iT's A gOoD dAy...

I remembered something today...I get to decide when I have good days and when I have bad days. I had a couple of dissapointing days and I let it bring me down...no good. If I am going to accomplish this goal of mine...70lbs...70 whole pounds then it is very important that good days or bad it is up to me how I react. REFRAME --When I accomplish this goal of mine...70lbs...70 whole pounds then it will have been up to me whether or not I had good days or bad.

With that said...update time! =)

I have been thinking a lot about my smaller goals to achieve my bigger goal. Here they are. I will be weighing myself every Wednesday and taking my measurements every month.

6 Month Goal....30lbs by July 31st

(that will leave me the last 40lbs to lose by December 31st)

Monthly Goal....5lbs

(until July 1st and then it will be about 6.5lbs a month)

Weekly Goal...1.25lbs

(until July 1st and then it will be about 1.5lbs a week)

My whole thing with this whole weightloss thing is to be realistic. I know that I am going to have weeks where I just don't feel like working out or where I don't schedule it right...I know that. That is no excuse but I know that it is going to happen and I am ok with that. And I also know there will be weeks where I lose more than 1lb a week. These are just something to strive for! I am calling my game plan the 80/20 rule. if I work out 5 out of the 7 days in a week GREAT! If I eat right 80% of the time and treat myself 20% of the time I am in great shape. When I limit myself and tell myself I CAN'T have that or I HAVE to work out it never works. That is how I ended up weighing 170lbs when I got pregnant. I never stuck with any of my weight loss plans up to that point.

One thing I have learned from others that have lost weight is that it is a lifestyle change, not a temporary change. I will never keep off weight if I give up everything I love and be miserable doing it and then go back to what I really want to eat. I love eating ice cream and cake and pie and Pumpkin spice latte's from Starbucks. Do I need them every day though? I love my bean dip...I love to bake...I am not giving up things I enjoy...who wants to do that. I am just going to be smarter about the choices I am making and not indulge as often. If I mapped out everything I ate this week you might think I failed myself. I had fast food a few nights for dinner, I didn't work out as much as I planned or wanted to. But it was my first week and over all I believe I did great. I made better choices about food most of the time and I was conscious of what and how much I was eating at every meal. What more could I ask for? I am not going to 180 my life right away or I know I will fail. I will LONG for being lazy and eating unhealthy if I do that.

If this plan of mine doesn't work then I will get more extreme...I will be a little harder on myself so that I can accomplish my goal but for now it seems like what is right for me. Who knows maybe I will do great at my plan and lose all the weight sooner than I am planning. Maybe I will plateau in September. You never know what will happen. The bigger picture goal here is not a number...it is to feel good about me again. To WANT to dress up and do my hair and be cute again...to love my body and feel sexy again. That is what I really want. The number 70lbs is just my way of getting there.

So yes...tOdAy Is A gOoD dAy. Tomorrow will be a good day too.

swooning a bit...

Ok I know I said below that was all for today...and I just had to mention that last night when I was complaining that I hurt from ellipticalling my ass off, my husband said basically that same thing last night. That working out and eating right will get easier and easier if I stick with it. He is so perfect...swoon.

motivated

tHaT's AlL fOr ToDaY

hungry

I was hungry literally all day yesterday. I haven't felt like that since being pregnant. I was always hungry when I was pregnant. I was thinking about that today too. If now that I see the effects of eating whatever I wanted (except what I couldn't have) when I was pregnant if I would do things differently. Because when I was stuffing my face with Ben and Jerry's every evening (sometimes midday) I knew what I was doing. But food was so comforting to me when I was pregnant. I was wound so tight, always ready to scream at someone and I couldn't go have a beer or a calming glass of wine so I ate instead. ....Would I do things differently? No. Chocolate and candy and ice cream and waaaaaaay to much milk gave me exactly what I needed when I was a preggo maniac. Which brings me to another point...I was such a bitch when I was pregnant! LOL! I am glad that is over. In my blog yesterday I mentioned not feeling like myself and I must admit I feel so much more like myself now, after feeling like a stranger to myself for my whole pregnancy. I just don't look like myself so it is a slightly incomplete feeling of feeling like myself. Am I making any sense?

Anyways back to being terminally hungry. It is so crazy how as soon as you start monitoring what you are eating your mind plays games with you. I ate three good meals yesterday and even had some sensible snacks. I had fruit in the morning, veggies and fruit and crackers for lunch and then my mom made a delicious taco/bean concoction for dinner. But because I am not allowing myself to just snack and eat and eat all day like I am used to...or forget to eat all day and then binge all night my tummy decides I am going to feel like I am starving or something. This is where that tip I gave 'Keeping Busy' comes in handy. I did not give in to eating when I really shouldn't have been hungry until Billy and I were relaxing on the couch watching TV. I think I have hardwired myself to want food when watching TV. So I need to keep my hands busy with crafts or something because when they are just sitting there while I am watching TV they think they need to be shoving food in my face.

I did bad working out yesterday. I just kept procrastinating. I did not do my Elliptical at all. I let it get too late and then had to go to my moms for dinner and said I would do it when I got home and then...didn't. However Oliver and I did go for a walk.

Speaking of my beautiful boy I do have to say one thing...people always look at me like I am such a horrible person when I talk about how much I hated being pregnant or how horribly traumatizing giving birth was...because most women either loved being pregnant or they just don't talk about it. I love love love Oliver and I would be pregnant ten times if I had to to get him. I would do anything for him. He is the joy of my life and he makes my life so much more real than it used to be. It is amazing getting to be a part of his life. ...I just had to say that. For some prenancy was a walk in the park...for me it was more like a walk through hell in order to get to heaven. =)

So today's goal is to do my elliptical for 30 minutes...no more 20 minute crap...and to take Oliver for a walk OR do my Jillian Michaels dvd. And also to keep busy so I don't eat my way through my refrigerator. hehehe...today is a new day and I am hungry for progress! (so corny sorry!)

No One Can Do It For Me

Well yesterday I did...ok. At first I was like..man I'm on FIRE!(pronounced fiya)I cleaned the house, organized, got rid of some clutter. I played with my beautiful baby. I did the dishes, I did some laundry (which lol is still in the dryer as we speak)and I ate healthy breakfast and lunch!

Now for the working out portion that makes yesterday...ok...instead of FIYA! I popped in my Jillian Michaels dvd convinced that after slaying that 20 minutes on the elliptical yesterday I could take anything Ms.Jillian dished out. And I am proud to say I got through 12 minutes of the 20 minute madness that is the Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. My whole body was in pain. So I gave myself a rest and then later I went up to tackle the elliptical again. I made it 11 minutes. I need more will power. I will never lose this blubber if I don't work it out...and work it out HARD! So today I am just going to focus on the elliptical and then I will do what I can with the shred. It is really hard to do strength training when you have no muscle to speak of!



I did take my measurements and my weight yesterday...here goes...

Weight: 216lbs
Waist: 38 inches
Hips: 36 inches
Bicep: 12 inches
Thigh: 27 inches
Calves: 18 inches

Ugh...I never thought I would reach numbers like that. On Doctor Oz's show the other day he said that no woman's waist should be above 37 inches. It should be about 1/2 your height. I am 5'8 so my waist should be about 34 inches...is that right? Well at least now I know the damage..and I have my beautiful(sarcasm) 'before' pictures as well to keep me on track. I am so ready to be me again. I know that it is not going to happen over night though.

I did do some research yesterday as well. I found a number of great tips on the internet and from friends. So I thought I would share them for all those going through similar journeys as mine. I broke them all down into 10 tips. If you want more tips I recommend www.chrispirillo.com. I got a lot of these tips from his website.

1.Take the dieting out of your 'diet'- get rid of simple sugars when you can, cutting out one 12oz pop a day will all you to lose up to 15lbs a year. get rid of eccess salt, saturated fats, syrups, trans fats, white flour. All this can be accomplished by reading the labels of the food you are eating. Don't go all food Nazi on yourself either or you are bound to relapse. From everything I have read it seems there are no foods that are BAD BAD BAD, you just need to practice the rule of moderation and be conscious of your food choices.

2.Trick yourself- Use a smaller plate Doctor Oz reccomended 9" on his show, this will help you to keep your portions smaller. They say that if you eat 'red spices' for breakfast it will actually make you less hungry later in the day. Brush your teeth after each meal, food never sounds as good with toothpaste breath!

3.Slow Down- Eat more slowly. Sometimes we eat so fast that we end up filling ourselves more than we need to. Eat 1/2 of what is on your plate and then wait 10 minutes and evaluate how much food you really NEED.

4.Keep Busy-I eat out of boredom a lot of the time, I have found when I am busy and I keep the TV off I eat a lot less.

5.Drown Yourself- It is really hard for me to drink even the recommended amount of water every day, however I can speak from experience on this one. I read that sometimes when you think you are hungry, really you are just dehydrated. Drink as much water as you can and you will notice your snack cravings become less.

6.Stay Away From Fast Food- This one is the hardest one ever for me. I am all about convenience food, and I hate cooking so fast food is so much easier. It has been proven time and time again that it just isn't that good for you. I have a plan to designate one night a week to fast food if we want it so it becomes more of a treat than a bad habit.

7.Oh Man the Omega's!- I read on Chris Pirillo's website that Omega 3 and Omega 6 supplements help you to curb your hunger if taken 20 minutes before a meal. (allowing you to eat less, not to starve yourself) I haven't taken these yet, however when I do venture out of the house I plan on picking some up.

8.Go Public- I heard this tip on every talk show doing specials on weightloss, and on every website I went to yesterday. One important detail is to NOT SAY YOU ARE ON A DIET...we all know how those turn out. Don't set yourself up for failure. Simply let people know that you are working on a healthier life. Let them know of your goal and ask for their support. I will admit that sometimes those closest to us are the biggest sabotagers of our success though. I mentioned that I had a healthy lunch and breakfast yesterday and then Billy came home and we had hamburgers w/ pork and beans. I get to be strong with my husband and really let him know about the changes I am attempting to make in my life. Usually when I stand my ground I end up being a good influence on him....

9.Weight Game- the experts say that you should weigh yourself at the same time everytime your do it so that your numbers will be consistant. Also I do not recommend weighing yourself daily, for me it becomes more discouraging because it seems like no progress is being made.

10.Goals- We all have a goal in mind when we decide to eat healthier and become more active. Mine is to lose 70lbs. It is a big goal so I gave myself a year to acheive it. However I am a procrastinator so it is imperative that I make smaller goals along the way or I know that I will be attempting to dump off too many pounds in October. hehehe...Jillian Michaels insists that you should make a weekly, monthly, and 1/2 way mark goal. That way your work outs and healthy lifestyle can stay more consistant.

One thing that really enlightened me though was a quote from Chris Pirillo's website.

"If you don't like the way that YOU are then YOU are going to have to do something about it."

This helped me because my husband is the sweetest ever. He tells me all the time that I am beautiful and he doesn't really understand why my gaining weight has effected me so much. This quote helped me to realize that I am not going to be able to truly feel like myself until I work on me. No one else can do it for me.

cOsMiC BrOwNiEs...

Here are some simple truths I am realizing...

Simple Truth #1 I know that when I eat healthy (or at lease not everything in my cubbard) I feel great, I have more energy I feel happier on the inside...'yay' would basically describe the emotion.

Simple Truth #2 I know that when I actually get off my butt and do something I feel great, proud of myself, joyful..again 'yay'.

Why then can I not just do this every day all day? What is so difficult about sticking with it? Why does the chocolate brownie in the pantry scream to me the second I think about getting on my elliptical?

Why do I make these plans to go for walks, not turn the TV on, and get something done in my life and then end up watching Tough Love episodes on the computer for two hours when really I just got on the computer to blog how good I did yesterday?

Why did I just eat that brownie? It is only 10am and I am eating brownies! WHAT?



Yesterday I felt that I did really well. I got important things done. I ate great until my husband came home with Taco Bell...I watched the Doctor Oz show (and took notes mind you) about losing weight. AND! I did 20 minutes on the elliptical! 20 full minutes. I know it isn't much but I think you are not realizing just how out of shape I really am. I hurt after 3 minutes. I am huffing and puffing after 3 minutes, my brain starts manipulating me after 3 minutes. Basically odds are against me after 3 minutes. However yesterday I had the brilliant idea to take pictures of myself in my underwear (a scary sight let me tell you) and then I printed them and I pasted them to my elliptical machine. So when I got tired after 3 minutes and then 5 minutes and then 10 minutes and then 18 minutes...I just looked at me in all my glory and magically I kept going. Now I just have to hope my husband doesn't spend too much time looking at those pictures or I will just die. I will never have sex again I think.

Today I plan on taking my measurements (thighs, waist, hips, arms) that way I can keep track of my progress. Hopefully working out will become more exciting when I have actually made some progress instead of being a hopeless blob that likes to watch shows like Wife Swap and Tough Love while eating toxic cosmic brownies.

I AM OFF TO GET SOMETHING DONE! YES!

woohoo for weight loss...

I have set a lot of goals in my life...rarely do I ever keep them. This year I made my new years resolutions...

1.Lose 70lbs by December 31st, 2010
2.Do more outdoorsy stuff

#1 is part of why I created this blog in the first place. I need all the help I can get keeping on track. I am hoping it will keep me accountable.

The truth is that I don't even know where to start. I have no idea how to truly begin eating healthy and stay on a budget...I have no idea how to create a sensible work out routine. I did get an eliptical for my birthday so that is where I am starting. I plan on doing 20 minutes a day. And I am on Maternity Leave for another 2 weeks so I plan on going for a long walk every day with Oliver in the stroller.

Oliver my son is 8 weeks old. It is funny because immediately after I had him I kept thinking I do not want to be one of those moms that people look at and think to themselves...oh I feel sorry for her she still has all the baby weight left to lose. And....I am. For a little while I didn't think that I was. He was about 5 weeks and I started getting slightly more active and I thought 'YES! I can do this!' Now my child is 2 months old and I have actually gained weight since my 6 week appointment. I am still wearing maternity pants for god's sake. I hate it. I have all this gross loose skin and a muffin top! You know those women that insist on wearing tight shirts and their old pants they barely fit in so that they have a roll hanging over the pants? ooo and you can see the button on the pants is ready to burst. It almost as if you can hear that button screaming... I have that! My buttons scream. It is gross. I don't even fit into shirts that I used to be able to wear because my arms have grown. My arms have grown...they are bigger around. I can't even explain how it happened I never noticed it until I tried on one of my old shirts.

I really only gained about 60lbs the whole pregnancy. Currently I weigh 215lbs. When I got pregnant I weighed 170lbs. The heaviest I have ever been. The last time I remember looking down and thinking...'Man I love my body' I was in swimming in highschool and I weighed about 130lbs possibley a little less. I have decided I would be happy with about 145lbs. Hell I would be happy if I could just wear some of the clothes I packed away before I even got pregnant never to be worn again.

Ok. That is enough complaining for tonight. Tomorrow is a brand new day. A day where I will complete a solid 20 minutes on my eliptical. I WILL also take Oliver for a walk. If the solid 20 minutes on the eliptical doesn't kill me that is.