New Low Norm

I've been really good the last few weeks, and I have a new low normal range of 142.5-144.5. Thats so great, considering this has been such a tough ride. As you can see, Im all over the place and tend to have a monthly cycle up and down, and my weight varies a LOT. So Im just doing the best I can to maintain my new low, and aim for even lower. A huge milestone for me would be getting below 140 and having my norm range from 139-141. So keep working out when I can, eating as good as I can mangage, and allow myself a day off here or there, or a treat now and then. It's all about balance and I'm finally finding the line!

Doing Better!

Im doing better! Vacation was actually a really good time; not for exercise, because I didnt do much, but I did loose a few lbs due to just eating better. Then when we got back, we began a new schedule of Ryan picking up Aurora so that I have 30 min when I get home until they get home. I am a super star with that time and normally have dinner just about on the table when they get home! That leaves way more time in the evening before Rory goes to bed, so we have been taking 30-60 min wonderful walks in the early evening. Rory loves them so much, and Guinness needs them, cause she is a fat ass, and, well we need them for the same reason. lol. Then a night last week I did Jillian Michael's 30 day shred (thanks Alyssa for the extra copy!) and last night I did a P90X video. So Ive been consistently working out the last week. And low and behold, Im losing weight! Today's weigh in was 143.2. If I can maintain it through this weekend I will be on track to be in the 142 range for next week. I would love to get to 140, and to get into the 130's range would be so great!

Back Up

Soooooo 4th of July Weekend was not good to my diet. It was great to my tastebuds though. And considering the 5 days of events filled with fabulous food we experienced, its any wonder I ONLY gained 4 lbs. But.... 4 lbs is 4 lbs. A crap load of weight to get rid of. 3 weeks of really behaving, all out the door. There is a bright light at the end of the tunnel though; this morning I was down 2 lbs from that high, so I took back half of the gain in only one day. Man my body is crazy and sure does yo-yo up and down a lot! Gain or loss of 5 lbs in one week is not unheard of. Crazy cause I have a friend who is so consistent that even only weighing in at once a week its still not more than .3 lbs off, unless she actually did something drastic to change it.

Anyway, Im back on track for diet and am being really good with food. So thats that.

On to exercise. I walked during lunch today, which was awesome. I would like to do that more often, but not sure how long I can keep it up going into summer (SOOO hot and I sweat like a beast in warm weather). The morning workouts are not working out. Getting up that early, even when I get enough sleep is just too early for my body's natural clock and Im exhausted throughout the day, falling asleep at work, in the car, etc. Its not a pretty sight. Sooooo, Im left with trying to make it work in the evenings again. Which may work out, after all. I figure, Aurora goes to bed at 7pm, and then I have to get to bed by 10pm to get my full sleep in, so I have 3 hours total to do whatever else I normally do after she goes to bed, do my workout, and shower. I think its doable. We'll see. Tonight will not be the night to start, cause we are going over to a friends for dinner. And there is the problem for working out at night; too many evenings we have social plans. Well its a no win, so might as well try things out and see what works.

Also realized that I need a quicker workout alternative. There are days I would workout but dont have time for the full hour to hour and a half routine of P90X. So Alyssa is going to give me an extra copy of the 90 day shred, which is a shorter 30 min routine. I figure on days that I cant do an hour or more, I sure as heck have time for 30 min, right? We'll see.

On My Way Down

Well, yesterday was the first Monday that I weighed in at under 146 coming off of the weekend. I was 145.5, which is a huge feat, and Im hoping that this week is good. I was off to a good start exercise wise yesterday (ran and stairs in the morning) but then was really bad on food; had taffy that a co-worker brought in, as well as a bag of chips! SOO bad. Ok for dinner (stuffed zucchini that I made) but I should have only had one serving of it, not two. So I didnt gain but didnt loose this morning. I was the same at 145.5. Today was better on diet, but I slept really badly so didnt end up working out this morning.

Well, at least I know what I SHOULD be doing...

Well the weekend gain was not as bad as it could have been; considering we had people over for dinner on Friday (homemade mac & cheese – Ryan’s choice for Father’s Day Dinner), Saturday was pizza & beer for a friend’s bday, and Sunday was 2, count them TWO bbq’s. Last week was stellar, and I was able to get down to 143.7 by Friday. And I maintained it through dinner on Friday; it was Sat and Sunday that did me in; back up to 146.7 this morning. So mostly what saved me was getting so low before the weekend (because gaining 3 lbs over the weekend is pretty bad, but understandable thinking of the mac&cheese, pizza, beer, chips, dips, spreads, more beer, cookies, brats that I ate all weekend). But today I’m back to it and was able to get up this morning to work out. So pending workouts for the rest of the week and carful eating I should be able to continue the decrease.

Headway

Well, this was a good week. I am down to 143.something and have maintained that for a few days. I basically have just been REALLY good about what Im eating, and tracking EVERY calorie I eat with http://www.livestrong.com/myplate You would be really surprised that some stuff is less and some stuff is way more than you think. So basically at the end of the work day, I have an idea of how many calories I have left for the day and can watch it for the evening. Its a fine line and it takes a lot of willpower and forgoing a lot of stuff that Im used to being able to enjoy (tasty treats my co-workers bring in, seconds, mayo on my sandwiches, etc.) BUT I'm being able to do it. And I can have treats; a caramel here, a beer with dinner, a slice of pound cake at work - it's all about how it fits in with the rest of the day's calorie intake. Today will be a challenge. I have already had too much (left over pasta for lunch which is like twice the calories as my usual sandwich), and Im making homemade baked mac and cheese for Ryan for a special dinner. And tomorrow is pizza and beer with friends, so we will see how much of this weight loss Im able to retain by the end of the weekend.

On the exercise front, I have not been as regular. Ive been giving my sleep more of a priority (no more falling asleep at work) but then not as many days to work out. I need to find a way to get in a few more a week because at this point its like 3 times a week, which is way off from the 6 days a week I was doing the first month of this. So I need to get back on that schedule.

Goes to show. They say that loosing weight is like 80% diet and 20% exercise and I can see that is probably true. However, the benefits to being fit and working out are FAR more important than any number on the scale. I want to stay fit to be healthy, and hey, if I look good doing it and get back to a good weight, GREAT. But the diet is for sure the direct correlation to my weight that I need to link and work on for that.

I Want Results!!!

Well after realizing I was eating too much, I went in to Memorial Day Weekend. I got out fairly unscathed. I only gained 2lbs the whole weekend, and trust me; considering what I ate and the fact that I didnt exercise at all, thats amazing. I was catching up on sleep and household chores so I wasnt able to start working out again until last Thursday. (Monday was the holiday, and the first two days back to work - Tues and Wed were so hard) then I didnt exercise over the weekend, so it was a bad 2 weeks for working out.

BUT this week I was back with a vengeance. I have started going running every other day between the P90X workouts. Its nice cause my run only takes me 45-60 min, which is less time (after all the set up and pausing of the video, etc.) than the other workouts are, and its nice fresh air that early in the morning and I really do enjoy running. So its a 2 mile run (1 mile there then back) of fairly hilly road, and then there is a set of over 100 stairs at the end of it, and I do 3+ sets of those each run, so I feel its pretty rigorous.

Eating is another story! I have good days and bad days. Saturday was a bad day; Erik's (our neighbor) graduation party from High School. Starting at 4pm with a whole table of salsa, bruchetta, salamies, cheeses, salads, not to mention the alcohol. Then dinner brings a whole new round of salads, meats, potatoes, perogies, potato pancakes... and then bring on dessert - tuxedo cake, peach cobbler with ice cream and napoleons. Ohhhh my. I gained 2lbs that day; surprised it wasnt more.

SOOOOO long story short, I keep yo-yoing up and down. I have a few good days and loose a few lbs then have a bad day with an event and gain it all back. Yes, obviously those are my shortfalls and I just need to restrict myself at these events but its easier said than done. Its delicious food that I dont always have the opportunity to eat! There is a big potluck at work tomorrow, so we will see how much the damage is after Friday morning.

One thing is for sure; my work out schedule is clearly on track and doing well; the part of the equation that is off balance for getting that weight down is hands down the diet. I really wish that my workout schedule would allow me to eat whatever I wanted, and at one point that probably would have been true, but now at 28 years old and post pregnancy, NOT the case!