Saturday, August 27, 2011

Making progress!

It's Saturday, so this morning was my day to weigh and measure. I started keeping track of my weight and measurements the first of this month so I could see any progress I was making. I didn't post them when I first started, but wrote them down in the notebook I carry around with me. But today, I decided to go ahead and record it here, too.

Sat. 8/6/2011    weight-217lbs      body fat-49%    bust-46"     waist-44"       hips-49.5"     size-20.
Sat. 8/13/2011  weight-225lbs      body fat-48%    bust-47"     waist-43.5"    hips-51"        size-20
Sat. 8/20/2011  weight-221.5lbs   body fat-47%    bust-46.5"  waist-43.5"    hips-50"        size-20
Sat. 8/27/2011  weight-218lbs      body fat-50%    bust-46"     waist-42.5"    hips-46.5"     size-20

During the second week, I ended up putting on 8 pounds because I totally ate everything wrong that I possibly could! And I wasn't as good about getting to the gym and doing everything that I should. I still need to work on getting consistant at the gym and in my eating habits. But I've been trying to do better. And now I'm starting to see some real results, and that makes me want to keep doing this even more!

I missed a few days at the gym this past week, but I was really watching what I was eating. I didn't follow my meal plans exactly, but I did much better about keeping my calorie count where it should be, and I can see some positive results from that! Next week the pool is closed at our YMCA, but I can go to one of the other branches if I want. I am going to try and do my cardio on the track or the stationary bike this week and see how that goes.

Today, Terry and I went to the car show downtown and walked all around it, but the heat started to get to us, so we came on home. We're going to go again tomorrow after church and see the rest of the cars. I'm not sure how far we walked, and you can't really count it as cardio because we were strolling, but at least we were active!

After we left, I dropped Terry off at the house and went to go get my hair cut. I had missed lunch and was getting hungry, so I was tempted to stop in at McDonald's and get a burger and fries, but I talked myself out of it and came home after my haircut and had lunch here at home. I was very proud of myself for that, because before I would have eaten the burger and fries and not even thought anything about it. Then, after church, I came home and had a large salad with some of the leftover chicken from dinner a couple of nights ago chopped up on top. I'm nice and full and got my veggies and lean protein in today instead of all that fat and extra calories from the burger and fries!

I realize that these are the kinds of decisions I'm going to have to make for the rest of my life. And there are going to be days when the burger and fries are going to win. But instead of using that as an excuse to just give up on healthy eating, I instead have to just say okay and get back on track. And I have to learn how to make the things we like to eat in a more healthy manner and to eat the proper portion sizes. This is going to have to be something that I commit to for the rest of my life. Not just until I get down to the size that I want to be. If I want to stay at that size and stay healthy, this has to be a lifetime committment. And I have to make that choice, day by day. Today, I did good!

Monday, August 22, 2011

I'm glad it's Monday....

Today was a good, if long, day! I made it to bed last night by midnight and was up around 9:30,  which is a little later than I meant to be up, but earlier than I normally get up, so it's good. I spent over 30 minutes on the phone trying to make a dental appt, but they were all booked up, so I have to call back next Monday. Oh well!

Because I was on the phone so long, I left to head to the gym a bit later than I had planned, so I was able to do my weight workout before I went to my water class, but I didn't get my laps in today. I didn't do them after class because I was trying to get over to the store to do the shopping before it got too late. I managed to get almost everything on my list, so that was good. Since tomorrow is my birthday and we are going out to eat for dinner, we are going to officially start following the eating plans I printed off on Wed. I am going to follow mine tomorrow for everything but dinner. We had planned to go to Kobe, the Japanese steak house, but now I'm thinking maybe Hog Wild barbeque instead. I guess we'll see what I'm in the mood for tomorrow!

The dr. switched my heartburn medicine this past week and I'm not sure I like this new one. I'm still having some in the late afternoon and early evening. Hopefully this new one will kick in soon and take care of this. I also need to get the head of my bed elevated like the dr. suggested. I really think that will help.

My Bears are playing tonight, but they aren't doing too well. But it's still preseason, so I'm not worried. Terry and I are hoping to get up to Chicago and go to a game this season. That would be so awesome! So I need to really be good about making it to my workouts and sticking to this eating plan so that I will be able to wear my Urlacher jersey!

With that in mind, I'm going to go get my bag ready for tomorrow and then head on to bed to finish watching the game. And then, tomorrow I'm going to enjoy my birthday!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

ready to get back at it!

Well, Bailey and the kids have gone home, so tomorrow it's back to my regular workout schedule. I've been getting up around 8am this week with the kids, then dozing on the couch until 9am, which is still an hour earlier than I normally get up. And I've been heading to bed by midnight because I've been so tired. So, I'm going to try and keep that schedule and head to bed around 11pm and then be up every morning by 9am at the latest. I need to get myself on a good schedule so that I can get into a routine with my workouts and my eating.

So, this afternoon after everyone left, I went on Mobilefit and went thru the nutrition section and printed off the recommended diet plans for both me and Terry. I did some substituting on some of the meals, but stayed within the recommendations for the most part, and tried to get enough variety to keep us from getting bored. I printed off a week's worth of menu guides and will go back on later this week and go thru some of the recipes that they have so I can do some more subbing and get a bigger variety of meals. But using their substitution list, I get the right balance of carbs, fats, and proteins. And I get the right portion sizes for the amount of calories we each need each day. I do need to go back and figure in Terry's tea that he drinks and allow myself a little Dr. Pepper until I get weaned off of it altogether. But I'm not going to try and just quit because that always gives me some really bad headaches. But I'm doing better and have already really cut down on how much I drink.

Tomorrow I'm also going to make an appt to go see a dentist and get started on getting my teeth fixed. I have several broken teeth and sometimes it's hard to eat because they hurt sometimes and little pieces break off and then my tongue gets sore from the rough spot. And I've heard several times that to really be healthy, you have to have a healthy mouth. So, even tho going to the dentist terrifies me, I am determined to get something done about these teeth!

Sat. was my last swim class and we worked on our breaststroke. I started to kind of get it by the end of class. The only way to get better is to practice, tho. What I want to do is start swimming laps every day for part of my cardio workout, plus go to my arthritis water workout. Then, 3 days a week, to go upstairs and also do my weight workout. I really like the 11:30 class for my arthritis class, so I'm going to keep that. I've been doing my laps after that, then heading upstairs to do my weight workout. That means on the days I do my weight workout, I leave the house around 11:15 and don't get home until about 1:45. In order to follow my meal plan with my meals and snacks, that schedule just isn't going to work. So, I want to get up between 8:30-9am and eat breakfast, head to the Y by 10am on the days I'm going to do my weights and do that workout, then have my snack, then do my laps before my water class. Then, I will be home a little after 12:30 and can have my lunch. Then I will have a bigger block of time, too, to get things down around the house and to work on my projects. So, we'll try it out this week and see how that works, then make adjustments as needed.

I also need to remember to check my blood pressure every day. The dr. switched my bp meds this past week and wants me to keep track for the next 4 weeks and then come back and see him to go over it and see if the new meds are working. Hopefully this new one will work without some of the side effects I experienced with the last one.

Okay, time to go get my bag ready for the gym tomorrow, then head to bed. I'm ready to get back at it!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

grandkids are here!

Bailey and her 5 precious kiddos are here this week, so I haven't gone to the gym so far. I've been chasing after the kids, tho, so I've not been totally couch-bound! Today Noah had me running up and down the driveway, pushing him in the Cozy Coupe so he could "go faster, Mosey!" And Isaiah keeps everyone on their toes! Yesteday, while Bailey and Terry went to the store, Isaiah was playing outside with the older kids. They came in and he refused. I got the kids settled in the living room, realized Isaiah was still outside, so sent Anna out to check on him. She came running in to tell me he was on top of the slide, standing up, with no clothes on! I went running outside, and sure enough! There he was, with no diaper in sight. He was not happy when I grabbed him and hauled him inside to get dressed! Terry and Bailey arrived home and I sent Terry out to find the diaper before Colby could go outside and find it instead. So much fun!

Tomorrow we may try and go over to the Hopper's and go swimming, if the weather cooperates and it fits in with their schedule. Kelle was nice enough to invite us over and the kids will be thrilled to take her up on it. I have a dr's appt. at 2:30, so that will mean that we will have to get home in plenty of time to get the little ones down for their naps.

Now, I'm going to go to the store to get a lemon so Bailey and I can try out a new chicken recipe. I sure eat a lot better when they are here!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

back at it

So, I made it to the gym today to my water workout and then upstairs to do my weight workout. I increased some of my weights today, so I feel like I am making some progress. I stayed home the past two days because my arthritis was acting up. And I was moving slow when I first got up, but I feel better this afternoon after working out. Now I have the energy to get some things done this afternoon! And that's what it's all about!

Monday, August 8, 2011

I am tired....

Early mornings all weekend, so I ended up sleeping in a little later today. Then I went to my water exercise class, then did 10 lengths of the lap pool, then went upstairs and did my weight workout. Then went and ran a few errands before I came home and relaxed for a little while. Got to talk to Mom and Daddy for a little while, then to Elizabeth. That was nice!

After the phone calls, I got busy working on my workbench and work space. It's still not exactly how I want it, and there are still a few things I'm going thru boxes looking for, but it's finally coming along! I'm getting very excited. Terry and I picked up a little tv at Goodwill and he ran a cable line for me, then programmed a remote for me, so I can watch tv while I work. He's so sweet to me!

Now, we've eaten dinner and it's time to relax. My arthritis is acting up a little because of the pop-up storms that we've had. This morning when I got up, it was in the low 70's! And it only got up to the upper 90's. That was nice. Now it's time to go play with some clay. Then it's early to bed so I can get up and make it to the gym on time. But, maybe I'll have a little snack of milk and cookies first! :-)

Saturday, August 6, 2011

8am swim class???

Yep, an 8am swim class! And I made it! It wasn't easy getting up that early, but I did it. And I'm glad I did. There were only 4 of us in the class, so even tho we're at 4 different levels, we all got plenty of feed back on what we were doing wrong and what we were doing right. I was very happy because I did much better with my breathing today. That is, until we added the arms! As long as I'm just kicking, I do fine. When I add the arms, I start rushing it and panicing. So, that's my homework for this week. To practice breathing while adding the arms.

We also worked a little bit on breaststroke this week. The kick is really weird for that one! We tried doing both the arms and the legs, but ended up working on just getting the kick down. That's another thing to work on this week with the kickboard.

I am very happy, too, because today was weight and measurement day and I lost the 3lbs I was shooting for this week! I don't know how I did on inches, because I forgot to take measurements at the beginning of the week, so we'll have to see how that goes next Sat. I know that 3lbs isn't much, but my dr. said that the safest way to lose was to just lose 2-4lbs a week. So I am shooting for 3lbs each week, and if I achieve that, I will reach my goal weight by the end of Feb. I've set a goal weight of 135, but will be happy at a slightly higher weight, as long as I make my goal size of 8! They say that muscle weighs more than fat, so if I have lots of toned muscle, I would be fine with a higher weight, as long as I get my size back down. I have some really cute clothes that I bought when I was an 8 that I really want to be able to wear again!

I was looking thru my collection of swimsuits and I realized that I need to go get a couple more before they are all gone. I have the size 20 that I'm in right now, and I have a size 12 for when I get to that size, but I don't have anything for the in-between . And I will be losing weight and needed a smaller swimsuit during the fall and winter, when I won't be able to find one in the stores! So I realized I better get a couple to have ready as I continue to lose weight and change sizes. Once I get to a size 8, I have 3 or 4 swimsuits! I had so many because I went to the beach so often, and I actually looked good in a swimsuit, so it was fun to buy them! Now I need more because I'm in the pool almost every day. And because of that, eventually I will start to look good in these suits again!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

whew!

I am very proud of myself, but very tired tonight! I went to the Y early so that I could do some laps and work on the breathing exercises for my swim lessons. I ended up swimming a total of 8 lengths of the pool, and then my legs were done! I did okay on the breathing, but not where I want to be yet. So, more practice tomorrow!

After the laps, I went to my water exercise class, and then, even tho I was ready to head home by then, I made myself head upstairs to the weight room and I did my workout! I was very tired by the time I finished, but very proud of myself for finishing! That is, after all, the goal!

I spent the rest of the afternoon running errands and now I have potatoes baking in the oven and Terry is grilling steaks out on the grill. I'm getting ready to go cook some long grain and wild rice to go with it, and get the salad stuff out of the fridge. I splurged today and had lunch at Subway, with lots of veggies! I wasn't so good with the cheese, because I had them add extra, but I skipped the chips and had a bottle of water instead of a soda, so I didn't feel too badly about the cheese. I was just really happy because the Subway in Terry's store, where I went, had both spinach and cucumbers to put on my sandwich! So I had the Italian BMT with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, spinach, bell peppers, and some provolone cheese. Add a little salt and pepper, and a small amount of creamy Italian dressing, and mmmmmm! Excellent lunch!

Now, to go finish fixing dinner. Then getting my bag ready for the gym tomorrow!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

and.......I'm back!

Wow....I haven't posted a new blog since May! I have been slacking! I have to admit that I also slacked off on my workouts, too. I really meant to workout while I was in Arkansas waiting on Elijah to arrive, but I didn't. Then, after I got back home, we had people coming to visit and it was easy to use that as an excuse to wait to go back to the gym. Then we got the new YMCA program guide in the mail, and I realized that I had run out of excuses and I had to get back to the gym.

So, I went back, and I had gotten a message from my trainer that they had gotten in some new shirts and I could pick mine up anytime. They had also started a reward program for the points that we were earning when we logged in our workouts with Mobilefit. And I found out that I had earned enough points to not only get my shirt, but to also get a free session in a class of my choice. So, I signed up for the adult swim lessons for August.

Today I went to my first swim class. Since I was the only one, they cancelled the class and put me in the Sat. morning class, which I didn't pick in the first place because it's at 8am! But I really want this class, so I agreed to go on Sat. But I did get my class today and it was a very good class! I have always had problems with my breathing when swimming with my face in the water. We worked on that for most of the class. I also told my instructor that I tend to go with the backstroke because I feel more comfortable with it. He watched me do my backstroke and said it looked good! I was very happy to hear that because I wasn't sure I was doing it properly. The only thing he suggested was to try and get my kick closer to the surface of the water so that my feet didn't pull my body down. By the time my session was over, I was tired! And then I went to my arthritis water class after that.

I was planning on heading upstairs to do my weight workout after my water class, but I was just too tired. Tomorrow I'm going to go to my water workout, then do my laps in the lap pool, working on the things that we covered in my swim class today. I'm going to try and go upstairs and do my weight workout, too. Then, I need to try and figure out what my workout routine is going to be.

I think the main thing that I need to do now, is to get into a routine. It needs to be so ingrained that it is automatic. It has to be such a habit that it feels wrong to not workout. That's my goal.