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.