Slimmer This Summer - Week Two Completed

Well, we have come to the end of our second week in the Slimmer This Summer Challenge. Yesterday I weighed in at 188, which is a loss of 1lb. for the week.

However, I succumbed to a piece of The Man's birthday cake last night as well as a 1/2 bowl of his noodles and when I stepped on the scale this morning, it said I gained 3 lbs since yesterday. Obviously the white stuff has got me again in the form of water weight gain. I hate that my body is so susceptible to flour, salt, etc. I have noticed, though, that fruit and whole grains do not affect me in that way at all. For example.. I ate a small bowl of spaghetti earlier in the week. Within an hour I had fallen into a practical coma. This happens whenever I eat refined sugar or white flour. But, I can eat fruit, even bananas, which are loaded with natural sugar and do not feel any adverse effects. I eat a bowl of quick cooking oats every evening and it does not affect me at all except that it keeps me from having Restless. (Don't know why, but it works!)

So, this week, I am going to stay away from all white foods. No potatoes or pasta or anything with refined sugar. I will continue to eat fruits and vegetables regardless of their carb count. And, we will see what happens.

I also haven't worked out in a few days. And I can feel that I need to get back on track with that. I don't feel all that bad about taking a few days off as I did so because my body was just not feeling capable of performing anything strenuous for those days. Old injuries acting up, etc. I did reach my goal of 210 minutes of exercise per week, though.

I am off to visit everyone's blog and check on our group's progress now! Let's kick some serious butt this week!


View my complete Food Diary HERE.

Week Five Completed - Weigh In

Finally, I'm seeing some progress! After my mini-meltdown yesterday, I stepped on the scale to see 189 !! That is a four pound loss! Whoohoooo!

And I took my measurements this morning and they are:
Waist: 34.5"
Hips: 41"
Chest: 34"
Thigh: 27"
Upper Arm: 13"

That is a loss of 3.75" from June 2nd and a total loss of 6lbs & 7" since May 16th!

I normally don't weigh in till Mondays, but I just had to share! Thank you to everyone who stopped by and left me encouraging comments yesterday. I really appreciate it!

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View my complete Food Diary HERE.

Believe It Or Not, Even I Get Discouraged

Forgive me for this rant / vent / pity party post, but I am only human and yes, believe it or not, even I get discouraged.

I've been diligently logging every morsel I put in my mouth, measuring portions, exercising every day in one shape or form for over 6 weeks now. And yet, I've only lost two pounds. I just don't get it. I really don't get it.

I'm still wearing the same clothes, still weighing in the same and look no different at all. I don't feel much different, either. I still have the same aches and pains, some more than others due to the added activities. I don't cheat, I don't splurge, I just keep plugging away doing the things that I'm told are the healthy ways to get healthier.

I admit I could eat more fruits and veggies. But, other than that.. I don't know where I am going wrong. I could eat the way I used to eat and stay at this same weight that I'm at now. Without all the counting calories and working my butt off. So, why keep at it? I almost feel like a gambling addict with a bunch of scratch tickets. Maybe THIS week will show some progress. Nope. Maybe THIS week? Nope. Unable to quit because I think that success may be just around the next corner (at the next weigh-in). But, slowly losing hope and berating myself for wasting so much time to get nothing accomplished.


View my complete Food Diary HERE.

30 Day Shred Day 9 Level 1

I am one day behind in the 30 Day Shred. But, only because I was so busy yesterday with the family and I did get a lot of movement in with the hiking and fishing, etc. I burned just as many calories as I would have with the Shred, so I'm not sweating it at all. I will just continue on today with Day 9 on Level 1.

I have to admit, this workout is HARD for me. Even now, after more than a week into it. Not all of it, just the jumping and raising my right arm above my head. I've done a lot of modifying it to accommodate for my injuries. In the beginning, I really tried not do do that, but you know what? I need to do what is best for my own body and the pain that I was in and am in if I push those injuries too hard is just wrong for me.

The modifications that I have made are that I do wall pushups instead of floor pushups now because my shoulder just cannot handle that much stress at this point. I only do the arm raises above my head until I feel 'that you are pushing too hard' feeling that I know will lead to severe pain that is not a good 'burn', then I do other arm exercises with the weights during the strength training circuits. And no matter what Jillian says about jumping jacks, I have a leg with a steel rod from knee to ankle and after the first 30 or so it lets me know that it is not what it used to be pre-accident, so I run in place during the rest of the jumping jacks. I don't slow down, nor do I take breaks. I just have to modify for my body's abilities. No excuses.

I had a couple days of not 'over eating', but eating over my initial calorie goal of 1200. This is due to bad planning on my part and I am sitting down today and planning out the rest of this week's meals in advance. I find that on days when I am very busy running around instead of being at home, I go too long between meals and snacks and then eat more in one meal than I should because I am ravenous! No more. Planning, planning, planning. Something to work on.

I am extremely over-tired this week as I've been dealing with a lack of sleep due to Restless Leg Syndrome. Or in my case, Restless Body Syndrome. I've been trying to find ways to help it, such as taking Melatonin, Potassium and Magnesium, even doing half an hour of stretching exercises before going to bed. However, so far.... no luck. It's been every night for over a week now and it's really catching up to me. Lack of sleep tends to cause me to be overly emotional, cranky, sad and just plain miserable. I hope that I figure out a way to get some needed rest soon. The Melatonin worked for the first week and I got so much rest, I felt awesome. The second week, it quit working. So now I've upped my dose to 6mg and it's still not working. *sigh* More experiments on that to come.

I also just want to say a group "Great Job, Ladies" to everyone who is in this challenge with me! You are all doing wonderfully and I'll be stopping by your blogs soon to leave my mark!



View my complete Food Diary HERE.

Week Four Completed

I refuse to let this scale beat me! I will not allow it to determine my mood for the rest of the day, week or even minute!

Today I am up 2 pounds. Now, I know that I have been eating right, exercising every day and drinking my water. I've been doing everything right. However, I do feel that PMS-y feeling coming on and since I have been exercising every day, I know that my muscles are storing up water for recovery. Therefore, I am NOT going to worry about these lousy two pounds. There is no way that it is actual fat that I've gained. It's just water and it will go away by my next weigh-in.

That being said. My DD14 and I did my measurements the other day and here are the results:

My Starting Measurements as of May 16th were:

Bust: 38
Chest: 35
Waist: 35.5
Hips 44.5
Thigh: 27.5
Calves: 17.5
Upper Arms: 14

And My Measurements Now are:

Bust: 38
Chest: 35
Waist: 35
Hips: 42.25
Thigh: 27
Calves: 17.5
Upper Arms: 13.5

For a total of 3.25" lost.

Not too shabby. Makes me feel better about those pesky 2 lbs. Grrrr...

So, to recap.. my Starting Weight was 195 and I am at 193 now. By my next weigh-in, TOM should be gone or on his way out the door, so I will look forward to then.

Today I am on Day 7 of Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred. I really needed yesterday's resting period. My shoulder feels a little bit better though after doing some more jumping jacks, push ups and arm raises, we shall see..... I'm going to keep on keeping on, though.

Why Take Regular Rest Days?

Today is my Rest Day. I am not going to do any type of high-impact exercising at all. My shoulder is sore and my poor muscles need rest. Now, part of me wants to do my workouts anyway. No pain, no gain, right? However, I've been reading up on the subject and the benefits of taking a day off every week (or even more often than that) are many.

First of all... you deserve it. If you've been working out regularly all week and have done your best to improve your health and fitness you absolutely deserve to take the focus off of your weight and muscles and just BE. We don't want to become so focused on our journey to fitness that we let everything else fall to the back burner. Giving yourself a break once in a while is good for the body and the spirit. Have a lazy day. Have a crazy day. Just spend some time doing anything you feel like doing, even if it's sleeping in, laying around reading a book or hanging out with friends and family. Give yourself a day to just relax and renew.

Secondly, your muscles need it. When you exercise, your muscles actually break down. They need time to repair and replenish the elements lost during your workouts. If you keep exercising and working those muscles non-stop without giving them a break, it can actually do more harm than good. They will just keep breaking down without being able to build back up. Yes, your body does heal while you sleep, however, that is not necessarily enough for your muscles to repair and rebuild muscle and connective tissue. Not allowing enough resting periods for your muscles can lead to increased muscle break down and may lead to over-training and injury.

Third, if you don't give your muscles time to heal your metabolism may slow down. This is definitely not something that a dieter wants to happen. In order for muscles to make a complete recovery, protein stores and energy stores need to be replaced. If your muscles are not given the time to recover, they can become progressively smaller. In the course of a few weeks, in regards to the dieter, this can mean a gradual decline in lean tissue, thus lowering your metabolism. This results in less calories burned overall then the need to decrease your caloric intake which may already be at the lowest end to begin with, or the need to burn more calories through exercise which just keeps you in a vicious cycle and exasperates the problem.

Fourth, You don't want to get burned out. If you have recently begun eating right and implementing daily exercise into your life, you probably have been going all-out. Your motivation is high, you are excited and raring to see results. However, if you are serious about becoming a more fit and healthy person, you need to look at this not as a Diet, but as a Lifestyle Change. You have the rest of your life to worry about. This is not a "Lose 10 Pounds In 3 Days And Keep It Off Forever" diet scam. This is your LIFE. Pace yourself, take it one day at a time and don't lose sight of the big picture. I know many people who are all Gung-Ho during the first couple weeks of their 'diets' just to give up because they have burned themselves out, overwhelmed themselves and didn't see results quickly enough. If you are trying to lose weight, get toned, be healthier in general, remember... you did not gain your weight overnight and it will not come off overnight either. This is a life-long process that will take a while, but the results will be worth it.

If you feel you absolutely HAVE to do something, make it something that is low-key. Try Yoga, stretching or a walk in the park or around the block. Having regular rest days will leave you refreshed and rejuvenated for your next few days of workouts!

30 Day Shred Day 6 Level 1

Today is my sixth day on Level One of 30 Day Shred. It has been a long week, let me tell you! There were some days that my body hurt so bad, that I lived on Ibuprofen and it took a lot of get up and go to get off my butt to do that day's workout. But, I did. And I can feel a difference in my body even if I can't really see any difference yet. My energy level is up, my muscles are sore - but in a good way. Level One is becoming more manageable and I am able to get into the stances more and more. Tomorrow is my day off and I'm 1/2 way looking forward to it and 1/2 way not. I hope that by taking a day off it won't be harder to do when I come back to do it again on Monday!

I've been consistently staying in my calorie range and drinking my water. I've found that my appetite is fluctuating a bit. There are days when I am starving - the ones that I burn the most calories. And then there are days when I struggle to get to my minimum of 1200 calories. However, if I am starving before a workout, I usually am not after the workout. And my tastes have been changing quite a bit as well. I can taste grease and salt much more now and I don't like it at all. I've actually thrown food away that I 'thought' would taste good because I used to eat it regularly since now it tastes too salty or greasy. This is a good thing.

My DD14 and I took my measurements the other night and I am happy to say that I've lost inches over the last two weeks. I will post in more detail on Monday when I do my weigh-in post.

Oh, and guess what? I found a bunch of other Bloggers who are doing the Shred in June, too! Check them all out by clicking on the button below!

30 Day Shred Day 3 Level 1

I have now completed three days on level 1 of Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred. My body is sore in places I didn't know could get sore!

I do my workout in my sons' room and it has to be the hottest room in the house, even with the air conditioner on. I have no idea why. But, by the time my 30 minutes is up and I come out, I am sweating like a pig. Whoever said that women only glow is out of their mind. I SWEAT!

Some of the exercises have been getting a little easier. By easier, I guess I mean that I can do more of them in the 30-second or so circuits now. But, my calves have been screaming and so have my shoulders. The ab-work isn't all that hard for me. Even though you probably couldn't find my abs if you tried right now. I am still able to do crunches correctly.
Now, lunges... that is another story. Wow, do they hurt!

BUT, I am pushing past all that and continuing on. I know that eventually it will start getting easier. Hopefully before I start level 2!

I have been contemplating taking more before pics. The ones I have are pretty 'clothed' compared to some of the before pics I've been looking at. However, I tried on a bikini the other day and was NOT happy with the image in the mirror - and I could only see myself from the waist up! Sigh. I suppose that is the whole purpose, though, right? To be able to see the progression from your scary before pics?

I've been sticking to my diet and water intake goals. Staying under my allotted calories and drinking at least 12 8 oz. glasses of water per day. It seems that my tastes have been changing a bit. I can now detect salt in the smallest amounts and my body just refuses to let it past my lips. Even in things with no added salt. I tried to eat a premade hamburger patty the other day and it tasted so salty that I had to spit it out and throw it away. And it was something I would never have noticed before. I am getting that with the fattier foods and sugarier foods as well. Which is all good. If I don't like the foods that are the worst for me it makes it much easier to not eat them!

I have felt a little weird lately, since I have been so active. When I get up in the morning and throughout the day, I feel ... well... hot. Kind of like I am running a fever, but I'm not. I'm not sure what it is, but I tell myself that it could possibly be my body burning up calories and I'm just not used to it since my body has had such a long restful period for the last few years and didn't need to warm up to do anything! If any of you know what I'm talking about, fill me in, please?

Week Three Completed

Three weeks completed! Whoohoo, Go Me! As of this morning, I have lost another 2 pounds for a total of four pounds in three weeks. Not too bad.

As I believe I've mentioned before, I don't have that much trouble limiting my calorie intake. But, as long as I don't move I don't lose. Therefore, I have joined some other motivated people to do the Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred. Beginning today. I must be out of my mind.

On a happy note, my shoulder is feeling a lot better. I have to be careful about over-extending, but I was able to do some good cardio with shoulder / arm movements the other day as well as some pushups without it hurting all that bad. Nothing some Ibuprofen & Icy Hot didn't take care of, anyway.

Yesterday was spent at the creek with the family. Three hours of fishing, hiking, swimming, etc. It was awesome. I am just as sore today as if I did three 45 minute Calisthenic sessions! I'm telling you.. if you want a really good workout, find a body of water that can go from ankle-deep to neck-deep to waist-deep and back to ankle-deep in four steps that is filled with mud, trees, branches, rocks, etc. Get in and walk for two hours. With the current or against it, up to you.

Oh, yeah... don't forget to coat yourself in mud because you forgot to bring the Back Woods OFF with you! (Or just for fun!)

This week's small victories:

1.) Shoulder is feeling better! (Thank God!)
2.) Got in some cardio and calisthenics!
3.) Burned around 3000 calories during exercise this week!
4.) Stayed below my calorie goal all week!
5.) Discovered Melatonin! <---- Helps immensely with helping me get sleep with no Restless!!

This week's goals:

1.) 30 Day Shred starts today! Mon - Sat, Sunday off.
2.) Watch the Sodium intake!
3.) Stay under calorie goal daily.
4.) Decrease smoking.

Want to join me in the 30-Day Shred Challenge? You can get a copy at:

Week Two Completed

OK, so my goals for this week were:

1. Take my measurements (CHECK)
   
2. Research for more healthy food choices (CHECK)
   
3. Get adequate rest (Did My Best!)
   
4. Cardio at least 5 out of 7 days (Nope, my shoulder was in too much pain, plus more below)
   
5. Add circuit / strength training to my workouts (Half-Check)
   
6. Meet my calorie requirements (CHECK)
   
7. Get new measuring cups and spoons to more adequately measure portions (CHECK)

I am only taking my measurements every other week, so next week I will update as to whether I have lost any inches (or millimeters). You can find my starting measurements HERE.

I did research some more healthy foods, but have yet to go to the grocery store. I try to only grocery shop once a week and tomorrow is 'That Day'. I will let you know what I come up with after the big shopping trip.

As for getting adequate rest - I did my best. I think I got to bed before midnight maybe twice this week. But I did get to sleep for a whole six to 7 hours on two different occasions.

Cardio - My workouts this week have been sorry to say the least. I had two good days of a little bit of cardio and a bunch of stretching. My shoulder is feeling better the last few days, but it has really slowed me down. I have to mention here that I am not being a wimp. I have been in constant pain for over 10 years now, since a very bad 3-wheeling accident which left me with a lot of damage to my leg, back and hip. And a few years ago, I seriously injured my rotator cuff. Add to that the fact that I was diagnosed with arthritis at age 17 and you've got one hurting unit, lol. So, I've taken it easy in order to not injure my shoulder any worse than it already is. And the rest has helped.

I've noticed that my body has a hard time with high impact aerobics - the jumping (landing), etc. I have a steel rod from knee to ankle in my left leg and other bone damage to that ankle and foot. So, I have to be careful not to hurt myself. So.....

I think I may spend more time doing calisthenics and throw in the cardio as a bonus instead of the other way around. I went and picked up a stability ball and will begin using that this week.

I have met my calorie requirements all week. That is actually the part that I have the least problem with. Most days I have a hard time even getting close to 1200 calories. I did have some trouble going over my sodium recommendations a few days this week and thanks to that and TOM and the rain coming soon I am having a bit of a water retention issue. I do drink TONS of water, though, so hopefully soon that will all even out soon.

I'm using my new measuring cups and spoons every meal. Once I got over the shock of how small a serving size was I did fine. The key for me is to totally S L O W down when I eat and concentrate on what I'm doing. Usually, by the time my food is gone I am full. Remember, it takes at least 15 minutes for you to feel full once you already are full. So, slowing down will help you to feel that feeling before you over-stuff yourself.

OK, so now... the news that you've all been waiting for! (I know, I know, I am over-enthusiastic about how into my story you are, right?)

How much weight did I lose this week? I'm trying not to be disappointed, since earlier in the week I showed a Five Pound Weight Loss. And, again, I am blaming this all on TOM and Rain. But, I'm still happy. At least the scale moved!

I lost TWO pounds this week.

So, I am down to 193 with 48 lbs more to go. Not too bad for my activity level being seriously sidelined.

To be continued...

Week One Completed

It has officially been one week since I started to make the changes in my life to become a healthier and happier person. I have logged all my food, as well as my water intake and daily movement with SparkPeople and MyFitnessPal. Though at times I had very stressful situations happen, I neither turned to or away from food as a comfort or a punishment.

I have tried to keep my calorie intake to around 1200 daily, but had some trouble on a few days. Not going over, but going under. I've also been paying closer attention to my sodium intake and am shocked at how easy it is to reach or exceed my daily goal.

I've been very surprised to see how much salt is in the foods you wouldn't normally consider salty. Unfortunately, this has limited the foods I would normally think were ok to eat. This week I will spend some time researching more healthy food choices in order to have a bigger selection.

Today is my official weigh-in day and though I have burned over 2.000 calories through exercise and eliminated 3.500 calories through calorie restriction, I am afraid that I have not lost even one pound. While I am tempted to be discouraged, I am taking into consideration that my size 12 jeans that were very tight, especially first coming out of the dryer, were actually very comfortable when I wore them yesterday.

Also, I never did take my measurements before I started this journey, so this morning I picked up a measuring tape in order to compare this week to next week just in case the scale doesn't move.

All in all, I feel pretty good about the past week. I did 30-45 minutes of exercise, 6 out of 7 days. Thursday I had to take a day off because I hurt so badly all over, especially my shoulder due to an old rotator cuff injury.

My energy level has been good, except for the fact that my sleep is in one 4-5 hour stretch at night and maybe a nap during the day, if I'm lucky. I would much rather a complete 8 hours at once. In order to do that and get up at 5 a.m., I need to go to bed at 9 p.m. instead of staying up until 1-2 a.m. every night. Not so easy.

Drinking over 8 glasses of water a day has been no problem. I started doing that back in January. I really have no desire to drink anything else, except for my coffee in the mornings.

In conclusion, my goals for this week are:

1. Take my measurements
2. Research for more healthy food choices
3. Get adequate rest
4. Cardio at least 5 out of 7 days
5. Add circuit / strength training to my workouts
6. Meet my calorie requirements
7. Get new measuring cups and spoons to more adequately measure portions (I did this this morning!)

Some small victories this week:

• I did not eat any of the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that DD14 baked
• Even though I REALLY wanted a bacon cheeseburger, I opted for a portabella mushroom veggie burger instead.
• When The Man insisted on going to Ryan's for the Mega Breakfast Buffet, I thought hard about how hard I worked this week and then settled for only a glass of ice water, a 3 eggs scrambled and 3 links of pork sausage. ( I admit, though.. it was pretty torturous)

My reward for getting through the week without 'messing up':

Dying my hair today! Really needs it... been putting it off.