Day 58: Picture Day!

Day 58: Weigh-in 170.6

That's right folks, it says 1-7-0. That means it's time to put up a new picture! Keep in mind, pictures never turn out great when you're taking them with a timer and a tripod, but here's the best I could do...

So 170 marks a little over 15 lbs I've lost since Jeff left. I'm really trying for 5 more before he comes home. I really think it can happen!

Day 53: Getting closer

Day 53: Weigh-in 171.2

Ok so it took me about a week to lose a lb and a half. If I can keep that up, I will have lost 20 lbs before Jeff comes home. I don't know if 20lbs in six months is completely fantastic when I was hoping to lose 30 in three and a half months, but my knees are happier! =) 1.2 more lbs and I'll put up that new picture!

Progress maker: I can see definition in my calves!!! I flex and they look toned, trim, and strong. If the rest of my body looked like the part below my knees, I'd be in a Victoria's Secret catalogue. Well, maybe not, but I'd have no qualms about wearing one of their swimsuits to the beach.

This morning I had a session with my trainer, and things are definitely getting tougher. I can get on the Bosu ball all by myself now though (and if you don't know what that is, be thankful you don't)! I was feeling a little winded today, but I was able to push through it because I'm getting stronger. He's upping the reps, shortening the breaks (or cutting them out!) between exercises, and my form is getting better through it all. Most times I'm just about to work to failure, which is when I go til I just physically can't, and manage to finish. I have three more sessions with him left, but I'm not sure if I'll purchase more or not. I have soccer coming up, Jeff is coming home, and we're getting ready to move. But I'm going to try to get the most out of what I have left.

Day 45: Back in the saddle again

Day 45: Weigh-in 172.4

Yes! It's Me! I have in fact posted once again. I'm not going to lie, I got discouraged. I was posting the same numbers day after day, and frankly it was disheartening to keep this up until something changed. Since my last post on Feb. 11th, I have bounced back and forth between 174-176 lbs. The day before yesterday I broke through with a 173.9. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke before picking this up again.

I had a very frank talk with my husband about how frustrated I was that I wasn't losing weight (on the scale), despite my best efforts. He told me matter-of-factly that we women put too much emphasis on weight, and I should be looking for other indicators that I was improving. So I did:

1. The belt I wear everyday: When I was working I had to buy it because all my other ones were too small, and even this one I could only get on the first hole. I'm now on the 4th, borderline 5th (and final) hole. I can actually fit into most of my other belts again, but I continue to wear this one to measure my progress.

2. My clothes from last summer: Last year I was 195 lbs and refused to buy clothes in size XL or pants bigger than a 12 or maybe 14. As a result I know I didn't look as good as I could have, and clothing was often tight in unflattering places. I can now wear all of those comfortably, even loosely, and am working my way back into my old size 10 clothing.

3. My run time: When I first got on the treadmill, I was unable to finish a full 1.5 miles without slowing down and walking. I couldn't continue a 5mph pace without stopping, and the 1.5 miles took 18-19 minutes. To finish 2 miles took almost 28 minutes. I can now do a continuous 5.5mph pace without stopping, and my mile and a half time is about 16 minutes. Two miles takes 23, but that's just speed walking the last half mile (5.5 still takes the wind out of me, even if i can finish it)

4. Seated leg press: I started with 10 reps at 115 lbs. I can now do 15 reps at 175lbs.

5. All my other weights and reps have gone up as well.

6. I have more energy for every day activities, and my knees and shins aren't bothering me anymore.

I'm still working with my trainer, and in fact have a session with him tomorrow. Every time I work with him, he says I did a lot better than he thought I would, and makes the next workout even harder. One of our workouts was a circuit of 8 exercises that I was to complete 3 times without stopping. He thought it would take me about 45 minutes, and I finished in 29:57. The last exercise of the circuit was a 1/4 mile on an incline, and I finished it a few seconds faster each time.

I am going to try to keep this up better than I have been, but instead of daily posts, I will probably only post when I have reached a new low weight. I know I just went on about how I have made progress in other areas, but I still step on that scale everyday, and that's the number that follows me. The number I'm still fighting to change.

P.S. Only 2.4 lbs before I post a new picture of myself =)

Day 24 and 25: Finally a step forward

Day 24: Weigh-in 175.4

Day 25: Weigh-in 174.4!!!

That's right, I broke through! I've hit the new low! 17.3 here I come! In 4.4 lbs I will post a new picture of me at 170.

This week hadn't been the best for me getting out and exercising, I've been sorta busy taking care of property taxes and various other things. I meant to go today, but I woke up late and I have a lot to do around the house before my friends come over for dinner tonight. We're having steaks, pasta salad, and green beans.

This weekend is supposed to be beautiful, and I plan on spending as much of it as possible outside. We'll take the dogs for a hike or two, and then I'm gonna take the little one to the park. She loves climbing all over things and she's been itching to play outside. Next week, when payday comes, I'm signing up for more personal training sessions.

Right now I have a floor to scrub... and trust me that's a workout.

Day 23: Couch Potato

Day 23: Weigh-in 176.2

Yeah so I still haven't really budged. Not much going on there. I started making my own smoothies using frozen fruit (no sugar added), Yoplait rasberry yogurt, and milk. It's my new desert, replacing my ice cream cone.

I slept most of the day today. I havent been feeling well and my back was sore, so I spent most of the day dozing on the couch. Tomorrow I have a lot of errands to run, so I'm not sure I'm going to make it to the gym either. Maybe I'll do an evening run.

Grrrr. All I want right now is to wake up to 174. Is that too much to ask?

Day 21 and 22: Tryin to get past the wall

Day 22: Weigh-in 175.4

If you'll notice, there is no weigh-in for Day 21. I was unable to get a clear number yesterday, so it will go unrecorded. I'm not sure if it was the party the night before, or the fact that my 'friend' came, but when I woke up I weighed 188.6. My stomach wasn't sitting right with me all day yesterday though, and as I used the restroom a few more times it jumped around from 175 to 177. This morning I was relieved to see it had come back down to normal, but I'm still frustrated that I seem to have hit a wall.

I hit the gym today for the first time since the session with my trainer. I decided to do a blend of my usual routine and the one he had taken me through. I started with a brisk walk/jog for half a mile then hopped off and went to the free weight area. One of the things he had me do was a plank for as long as I could. On Thursday I went for 1 minute 28 seconds, and today I pulled off 1:35. I did about 4 more exercises he had run me through, including the one with the medicine ball. I didn't want to duplicate everything he had me do because I wanted to be able to make it back in the gym this week, but I did throw in a few machines using heavier weights than I usually do. I finished up with another half mile on the treadmill. The whole workout took a little less than an hour, but I came away feeling more productive than I usually do.

I went grocery shopping after I left the gym. I really only meant to get milk, cereal, and dog food but came out with much more, as will happen when you go shopping hungry. Lunch ended up being a turkey sandwich with nothing on it, a snack bag of baked ruffles, and a tall glass of OJ. Dinner will either be a Lean Cuisine or a big salad.

Day 20: Feelin' Like a Winner!

Day 20: Weigh-in 175.2

Ok, so I'm feeling good for two reasons. I found a really good snack that apparently is not detrimental (and possibly beneficial) for my diet: Special K Chocolatey Delight cereal. It's sooooo good! And it gets me to drink more milk, which is really helpful. The second reason is:

 THE PACKERS BEAT THE STEELERS IN THE SUPER BOWL!

Sorry, I had to get that out of my system.

Tomorrow will tell how good of a day today was. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast before taking the kiddo and the dogs out for a hike. It was a really pretty day, but the trail was muddy, so it was slow going. I had a protein shake when I got back instead of lunch because I knew I'd be eating at the Super Bowl party I was heading too.

At the party, I had two Miller Lights, a Mountain Dew, a slice of a club sandwich, a few BBQ wings, and a few handfuls of M&M's. We were also supposed to take a shot every time the other team scored, so thankfully I was cheering for Green Bay, and that we stopped doing that at half time. That was probably a lot of calories, but I'm sure I burned a few jumping and shouting at the TV.

Today was a good day.

Day 19: Walking wounded

Day 19: Weigh-in 175.6

If no news is good news, I guess no gain is good news. I find my self at a barrier, and I have to figure out how to break it.

I really couldn't bring myself to do much of anything yesterday. Today the kiddo and I went for a walk around the mall though. We actually did a few laps of both the upper and lower levels before I let her loose in the play area. I only had the little umbrella stroller with me, so it wasn't heavy, but it was pretty uncomfortable having to lean over so much to push. I'm doing better though.

Tomorrow morning I'm planning on taking the pups for a hike. I need to get some sort of exercise in before the big game!

Day 18: Pain is weakness leaving the body

Day 18: Weigh-in 175.6

I'm hurting. Muscles I was unaware of are preventing me from coughing, petting my dogs, opening doors, or picking up my kid. I have to figure a way to stretch out and get moving. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Day 15, 16, 17: Absence makes the heart grow stronger

Day 15: Weigh-in 176.4
Day 16: Weigh-in 175.6
Day 17: Weigh-in 175.4

I have discovered a flaw in titling my blog "My Brand-New Old Self." My old self had some issues with follow-through. It appears in striving to become my old self I might be preventing myself from becoming a new self. These past few days I've realized that it may be difficult to post every day with a lengthy accounting of my day if it didn't really include anything to do with my goal. Of course I'm eating the best I can, but I'm not always working out, and I don't want this to become just a journal of my daily errands. So I've decided I will post everyday with my weigh-in and any interesting tidbit from the day, and lengthier posts on days I've actually done something productive. Today is one of those longer days.

I know I was supposed to post Tuesday with an accounting of my personal training session, but we had to reschedule because my kiddo wasn't feeling well. I didn't want to get into the middle of it and then have the child watch people come and get me if she was being fussy. We rescheduled for today, and ladies and gentleman...I will be feeling it tomorrow. And the next day. And probably the day after that.

We started with a fitness assessment which consisted of push-ups, some aerobic stepping, planks, various crunches, and a few other exercises. My trainer used my scores to determine just how hard he could push me, and to see how hard I could push myself. After the assessment, which lasted about 15 minutes, he took me through a series of core exercises. I don't really know the names of any of them because I've never done any of them before, which honestly was a surprise. Between ROTC and my husband, I thought I'd seen pretty much every exercise you could really do. We used weights, a medicine ball, one of those giant bouncy balls, pulleys, and benches. We finished things off with 10 minutes on an elliptical.

I have to admit, I pushed myself a little bit harder than I normally do during my workouts. Not that I take it easy on myself, I don't, but there's something to be said about having someone watching you that helps you pull out a little extra effort. I guess I managed to impress, because he said I did better than almost all his other first time clients. Apparently I'm not clumsy, I learn routines and form quickly, and I push myself.

I can already feel myself tightening up, which is my signal that tomorrow is going to be rough. I was having issues just picking my daughter up this evening. I know I'm going to need to go out and do something tomorrow, but I'm not sure what I'll end up doing. Maybe I'll just go in tomorrow for a quick jog on the treadmill. Or maybe I'll stay home and do some stretching and maybe one or two of the exercises he had me do. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Day 13 and 14: Well that's disappointing

Day 13: Weigh-in 176.6

Day 14: Weigh-in 177.0

First off, I have to apologize for missing my post yesterday. I didn't get a workout in, and I ate pretty decently, but I was pretty busy. I had a board meeting for soccer that lasted 3 hours and I went to another dealership to test drive the Chevy Equinox. I ended up driving a 4 cylinder and a V6, then I sat down to talk prices with the guy afterward. I didn't get home until my kiddo's bedtime and I still had feed her.

Today started out decently enough, if you don't count the weigh-in ( I really don't know whats up with that). I had a breakfast of hard boiled egg whites and a handful of fruity cheerios my daughter was feeding me from her bowl. I had a meeting with my trainer at 12:30 and we discussed what our workout will be like and what our goals were. Tomorrow we'll be doing a fitness evaluation to see where I stand. He says we'll start out with calisthenics and move to core exercises. He let me know what I should be eating tomorrow, carbs in the morning, protein after the workout, and we parted ways.

I headed to the gym to get started on my workout. Mike (my trainer) said I should take it easy today since we'll be pushing it pretty hard tomorrow. I wasn't intending to do anything any different, but I ended up managing to run my mile and a half in 16 minutes today, down from 17. Since I had already pushed a little on the treadmill, I was going to do a shortened circuit. What I didn't know was just how short it was going to be. I got through my first 10 reps on my first machine, when one of the child watch people came up to me and told me that my little one was fussing and they couldn't get her to calm down. I went and picked her up and she was fine by the time we got home.

I fixed her a quick lunch and put her down for a nap and that's my day so far. When she wakes up we'll have to head to the grocery store because our cupboards are pretty bare. I don't know what I'll be having for dinner tonight yet, but it will probably be a light one.

Day 12: Surprisingly at a Standstill

Day 12: Weigh-in 176.4

So this marks the first time I've woken up at the same weight as the day before. I'm going to count this as a success considering my wonderfully caloric dinner last night. Mmmm. BBQ wings. I would probably also attribute it to my workout yesterday (I can feel the buns of steel forming) and the extra water I've been drinking.

Today turned out to be a pretty busy day for me. I woke up this morning a little late and had a shake on the way to sign my final tax forms while the kiddo chewed on an Eggo waffle in the back seat. We spent an hour there because they couldn't get the forms to print up. I had brought the dogs along because I planned to go for a hike when we were done. We did make it to the park eventually and the dogs had a great time chasing the toy I would throw for them. Gauge didn't like to bring it all the way back to me though, so I spent a lot of time chasing the toy down myself. Since the pups were off on their own and not pulling me like a sled, I figured I should do something to get my pulse going, so I decided to jog a little. Now let me just say that jogging in hilly, grassy, muddy terrain probably isn't that easy to begin with... and I was doing it with 35 lbs of kid and pack on my back (at least I had the shoes for it). The little one found it entertaining though. I made it about a quarter mile before having to stop, but I felt pretty good about it.

After we left the park, I headed to a few local dealerships to check out a few SUV's we've been looking at. I got a bit of unexpected exercise while we were there. Most of the lot was inaccessible by car, and I didn't have a stroller so I ended up toting the kiddo around. 23 lbs of wiggle worm on your hip can get pretty heavy after a while. The funny thing is that as I'm typing this, I remembered that I had a backpack in the bed of the truck I could have put her in. Oh well, its done with now.

In the midst of all the running around, I lost track of time and ended up needing to stop for lunch. I didn't want to go inside anywhere at this point, so places like Subway were out. I ended up having to do the Wendy's drive through and I got the first fast food value meal I've had since I got back from PA for the holidays. I had a chicken sandwich with all the mayo wiped off. Since lunch was so late, I just had a small dinner of chicken and rice in a bowl.

Oh and on a side note, I have over 100 views to my blog. Thanks everyone for reading and following along!

Day 11: Moving forward

Day 11: Weigh-in 176.4

Well, considering my little tiff yesterday I'm glad to see the number go down and not up. True to my word though I have moved past it and I started out today with a good attitude. I also made myself keep drinking water, which honestly might be harder for me than working out.

I had my usual Special K shake before heading to the Y for my workout. My trainer hadn't called to set up a session yet, so I stretched my workout out so it lasted until he got to work at 1 to talk to him. This turned out to be a good thing, because I ended up adding an extra exercise to my routine, and extra reps to the exercises I had already been doing. I even spent a little extra time on the treadmill. I got the full 2 miles in today then walked a little more after that.

I've been keeping track of my heart rate, and I'm not exactly happy with it. When I'm running it gets as high as 186 beats per minute, or 31 beats every 10 seconds. That's not necessarily unhealthy, but it's higher than I would like. When I'm going through my circuits, it hovers around 156 bpm or 26 beats every 10 seconds. It's going to take some conditioning, but my target heart rate is about 150 bpm while running, and even lower than that while doing my circuit.

I hit up Wendy's on the way home for another small chili because it was calling out to me. When I got home I double checked the nutritional information and discovered that it contained 18 grams of protein. Not bad for fast food! It had 220 calories, but considering it was my lunch I also didn't think that was too shabby... especially for 99 cents. It's got a little spice to it and fills me up, so it may be a regular part of my post workout diet.

Dinner tonight is going to be pizza and wings with some family and friends, but I'm going to try not to go overboard. Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice out, sunny with a temp in the 50's, so I'm planning on taking the dogs out for a good long hike. Should be good.

Day 10: Minor setbacks

Day 10: Weigh-in 176.6

So today was sort of a bad day for me. Feeling slightly discouraged about this morning's weigh-in, I approached the day with a slight 'devil may care' attitude. I skipped breakfast, ate half of a LC for lunch, had a few cookies (seriously though, just a few) and had a chocolate lolly pop left from my stocking. I also had a Coke for lunch and dinner. Dinner was perogies and peas covered in butter and salt. Maybe not the worst possible day, but certainly not what I should have done. To make matters worse, I've already made plans with friends and family to have a pizza and wings night tomorrow.

However, I have seen the error of my ways. I know I need to do better, and I will. Tomorrow is a workout day, and I plan to throw myself into it. I also plan on slamming back water as much as I can stand from here on out. I used to do this stupid thing as a kid... my brother and I would race to see who could drink an entire bottle of water the fastest. I can do it these days in about 14 seconds. Maybe its not the most mature way of doing things, but it makes drinking water a little more fun, and ensures I actually drink a whole bottle instead of just playing with it for a day.

On days like this, I'm always tempted to lie about my morning weigh-in or skip the daily post all together. I feel like if I'm not showing progress then I'm letting everyone down. It's hard to actually come out and express my shortcomings to others. However, I always (thankfully) realize that I wouldn't be lying to everyone else, I'd be lying to myself. I'd be making up progress that wasn't really happening which in turn would skew my goals and what I need to do to attain them. So in the future, if I have a bad day, I am not going to lie or exaggerate about it. That's a promise to you and to myself. I may not make that day's post very long though, since I don't see a need to dwell on it.

Day 9: Death and Taxes

Day 9: Weigh-in 176.4

This was one of those days where I woke up stumped. I didn't exactly stay sedentary all day yesterday, and I didn't go over my calorie limit, so the climb in weight always gets to me on days like these. I spent most of the last evening moving furniture around, including my king size bed. Lets just say the dogs made quite a mess and I had to clean it up. But if that didn't burn calories then I may be out of luck with this whole thing. I guess this is why some people argue against weighing yourself everyday.

Today I managed to get a Special K shake down before heading off to the Y. I started off my workout with the treadmill as usual but was feeling winded for some reason, so I only ended up doing a mile and half before I had to get off. Not one to just accept a slow start, I threw myself into the machines. Luckily there weren't many people there today and I was free to move from station to station without a problem. I really pushed myself today, upping the weight on almost all the exercises I normally do. Even though my run was cut short, I came away today feeling like I accomplished something. I'm sure I'll feel that way tomorrow too.

When I was leaving to pick up the kiddo, I saw a notice board featuring all the Y's personal trainers so I stopped by the service desk to get some information. The prices were a little steep, but I decided if I was going to make any progress I wanted to make sure I was getting the most out of my workout. I also figured that they would be able to help me work in free weights. I only got one session, figuring I can decide from there if I need more.

On the way home I stopped at Wendy's to get the kiddo some chicken nuggets and I got a small chili. I read in one of those "Eat this not that" articles that one of those chilis was actually a pretty decent post-workout food because it's loaded with protien and isn't high in calories. It tasted pretty good too.

I had to go do my taxes tonight and found myself nearly falling asleep in the middle of it. I'm not sure if I was dehydrated or if was just the intense workout or both. I had dropped my kiddo off at my sister in-law's house and ended up eating dinner there after I got done...Tacos! When we got home, I put the little one to bed, laid down on the couch for some tv, and promptly fell asleep. I just felt dead to the world.

Day 8: The day after

Day 8: Weigh-in 175.6

I'm not really surprised about the slight weight gain today. The first time I work out after a brief absence usually means a few extra ounces the next day. I'm not really sure why, but I figure it has something to do with all the water I drink and the increase in appetite I get for the rest of the day. Not to mention muscle weighs more than fat.

I'm pleased to say I'm not really sore today, but that probably has more to do with my unfinished routine yesterday than it does me getting used to the routine. My quads and arms are a little tender because I got to work those more. All the machines that work the core were taken every time I turned around. One way I could avoid the machine rush is to work free weights into my workout, but I don't know enough about them to come up with an effective routine. I keep meaning to ask someone there, but it was so busy yesterday I just got fed up. Maybe tomorrow.

I made the kiddo pancakes this morning, but I stuck to just yogurt for myself. I didn't really want to face all the butter and sugar that would go along with them. I had one of those steamed LC bags for lunch, but I added a little grilled chicken to it because I didn't realize when I bought it that it was lacking meat. I like to get packages of diced up grilled or roasted chicken because they are perfect for tossing on top of a salad or bowl of rice, or in this case a Lean Cuisine. I had a real craving for ice cream after lunch and broke down and ate one of my mini Nestle cones. I usually eat them for desert after dinner, but tonight I'll just have to make do without. They say if you are craving something you should consider just having it, because other wise you'll just consume more calories eating around your craving than you would have if you had just eaten what you were craving to begin with. That's my justification and I'm sticking to it.

Day 7: Working in patience while working out

Day 7: Weigh-in 175.2

I don't know if I'm going to mentally 'count' .2 pounds... because really it only translates to 3.2 ounces. I find that to make myself feel better and to keep from losing steam I round down. So for me today was another 175 day. Since today is Monday that marks the start of Week 2 (I started this on a Tuesday, but I'll just call that a short week so it's easier to keep track of) and that means I'm slowly starting to lose time. Luckily I achieved half a month's goal in just one week, so I'm not behind. I could even tentatively say I'm ahead of schedule, but I won't do that. That would ultimately just lead to slacking.

This morning started out pretty nicely. I wasn't coughing, only had to blow my nose once or twice, and I actually felt pretty good. For breakfast I had a yogurt and I split a pear with my kiddo. Lunch was an LC and a coke. Dinner tonight will be a bowl of she-crab soup from Harris Teeter.

Considering it's been over a week since I've worked out, today really need to be a gym day. Unfortunately, my friend had taken my truck in to work with her to get it inspected and I forgot to take the car seat out. That meant I didn't get to the Y until 4pm...and it was crowded. I got the last treadmill to available, and did 2 miles. I did the first mile and a half in 17 minutes and walked/jogged the next half mile which made my time just under 24 minutes. It's a pretty bad time I know, but I've never been a speed runner. If I can get my mile and a half under 15 minutes, I'll be more than pleased with myself.

By the time I got off the treadmill, the place had been flooded with people who had just gotten off work. and I tried my best to finish my usual routine, but it would have taken me an hour longer because it was so crowded. I usually do 3 circuits on the machines, working my legs, abs, back, arms and chest. I have sort of a different routine that most people in there. I like to do 10-15 reps of one exercise on the heaviest weight I can manage, and then move on to the next exercise. I will do this for all the machines I plan to use and then repeat until I've done all machines 3 times. Most people will use several different machines, but they will do their reps, rest a minute, and then do more reps. They repeat that 3 times and then move on to the next machine, doing just one lap around the gym.

I don't like this method for a few reasons. The first is that it means one person is sitting on a machine for almost 5 minutes, meaning someone else has to either skip that machine or wait. Waiting can mean letting your pulse go back down, which I don't like to do. If you do skip it, chances are you'll miss them getting off and someone else will probably get on it. This throws my circuit off all the time.

The second reason is that I find spacing out the machines allows me to get more out of the workout. For example, I can do good 10 leg lifts using 50lbs, move on to other machines, then come back two more times and do 10 more good lifts at 50 lbs. If I were sitting there doing all three times at once I wouldn't be able to do them at 50 lbs without compromising form, so I'd have to go down to 30 lbs. It makes more sense to me to be able to do reps at a higher weight using good form, than to do the same amount of reps using a lower weight and/or bad form.

Anyway, it was too crowded to do it my way, so I had to leave halfway through the second circuit. I'm glad I finally made it to the gym, but I don't feel as satisfied as I normally do. Wednesday I'll be able to go in earlier so I should miss the crowd and get in a full set.

Day 6: A new low

Day 6: Weigh-in 175.0

This morning's weigh-in marked a new low point for me, and I mean that as a good thing. Today was the first time I've seen 175 on the scale since I was probably 8 months pregnant. That was a year and a half ago! I came close before the holidays, but never quite reached that mark. So this has been quite a good first week for me, I've lost 5 1/2 pounds! Now of course I don't expect that kind of loss every week (though I wish), because that just isn't healthy. The normal healthy loss is 1-3lbs a week. I imagine the change in diet after chowing down on Christmas cookies for 3 weeks was the reason for the big loss.

You know the phrase "Those who can't do, teach"? Well I'm that type of person when it comes to diet and exercise. I know exactly what it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle, what kinds of foods are good for a given part of the day, how to manage eating and exercising...all of that. But have I ever been able to stick to any of it myself? No. I've mentioned it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I suck at self motivation. To be honest I'm sorta surprised I've been able to stick with this. But some times you just HAVE to get something done. I NEED to get this done.

This morning the kiddo let me sleep in, and all we had time for was cantaloupe because I had to get us ready for a birthday party.(Oh and to correct a former post, it was for a just turned 6 year old, not 5.) It can be really hard to avoid bad foods when you're going out to eat, especially when someone else ordered and paid. So I split a small cheese pizza with the little one, had two BBQ wings, and a slice of a quesadilla. The kiddo and me shared a small piece of the birthday cake as well.

Since I had a big lunch, I'll probably have a slice of Gorton's grilled salmon and a small salad. The Gorton's fisherman stuff was quite a find for me. They have different varieties of salmon and tilapia, such as lemon and herb, classic grilled, butter and garlic, that are all very tasty. They come with two small steaks in a box and each are only 100 calories. They're great for 1 or 2 person meals.

So I'm keeping up with this blog no matter what, but I am curious...is anyone out there following along?

Day 5: Losing is the reward

Day 5: Weigh-in 176.8

That's right. Seemingly overnight I lost nearly 4 pounds. I actually had to step on the scale twice just to make sure I was reading it right. That means I'm back at my pre-holiday weight! However, considering this is probably a combination of getting over my illness (I woke up this morning and could breath again!) and all the water flushing my system, I promise not to be too disappointed if it goes back up a little tomorrow. I have to be really careful because right about now is when I would falter. I would say "Oh I'm doing good, I can treat myself a little." But I must remember that I only have until April to meet my goal of 30 lbs, and that each pound I lose is my reward... not the ice cream cone in the freezer.

Breakfast this morning is back to she Special K protein shake and lunch will make itself apparent after a trip to the grocery store. I have a few LCs and a box of Lean Pockets, but I need to get some stuff for the kiddo. Not only do I need to hit up the grocery store, but I'm going to be running all over trying to find a pair of rollerblades for my friends' just-turned 5 year old. We'll be attending his birthday party tomorrow.

I still have a little bit of a cough as it seems the cold has moved from my head to my chest. However, I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll be able to hit up the gym by Monday. I really need to get into the habit of making at least 3 trips a week. Getting back into my old PT schedule of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday should be a good start. Hopefully I can supplement the gym routine with nice long hikes with the dogs on the weekend. When you're carrying 35 pounds of kid on your back and chasing after two young bird dogs, the gym looks easy.

To be honest the one activity I'm dying to get back into is cycling. It's pretty cold out now, but hopefully by the time it warms up I wont be too embarrassed to get into a pair of bike shorts again. Spandex only looks good on people who look good naked. I guess I'll also need to find a babysitter, because there's too much traffic around here to put the kiddo on the bike with me. I'm fine by myself, but I've had some close calls and I'd be terrified if she were with me.  It's something to look forward to. There's not really anything like it.

Day 4: Two steps forward, one step back

Day 4: Weigh-in 180.2

Well I guess not every day can be forward progress. It's always dissapointing to start a trend of forward movement and then have a even a minor setback. I didn't change much as far as diet goes, but I still haven't exercised as much as I need to because of this cold. I can only hope the gain was water retention because of the medicine I'm taking... I did drink 4 bottles of water yesterday, which is 3 more than normal for me.

I did a bad thing this morning; I didn't have breakfast of any sort. They say that you should eat breakfast like a king, and lunch and dinner like a servant. I have never been able to do that, but I atleast try to make an effort. I made myself eat a LC for lunch, some chicken and rice thing that I couldn't really taste because I'm all stuffed up. Food just isn't calling my name today. The only I think I do want is something spicy (and I hate spicy foods) to clear me up for a little while. Too bad I don't have anything spicy in the house.

I was going to take my truck to get inspected today, knowing it would take a while. I figured me and the kiddo would take a walk and do a little shopping or get something to eat. I then realized that all the places next to where I usually go are fast food. What would be the point of a walk if it ended in more calories than I burned getting there? So I'm having a friend who works at a dealership take it in with her on Monday, and Ginny and I went and did some Valentine's shopping for Daddy's care package. As I'm walking up and down the isles filled with red and pink candies, I had to force myself not to grab a package of rasberry filled dark chocolate....oh how I wanted that! But I held strong and only picked out stuff for my hubby.

And P.S. for my anonymous commenter: Thanks for the tip on boiled eggs! I never would have thought to do that.

Day 3: Every little bit counts

Day 3: Weigh-in 179.8

So it's not much, just point-two pounds, but the little thrill I get from seeing 1-7-9 as opposed to 1-8-0 is more than satisfying. It's a whole new set of ten!

Yesterday, we did end up taking our little walk out in the big field, but it became more of a resistance exercise than a hike. Normally, I drive out there, let the dogs out of their crates and they are free to run for the duration of the entire visit. Well just my luck there are two cops in the parking lot, sitting in their cars, eating donuts. Now I've never seen a sign out there saying dogs have to be on leashes, but I wasn't taking that chance. So I have my kiddo on my back, one dog's leash in my hand, and one dog's waist leash (it wraps around my waist for hands free walking) buckled securely around the backpack. I now know what a dog sled feels like.

After that workout in the beautiful weather (almost 60 degrees!) I was more than ready for my sister-in-laws delicious lasagna. I broke my rule about not having second helpings last night. I had a mini ice cream cone for desert last night too, which may be the reason for only a .2 loss... but I still met my calorie goals and got my exercise in, so I think I deserved it.

Today is more of the same with my cold. I woke up with difficulty breathing I was so stuffed up. After all the cough syrup I had I was just going to give up and stick with Advil for the headache, but in my search of the medicine cabinet I found a prescription bottle of pseudoephedrine left from my ear aches last year. I'm already feeling better! Not good enough for the gym mind you, but good enough clean up a little.

I ate lots of yogurt and fruit this morning, and lunch was LC pizza. I've been trying to drink more water, I have a bottle next to me now, but I can't stress how much I really dislike drinking water. Especially cold water. Maybe that's weird, but unless I'm working out I hate cold water. If I drink it, I pull a warm bottle out of the pantry and open it right there. Is anyone else like that?

I hope I feel human enough to go to the gym tomorrow, I really don't want to deal with the Y's weekend childwatch hours.

Day 2: Is it too early to celebrate?

Day 2: Morning weigh-in: 180.0 (as in 180 even, on the dot)

So hopefully its a sign of good Karma that I lost a little over half a pound after my first day of doing this. Maybe its just the positive head game that having to tell all you people about everything plays on my mind. The little person on my shoulder nagging in my ear..."Oh, better not eat that! You'll have to tell everyone you did!"

I finished off yesterday with a steamed Lean Cuisine Meal of Chicken Alfredo. Those bagged things are really good... if only there was more in them! Lean cuisine in general has come a long way since my mom used to stuff them in the freezer. I like them because it's easy to get a calorie count, and you have a variety. They say the biggest reason people quit eating right or going on diets is because they get tired of eating the same thing over and over.

This morning started off once again with a Special K shake. I don't think I'll get tired of drinking that chocolate goodness. I don't always have them for breakfast though because fruit and yogurt are a good way to fill up without as many calories, but you don't get the protien. I really only like hard boiled eggs, so sometimes I'll eat those when I feel like waiting 20 minutes for my breakfast.

Lunch is a LC southwest chicken panini, a diet green citrus tea, and a snack bag of sun chips. Total calorie count: 460.

My throat was still burning this morning, and I have now developed a nice dry cough, so I probably won't be hitting the gym. However, today it is 51 degrees and sunny out so I am definately going to take advantage. While my kiddo is still down for her nap I am going out front to clean up my yard (I still have halloween, thanksgiving, AND christmas stuff up. I know my neighbors think I'm crazy). Then when she wakes up, I'm going to pack her, the dogs, and my kiddo carry backpack up in the truck and head out for Bells Mill Park. It's nothing but wide open fields where my dogs can run free and I can get a good walk in. Hopefully the fresh air will do me good.

Day 1: Because today is as good as any day to start

Backstory:

I've entitled this little experiment "My Brand-New Old Self," because I want to share my journey of becoming the person I used to be. I'm fighting that age old battle of weight loss after having a baby. My little youngin is 16 months old now, and it's been a struggle. The day I gave birth, I weighed 209 lbs... I had gained roughly 70 lbs during pregnancy. For about a year I leveled out at about 195.

At my healthiest and best I was 133 lbs, I rowed on crew, I played soccer, rode my road bike to work, I could do over 50 pushups or 100 situps in a minute, and I could run more than 2 miles without stopping. This was less than 5 years ago.

My husband left for deployment and I had worked my way down from 185 to 176. Then holidays struck. I'm now 180 and I have until April to meet my goal of losing 30 or more pounds. I want to surprise him with my brand new old self.

Day 1: Morning wiegh-in 180.6

I hope I have better luck with this than I have with other motivational techniques. I suck at self-motivation. I'm hoping that If I have to hold myself accountable to others, and not just myself, I'll be able to stick with it.

Today I've had a Special K protien shake, one of Harris Teeters soup bowls, and a Coke. That works out to about 600 calories. I'm sticking with a goal of 1300-1500 calories a day. I know the Coke is my worst enemy, but it's also my biggest weakness. I couldn't even give it up during pregnancy. I have managed to limit myself to 1 a day for about a week now. I drink water or 0 calorie tea instead.

I haven't been to the gym since Saturday because I woke up Sunday with a wicked sore throat and it hasn't gone away. I always start off my workouts with a run, and I just wouldn't be breath through it. I hope to go tomorrow, but if I still have a sore throat, I'm going to take my kiddo and the dogs to the park for a walk instead. Maybe I'll do both.