Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Oh hey Apr....May

So April has now come and gone. I've noticed my pattern of when life isn't going well neither is the blog. I think for May I'm going to make it a goal to blog every day. I have some pretty big life changes coming up in the next couple of months. And it's time to quit hiding around and get ready for them. And I think by blogging I might be able to work through some things. So this post might be a little short and sweet tonight, I will be thinking of something to say for tomorrow ;)

Oh yeah. Life lesson fail: Didn't go to the gym at ALL during April. Not one day. After my going almost every day in March that was a complete fail. HAHAHA. But I'm not letting it get to me. Although I do need to get my fitness goals back to a forefront instead of on the back burner. Like always. This soon to be California girl has got to get a little healthier and fitter. ;) For Sure.

And just like always, I go outside for a 30 minute recess and HOLY INSTANT SUNBURN BATMAN! Yeah. my neck and chest are a little red ;) Needless to say I will be hitting the sunscreen tomorrow before work!


Thursday, January 9, 2014

Progress

Well. 9 days into the new year and I'm actually feeling pretty good about how things are going. Could I be better? Of course! But I'm pleased with the decisions I've made. I've tried a new food already. Finished burning some of my CD's, I've created and have been sticking to a working out routine. I've been dairy free 4 out of 9 days. And gluten free 6 out of 9 days. And really it's not like I've horribly binged on everything dairy and gluten. For the dairy it was just the fact that I had a regular iced coffee instead of a soy one. The rest of the day was fine. And then today I had 2 cinnamon rolls. The icing I'm sure had milk in it, so I counted that as dairy today. Oh and then I had some chicken nuggets at dinner. And then the other day that I had gluten was the day I had a normal waffle in the morning because I was going to work out and hadn't gone to the store yet.And then stayed gluten free the rest of the day. I guess I forgot that I didn't start all these food goals until the second. So technically I'm one day off, but oh well.

The majority of the time I have made the right decisions and been gluten and dairy free. And I'm not angry or mad at myself. I knew that I was going to be easing myself into it. And I could tell today. I came home with a headache. Which I knew was from the food. So I can already tell that it's working. I just need to get that regular coffee down to once a week ;)

So my coworker the other day showed me a product on facebook that she had seen a picture of. It's called gluten-ease. And you are supposed to be able to take it before you eat gluten or casein. (Which is what I am allergic to) and it's supposed to help you digest the gluten or casein better and help your body with them. I'm pretty intrigued by it. At first I was a little leary about it. I don't want to be reliant on something to help me digest something I'm not supposed to be eating in the first place. But then I became curious and want to try it. Well mainly because I want to keep on drinking Dutch Bros :) I just can't handle a soy Iced kicker :( Not good at all!. So I'm probably going to end up getting some and trying it out. Not so I can get away with eating all the crap I was before, but if I want to get my coffee once a week, or if I'm in a social setting that I know I'm going to be served food I shouldn't be eating I can try it. I'm not willing to go soy everything. I can handle soy in my hot coffees. But not in cold. So yeah..that's just something that I saw. But it did have a warning saying it wasn't intended for people with Celiac's disease. I don't want to become dependent on something like that. But a little help now and them wouldn't hurt ;)

And the gym :) Oh I am quickly liking going the gym late at night. Like after 8 or almost 9. It's been pretty empty in there at that time. So I'm not fighting anyone over machines or anything like that. And I'm not being intimidated by what the people around me are doing. Except for the one guy running tonight. He had great form and was just going to town on that treadmill. I wasn't gonna get right next to him and start huffing and puffing haha!

So tonight it was Week one of c25k day 2. I'm seriously only running at a 3 mph pace. But I'm moving :) And its not hurting my knee still. Last night I was there and I did the strength training that I learned about when I went and had someone show me the machines. I was able to find most of them, but I can't remember what some of them are haha!! So I didn't get to do those ones. But it was good to get some strength training in. That's one of my weaker areas for sure. But having the clipboard there and writing down what I did is going to help me be accountable to it for sure! And then I'm not wandering aimlessly around the weights wondering what the heck to do. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed the machines! I'm looking forward into getting back into that for sure.

And I guess today I just started feeling a little smaller. It's been around a week now. I would think that I should be seeing some results. My stomach seems a little smaller, and either I really need to wash my jeans or they were fitting a little bit looser. Or it could be both. It's going to be interesting to keep going with the not weighing myself all year. I really want to know haha! But then again I don't really want to know. What if it was a much smaller number than I would have wanted? See I don't have any level of disappointment here. Only in the fact that I didn't do the goals. So I'm still thinking I'm going to be much better off in the process :)

Well I better get off to bed. I might be liking this night owl thing at the gym...but my body's internal clock is still waking me up too early! So yeah..it needs to act accordingly!


Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Contagious

It's also a good thing that I didn't make a goal of blogging every day ;) Because sometimes life just goes by in a blink!

So today I started my second college class ever. I woke up exhausted today. Don't you hate that when that happens? Water Aerobics kicked my butt yesterday. I LOVE my Monday night instructor. She had us doing BALLET under water and then a few minutes later we were jumping up and shooting baskets like we were playing basketball. I was highly amused. I was never one to say I was athletic when I was younger. The whole point of doing it in the water is to prove I'm not athletic..Haha..anyways. So I was pretty beat after the class and got to bed around 10:30. Needless to say 6 am came way to fast. (Just like it will tomorrow!!)

But today I went and did what I always do this time of year. Restart C25K ;) I am bound and determined to make myself a runner. I'm just a runner with a lot of breaks that's all. Yeah. That's it. And it totally just dawned on me after I got home. My knee didn't bother me one bit while I was on the treadmill. One of the reasons that I quit running on the treadmill at my grandparents house last year was that it was actually hurting my knee to run. Now granted that treadmill was ancient. (No offense Grandma) The ones at the gym are a little newer. And I kept the incline at zero. I mean c'mon. I"m gonna ease myself into this. But it didn't hurt my knee. So that's going to be encouraging as I continue to go.

Which I did in total icy conditions tonight. As I left class, ( Oh yeah, rabbit trail, I will get back to that) it had started to freeze rain/snow winter mix. Whatever you want to call it. Now it's no Polar Vortex over here...and I've got snow tires on. So I'm not too concerned about driving in it. I have driven in way worse blizzard type weather and I didn't consider this to be too bad. I got to the gym about 7:40 and there was literally like 5 people there. I'm thinking I'm gonna like going later in the evening because of the fact there is less people. I was actually expecting there to be a lot of people because it's the beginning of the year and people resolve to lose weight and all that jazz. There hasn't really been an influx of people in water aerobics and at 8 pm no one is working out. I think I picked a great gym :) I'm gonna see how crazy it is on a Saturday morning this week when I start running and THEN doing water aerobics. Cause I'm crazy like that. I needed to do 3 runs a week and I don't want to do them on back to back days. So I had to double up on one day. And well Saturday seems like a good day to do that..I'm gonna try it out this month and see how it goes.

Back to school.

Since it was the first day of class we had to do the obligatory get to know each other mixer thing. Well my teacher is very creative. We made a t-shirt out of construction paper. And we had to write our name, one word to describe ourselves, what we wanted out of the class, our favorite food, and one thing people wouldn't know about me. I secretly hate these things. So while we were at the table I said out loud..One word to describe me? And one of the gals who was in the class with me last quarter said the word "Contagious".

And it resonated inside of me.

Do people think I'm Contagious? Do they follow what I do? Does it make me able to get people to do things when they otherwise wouldn't? Does it make me a leader? Or is it just an attitude?

I WANT to be contagious. I want people to see who I am and want to be like me. I want to smile at people and have it change their day. I want to be able to walk into a room and shift the atmosphere of the room because I am there. I shouldn't be taking on the attitude of whoever is in the room. I should be creating it.

It gave me hope for this year. To learn how to be contagious. It's about getting people to catch on to what you have or what you are doing. To get people to come alongside you and be with you. To change people when they didn't even know they wanted to be changed ;)

I want to be contagious.

And I will leave you with this treat. I love Dutch Bros. Specifically the one right by my house. They literally know my order as I pull up and remember who I am. Yeah it makes me feel special ok? And as much as I need to go dairy free...DB is gonna be my dairy treat because dang it...I just can't get their soy kicker to taste good :( So today on my way to class I stopped by to get my drink. When I got to class I saw this:

It just made my night :0) Thanks DB for taking good care of me :) ❤️

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Well hello 2014...

It's a new year. A new beginning. Doesn't everyone always feel excited and ready to take on a new year right about now? Wait no? Not really?

I have tended to start out the year feeling depressed about how the last year went and how I never accomplished anything or did anything with my life. To be honest the last two years have kinda sucked. And last year I was ready for a fresh start, and well it didn't really happen.

So I decided to do things differently this year. And I've mentioned it in the last couple of blogs I've written, with my goals for January. But something hit me this morning. I can have all these goals and ideas but I don't have a way to track them and keep myself accountable. I need a way to show myself in December that yes, I did accomplish something. I want proof that I didn't spend this year doing "nothing" like I always feel like.

So I jumped on excel this morning and made a very simple checklist of my goals and the dates 1-31. Haha..cause I just like to check boxes off. I mean it's rustic. But whatever..it's gonna help me track. And I can tell you right now that I know I'm not going to be completely dairy and gluten free in January. But if I can be 85-90% it's a dang good start. Then I can work on improving it in February and keep going. But I have to be realistic about life and understand that it takes time. I don't want to make myself fail at it. Or set myself up for a binge. But I do have a pot of Velveeta dip in the crockpot right now just waiting to be devoured :) Eating goals don't start until the 2nd ;)

Since one of my big goals this year is to not weigh myself at all, I did it yesterday. I think I determined that I gained 21 pounds last year. Like I said..the last 2 years weren't all that kind to me. I enjoyed my food and coffee lol! And so I did the most logical thing to me to do to keep myself off of the scale :) I took the battery out. Smart no? I thought so. I know I won't be tempted to go into my sister's room to use hers...and mine's gonna be put away out of sight out of mind with no battery. So I would have to be completely desperate to go buy a new battery and dig my scale out to weigh myself. But I'm looking forward to not weighing myself this year.

My main goal this year is to quit obsessing about weight loss and go out and live my life.

If I had to sum up all of my goals this year that would be it. Yes. Establishing a new eating routine and getting myself into a regular workout schedule are part of my goals. But so is making my bed everyday and decluttering my life. It's a relative to a better me.. You know? And deciding to make monthly goals instead of yearly ones has made me feel not so overwhelmed. I can do things for 4 weeks at a time. You know. So I can change things up and not be into such a rut. That's what I'm telling myself.

So out with the old, and in with the new fresh start. A clean slate. A new year. To make of it what I will, and see what I will become. And the things that happen because of the choices that I make.

I know I'm ready for it!


Goals for January

Well..I have some goals

I did this two ways...just every day goals..things I will actually be able to accomplish ;) And then I made the workout calendar. Haha..That one might get some tinkering done with. And well you can see that on my Birthday not only will I be at college, I will then be going to the gym for a lovely session of C25K which I seem to be eternally starting over. Dag nab it. I am surely to get my 250 pounds of self into a runner. And it will surely help me in getting ready for Bloomsday. Yes I said that word. The biggest 12k fun run in the state if not in the US? I'd have to check on that. I made a verbal commitment to do it this year with two of my cousin's on my Dad's side. Now that being the beginning of the month I would like to think about moving out in, and the month before I want to be in California for two weeks for a class at a church I don't know if it will happen. But I am going to train for it. Especially if I get to do it with them :0) And it's less than 20.00 to register for, so I'm sure I will be ok...

So here they are :0) My goals


 
~Dairy Free/Gluten Free (1 milk coffee a week)
~Try 2 new foods this month to be determined
~Complete workout sheet
~Register for Bloomsday (May 4th)
~Research School of Worship for July at Bethel
~Make bed every day
~Get CD’s transferred to external hard drive by end of month
~Set aside time to read Bible, pray, worship daily
~Take care of my feet every day, whether its washing or soaking or putting a treatment on. Get these toes cleared up in 2014!!
~Stay off of the scale

So some of these are easy peasy. Like Registering for Bloomsday and making my bed. I mean really how hard is it to straighten out my comforter and make it look nice. Pretty hard apparently. I can't ever seem to do it. Unless I know someone that doesn't live in my house is going to be coming in my room. Then I make sure to do it. I'm really just lazy. That's all there is to it. 

And yes. For now I'm planning on treating myself to Dutch Bros Coffee the night of my college class. I will see how it starts affecting my stomach and go from there. I can't be running out of the class every week to go to the bathroom..so we shall see. 

I need to be serious about dairy free. I need to be serious about gluten free. My body is just so bloated. And I'm wondering if this eternal headache isn't from food and not the stagnant air warning that we are having. Those two right there are going to be the hardest goals to accomplish. I know that for sure.

I figured 2 new foods a month would be good to try. This is another thing I'm pretty leery about. But if I have to cut the majority of what I eat out of my life I'm gonna have to be adding stuff into it. So it's just going to have to happen whether I want it to or not. 

I just need to have a deadline for getting my cd's transferred to my hard drive. Ok. I have over 300 cd's that just take up room in my room. It's time for them to go digital and disappear. Well most of them. Some of them I'm going to keep (like the Christmas ones for sure) but the others unless they are signed or special things I'm planning on getting rid of. I don't even have a cd player anymore unless you count my computer. So the reasoning for me to keep them is really gone. It's really kinda sad. I was a die-hard CD girl. I didn't like going digital. I love opening the covers and seeing the lyrics and reading them cover to cover. But they just aren't the same anymore..and they are cheaper online. So I have caved. Plus I just don't have room to store over 300 cd's that I don't listen to anymore. Some people collect movies. I collected CD's :) I'm not much of a movie girl. I probably own less than 25 movies. And that might be generous. ;)


And to be honest, I haven't had success in the last couple of years at establishing a quiet time with the Lord routine. And I so desperately need to get a routine back. And this is the year it will happen :0)

So there you have it. My goals for January. I think at this point I'm only going to take it one month at a time. I can set my mind to do anything for 4 weeks. And that will keep it fresh and exciting. And it will keep me having to come up with more things to plan for. So yeah. There it is :0)
 

Friday, December 27, 2013

what to do what to do?

So I've had Blogger open on my computer all day, I've just been trying to figure out what to write. Haha. Go figure.

Christmas was great :0) I was given a lot of coffee. Haha..Sounds like a great Christmas to me! I got two bags of my favorite coffee, and a gift card to the place that sells it. Another gift card to a different coffee place in town and a couple of K-cups to try out at my grandma's house. I'm still undecided on if I actually want a Keurig or not. All the different kinds of coffee that I have tried I haven't been a big fan of. Well truthfully I'm not a big fan of the taste of coffee...I enjoy the milk and the syrup flavor way more than I like the coffee ;) So I'm still deciding on that. Santa was gonna bring me one I'm pretty sure..but I didn't know if I wanted it or not. So I got nothing. Haha..Well from Santa anyways. I ended up with lots of little things that I needed, so that was great. A big comfy pillow, (the boomerang pillow anyone? yeah. I really like it actually), some slippers, pjs, a little massager thing, my calendar..yep..it was a nice Christmas. Until we blew all the breakers while cooking dinner..But they came back on and we were able to finish up in time. :0)

Which leads me to after Christmas. Boy oh boy, have I had the case of the lazy's! I have not wanted to do a thing. And I pretty much haven't really. Yesterday I took the recycling in. 75 pounds of paper and cardboard. For all my hard work I got 1.50. Yep good thing I don't recycle for money! Haha..I just feel better not throwing everything away. I'm just weird like that I guess..

I literally have been on my bed again all day. Except for when I had a nice bath. I've been trying to find a song to sing for my New Year's Eve party at church this year, and nothing has really jumped out at me. True to form, I'm waiting until last minute again, but even last year I found something late but I don't know this year. I guess I will see.

I've had a headache since Christmas Eve pretty much. I don't know if it's a lack of coffee that's not decaf or if it's foods that I'm eating or what? We have had some stagnant air around here lately and that could also be a cause, but I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. Starting with water aerobics tomorrow. I've had too long of a break, and I'm really ready to get started. Doesn't help that I can't swim a week out of the month ;) But I will get used to that I suppose. It's nice to have breaks every now and then. And then I was looking for new swimsuits. I haven't been in the water much in the one I currently have but oh boy, I can tell it's starting to wear out. So I've found one I like today, I was just waiting on buying it...why I don't know lol! but I was. Probably because I'm trying to not spend so much money..but this is going to be a need with all the swimming I am going to be doing.

I'm getting back into my I want to make a list mode. Which is good and bad. Good because I like to make lists of things I want to do. Bad because once I make a list I hardly ever do anything with it. Which just happens to be my goal next year :-) To get myself to be accountable for finishing things that I start...imagine that!

I think I've just got the munchies...starting to get into the eat everything I want before I start eating healthy again. Does everyone do that. I've had no shame in eating the leftover Christmas cookies and pretzels. :) I mean I'm not stuffed completely..but I wasn't about to not eat them. And I would have had velveeta dip and chips all day today if I had a can of chili to put in it haha. I guess I will save that for another day. I'm going to be serious about a new eating lifestyle change. Going back to dairy and gluten free. Which means I'm going to be eating a lot by myself haha! I'm pretty sure every meal we make involves one or both of them. It's going to be my biggest struggle..but worth it in the end when my body feels so much better!

Well I'm off to figure out January goals. Or go back to sleep ;0) One of the two!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Wednesday weigh in week 101

Well that was an interesting week! I felt very encouraged by the feedback that I got from some people on my post. I haven't posted my updates on facebook in a while, really because I haven't really been losing weight, and while yes, I still post....I just know it will only be a few people that read it. Yet I still get on here every Wednesday and post haha!!

Let's see. I got up early on Saturday and got all ready for my water aerobics class and got to the gym for them to tell me that the pool had flooded and classes had been cancelled until they got it fixed. Of course I got lots of good ribbing...um how does a pool flood? But I'm still proud of the fact that I got myself up and got to the gym..whether or not I got a workout in. And no I didn't have any other workout gear with me...I was in my swimsuit and flip flops...so I went home and showered and got on with my busy day ;) I mean I wasn't too horribly mad. I'm just getting myself into the routine of actually getting up and getting myself there...and I think it will all fall into place. I had to pretend to study for my test that I took this morning.

Sunday we had a Thanksgiving meal with our church after service..That's always fun :) I'm not to keen on potlucks because I don't really know what's in the things that people make and whether or not I'm allergic, but I did get some turkey and rice and jello and a roll.

Monday night I finally sat down and looked at the study guide for my college assessment test. I promptly freaked out and had all sorts of anxiety, pulling out my eyelashes and eyebrows and wanting to eat everything in sight. People. Math is just never going to be my friend. Don't ask me to do geometry or trig..It's just not going to happen.

Tuesday night I did my Final Presentation in my Early Childhood Education class. Well actually I had to do 2 presentations haha..but the little one I wasn't too worried about. The lesson I learned was that I need to follow up when I send something to the Teacher to print. Needless to say our songs are going to be passed out next week...;) Now I just have to finish up my songbook to turn in next week and I am officially done with my first quarter as a college student!

Which leads me to today: My dreaded COMPASS test, haha...I mean lets be real here...I graduated in 1999. So that means I really haven't done math since oh 1997? No seriously. I barely got through Algebra. And probably with a C or something..I mean I really don't remember. But somewhere along the road of life, I dumped math out and put music in. I mean that's what everyone does right? So this pretest stuff had me so worried..I slept like crap last night..But made it to my test and even got it! (I was a walk in, so people had to not show up for me to do the test). Needless to say I came out of the test with a college level in Reading and Writing. And I got into Math 84. Which is not college level ;) But the Math class that I needed to make it into. Luckily I have friends that are good at math..and we will probably be setting up some tutoring dates in the near future when I get into my Math class...I'm hoping it will be offered over the summer...that would be a good time while I'm not working to be able to do that...anyways..I'm so glad it's over with and now I can get registered for some more ECE classes...after I fill out my FASFA again and get some financial aid! Cause I can't pay for college myself! Haha!!

I'm still hovering right around the same weight..I'm suspecting it's the sodium and milk. I got pretty busy last week and only got one workout in. And this week, well I'm just not going to be doing any workouts in the pool...and that's all I'm gonna say about that. But I'm super glad the pool is back up and I will be in class for sure on Monday night...not so sure about Saturday.

I do know that Thanksgiving is not super tempting for me..Never really has been. Let's see..I will eat turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, and some jello. Well I did buy a dulche de leche cheesecake thing to make..That just might put me over the edge! Haha..but I've never been into all the sides and stuff..I don't even like gravy! I'm not a big overeater on Thanksgiving..I don't even like pumpkin pie! And I'm not big on fruit pies either. And once the peanut butter and chocolate went away, well what do you know...Christmas is another story however...I will devour those almond bark covered pretzels like nobody's business..

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Wednesday weigh in week 100

Wow. 100 weeks makes it seem so long. I feel like I've been doing this for a long time. Haha..But then again I have. Almost two years. Scary to think that I am back to my highest weight again after two years. It makes me want to get all sad and melancholy just thinking about it. But I'm not going to. :0)

I just have to say. I am really loving my Aqua Cardio class. AKA Water Aerobics. Yes..You can sweat in the swimming pool. But after coming to class 3 times, the instructor has told me that she is really impressed with how well I am doing and keeping up. I seriously haven't taken any type of water aerobics class in about 10 years. And some of the moves I still struggle with, but I will get them figured out. And the people in the class are really nice and friendly. Ok. Not gonna lie, sometimes I'm the youngest one in the class...and it's fun being in with all the older crowd. And there are all types of people there. From skinny to ultra obese. From the teenager to the woman who literally brought her motorized wheelchair scooter thing into the pool area and parked it and got into the water. You know the thought never really crossed my mind that there would be a ton of obese people in the class. But there is. And yes I'm one of them. I'm pretty sure I'm classified as morbidly obese. I mean I need to lose 116 pound just to be at the very top end of the "normal" BMI range. I'm only 5'1 and I weight 248 pounds. Sometimes I really don't know how I function. But I do. And my goal really is to be around 115 pounds. It's always just been the number in my head. I mean probably somewhere between 115-118 probably...but still that means I need to lose almost 135 pounds. That's an entire person you know? I have 90 pounds to lose before I'm not even obese anymore. That's the real kicker. I have to lose almost 100 pounds before I'm not obese.

But I can't wait for that day. I dream about that day. Look forward to that day.

And then I sleep in. And only go the gym twice a week. (Hey THAT'S even an improvement!) And I drink milk in my coffee, and eat macaroni and cheese. And frosted sugar cookies from Heaven, or Hell depending on which way you look at it. ;) And mostly it's out of convenience. Trying to prepare healthy food is hard. And timely. And I really just got tired of eating lettuce and brown rice every day you know? So I'm still learning the balance of it all.

But I was super proud of myself on Monday. Not only did I go work all day, I then went straight to the college to meet with my Adviser to come up with a plan for me finally going to college. (yep 32, first time college student...hello!) I got in my car at 5:45 after my meeting...Well Aqua Cardio starts at 6. And it was almost 15 minutes away. Well I had a choice to make right there...I could have chosen to go home. Eat dinner. Relax, work on homework. Or I could have busted my butt to get to the gym and get to the class that was the whole reason I signed up for the gym.

I chose to go to the gym.I told myself in the car as I was leaving. "I need to make this my habit, make it my routine." I pulled in the parking lot at 5:56 I think. See I hate being late for things. I changed like Superman and I was in the water at 6:02. She was just barely starting the warm up routine and I worked out super hard. The instructor even commented after that class that she could tell I was working hard cause my cheeks were going red. And I just get super focused. Haha...I'm kinda competitive with myself :0) But with water aerobics its really sink or swim (hahahahahahaha). You don't really have someone really explaining moves to you. You just have to watch and learn (which can be really hard underwater I might add). But so far the teacher and students have been really great to help me and I have enjoyed throwing myself out there and jumping into to a situation I normally wouldn't.

I hate doing group things alone. I hate being late.And I always used to think that I don't really talk to strangers. But I do. And it's kind of weird.  But somehow I find myself in these situations where I'm by myself and I have to meet new people. But I guess you get over that in a swimsuit in a pool with 20-30ish other fat(ish)  people trying to take care of themselves. It's like a small little family that I am learning to be a part of. Some people will come and go, but I hope to be one of the ones who stick around for a while. Because I really like that hot tub ;)

The only thing about the class that I don't like is that I am STARVING about half an hour to an hour after I am done. I am pretty much not eating until 8:00 for dinner, after I have some time in the hot tub and then shower and blow dry my hair and stuff..so by then I'm pretty hungry. Sad to say after my second class I was hiding my pop tarts in the locker room praying that no one would see me to judge me haha..Baby steps..baby steps people...

So that's my week 100 update. Did I think that this was going to be where I wanted to be? Oh heck no. I wanted to be at my goal weight right now...Looking good with a whole new wardrobe. Maybe by week 200 that will be the case.

But for now, I'm just gonna celebrate small things, like a swimming pool and a hot tub...

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Wednesday weigh in week 99

Wow...I've been at this for 99 weeks. Scary LOL! I wish I could say I've made my goal and all that jazz..but I haven't. It's a learning process for sure.

In great news! I made it to a water aerobics class finally. I learned that I don't want to eat dinner beforehand however. It's called Water cardio and it lives up to its name. I also learned I need to scoot down and not be in the shallow shallow end. It still hurt my knee some..so I got some tips from the instructor. Somehow telling the instructor and all the other people there that it's my plan to come every Monday night should help me get there right? Right. But I was secretly excited. She came by to show me how to do stuff and I had caught on pretty quick. She kept telling me I was a pro for it being my first time. I guess most new first timers struggle a bit. But I literally just jumped on in. And I was definitely sore from it yesterday. My goal is to be there Mondays and probably Saturday mornings. Who knew Saturdays had mornings right? ;0) Haha...But I joined the gym to be able to use the pool. And that's what I plan on doing. Speaking of that. I am going to sit down this week and make up a workout plan for the next 90 days. I will take a picture and post it before next week so you can see it. See now I have told you, and you will keep me accountable to that too :0)

In not great news I gained 1.2 pounds back. Not surprised with the way my tummy has been feeling lately...I think I'm a little ahem backed up. Makes all the difference in the world ;) Sad. but true.

This week has been an odd work week. Monday was a holiday. Tuesday I only worked half day. Tomorrow I work a half day and I'm taking Friday off. It was supposed to be our conference week, however my teacher has just gotten off jury duty. So now we have 19 conferences to reschedule, and not a whole lot of work to be done this week. But after the craziness of last week it was nice this week to have a break. I can't complain too much. I mean we do have Thanksgiving and Christmas Break coming up soon. I only work 15 days in December. Then we get two weeks off. So we really don't have a lot of time with the kids in the next 6 weeks. We only have 6 more days with them in November. SO yeah.. 21 days with the kids for the rest of the year. CRAZY! This year has gone by so so fast. Rather scary.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Wednesday Weigh in Week 93

Well, I made it!

And my hunch was correct. I didn't lose anything this summer. In fact I gained about 4 pounds. I'm just glad that it was only 4 pounds. It does however put me back to only 3 pounds from my highest weight :( That's a little on the discouraging side. On the non discouraging side I am excited that I was able to break free from the scale for a while. I mean really I know I would have spiraled more had I noticed that I was gaining weight. But then again when I was doing so well working out in August I wonder if I did lose weight and that might have helped spur me on if I had seen the number dropping.

So here we go round the mullbury bush again. It's October now. And I would still like to set a weight loss goal for before my birthday in January. But first my goal is to kick my two coffees a day back to one, except maybe once or twice a week. And to get to the gym to join! That's my goal. I am definitely ready to get in the pool for some laps and to learn about the new gym I am going to sign up for.

Ignore the gross toes. I'm trying to work on that, and covering them up with toenail polish isn't doing them any good. Now that it's sock season no one has to see my gross toes. I'm hoping that I will get them cleared up by next summer!!


Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Wednesday Weigh in week 91 snd 92

No excuse.

Oh well. So I didn't come up with any recipes. And honestly not weighing myself has really thrown off my wednesday posts.  But next week I will be having a weigh in! My no scale summer ends on Monday. And then I will be resuming my weekly weigh ins. I'm actually pretty dang proud of myself. I really only "weighed" myself once this summer. And that was while I was at the beach on a scale at the museum telling you what you weighed on all the planets. So I mean I really didn't look too long and hard at it. But what I can say is that I don't feel like I have lost anything. I'm still in the same size of clothes and nothing feels different. So it's a double edged experience. Yeah for not being addicted to the scale. Boo for not feeling like I lost anything. But I will find out for sure on MONDAY when I weigh myself. I am pretty proud of myself for not weighing in. There were a few times this summer that I actually wanted to. But I held off. And I mean it's not like I hid my scale or anything. It's in the same spot in my room that it always is. And I haven't gotten on my sister's scale, which is just out in her bathroom when I have been taking care of her dogs while she has been gone. I just simply haven't done it. It's a bit of a self discipline lesson. I mean. Once I set my mind to some things I can be as stubborn as can be. I haven't quite figured that out with food though. I cave. All. the. time.

I'm toying with the idea of joining a gym. Me who hasn't worked out in weeks. Haha..But it's really only 21.00 a month. And get this...it has a pool and a hot tub! Um. Why wouldn't I do that? Especially for that cheap a month. I would be ok with only going 3 times a week for that price. It's not bad at all. It's a little further away, but it has a water aerobics class I can do one evening a week, and then I can do weights and stuff. I think both of my coworkers are going to join too, so it will be kind of fun :0) I'm a little excited at the thought of going back to a gym. Especially with a pool and hot tub!

And I officially started my first college class ever last night. Yeah I'm a late starter considering I'm 32 and everything..but I needed it for my job, so it's a continuing education of sorts. I'm taking an Early Childhood Education class. Music and Movement. I'm basically going to use it to see if I want to go back for the whole degree...It's gonna be interesting!

Oh and Stephanie :-) if you see this. I decided to join you in the redhead movement ;)


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Wednesday weigh in Week 89 and 90

Yeah I'm a slacker.

Not really. But it's been super crazy busy the last couple of weeks and as I was falling into bed last Wednesday I realized I hadn't posted anything..So yeah.

Oddly enough I have been really wanting to weigh myself lately. And the stupidest thing is I know that I have gained weight. I can just feel it. I did so super great on those 3 weeks working out in August, and then it all fell apart in the last week and I haven't worked out much at all.

And right now its that time of the month, so I most certainly will not be getting on a scale.

It's kind of frustrating. I feel very much like I have failed again. By all means I should have lost weight during August. But my clothes are all the same. I don't feel lighter. I feel heavier. I tried on pants that were a size smaller than what I have been wearing. They didn't fit. I don't understand why I didn't lose anything.

So the only reason that I can come up with is food. I'm not gonna lie. I sneak food every now and again. But I certainly don't think it was enough to trainwreck 3 solid weeks of working out. So either I really need to make an appointment and go see a doctor about getting my thyroid checked, or there is something that I am eating (um hello dairy) that is keeping me bloated and unable to lose weight.

I feel like the last two weeks that my body has just been falling apart. My knee has been killing me. Randomly twinging just to make me catch my breath and almost fall over. My bones just ache. Random bones. Like right this very minute my arm between my wrist and my elbow just aches. Like a dull ache. And it just hurts to stand sometimes. And I have to think about it. Well duh. I'm really only 10 pounds away from my heaviest weight again. This all makes sense. It reminds me of what my body was like before I started losing weight. And then I really have to stop and think, well. Is this really dairy affecting me that bad? Is that the only reason that my body is like this?

You hear it all the time. Weight loss is more food related than workout related. And I seriously have always thought that if I would just work out that I would lose the weight. And honestly I really don't think I could have been overeating that much. Unless I seriously have no idea what is in my food.

But last night I was making dinner. And looked down into the pain. I was allergic to every thing in the pan. And I was making it to eat it. Why oh why does my body crave every thing I can't eat? I'm so terribly picky. I have such a hard time eating anyway. And now I have to seriously cut out 50-80 percent of my diet? I honestly don't know what to eat. And I honestly don't know how I will pay for it. I'm just tired of food in general. I don't have any desire to eat food. But I know I have to.

So in two weeks I can get on the scale again. It's been a thoroughly enjoyable summer not beating myself over the number on the scale. Luckily I'm not too attached to it. But I miss the routine of weighing myself. I wonder if I would have quit working out earlier than the 3 weeks if I had weighed myself and noticed I wasn't losing anything. I wonder if I wouldn't have made it to a 75 second plank. I know my body is capable of incredible things. It's just my mind that sabotages the majority of it.

So my goal this week is to find some new recipes that are dairy free. And to be serious about cutting back on the beef again. I have slacked on that one too. That allergy isn't a huge one..But I can tell the difference between when I only have it twice a week and when I overdo it. And that dang garlic is just so hard. I'm just learning to stay away from fresh garlic. Dried I can manage a little bit more. But the fresh stuff will get me instantly.

But it's mainly my beloved dairy. I'm really quite over the milk. The only thing I miss it is in my coffee. But cheese. And cream cheese. and cottage cheese. and cream of chicken soup. And ICE CREAM. To think of not ever eating that again just makes me instantly depressed.

But I suppose somewhere down the line it will just click. After not having it I would hope my body would just one day realign itself and I won't crave it anymore. Because let me tell you. My body was so not so happy with me after last night's dinner. Oh. Boy.

It's back around the mountain once more. But what else is new?

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Wednesday Weigh in Week 88

Lots can happen in a week.

So I pretty much haven't worked out since last Wednesday. I have been trying my best not to get sick. And with two people on antibiotics in my house, that hasn't been easy. And I have just been tired. Plain and simple. Or my head hurts or my back hurts. Or both. I have been going to bed super early. And sleeping in. And now it's back to work. So I'm really needing to find a balance of working out and life. Oh and I got registered for my first college class ever. So yeah.

But now sitting here, my head is pounding and I've been up since 4:30 this morning. SO good night all! Here's to a new week!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Wednesday weigh in week 85

Well my computer wasn't working at the time so I decided to use my phone. Needless to say this post is going to be pretty short ;-)

I have done one week of my August workout challenge. 

Yeah. 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to die. 

Either that or I might lose 10 or 15 pounds this month lol!

I think I will go for the latter. That's the goal anyway. I mean whose bright idea was it to do 200 squats all the time? 

Oh yeah. That would be me. 

Everything else seems to be going great. I'm still a little concerned that I might be doing the crunches wrong. But I have completely surprised myself with the fact that as of this morning I can do a 30 second plank. Oh. My. Goodness. That's huge! I mean who do I think I am? Hahaha. I have to repeat it tomorrow so I will see how it goes. I barely made it to 30 seconds this morning. But I knew even if I couldn't get to 90 seconds like the goal is, that I will go for as long as possible each day. 

So. I have been sweating like crazy and making sure I get my workouts in. Week one is done and now and I am on to week two. 

I found a little program that I can watermark my pictures. I got a little weirded out by a comment on a picture once and haven't posted a lot. So I might be silly copyrighting my picture but there you go. 

So this is the August workout. From Hell. Haha. That I created for myself! 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Wednesday weigh in week 83

Oh hey, looks it's WEDNESDAY and I am posting! Haha. I will have to set a reminder or something for the summer to remember to post, since I'm not weighing in.

I guess I don't really have too much to report since I only posted on Monday. I'm still plugging away with my squat challenge. I'm getting super excited about almost finishing this. Haha. And today ended up being a rest day, so I didn't have to wake up to do any squats. Tomorrow, however, I have to do 175. And really that's technically over 200 because of the double squatting! LOL! And I really prefer just to do them in the morning and my yoga, simply so they are out of the way. I had waiting on Monday to do them when we got back from the beach and it was almost 10 at night before I finished with everything. Geesh. I'm not planning on doing that again. Done, out of the way and showered. That's how I prefer to do them!

I think I'm getting antsy about not weighing in however. I reallly wanted to weigh in this morning, and that's kind of weird. Haha. I guess cheating at the beach was a bad thing. Although with the way I've been eating, I don't really want to know the last couple of days. But then again, I kind of do.

I went shopping for some shirts yesterday and came home empty handed. I didn't want to spend the money if I wasn't completely in love with the shirt. Which I suppose is good for me? I mean yeah, I'm trying to watch my money, but it's so dang hot right now, that I am looking for some more tanks and I'm not finding them. And I fall back into the mentality of 'but I am going to lose weight and I won't even be using this shirt next year.' So I walked away. I wasn't entirely happy with the shirts that I could have gotten and I didn't want to go up any bigger in size. I ended up getting some bras that were the same size even though I should have gone up a band size, but they didn't have any. So um any waist whittling exercises that work quickly anyone? Haha. 

I'm thinking for August that I'm going to come up with my own challenge. I really liked the idea of having a workout set up and just doing it. And that the squat thing was so simple. So I'm gonna go explore pinterest a bit and see if I can come up with something to do. Something that incorporates more working out, and not just squats ;) Although I am surprised that I don't actually mind them. Of course the ones with the kicks I kind of mind haha. But only cause I have to do more. And I will see what comes of 200 squats every time would do. I mean it takes me about 20 minutes to do them without an additional workout. Oy. I can see how people easily can do 2 hour workouts LOL. I just have to find a way to do it and do it in the heat. Maybe I will have to do an am/pm kind of thing. I will have to see.

So I guess I'm off to figure something out :0)

Monday, July 22, 2013

Wednesday Weigh in week 82/30 day Squat challenge week 3

I realized that when I was heading to vacation that I hadn't posted my Wednesday weigh in post AGAIN last week. This no scale thing is throwing me off. Starting to feel like a broken record. Still need to reign in the eating, but still doing the challenge ;)

30 day squat challenge is going surprisingly well! I have finished them every day! The most I have done a day is 150. Tomorrow will be 160. And to think next Tuesday will be 200! I'm almost done with the challenge and that's kind of what excites me the most. Starting it and FINISHING it! And to say that I've done 200 squats today would be something else too ;) I have noticed that my knees are feeling better. Especially going up and down stairs. I even did my squats while we were on vacation. Ok. Nothing like hiding out from 21 of your closest family members and working out ;) Plus we did a lot of walking while we were there. So I felt pretty good. And I think with doing the challenge that I was able to walk better. My knees and my legs weren't bothering me as much. And let me tell you, there were a lot of hills/stairs in this town.

I did some crazy things this week. Haha. One of them was that we went on a whale watching adventure while we were there. Now I've gone to this town so many times and I don't think I've ever gone out on the boat before. So we paid our money, got on the boat and away we went. We were told up front was the best place so obviously my friend and I went there ;) Well for an hour it was all fun. We actually saw a whale several times! And had the coolest tour guide. Well he told us that when we turned around that we up front were going to get pretty wet. Most everyone left and went to the back. Do you think we went back. Uh no. My friend and I got COMPLETELY drenched. I'm talking head to toe soaked. We screamed and laughed the whole way back. And then felt like I had gained 10 pounds because of my jeans being soaked. Needless to say we had to go back to the house to change before we went out and did anything else :0)

And then we ended up at Ripley's Believe it or not. Where believe it or not, I cheated on my no scale summer. Yeah. I'm just gonna go ahead and admit it. I could have covered the part where it said what I weighed on the earth. But I glanced over. Needless to say I weigh 90 pounds on the moon and about 12 pounds on Pluto. Which doesn't even count because it's not a planet anymore. But whatever. I do have to say I was a little disappointed. You know how you automatically start justifying in your head. Well I have to take off 2 pounds just for clothes and oh jeez, this is a heavy sweatshirt because it's only 60 degrees here and blah blah blah. And it was in the middle of the day and yada yada yada. So so far I haven't gone down a whole lot. BUT the number was lower than the last time I weighed in. So that's at least a bonus!

Needless to say, we just got back from vacation a few hours ago, and I'm not ready to go back to the real world. But I have to. I have to say I have a little fear about posting my pictures on my blog. I need to figure out a little watermark thing before I'm gonna do that, but I do want to post some soon. Goals goals goals :0)

Sunday, July 7, 2013

30 day Squat Challenge week One

Woo-hoo! Week one done for my squat challenge. I did *drum roll* 345 squats this week. I did them every day and even had a rest day. I like this because it's 3 days on 1 day off. It seems very manageable. But the weird thing is. After the 3rd day, my legs weren't sore any more. Um. Is that right? Does it only take that long? I'm either doing them completely wrong, or I'm doing some serious stretching right ;)

The good thing is I also did my Yoga stretching video every time I did the squats. First I was starting off doing it before, to get my legs warmed up before I did the squats. Then the last couple of days I have done it afterwards. But it's a nice addition I think to my challenge. Only 3 more weeks to go.

Yes I took my yoga mat to my friends' house when I went to Portland on a quick road trip. I did my squats and yoga in her living room! And I plan to do the same when I go to the coast next week. Going to be a little trickier to do it privately with 21 family members in the house. But I will find a dark corner somewhere ;)

I had a somewhat little non-scale victory this week :) I think for the first time in my life, I walked away from homemade ice cream on the 4th of July. In fact I wasn't overly "horrible" with my eating that day. All in all I ended up with 12 cups of water, a shaved ice, and 2 homemade coffees--meaning no milk :) Well and food too. But I didn't overeat while I was eating. And truly the only reason I walked away from the ice cream was because I wanted to be at home before the fireworks show started. Because the fireworks show in my new town just happens to be right up the street, all I had to do was go stand in my backyard. Perfect view. Kinda nice ;)

So here's to week 2 of the challenge. 415 squats this week. Sounds kinda scary when I look at it that way! Haha..I just realized it makes no sense for me to get to 200 squats the first time and then not keep doing them for a week. Maybe I will have to add a week of 200 a day challenge just to keep it up!

Have you ever done any crazy challenges?

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Wednesday Weigh in Week 79

Well, I am here to say that week one of do not weigh myself and not stress about weigh in came and went...and I don't think it went very well?

But then again, I am my own worst critic.

On the bright side of it all, I did manage to get a workout in! Oh man. I'm pretty sure it's the first time that I have worked out in the last 3 months maybe? I don't know. At any rate, I got my garmin all charged up, and my new running shoes on, and I went for a walk around my block. Haha..So the area that we just moved into, is kind of like a huge rectangle. So I walked the huge rectangle, expecting it to be around 3 miles. Well I was close..it ended up being 2.5 miles. Which still isn't horrible. I was hoping for 3 miles. For some reason in my head 3 miles seems like a minimum workout to me? Like if I don't get 3 miles in it's not worth it?

I'm weird..I know.

I let emotional eating get the best of me this week. I seriously need to buckle down, for my body and for my credit card's sake ;) I'm getting pretty determined to go all hard core on my diet again and seriously cut the dairy and gluten out. And eggs when at all possible. I mean I know eggs are baked into things. But if I can avoid most of that too, I will be doing good. I have been really hesitant pinning things on Pinterest because it's just a lot of dang work. It requires separate meals from my entire family. They have no desire to go gluten free. Nor do they need to. I don't really need to per se, but if I think about the blood type diet, gluten isn't good for my blood type. And I need to find an easy breakfast solution. Cinnamon sugar toast just ain't cutting it anymore. But a no gluten, no dairy, and no egg breakfast that's easy to make? Umm, I really have no desire to eat oatmeal every day. I did that once for a challenge and I really haven't touched the stuff again.

But back before I even knew I was allergic to all that stuff, and I cut it out at the beginning of the year because I thought I had Candida. I dropped almost 25 pounds in 3 months! So if I can wrap my head around that and remember those things. Yes, making and buying my own food is going to be hard. But if in the next half a year, since that's what I have left this year. But if I could lose 50 pounds in the next 6 months that would be amazing! And really it's quite do-able. So yeah. That's what I NEED to be doing.

So I'm thinking about being very stupid and starting a squat challenge next month. It's something I pinned that takes you in a month ending up doing 200 squats a month. Um yeah. I hate squats. But I want strong knees. And a strong backside really helps with running :0) So basically there are 5 squats that it has you do and you end up doing so many of them a day. In the end you do 10 reps of all 5 squats 4 times and that's your 200 squats a day. Sounds interesting enough. But can I do it? 3 days of squats and then a day of rest. And then it just repeats itself. I don't know if my back can handle it or not, or even my knees. I guess I don't have to go very deep if I can't handle it. But I'm really in the mood to start a challenge and finish it! Dang it. And I kind of liked this one? Oddly enough...for me who hates squats ;)

So in a way, I'm glad I didn't weigh myself today. I'm intrigued by the idea of doing all the work (which I will be getting myself to do) and not looking for the reward. Not looking for the payout. Not trying to live my life based on the 3 digit number I see staring back at me. To get out there and life my life. Not in fear of what that number will be when I get back on the scale in September. But to realize it doesn't define me. That number isn't Dena. It might be what I weigh. But it's not my personality. It's not my smile, my mind. My anything. Culture seems to think it should define me. But I'm about to defy culture right now in the next 3 months. Will I hate all my clothes. Absolutely. I'm in the process of trying to pick out a new sports bra. I'm quite up there. Let me tell you. And the wearing 2 sports bras thing I got going on right now isn't working so hot. I ended up bleeding from my broken one. No Bueno. But can I get myself to spend the money on it? Oh geez. I wish I could go to the store and pick one out and try it on. But just like my shoes and wide width. They just don't go carrying DDD sports bras in the store. Hello Amazon. /end rant.

Speaking of shoes!! I bought 3 pairs this week! My running shoes came in. Which I am ecstatic to say they have PURPLE in them! I have never in my life owned a "cute" pair of running shoes. All the shoes I have ordered have been grey and blue or white and blue. Well I think I about scared the guy at the running store when he opened the box and I let out a squeal about them being grey and purple. I have cute running shoes! He mumbled something about them having new colors every year and something something..but yeah. I am excited. And then I just happened to try this pair of sandals on at Payless Shoesource. Now granted I haven't been able to fit into their shoes for a good 10 years (since I worked there). Well I slipped these on and to my shock and surprise they fit me too. They are a little to long in front, but that's ok. I ended up buying the tan pair that day. (2 pairs of shoes in one day?!?) And then I went back the following day and got a black pair. This never happens to me. I would just like to say. I pretty much just doubled the amount of shoes that I own in 2 days. I have 3 pairs that I wear consistently: a pair of flip flops (men's cause they fit better), a pair of backless clog type slip on casual shoe, and my running shoes. Then I have the nice dress shoes I just bought for the wedding I went to in April, and 2 other sandal dress shoes. I felt like such a girl coming home with all these shoes. Anyways. That was a joy for me this week haha..

And I am happy to report that I am just about unpacked and all moved into my new house (at least my PERSONAL stuff is). I have found a place for all my stuff, or it is conveniently hiding behind a door or in a drawer for me to sort through later. I have a friend coming to hang pictures with me tomorrow and everything will have its place. It's kind of exciting.

Now that I've rambled on ;) I am going to do a yoga thing on youtube and go to bed! I have woken up so stiff lately, that I want to see if this will help me at all, It's 20 minutes of gently stretching. Nothing bad :)
2014. A year without the scale defining who I am. A year of finishing what I start.