Planning

If you fail to plan then you're planning to fail - tid bit I came across today. It's so true though. I think most of my success thus far has been because I plan on going to the gym every day. At the beginning of week, I sort out my schedule in my head. Look at any obstacles and try to figure out a way where I can get to the gym and complete my obligations. Right now, I admit my schedule isn't too pressing because I'm not working. But things do come up from time to time. Planning also helps me keep my diet under control. Whether that be planning on what to buy at the grocery store - or what meals I'm going to prepare at home. If I don't plan I will consume way more food than necessary.

One thing I need to improve on is planning my chores. Basically, I'm a stay at home mom right now. My obligations are going to the gym, taking care of the girls, and taking care of my home. I can say I'm successful with 2 of the 3. I can really step it up here at home. It's so easy to get distracted browsing the internet or facebooking all day.

I didn't completely plan out today and I will decided all of our dinners the night before. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day because I have bible study. Just like I have to feed my body, I have to feed my soul. This bible study has been so beneficial for me. I'm torn about missing body pump and spin, my normal Tuesday activities but I know I have to balance and I want to go to my bible study.


My plan for the week is as follows:

Monday:
Costco Shopping
Fold Laundry
Cardio Kickboxing
Dinner - Salad

Tuesday:
Bible Study
Gym
Weigh in
Pick up house
Dinner - Ravoli's & Asparagus
Business Meeting


Wednesday -
Gym - Body Pump
Clean Bathrooms
Valentine's Cards with Mariyn
Dinner -

Thursday -
Gym - weights with Clare; Zumba
Mop house (hardwood floors means whole house)
Bank Errands
Dinner

Friday-
Gym - Weights with Clare; Zumba
Clean Guest Room for visitors
Dinner


Cardio Kickboxing was extra hard tonight. I swear it took everything I had to get through. See what happens when you miss a week? You know you're a gym rat when... your gym friends think you're sick because they didn't see you. LOL nope just took care of business earlier! Also, I made an order at bodybuilding.com today. Can't wait to get my new products!

Tip

I was checking out bodybuidling.com and came across this goal planning page . I thought it gave a lot of good information and tips to reach YOUR goals. Check it out.

Fun Friday

Friday morning Zumba is always a treat. I swear I love the class so much that I don't even think of it as working out, even though I am dripping with sweat. Then Clare and I met to hit up the weights. Thinking about it, I've done some type of weight training all 5 days this week. I'm ready to give my body a break and relax this weekend.



I ran out of soy milk and I wanted to make sure I have some for tomorrow. During my calorie counting expedition, I've noticed that some items differ in calories from brand to brand and since I'm new to soy milk, I wanted to sample a few different varieties. I know a lot of people who drink Almond Milk as well. So, I ended up studying all types of "alternative" milk in the store today and decided to try 4. I came home and taste tested them all. Each one had it's own flavor. The Vanilla Almond milk was surprisingly sweet but I think I prefer the Soy Vanilla all seemed good though. I am ok with giving up cows milk for myself. It's a lot of calories and I swear my stomach just feels a bit flatter this week and less gassy. I'm experimenting for myself but so far, it seems like a welcome and easy switch. Do you drink any sort of milk alternatives? If so, what's your favorite?

2-4-10

I finished reading The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl today. It was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to loose weight. You will find things you can relate to, laugh and possibly even gain a new perspective on dieting. Today was supposed to be a cleaning day, but I stayed in my jammies reading until after noon. Then I made lunch and it was time to get Mariyn. I really need to be more scheduled and focused. Right now the only thing I am really focused on is diet and exercise.

Most of my regular clothes are now too big for me. I'm down to two pairs of slacks and my gym clothes. Today, I wore my black and white Adidas outfit (the size medium one). When I bought it - it fit but was snug. Wearing it today, I noticed the legs are starting to have a bit more room. Which I'm pretty sure is a result of all the body pump, spin and running I've been doing lately. I also measured my waist tonight - I'm down another inch! 9 inches since I entered the contest! Ahhh... sweet results and it's not even weigh in Tuesday.

Tonight I did about 45 mins - 1 hour of weight training before Zumba. Oh how I've missed my Zumba. It's been a whole week! I'm glad I switched up my routine though I feel a lot less rushed at night. I do miss my Zumba though - tonight the class was packed but the faces seemed far less familiar.

Motivation

Motivation comes from all sorts of places lately. A dedicated work out regimen, changing clothes sizes, encouragement from friends and family, results -looking into the mirror and rediscovering a body part, and over coming temptations. I've always been a very motivated person when it comes to something I want. And while, yes I would have loved to not have ever been fat I never really wanted to work hard enough to be thin, until recently. Friends, family, and even other gym go-ers have been a consistent source of encouragement, accountability and motivation. My mom calls me almost daily to listen to my tails of the gym. My husband asks how my day was, even though he knows I really only have my workout to talk about. His amazingly fit friends, have even dubbed me a "Gym Rat". The other day, I picked Mariyn up from school and a little girl about 6 years old passes me in the hall and says, Hi, I know you, you go to Gold's Gym. Amazing that even the kids in the daycare recognize me because I go so often.

People keep telling me I'm optimistic. I've always thought of myself as positive person but realistic I guess I'm ultra optimistic right now because I seem to be hearing it more and more. Despite the hundreds of miles between us, Adrienne and I hold each other accountable to our goals and motivated. Yesterday, I received The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl in the mail from Adrienne. I just cracked the book today and I'm nearly half way through the 405 pages. It's a good easy read - and very relate-able. Thanks Adrienne :)

Speaking of optimistic - I had a moment today while on the toilet. LOL Now this isn't one of those moments where I'm gonna gross you out. I've always hated my legs. They're short, stumpy and very thick even before I was heavy they were huge muscle man legs. I call them Gladiator legs. Every once in a while, I notice a small piece of me and my old hot body coming back. You know the curvaceous little thing I once was. I've noticed in my arms, my collar bone and the curvature (spin) in my back are all sort of starting to look more familiar. Well, tonight, on the toilet I thought for a moment that my leg - the lower thigh part just above my knee was looking thinner and sort of - Dare I say it- Sexy! I ran out here in the living room with my pants down just to show Richard. He laughed and said I always had sexy legs. Now that I know was just a lie but I kissed him anyways.

Today, I took Amelia to Gymstars for playtime. She had a blast running, bouncing all over and playing with other kids her age. Afterwords, we were both worn out. I had to jam back into Oakdale though because I had a date with Claire at the gym. I was so worn out, I had a hard time concentrating and taking care of business at the gym. We did about 45 minutes of weights and 30 minutes of the treadmill. I know that sounds sort of like a lot, but I know I only did it half heartedly. I can run up to 3 minutes at a time now but today I mostly walked I did have my incline set to 3% as not to let myself be too lazy.

I'm not going to beat myself up over it though. I know I didn't eat enough before hand. I had my regular protein w/ soy milk today and a banana. It's funny, I'm actually enjoying a lot of my diet foods. For example, I would have never tried soy milk. I bought it because it was an ingredient in my hungry girl cook book. I've actually decided I really really like the vanilla soy and drink it regularly. I lavished in the semi-sweet flavor of my broccoli at dinner tonight. It's been a while since I've had a binge. I enjoy my skinny cow ice cream - but only eat one or two a week. Mariyn has reminded me that she isn't on a diet though. I know I'm teaching her healthy eating habits but I felt bad so I bought a bit of junk food for the kids: fruit snacks, zebra cakes, and I even bought them each a candy bar the other day. Guess what? I didn't touch it nor did I want to. Rich kissed me the other night and I could taste something funny on his lips. I asked if he was feeling ok because he tasted like medicine. He said he just ate a fruit snack. I'm so proud of myself for having this much self control and discipline.

Celebrating and Weigh In

We had a date night last night to celebrate our anniversary. I got dressed up and found a shirt that I bought last year. I swear it fit me when I bought it but after the first wash it never really "fit" again. I decided to try it on last night just to see. Guess what? It actually fit me better than before I bought it. This made me really happy because I really liked the shirt and now I can get some use out of it!


Rich and I went to dinner at Torri's (a Japanese steak house) the same place that I ate so much I got sick a few weeks ago. I ordered prawns this time, incredible, once my food was served I separated my meal on my plate to what I was going to eat and what I was going to take home. I got full quickly and I practiced portion control and made good eating choices. I am very bloated today - probably because I ate a ton of vegetables the last couple of day including broccoli and mushrooms, two things that give a lot of gas. After dinner Richard wanted to go get ice cream, I told him only if we could go to the Yogurt Mill ( I LOVE that place). He was a little skeptical at first but was pleasantly surprised and it had fewer calories than ice cream. I ordered myself a kid size double cheesecake with strawberries and kiwi. Of course, Rich ordered a bigger size. But he ended up not being able to finish it and we brought his home to the girls.



I got up early today for Body Pump and got out of the house early. I stopped by McDonald's and grabbed Amelia some breakfast because she didn't eat much at home. We still got to the gym before 8:00 to sign in for our class that was going to start at 8:30. I had my regular protein w/ light soy milk at home and a banana. One of the trainer seen me bring McDonald's into the gym and gave me about bad time about it. My kids rarely get McDonald's, I think of it as a treat when I am able to get them breakfast in the mornings. Amelia probably hasn't had it since September. Besides, I knew I was going to be at the gym for a long time and didn't want her hungry because we left the house before her body was really ready to eat.

Weigh in today was a success. 224 lbs on the trainer scale, which makes another pound gone forever - 34 lbs total. I think I probably weighed in more because of the gas and dinner out last night, and just eating out 3 times this week. I know that is all going to take a toll on my weekly weigh in. I really feel bloated though so I am happy with a pound loss... better than remaining the same or a gain, right?

Keep on Loving You

Today marks 8 years of marriage for Richard and I, and 10 years together . We have experienced so much growing and so many blessings. As much as I thought, I loved him 8 years ago; I love him so much more now. Looking at this picture, boy were we young! I was 20 and Rich 22. I would love to say I was thin because I was but I was also about 5 pregnant with Mariyn. On our wedding day, I was only about 9lbs bigger than my normal self though. I'm not really sure anyone could tell I was expecting but it was known.


Rich has been so supportive of all my goals and so encouraging. It was almost as important to him that I finished my education as it was to me. He stayed home with the girls at night so I could attend class. Now, he is so encouraging about my weight loss. Constantly bragging about me and complimenting me. Heck, he even deals with my diet food - ok I think he likes my diet food, lol. I caught him eating my diet redi-whip (whip cream). He didn't even know it was diet! LOL And he eats way more skinny cow ice creams than I do - I think he's trying to save me from the calories! ;-) Nahh.. they are just really that good!

Enough lovey dovey stuff. I hit the gym at about 11 today worked out until 12:45. I got about an hour of weights and 30 mins of treadmill. I did really good today on the treadmill. I set my goal to do 20 mins then figured I'd switch to the elliptical. I was able to run at least in 3 minute spurts. Then I'd walk for a minute or two and run again. I did a lot more running today than other days. I ended up getting just over 2 miles in. I'd know exactly but I accidentally hit the emergency stop button as I was running and lost track of my exact results. Since I struggle with the treadmill so much, I've decided I'm just going to grab it by the horns and face it head on. I need to get as much training in as I can to prepare for the 5K in March. Normally, I do cardio kickboxing on Monday nights but since it's our anniversary I decided to take the night off. We might get lucky and have a real date ;-)