Just Checkin in...

My weigh in today was 163.6.

I know. I had to pick my jaw off the floor as well!!

Grand total weight loss to date : ... from 208 to 163.6 is 44.4 lbs!

Struggling...need to take care of me

well i just got done texting mallory and I agree with her that I need to blog about my struggles as of late. Real life has been catching up with me the last couple months and I have slipped into one of my worst habits of taking care of everyone else but myself. This isn't a new habit, actually I would consider it more of a cycle that I get into....when I'm doing really well I start to forget how hard it was for me to get there, which in turn leads me to take for granted that I can stay there without as much work, about then some major crisis happens and I forget about myself completely.

So here I am, up 11 pounds from my all time lowest weight. I will admit that I haven't worked out in almost three weeks. There I said it, its out in the open now, and the only person I have to blame is myself. Unfortunately, I know so much more now than I did a year ago about weight loss and health because I know EXACTLY how I got myself to the place I am right now. Not exactly profound what I am saying, but yes if you eat like shit and don't exercise...it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what will happen. Normally I am a huge advocate for the saying "knowledge is power" but that now I have realized that "knowledge is only power if you USE it".

Today I am officially pulling my head out of my ass, and am going back to the gym on Monday. Here are the classes I am taking:

Monday: Kickboxing 4:30-5:15 pm

Tuesday: Kickboxing 8:15-9:00 am, Strength Training 5:30-6:15 pm

Wednesday: Kickboxing 5:30-6:15 pm

Thursday: Kickboxing 8:15-9:00 am, Strength Training 5:30-6:15 pm

Friday: Kickboxing 8:15-9:00 am

Here is my testament to myself and motivated or not I have to get back on track. I am so down right now I hardly remember how much I love exercise and feeling strong. This isn't a question about motivation its a question of proving to myself that by losing 50 pounds in the last year that I have made a change in my life and not been on another "diet"

1st picture is from Jan of 2009, at 196 lbs. Second pic is from June 20 2010 at 171 lbs.

I'm here!

Sorry I've been so distant. Computer issues at work have kept me away, and will likely keep me away for a while still.

Anyway, my current weight is 173.6. I have finally hit a plateau, as I've been at this weight for 2 weeks straight. My Dr. apt is Thursday, and I am just praying for mercy that I have lost enough this month for him to give me another month's RX for the phen. Cross your fingers for me!

Even though I'm somewhat stuck at this weight, I want to give myself a HUGE pat on the back for being 173 lbs. I have no idea when my weight was last this low. This is huge for me. And knowing that I am so close to the 160's... it's almost like shock. As though I can't really quite wrap my mind around the idea of that.

Anyway, now I say I have hit a plateau, but I know exactly why I have hit it so I'm not sure if it even qualifies as a plateau. It's simple. Not tracking my intake as well, things like camping 2 weekends in a row, family bbq's, not making exercise my first priority, etc. The excuses go on and on, but I'm not here to make excuses for myself. I know what I've been doing wrong, and I'm changing it now (got up at 5:15 today and did 70 minutes on the elliptical, 500 calories burned and plan to keep it up) so I should be seeing a loss next week for sure.

Also I am going to start incorporating jogging back into my regime. On June 2 I jogged a mile (without stopping) in 10 minutes and 42 seconds. That's a HUGE record for me! I'd really like to get to where I can go farther than 1 mile without needing a walk break, and I want to sign up for another 5k to help motivate me. Actually, I think I will go search for one right now. I'll keep you updated!!

*Don't forget to X your fingers for my apt Thursday!*

Another week is gone...

And so is another 1.6 lbs!!

Woohoo!!

My weekly weigh in results = 177.2

Down 1.6 lbs from last week.

I'll take it!!

Also on saturday I went shopping and bought some dress shorts... size 12!

I am just soooo excited to be seeing some actual progress. I had my Dr. apt yesterday for my 1 month check up on phen, and he was very pleased with my progress. As am I!!

Weekly weigh in and other happy things.

So I am 2 days late with posting this, but here goes...

Drumroll please...

I lost 2 more lbs last week!

My weight as of 5/11/2010 is 178.8.

My hard work is paying off, and I am SO HAPPY. Slowly but surely my friends, I will reach my goal.

I have been totally kicking butt in working out these past couple weeks, but unfortunately the Shred is starting to take it's toll on my knee once again. I seem to be swelling up pretty good every evening that I shred, and today it's pretty swollen and achy. Needless to say, I am really disappointed but I am going to back off the Shred for now. It's not worth the risk of a real injury.

Anyway, I am down a total of 9 lbs in 3 weeks. From eating healthy, and exercising my butt off. And I feel like a million freakin dollars!

I bought this top (it's actually SUPER cute irl) at Express about 3 years ago, and wore it once because it was too small. It was too small when I bought it, but it was one of those "Oh I am going to lose weight anyway so it will be perfect!" things. Well I didn't lose weight, I actually gained weight. I tried it on probably 18 months ago (around 195-200 lbs) and it was RIDICULOUSLY small. I mean really. I could button it but it looked like the buttons were going to pop off if I dared to move, and we all know how attractive the *fat stomach busting out of my top* look is.

This picture is from Tuesday. (Don't mind the totally weird blow-fish face i'm making here. Not sure what that's about.)

It FITS!

I was on a *some of my old smaller clothes finally fit!!* rush after this, so yesterday I pulled out a pair of pants I bought last summer. They were on clearance for $4 at Target, and like the aforementioned top, they were way too small when I bought them but I was planning to lose weight anyway. (Am I the only one who does this? Or is that normal? Hubby would kill me if he knew I bought clothes that didn't even fit!)

I have tried the pants on a time or two since purchasing them, but they were just too tight. They squeezed my stomach and made my butt look gigantic because they had the 'painted on' look. I t actually wore them to work one day in the winter, and I remember taking them off the second I got home because they were so uncomfortable and I didn't want John to see how -too small- they were. Well yesterday I pulled them out of the closet. And they are not even TIGHT now!! I had to double check to make sure they were the correct pants. They fit like they were made for my body. I couldn't believe it.

I feel like my hard work is finally starting to pay off. I don't always notice it when I look in the mirror, but it's happening. And I am so excited!

She's still got it!!

So yesterday morning, I woke up at 5:10 to do the Shred and elliptical as my week plan suggests.

Well... I guess my muscles were still really fatigued from shredding on Monday, because it was SO HARD. Every squat, every pushup, every side lunge with lateral raise... OMG. I thought I wasn't even going to make it all the way through the video. Jillian and her favorite "Don't phone this in!!" phrase couldn't even keep me from...well...phoning it in. By the time the 27 minutes were up, I was dog tired and incredibly disappointed.

After the shred, I hopped on the ellip for my 30 minutes. And once again, I thought I was going to drop dead. My quads were burning, and I just felt so and tired and awful. I only finished 15 minutes! Coming from a girl who can normally bust out 60 minutes with no problem... I was so disappointed and felt frustrated about it for the entire day. A half assed shred, coupled with 15 horrible minutes on the elliptical?! Who was I??

Anyway, after work yesterday I was feeling really good (I give thanks to my 2:30 Diet Mtn. Dew) and thought it would be good to hit the track and see how many laps I could jog. I hadn't even attempted jogging for a long time and I know the longer I wait, the harder it is to get going again. I would guess it had been 6 weeks or so, if not more, so I wasn't expecting to do very well at all. In fact I was expecting it to be pretty terrible.

Well after my 5 minute warm up walk, I jogged an entire mile, without stopping, in 11 minutes and 34 seconds!! My best time yet!! I was (am) so proud, and felt like the queen of the world!! It felt great to bust out an entire mile when I had been thinking i'd barely be able to finish a lap! Anyway, I spent 50 minutes at the track (jogging some and walking some) and burned 53o calories. I think it's safe to say that I stopped feeling so bad about my awful morning workout when all was said and done!

As for today... I am absolutely SPENT. Rather than following my plan and doing an hour on the elliptical today, I am going to do some flexability yoga tonight with the hubs, and call it good. This bod needs a little break!! However, I will absolutely be back on the elliptical tomorrow morning at 5:20, and will be shredding again on Saturday. Can't wait to see how many lbs I lose this week!

Well I must start by saying how proud I am of Steph, for sticking to blogging AND WOW, even with her injuries, and with me being a horrible blog partner! I don't know why I go through such dry spells with blogging...even when I am doing well in the healthy living department! And not to mention her incredible bikini pictures... I mean... WOW!! I am so proud of that woman!!

So a little update on me. I found myself at 187.8 lbs a couple weeks ago. This was a pretty frustrating realization for me, considering that is 10 lbs HIGHER than what I was the beginning of December. It's really scary to see how fast the pounds can creep back on when you aren't paying full attention.

Anyway, I made an apt. with my gyno to ask for some HELP! I explained to him that I KNOW how to lose weight, but I really struggle with staying on track and staying motivated and keep losing/gaining the same 4 lbs over and over and i'm sick of it! He prescribed me the appetite suppressant Phentermine, and I started it on 4-20-2010. In that first week, I did REALLY well with eating and exercise, and dropped 5.2 lbs. That was very exciting for me! I have never lost that much weight in only 1 week. However, my lovely little friend TOM visited me after that and I am sad to say the next week didn't go so well. But the past is the past, right? It wasn't super horrible, but I could have done better and I know that. I am going to weigh in tomorrow to see the damage, and move forward from there.

A few weeks ago Stephanie and I set a pretty big goal. We decided that we both wanted to be down 20 lbs by July 4. This is when I was weighing 187.8, so I just rounded it up to 188, and I am really looking forward to weighing 168 lbs in July! I am going to make it happen, and I know I can do it.

My exercise routine lately has mostly consisted of 60 minutes on the elliptical most days, as well as playing tennis and hiking or walking with my hubby on other days. This has been working pretty well but I know I really need to focus more on strength training, along with all the cardio. I absolutely LOVE Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred, but I have never stuck with it long enough to see what kind of results it has to offer, so that is going to be my focus for a while. This is my plan for this week:

Monday: 30 day shred, 30 minutes ellip.
Tues: 60 minutes ellip.
Wednesday: Shred, 30 minutes ellip.
Thurs: 60 minutes ellip.
Friday: Some sort of activity with the hubs.
Saturday: Shred.

Sound like a plan?! I thought so :)

Speaking of activities with the hubs... last Monday we thought it would be fun to go for a hike. We live only minutes from the beautiful Wasatch Mountains, and have many many hiking trails at our fingertips. We have really taken that for granted in the past 2 years, and want to get the most out of this area and the beauty that surrounds us while we are here.

So we started up the first trail we came to, and about an hour and a half later reached the end of the trail! It had led us to the most majestic waterfall! It was sooo beautiful and peaceful. It was a pretty tough hike at times, and I kept thinking about how strong my legs felt and how proud I was to be able to do strenuous activities like hiking. There is no way I would have survived this hike 2 years ago, and knowing I have come a long way is such an incredible feeling. When we got back to our car, 2 hours and 22 minutes later, I looked at my heart rate monitor and could NOT believe my eyes! I had burned exactly 1300 calories!! Yes... I may have a long way to go on this path of weightloss and healthy living... but there is no denying I have come a long way!

Edit: Tuesdays weigh in = 180.8 (for a weekly loss of 1.8 lbs! Good for being on tom!)

W.O.W. gets a new look

Well after much soul searching and advice from a cousin I have taken my fitness in a different direction. So far I am happy to announce I am down 3 pounds this week so far. I have done my elliptical machine twice, a lot of strength training, and just been eating damn close to perfect if not better than perfect (if there is such a thing)

I feel as this has gone on that I am doing the right thing some of the aches and pains that I was haivng have disappeared and Kristan has been a champ helping me with meal plans, reminding me of making good choices, and holding me accountable for my fitness. I am so proud of my eating yesterday I just need to share it:

Breakfast: 3/4 C. Blueberries, 3/4 C Strawberries, 1 scoop of protein (smoothie)
Snack: 1 cup of grapes, 1 low fat cheese stick
Lunch: Lean Cuisine Glazed Chicken and an apple
Snack: 2 pieces of turkey sandwich meat, 1 kiwi, and 3 almonds
Supper: 5 Cups air popped popcorn
Water: 92 ounces

How awesome is that!! It may be tough...but I am tougher. I have to take accountability for my own fitness at one time or another. I am planning to go to strength training tomorrow night too!!

Keep fighting the good fight, it pays off!!!

WOW #3 Week 3-Things Have Changeed

Its been a long time since I have even thought about you, but the over the last month I have started having really weird and random injuries, but the most alarming of all is I have been taking Ibuprofen before I go and work out and it has gone away from the "ohh" it feels like I worked out to more of an "ouch" this is uncomfortable pain and its scaring me. Plus my competitive nature isn't very good for this either because I don't like to modify or "take it easy" i'm not really very good at it. Generally, when in pain looking back I think "hmmm...so that is where I should have modified"

The thing that is freaking me out the most at this moment though is that I haven't had this weight off for a long enough time to feel safe knowing I can keep it away forever and ever.

Kristan has saved the day, as always, and nobody will ever speak of her negatively in my presence EVER. After this I consider myself lucky to be considered her friend, and with the utmost respect. I was scared, and I am scared...I don't want to stop kickboxing, so she is going to work with me to develop a workout plan and eating plan to get through the next few weeks.

I can't forget how far I have come and where I want to end up...More later...

WOW #3 Week 1- Here I am

The phantom blogger has returned with vision, motivation, and ready to kick some ass. This wow I can already tell it is going to be some much better, there is more spirit and spunk. Today even the girl next to me was kicking butt and taking names. It was really fun and that hasn't been a word I would have used to describe WOW in a while.

Kristan recommended we journal about the following things to get started with this one. I agree its so much better to start with the goal in mind!!

1. When were you at your peak physical condition?

Surprisingly I would say right now in the last few months I have been at my top physical peak of my entire life. I was always in shape in high school and played a lot of sports, but never in all around good fitness with good eating habits. Generally it was one or the other, but rarely did I sustain doing both.

2. Do you remember how great you felt both mentally and physically?

Yes do, and it is what generally keeps me going. This year I started a new job, am a full time

grad student at UNI, and have been working out at 4:30am since the end of august. Right now

kickboxing has become my prozac, and kept me sane under the pressure. And I feel sexy, lets

be honest, and it feels pretty damn good.

3. What do you have to change about your current habits to attain results like that again?

Right now I have to cut out the excessive carbs, and lower my calories to 1000 to 1200 I hope to

to lose another 25 in this WOW and in order to make a huge change like that I have to keep it

together on the eating and work my ass off.

4. What is your #1 goal for the next 10 weeks?

My main goals for this WOW are continued weight loss, I know it isn't about numbers but when I

started all of this I had a number in the back of my head (150) and I am getting there. I have to

get serious to get the serious results I want. Also, I want to work on being more active outside of

the gym, because that will lead me to developing an overall more active lifestyle and making true

change

5. What are the "solutions" you must stay focused upon in order to attain that goal?

I will not be allowing myself to get dragged into negativity during this WOW, I am going for ME

and only ME. I have a great partner this time, but I will not attribute my success to anyone but

myself. I have all the tools to reach my goals, I just need to use them. This is my mantra for this

WOW, and I will tell it to myself over and over and over if I have to. I need to focus on my own

"personal bank account" because it needs some deposits before I can help others build theirs.

My first 5k!!

So as you may remember, I had signed up for a "Sweethears 5k" for Feb. 13. Well I did it, and finished in 38 minutes and 42 seconds. My goal was sub 40 so I am very happy with those results!! It was cold, it was rainy, but it was a victory! And of course I enjoyed having my 'sweetheart' at my side! We are planning to do another one on April 10, and my goal is to be able to run the whole thing with no walking breaks. *Crossing fingers* It feels so good to have accomplished a goal like this! I've never been what most people consider a 'runner' but I feel like I am slowly making my way there.

Oh also for Valentines Day my hubby gave me a Nike +. He gave it to me a couple weeks early because I was too excited! Do any of YOU, our readers have one?? I would really like to have friends to add at the nike+ website!!

W.O.W. #2- Week 4 & 5-Halfway Measurements

Well my last post was a little gloomy about how I was feeling, but now that I am back tracking on sparkpeople, going more with calories, I am a very happy girl!! Also, this week marks the halfway point for this wow, and well let's just say I'm pleasantly thrilled with my results. I am going to put my ending results from November down so you can compare.

My measurements after (Nov. 20):

Body Fat Percentage: 38.3%

Weight: 194.6

Hips: 48"

Waist: 41 3/4"

Chest 40"

Thigh: 26"

Arm: 12 3/4

Push-ups in 1 min.: 19

Sit-ups in 1 min: 43

Halfway Measurements: (February 11)

Body Fat Percentage: 35.2%

Weight: 185.6

Hips: 45"

Waist: 38 3/4"

Chest 39"

Thigh: 26"

Arm: 13"

Push-ups in 1 min.: 27

Sit-ups in 1 min: 44

The weight is getting harder and harder to get off but the inches are still moving in the right direction!!! Yahoo!!!

W.O.W. #2- Week 3-I knew this was coming, but still not prepared

Well the 3rd week of wow is complete, and I came in UP 2.5 pounds. This is the first time that this has happened for me since the middle of July and I'll be honest...I was devastated. I knew that this WOW was going to be harder, and that the weight was going to come off slower, but UP....UP really?! I have been doing a lot of reflection the last few days about myself and my pitfalls and the pros and cons of the Zone diet. It isn't a lifestyle for me, I am going to incorporate some of its guidelines but I am going back to sparkpeople for tracking, and calorie counting. It should be similar, but for me it just isn't. I have deducted that it has something to do with me mentally because I have been on every fad diet known to man, and despite this not being one mentally I can't get over it feeling like one.

This last weekend was a prime example because John and I had the day off to spend together, we went shopping and just hung out. But I didn't feel like there was anything for me to eat because I was so exhausted that I just couldn't think. I went to McDonalds and tried to do what the Zone says about getting the two hamburger patties and ditching the top of the bun...but I felt ridiculous. And then by the end of the day I was starving and talked myself into a piece of pizza...really?! Then Sunday I spent the day pretty much beating myself up for all my bad choices on Saturday, which was about as productive as trying to get the snow off my driveway in January. But now looking back, the zone just brought to life many of the obstacles that stopped me from weight loss for so long...I can eat what I like, just in moderation. There are better choices to make sometimes, but adding a salad to that hamburger and adding a pile of green beans to that piece of pizza would have been better.

I will continue to eat more protein than I did in my first WOW but 78 grams a day is just too much because I'm not doing enough strength training to need all of that right now. Also, I understand the importance of good carbs over bad carbs. I know that you want to stay in the zone and it doesn't always happen, but this diet just made me fall into many of my old habits like feeling like I was sneaking food if I had a potato or feeling guilty because I wanted spaghetti. Its a great diet...but for me it is not my way of "getting my healthy on" its my way of having all my perfectionist tendencies come to life and to lose confidence in being able to reach my goals.

Wow, that was a lot longer than I was anticipating, but after deciding that Monday morning, here it is Wednesday already and I am down that two measly pounds but I have a sense of freedom that I had before. I'm not where I want to be in WOW, but I'm feeling like I am back on the right track.

W.O.W. #2- Week 2

This week has been so much better, things are getting to a point of normal. My total loss at this point is 7.8 pounds in 2 weeks, which is pretty awesome. I am definitely feeling the difference of having the protein added in and making sure that it stays there is sometimes the challenge because it is the biggest thing that you can eliminate to save time, which is something that just can't happen.

My breakfast this morning comprised of 1 whole hard boiled egg, 2 hard boiled egg whites, 1/2 Cup of oatmeal (dry with 1 cup of water added, 2 tsp brown sugar, and 9 almonds. Yes you read that correctly and I am LOSING WEIGHT with all that food. It is crazy, and the tone in my muscles is getting much more defined.

well here comes another week!!

W.O.W. #2- Week 1-WOW as an adjective

Well with one week of the second wow underway, all i can think about is all the ways the WOW has become an adjective in my life. Such as, wow my body is soooo happy that i am working out again at this intensity level, wow my body was exhausted all week, wow zone dieting is hard if you ever leave the house, and wow i have lost a ton of weight.

It is so hard to do this zone diet, because that is exactly what it feels like...a diet. Knowing my track record I don't stick with diets, and I don't want to feel like I am on one. I am trying to make a lot of healthy changes, or eating better foods, but I also got into the habit of eating the same thing over and over and over this week. This attitude I am feeling is hard to deal with because I NEVER felt that way in the last wow, but I just have to keep telling myself that I know Kristan would never give me a task I couldn't accomplish or set me up for failure.

The positive side of the Zone diet is the amount of food I can eat, and my level of satisfaction that I have after meals, as well as how long that satisfaction lasts. I can make it easily between meals instead of struggling to get to the next one. The down side is that I spend FOREVER planning and preparing. Also, I feel like there are so many things I can't have.

The positive side of the week is that I started at 194.4 Monday (which is the result of a few bad weekend choices) and today am at 188.4....which is a 6 pound loss this week!!

Here goes week two...i hope it gets a little easier.

Please help...

I know money is tight everywhere, but I don't know anyone who can't sacrifice $10 to help aid those in Haiti right now whose lives have been shattered in the earthquake.

I know if I were there, I would be on my knees begging God, praying for help from people like you and me. We are all so blessed people!!! We can't sit here and allow those people to suffer without offering the slightest bit of help.

Right now is the time to help.

Read this article.

Really, just take the 5 minutes and read it please.

Did you read the part that states there could be as many as 100,000 dead? Or maybe even up to 500,000 dead?? Or more???? I can't even imagine the heartache involved in such a disaster.

For those interested in helping immediately (YOU AND ME!), simply text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill (I checked it out and it's 100% legit. It's sponsored by the mGive Foundation and Every penny of that $10 goes straight to the Red Cross).Once you text, they will text you back asking to confirm. Reply "YES". They will send you 2 more texts and you just reply "STOP" to never hear from them again. Simple as can be.

Or you can go online to organizations like the Red Cross and Mercy Corps to make a contribution to the disaster relief efforts.

Time to get moving!

I just recieved a phone call from my dear SIL (who accompanied me in the 2 mile fun run last August) who was calling to notify me that she had heard of a Valentine's Day 5k on February 13 that she wants to do, and asked if I would do it with her!

Look to the left -----> and you will see a precious little widget that I just added to our blog. It's official. I was extremely hesitant but I just paid the registration fees for my husband and I and we are ON! No turning back now!! And my SIL is currently in the process of talking her hubby into it as well.

I also called my Dr. today to see when exactly I could start jogging again and they said TODAY. A week ago, actually! It turns out that I only HAD to wait 4 weeks rather than 6 like I thought. Both with upper body strength training, and jogging. This Friday will be my 6 week mark, so I am going to start up jogging tonight at my cardio class! I'm super nervous about this 5k considering it is IN A MONTH, but I think this is just the kick in the pants I needed to get going again!

Needing to talk...

I don't really know where this post is heading, but I just feel like I need to write.

The past 2 days have been rough. I spent the weekend binging, feeling like crap and having major cramps, and allowing myself to have a bad attitude. I started my period last week and Saturday the binging began. I ALWAYS feel horrible when I binge and I don't understand why I let it happen in the first place. Lately I've been finding myself doing negative self talk. I find myself thinking "Yeah... I'm way too lazy to lose any more weight." "Yeah, I ate something bad for breakfast so there is no turning this day around now and I may as well not even exercise." THESE STATEMENTS ARE WRONG. It's like a form of self abuse and when I look at it that way, I can't believe that I just sit here and allow myself to be abused (by myself...). I guess I have just lost my momentum and am allowing that to make me feel like a failure?? I really don't know. Then I find myself on certain days feeling really great and motivated and have a really awesome and healthy day, and then the next day I feel careless again.

There is a person in my life who is overweight and she is CONSTANTLY telling me "I HAVE GOT to lose this weight. I'm so miserable and fat and I hate it. I'm changing this right now. I AM GOING TO LOSE THIS WEIGHT..." Then she will diet and exercise for one day, and then go right back to her same bad habits, and then the next week she is back telling me how miserable she is and how she HAS GOT to lose this weight... It is a vicious cycle that she lets herself be stuck in and I really really fear becoming exactly like that person.

Now writing all this down and reading it I feel like I'm being way hard on myself and I'm thinking perhaps my hormones (yes, it's that lovely time again!) are to blame? Because I'm normally a very positive person. I think (know) that not being able to run is really affecting my outlook on things as well as the way I feel about myself. I will be able to start jogging again next week and OMG I can't wait. I know it's going to be hard starting over, but I really can't wait. After every jog, no matter if I only ran .25 miles at a time or 2 miles at a time, I always feel a huge sense of accomplishment and like I am truly making progress in my overall fitness, as well as my goal of losing weight. So I am really looking forward to jogging again and getting back into that routine of progression.

Anyway, today my thoughts good. I at a Zone perfect bar for breakfast, I brought some DELICIOUS homemade ham and chicken pot pie for lunch (hubby made it and it's a relatively healthy recipe and oh-so yummy!) and am having homemade minestrone soup and roasted veggies for supper. I feel so good about things when my day is planned out like that. I am also taking my lunch time walk today, and John and I are walking to the little vegetable stand after work today to buy some veggies for roasting, and I will do my 45 minutes on the elliptical tonight.

I want to say that I am so thankful for having Stephanie as a partner in this journey. Reading her blogs ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS encourages me and gives me the little bits of inspiration that I need, and I want SO BADLY to be that person for her again. She has made her long term goal 140 lbs, and I've never told her or anybody else this but my *dream* goal has always been 150 lbs. I have just never put it on paper or told a single soul because I thought it would be too hard for me and unrealistic so I settled for 160 as my long term goal. Well guess what Stef? I'm changing my goal to 150 because you gave me the courage to be true to myself. Thank you!!

So: how have I been doing on my January goals?
#1- Get back to the track in 2 weeks because that's when the Dr. said I will be good to go with running. Still waiting for this one, but it's gonna happen!
#2- Cook at least 3 dinners at home per week and eat the leftovers! Doing really well here. John has been cooking some too, but we are both very much more aware about eating at home AND eating the leftovers rather than letting things go to waste
#3- Exercise at least 45 minutes, 4 times a week. Didn't completely accomplish this one last week, as I only did 3 days. But this week is a new week and I plan to make it to 4 days.
#4- Read the daily sparkblog EVERY DAY. I've done just great here too. Even days when I wasn't exactly feeling motivated, I would read the blog because I knew it was part of my goals and that I needed to do it.
#5- BRING LUNCH TO WORK. Doing great here as well. Bringing lunch to work is SUCH AN IMPORTANT THING for me or else I find myself getting into trouble in the middle of the day and heading to the cafe. Having a lunch AND snacks at work helps me in achieving my goals.

I have these goals posted on my wall in my office, and in the kitchen at home right next to my calender. I have also told John about these goals and of course he can see them hanging on the wall in the kitchen. I know having them in sight as well as having John know about them helps me keep them in my mind.

So there we are. Overall not too bad with my January goals, I just needed a serious attitude adjustment and I think blogging gave me just that. Proof that I need to blog more often...

I have also been researching 5ks in my area for this spring and summer, and there is one on April 10 that John and I are going to sign up for! I am so excited and I know that signing up and paying for it will help in my motivation. We can't officially sign up until February 1st, but I am definitely going to do it that day.

John has started working out again and wants to try P90X (his bro said he would burn the discs for him) and I'm really proud of him for wanting that. He hasn't worked out much since winter hit but things work out so much better when we are both trying to achieve healthy goals and being a support for one another. I'm so thankful for him!

Anyway, there it all is. What a blog! I'm looking forward to making this week a success in my path of enjoying a healthy lifestyle

The eve before W.O.W. #2 and my goals

Tonight I am sitting here awaiting the morning when wow gets under way. There are a lot of changes this time because we are going to be with a partner, and then with a team. I don't know how this will work, it will motivate me so I hope that it motivates others so that the team dynamic will work.

As for our eating, we are going more into what Kristan calls "zone eating" so we have to have 3 blocks of protein, 3 blocks of carb, and 3 blocks of fat at breakfast/lunch/supper, and then 1 block of each at the two snacks. I spent a large portion of the entire weekend trying to plan and well i came to a few conclusions: 1) i am a perfectionist, 2)that i relied too heavily on carbohydrates, and 3)this is going to be very hard to do long-term unless i get this figured out. I am just worried that my perfectionist tendencies may lead me to not eat if i don't know that i am doing it right for fear of doing it wrong. see how scatterbrained this paragraph sounds, well that is how successful i was at meal planning, i think i got about three days completed. Then we have the problem of tuesdays and wednesdays when i have nights classes...ugh...so i will have to eat on the run which this diet doesn't appear to lend itself to AT ALL. I have a lot to learn but wow here we go.

My measurements were very close to my ending ones, I can feel that i lost some muscle tone but I expected that because I did more yoga than strength training during our break. Although i did do my pictures in a bikini...yes a bikini...and will post them at the end with my final pictures.

I have a lot of goals for this wow because I could get almost to my goal of 140 pounds by the end. I don't even know what that looks like or how it will feel because I haven't ever been there and been able to maintain it. However, my first goal is to plan all of my meals in advance because it really does help, then I want to have perfect attendance again (even though it doesn't count, it counts for me), and I want to finish this wow with SERIOUS definition in my arms and legs so that that bikini may actually get worn, and I want to be able to do 40 push-ups.

Well I am going to blog at least each week, maybe more if I can.

It's been way too long...

OK I'm not going to dwell on how long it's been since I've blogged. Bottom line is: Stephanie suggested that I need to blog, and she is right. So here I am.

I am anti new year's resolution, but this year I do plan on taking up running again (I should be able to get back on the track in 2 weeks, I obviously haven't run or exercised much since the beginning of December). My big plan for the year is to sign up for, and RUN lots and lots of 5k's. Maybe even 10k's! But 5k's for sure. I was finally to the point of being able to run 1 mile without stopping (it took me 12 minutes, but still!) So I am excited to get back to that, as well as get to running 3.1 miles without stopping. I know I can do it!! Little by little I can do it.

I really need to start focusing more on my intake as well. December was just a disaster for me as far as eating well and exercising. I really want to start cooking a lot again, and with my husband being graduated from college finally, he will be home to eat dinner with me every night.

So let me take this time to write out my goals for this MONTH:
#1- Get back to the track in 2 weeks because that's when the Dr. said I will be good to go with running.
#2- Cook at least 3 dinners at home per week and eat the leftovers! I've been going out too much and wasting food, and being lazy with cooking.
#3- Exercise at least 45 minutes, 4 times a week. I've been so lazy for a month, and it's time to get my head back into the game.
#4- Read the daily sparkblog EVERY DAY. As much as I do get burned out on Sparkpeople.com sometimes, it really helps me to read the daily blog.
#5- BRING LUNCH TO WORK.

So those are my 5 goals for this month. I am going to type them up on a word document and print them off and hang them on my fridge, and my wall at work, and write them on my calender. I have a tendency to make goals and forget all about them, but not this time! I will post my progress on this blog throughout the month.