Happy Dance Time

So remember that New Years resolution I had to be a better blogger? I guess I have become yet another number to add to the statistic of how many people fail on their N.Y. resolutions. Oh well, I'm back now! And with some super exciting news--on this 5th Weigh-In Wednesday, I can officially report that since October of 2012 I have lost a grand total of 40 POUNDS. It has been hard, it has sucked big fat monkey butt, I have had to make tough decisions, but I HAVE DONE IT. These last 6ish pounds have been the toughest to lose EVER, and I'm sure its going to continue to be hard. I NEED to exercise, I SHOULD exercise, I HAVE to exercise, buuuuuut I HATE to exercise. I keep finding excuses: its too dark in the morning, its too cold, I'm starving when I get off work, etc. In my defense, I have done a little--I completed the squat/push up challenge from the Sisterhood and I keep doing my Bye-Bye Jiggly Arms exercises every (ok almost every) night. But I know these are meant to supplement your existing workout, not be your sole workout. Sigh. I will do better, I will do better, I will do better. But back to the matter at hand--I need to celebrate this victory! Not sure how yet, perhaps a new book? What I really want is a big, moist, frosting-covered, yummy and delicious cupcake...but that would be extremely counterproductive. Maybe I'll buy a book with a cupcake on the cover instead.

Weigh-in #1

Today was the first official weigh-in of my New Years Weight Loss bootcamp. Annnnnndd.......I stayed the same. :( Wasn't entirely unexpected, as I had a girls night last night at a mexican restaurant and ate a lot more chips than I should have. It was unexpected and a last minute decision, so I really didn't have a chance to plan for it. But thats ok--today starts a new week, and a renewed dedication to the cause! I decided to evaluate my progress by seeing what I did right this week and what I did wrong.

 Did Right 
1. Drank more water
2. Tracked my points every day using my phone app
3. Did the Shrinking Jeans fitness calendar workout and a Bye Bye Jiggly Arms workout every day.

 Did Wrong
1. Didn't track the M&Ms I would casually sneak between meals. (Hey, one here and one there really add up!)
2. Had a second helping of some very delicious chili on Monday. (Its homemade, people, by GRANDMA. Who doesn't want a second helping?!)
3. Only did one day of my 20 minute full body workout, when I was meaning to do at least 3. 4. Tracked the pizza I ate for supper Saturday, did not track the oh-so-delicious Parmesan bread bites that accompanied that pizza. (beware folks, this are deadly!! lol)

So now I know what I need to work on. Have a bunch of new recipes I want to try out this week, including a bunch I found on www.emilybites.com. This blog is fantastic--she includeds WW points and nutrition info on all of her recipes, and they are recipes that use "normal" ingredients--no weird substitutions or ingredients that you have to trek all over town to find. Her biggest asset is portion control--she has several individual meals, or "cupcakes" as she calls them. Check it out!

Still going...

Day 2 of my weight loss relaunch, and I think I've done pretty good. Got in lots of water (and was in the bathroom 1000 times), stuck to my points (with one tiny one added to my weekly total), and even exercised some! I'm big on the HIIT workouts right now, mainly because they DON'T TAKE LONG. Granted, my "high intensity" is really more moderate intensity, but I'll work up to it! This workout involved body weight exercises--pushups, squats, etc. The only equipment required was a chair, for tricep dips and this exercise where you step up on to the chair and back down. Discovered the fitness timer app I downloaded is OK, but not great. It doesn't put in my 10 seconds of rest in between each exercise. I had to keep pausing. So I found a new one, and will try that out tomorrow.

Here's to hoping tomorrow goes as well as today!

Back in the Saddle

I've decided to give blogging a try again. This time I promise to be more consistent. Along with my blog, I have started a new weight loss challenge over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans site, the Weight Loss Bootcamp. This challenge runs for eight weeks, so I've got my work cut out for me! Week 1 challenge was to create your plan. I started off with my New Year's Resolutions: to work out at least 3 times a week (but 5 would be better), to continue with Weight Watchers and track my points better, and to hit 180 lbs (as of today I have 18.2 to go). Not putting any sort of time limit on that since that never seems to help any.

So how am I going to accomplish these goals? Well first of all I got 2 great apps for my iphone. One is My Fitness Pal. Its a food and exercise tracker. You can either search for the foods in their database OR just scan the barcode on the package and it will do it for you! Amazing. The only thing I don't like about this app is that in the nutritional info it doesn't automatically list protein. For anyone who does Weight Watchers, protein is one of the 4 things that helps determine points. So I have to dig a little deeper to use this app to help with points. But its great for keeping track of what I've eaten. The 2nd app I installed was a fitness tracker that allows me to put in my exercises along with the time for each. So, for example, if I am doing a HIIT routine with 12 exercises for 30 seconds each, with 10 seconds of rest in between, I just put all that info into the app and it tells me when to switch exercises. This way I don't have to worry about resetting a timer ever 30 seconds. Haven't tried it yet, but anxious to do so!

That's it for today. Gotta go get my workouts in!

Day 3....not dead yet

Please forgive any typos, I am trying to write this with my cat on my lap between me and the keyboard. Of course she won't budge, just gives me that "How dare you try to move me!" look as she promptly gets up, turns around, and tries to sit ON the keyboard. Grr.

So its my 3rd day of this challenge, and the second day of Boot Camp.  I am STILL sore from day one.  Started off the day with the Arms challenge from Shrinking Jeans. Then this evening did the Boot Camp workout. Still only able to sprint for about 15 seconds, but I don't think I felt as much like I wanted to die as I did on Wednesday. So GO ME!! :)  Did all the exercises afterward and rewarded myself with a large glass of water (that now my cat is wanting to drink herself) and the Royals game on tv.

Tonight for supper we went to Wendys. This was not the original dinner plan, but we decided that meal just didn't sound appealing tonight. Now a lot of people when I started doing Weight Watchers automatically assumed that meant I could never eat fast food again. SO NOT TRUE!!! You just have to be smart about what you order, as well as keeping in mind what you have already eaten throughout the day. For example, you wouldn't want to eat a large meal for lunch and then stop thru McD's for supper. Tonight, I had a caesar side salad with fat free French dressing and a crispy chicken sandwich with cheese. Total points value: 15. My original plan points value: 16. Did I just ruin my entire day? Nope. :) 

Day 2...random thoughts about boots

Day 2 of my quest for skinniness. Think I'm doing pretty well...got up and did the Shrinking Jeans Ab challenge and the Arm challenge workouts for the day. Came home and did 2 10min Pilates workouts. Granted, it wasn't as strenuous as yesterday's bootcamp workout, but hey, at least I did something, right? 

Earlier, while thinking about what workout I wanted to do this evening, I started surfing the internet for exercises to do to shrink my calves. See, I have a problem. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fall look of skinny jeans/leggings with a longer top and BOOTS. However, my calves are too big to wear said boots. I don't necessarily think they are just fat, but rather muscular covered with a layer of fat. They have always been this way--combination of genetics (thanks a heap, Mom) and the fact that I was a dancer for 14 years, with at least half of those years being overweight as well.Some people would kill for muscular, defined calves....I would kill to be able to wear cute boots. (Because honestly, ankle boots just don't have the same effect.) Anyway, back on topic. I found lots of info saying that you can't just pick and choose where the fat comes off your body, that with diet and exercise you should lose weight everywhere, etc. etc. etc. I did managed to learn that endurance exercises, rather than things like sprinting, keep your calves from becoming too muscular. Also, stretches like Pilates and Yoga help lengthen the muscles in the leg. My favorite (because I've already been doing them) are calf raises. Basically, you stand on your tiptoes and lower your heels to the ground without actually touching. I do these everywhere--heating up my lunch at work, waiting for a computer game to load, or brushing my hair. I THINK I've been able to tell a tiny difference, so hopefully by the time fall rolls around I'll have myself a lovely pair of calf boots. :)

First day!!!

For almost a year, I've been doing Weight Watchers. Not officially, like I haven't actually signed up and gone to meetings, but rather have been counting points on my own. I was lucky enough to have a couple people who were official members help me out--I got the Dining Out book, which was awesome because it had point values for lots of things I ate, a mini Points guide, and most importantly, the CALCULATOR. This thing is fantastic--you can plug in the fat, carbs, protein, and fiber of anything you are eating, and it will spit out the points plus value. Over the past 8-ish months, I have lost about 35 pounds and hit my first major goal, which was to get below 200 pounds. I weigh less now than I did in high school, about 10 years ago. I know its a huge accomplishment, yada-yada-yada, but the reason I am now blogging is because since I hit that goal I have pretty much plateaued. Everyone tells me how normal this is, and that I shouldn't get down. Which I'm not, because I know it is my fault. I've gotten super lazy counting points, and my portion sizes have slowly gone up. But not anymore!! I am now doing the Summer Weight Loss Challenge from the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans! I really want to hit my 50 pound mark by my one-year anniversary of Weight Watchers. I figure this challenge is the perfect way to do that. In addition to getting back on my points track, I'm also doing the Sisterhood's Bootcamp. Today was my first workout, and it KICKED. MY. BUTT. I couldn't even do the full 30 second sprints. But that's ok--by the end of this, I WILL be able to! (and then some!) Now, was I doing every exercise with perfect form and maximum results? No. Was I trying my hardest? Yes. Did I finish the entire workout? YES. To me, that's victory! The real reason I wanted to start this blog is to hold myself accountable, and stop making excuses. I figure if you all who read this (even just 2 people) expect me to chronicle my journey that just MAYBE it will make me stick with it. So wish me luck.:) Now I'm off to the shower....I smell worse that a locker room full of dirty gym shorts.