Progress

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Strength Training

So, in addition to my running program, I am doing some strength training 2 days per week.  I completed my first day today and am feeling good!

Many of you have probably heard about P90X, but have you ever heard of Power90?  Power90 is P90X's predecessor and I got it way back when no one had ever heard about it.  I did it before my wedding and lost about 20 pounds.  It includes a cardio workout and a strength training workout and you alternate between the two 6 days a week.

Honestly, I am burnt out on the complete Power90 program, but I still love the strength training video.  Its like I have a personal trainer right there on my television.  In about 30 minutes, I work all of the core muscle groups and get my stretching in.  So, that is what I am using to do my strength training twice a week. 

I'll keep checking in!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Week 20: Weigh In Results

Well, I missed weigh-in again last Thursday.  I will confess though, that I've probably put on about 1.8 pounds since my last weigh in.  :(

Now that Lance has started football, it is very hard for me to get up to Weight Watchers with both kids.  I'm either going to have stop going to the meetings and just do it on my own at home - OR - I'm going to have to just go weigh in and not stay for the meeting.  I really like going to the weight watcher meetings, I like having an offical weigh in for the week and I like hearing the meeting topic, other people's perspectives and mingle a little.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Now for some good news - I started running again today.  You might remember that I started a while back, but quickly began having some pain in my feet that brought my running program to a screeching halt!  Well, I figured out that I have plantar fasciitis.

For the last 2 months, I have been doing heel and calf stretches and wearing my fancy new running shoes all day long (no more going all day bare foot).  My feet still hurt, but it has improved alot.  Today, I again did Week 1 Day 1 of the Couch to 5K program.  It was pretty tough, but I'm proud to report that 1) I did it and 2) my feet didn't hurt that bad. 

That's about it for me today.  I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for the new week!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Monday Check-In

Where my peeps at?  If you ever read this blog, please post a comment and let me know.  I know I need to better at posting more often, but I am curious to know if anyone out there is reading :)

So, my Monday has gone pretty good so far.  I actually started journaling again today.  I only have 7.5 points left for the entire day (if you aren't a weight watcher then let me just tell you that is not very much) but at least I have journaled every single calorie consumed today.

I know there are many teachers and students going back to school today and I want to send best wishes to all of you.  Espically those of you with kiddos starting kindergarten today - I don't even want to think about that happening to me, even though its only 3-4 years away.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Grocery Store Woes

Probably my least favorite chore of all is going to the grocery store. It takes so much planning ahead of time to plan out the meals, then write down all of the ingredients I will need for each meal and then searching coupons to see if there are any coupons for what I am going to be getting (sometimes I skip this step).

Then I have to figure out when to go. I can't go in the middle of Brady or Laney's nap. Nor can I go when its almost bedtime. I can't go when Laney is about to get ready to eat. I can't go during the day when I am at work. Sometimes, Lance or his mom will be available to watch one or both of the kids for me so that I can go to the store and get out in a reasonable amount of time - and this helps alot.

Once I've found a time when all the stars align and I can actually go to the store, its time to load up the kids, haul down to the store, spend an hour (sometimes more) grocery shopping, checkout, load the groceries and the kids into the car, get home and then it's time to unload the groceries. BUT WAIT - not done yet - I still need to divide up the meat (I buy bulk meat and seperate it into meal size servings in ziplock bags).

It's something that we ALL have to do, but I just dread it. I'd rather clean my house from top to bottom or do 20 loads of laundry than have to go to the grocery store (or plan it).

SOOOOO, all of that just to say that sometimes I get lazy and stretch out the grocery trips. When that happens, we end up eating out alot or just finding junk at home to eat. It really takes a huge toll on my waist-line.

Does anyone have any tips on how to make the grocery store chore a little less daunting?

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Week 19: Weigh In Results

I missed weigh in this week since I didn't have any childcare.  I could have taken them with me, but it has been such a long and exhausting week (both kids sick), that I couldn't find the energy to go.

I haven't been doing good on my diet at all lately and it is due to lack of planning.  More on this in my next post!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Week 18: Weigh In Results


Down again this week - but still not close to 2 pounds (my weekly weight loss goal).  I guess I can still  celebrate that it has now been 18 weeks and not one single gain!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Week 17: Weigh In Results

Well, I lost 0.6 this week.  I am so disappointed in this.  This was for 2 weeks (I was out of town last week for my grandpa's funeral) and so I should have lost about 4 pounds - if I would have met my goal of 2 pounds per week.

I have GOT to get back on track!  I haven't been journaling my food for a few weeks now - and that changs today!!!  I have also got to find the time to get some activity in.  That is what is going to make all the difference - I just know it. 

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can make time for exercise and stick with it?

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Week 16: Weigh In

I missed last week's weigh in due to my grandpa's funeral.  I'll be resuming weigh in's tomorrow, but I am not looking forward to it.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Week 15: Weigh In Results


There is good news and bad news this week.  The good news is, I actually lost a little bit - 0.4 pounds to be exact, and I was almost certain I was going to gain this week.  The bad news is, that is no where close to my goal of 2 pounds per week.

Honestly, I had a very emotional and stressful weekend.  I had family in town visiting who I haven't seen in a very long time.  I cooked some major meals for them, with the intention of filling up on salad and only having a taste of the good stuff.  But, once it was time to sit down and actually eat, my willpower went out the window and I ate everything I shouldn't have - including dessert.

So, here I am at week 15 and I've lost a total of 15 pounds.  I'm proud that I have lost 15 pounds, but then I think about the fact that it could be 30 pounds if I would have achieved my goal of 2 pounds per week. 

My husband and I have a bet going (that started last night) as to who could loose 20 pounds first.  He is out of his mind and says he is going to do it in 3 weeks - he hasn't a clue!  I told him it was my goal to do it in 6 weeks - that's over 3 pounds per week folks!!  I'm starting to think I haven't a clue either :)

I'll post more about our friendly little bet in another post later.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Week 14: Weigh In Results

Lost 2.2 this week!  If I could keep an average loss of 2 pounds per week, I would be really happy with that.  Gotta keep on keepin on :)

Something to Celebrate

I just realized today that I've been doing Weight Watchers for 13 weeks and haven't had a single gain.  Granted there have been a few times that I only lost 0.2 or had to miss a weigh in or just maintained, but I'm still pleased with that. 

Even back in 2002 when I did Weight Watchers for the first time and lost almost 20 pounds, I still had a gain on Week 5, 9 and 12.  Here is a summary of my progress so far on weight watchers:

Week 1   -0.8 lbs
Week 2   -1.6 lbs
Week 3   -1.0 lbs
Week 4   -2.0 lbs
Week 5   -0.4 lbs
Week 6    missed (no childcare)
Week 7   -2.6 lbs
Week 8    0.0 lbs (maintained)
Week 9    missed (no childcare)
Week 10  -0.2 lbs
Week 11  -3.0 lbs
Week 12   missed (out of town)
Week 13  -0.8 lbs
Total   -12.4 lbs

And this doesn't include tonights weigh in, and I am expecting a pretty good loss tonight.  Hopefully tonight will make it 14 weeks without a gain.  Stay tuned tomorrow for weigh in results.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

DC Talk

Here's an update on my Diet Coke (DC) challenge.  Well, Im sitting here taking my first sip of Diet Coke in 6 days.  It has been really hard - much harder than I thought it would be!  Finally, I just couldn't stand it anymore and broke down and had one.  Oh well, maybe I can keep it down to 1 per week - that shouldn't be too bad, right?

Friday, July 9, 2010

What is your favorite?

Fruit or Vegetable?  How do you like to prepare it?

I'll start. 

Vegetable: Right now my favorite Vegetable is Sweet Potatoes, probably because my whole family eats them and actually likes them.  What I do is bake the Sweet Potatoes, then peel them and put the "meat" in a bowl.  Then I mix in some low-fat plain yogurt (I don't measure, I just wing it) and just a touch of brown sugar (about 1 tsp per potato) and mash them up.  Yummy!  I've heard adding cinnamon is really good too.


Fruit: Honestly, I've got a 4 way tie for my favorite fruits, but if I had to choose, I guess I would choose blueberries.  As far as preparation, I like to eat them with yogurt and granola (see my recipe for Yogurt Parfait).

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Week 13: Weigh In Results

I lost 0.8 this week.  I'm not very happy with that, espically considering this was for 2 weeks (remember, we were out of town last week).  It's better than a gain though!  I'll do better next week :)

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Any Bachelorette fans out there?

So, aparantly, the current Bachelorette, Ali, is trying to lose weight.  Reports are saying that during the taping of the Bachelorette all she did was eat and drink and that watching herself on camera has "stressed" her out and she is on a diet to lose 15 pounds.

Here she is as a contestant on the Bachelor last season:

















Here she is at the beginning of this season:

 Here she is now:
I don't know, I don't see an extra 15 pounds anywhere, but I also know what it feels like to not have very much weight to lose and have no one understand why you want to lose weight at all.  As long as she is doing it in a healthy way, who cares?

Normally I can't stand "news" involving someone's weight, but this kinda helped me realize something for myself.  She thinks she needs to lose 15 pounds, but she still looks good to me.  I think it just speaks to the fact that we (as women) are much harder on ourselves than anyone else.  We pick out and dwell on every little flaw, even ones that no one else in this entire world would ever see if we weren't pointing it out!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

My Diet Coke challenge

I have decided to *try* to give up Diet Coke.  I am going to start with completely avoiding it for 2 weeks (starting yesterday).  When (if) I make to the end of 2 weeks, I'll set a new goal.  I don't think I am ready to say I'll never, ever drink a diet coke ever again, but I am ready to cut it out most of the time and only have it on occasion.

Why?  Well, just google aspartame and see what comes up!  Do I believe that drinking 1 diet coke a day is going to give me multiple sclorosis, fibromyalgia and cancer?  No, I don't, but it can't be all that great for you either.  I mean, if it can clean a toilet, i don't want to know what its doing internally.

So, I'll let you know how it goes.  I've already thought about having a diet coke about 10 times in the last 2 days - but I haven't given in yet.

Anyone want to join me in my diet coke challenge?

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July everyone!  We arrived back in town Thrusday night, but I have been sick since Wednesday, so I haven't felt like blogging or exercising or anything like that. 

I felt like my diet kinda flew out the window while we were out of town, but I came back home and the scale showed I was actually down a little.  Now, my scale does lie to me sometimes, so I'm not getting too excited.  I am just gonna get back on plan and hope for a great week this Thrusday.

That's all for today, sorry its boring.  Hopefully I will be feeling better tomorrow and I can upload some pictures to show you my new running shoes :)

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Out of town

Just wanted to let you know that I have not given up on the weight loss and blog.  We have been out of town since Saturday morning and we won't be back until Thursday night.  I will miss my Weight Watchers weigh in this week since we won't be back in time, but I'm still trying to make good food choices.

It's hard when every single meal is at a restaurant or fast food- so I'm not sure how successful I will be this week.  Hopefully I can just maintain, and not gain anything, and then get back on the weight loss band wagon next week.

So, you won't see anything else from me on the blog until Friday morning.  But, I do plan on getting back on track when we get home!  See you then.

Friday, June 25, 2010

What's in a name?

It seems that naming a blog is a lot like naming a child.  You want it to be unique, but not too far out there.  You want it to give an indication of what your blog is about.  You want it to be memorable and differenciated.  You want it to be able to grow with time, meaning it needs to make sense now and later on down the road.  For example, I wouldn't want to call it "Im so fat" (which I would never say that anyway, but lets go with it for the example), because hopefully I won't be one day. 

Anyway, I've been thinking about a new title for about a week now.  I think that I think I am more cleaver than I actually am (did that make sense?)  I kept coming up with ideas that I thought were so cleaver, then I'd do a google search to make sure I'm not copy catting someone else (AGAIN), only to find that someone else was already cleaver enough to get it.  Some of my squashed ideas have been: Chew on That, Can't Hardly Weight, Weigh Down South, and Tales from the Scale (my personal favorite).

So, here's what I'm chewing on now - Apple Bottom Mom.  With a tagline of "An apple a day keeps the weight away".  What do you think?  Surely everyone is singing in their head right now, "Apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur..."  I know I am.  In fact, here's how it came to me. 

I was working with the kids on the cutest Father's Day craft project ever (see picture below).  I used my 3 month old daughter's butt print to make an apple and my 2 year old son's fingerprints to make a cataplillar.  The whole time I was doing it and for several days after, I had that song stuck in my head.  Now, you can't walk around your house for 3 whole days singing "Get Low" by Flo Rida and not start shaking the bootie a little!  Am I right? 

So, Brady and I are shakin' our bootie together and I start thinking how embarrasing this would be if anyone had any clue what we were doing, so this pops out of my mouth: "Brady, don't you go tellin' anyone about your silly apple bottom mom".  And the rest is history! 

As promised, here is the craft project that started it all:


What do you think?  Should I go with it?  Or should I keep thinking?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Week 11: Weigh In Results


Thursday is my weigh in day at Weight Watchers.  I had my best week yet this week - I was down 3.0 pounds!  In Weight Watchers, you get to celebrate little milestones along the way and this week I got two of them: 1) another 5 lbs lost and 2) 5% of my starting weight lost. 

Each week I will update the ticker at the top of the blog.  This shows my goal as 50 pounds to lose (of which I've already lost 12).  I struggled with what number to ues as my starting point.  Should I use the highest I've ever been (which was right before I had Brady)?  Should I use how much I weighed right before Laney was born? 

I ended up using my starting weight from when I started at Weight Watchers this time around.  I started on April 8, 2010 and Laney was 3 weeks old at the time.  I had already lost 15 pounds by then, but honestly, I don't think that should count as true weight loss.  Laney was 7 pounds of that and the other 8 pounds was probably all that other stuff (you know, placenta, extra fluids, etc). 

So, if you take my 50 pound goal, and add the 15 pounds that I had already lost before starting weight watchers, you'll see that is a total of 65 pounds from Laney's pregnancy weight!  I know the numbers are all confusing - espically when all I do is talk about how much I have to lose, instead of putting my actual weight on there.  So, here is how my weight has progressed over the last 2-3 years:

Goal Weight                    0
Weight gained before Brady     +13 lbs (13 from goal)
Weight gained with Brady       +63 lbs (76 from goal)
Weight lost after Brady        -56 lbs (20 from goal)
Weight gained with Laney       +45 lbs (65 from goal)
Weight lost before starting WW -15 lbs (50 from goal)
Weight lost since starting WW  -12 lbs (38 from goal)

So, you can see how I struggled with what number to use as my starting weight.  It has gone up and down so much over the last 2-3 years.  Hopefully all of that kind of makes sense.  I'm working on a "About Me" page that will show all the different weights that I have been since I entered adulthood.  That should be interesting!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

C25K - Week 1 Day 2

So, I completed the second day of C25K yesterday and it felt great.  Let me clarify: my endurance felt great and I had alot of energy, but my feet are KILLING me!  This happened when I started running after I had Brady too. 

I even went to an Orthopedic Surgeon back then because it hurt so bad.  He took some x-rays and came to the conclusion that I must have some hairline fractures in my heels.  He didn't see anything out of the ordinary on the x-rays, and since hairline fractures don't show up on x-rays, that is why he concluded that must be the problem.

Now I'm not so sure he was correct, since I know there has been plenty of time for the fractures to heal, if there ever were any.  The pain eventually went away, but that is because I stopped working out.  I'm wondering if I have Achilles Tendonitis?  This picture shows where it hurts:

I am going to assume Achilles Tendonitis for right now (unless any of you know what else it might be) and try the things they recommend on the About.com page I linked to above.  This includes a) stretching the Achilles Tendon, b) getting a heel wedge for my shoes and c) icing my heels. 

Monday, June 21, 2010

New Blog Title

When I decided to start this blog, I thought long and hard about the blog title.  I was excited when it finally came to me and it seemed to fit perfectly for this blog.  UNTIL....I found this site - Roni's Weigh.  It's another weight loss/maintainence blog site (and a pretty good one too) by a girl named Roni.

This is just too weird.  I have met only 1 other girl named Ronni in my entire life!  And now I find this one, not only do we share the same name, but apparently, we think alot alike too.  So, I don't want to be a copy-cat and she has had her blog alot longer than me, so I think I need a new title. 

I'm taking suggestions and I'll pool together my favorites and then I can do a poll on here to see what most people like the best.  So, to all my creative friends out there - send me your suggestions!!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Yogurt Parfait

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes.  It has so many nutritional benefits and it is so yummy!!!  Plus it can be breakfast, a side item, a snack or even dessert...how many recipes do you know that do that??

Below is the "recipe" for the way I make it.  I put recipe in quotes because there really is nothing to it.  Sometimes I add in or substitute black berries or raspberries. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup light or fat-free Vanilla yogurt
1 oz Blueberries (about 20)
4 oz Strawberries (about 4)
1/8 cup Granola (I like the Bear Naked kind, but any kind will work)
Optional: 1 Tbsp Flaxseed Oil

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Serve.

Weight Watcher Points:
2 without the Flaxseed Oil
4 with the Flaxseed Oil

All mixed up and ready to enjoy!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

The importance of health

At my weight watchers meeting this week the leader said, "Do you think that if we were raised leading a healthly lifestyle, that any of us would be sitting here every Thursday?"  She went on to talk about the fact that our eating habits are just that - habits! They are things we've learned or trained ourselves to do along the way.  We learn these habits around 3 or 4 years old (maybe even earlier than that), which means I am trying to undo 25 years of bad eating habits.

As I thought about that, it suddenly became even more important to follow through on this lifestyle change.  I am proud to say that Brady leads a very healthy lifestyle.  He gets lots of fruits, vegetables, milk, lean protien and whole grains.  His sugar intake is limited and he is very active every day. 

But, if Lance and I aren't doing the same thing, then Brady is eventually going to start doing as we do (well, he already does, but I know it will just get worse as time goes on).  We need to be good examples for Brady and Laney and that is why it is important to be conisistent in how we eat.  We need to eat good all the time, with only the occaisional special treat, instead of 1/2 the time being good and 1/2 the time eating junk.  Then maybe when Brady and Laney are adults, they won't be spending their Thursday evenings at a weight watcher meeting :)

Friday, June 18, 2010

The best laid plans

of weight loss often prove successful!

OK, so I know that isn't the real quote, but I like my version better.  It seems that when I plan my weekly meals, I do so much better.  So, without further ado, here is my plan for the week:

I don't expect you to be able to read it, but just know that I did it.  This board hangs inside of my pantry door and my intentions are to update it every Sunday and then go to the grocery store.  But half the time it ends up hanging there completly blank or a week out of date.  Not now though!

Also, my plans for exercising are to do the Couch to 5K (C25K) program 3 days a week and weight training twice a week.  I finished C25K - Day 1 today (for the third time) and I'll continue to post updates on how C25K is going.  Maybe I can find a Labor Day 5K to run?  Anyone want to do it with me?

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Accountability...

I can't count the number of times I've started to eat right or started to exercise.  Yes folks, I'm a good starter, but I hardly ever stick with it.  Sometimes I make it a few months and other times I only make it a couple of days.

I've thought many times about why I have such a hard time sticking with it.  Is it lack of discipline? motivation?  commitment?  confidence? inspiration? support?  time?  energy?  The answer is all of the above.  But each time I fall off the band wagon, I only disappoint and hurt myself.  So, a thought popped into my head that maybe, just maybe, the thing that will help me stay disciplined, motivated, commited, etc is if I have some accountability.

So, I have a favor to ask of you.  Will you please check my blog and hold me accountable for following through this time?  My goal is to make eating right and exercising my way of life (hence the title of the blog).

Right now, my normal lifestyle habits include eating out way too much, exercising only when it fits in my schedule and choosing processed food over fresh fruits and vegetables.  Then I get little bursts of motiviation and that's when I cook healthy and well balanced meals, make smart food choices and exercise consistently. 

I want that to completely flip flop.  I want my "normal" lifestyle to be a healthy one.  I want days that I don't work out to be out of the ordinary.  I want going out to eat to be a rare treat.  I want to crave fresh fruits and vegetables over processed and convience foods.

As of today, I am commiting to keep up with this blog, at the very least.  Even if I fall off the band wagon, I will at least come on here to talk about it.  I plan on posting about my weight loss progress, things that motivate me, things that hinder me, exciting new receipes and other random things that somehow relate to my strive for a healthy lifestyle.

I hope you'll join me in my journey and become a regular reader.  Post comments and let me know there are poeple out there who are holding me accountable.  If I go MIA for a while, call me out!  Who knows, maybe throughout this journey of mine, I'll inspire some of you to do the same thing?