Father's Day Card from Shutterfly!

One of the blogs I follow is called www.southernsavers.com.  On that site, I found out that you could get 5 free cards from www.shutterfly.com if you used a specific code, so I did!  Here's the one I made for Punkin to give to her dad for Father's Day!  Isn't it cute?

 

Chalkboard Heart Dad Father's Day 5x7 folded card

Click here to see graduation announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Up The Down Staircase

I can't believe I haven't posted since February!  That just astounds me for some reason.  I'm actually a little sad about that - because last time I posted was when I hit 280 pounds and was super excited... I'm now about 268, which means I've only lost 12 pounds in almost 3 months.  I knew the weight loss was going to slow down, but I didn't know it was going to slow down that much.  I'm stuck on a plateau right now and I hate it.  I'm fluctuating between 268 and 272 with a brief dip to 266 right before we left for D.C.  I REALLY want to get down to 260.  I was hoping to be there before school gets out, but that's only 3 more weeks and I don't see myself losing 3 pounds a week between now and June 10th.

I'm excited for summer for several reasons - no more work, our CRUISE!, being able to spend all that time with Punkin, but I'm also really excited because without working constantly, I'll actually have time to get to the gym.  I've been trying to get to the gym, but it's hard because some nights I'm working at BRU and other nights I'm so exhausted just the idea of going to the gym makes me want to lay down on the couch.  I don't know if more exercise will help me drop more weight (more exercise in the past has not always proven to do well for me) but it can't hurt - maybe it can help me get over this plateau.  I would like to start school in the fall at 250 or less.  That's 12 weeks from now... an average of 1.5 pounds per week, and let's not forget I have a cruise stuffed in there.  Which means I'll gain weight, and then I'll have MORE than 18 pounds to lose.  Sigh.  I feel like I'm working so hard and I'm not getting anywhere... like trying to run up the down escalator.

I'll weigh in on Monday just to see where I am after the weekend, then Friday is my official WI day.  Fingers crossed.

What you (thought) you knew about me

A lady on one of the blogs I follow suggested we tell a bit about ourselves, so I decided to do it!  P.S. I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to get the italics off of here.  And I love technology.  Go fig.
 
1) I never drive with shoes on.  Ever.  Even if I'm wearing tennis shoes, I always take the right one off to drive.

2) I have a secret desire to act on a stage, but I also have terrible stage fright.

3) I could eat spinach at every meal... cooked, raw, frozen, canned, creamed, you name it!

4) My toes ALWAYS have polish on them.  I can't remember the last time they were naked (it's been 10 years or more)

5) I would love to have a whole houseful of kids... 4, 5, 6... as many as God sees fit to give me. :-)

6) My dream car is a mini-van with all the extras, complete with car seats in the back.

7) I love to sew, but I find I rarely have time for it anymore.

8) I would LOVE to be a surrogate mother, but I don't know if I could ever let go of a baby I carried inside me.

9) Julianne saved my life.  I truly believe that.

10) I can't wait to own my own home one day.

11) I love to wear dresses but it's hard to find them in a style that flatters my figure.

12) I love fresh air and being outside, but I hate being hot.

13) I have never wanted to change my name... I always loved that it was spelled differently.

14) Sometimes it drives me crazy not knowing what my future holds.

15) I desperately want to win the lottery... I have so many plans to help so many people!

16) I hate the sound of my cat licking his fur.  I don't know why, but it gives me the heebie-jeebies.

17) Speaking of cats... I'm not really a cat person.  I definitely love dogs more than cats.  But I tried to have a dog in this apartment and it just didn't work out for me.  I still wanted a pet, though, so KittyMax came to live with us.


18) I like being a teacher, but my true love is educational technology.  I want to work for a book publisher and write the technology curriculum that goes along with their materials.  I think I could do a lot better than those people do now.


19) Cockroaches scare me so much I can't breathe when I see them.  I literally freeze with terror.


20) When Punkin is at her dad's house, I miss her so much my chest literally aches.


21) I can't wait for the day when I reach my goal weight... I think I might just have a heart attack and die of happiness. :-)

Diet FAIL

Yesterday was a shitty day at work.  I mean, really shitty.  Boss Lady wrote me up because evidently I don't straighten the department well enough.  TBPH, on some level, I guess I might agree with her.  I hate that department.  I'm not a "department" kind of worker... I belong on the front end.  Even though it's just a PT job, I know that my talents are being wasted sitting at the stupid furniture desk.  And I hate sitting back there, because not only is it boring since most people can't afford to order overpriced baby furniture these days,  the majority of my job consists of straightening overpriced toys for spoiled little rich kids, vacuuming, and taking out the trash.  If I wanted a janitorial job, I would have applied at Disney where at least the fringe benefits rock.  I HATE straightening toys... because two seconds later, some little kid is going to come along and jack everything up and if I don't notice it, I'll get in trouble for not straightening things. 

Today was not the first shitty day I've had since I've changed things up and started losing weight, but it was the first shitty day where my first thought was to grab every 3 Musketeers bar in a 6 mile radius and eat them one after another, kind of like chain-smoking.  I even said to myself, "Screw this damn diet... I don't weigh in until Friday, I have time to get back on the bandwagon."  So I marched up to the front of the store, grabbed a 3 Musketeers bar, and scarfed the entire thing.  It. Tasted. Delicious.  I wanted four more.  And then a Snickers.  And then half a dozen packs of Twizzlers Pull-n-Peel.  What's crazy is that I'm not even a sugar fiend... I never have been, not even when I was huge (huge-er).  But the site of all that candy sitting there, calling to me, when I had tears drying on my face and I was absolutely exhausted from working so much and ready to just lay down on the floor and die... it was almost too much.

I stopped myself, though.  I'm not exactly sure what it was that stopped me... I think part of it was guilt (towards myself) that I had worked so hard for my weight loss and I was about to throw it away for 6 ounces of nougat.  Part of it was having the forethought to know that if I chowed down on candy and then I didn't have a loss at WI on Friday, that I would likely get frustrated and give up.  But I think the biggest deciding factor was the fact that my stomach was already starting to hurt from ingesting junk.  I hadn't had anything like that in a long time, and my stomach let me know it.

So I went back to my desk, put in my points in my points tracker, and moved on.  Even with the candy,  I still stayed under points.  It still feels like a fail because I gave in to the stress and ate crap, but I guess I should be proud of myself for not giving up completely.

Blah.  Let's hope today is better than yesterday.

High Roller

I've been on an emotional high since yesterday morning... and I'm hoping it continues. :-)

I decided to go to the gym yesterday simply to get out of the house and give Punkin something to do.  She totally destroys the place when we're home and she likes going to the gym daycare, so we headed over.  We stopped at Wal-Mart first to get a cheap set of headphones so I'd have something to use to listen to the TV while I was on the elliptical.  I totally love the little TVs on the machines, but not when I can't hear what's going on.  So I found a pair for like, $2.  They'll probably be destroyed sometime soon by a short person the moderately resembles me, but that's okay - I don't mind because they were so cheap.

I didn't really have a workout in mind and the only class they were doing was Silver Sneakers yoga (yoga for older folks, using chairs for balance and whatnot) so I just jumped on the treadmill and walked at a 2.0 incline for about 10 minutes to warm up.  Afterward, I climbed on the elliptical (my fave!) and watched a combination of the noon news and Supernatural on TNT (GOD, how I miss cable!) while I worked out for about 20 minutes.  When I was done, I decided to weigh myself even though when I was on the scale on Saturday morning, it said 285.  I figured I'd see maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe 284 or 283 if I was super lucky.  Instead, do you know what I saw?

Guess.

No, really, go on and guess.

I'll wait.

:crickets chirping:

Okay, I'll tell you.

It said....

2...
8...
0!


That's right, folks, the scale said 280!  And just in case you had any doubt about whether that scale was accurately calibrated, you can rest assured - I weighed myself on the scale at school and it said exactly the same thing!  280!  I could have died and gone to heaven!  Do you realize what that means?  It means that I have hit my mini-goal of 280... and I am only 10 pounds away from my next mini-goal (and my BIG goal) of 270!  Which will officially be WAY below any weight I've ever been as an over-18 adult!  And look!  Do you see that little number under the 280?  Where is says 38.5?  That's my BMI... for the first time EVER, my BMI is out of the Obesity 3 range!  It's now in Obesity 2!  I know that seems like the weirdest thing ever, to be excited about being labeled Obesity 2, but after Obesity 3, there's nothing else.  So someone who is 6 feet tall and weighs 285 pounds is in the same obesity category as someone 5'2" who weighs 497 pounds.  I can officially no longer be lumped in the "too-fat-for-a-number" BMI group!

I am so happy... and so proud of myself for sticking with this and accomplishing what I have so far.  So many people today told me how great I looked... I know I'm still significantly overweight, but to hear people tell me I look great, they may as well have given me free money!  That's how good it makes me feel!

Tomorrow... ZUMBA!  At least 10 Activity Points right there!!!

Life is SO FABULOUS!!!!

I made it back to the gym!

I went to the gym yesterday!  I'm really proud of myself... I didn't realize I hadn't been there since August.  I guess after starting back to work, I slacked off, and then when I started working at B.RU, I REALLY slacked off.  Because let's face it: Who wants to work 40 hours a week at one job, 30 hours a week at another job, come home to a full-time single mom job, and still go to the gym?  If you know of someone, please let me know, because I sure could use their motivation.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway.... they didn't have any classes at the gym yesterday that I was interested in going to, so I almost didn't go.  They usually only have Bo.dyP.ump on Saturdays and I'm just not into it.  Group weight training is great, but not what I like.  So I decided to just do my own little workout instead.  I did 21 minutes on the Elliptical, 5 minutes on the treadmill and 7 minutes on the bike.  I would have stayed longer on the treadmill but truth is, I got bored, lol.  If I want to walk, I'll walk outside in the fresh air where there's scenery and I can take the Punkin along in her stroller.  And I would have stayed longer on the bike, but after 6 months of not being in the gym and then 20 minutes on the elliptical, my legs were killing me.  So I got off, did some crunches, and called it a day.  I wound up earning 4 activity points, which is more than I'd earned TOTAL since I started WW again.

I'm very pleased with my weight loss!  When I weighed in on Friday, I was 283, which makes me sublimely happy!  I'm below my pre-pregnancy weight and only 3 pounds from my next mini-goal, and only 13 pounds from my all-time adult low (and only 83 pounds from my ultimate goal!)  I'm not struggling with WW like I thought I would... I'm sticking to my points (for the most part), attempting to get exercise, and I'm seeing results, which is all that really matters to me.

If I don't post before next Friday, I'll update then with my next weigh-in.  Wish me luck!

And the slacker award goes to...

Okay, okay, I know it's been a long time since I've posted.  I could offer a million excuses (Punkin was sick, the internet was down, I work two jobs and I'm a single mom and it's hard to find time to breathe let alone post, etc) but I won't.  I'm just a slacker.

I have been OP every day since I've started WW, back on January 3rd.  So today has been one full month!  Yay!  Go me!  There were a couple days this week where I know I went over my points (not by many, maybe1-3) and I didn't track them, but to me, that's okay since I never use my weeklies anyway.  So I know all told I didn't go over my points by 49, which is what my weekly allowance is.  I'm very anxious to see what my weigh-in will be tomorrow.  I've weighed myself almost every day this week and that scale still says 287 - there's no moving it.  I didn't weigh today because the scale I use is in the guidance counselor's office at my school and I was at a training at another school, but I'm nervous about tomorrow's weigh-in.  I know a gain is not the end of the world, but knowing myself, I hope if I DO gain, it's not going to throw me off.  Fingers crossed... not much else I can do.

I had chicken breast and fat free refried bean burritos for dinner tonight.  I had 2, for a total of 15 points, and they were SO yummy.  I don't know why, but for the last several days after I eat a big meal, my stomach hurts like nothing else.  Not cramping, not nausea, but actual pain.  I don't think I'm stretching out my stomach, but if that's not it, I don't know what it could be.  I'm under my points tonight by about 6, I think, which is enough for a chocolate banana peanut butter smoothie, but my stomach is still hurting and I'm not hungry, so I'm going to just let them fall, I think.

I've had a rough night with Julianne so I'm going to bed, I just wanted to write SOMETHING to let you know I'm still alive.  I'll update tomorrow with my WI results!

Tummy trouble and grilled veggie sammitches

My stomach is really hurting tonight.  I have no idea why.  I didn't eat anything funky at all.  Everything I put in my mouth today has gone in there before without incident, so I don't know what's up.  I was super hungry after school because I didn't take an afternoon snack in my lunch bag, so I had some of those chocolate animal crackers I bought the other night.  It's 3 points for a serving, but I don't mind because they taste good and take the edge off my chocolate cravings.  After I picked Punkin up, we stopped at Albertson's because I wanted veggies, and between the two of us we almost completely cleaned out a bowl of fresh pineapple chunks - SO good!  I hope my mom's pineapple plants haven't died in all the freezes we've had this year, because there is nothing like fresh pineapple! 

Anyway, on the way home I stopped at TB and got Punkin a taco because she had been asking for it and I don't mind letting her have one every now and then.  I made myself grilled veggie sandwiches for dinner - toasted hoagie roll (4 pts) brushed with Italian dressing (2 pts) and topped with grilled zucchini, carrots, onions, and mushrooms (0 pts).  It was really good, but after eating the second one my stomach was killing me and it still is more than an hour later.  I don't know why, but I do know that they tasted yummy.  And they're fairly low points for a dinner, especially a filling one that is so healthy!  I didn't use any oil at all to cook the veggies, just sprayed my grill pan with Pam before I tossed everything on.  It would be so nice to live in a house one day where I can have a real grill and cook outside.  I LOVE grilled food, but it certainly doesn't taste the same when you grill on a grill pan on your stove.

I'm pretty proud of myself for how well I've done on WW.  Today is the 18th, so I've been OP 15 days and haven't cheated once, and I've tracked every day.  Normally at this point I'd be thinking about my "cheat day" but I don't even want one.  I want to stay on this plan, to eat healthy, and to lose the weight.  I think I might allow myself a cheat day once I hit 270 pounds - and the "cheat" will be going to Sweet Tomatoes, lol.  I don't know why, but 270 seems to be some sort of magic number for me. I think because last time I did WW, I quit before I got to that point.  I think I quit somewhere around 278 because I started to get cold feet about losing too much weight (WTF is THAT all about?!?).  But I want to see 270 on that scale... so bad I can taste it.  And even more so, I want to see 250.  I know it will be a while before I get there, though, so I'm not gonna freak out if I don't see it before February.  Actually, if I lose an average of 2 pounds per week (some weeks more, some weeks less, as long as I'm OP) I could theoretically be down to 250 by my birthday!  And what a 30th birthday present that would be to myself!

Ooh, now I'm even more excited!  Time to go pack my lunchbox for tomorrow!  Then off to lay down and hopefully cure this stomachache.

Super Fattening Taco Salad In A Deep Fried Bowl...

... has no place in my house.  :-)

I've never been big on the traditional taco salad that you generally find in Mexican restaurants and Taco Bell, but the other night I was trying to figure out what I wanted to have for dinner and the only thing that kept popping into my head was taco salad.  I have no idea why, but that's what it was - a big, fat, honking taco salad.  I knew there was no way to have it the traditional way, so I set about figuring out how to WW-ify it.  I ended up using ground turkey breast instead of beef (YUM-O!  I love how it's not greasy!) and the traditional seasoning, but instead of putting it in the deep-fried bowl, I literally spilled half a bag of lettuce on a plate and tossed 1/4 of the pan of ground turkey on top.  I also diced half an onion and tossed that on, a pinch of RF cheese and some light sour cream and the whole thing wound up being 6 points!  I was thrilled, because I really didn't notice anything different with the taste (except for less grease from the meat).  I had two servings for a tidy little dinner of 12 points and I was totally satisifed.

I had another totally yummy dinner tonight!  Tim and Jacob came up to Altamonte and Punkin and I met them at Chili's.  I probably spent an hour today going over all the NI from the Chili's website so I would know what I could get.  I figured out the points for everything I felt I could have (under 20 pts) and highlighted it, so I would know my choices.  I was pretty convinced I was going to get the Guiltless Grill sirloin, but I saw it only came with a small side of veggies and I really wanted something more hearty.  So I got the Margarita Chicken (with beans and rice) for 15 points, and a house salad for 4 (I skipped the cheese and had low-fat ranch).  I was stuffed before I was done, but I made it a point to finish my chicken because, gosh-darn-it, I was gonna eat every single point of that yummy food.  I finally had to stop with about two mouthfuls of beans left.

But you know the greatest victory about the evening?  Tim and Jacob ordered chips and salsa and the two of them ate two baskets.  But I didn't touch a single one.  Go on, pat me on the back. :-)

Oh, and to end on a super positive note, I weighed-in today.  And guess what?

I'm down 2 more pounds.  :-)

On the road again...

I'm back on the diet bandwagon.  I've been hesitant to mention it to too many people because every time I've mentioned it in the past, I've always cursed myself and jumped off just a few weeks after I started.  Although this time, I'm not calling it a diet - I'm calling it a lifestyle change.  Because to be honest, that's what it is.  I know I'm always going to have days where I'm going to eat whatever I want either due to convenience or sheer desire, but my goal now is to drop all the extra weight (slowly, but permanently) and maintain a healthy lifestyle.  For now it's only diet, but I really want to get back into going to the gym.  I miss it a lot more than I thought I would.  It's been super hard to get there lately because now that I work part time at B.RU (which I love, BTW - can you say BABY FIX?!), I usually work on Monday and Wednesday nights, and those are the nights of my two favorite classes, Body Flow and Zumba.  And the nights that I don't have to work I'm usually too exhausted to do anything.  I spoke to my manager (we'll call her Boss Lady) and told her I needed less hours - because I do.  I work all week at school, then I'm working an extra 25-30 hours each week at B.RU - far too many.  I feel like I never see Julianne, and she's become very clingy.  Boss Lady seemed to understand that I need to spend less time with other people's babies and more time at home with MY baby, so she said she'd take care of it.  Some things I really like about her. :-)

WW has changed their plan around a lot - they now use what they call Poin.tsPl.us.  Most foods are more points than they used to be (except veggies, which are free, and now, hallelujah - all fruit is free too!), and you no longer use calories, fat and fiber to figure points - you use fat, fiber, protein and carbs.  I think the premise behind not using the calories anymore is that not all calories are created equal: some are from fat, some are from protein, some are from carbs, etc.  They also don't have a slider anymore (I think I read somewhere that it was just too complicated to make an effective one) so now you have to either buy the WW calculator that figures it all out, or be smart like me and download an app on your phone that does the same thing (for free). 

The whole plan change thing freaked me out at first until I found out I got to have more daily points too - now I get 49.  Even though I get more dailies I was worried I'd be hungry because all of my favorite foods went up in Poin.tsPl.us, but the whole free fruit thing is really saving me.  I can have my banana/strawberry/blueberry smoothie in the morning and all it costs me is the Poin.tsPl.us for the milk.  Plus, if I wanted to, I could eat ten apples, a bowl of watermelon and whole pineapple for a snack.  Not that I think WW recommends doing that, but it's nice to know the option exists. :-)

In an effort to really get excited about it, I decided to buy my first grown-up lunchbox.  I spent HOURS on Ama.zon looking for the perfect lunchbox for me and narrowed it down to these:

Of COURSE I picked a frog lunchbox.  :-)  It turns out neither one made the cut - my friend J talked me into going to Ross to look at what they had and I found a big pink one with bungee straps on the outside for bottles of water (or in my case, smoothies) and it was only $5, so I got that one instead.  In the 4 days I've owned it, I've only taken it to school twice because I forgot it the other two.  Typical.

Anyway, that's where I'm at for the moment.  I feel good, things feel food, the plan is working for me so far.  So I'm gonna keep on groovin' along.

Peace!

I love that first week loss...

I went to the gym yesterday for my regular Monday afternoon body flow class and since it was Monday, exactly one week from the day I started Weight Watchers, it was time to weigh in.  I hoped on the scale, held my breath, sucked my stomach in (because you know, that takes off a couple ounces) and let the scale do its magic.

The verdict?

DOWN 7 POUNDS IN THE FIRST WEEK!  I am so excited!

I know that the first week loss is always the biggest so I certainly don't expect to lose 7 again next week.  I'm hoping for 1-2 pounds next week but I'll be thrilled with an ounce.  I'm leaving this afternoon for a PLC conference in Jacksonville with some ladies from school and I know it's going to be a struggle to stay on points when I'm away from home and I have to eat out three times a day.  I'm taking my laptop so I can look up nutrition information before we go out to dinner in the evenings, so hopefully that will help me stay on track.

But 7 pounds... MAN, am I motivated!

Chick-Fil-A can BITE ME.

After the gym this morning I stopped at Chick-Fil-A for lunch and got one of their wraps, thinking it would be maybe 5-6 points if I got the low-cal Italian dressing instead of the ceasar that comes with it.  I wanted to order the chargrilled wrap but I asked the guy if we could take the tomatoes off and he said they were pre-made that way.  Well, I can't STAND tomatoes, so I opted for the ceasar wrap instead. Almost as an afterthought, I asked for the nutrition information. Turns out that stupid wrap I bought was 10 points!  At first I was thinking maybe that was without the dressing, but when I got home I used the meal calculator here and saw that it was without.

So for the first time in my life, I only ate half of the wrap and brought the other half home to stick in the fridge. I guess technically I could afford the other half, but I haven't decided on dinner yet and don't want to restrict myself because I indulged in the wrap from hell.  Turns out I could have had their breaded, fried chicken sandwich for less calories! Oh well... at least bringing that half wrap home was really empowering!  I'm actually really hungry so I think maybe I'll eat the other half of the wrap and make a grilled veggie sandwich for dinner.  I'll have to make sure I buy a roll that I can check the NI for because I really think the points list I check for generic foods is way off.  The good thing is that with a grilled veggie sandwich the only thing that matters is the bread and whatever I brush on the veggies!

Downward Facing Dog

I don't think I've ever told anyone before, but I've always wanted to try yoga because I liked the way the name sounded - like yogurt.  I actually hate the taste of yogurt but I wish I liked it - smooth, cool, creamy, nutritious.  So the word yoga has always kind of made me feel good - smooth and happy.  When I found out my gym does yoga, I was really excited because I wanted to try it.  This afternoon J had Punkin so I decided to stop at the gym and do my regular workout - 10 on the Arc Trainer, 10 on the elliptical, 10 on the bike (if my thighs could handle it), my strength training and then 10 on the treadmill to finish it all up.  I usually burn about 400 calories during the cardio (not including all the weight training) so I come out of there feeling totally wiped out but really good about all the calories I burned.  I was on my way to the gym when I noticed the class schedule sitting on the front seat of my car.  I checked it out and saw that they had a BodyFlow class at 4:30, which was just about the right time for me.  I wasn't sure about taking it because Megan (my trainer) had suggested I take BodyJam or Zumba first, but I really wanted to get into a class (ANY class) and that one sounded interesting.

So I get to the gym and the first thing that excited me was that I realized we got to take our shoes off!  Anyone who knows me knows I hate wearing shoes and I avoid it whenever I can.  So finding out I got to do the class in my bare toesies was awesome.  There weren't a lot of women there, which was just as well since I wasn't really sure what to do and with less women there for the class, there would be less women to stare at me.

I enjoyed the class...it was a cross between Tai Chi, Pilates and Yoga.  Parts of it were really relaxing (child's pose):

and other parts were rough (variations of the plank):

and by the time I was done, I was really feeling it.  But I'm very glad I went and I want to go back.  I think right now I'm in this mode where I want to try most every class at least once to see what it's like, then pick the ones I like the best and make those my regulars.

Namaste.  :-)

BEYOND exhausted

The last time I felt this physically drained was the day I moved into this apartment.  We spent three hours going up and down three flights of stairs carrying boxes and heavy furniture, then drove across town and spent three hours going up and down a flight of stairs carrying boxes and heavy furniture in the pouring rain.  When I went to bed that night, my muscles hurt so bad it took me hours to fall asleep. Then once I actually dropped off into the land of noddy-blinky, I slept so hard I woke up with a massive headache.

Before then, I can't remember when I last felt so drained.

I really wanted to try a class at the gym this morning, but they weren't doing anything I felt physically prepared to do.  So I decided to just go and try some of the cardio machines like Megan told me to.  I actually got there around 10 this morning, which in itself is odd since I'm not a morning person.  But I really wanted to get there and get it done so I could enjoy the rest of the day.  I wanted to go to the Humane Society and look at dogs and I wanted to take Julianne swimming, and I figured swimming would feel great after I was done working out.

Once I got there and got Julianne settled in the kid's area, I did the elliptical first.  I had decided I would do each machine for 10 minutes and then move on to weight training, but evidently my body had other plans.  I started on the elliptical and did the ten minutes, plus about 3 minutes of cool-down, and burned 178 calories.  I was pretty pleased with that!

Then I decided to move on to that other machine... I don't know the name.... the one that looks like the elliptical?  Anyway... that thing SUCKS.  Do you hear me?  It SUCKS.  It was killing my legs and I couldn't seem to control the speed... I don't know if it was just the way my body works or if I picked the wrong setting, but I only burned 68 calories on that one before I had to get off.  I moved to the bike, but it was working the same muscles as the previous machine and it kept upping the resistance and by the time I hit 40 calories I was dying.  I pushed through to 50, but at that point I was ready to lay on the floor right there in the gym and die.

I needed a break from the cardio machines, so I decided to head to the weight training.  I did biceps, triceps, deltoids, traps, chest press, shoulder press, ab press... my muscles were KILLING me.  They hurt so bad and I was starting to get nauseated, so I decided to finish up on the treadmill, then go home and die in the privacy of my own bedroom.  I burned 124 calories on the treadmill (damn that last stubborn calorie!) and then I was done.  Altogether I burned 419 calories (not including the weight training) and I'll tell you that right now I'm ready to drop.  I'm taking tomorrow off because it's Mother's Day, but Monday afternoon I have my next training session with Megan.  I'm anxious to see how that goes!

Small steps!

I’m trying to change little things to help in the battle of the bulge.  I try to get up and walk around my classroom more while the kids are working instead of sitting at my desk, grading papers or doing progress reports.  I take the long way when I walk to the office (although that won’t be a problem next year since I’ll be in a portable and every way is the long way to the office) and I try to pick parking spaces that are father out in the lot, especially when I don’t have Julianne with me.  Instead of asking for fries in the cafeteria, I ask for a double helping of veggies and then I drain all the butter juice off of them before I eat them.  I know that individually, each of those things is not going to make a huge difference.  But if I combine them all together, they make for a healthier lifestyle and better eating habits.

        I don’t know why I’m finding it so hard lately to stop eating.  In the past, my weight loss method of choice has always been diet, and I’ve done very well on it, even when I’m not exercising regularly.  But this time around, the gym doesn’t faze me and I can’t seem to stop snacking.  I just want to eat everything I see and even my usual self-lecture: “Konnie!  Put down the bag of pretzels or you’ll be fat forever!”  isn’t working.  Not sure why.  I know I need to get back on Weight Watchers so I can put all of my info in the computer and keep track of it, but really, an extra $18 a month in conjunction with the gym membership is just not something I can afford right now, as well as going grocery shopping to get all the right foods.  Why do companies make it so hard for people to lose weight?  Everything they say on TV commercials and in print make you want to feel like they really care about you and they really want you to succeed – but then the moment you log onto the website, it’s BAM!  – here’s a fee for this and POW! – here’s a fee for that and SHABLOOM! – I forgot there’s a fee just for accessing the website. 

I know that it’s all doable WITHOUT the website, but WW online offers a lot of good tools that I really take advantage of, like the recipe builder and the message boards.  It’s really important for me to have the human connection with other people that are trying to do the same thing I am.  Because let’s face it – I can call my mom all I want and tell her I stayed within my points when everyone around me was going crazy, but she won’t be nearly as proud of me as Betty in Lincoln, Nebraska, who is trying to do the same thing and struggling every day just like me to NOT eat the two candy bars the kids brought me for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Achey Breaky muscles!

I'm sore today.

I didn't feel it until I got home and settled down, but my back, inner thighs, chest muscles and legs are sore from the weight training and elliptical yesterday.  I'm pretty sure it's not from the treadmill because I go walking at that pace all the time and I never felt sore the next day.  The soreness isn't debilitating or anything - on the contrary, it feels pretty good, especially when I stretch.  It's nice to remember where my muscles are. :-)

I slept very well last night!  Again, I'm sure it's because I got exercise.  At any rate, it's nice because Tuesday night I didn't sleep well at all and I kept waking up up before my alarm went off because I was afraid I was going to forget my workout clothes.  Speaking of which, I need to get them together and put into the car for tomorrow.  If I wait till the morning to do it, I'll be rushing around like crazy (as usual) and I'll be frustrated.  So if I take just a couple minutes tonight to get stuff together, I can get my morning off to a much better start.

My first personal training session is tomorrow at 4:30, and I'm really excited to get my butt kicked!  I really want to learn what I can/should do to get the maximum benefit out of this gym membership.  I only get three training sessions with my membership so I really need to learn as much as I can during those workouts so later on I'll be able to do it on my own.  Of course, my first goal is to lose weight.  My second goal is to tone up.  I'd rather be thin and flabby than fat and toned!  But if I can be thin and toned, well, then, why complain?  I know I can't do it by walking on the treadmill for an hour a day, so I'm very anxious to learn what WILL get me to where I want to be!

I'll update tomorrow after my workout.

Off to a good start!

I stopped by the gym on my way hjome from work today.  I signed up at the Altamonte location, but the Apopka location (which, who are we kidding here, is really in Altamonte too) is the one I pass on my way home.  So I brought my workout stuff and went there immediately after school.  I dropped Julianne in the Kid's Club and she seemed much more comfortable there than she did in the Altamonte one yesterday, so that's something for me to keep in mind because it really bothered me yesterday to see her sitting on the side of the room, away from everyone else.

Since I haven't had my training session yet, I honestly didn't really know where to start.  But I decided to just do my old standby.  I got on the treadmill and set it for 10 minutes, but I accidentally pulled the kill switch so I don't know exactly how long I was on, even though I think it was around 7 minutes.  I got back on and set the timer back to 5 and finished it up.  The stupid machine kept putting my incline and speed down because it didn't like that my heart rate was 130-140 when it wanted me to be at 125.  So I think next time I go I'm going to pick a different program than the fat burning one.

After the treadmill, I got on the elliptical.  I like that machine.  It makes me feel like I'm running without the pounding on my knees.  Plus, I burn a lot of calories on it.  And that one doesn't mind if my heart rate is 40 or 240, so I can go at my own pace.  I spent a little over 10 minutes on that one.

After that I went over to a fun looking machine and decided to give it a shot.  It wasn't so fun.  I think it was designed to torture people.

I wanted to get in some weight training, so I did some machines that looked relatively easy to use and had clearly posted instructions.  I worked on the shoulder press, something that worked on my inner thighs and something else that worked on the outer thighs.  I feel pretty drained, which I guess is the mark of a successful workout.  I don't think I'm going tomorrow, especially since the guy I talked to yesterday told me 3 days would be enough for me.  So today, Thursday with my trainer, and probably Saturday morning.

I'm on my way.  :-)

Joined A Gym

So here I am starting this weight loss journey all over again.

Joined Lifestyle Family Fitness today.  I have my first personal training session on Thursday and I'm mega-excited.  Tomorrow I'll do the treadmill and eliptical just for grins.

Wish me luck.  :-)