Mondays I meet with Shannon for accountability to pray and do Pilates. Tuesday and Thursday Amber comes over and we do Wii Fit Yoga. Wednesday I head to Amber's and we listen to MK training, and Friday I have my Bible Study with the church ladies. Now if only I can get to bed by 10:30 like my weekly plan sheet says, we'll be in good shape!!

I'm getting my stretching in, through Pilates, Yoga, and Aerial Dance. What I really need to be working on is cardio, so that is my goal this week. Cardio for at least 45 minutes 3x. Last night I made phone calls for an hour and walked on my treadmill while I did it! Tonight I have a sharing appointment / phone call, so I will walk while I do that, too. I also have errands to run and a day in town, so hopefully I will get some exercise in that way, too.

I am not tracking every calorie, but I am trying to watch my portions, and I think it's helping. I'm also staying away from sugar still, and that has been helping a lot, since the foods I reach for are salty instead, and I just can't eat as many of those!

I'm off to get more done today, but I wanted to touch base and say, "Yes! I am still alive over here!!" =D Thanks for holding me accountable.

A new week...

Today is the start of a new week, and I'm finally getting around to updating this blog. As of right now (8:15 am) I have gotten up, done my Bible study, gone to Shannon's for some prayer/accountability and Pilates, weighed in, walked/run on the treadmill, lifted weights, made the bed, taken my vitamins, and I'm drinking a smoothie (strawberries, kiwi, grapefruit, banana - just blended together, nothing else added) for breakfast.

I weighed in this morning at 133.8. Not good, but I know my starting point now, I guess. I'm considering joining a 10 week biggest loser group that starts tomorrow (no money involved, it's just a matter of committing to it), but whether I do that or not, I definitely want to work on losing weight! Now that my hormones appear to be balanced out, I am ready to get back in the game.

I have about 30 lbs I want to lose. If I go by the 10% guideline, that leaves me with about 13 lbs to lose before my first milestone.

133.8 - 10% - 13lbs
120.8 - 10% - 12lbs
108.8 - 10% - 10lbs

If I lost 10% three times, that takes me to 98lbs, just under where I want to be. So really, I have more like 10% twice and 5% once there... all in all, I would love to get down to 105. That's my target goal. I would be STOKED if I could lose the first 13 lbs by the end of the biggest loser (if I do it... I haven't decided yet) in 10 weeks. That would be GREAT! But I know that it takes more than just wanting to do it for it to get done, so I'm starting by eating and exercising a little better. This morning that means just getting some exercise in (2/3 intervals walking/running on the treadmill for 15 minutes, 15 minutes Pilates, and some light weight and situps. One day at a time. I'm hoping to get more cardio in this afternoon, but I need to clean the family room and dining room / kitchen first, so we'll see.

My word for 2010 isOVERCOME, and this is the year I want to finally overcome this weight that I put on 10 years ago, when we got married. It's time! Please hold me accountable!

I was feeling kind of discouraged...

Well, after a week of stand-still and then going up a little yesterday, I was feeling kind of discouraged yesterday. Especially after having 2 frou-frou coffees, a can of coke, and a cookie yesterday, too! But I stepped on the scale this morning and it told me.... 126.8! I'm officially down 9.2 lbs, which is nice. =D I've got lunch with Cheryl today, and we're going to Montana Ted's downtown. I'm excited about talking my business over with Cheryl and gaining some new focus for the new year. I did some math today, and if I want to make STAR this quarter, I just need to sell $50 a day for the next week and a half. I already have 3 appointments on the books for that time, which is great! I can do that!

I need to get back into the habit of drinking water. I've been slacking this week and it isn't good. I've also been bad about making dinner, and instead going for the quick fix solutions, which isn't good. I had chips and cheesy salsa for dinner the other night.... not good! So I need to be going back to deliberate choices when eating if I want to continue on the right track to lose this 30 lbs!

Ergh.

127.6 today. What's with the going backwards? I'm still at 8.5 lbs down. Of course, I haven't been exercising, so maybe it's time to start doing that. Hmmm.

Standing Still

Well, I'm still at 127.4. It's not bad. I haven't been drinking much water, so I think that plays into it. Leif and Eliana are both sick, and I'm not feeling so hot myself. Yesterday I slept from about 1-5, then went to bed around 9 and slept until 6, so I'm guessing I'm fighting off something, too. Thankfully, though, I'm not puking, like they are. But I'm taking it easy. I may not make it to that 10 lbs by Sept 1 after all, but we'll see what the scale says when I weigh in on Tuesday. In the meantime, I'm just trying to stay hydrated and eat responsibly. =D Let's hope that does it!

Healthy Weight!!

See that ticker?

The one at the top of the page?

It says that my BMI is now 24.9.

Do you know what that means??

It means that I am officially within the HEALTHY WEIGHT RANGE for my height and frame!!

HOORAY!!!

Down to 127.4 today. 1.4 lbs to go to reach 10 lbs, but this was my first goal and I've met it!!

Almost palindromatic

8.2 22.8 =D

8.2 lbs down, 22.8 lbs to go... I weighed in at 127.8 today! If I can make it down another 1.8 lbs in the next 5 days, I'll be down 10 lbs in the first month! Hooray!

Weigh in for Biggest Loser

Weighed in at 128.4 this morning, which means I'm down 7.6 lbs in 3.5 weeks, or 5% of my body weight. That's about 2 lbs a week, which is a healthy rate of loss. So we have 12 weeks to the middle of November, and a little over 14 weeks to December 4th, when the contest ends. That puts me right on target if I keep losing at the rate I'm going, even a smidge ahead for the contest. I need to lose 23.4 lbs more.

Moderation.

Water.

Walking.

I really want to be down another 2 lbs by the end of the week. That would bring me to just about 10 lbs.

I've also considered running a 5K next month, and if I'm going to do that (which I'm not completely decided on) I need to start running again!

7 lbs down

Yesterday I had a garage sale (and today, too) and I decided to drink water and stand during the 3 hours of the sale, just to keep from being too lazy. =D And today I'm down in weight again! Hooray! I know they say just to weigh once a week, but weighing daily is so much more encouraging for me! I can see what's happening right away instead of wondering what I did over the course of a week to lose the weight. Right now drinking water and not spending oodles of time sitting on my bum seem to be key! So today I've passed the 7 lb weight loss mark and am at 128.8! I would be STOKED to lose 10 lbs by the end of the month! That would be 1/3 of the weight I need to lose.

Of course, I'm sitting down right now as I type, so I suppose it's time to get up and move!

That's more like it!

I weighed in on Tuesday when we got back from hiking.... and sure enough, I was up a pound! 131.6. Then I weighed in on Wednesday and I was up another pound! 132.6. Aaaack! So yesterday I didn't weigh and I just drank a lot of water, thinking that maybe that was part of the problem. 3 liters of water, to be exact. Sure enough, I weighed this morning and I'm back on track! Guess I was a bit dehydrated after walking 9 miles in 2 days earlier in the week!

So today's official weight is....

129.6!

I'm into the 120's!! WOOOHOOO! AND today is my MK anniversary AND exactly one month before my 30th birthday! I'm looking forward to looking better by my birthday and then continuing to look better in the months beyond!

Garage sale today and tomorrow... getting rid of a bunch of craft stuff and organizational stuff and household stuff. So hopefully my afternoon will not be sitting much!

Also, I bought 3 new shirts at Ross the other day - cute ones that are flattering to my figure. It seems that most of the shirts I've bought in the last year have been to hide the rolls in my midsection, but they apparently look like maternity clothes! So I got some better fitting ones that won't lead people to ask me if I'm pregnant. =D I'm wearing the first one today and another on Sunday. I'm excited! I'll have to take a picture. =D

130.4

How's that for a good number! I'm officially down 5 and a half pounds so far!

Working on updating the numbers in my weight loss journal today. I need to print out some pictures (namely a "before" picture - I was planning to use the Seminar Awards Night picture Susan Beth took of me) and actually get the book under way (weigh? ha ha - okay, bad joke), but I'm excited about the progress so far!

Moving Down...

Scale says 131.8 today. Hooray!

We ate at McDonald's last night for dinner (since I'd finally gotten the kitchen and upstairs cleaned and I didn't want to have more dishes!) so my eating wasn't the best, but I ate pretty well the rest of the day, so I think it was okay. And if the scale is any indication, it was!

My mom got us a Wii Fit for (early) Christmas, so I'm hoping to pull that out this week and start using it! Thanks, MOM!

Speaking of Mom... she leaves today to head back to Texas. =( We got a lot done while she was here, though, including cleaning, sorting, preparing for a garage sale (next weekend), and I lost over 4 lbs! I think it's great. =D

Calorie Tracking... Day 3

Well, I'm 3 days into tracking calories and I've been within 15 calories of 1200 all 3 days now! I'm sticking pretty closely with the food pyramid, too, though I don't eat that many grains. 6-11 servings of grain a day! I'm more like 3-4 with 6-8 of fruits and veggies.

I haven't been getting much in the way of exercise, but I have been trying to make a point of walking around or standing during the day, more than sitting. So I think that counts for something. ;)

All in all the transition back to the world of calorie counting has not been bad so far. Usually day 3 is the worst for me, and all I want to do is eat. Today that wasn't the case so much, and whenever I wanted to eat something, I'd reach for a fruit or vegetable, which was great!

So... I guess this means I'm at step one of making this goal a reality. Today I weighed in at 128. Not the best, but it could be worse, I guess. That leaves me with 15 weeks (pretty much exactly) to lose 18 lbs.

*gulp* Here we go!

128...

... and that's progress! Maybe not much progress, but at least some! I've been here for 2 days, which is good and stable. =D

I realized that I've been seriously lacking in the fresh fruits and veggies department for the last couple months. Things haven't been in season so I haven't been buying them. Instead I've been munching on other things which are wholly unhealthy for me, both physically and emotionally. So the other day at Costco I stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies. Celery, lettuce, carrots, apples, strawberries (even if they were about twice as expensive as I like to pay in the summer), bananas... Now I'm pretty much in fresh fruit and veggie heaven. And I have been eating them, too! Turns out I am much happier that way. Go figure!

129 and holding...

... at least I haven't broken 130.

Today I did better on the food front. I've got to do something, because my pants are starting to fit me like I'm pregnant.... and I'm not.

Stupid shrinking pants....

Holy Moly!

I don't know what is different or what changed, but when I got on the scale this morning it spat the number 129 back at me!

WAAAAAHHHHH!

Maybe that gym membership isn't such a bad idea! =( I wish I could say it was muscle and that muscle weighs more than fat, but my jeans are tight, too, so I know that's not the case. Sigh.

Why do I have such a hard time keeping up with an exercise/eating regimen? It really shouldn't be that hard, you know. BUT... enough negativity and on to the positive. I got up early this morning to do some stuff, and I did yoga! It was actually Ellie's idea, which I thought was funny. She said, "Mommy, let's do this:" and then proceeded to transition perfectly from plank to cobra to downward facing dog. It cracked me up! And who can say no when asked to exercise or stretch by a 2 year old?

So I did 3 repetitions of the sun salutation. I haven't been doing it lately, and I've noticed my flexibility getting worse (even worse than it was!) over the last month that I've quit. So... maybe if I start up again I will become a little more flexible. My back has just been really tight.

After the yoga Ellie and I went for a dip in the hot tub. That's a pretty relaxing start to the morning! So far I've had a pretty productive morning and I'm hoping to extend that throughout the day. I've had water, but I haven't eaten yet, so I should go do that now. And record my calories while I'm at it.

What the heck?!

I have exercised 3 times in the last week. I don't think I have overeaten that much. I certainly have not had as much water, but I've tried to drink fluids since I wasn't eating much while I was sick. So why, WHY, when I stepped on the scale today am I 128.6???? That's up over 4 lbs in less than 2 weeks!

124.4

I was down to 124.4 this morning. Hooray! Of course, that's 10 lbs over what I was at my smallest a year and a half ago, but I'm happy to see the numbers under 125! They were at 127.6 last week, so that's a great thing to see!

Calories... I'm watching, but not "counting" per se. I count for the first part of the day and then just estimate towards the end. I stay within my calorie range and think I'm at the low end at the end of the day.

Exercise... is still hit and miss, but I'm making a point to go up and down the stairs as many times as possible today. =D