Weekly Update

SO Holiday week not so good.

Pounds Lost - ZERO

Pounds gained---- TWO :(

That is all I have to say about that right now.....

Wednesday Weigh-In and Weekly Wrap-Up

Pounds Lost: ZERO  :(
Pounds gained: ALSO ZERO (thank goodness)
Push-up challenge: 25 push-ups! I am totally amazed by that.

So this week was not what you might call successful, but it wasn't a total failure. I participated in annual baking day with the women in my family and the fact that I walked away from that day without gaining 5 pounds is a miracle in and of itself.

My downfall... holiday goodies are EVERYWHERE and I have NO WILL POWER! Although, that isn't entirely true... while I have been partaking in the goodies, I have been MUCH more restrained than in the past.  and I totally STUNK at my 100% food tracking goal. I totally missed one day entirely. I waited too long to get a couple of the days in so it was too late to "make-up" for mistakes and I didn't remember everything I ate, because if my calculations are correct and I had tracked everything I should have lost a pound. so.... better luck next time....

Positives are that I did eat holiday goodies, but I didn't gain. I exercised and I continued with the challenge. Knitia and I went to ZUMBA again last night, we were short a "cloud dancing's heartsong" though. It was my "last chance workout," and I definitely worked up a sweat. I had a good time. I think it goes by fast. Poor Knitia HATES IT! In fact, her direct comment was "I hate it with a fiery passion." There was some more about hating it to the depths of her soul or something, but I don't remember that part well enough to quote it.  despite her fiery hatred she is still going to support me, (already paying for them may have something to do with it...., but I am going with its for me! LOL! ) Even though I like it, the class still kicks my butt.

From Knitia: "Death by Zumba"

So that is all for now. Honestly with the holidays smack dab in the middle of this week, I am going to be glad if i don't gain, and ECSTATIC if I lose. I know i should set higher goals for myself...but its Christmas and I am eating cookies...... so there!

Wednesday Weigh-In and Weekly Wrap-Up (a day late)

Pounds Lost: 0.2

December Challenge: Successfully completed 18 push-ups at one time! (I should be at 19 but I forgot last night but I'll still aim for 20 tonight) 

December Adventures: One Zumba Class down!  But I haven't been Ice Skating, going to change this Adventure)

I haven't posted in a bit, December has been speeding away from me. I went on a trip for work and was not very good at the dessert table. However, I did do a lot of walking AND I took advantage of the hotel gym. So not a terrible showing. In thinking through what went wrong this week and why that "pounds lost" isn't a little higher, I think it was my eating. I actually have been rocking the exercise. I have hit the gym, been doing my push-ups and went to a Zumba Class (with Cloud Dancing's Heartsong and Knitia). According to sparkpeople I burned around 500 calories in my Zumba class, (they don't actually have zumba, but they do have exercise dancing class)

What I have not been doing is keeping track of my food.  I know i have preached it time and time again.. but that is really the key. If I don't hit my calorie mark, around 1800 calories a day, I will never drop this weight. There are many days that I don't track my eating. and I let myself off the hook for that all the time. I have to stop it. I think a new rule should be that even if I don't track that day, I have to go back and retroactively check within a day or two, that way I know what potential damage i have done, I can exercise more, or cut back the rest of the week, either way I can take corrective action. So often I feel like, well that is over and done nothing i can do now...and that is NOT TRUE! knowledge is power.

A pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. That is how many calories I have to burn through exercise or not eat in the first place in order to lose a pound in one week.  This means that if I don't track and i royally over eat, it is still important to go back and calculate it, I still have time to repair the damage. For some reason this little bit of information is incredibly comforting to me, but in the moment I tell myself the exact opposite and I am not sure why. Sometime I think I am letting myself of the hook, giving myself the freedom to "be bad" which will never get me to my goal, other times I think I just don't want to feel bad about myself.

Anyway, I am instituting 100% food tracking goal... even if the day passes and I don't do it, I am going to make a conscious effort to go back and figure it out.

Today, Cloud Dancing's Heartsong, my cousin, and I are going to our second Step Aerobics class... it is so hard, but burns a TON of calories!  I also plan to do a weight training session tomorrow.

I am also going back to Zumba next Tuesday.   I am hoping to show much better results next week.

Is it humanly possible to be this bad at push-ups?

Apparently yes....


So when I said I could do 3 or 4 "real" push-ups, like the kind on your toes.... I lied.
Yep, I could only do one of those.... two max. so... I am changing the challenge to the girlie knee push-ups. It is still challenging, I could barely do more than four, I have been doing a good job so far. Slam-Slam is doing them with me, except he is doing the real kind. As of last night we are up to 8. Go Team! 


In other news I found two REALLY helpful calorie calculators. The first (http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide.htm), is really helpful because it tells you how many calories you should have each day if you want to MAINTAIN your current weight (without exercise). I feel like this is a really good thing for every person who is trying to lose weight to know. It gives you a really good baseline and a realistic mindset when you are trying to choose what your daily calorie goal is going to be. The website also gives you a daily calorie in-take that will help you lose a pound a week, also without exercise. It will be a good idea to go back recalculate the calorie needs for whatever my new current weight is.


The second calculator is also pretty good. http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-goal.php
It doesn't calculate the calories it takes to maintain your weight, but it gives you the amount of calories needed to lose 1.5 pounds per week, which is a little quicker pace than the other. I will be aiming for this calorie amount. It also tells you when you will reach your goal if you do in fact lose 1.5 pounds per week. This is very helpful.


I find these calculations very helpful in my weight loss. for example, now that I know my daily calorie goal number is like 600 calories less than the calories needed to maintain my weight, I will not feel like such a huge failure if i go over my calories by 30 or even 50. I think this will do a lot for my confidence going forward.


My last word for the day is that I highly recommend taking a step aerobics class for anyone trying to lose weight. It is INTENSE (I went with Cloud Dancing's Heartsong and my cousin...we all thought we were going to pass out, and our calves STILL hurt, that was Thursday Night). According to sparkpeople I burned 650 calories in my 1 hour class! That is AWESOME!

Wednesday Weigh-In and Weekly Wrap-Up

Pounds Lost = THREE!!!!!
Net loss from last week's gain = 2

Goals from last week: 

1. Stretch once a day: DID IT
2. Gym Twice a Week: - DID IT
3. Home workout once.... did not do it :( 

Two out of three is not bad.

I am so impressed with myself that I lost over the Thanksgiving Holiday. I am not exactly sure how I pulled that off to be honest. I am about to cross a big milestone for me.  You may remember that when I started this blog it was over desperation that I had yo-yoed yet again. I had lost 20 lbs some months before and had managed to gain 14 of it back! I am happy to report that if I lose one more pound I will have RE-LOST those 20 lbs. ... this time for good.  This process has been frustrating so far, because I haven't really felt like I was losing, I just felt like I was backtracking. Once I get back to that amount, I will really feel like I am making progress. I would like to be at or under it by next weeks weigh-in and hit my 25 lb milestone before Christmas.

Today is the first day of December and with snow falling this morning it is really feeling like winter. It is also the first day of my Monthly Challenge and my Monthly Adventures. My adventures are going to be ZUMBA and Ice Skating. Over the month of December I will go to ZUMBA at least 3 times, and will go ice skating at least twice.  I am planning my first Zumba trip with Knitia and Cloud Dancing's Heartsong this weekend, so far so good.

My Monthly Challenge took a lot of thought, but I think I have come up with something. A long time ago i did a fitness test and one of the items was how many proper well formed push-ups can you do (on your toes not your knees) I could only do 3..... don't laugh. So i found this push-up a day challenge on line and thought... wow that is a good idea. So today I am going to do....FOUR push-ups. and I'll add one everyday. By the end of the month, I should be much better at push-ups.

25 lb prizes are still tied! if you haven't voted, please do so!

Goals for Next Week:

1. One Zumba Class
2. Three Gym visits
3. Journal food everyday
4. Stretch once a day. 

Catch-up Weigh-in and Plan for December

Wednesday Weigh-In

LOST: ZERO...... GAINED: ONE  :(


So yes, I knew last week had not gone well.  But it was worse than I thought. I am so disappointed that I gained a pound.  But this is a marathon not a sprint. So I just have to do better next time.  I don't think that I did too bad on Thanksgiving, but I haven't exercised as much as I should have. Exercise is key.  Today I did do my hike, this time I took a lovely walk through Fishers Heritage Park with the Dude Monkey. It was pretty nice. I think I'd like to go again and explore some of the nature trails.  My monthly challenge of Parking in the Boonies really didn't go very well. I did always park farther away, well most of the time, but there were a lot of times when it just wasn't practical because I have the Dude Monkey, and the FURTHEST spot was really really far away.  So I need help coming up with a good challenge for December, something that I may want to make part of my every day routine. Your thoughts on this are very appreciated!

My December Adventures are going to be ZUMBA and ICE SKATING!  I have 6 Zumba sessions that I bought through Groupon, and I plan to Ice Skate at least twice!

Other than that I need to stay motivated on the exercise front. I just took a quiz on Discovery Health's National Body Challenge. I was very honest and I think the results are pretty accurate.
Here are my results:

You Are Somewhat Likely To Stick With It.

• You tend to believe that physical activity has health benefits, yet you find it difficult to make exercise a priority. Although you have probably participated in sports and exercise in the past, your commitment may have been for less than a six-month period.
  
• It's conceivable that you see yourself as self-motivated, ambitious, achievement-oriented and a Type A personality. Therefore, you may have a difficult time attending to non-urgent needs such as physical and spiritual development. Finding time to squeeze exercise into your busy schedule is challenging which leads you to say, "I'd like to exercise but I just don't have the time."

How To Get motivated:

• Try changing your perspective by deciding what purpose exercise will serve in your life. Are you exercising to create more balance in your life, lose weight, spend time with friends, increase your strength, prevent osteoporosis or decrease your chances of getting breast cancer?
  
• Choose one life benefit per month and adjust your workout accordingly. For example, if you decide to use exercise to create balance in your life, you don't need to exercise everyday or at a high intensity. Instead, you may choose to take a Saturday morning yoga class at a gym near home.
  
• Remember exercise doesn't have to be all or nothing. Even a little activity will provide you life-long health benefits both physically and emotionally.

You can take the quiz yourself at: http://health.discovery.com/national-body-challenge/interactives/tools/motivation/motivation.html

My exercise goals for the rest of the week are:

1. Stretch at least once a day

2. Go to Gym Twice 

3. Home Workout once

We will see if this will be enough to make up for my gain this week. I'll continue to park in the boonies until December 1, then hopefully i'll be starting a new challenge. 

The vote is tied for my 25 lb Prize! Someone needs to vote and be a tie breaker! 

Fishers Heritage Park Hiking Pictures

Hiking, Confessions and my Thanksgiving Plan

So I haven't really posted in a while, I have a lot to catch up on.

I have fulfilled my Hiking Challenges for the month, so far at least. The weekend before last I was planning to go to Mounds with Queen Bee and Princess Bee, but the weather did not cooperate on Saturday. So Sunday Cloud Dancing's Heartsong, Slam-Slam, Dude Monkey and I went to Ritchey Woods. I had not wanted to do the same hiking location twice in the month, but I did different trails then what I did the first time. I carried the little Dude Monkey for part of the time and it was a good workout.

This last weekend Knitia, Cloud Dancing's Heartsong, the Dude Monkey and I went to Mounds State Park and did a really good hike, a little over a mile long. I did the whole thing with the Dude Monkey strapped to my back. According to SparkPeople. I burned 469 calories. We spent the rest of the day in Zionsville at the Toy Museum and walking around, so there was a little more bonus exercise besides the hike.  I'll post my hike pictures at the bottom of this post.

Other than my hike I have not exercised very much at all, I have not been doing my stretching, and I have missed several opportunities to "park in the boonies." Overall this week has not been very successful at all. I have also not been food journaling as much as I should, and I have been making food choices that I knew would take me over my calories for the day. Many of those choices made for emotional reasons. One of the biggest reason I think is stress. A big stress release for me is knitting and I have not been able to do that in the evenings lately. I think that is an important emotional outlet for me and instead of cookies or sending Slam-Slam to the gas station to hostess cupcakes (yes I did that... TONIGHT... BOO) I need to take 10 minutes from my busy schedule and pick up the needles.

I am also coming down with something, I have a sore throat, so I am really worried about my weigh-in tomorrow and what the coming week as in store with the holidays. I do have a plan for Thanksgiving though. I am really going to try to take just little bits of the stuff I love and load up and healthy veggies and lean turkey. Also, Princess E is making some weight watchers recipes I think, so that is going to help.

I was going to write about an awesome recipe that I got from Knitia, but I think I'll write about it tomorrow when I post my weigh-in. I am not expecting good things from this weigh-in. I am going to think through what my goals and changes need to be for next week. I think I am going to do some ice skating adventures in December, but I need a challenge for the month, something that I can do daily or a couple times a week to make me more active. If anyone has any ideas please post them.