After 10 years of trying, I've finally achieve my goal of being under 140 pounds!!!! Although, it's not official with my WW weigh-in yet (I have to wait until Saturday), I hit that magic number of 139.0 on my home scale yesterday morning! It was a complete shock as just the day before I was 141.4. So I dropped 2.4 pounds literally overnight! I don't know what I did, I think it was just my body being ready to give it up. I've been working so hard the last month with the scale hardly budging, and then this past weekend overindulged a bit at a baby shower and totally exceeded my weekly points allowance by 29 points. My workout on Monday wasn't that great and I only burned 250 calories. But for some reason, conditions allowed my body to drop those pounds. So am I saying, forget eating right and working out hard? No way, I'm saying keep on keeping on with what is proven to work, have fun now and then, and your body will respond in it's own time.
I had a great workout yesterday. Probably because I was on cloud 9 about my weight loss. I did my favorite Step class and Abs Lab:
Workout Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
In the zone: 45 minutes
Average HR: 136 (for Step) 126 (overall)
Maximum HR: 163
Calories: 510
This morning, the scale was my friend again as it says I've lost another 1/2 pound! Let's hope this holds true for my weigh-in on Saturday! If so, I'm only about 2 pounds away from my goal weight! If I keep going at this rate, I just might make my original goal date of my son's birthday in 2 weeks!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
500 Calories Burned, $43 Saved!
I had a good workout today despite that I had a hard time getting the new routines in my Cardio Step class. I kept messing up the turns and which direction I was supposed to be going. I almost had it at the very end! But, luckily she'll be repeating those routines next week so I can catch on. After that class, I stuck around for Abs Lab with my favorite trainer, Rich! Rich was my team trainer during the Body Transformations contest this spring which I came in 2nd place at. I won 8 free personal training sessions with him from that.
They are remodeling (finally) the locker rooms at my Y. So they've put the men on the other side of the women's locker room (wall-off of course), so we are down to 3 showers. I didn't get in there by 10:30 (when a couple other classes end), so I had to wait 15 minutes for a shower! I ended up being late to pick up my kids from childcare, but they seemed to understand. I can't wait until the remodeling is done which it's supposed to be by October 1st. Although, the women do get to move into the remodeled men's locker room at the end of this month! I think that's fair since they are getting their's remodeled first.
Anyway, here's my workout results from the 2 classes:
Cardio Step
Workout time: 60 minutes
In the zone: 45 minutes
Average HR: 135
Maximum HR: 161
Calories: 425
Abs Lab (not really a cardio workout, but I tracked it anyway for calories burned)
Workout time: 23 minutes
In the zone: 3 minutes
Average HR: 109
Maximum HR: 135
Calories: 108
Total Calories Burned: 533
So I made my 500 calorie burning goal today! By the way, if you were wondering about the scale this week, I have maintained the 8/10th pound lost so far. I hope I'm able to make it an even pound by my Saturday morning weigh-in!
Now, from weight-loss to money savings. After working out I went on my weekly trip grocery shopping with both my kids. With my 16-month old daughter screaming most of the way through the store and my almost 5-year old son complaining that I was taking too long, it was a very stressful trip! I went to two stores because one is clearing out their inventory (they were purchased by Publix), so I figured I could get some good bargains at 5%-25% off food and merchandise. I also picked up school supplies at 25% off! Then I went to my regular grocery store to get the rest of my list and used two $5 off coupons I got in the mail and from the Entertainment Book. Overall, I saved $43 dollars! So even though I was stressed out by the kids, I felt good about saving so much money!
They are remodeling (finally) the locker rooms at my Y. So they've put the men on the other side of the women's locker room (wall-off of course), so we are down to 3 showers. I didn't get in there by 10:30 (when a couple other classes end), so I had to wait 15 minutes for a shower! I ended up being late to pick up my kids from childcare, but they seemed to understand. I can't wait until the remodeling is done which it's supposed to be by October 1st. Although, the women do get to move into the remodeled men's locker room at the end of this month! I think that's fair since they are getting their's remodeled first.
Anyway, here's my workout results from the 2 classes:
Cardio Step
Workout time: 60 minutes
In the zone: 45 minutes
Average HR: 135
Maximum HR: 161
Calories: 425
Abs Lab (not really a cardio workout, but I tracked it anyway for calories burned)
Workout time: 23 minutes
In the zone: 3 minutes
Average HR: 109
Maximum HR: 135
Calories: 108
Total Calories Burned: 533
So I made my 500 calorie burning goal today! By the way, if you were wondering about the scale this week, I have maintained the 8/10th pound lost so far. I hope I'm able to make it an even pound by my Saturday morning weigh-in!
Now, from weight-loss to money savings. After working out I went on my weekly trip grocery shopping with both my kids. With my 16-month old daughter screaming most of the way through the store and my almost 5-year old son complaining that I was taking too long, it was a very stressful trip! I went to two stores because one is clearing out their inventory (they were purchased by Publix), so I figured I could get some good bargains at 5%-25% off food and merchandise. I also picked up school supplies at 25% off! Then I went to my regular grocery store to get the rest of my list and used two $5 off coupons I got in the mail and from the Entertainment Book. Overall, I saved $43 dollars! So even though I was stressed out by the kids, I felt good about saving so much money!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
500 a Day to Keep the Pounds Away!
I found a great resource for figuring out how many calories you need per day, and what foods you should be eating. It's called www.mypyramid.gov Yes, it's a government website! But it has a lot of useful information about what we should be eating and how much. I was wanting to know how many calories I should be eating a day. I know I have my WW points system, but I wanted to know what I was eating in actual calories. As they say, weight loss is a result of your calories out vs. calories in. Actually, if you consume 500 less calories per day for a week (whether by eating less or exercising), you should lose 1 pound. I heard this on a Today Show segment last week and it sparked my curiosity about how many calories I'm consuming and burning off each day. I wear a heart rate monitor while working out so I know how many calories I'm burning. So then I wanted to know how many calories should I be consuming to maintain my weight, then subtract 500 to know how many calories I need to lose 1 pound per week.
So I went to mypyramid.gov and clicked on My Pyramid Plan and put my stats in (age, sex, height, weight, activity level) and it told me I should be having 2200 calories per day to maintain my weight. So I subtract 500 from that and I should be at 1700 calories per day.
So, each day I have the choice to cut 250 calories and burn 250, or cut 500 calories, or burn 500 calories and I should lose 1 pound per week. Today, I decided to burn the 500 during my workout. I did 10 minutes of high intestity on the Eliptical machine (100 calories), then I did my weight circuit lifting 18,105 pounds total (200 calories), then jumped back on the Eliptical for 20 minutes at high intensity (200 calories). Here's the results of my workout from my heartrate monitor:
Workout time: 1 hour & 15 minutes
In the zone: 47 minutes (between 93 - 158)
Average HR: 139
Maximum HR: 169
Calories burned: 526
It was an awesome workout and I did it all on my own! No classes today. Tomorrow is Step class again which of course I am looking forward to. Then I will do an Abs Lab for 20 minutes after that to put some extra focus on that problem area of mine.
So I went to mypyramid.gov and clicked on My Pyramid Plan and put my stats in (age, sex, height, weight, activity level) and it told me I should be having 2200 calories per day to maintain my weight. So I subtract 500 from that and I should be at 1700 calories per day.
So, each day I have the choice to cut 250 calories and burn 250, or cut 500 calories, or burn 500 calories and I should lose 1 pound per week. Today, I decided to burn the 500 during my workout. I did 10 minutes of high intestity on the Eliptical machine (100 calories), then I did my weight circuit lifting 18,105 pounds total (200 calories), then jumped back on the Eliptical for 20 minutes at high intensity (200 calories). Here's the results of my workout from my heartrate monitor:
Workout time: 1 hour & 15 minutes
In the zone: 47 minutes (between 93 - 158)
Average HR: 139
Maximum HR: 169
Calories burned: 526
It was an awesome workout and I did it all on my own! No classes today. Tomorrow is Step class again which of course I am looking forward to. Then I will do an Abs Lab for 20 minutes after that to put some extra focus on that problem area of mine.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Down on the Scale, Up on the Step!
So I stepped on the scale this morning and was down 8/10ths of a pound!!! It may not seem like much, but that's a lot for 1 day, and especially since I haven't lost any weight in 2 weeks! I'm just so excited!
I went to my favorite class at the Y this morning, Step. The instructor taught us some new routines today. She usually repeats the same routines for 2 weeks (4 classes), so we can get comfortable with them. It's almost like a dance class using a step. It's so much fun that I forget to look at the clock. The only thing I keep checking is my heartrate monitor so I can make sure I'm "in the zone." By the time the class came to an end, I was still ready to keep going. I can tell all the exercise I've been doing for the past 15 months is making a difference. It used to be that I was tired 20 minutes into the class. Now, I can keep going for at least an hour! She wrapped up the class with some new ab exercises to that targeted those problem lower abs I have! I've had 2 c-sections and need all the help I can get toning it up down there since I can't afford to have a tummy tuck! So here is the results of my workout according to my heartrate monitor:
Workout Time: 60 minutes
Average HR: 141 (high intensity for me= 130-158)
Maximum HR: 166
In the Zone: 44 minutes
Calories Burned: 426
That's an awesome workout for me!
So for all that hard work, I earned 7 activity points!!! For lunch, I treated myself to a small baked potato with some light butter and light cheddar cheese (3 points) along with my usual salad (6 points: romaine, tomatoes, onions, diced chicken, light cheddar cheese, almonds, and cranberries with Wishbone Bountiful dressing). I normally just have the salad for 6 points, but since I worked out so hard, I needed to use some of those activity points so my body wouldn't think it was starving. I love it when that happens!
I went to my favorite class at the Y this morning, Step. The instructor taught us some new routines today. She usually repeats the same routines for 2 weeks (4 classes), so we can get comfortable with them. It's almost like a dance class using a step. It's so much fun that I forget to look at the clock. The only thing I keep checking is my heartrate monitor so I can make sure I'm "in the zone." By the time the class came to an end, I was still ready to keep going. I can tell all the exercise I've been doing for the past 15 months is making a difference. It used to be that I was tired 20 minutes into the class. Now, I can keep going for at least an hour! She wrapped up the class with some new ab exercises to that targeted those problem lower abs I have! I've had 2 c-sections and need all the help I can get toning it up down there since I can't afford to have a tummy tuck! So here is the results of my workout according to my heartrate monitor:
Workout Time: 60 minutes
Average HR: 141 (high intensity for me= 130-158)
Maximum HR: 166
In the Zone: 44 minutes
Calories Burned: 426
That's an awesome workout for me!
So for all that hard work, I earned 7 activity points!!! For lunch, I treated myself to a small baked potato with some light butter and light cheddar cheese (3 points) along with my usual salad (6 points: romaine, tomatoes, onions, diced chicken, light cheddar cheese, almonds, and cranberries with Wishbone Bountiful dressing). I normally just have the salad for 6 points, but since I worked out so hard, I needed to use some of those activity points so my body wouldn't think it was starving. I love it when that happens!
Monday, August 4, 2008
No Loss, No Gain
So, I stuck to the basics as much as I could last week, but the results on the scale weren't there as I didn't loose ANY weight! I guess I could look on the positive side that I didn't gain any either. But I put in 4 days of workouts! I also drank lots of water. I did go over on my points a little though. I've just realized, I only get 22 points a day! It must have dropped in the last month and I didn't notice. But on a normal day, I usually eat 25 points and just deduct those extra points from my weekly points allowance. That is if I have any left after getting through the weekend! That's where I think I messed up. I went over on my weekly points allowance by 10 points. When you get down to the last 5 pounds, every little thing makes a difference.
So, now I know that I need to really stick to my points and keep track of everything more accurately. I'm continuing with my 4-5 workouts per week and drinking water all day. I take a 24 ounce water bottle to the Y and make sure to drink the whole thing by the time I leave. Then I have a 16 ounce glass of water with my lunch, another in the late afternoon, and then another with dinner, and a last one before I go to bed. So thats 88 ounces a water a day if I drink all of that! Sometimes, I'll swap out a diet soda in the afternoon, but otherwise, I pretty much stick to this.
My WW week starts on Saturday, and so far, I only have 7 points left in my weekly allowance. We went to Sonny's BBQ on Saturday, and even though I made the healthiest choices, it was still a lot of points! I tried their new BBQ Pulled Chicken, but they don't have the nutritional info available for it on their website yet. But if it's anything close to the BBQ Chicken then I used up at least 18 points on chicken alone! Looking at their nutritional info online, a better choice would have been the charbroiled chicken (6 points), smoked turkey (2 points), or sliced beef (9 points). Well, at least I know that for next time! I did well on the side though by choosing the Baked Sweet Potato (5 points) and Green Beans (2 points), plus 1 slice of garlic bread (4 points). If my chicken was as high in points as I think it might have been, my dinner was my whole day's worth of points! Ridiculous! I'm glad they put their nutritional info online though so at least we know how bad it is and can make informed choices.
For lunch on Sunday, I did really good. We went to a great little cafe where you can order a customized salad. I chose romaine lettuce, red onions, cucumber, tomatoes, cranberries, almonds, feta cheese, and grilled chicken with a greek vinigarette dressing on the side. I estimated the points to be 10 because it was a huge salad! But I was so proud of myself for ordering so healthy!
So, I just need to stay within my points each day this week (since I most likely used up all my weekly points this weekend), keep up my workouts, and drink my water. I really hope I lose some weight this week, as it's been over a month since I last had a real loss (on 6/28) because of 4th of July and our 12-day vacation last month that threw me off track a little.
So, now I know that I need to really stick to my points and keep track of everything more accurately. I'm continuing with my 4-5 workouts per week and drinking water all day. I take a 24 ounce water bottle to the Y and make sure to drink the whole thing by the time I leave. Then I have a 16 ounce glass of water with my lunch, another in the late afternoon, and then another with dinner, and a last one before I go to bed. So thats 88 ounces a water a day if I drink all of that! Sometimes, I'll swap out a diet soda in the afternoon, but otherwise, I pretty much stick to this.
My WW week starts on Saturday, and so far, I only have 7 points left in my weekly allowance. We went to Sonny's BBQ on Saturday, and even though I made the healthiest choices, it was still a lot of points! I tried their new BBQ Pulled Chicken, but they don't have the nutritional info available for it on their website yet. But if it's anything close to the BBQ Chicken then I used up at least 18 points on chicken alone! Looking at their nutritional info online, a better choice would have been the charbroiled chicken (6 points), smoked turkey (2 points), or sliced beef (9 points). Well, at least I know that for next time! I did well on the side though by choosing the Baked Sweet Potato (5 points) and Green Beans (2 points), plus 1 slice of garlic bread (4 points). If my chicken was as high in points as I think it might have been, my dinner was my whole day's worth of points! Ridiculous! I'm glad they put their nutritional info online though so at least we know how bad it is and can make informed choices.
For lunch on Sunday, I did really good. We went to a great little cafe where you can order a customized salad. I chose romaine lettuce, red onions, cucumber, tomatoes, cranberries, almonds, feta cheese, and grilled chicken with a greek vinigarette dressing on the side. I estimated the points to be 10 because it was a huge salad! But I was so proud of myself for ordering so healthy!
So, I just need to stay within my points each day this week (since I most likely used up all my weekly points this weekend), keep up my workouts, and drink my water. I really hope I lose some weight this week, as it's been over a month since I last had a real loss (on 6/28) because of 4th of July and our 12-day vacation last month that threw me off track a little.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Back to the Basics
So my vacation is over. Actually, it was over a week ago, but you know it takes time to get back into your "real" life. I didn't do to badly either considering I didn't weigh myself for 12 days and wasn't keeping track of points. I just drank a lot of water, kept my portions in control, and stayed active by doing 1-hour workouts, whitewater rafting, or walking. When I got home and stepped on my scale the morning after we returned, I was only up 2 pounds. I had 4 days until my weigh-in on Saturday at my WW meeting. I went to the Y everyday to workout and ate carefully. Except for cake my son and I made together on Friday. I overindulged in that by having 2 servings! What can I say, I have a weakness! But I ended up skipping dinner to make up for the cake. At my weigh-in on Saturday I was down 6/10th of a pound!
I'm hoping to have a good loss this week. We didn't go out to eat this weekend which really helped. We invited some friends over and I made a healthy, low-fat spaghetti with a salad and garlic bread. I also got rid of the rest of the cake by sharing it with everyone! And also had one last piece for myself with some low-fat frozen yogurt. On Sunday, we normally go out to lunch with our friends after church but none of us were able to make it this weekend. So, my husband went out and got a sub from Subway.
So, I'm on the right track for loosing weight this week and getting back on track to my Lifetime goal. I'm hoping to be there by my son's birthday, but that is only 4 weeks away now. I have no room for backsliding, so I need to stick to my good habits. It's just a matter of following the basics: drink plenty of water, write down and keep track of points for what I eat, and exercise!
I'm hoping to have a good loss this week. We didn't go out to eat this weekend which really helped. We invited some friends over and I made a healthy, low-fat spaghetti with a salad and garlic bread. I also got rid of the rest of the cake by sharing it with everyone! And also had one last piece for myself with some low-fat frozen yogurt. On Sunday, we normally go out to lunch with our friends after church but none of us were able to make it this weekend. So, my husband went out and got a sub from Subway.
So, I'm on the right track for loosing weight this week and getting back on track to my Lifetime goal. I'm hoping to be there by my son's birthday, but that is only 4 weeks away now. I have no room for backsliding, so I need to stick to my good habits. It's just a matter of following the basics: drink plenty of water, write down and keep track of points for what I eat, and exercise!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Vacation mode
Right now, my family is on our yearly vacation to Colorado. I love coming out here every year because I grew up here. It's nice to visit familiar places when you don't live there anymore. There's just a sense of nostalgia every time we come back here and visit my best friend from high school or go downtown and play tourist. Since I moved away over 15 years ago a lot has changed too and it's fun to see those changes.
I'm trying to stay on track weight-loss wise while on vacation. It's hard because you get into a different mindset. I haven't been tracking my points at all since we got here 2 days ago. Since then, I've had McDonald's, cherry pie a la mode, a Starbuck's chocolate mint mocha frap, and movie theater popcorn. I know I've already blown through my weekly points allowance. I normally weigh in on Saturday mornings when I'm home, but I didn't bring my booklet with me so I couldn't go to a meeting today to see where I am. I have a plan to reach my goal by mid-August (my son's birthday) and don't have room to get off track since that is only about 5 weeks away! So 1 pound a week is what I need to lose now. Luckily, we are staying very active while on vacation. I worked out, we took the kids to a pool, and went on a walk so far. We also plan on doing a hike, going to a zoo, and going whitewater rafting this week. Well, here's hoping I have a great vacation and don't go too far overboard on the indulging!
I'm trying to stay on track weight-loss wise while on vacation. It's hard because you get into a different mindset. I haven't been tracking my points at all since we got here 2 days ago. Since then, I've had McDonald's, cherry pie a la mode, a Starbuck's chocolate mint mocha frap, and movie theater popcorn. I know I've already blown through my weekly points allowance. I normally weigh in on Saturday mornings when I'm home, but I didn't bring my booklet with me so I couldn't go to a meeting today to see where I am. I have a plan to reach my goal by mid-August (my son's birthday) and don't have room to get off track since that is only about 5 weeks away! So 1 pound a week is what I need to lose now. Luckily, we are staying very active while on vacation. I worked out, we took the kids to a pool, and went on a walk so far. We also plan on doing a hike, going to a zoo, and going whitewater rafting this week. Well, here's hoping I have a great vacation and don't go too far overboard on the indulging!
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