A new post...finally!

I am still around. I have been meaning to post something for a long time now. I have gained some of my weight back, but not all of it. I am trying to get back into exercising. I even ran again, and it did feel good to get outside and move. I am looking forward to starting a new year and keeping at this weight loss goal of mine. I think the most important thing I have learned is that even if you fall off of the wagon it does not mean you give up. I am not discouraged and will just keep at it and WILL reach my goal. My first big goal is still to get back under 200. I may never get "skinny" but I do want to be under 200 again. I saw some pics the other day of me back when I was 172 and I did look pretty damn good. I was thin and the sad thing is that when I weighed that, I still thought I was fat. I am not going to make that mistake again. This time I am celebrating every single pound lost and I am recognizing how great I look at every weight. The # is not what matters, it is how I feel that counts.

I will try to write more from now on. I hope some of you are still around to keep me going.

Thanks!!

Rock it, live it, own it!!!

Back to running and checking off on goals

I have gotten back on track with my C25K and I am feeling great. I am still in shock at how much I am enjoying going out and running. It just feels so wonderful. I never did run back in P.E. during my school days. I had an excuse, asthma, at least that is what I told myself. I just hated exercise and did not think I could ever enjoy it.

On the C25K training schedule you do not run two consecutive days in a row. On my off days I have a hard time not getting out there for a run. Today I officially started W2. I know I have said this before but remember when I first started I could not run a full minute so I started at week 0 by running 30 seconds, and I did that for a while. Then I stopped running altogether when it got so hot here in Texas, and went to just working out on the elliptical in my room. But the date for the 5K in August keeps getting closer and I realized that I have to train regardless of the heat.

Today was the 3rd run in a row where I got up early and got my run in before it was so hot that I melted away. The weather was actually very nice this morning and there was even a refreshing breeze as I ran south. I could not wait for the moments when I got to run under the shade of some over hanging trees. That was like heaven and a much needed break from the blazing sun.

I did very well during the first half of the run. I had been so worried about increasing my runs to over a minute because I just could not see how I would be able to make it. But I did it and it was not so bad. This week I run for 90 seconds and walk for 2 mins. After the walk I am ready to run again, in fact could probably run sooner than the 2 mins. but I follow the schedule. Now the second part of the run got a little tough. My thighs started to burn and during the last 2 intervals I had to really push myself and not give up. The feeling of accomplishment is like nothing else. I love that feeling more than I do when I drop a size (and that is an amazing feeling on its own).

The last 2 days I have weighed and my weight has been up at some times 5 lbs. I know I should not weigh all the time but I do it anyway. I have found that I am one of those who likes to see how my weight fluctuates. I am not letting the added weight get to me too much. I have increased my water intake so much the last few days I thought maybe that was part of it. When I weighed earlier I was up just 2 lbs. I did eat out yesterday and had 2 adult beverages (vodka tonics with a splash of cranberry juice). My older sister was in town to celebrate her birthday. At the restaurant my mom and I split an order of steak quesadillas but I did have some fried jalapeno slices as an appetizer.

I also did not work out on Friday or Saturday. I did a run on Thursday and then like I mentioned earlier I ran today. I also did 20 mins. of strength training today. I have decided that I am going to focus more on just eating right and the exercise and that the weight will come off as it does. I know that was really the plan all along but it is so easy to get all focused on the numbers. I just had to remind myself to focus on the good feeling of working out and eating healthy. Everything else will come naturally from that.

As for my goals for the mini/booster challenge. I have been drinking and tracking my water intake. I have been hitting the 64oz. goal and even got 80 oz. in on Thursday. The bathroom has become my new best friend! I have not eaten any peanut butter and honestly have not even craved any so all is good in that department. So, far I have not worked out on the elliptical since I started the runs again. I am planning to use the elliptical on my off days from the running, so tomorrow I will be hitting the 5 resistance. And this blog counts as a positive post. So all is good in the goal department.

Keep having a rockin' good week!!

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

MLHAS Weigh in: Week 7

This is going to be a quick post because I am trying to hurry and head out for a run before it gets too hot.

Last week I weighed in at 112 lbs. This week I am down 2 lbs. to 210 lbs. I am excited about that. It looks like I have found exactly what where I want to be to maintain a steady 2 lb. loss.






For exercise minutes this week I completed only 180 mins. I took 2 days off and the other days I worked out for around 35 mins. Of course I do want to increase that number but I am happy with at least getting in 30 mins. for 5 days.

This week The Exquisite Christine has thrown us a Booster Challenge (a challenge within out challenge) and has asked us to come up with 4 goals for the next 4 weeks. My goals are as follows:
1. Drink a minimum of 64 oz. of water everyday and track it.
2. Push myself to get up to a resistance of 5 during every elliptical workout.
3. Blog more and when I do blog I want to stay more positive than negative.
4. Eliminate all peanut butter from my diet. (luckily this is for just 4 weeks!)

I have found out that I really do love peanut butter. I normally eat just half a serving (1 tbsp. for 90 calories) but that is a pretty big hit when you are only eating 1200 calories a day. So for the next 4 weeks I am not going to eat any peanut butter. I can do this!!

Ok, I am off to go run. Hope everyone had an awesome week.

Live it, rock it, own it!
Lisa

YumJared Challenge - Please donate

I hope that everyone can find at least $1 to donate to finding a cure for Juvenile Diabetes.

Thank you to The Anti-Jared and Yum Yucky for providing us with the challenge.

My Biker Hubby, Plus Saying Goodbye to Clothes

Not sure if I mentioned it on my blog but I did say something on FB, but my hubby got himself a motorcycle yesterday. He has to go take the motorcycle safety class this weekend to get his license so he has not driven it yet. I am debating on riding along or not. Maybe I will eventually when he gets more experience, and when I am lighter! :)

But I had to come and post some pics that I took yesterday afternoon. I am wearing one of my new dresses from Old Navy and I just love it. I debated getting this one and a random lady in the dressing room area talked me into it. So glad that she did because I do like it a lot.

I also could not resist having hubby take a few pics of me in my size 24 jeans. I was going through the closet and getting rid of everything that is too big. I had been holding onto a lot of clothes and using belts, because otherwise I would have been going naked. But here lately I have been slowly buying up new clothes and now I feel like I have enough stuff to wear without resorting to old, baggy, clothes that are huge on me. (Note to Kelli: I got everything together last night to send to you, finally.) I think that the capris looked much bigger in person. They are especially big in the thigh/leg and butt area. I had to hold them up or they would fall right down. My hubby asked me if I was happy or sad to get rid of all my clothes. I told him that I was both. I am so glad to be in a smaller size but at the same time I had to let go of a lot of clothes that I truly loved. Plus a lot of the clothes I have had for a long time and had some great times and made good memories in them, so yes it can be a little hard to let go. But on the bright side now I have tons of room for new stuff. Bring on the shopping!

I was so very excited last night because it has finally hit me how much weight I have really lost. I am the perfect example of an apple shape and I normally wear my shirts a size or two bigger than my pants size. It normally takes me forever to lose enough weight to even make a dent in how my shirts fit. You know that I had bought some new clothes from Old Navy and was so excited to wear "normal" sizes. Well I had heard that their sizes do run a little big so I was not all that surprised that I could wear their clothes. But yesterday as I was out shopping I realized that I can wear shirts from the "normal" section at pretty much all stores. I am now no longer having to shop in the plus-size section.

In fact I bought some shorts from Wal-mart, just some cheap running around shorts, and I didn't even need the XXL size 20, nope I got to get the XL size 16-18. And I bought a shirt in a size XXL but it is going to be big pretty darn soon. This is just so exciting and so much fun. This is what makes all the hard work so worth it.

If you are not there yet, it will happen. And it can happen almost over night. I swear it was just a couple of weeks ago that many of the clothes I just got rid of, fit me perfectly. Do not give up because you will see the results. It may take weeks, months, or even a couple of years but you will get there. If you give up then you can forget it, you have no hope of getting there. Do not do that to yourself. You deserve to feel this good, we all do. So please keep fighting and just stick with it. I honestly believe that 90%, if not more, of weight loss is mental.

Now go out there and-

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

Xerxes Paramonos (a strange post)

I have been wanting to name my elliptical for a while now. This morning I finally sat down to try and come up with a name. I know, I am such a big dork, but hey that is me. I have a Pro-Form XP so I wanted to incorporate the XP. Yes, I am aware that makes me an even bigger dork, oh well. I came up with the name Xerxes Paramonos. I had to do a little research since X names are hard to come up with in the first place and to top that off I wanted some meaning behind the name. A big order but it was done. Xerxes in Greek means "ruler of the heroes" and Paramonos also in Greek means "endurance". I found the names to be very fitting of my exercise equipment.

You might be thinking that I have lost my mind or that I am on some type of drugs right now. I assure you that I am not. I can be a strange bird and this morning I am letting that side of me shine with pride. I have known others to name their exercise machines and/or their car, so I don't think I am too out there with this one. Have you ever named an inanimate object?

I have an orange Scion XB and when we first got it my husband and I tried to give it a name. I think we decided on "Orange you glad to see me?" or maybe it was something to do with UT Longhorns. I don't really remember the final verdict but it whatever it was it never stuck. Now it is just called "my car" when I refer to it or "your car" when hubby refers to it. He has the truck and as of yesterday a new motorcycle. I have not named all my cars but I do remember the first car that I had was a hideous green color and I called it "Booger Green". Fun times.

I gave Xerxes Paramonos a rest yesterday. I did get some exercise in by doing some strength training for 30 mins. I concentrated on my arms and it felt great. I had not done any strength work in a week. I have no clue how I let that happen but I have to do better this week. I can see real changes when I use the weights.

I am about to get off from work now, so I am going to go and try to catch a few more zzz's. Have a wonderful Friday. I have a busy weekend. Saturday is my nephew Jacob's birthday party, he just turned 3. My grandmother will be in town and I am excited to see her. She has not seen me since the end of March and I know that I have changed since then. We also have Dakota this weekend and Jeremiah has to take a motorcycle safety class both Sat & Sun from 7:30am - 5pm so I will have Dakota during that time. We also have our weekly grocery shopping and I really need to get my hair trimmed so I guess we will see if that can be worked in somehow. Ta, ta, for now!

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

MLHAS Weigh in: Week 6

I really did mean to be on her more this past week but it seems like time just slipped by so fast. I did not have that great of a week. Last Friday my sister was in town and took us out to eat and then she took my younger sister and me to our favorite bar and we had some drinks (and a I had a few, quite a few, bites of spinach&artichoke dip and sweet potato fries). Then on Saturday my husband and I went out to Johnny Carino's where I had the angel hair pasta and artichokes, along with 2 glasses of raspberry italian sodas (no cream though). The rest of the week I ate right around 1500 calories a day and my workouts were not as intense.

Despite all that I did lose 2 lbs. going from 214 down to 212. I am very happy with that. Losing 2 lbs. a week is very healthy and has been my goal all along. If I can do everything I did last week and still lose 2 lbs. then I know that I can do this for the rest of my life. I had weighed the other day and was down 3 lbs. so I was hoping for a 3-4 lb. loss this week. But do not get me wrong, I am over the moon happy with this weeks scale.

I exercised for 285 minutes. That is way shy of my goal to exercise for 420 minutes. I am still going to work towards that but working out 60 mins. a day every single day is just a lot for me. I think I can realistically do 30 mins. a day and maybe even 45 mins. I need to put in more effort and focus on my endurance.

So this week I am going to work on just that. When I do work out I am going to push myself and really aim for a good hard workout each and every time. I am going to stay on plan this week but I am going to allow myself to eat more in the 1200 - 1500 calorie range. I was able to do that last week and still lose 2 lbs. so I think if I do that again but work out even harder then I will see a could loss next week. I am trying to mix things up to keep my body guessing and my metabolism moving along. My other goal is to keep on drinking more water. I only drink water or water mixed with crystal light but some days I still do not drink enough.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week as well.

Rock it, live it, own it! (This week I printed this out and taped it on my wall where I can see it while I am on the elliptical, so motivating!)

Lisa

Beautiful Blogger Award!

Way back at the end of May my very dear friend Aylilith at Making My Way To a Better Me, honored me with this blog award.

I am so thrilled because it is my first blog award that anyone has chosen to give to me. I am just sorry it took me so long to get this posted. This award came with two rules. First you have to pass the award on to 7 other bloggers. I had to really think about this because I follow so many blogs and really do love them all. But I came up with a list. Here are the 7 bloggers that I am awarding. They are listed in no particular order.

1. Kelli at My Journey to a New Life.

2. Patrick at Responsibility 199.

3. Erin at Yes Yes Ya'll , & Ya Don't Stop.

4. Kelly at Kelly is Losing Weight - A Future Thin Girl.

5. Emilia at [238] And Shrinking.

6. Lyn at Escape from Obesity.

7. Tricia at Fight Fat Phobia.

Now if any of these wonderful bloggers already received the award, well all I can say is that you deserve another one so here it is!

Ok, so now onto rule #2. You have to list 7 things about yourself that others did not know. Here we go.

1. I am a huge True Blood fan. I read all of the Sookie Stackhouse books and now I am hooked on the show. Actually, I am now a very big vampire fiction fan in general and I am currently reading the Anita Blake series.

2. My husband and I ran off to Las Vegas to get married. Our anniversary is July 4 so that not only can we always see fireworks on our anniversary but also so my husband can never use the excuse that he forgot our anniversary!

3. My dream is to one day live in NYC.

4. My husband and I have struggled for the past 6 years for me to get pregnant. That is one of the reasons that I wanted to lose weight and get healthy.

5. I lost my best friend to a drug addiction. She has not died but she did choose drugs over everything else. In fact I found out that in the past couple of months she has gone to prison over a drug conviction. It is sad to see a life throw away in that manner.

6. I was an honor student all throughout my school years but then in high school I dropped out and got my GED when I turned 17. I have gone on to college but I am still working towards my bachelor's degree.

7. Not sure if I have mentioned all of this or not but I have fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism, depression, and insomnia. I am hoping that all of my medical problems improve with my continued weight loss.

Wow, that was really hard to come up with. You usually can not get me to shut up but when forced to list something I draw a blank.

Thanks again Aylilth! You are the best and have impeccable taste in blogs. :)

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

LHAS Weigh In: Week 5 (Holy cow!)

All I can say is WOW! I am just about speechless. I now see what is possible if I stick to the plan and exercise every single day. I did not necessarily exercise for an entire 60 mins. all 7 days but I did do at least 15 mins. I exercised for a total of 380 mins. Here is the #'s by day.

6-2 Wed. Elliptical for 50mins.

6-3 Thurs. Elliptical 50mins. and Strength training 20mins.

6-4 Friday Elliptical 55mins.

6-5 Sat. 30-day shred video 15mins. (Was in a hurry and had work so I had to cut it early)

6-6 Sun. Elliptical 60mins. and Strength training 20mins.

6-7 Mon. Elliptical 85mins. (I did one session at 65mins. and then later did 20mins.)

6-8 Tues. Elliptical 20mins.

It has been so freakin' hot and humid here in North Texas that I have not wanted to go outside and walk/run. I told myself that I would get up early and do it but find that a little hard. :)

So what did the scale show for my work. Are you ready? I lost 8 lbs. Woot! Woot! I am so proud of myself. I knew this was going to be a killer week when I weighed last, can't remember if it was Fri or Sat and I had already lost like 3-4 lbs. I have been so serious and not let myself deviate one single bit. My willpower was right on and honestly I was on fire this week. I am now at 214 so I have lost a total of 18 lbs. Sheesh that is just unreal to me, but I knew it could be done because I have done it before. This time I am not EVER putting the weight back on.

This is my face in shock. I just could not believe what I was seeing.

Darn scale is still off 2 lbs. so I am really at 214. Wish they would hurry and fix it.

Here is the scale showing the 2 lb. difference, yet again.

Now I have to keep it up for next week. My goals for next week are simple. I want to stick to my calories again, but next week I am aiming for 420 mins. of exercise. That is an average of 60mins. each day for the entire week. I know that I can do that. I just have to push it hard again.

I also had my hubby take a few updated pics of me. I can see a difference and can not wait to see how I look under 200!! The shorts that I am wearing in the picture I just got this week and they are a size XL 16-18 but I had to take them in by tying up the draw string quite a bit so I may need to go try on the size L 13-14. That is just insane! It is so cool to be shopping on the other side of the store. I bought some really cute dresses at Old Navy that I need to take pics of. I have not been able to shop in the women's section there ever. I have always had to get men's T-shirts in the past. Now I get to be girly like I am meant to be!! All of these were taken tonight, in fact just a few minutes ago.

I hope everyone else had an amazing week. I am going to go jump on the elliptical and then I am going to try and catch up with everyone's blogs. I am sorry that I have been so absent and I promise not to be so mia in the future. My netbook died on me so it has been tough to get online a lot lately.

I want to apologize to my wonderful and very awesome team who I have not been there for. You guys rock and really do inspire me to keep going. I also owe an entire post to Aylilth because she has bestowed me with a blog award!! I am so freakin' excited about this. It is the first award that someone has actually chosen to give me!!!! I have some conditions to meet if I want to accept the award and will fulfill them when I devote a post to the award. Promise that it will be my next post.

Until then,

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

Back on track

So far so good for this week. I think that I am going to have an astounding weigh in next Wednesday. At least I am hoping so. I have been on the elliptical every day for at least 45 mins. Today I stayed on for 55 mins. When on the elliptical I have been doing intervals where I go at resistance 2 for 4 mins. and then down to resistance 1 for 2 mins. It is killer but I can see the results.

In fact just today I was told by someone that they can really see how my running is paying off because my legs are skinny! What get out of here, skinny used in a sentence about me. That is just insane to me. But I do have to admit that my legs are looking darn good. But then again I have always had nice legs. That was always my favorite body part. Back in highschool I got hit by a car on the school parking lot and was thrown about 15 feet and then had my leg stuck in the car's bumper. I have had 8 surgeries on my left leg. When that happened I thought it was some cruel joke by God to damage the one part of me that I liked. I have sense come to terms with it and don't really even think about my leg or notice it too much. I have a horrible scar and lost quite a bit of muscle so my left calf has a chunk missing out of it. I also have a metal rod in that leg and one day I do plan to have it removed and get some more plastic surgery done. I was supposed to have more surgeries but the insurance company ended up denying it.

On weigh in day did I mention that I found that my home scale is off by 8lbs.? I thought it was off just 5 lbs. but nope it is off by a whooping 8! I was not going to weigh everyday but just find it so hard not to jump on the scale. So far by my home scale I am down 4lbs. today. Guess we will see come next Wed.

I have been very good with my eating and I am back into the right mental state. Nothing is going to make me waver. I just love the results so much more than I love the food. It just is not worth it to me.

I know readers have expressed concern once again about my 1000 calorie diet. You do not have to worry because the Doctor is still monitoring me. I would not ever advise anyone to go so low calorie wise without being under a Doctor's care. The way my Dr explained it to me is if you eat the right foods and get your nutrients you will be fine, especially since I am already carrying around so much extra fuel already. I also take supplements and vitamins. I get extensive lab work done to check everything.

Like I have mentioned before I have hypothyroidism and that has always made it extremely difficult for me to lose weight. If I kept my calories at 800 a day and did no exercise at all then I would lose approximately 2 lbs. a week. Instead I have increased my diet to 1000 and I do exercise almost every single day. This works for me.

Also I just wanted to let everyone know my philosophy on diets vs. healthy lifestyle. I truly believe that the word *diet* has received a bad rap. To me diet means what I eat. It does not mean some quick, get thin with no work, type of fix. It is instead a way of life to me. I just do not like the terminology of healthy lifestyle all that much. I have used that term myself because really it is just that "in" but to me it is just too politically correct and a fad term. But who am I to judge? I do want to be healthy for the rest of my life so I know that the term is accurate.

I also believe that when we go through weight loss we are going through many stages. What I do now to lose weight is not what I am going to do to maintain. And as I lose and hit plateaus then I will have to change things up then too. When someone asks me if I can manage at 800-1000 calories a day for the rest of my life well my answer is probably since I am really not hungry but I am not going to want to lose weight forever. Once I get closer to where I want to be I will have to adjust both my calories and my exercise to see what works for me.

All of us are different and I do not believe that what works for me will be what works for you. That is one of the biggest problem with the "diet" industry. They try to create and sale plans and claim they will work for anyone. That is not always the case. Weight loss is very individualized and there are so many factors that weigh in (no pun intended).

I do know that I am loving my new lifestyle and I feel terrific. I really like learning more and more about nutrition and fitness and I am considering switching my major from psychology to nutrition. At one point I was planning to be a nurse but a lot of things went in to changing my mind on that one. But I do still love science, anatomy, math and everything health related, so I think it would be a good fit.

Well goodnight everyone!

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

LHAS Weigh IN: Week 4

I have gone back to my original scale. It was just too much using my new one during a challenge and it seems to be off by around +5 lbs. or more. I am going to get a new digital one that is not some cheap piece of junk. But for now I am going to weigh using the old scale. The only problem is now it is 2 lbs. off instead of just 1. Ughhh, these darn scales are tormenting me! I also confirmed that I really do not like having a scale in the house right now at all. Like I said I am going to get a digital one, eventually, one day, maybe. I just do not like the temptation to get on the darn thing every time I go into the bathroom. I am already fighting temptations with food so I sure do not need another fight with my willpower.

So what happened this week with the scale you ask. Well I ended up weighing in at 222 lbs. So, I did still gain weight last week but this week I am down 3 lbs. I worked out for a total of 250 mins. I have learned quite a bit from all of this. For one I really never thought that I was an emotional eater but now I think maybe I am. I found that when I was sick and not feeling good I ate very poor food. I am thinking that I ate some bad food to try and make myself feel better. That and at the time I just didn't care about much at all. Not a good combination at all. I ended up eating KFC fried chicken (a leg and a wing) along with some potatoes (no gravy) and some of their mac-n-cheese. Then another night I had takeout Chinese food that included 2 eggrolls, fried rice with chicken and shrimp, and some broccoli and beef. Then there was Saturday night when I ate buffalo wings, and lots of chips and dip. All of that, no exercise, and stupidly running out of my Synthroid caused the gain.

I was also eating more "regular" food (what everyone else was eating for dinner, which is not always very healthy) during the past few days. I have not been sick these days and have gotten my exercise in and did lose some weight but I still think that I need a strict diet for now. I am just not to the point where I can eat even somewhat like a regular diet yet. As one of my favorite bloggers Lyn was talking about the other day, I am in the stage where I am losing weight not in the stage where I will be when I am maintaining. I have had many people comment about my low 800-1000 calorie diet but I am finding that my body needs that calorie range to lose weight. Maybe it is partly due to my hypothyroidism but I just can not eat that many calories, period. I think that the week I was sick I really gained more like 8 pounds and not just 5. I am not exactly sure since I was using the *new* scale and not the usual one. I think that is a pretty big gain for one week. Yes I ate some unhealthy choices but the day I ate the KFC I still ate under 1200 calories and the other days besides the Chinese day and Saturday were all right around 1100-1200. Overall I was not totally off the wagon and only missed 3 days of workouts, however I did only workout for around 30 mins. the other days that week.

I am not trying to make excuses. I am trying to figure out what went wrong, why it went wrong, and how to make sure it does not happen again. I know that I have been allowing myself too many small *cheats* as well. Two nights I indulged in a flavored coffee from the machine at the gas station and then yesterday I had a cookie when I was at my mom's. I was still right at or just over 1200 calories but all the cheats do add up, very quickly.

That brings me to my goals for this week.

1. To stick to a diet of no more than 1000 calories.

2. To eat my Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice meals. (I get the new ones that are not processed)

3. To continue focusing on getting more fiber in my diet.

4. Consume less sodium.

5. Eat more protein.

6. Workout on the elliptical for 45 min. sessions. (And increase the resistance this week)

7. Alternate strength training daily from arms to legs/abs. (Minimum of 15 mins. daily)

8. After workouts drink whey protein and frozen fruit shake

9. Do not drink any chocolate soy milk (I can't afford the 140 calories in a drink, plus too much soy is not good when you have hypothyroidsim)

10. And work in some running again this week.

Here are the pictures of my weigh in. Sorry they are pretty blurry, at least the one of me is, but I just could not get a clear picture for some reason and I did try several times. This was the best so you can just imagine the others.

I can really see the weight in my face in this picture. I am ready to lose the chins.

So with the 2 lbs. that the scale is off my weight is at 222 lbs.

Why is all the scales around me are inaccurate?

I am going to end on a positive note. My brother-in-law and his new wife and her kids were in town on Memorial Day and they did notice how much I have lost. I have not seen them since right around Christmas. My brother-in-law told me that I sure have been shrinking and that I had better not lose too much or I will disappear. This coming from a guy who is I don't know 5"11 maybe and weighs probably 130 if even that much. I told him that I have a very long weigh to go that I want to lose around another 80 lbs. and he was astonished. He said there is no way that I could need to lose that much. I told him yes I do if I want to be in the healthy weight range for my height. Nobody can ever believe how much I weigh.

In fact my mother and I were just talking last night and I was talking about a friend who is wearing a size 24 and that I can not believe I looked like that. I mean I knew that I was big and still am but sometimes I just do not really see it (until I see a picture and even then in some outfits I still don't see it). We then were talking about how everyone's body is different and that she said even when I was my heaviest at 276 I still did not look that big. I guess everyone carries their weight differently. A couple of times on The Biggest Loser I have not believed the size that some of the contestants claimed they were wearing when I knew what their weight was. I have since learned that it was possible. Another friend who is over 300 wears a size 24. That is just crazy to me because at 276 I was in a 26/28 and my clothes were quickly getting too tight. I know that your height has a lot to do with it. Back when I got down to a size 12 I was weighing probably at least 25 pounds more than my mom and she was also in a 12 but was an inch shorter than me.

See how quickly I get onto another subject and just one little story turns into enough material for an entirely new post. What I was really trying to get at earlier with the story about my BIL was that it is very nice to get compliments and to see that others are noticing the changes in me. I know I wanted to end this on a positive note but I just have to vent one frustration with some of the comments I hear. I keep getting told not to lose too much and that boy I am going to disappear or blow away. What the heck is with that? I am still over 220 lbs. and I am obese. Can people not grasp that concept? I am sure they are well meaning and all but it does get on my nerves, especially since I hear it ALOT.

I am still going to end this on a positive note. I was looking at myself in the mirror and one of the places that was just gross to me is finally starting to look firmer. You know on the inside of your thighs, right up at the top of your leg? Well that area has been one of the most despised areas, besides my upper arms and back. It just looks disgusting to me in a kind of perverted way. I can't really explain it exactly, gross is truly the only word. Well, it is getting much much better. The flabbiness has gone way down and I can see my upper thighs in general getting tighter. It really is cool to see how your body changes shape as you get healthy and fit. That is a change that I can live with.

Wait. Come back. As I was loading the pictures I remembered one other point that I forgot to mention as to why I think I had the gain. I have not been reading everyone's blogs and I have not been blogging. I really do think that is one of the keys to my success. I get very motivated by all of you and writing helps me to get a better perspective on my own life. So keep blogging and let's all keep fighting the good fight!

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

I am alive!

Hello all my blogger-licious friends! Sorry for my long absense but I was pretty sick. I felt horrible all last week and still have yet to get over the stuffy head and sore throat all together, but I am better. :)

The last 3 days I have been back to at least exercising. In fact both Sunday and Monday I managed to last on the elliptical 45 mins. I was very excited about that and can feel it in my legs. I have also gone from 3lb. weights up to 5 lbs. so I know that I am making progress.

I really do hate the new scale. It still shows my weight flucuating between 225 - 230 lbs. I think I am going to go weigh on my "usual" scale and see what it tells me. I really do hate changing scales, and especially in the middle of a challenge. Even if I have to trek across town to go weigh I will do it for more accuracy.

I will try and update more later. I do still have the 5K pictures to post. And I have to admit I had a total splurge on Saturday night. We got the UFC fight on pay-per-view and had some friends over. I almost never ever drink but I did that night. I ended up having 4 Smirnoff Cranberry & Lime drinks (kind of like wine coolers, and boy were they yummy), and I had 2 and half shots of Tequila Rose, and a shot of Johnnie Walker whiskey! I can not believe that I did not have a hangover or get an upset stomach. My tummy usually can not handle any alcohol and is one reason I quit drinking. I also ate buffalo chicken wings, some 5-layer bean dip, hummus, and baked lays chips, oh and a little Blue cheese dressing for the wings. I got stuffed but didn't munch at all after I ate. I figured I had not splurged hardly at all and that I was going to have one night. I know I drank probably at least 2 days worth of calories but man did I have a good time!

That night is what prompted me to go the 45 mins. on the elliptical Sunday. Then on Monday since I knew that I could do it, I did it again. I plan to make that my normal time from now on, until I up it to an hour.

Ok, I am really going now. Like I said will update more later.

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

5K Challenge

Just a quick note to let you all know I did complete the 5K challenge this morning. Jeremiah and Dakota ended up sleeping in, so I had to go at it alone. However, I knew that I was not technically alone because there were many of you out there completing your 5K as well.

I am exhausted right now and headed to bed already, yes this early! I did take some pics and will post them tomorrow. It was so hot and humid and I thought that it might start raining at any moment but it did not. Before I had even finished a 1/4 mile I was completely covered in sweat, it was that humid! Normally I am good until around 3/4 mile or there about.

I was not very happy with my time. I finished a little over 54 minutes. I will post the exact tomorrow. I took a picture of my stopwatch so I will have to see what it said for the exact time. I know I averaged something like 16.88 min. per mile. I know that I am capable of at least averaging 15 min. a mile. Yes, I walked and did not run. Tomorrow is my run day and I am planning to be up very early so I can run when it is cooler. I was walking today at 9am and it was already getting too hot.

I am so sore again tonight. Yesterday was even worse than today. My run on Friday really got to me. I have got to continue to work on my core muscles because my lower back is hurting the most. This afternoon I worked on my abs and legs with non-weighted strength exercises and that did help my back feel a little better. I just took a muscle relaxer so I am hoping that helps even more!

See how I can never shut up. This was supposed to be a very quick post just letting you know I finished and will cover the 5K in detail tomorrow. I will end on that note.

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

Running and yakking about nothing much

Good Morning my bloggy-licious friends! I am very happy to report that I finally got back to running on Friday morning. I have not ran since the Friday before I had the kidney stone which was 3 weeks ago! Yikes! I thought it had been 2 weeks but I just now realized that it has been 3, wow!

I was worried because I figured I would be so out of the groove that I would be starting back from the very basic. As you may remember, I didn't start the C25K at the 1 min. of running like the program does. I just could not do that yet. Instead I started out with 30 sec. and then W2 I went for 45 seconds. I was hoping I could at least do 45 seconds but had a feeling I would be back down to 30 seconds and I was going to be ok with that. At least I was back out there running again.

Guess what? I was able to run for the full 1 min. just like the C25K starts you with. I honestly could not believe it. I guess my workouts on the elliptical are paying off. Those workouts are not technically running but are very challenging and are getting my butt in shape! Just maybe I will still be able to run the 5K in August.

I had planned on still doing the 5K but thought that I might have to walk the majority of it. More than likely I will still have to do intervals of running/walking to get it completed but I will do MORE running than walking! The only thing I am really worried about is the heat. It is going to be so freakin' hot then. I live in North Texas and yesterday morning I ran at 9am and just about died from the heat and humidity alone.

Before when I did the intervals I ran for a mile and a half. That is how far the trail is at the park. Yesterday I ran for the full mile but I walked the last half a mile. I was a little disappointed in myself because I didn't run as long as usual, but I couldn't be too upset since I was at least running for the full 1 minute at a time.

I was just so hot. My face was beet red and my pulse was going crazy. I checked my heart rate and it was at 220 bpm. Now, normally I do have a high heart rate when I exercise. Generally on the elliptical at home it gets up to 208-212. I just had to slow down and take it easy for the rest of the trail. In hindsight I am glad that I did. I know that I need to listen to my body and not push too hard. I was out there by myself and there was hardly a soul out walking or running at the time so I would have hated for something to happen to me. At one point I thought I was going to pass out. I downed all my water and made it back to my air conditioned car. After that I felt really good again.

I then went to my parent's house and stayed until mid-afternoon. My sister and my 2 nephews live there also, so I visited with the boys. Jacob, he will be 3 years old next month, was hoot. I got to the house and he asked me where in the world I had just been. I told him I had been running and he said "With me?". You see I have taken him with me running before and he know loves it! He even got some new running shoes and has a little tank top and running shorts. I told him no that I went by myself this time. He said "No Sissy, I went with you!" Ok, ok kid whatever you say! It was like he was saying, this is the story and you had better go with it! He is just so funny sometimes, no make that all the time.

Matthew just turned a year old in March and is just is funny as his brother. I do not have any kids of my own and these two are MY babies! My sister just got them a new puppy. His name is Scamp and is a little cocker spaniel. He is just too darn cute. But Matthew is afraid of him because Scamp is play biting right now. And on top of that, Scamp just loves Matthew to death and is constantly trying to give him kisses. At one point I did get Matthew laughing at the puppy and got him to pet him some. It will just take some time for him to adjust. Matthew has no problem at all with my little maltese dog so I know it is just a matter of time.

Last night Jeremiah and I went to go pick up my step-son Dakota. We had a pretty low key night. It was my father-in-laws birthday so we had to go stop and get him a small gift and card. He loves to play foosball, even has a foosball table set up in the living room. Well we knew he was really wanting some new foosballs. They tried buying some not long ago but they ended up being too small. My MIL was going to look at buying some online. We stopped off at Academy but they did not have any.

Now Academy did have a treadmill, a weight bench, an exercise bike, pedometer, the Firm workout collection on DVD w/accessories, plus a ton of other things I would love to have. But no foosballs to be found. We were racking our brains of other stores to check. We would have gone to Second Hand Sports, a used equipment store that always has everything, but they were already closed. We had to settle for trying Sears. We lucked out and they had some tournament foosballs. My FIL loved them and immediately had to go test them out. They worked perfect and this time were big enough for the table.

After that Jeremiah, Dakota, and Uncle Brett went to the kitchen table to have a marathon of Magic the Gathering. I played once but sucked and do not care to ever play again. What is Magic you ask? It some kind of card game. Kind of like Dungeons and Dragons, I am guessing. Or more like the card games that got popular here lately, Pokemon, Yugioh, and stuff like that. I now it is not exactly like that, but for my description they are similar.

They play that game every weekend that Dakota comes. At least they have for the past 3 visits or so. New cards have been purchased, Uncle Brett has his friend come up from Dallas to play, and last visit they had some other guy come join in too. It suits me just fine. I get some time to myself and do not have to entertain anyone.

I watched an episode of Dateline about a cheating couple. This woman had an affair with her husband's best friend (who was also married) and the guy ends up killing her husband. She claims that she did not know that was what he was going to do. To top it off her husband was a deacon or something in the church and planning to become a pastor. The guy she had the affair with was the youth pastor. It was all messed up and crazy.

While I watched the show I did my strength training. I am really feeling it in my arms and abs this morning. It feels so good. I just love being able to tell I got a good workout in. I am not too sore, just can feel that the muscles are working.

Sunday is the 5K that Tony has challenged. Both Jeremiah and Dakota are planning to do it with me. We are not participating in any official 5K. We are just doing this one on our own. I plan to mainly walk this one. It will still be fun and a treat to get Jeremiah and Dakota out there as well.

Have a great Saturday.

Rock it, live it, own it!

Lisa

The problem with terminology and models?!

The other day I mentioned how I was going to post about something that really gets me all riled up. I think it is about time for me to let this all out. What ticks me off? It is simply the term "plus-size model". I absolutely HATE that term. I think these women should just be called models. There does not need to be a distinction and until then, there will not be many changes in the fashion industry.

The same thing pretty much goes for the entire "plus-size" section of clothes. I have never understood why a designer can not just make their line include bigger sizes. Why do you need separate clothes in the first place? There have been some clothing lines that do carry larger sizes with no problem. Therefore I do not see why others can not do the same thing. For example back when there was still a Steve & Barry's I would shop there every now and then. I bought a very cute pair of Bitten jeans (a line by Sarah Jessica Parker) that were in a size 22. They were the exact same jeans as the ones that she had in a size 6. They did not even cost any extra for a bigger size! What a novelty. Producing and selling clothes in a very wide range of sizes all for the same cost? And they were in the same section of the store, on the same shelves? But how could all those thin people stand shopping next to the all the fatas$es! (Sorry I may have gotten a little carried away with my sarcasm there)

The following pictures are of models that the industry refers to as "plus-size". To me they are just beautiful women. And in my eyes, they look more normal than most models that I see.

But maybe, just maybe could the norm that we have come to expect in modeling be changing? Several years ago Spain adopted the rule that models there must have a minimum BMI of 18.5. And now other countries are looking to join this trend and there is even talk of passing legislation that prohibits models with a BMI lower than 18.5. Currently the average model has a BMI of 16. But then again, maybe we should not get our hopes up too much. It appears that the organizers of the London Fashion week have dismissed such a rule there.

Hopefully in the end something will be done. Last year during the Miss Universe Pageant in Australia, Stephanie Naumoska competed and she was at a BMI of only 15.1. She walked by the judges with her bones clearly protruding and she looked very malnourished. She claimed that she would eat and blamed her heritage on her thin, frail body. She is Macedonian and the pageant officials also sited that as the reason for her thin body. The Australian Medical Association urged the pageant officials to impose a minimum BMI of 20. The organizers refused citing not enough emphasis was placed on heritage. I am sorry but she apparently had some kind of eating disorder. There is no way that this is just normal genetics. And if it is just from genetics that does not mean her health still did not need to be addressed.

As I was reading some of the articles out there regarding this subject I did come across something that excited me. Top fashion photographer, Terry Richardson, took images of the model Crystal Renn posing side-by-side with her skinny rival Jacquelyn Jablonski. The pictures are part of a campaign to get both magazines and designers to start using models whose size, shape, and look are varied. The images were to appear in V Magazine this spring.

I personally think that Crystal looks much healthier. I do not want to sit here and dog on skinny people because I believe that we all are created equal and are beautiful in our own ways. If one is naturally thin then by all means celebrate your thinness and embrace your body for what it is. But when one goes to lengths to get thinner and thinner just because they are told that they are not skinny enough to model, then I have a problem. Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. Here are some of the pictures from the shoot. What are your thoughts?

As I wrap up this post I want to leave you with another glimmer of hope. This article discusses how teen girls are influenced by their peers when it comes to weight. And surprisingly, not by the magazines and advertisements that we are all bombarded with daily. In some schools were the norm tend to be of a higher weight, the teens do not feel as much pressure to diet. Now I say this is a glimmer of hope because just maybe the teens out there are not so brainwashed from the years of ads, as we thought. However, the article still shows that teens feel peer pressure and if weight is a big concern at their school then they do feel the need to conform and go on diets.

I know after reading many articles out there on the subject of weight, and looking at images, I have come to a realization. Now this is just my personal opinion, but I do like some curves. I do not want to be stick thin. I do want to be healthy and I do want to be very fit and toned. I do not by any means want to look like a walking corpse. I am also very thankful that I never wanted to be a model.

LHAS Weigh In: Week 2

Sorry it has taken me forever today to get a post on here. I just got home from my parent's house. My mother and I are trying to plan a family vacation for this summer.

But I did go and weigh today for week #2 LHAS Challenge. I had to take my own picture so it is not that great of a shot. Jeremiah ended up having to work so he was not able to be there like normal. I am down this week 5 lbs. Yippee!!! I was really concerned about this week since I have increased my calories but looks like whatever I am doing is definitely working. Last week I was at 225 and now this week 220. I didn't hit 219 like I would have loved but I am in no way complaining.

Again the scale was off by a pound. One of the ladies that works at the store, like I said the scale is out in front of a furniture store, told me that it gets off every now and then and that they will have to have a guy come out to reset the balance. But she was not sure when that will happen because right now she said times have been tough and they can't really afford to get anyone to come out right now. I guess it doesn't really matter all that much. It just bugs me because then the picture I take shows one pound more than I really am. Yes I am that anal.

I struggled getting my exercise time in but I not only met my goal, I ended up surpassing it a little. I worked out for a total of 334 minutes. Last week I worked out for 421 minutes so more the exercise, the more I lose.

Hope everyone has a productive week and keep up the good work!

Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever.

The Survey

This survey has been popping up on many of the blogs and since I have to be cool and part of the "in-crowd" I figured that I would give it a go …

1. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?
Open

2. Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotels?
Only if it is a really nice hotel and they are shampoos that I like.

3. Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?
Do not sleep with any cover sheet at all. We have a flat sheet on the bed and then hubby and I both have our own comforter. That way nobody steals the covers from the other one.

4. Would you rather be attacked by a bear or a swarm of bees?
Probably bees since I am not allergic.

5. Do you have freckles?
Some, had more when I was younger it seemed or at least you could see them more.

6. What is your biggest pet peeve?
I hate stupid people. Unfortunately this can encompass a lot of situations since there are idiots everywhere.

7. Have you ever peed in the woods?
Yes. We used to go out in the woods as teenagers to parties and drinking would definitely equal having to pee!

8. Do you ever dance if there’s no music playing?
Yes. I love to dance and can easily hear a beat in my own head!

9. Do you chew your pens and pencils?
Not really anymore. I used to when I was in bored in class but now that most of my classes are online I do not do this anymore.

10. Is it ok for guys to wear pink?
Of course. Haven't you heard? Pink is the new black.

11. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
At Chick-fil-a I like the honey mustard and the polynesian sauce. That is really the only time I eat nuggets anymore.

12. What is your favorite food?
Any Chinese food. Oh, and fettucini alfredo.

13. What movies could you watch over and over and still love?
Serendipity, Kung-Fu Hustle, Pretty Woman, St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club, Memoirs of a Geisha …

14. Were you ever a boy/girl scout?
Yes and my mom was my Brownie troop leader. I was also later in Bluebirds.

15. Can you change the oil on a car?
I have not ever done it before but I bet that I could if I had to. I CAN take the car to get an oil change though!

16. Ever gotten a speeding ticket?
Yes, but the last one was when I was 18, so 14 years ago. Now I have gotten stopped many times since but always get out of the ticket. But I do not speed anymore at all.

17. Ever ran out of gas?
Yes, one time in Dallas and I swore I would never do it again.

18. Are you lazy?
Extremely.

19. When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween?
I remember being a clown, a vampire, a hobo, and a princess.

20. How many languages can you speak?
One. I did take 2 years of Latin but do not remember hardly a darn thing.

21. Who is better…Leno or Letterman?
Conan, no contest.

22. Do you sing in the car?
Yes, all the time.

23. Ever eat a pierogi?
Yes they are one of my favs too, very yummy!

24. First concert?
Michael Jackson on his BAD tour. I was in the 4th grade and my parents took my sister and me.

25. Where would you be able to spend hours and be happy?
In my husband's arms.

26. What’s your favorite kind of doughnut?
Glazed if it is a Krispy Kreme or similar kind. Otherwise I like the little powdered doughnuts.

27. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
I currently have 6 tattoos and just my normal ear piercings. I used to have my nose, eyebrow, and tongue pierced but took them all out 7-8 years ago.

28. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?
My grandmother

29. Are you still friends with the people you knew in middle school or high school?
I am friends with a lot on Facebook. I have kept in touch pretty regularly with just a handful over the years.

30. What is the last thing you ate?
Bowl of Fiber One raisin crunch cereal.

31. What did you want to be when you grew up?
A doctor

32. Name three things that are close to you:
My cell phone, a glass of water, my Kindle.

33. What was your best subject in school?
I realize it is bragging but I was good in all of them. My favorite has always been literature.

34. What is your favourite restaurant?
P.F. Chang's

35. Any hidden talents?
I am very good at research. Any fact you want to know just ask me and I will find it for you. I am also very artsy and creative. I have also discovered I am pretty darn good at exercise.

36. What is your favourite girl’s name?
I have a couple of favs but #1 is Lilly. I also like Emily, Olivia, and Clara.

37. Would you rather be a rock star or a famous athlete?
I guess a rock star but I am starting to get to like athletics too. But honestly I would not want to be famous. I would hate having to live under a microscope all the time and be hounded by the press.

38. What are you wearing right now?
Pajama short set in pink

39. Did you graduate from college?
Not yet but working on it.

40. Do you have any nicknames?
My husband calls me baby, and other terms of endearment. Other than that not really.

41. How do YOU de-stress?
I have my husband massage my feet and back. I also like to read.

42. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve gone without food?
I know of at least 2 days but maybe a little longer when I have been really sick.

Increasing calories (you read that right) and free workout videos

Is it really weird that I am so excited again for the weigh in tomorrow? I just can not wait to see how this week has gone according to the scale. I have definitely struggled to get all my workouts in but I am only 26 mins. away from hitting my goal, so 30mins on the elliptical today will ensure that I my goal is met.

I have also been doing quite a bit of research on how many calories I should be eating. As I had talked about before I was eating right around 800 calories a day. I am on medication and under a doctor's supervision but since I have added so much exercise I had a feeling that I really needed to increase my calories. This week most days I ate right around 1000 calories. Some days I got closer to 1200 and other days I was still just a little over 800. I am really working towards to getting right around 1200 from now on. I do not want my body to be in starvation mode. I did read that when you have a lot of weight to lose, like over 50 pounds, you generally will not go into starvation mode for at least 3 months. But it has now going on 2.5 months since I have been on this new plan so I do not want that to occur. Instead I am slowly adding additional calories to my day. And they have been good calories, more fruit and veggies, and I have let myself eat more snacks through out the day.

That is one reason I am very curious as to how this week has gone. I am optimistic and do think I have lost but I seriously doubt it will be anything like last week. I will be happy with a 2-3 lb. loss. I should not be hitting a plateau yet and when that does happen, we all know that it will eventually, I will increase my exercise.

I am also in the process of breaking up my strength training into lower body and upper body workouts. I have got to let my muscles get a rest but I like to do my strength training every day (or at least 6 days a week). This is one of my favorite sites for free exercises. I also use some of the free videos at Sparkpeople . Another good site for free videos is here. As long as you have some good music and the internet there really is no reason to spend a ton of cash on workout videos. You can get what you need for nothing. This is a good start when you don't have much money and you can always slowly buy videos for a personal collection as your fitness level increase and/or you get bored.

Well that is all for this morning. I am working on a post about a topic that just irks me but you will have to wait on that one! No griping for this morning, lol. Keep up the hard work!

No pain, no gain!!

Free subscription to Organic Spa Magazine

Just thought I would share this link for a free digital download of the Organic Spa magazine. One of the blogs that I follow Birdseed in my Bread, had this posted and I grabbed at the chance to score the free download.

I have not checked the magazine out yet but Birdseed in my Bread did and said there are some good articles at their website.

Get your free digital subscription here.

Short (well short for me anyway) Update

I am popping in for only a moment. I am exhausted and both need and want to go to bed. I did not sleep well last night and then had to get up fairly early. I got up at 9am, early to me for a Sat, and ate a quick breakfast. I started watching some of Investigation Discovery, only one of my favorite channels, and got into an episode of I almost Got Away With it. Fifteen minutes go by and I realize that I am wasting time so I went and grabbed my weights and for the next 45 mins. while I watched the show, I did my strength training. After that I went and got on the elliptical for 19 mins. I was trying to round off my numbers for the challenge. Somehow I had an odd number at the end and I am so OCD that it was driving me crazy.

I ended up working out for a total of 64 minutes today, which brings my challenge total to 605 mins. Tonight I was so very glad that I did the workout this morning. We went to see my step-son Dakota today because it is his birthday. His mom made a cake (I had a very small piece) and then we all went to go see Iron Man 2. It was a really good movie. I did not see the first Iron Man so I really did not know what to expect. I liked it a lot and want to see the first one now. I couldn't believe how good of shape Robert Downey, Jr. was in and told my hubby that I think I now have a little crush on him, lol. After spending the afternoon with Dakota, Jeremiah and I headed to the mall. I went and tried on some clothes. I fit it into one pair of size 16W bermuda shorts!! I could not believe it. I also fit into a size 18 from the regular section and not the plus. In the end I did not buy any clothes. I just wasn't feeling anything and only want to buy something if I really truly love it because I know I won't be able to wear it for long. I think I am going to end up going to Goodwill to get my jeans until I get down to my goal, or at least once I am not losing weight as quickly.

I am really trying to get husband to jump on the health bandwagon with me. He has told me that he wants and has plans to workout more. However, today he said that he is happy with himself and does not think he needs to lose any weight. I told him that I too love him just the way that he is, but he does have high blood pressure (currently on meds for it), has high cholesterol (if I remember correctly), he smokes, is in constant pain, and several men his family have died at very young ages. I want him to lose weight for his health, not just so he will look better. I know that you can not force anyone to make a change that it truly has to come from within but I do hope that I can be a positive influence on him. Again tonight he told me that he is afraid I am going to lose all this weight and go find someone else. I have no such plans at all and told him that he does not need to worry. At times he has such great self-confidence and then other times he is just so negative. All I can do is continue to love and support him. In time I guess he will see that I am here no matter what. He has just heard too many horror stories about someone losing a significant amount of weight and then leaving their spouse. I know that does happen but I am not and never have been one that is preoccupied with nothing but looks.

Ok, I am about to fall asleep here while I am typing so I have got to go.

~No pain, No gain! err loss~

Ughhh!!!

For my total exercise minutes yesterday I missed my goal. I only got on the elliptical for 30 mins. and did not do anything else. I was out late, over at my mom's, and then had to stop by the store and did not get home until 1am. Jeremiah was ready to go to bed but said if I wanted to hop on the elliptical that it would not bother him because he was so tired he knew he would just pass out (my elliptical is in our bedroom). Sure enough the rhythmic clanking that I was making must have lulled him right to sleep because it was not long and he was out.

I really did not want to finish the 30 mins. But again I pushed on and did it. Now normally I would do my strength workout after that but I just did not have it in me. So later today I am going to do a hour of strength and then the elliptical for 30 mins. to make up what I missed. Ughh, I have just been frustrated with my exercise the last 2 days. Hopefully this week gets better.

My schedule has just been so all over the place lately. I really want to get up earlier today. I work on-call staffing nurses so I am up strange hours. I work during the week from 4am to 7am. Then on the weekends I am either 4am to 4pm or 4pm to 4am, plus every other Friday night I work from 5:30pm to 4am. I work this Friday night and then the pm shift this weekend. I am also a major night owl so that does not help things either. I was really liking getting up early and exercising first thing in the mornings. Right now I have been exercising at night and I am as fond of that. However, exercise does wipe me out and I usually can fall right asleep afterwards. I know I am weird. They usually say you should not exercise before bed because it can wire you up but not me, it is like a sleeping pill for my body!

Oh, I almost forgot but I wanted to ask if any of you have tried the Skinny Cow ice cream treats? I got the cookies-n-cream ice cream sandwiches and they are delicious. They have 160 calories and 3g of fiber, no Trans fat, 97% Fat Free and they are HUGE (some of them are only 140 calories). I now have something to go to when I really want something sweet. They also have a chocolate truffle ice cream on a stick that is only 100 calories and ice cream drumsticks for 150 calories. Oh so yummy! I had been wanting to try these for a while and finally got around to buying some tonight. I loved it and did not ruin my calorie count for the day, yippee!

You can also go to the Skinny Cow website and play with the cowculator to see how the Skinny Cow products stack up to other treats. I am not affiliated with Skinny Cow and did not receive anything for this endorsement. I just love the products, plain and simple.