5 months later.....

and since there haven't been any blogs you are probably guessing there hasn't been activity. Well you are correct. Since going on our ski trip, I have not done anything. Here are the events that lead up to my inactivity (all of which I realize are unexcuseable): Fell down the hill thinking I knew more about skiing than I did and hurt my knee (out of commission for a good 6 weeks), softball, softball, and more softball.

The youngest child has taken over our lives!!!! HELP!!! LOL. Now that the league season is over, we have subjected ourselves to fall ball. Yes, she will be playing on a select team out of Waco, Texas. She is a little Stinger now. Cute because it looks kinda like a YellowJacket (for all you Meridian fans out there) But......that is another blog for another time. I am going to start a blog on our little miss MaKenzie and track her progress with her select team. So.....keep your eyes out for it.


Anyways, back to the goal of this blog which is not about the kids or the husband, it is about ME!!!

Don't you just love those wakeup calls that you get? Well, I have just gotten another one. hahaha. One of the many I have received. I hope this time I stay AWAKE, not hit the snooze button, and don't let the business of life take me away from my long term goals. The fact is, I am OVERWEIGHT. There I said it. Wow, talk about getting the elephant off of your back. The past few years I think I have been in denial about it. I don't really look at myself in the mirror because I don't like the person looking back at me. That is not the same person I saw 15 years ago. The image I see is the 110 lb person that I was then. It is hard to look at this new me. So, I want to change her or me. I don't see how the people around me have continued to look at this person. They must really love me. But then again, I feel sad because NOONE has said anything to me either. Its like they have just ignored the weight I was gaining as well. Maybe they didn't want to hurt my feelings, or didn't have the right words to say.

My wakeup call came today. I have been hitting the snooze button for the past 5 months and finally that alarm WOKE me up. A co-worker and I were talking today and she was telling me that she was frustrated about not loosing her belly fat. Well, I can tell ya compared to me she has no belly fat. I look like a pregnant lady that is about 7 months along. My response to her was to use the excersie ball and do crunches. Now look at me, I am giving workout advise. From the lady who is not working out at all, I am telling someone what to do to loose their belly fat. But, comming from previous experience, I KNOW that using the excersie ball works. It did 5 or 6 years ago when I was getting ready to go to Mexico. Anyways, who am I to give workout advise when I am not working out at all???? I can just hear the conversation she was probably having with herself. First she was probably laughing so hard on the inside, then telling herself the same things I just stated. She did seem to listen to me and I looked up a few excersises for her on youtube. That place has ALOT of valuable information. It felt good to help someone with a challenge and motivated me. While researching, I found a very valuable site, or so I hope. Sparkpeople.com. Best of all it is FREE!!!!! Yes, you heard me FREE. I have just joined and am still checking it out. My hope is that it is similar to WeightWatchers or some of the other diet plans. It has menu features and support groups. Those are the two main things that I need right now. SUPPORT is the number one!!!!! Like I said before, I would LOVE to have support from friends and family.

Goals, it is very important to have them. It fuels motivation. Everyone should set daily weekly monthly yearly goals. My first goal this year was to loose weight. I failed at the time frame for my weight goal, but still can accomplish my weight loss goal. 35 lbs was my original goal. Since I don't have a scale in my house, I guess my weight is about 160. UGH!!!! That was hard to write. Knowing that it will be known for all the world to see. But anyways, on sparkpeople they set a healthy weight goal. 43lbs is what they say is a healthy goal. I wasn't too far off. So here it goes, here are my goals outlined as daily, weekly, and monthly:

Daily
Eat a healthy balanced diet of no more than 1500 calories
Have at least 30 minutes of excersise activity
Spend more time with my family outdoors and less time on the computer or watching tv

Weekly
Loose 2 lbs
Creat a blog journal of my progress

Monthly
Loose 8-10 lbs
Take 1 day for myself


Okay so those are the goals for month 1. Lets see how well this month goes.

Well its been a little more than two weeks since my last post. Anyone wanna take bets on how things are going? Go right ahead. I dare ya!!! LOL. As it turns out, I have done a whole lot of nothing except watch what I eat the past two weeks. I ended up getting a horrible sinus infection and it kicked my butt. I blame it on the dust from the Christmas tree that I didn't take down until the week before the superbowl. Yes, my Christmas tree was up for almost two months!!!! What can I say, I LOVE Christmas. Its my birthday, and I wanted it to last as long as it could. But, Joey finally said the tree had to go. So, my allergies didn't like all the dust that had accumulated on the tree. If anyone has any suggestions on how to dust an artificial tree, please let me know. Anyways, I couldnt breath, so working out was not an option. I would have passed out on the treadmill. Actually, we did go to the gym a week after my symptoms started, and I about died. Worked out for about 30 mins and my body gave up. So, this is a new week, and I am feeling SO MUCH BETTER!!!! Plans are to go tonight and get started again.

I don't know how much weight if any I have lost so far. The dr's scales are either 5 lbs lighter than the gym's, or I have lost 5 lbs. Either way, I think I prefer the dr's scales to the gym's. It is about 23 days till we make our journey to the slops and try out our snow feet. I still don't know if I am ready to go climbing the mountains or skiing back down.

Weight Goal: 35 lbs
Current Weight lose: 5lbs (according to the dr's scales hehehe)

Oh, and to those of you who are following, thanks for the encouraging words!!!! I just sit behind my screen and feel like I am typing to myself. Acknowledging that people may actually be interested in reading about my journey doesn't even cross my mind. To me this is my little public diary to help me stay motivated.

Almost a week down

Well, I am almost through my first week. So far, I have worked out 4 days. We are going on Joey's work schedule for workouts so that I can have someone there making me go. We work out 2 days in a row with the 3rd day off. This also gives my body time to rest. The first couple of days I was complaining that I was not sore, well now my legs are KILLING me and I am exhausted. I have put most of my focus on leg workouts with weights this first week. Next week I will work on upper body and stomach. My goal is to alternate week to week the different areas of my body. They say not to do any cardio on the days you lift weights, but I am breaking that rule. After I do my weights, I end up on the treadmill or the elliptical machine. To me it helps loosen up the muscles. The scales don't show any difference after this week, but I don't know if I should depend on the scales right now.

My great friend Lisa suggested some nutrition supplements and vitamins. I ordered them this week and began taking them yesterday. It is Living Green Liquid Gel Multi Vitamin and Triple Tea Fat Burner. In addition to the vitamin supplement and fat burner, I have a protein whey that I mix with soy milk. This morning was my first try at the protein drink. It was not as bad as I expected. Taste was bearable, actually I could get to liking it. I am not a good breakfast eater, so I am going to use the protein shake for now as my breakfast. My coffee is still a must in the morning along with the creamer and sweet n low I put in it. At lunch I have a light meal with a salad. Afternoon is snack time with a protein bar or another shake. Then dinner is whatever Joey or I cook.

So far so good if only the exhaustion and soreness would go away. Tomorrow is another day and today is a day of rest, so all is good!!!! I can't wait to see some results.

On the right Track

Well, I did it. Last night we (my husband, daughter and I) went to the gym and worked out for an hour. I had my hubby take before pics of me to see what I look like before my journey. Also, I have my beginning measurements and weight. UGH!!!!

To tell you the truth I am pretty embarrassed at what I let myself get to. In high school I was always the petite little one. (I'll post a graduation pic) No bigger than size 3 and weighed no more than 100 lbs soaking wet. To see what my size and weight is today is just sad. But I realize that now and am working toward getting back to what size I should be.

Working out last night was not as bad as I thought it would be, but not as good as it could have been. I started out on an elliptical machine that I absolutely despise. The thing is horrible. I could hardly stand 5 minutes on it. So I moved to the treadmill. That was MUCH better. I took it easier than I should have though. Today maybe I will go a little faster than a snail's crawl. LOL After 20 mins on the treadmill, I moved back to another elliptical machine that was much easier. I LOVED that machine compared to the first. I was able to do a good 10 minutes of good workout. Everytime I do a workout, I picture the Biggest Loser show and try to push myself to the point they do. "Don't wimp out, and push through the burn" is what I tell myself. Last night I didn't push myself enough because I am not sore like I should be.

Today begins another day on the journey and plans to go back to the gym and see if we can make my body sore.

The Next Step to Motivation

Okay, well this goal thing has not started on a good foot yet. As you can see, it has been almost 2 weeks since my last post. Take a guess about how the new habit is going. You got it right, its not going anywhere. One of the major problems is motivation. For me to make something work, there has to be a reward that I can see. Right now, I have no visible reward. Yes there will be the reward for my health, but my head can't understand that. Having someone push me toward my goal is another thing I need. My husband tells me all the time that he will support me, but when it gets down to it all he wants to do is agree with how much weight I need to lose. My children tell me that I am lazy and don't notice the things that I do. They join in with their dad in telling me how much weight I need to lose, but don't give the support in helping me lose it. Having someone be supportive of you is a major thing!!!! All I have right now is myself pushing myself. (minus a few friends)

I have made progress toward my goal. Today, I went to the local fitness club and signed up for a one year membership and paid for three months in advance!!!! The last time I set my mind to lose weight, I signed up for a club and that helped me tremendously. Hopefully this will be the push I need to get started.

Skiing in Colorado. That is what we are doing for Spring Break for the kids. If I want to be right there beside my kids on the slopes, I MUST get in shape. Working out will certainly help me. It will also help me with the goal of losing 30-35 lbs before the Guadalupe trip. The elevation change, I hear, will have an effect on your body to make you feel winded. Being out of shape will not help me anymore than elevation change when I go skiing. Not ever having been around that much snow, I don't want to be sitting at the condo watching TV while my husband and kids are out playing on the slopes. Also, I would love to be able to sled down the hill and be able to walk back up it.

I need a workout buddy. Hopefully when I start going to the fitness club more, there I will find a buddy to workout with. The owner is a fitness trainer and said she is working on getting a program together with a nutrition system. Wooohooo!!!!! That was great to hear. I am excited to see what workouts are scheduled. Getting on a good nutritious diet is something else I am looking forward to. I have added fruit to my diet. The last Sam's trip, I purchased a LARGE back of mixed frozen fruit. It was divided into several little bags which I take a bag to work with me each week and eat a little at a time. Some days, I have fruit in the morning. Some days, I have fruit with my grilled salmon filet. At least I am eating good at work, somedays. The others, I just pick up an order of beef nachos at the mexican restraunt. A change will be needed to make that a reward after a week of losing the goal weight. After all what is one order of beef nachos going to do to spoil a good week??? Hopefully not too much.

Anyways, here is to starting over again and getting a good workout habit going. Hopefully my husband will show more support and my children will quit making fun of me and calling me lazy.

Update on weight:
Goal weight to lose: 30-35lbs
Total weight loss: 0 lbs

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Well it is 2009. I just turned 32 and have realized how much time has slipped away from me. Blogging is a first for me, and it is a decision I made for this new year. I am on a journey to lose the weight I said I would lose after my last born. Many of you know what I am talking about. The weight after the last child when you tell yourself it is okay to enjoy the first year of their life and you will work on your weight after they turn a year old. Only, you find yourself several years down the road realizing you can't blame the weight gain on that last child anymore, and you must take charge of it before you hit the mid age spread. Hopefully I haven't waited too long. They say that 30 is the new 20, so I figure I am now just 22. Wow.....what life was like at 22. My youngest was born when I was 22, so it is only fitting that I try to lose the weight from my youngest almost 10 years after her birth. LOL!!! (I turned 23 a few months after her birth)

My first day of the new year was not on a great start to my journey to lose weight. It was a great day, just not a great day on my weight journey. I slept in, sat in the recliner most of the day and watched tv. Not a very good motivated day. Today however, I am in another frame of mind. That Dance Dance Revolution the kids got for Christmas would be on the plan for today, except the fact that my lovely husband took the Xbox to work. However, a little walk or bicycle ride around the neighborhood might be in store for today. All else fails, I can just play one of those Fit shows I have recorded on DVR. I'll have to let you know how things go tomorrow.

The first question with losing weight is what diet to choose?? This is my biggest dilemma of all. As of today, I have only had 2 cups of coffee with sweetener and loads of creamer. Not a good health choice decision so far. That cup of chicken noodle soup under my desk looks good, but is it the right choice?? Do I want to go on the Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers or another diet??? So many choices. Also, a scale would be nice to have to track my daily weight. Do I have one? Of course not. I guess I am not as prepared for this diet thing as I thought I was. But today is only day 2 and if I get going, maybe this new years resolution won't fail.

They say it takes 30 days to develop a habit; but a lifetime to break one. I have 30 days to get myself into a routine of good eating habits and working out. Guess this starts day 0 of my 30 days to developing the first habit of working out. After the first 30 day goal, I'll get the food diet in place. Right now I am going to watch my calorie intake and try to each at least 3 healthy meals with 2 healthy snacks in between. After all, they say 5 small meals a day is the start to a good diet, right?

I guess it would be good to start my blog on my final weight goal. At this point, like most women, I am not comfortable with stating my beginning weight. Actually without scales, I am not sure what my beginning weight is. All I do know is that I want to lose AT LEAST 35 lbs before our Memorial Day tubing the Guadalupe trip. It would also be nice to look good in a bikini, but I think that is asking too much right now. So here is my goal:

Lose: 35 lbs
Time Frame: 180 days

That calculates to 7lbs a month. Sounds like I can accomplish that. It is reasonable enough.

Well, I leave today with promising goals of a better tomorrow. This is the first day of the rest of my life. Looking forward to a thinner me!!!!!