Off Track

Weigh in's were Wednesday and I didn't even lose a pound. I lost .6 pounds. It kind of frustrated me because I lost 8.2 pounds in the first week and it's like this week, the scale wouldn't budge. I'm halfway thinking that it's due to my sodium intake. I've tracked that and unfortunately, out of the 2,300 mg that they recommend on Spark People, I'm getting an average of 1,000 mg over that. That bites. Everything I eat has a decent amount of sodium and although it was easy to give up pop and start my diet, I'm not sure that I can give up sodium so quickly. I'll try to limit my intake, but this is what's going to be my biggest struggle.

So, my diet is still going as planned (minus sodium) however, I've been slacking on my workouts. I was supposed to do 30 minutes of cardio and all of my strength training on Wednesday. Well, I did my strength training, I just happened to skip out on my cardio because the day was rather busy. I told myself that I would finish up my cardio on Thursday.

On Thursday, I started my cardio. I had been jumping rope for five minutes in my parent's kitchen (I know, what was I thinking?), when all of a sudden, my rope hit the light on the ceiling and it came falling down. It shattered in pieces all over the floor. I obviously stopped.

So, then I told myself that I would finish it up today, which means not only do I have to do seven strength training workouts (2 sets of 15 reps each), but I have to do 55 minutes of cardio instead of thirty minutes. I did my step ups a few minutes ago for ten minutes so now I have to jump rope (vigorously) for ten minutes, jump rope (slow) for ten minutes, go for a twenty minute walk, and do five minutes of vigorous jumping jacks. That's what I get for slacking.

Crummy

It seems like in the past couple days, I've been nothing but frustrated. I can't even pinpoint why. I just wake up in a crappy mood and everything gets under my skin. Too bad my horoscope for this week wasn't right, "You've been really stressed out but thanks to the cosmos, you will be relieved of a significant amount of stress this week." It started out that way. For one day.

Well. Weigh-in's are tomorrow and I'm not thrilled at all. If anything, I'm nervous. I lost 8.2 pounds in the first week and it's like now, I can't lose an eighth of a pound. I've been doing all of my strength training and cardio three times a week, I've been taking metabolism pills, drinking loads of water, quit drinking pop, and I'm staying in my recommended nutritional value range. Whatever I'm doing wrong is not obvious. Perhaps it's just the way it is. The weight loss in the first week motivates you for the second week and then the second week lets you down. No wonder so many people's diets fail. - Just for the record, I don't plan on being one of those people.

Just thought of something. They say that the more sodium you consume each day can make you retain water and ultimately keep the pounds. Perhaps my sodium intake should be kept track of so I can see if that's the issue...

Updates on my progress (or lack of) tomorrow.

Weigh In, Strength Training, & Cardio

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I'm scheduled for strength training and cardio. Each Wednesday I do my weigh in to see how much I've lost each week. Not only do I track pounds lost, I will be tracking inches on my neck, waist, hips, and calves plus body fat percentage, muscle percentage, and water percentage.

This week I've lost a total of 8.2 pounds, gained 1.1% water, .5% muscle, and lost 1.2% body fat. I don't have any results yet on my inches lost because I just entered them today. I'll let you know my progress on that next week.

For cardio today, I did ten minutes of vigorous step ups (which has gotten easier, by the way) and went for a 20 minute walk with Justice, Carter, and Buddha (my dog). For my strength training, I did crunches with a twist (literally), hip flexor, modified push ups, squats, crunches, standing side bends, and a standing adduction. I did 15 reps and 2 sets of each. I'm pretty sore but it's all good. Progress is what I'm in this for. Pain is only temporary.

My food intake is going really well. I've been staying within my calorie, fat, carb, and protein range. I've noticed a lot more about my body in the past 7 days - I need a big breakfast to feel good all day and to avoid feeling tired as opposed to a small breakfast (or no breakfast) and a big lunch or dinner & a breakfast high in protein makes me feel better than a breakfast high in carbs.

I feel really great about this whole thing. Diet, exercise, and all. I'm already feeling a little better about myself since I'm not giving up and finally taking the REAL steps to a healthy and happy lifestyle. Everytime after I exercise and even at the end of the day, I feel like I've achieved something and it's a really good feeling. I can definitely get used to this...in fact, I already am.

Lost 7.8 Pounds

Well, I've been feeling a lot better when I wake up in the mornings since I've started this diet and exercise routine. I've been eating breakfast everyday which was hard at first considering I'm never really hungry in the mornings but it's definitely gotten better. Justice and I have been spending a lot more time together too, so that's another plus. Today we did step up's and although we only did it for ten minutes straight, I must say that it was the most vigorous exercise routine I've done in my life. Kind of sad, huh?

I started my strength training today. It wasn't so bad. It did make my muscles sore but that means progress. I'm feeling really good about it all. Not to mention, I'm already losing weight. I've lost 7.8 pounds since the first day. I'm at 201 now. I was at 208.8. It feels good to see the number on the scale drop. The weight loss will probably slow with time but as long as I'm losing, I'm happy. We've been walking daily, too. I took Buddha for a walk when I got home. He loves it. We're both getting the exercise that we need.

Drinking water has been hell for me, though. I'm managing to get my 8 cups a day, but it's almost like I have to force it down if it's not with a meal. Since I was drinking so much soda, water is a huge change. I bought a 2 liter of Sprite Zero today since it has no calories, fat, or carbs. It's not so bad. Only drank one cup of it though. I don't want to get back in the habit, even if it's not so bad for me.

The whole food thing is getting easier with time. It was hell at first but now I have a good idea of what and how much I can eat so my meals aren't so tiny anymore. I had a big breakfast this morning (an egg, toast w/o crust, peach jelly, banana, & milk), a decent lunch (roasted chicken w/ chive mashed potatoes, cheese & crackers), and a hell of a dinner (fiesta grilled chicken, rice, beans, and veggies). Dinner left me stuffed. I'm at 1,230 calories (my range is 1200-1500), 133 carbs, 46 grams of fat, and 71 grams of protein. I'm doing well, although fat intake could be lower (although my range is 32-56 grams daily and I'm kind of low on carbs today, but I still have a snack to eat.

SparkPeople has helped me a lot in the past five days. I'm so grateful that Justice found it. It sure beats writing down all of my food, calorie, fat, carb, and protein intake in a paper journal like I had been doing. I'm not much of a fan of math, that says enough.

SparkPeople is such a great website, I can't say this enough. I'm not a spokesperson for them, I just joined five days ago! Why they are so great is as follows for all of you curious people.

- They offer members a free nutrition plan.
- Track water intake.
- They recommended calorie, fat, and carb intake, based on your height, weight, & the amount you wish to lose.
- They give you free fitness plans (you can substitute any strength training exercises).
- You can record your cardio workouts.
- You can do a weigh in whenever you'd like.
- They offer free progress tracking widgets.
- Lots of community interaction (forums and so much more).
- You can set goals & record your progress.
- You can even get a weight loss buddy.

They even have an area where you create your own Spark Page where you can let other members see your goals, nutrition plan, food intake, fitness plans, and more. It's an amazing site. You've got to check it out. It's 100% free too. That's the best part. Check it out by clicking here.

Feeling Good About This

The first day that I decided to make this change was a complete disaster. Although I did pretty good with my calorie intake, I felt like I was starving all day long and it was making me really moody. The second day was a lot better but at the end of the night, Justice and I decided to get drunk so those 6 shots of rum really screwed me over but I'm still taking in less calories than I had been before this so it's still progress. It was just a tiny celebration of our decision to make a change for the better. I had fun.

Although today I woke up with a headache and wanted to skip breakfast, I didn't. I ate and I dealt with my headache enough to take our daily walk. I took a nap when Carter did hoping that my headache would be gone and thank God, it was. Plus it was a little extra boost of energy for cleaning out Carter's closet and his bedroom. I worked in there for about an hour and a half and according to SparkPeople (a new website I joined that's much better than CalorieCount), that's 540 calories burned and I'm aiming for 700 per week! I'm feeling really good. I didn't get hungry today. I actually felt full longer than usual. I think my body is finally responding positively. It just took two days but it's sure worth it.

I've quit drinking soda which was my biggest issue and I'm drinking more water than I think I've ever drank in my life. I'm feeling really good about this.

Check out my SparkPeople page to see my food logs, goals, progress, and more! If you decide to join, be sure to tell the site that you were referred by empressive!
http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=EMPRESSIVE

Time to Lose

So, Justice and I have decided that we are going to Florida in May. I'm definitely excited but at the same time, I'm in a pretty sensitive state of mind right now. I've gained a lot of weight in the past few months and I knew this, but I had no idea how bad it truly was...until the scale was brought out this afternoon. As much as it is going to kill me to announce my weight to the world, I have to do it because I need to make a change.

Here I go...announcing to all of my friends, family, and the entire world...I weigh 208.8 pounds at 5'8". There. I said it. I admit it. I'm fat.

I'm embarrassed. I'm pissed off. But ultimately, I'm very disappointed in myself. In 2005, I knew I was overweight and I decided that I needed to make a change in my life when the scale topped 200 pounds. I did it. I lost 40 pounds by 2006. I went from a size 15 jeans to a size 11. I was happy with (almost) everything I wore (although I wasn't 100% confident, I knew I looked good). I weighed in at 158 at 5 foot 8 inches. I felt great.

I found out I was pregnant in late November of 2006 and from that point on, my weight went up (obviously) and by my eighth month (which is when Carter was born), I weighed in at 202. After I gave birth, I dropped back down to about 190, then lost about another ten pounds later, weighing in at about 180-ish. Apparently motherhood hasn't had me moving around as much as I thought it had. Can you believe this? I weigh more now than I did in my eighth month of pregnancy! It's a really hard kick in the face. Perhaps a wake-up call.

I was about to sit here and write a novel about how I've struggled with my weight my whole life, about how I was teased as a child, about how sensitive I am about my weight...but screw it. I'm not going to sit here and roll around in a pool of self pity anymore. There's no need in beating myself up, this will only make me less motivated. I've got to make positive changes in my life. I have to. I can't do this anymore.

I joined caloriecount.com, a website based on setting healthy goals for yourself complete with a journal, food log, activity log, calorie coach, eat meter, burn meter, forums, support groups, and so much more. (I tried to join Self.com - a great magazine by the way - to join the weight loss challenge but the site seems to be having some difficulties at the moment.)

I've got my pedometer. I've got a weight, body muscle, and water scale. I've got an amazing fiance to motivate and work with me. I've got a dog to walk and a son to chase around the house. I can do this.

Follow me through this... I'll update often with my progress.