Progress Made in January

Even though the scale didn't go down at all this month which is disappointing I do have several improvements which I am proud of. I worked out 22 days total, number of days lifted weights 7 days, number of days abs worked on 9.



1st week total miles 11.10 miles for a total of 176 minutes

2nd week 13.72 miles 219.45 minutes

3rd week 11.98 miles 186 minutes

4th week 15.31 miles 239 minutes


Today's workout was 63.02 minutes for a total of 4.07 miles.


The best part to me is my fitness level has improved where I can jog for 7 minutes at a time now at a little bit of a faster rate 4.9 instead of 4.8. Plus I had a couple of PRs just yesterday in fact I jogged/walked 28.55 for 2 miles got to the third mile by 42.18 which is way down from my 44-45 minutes where I started back at in the beginning of December.


On a lighter note I love that my skinny jeans fit with no dancing putting them on right out from the being in the dryer. I used to be afraid to dry them in the dryer scared they wouldn't fit.


I finally took my measurements this morning so I will be able to see inches lost at the end of the month. I used to be proportioned with the same measurements on my breast and butt now though my butt is a inch and a half bigger than my breasts which just proved what I already knew too much sitting will make your butt get bigger...lol as I sit here typing this.
Hopefully February will show a loss on the mean ol scaly monster.

Stuck on a Weight Plateau Help!!

I seem to be at a plateau or on a see-saw of sorts with my weight this month. Right now this week it is at 164.5 try as I might so far its not going down. Hopefully this too shall pass soon its so frustrating that my body likes this weight. I've been stuck at this weight since I had my surgery back in October. My weight has bounced down to 163 a time or too then right back to the 164.5 ugh!!

My clothes are loser plus I saw that my cheek bones are more noticeable when I looked in the mirror today still I want the weight down lower!!

Three work outs in so far this week of cardio plus one weight training session and abs twice. I've been trying to shake up my cardio routine by going from 4.8 to 4.9 on the speed, plus trying a 1% incline while doing the jog which makes it harder.

Today was a short easy cardio workout day because the committe won and I couldn't get myself to go the usual three mile distance so I stoped at 2+ miles.

Any suggestions for breaking through a plateau? What have you done to get your body back to losing weight again?

Monday Funday Workout

I had the best workout today that I have had all month I think! Its like I finally got my workout mojo back or something. Today I went for 65 minutes total time, 4.07 miles the machine said 587 calories burned. I'm excited that my workout went so well lately I have been ready to quit the minute I get to three miles not today though hopefully this happiness with working out will last the rest of the week.

I took the weekend off completely from formal workouts it really helped I think sometimes you just get tired of working out especially inside. Yesterday I cleaned house really good and did some outside yard work got a little sunshine and I think that really helps a lot! My mood has brightened, but today it's back to being cloudy (much cooler than its been the last week or so) it was raining earlier I'm hoping the sun comes out to stay later on.

Eating has been OK I had a "cheat" night on Saturday which was nice and I didn't get out of control. I wanted some kind of dessert and I let my husband pick it out he brought home carrot cake and I had a nice slice then stopped with the one piece and back to regular eating yesterday and so far today. I am hoping my hard cardio workout today will work off the 1/2 pound I am up.

That's all for today till next time. Be good to yourselves

Finding Motivation Is Hard Sometimes!

This is what I see as I look out my slide n glass door by my treadmill each morning that I workout. Looking at these pretty yellow flowers never fails to cheer me up. I can't wait to be back outside doing my run/walk program in my favorite park which is behind my house. Lately its been to cool for me to be outside trying to run/walk I have asthma so I have to be careful working out outside in the winter. Any way I thought I would share a little sunshine with my readers.

Its been one of those weeks with my workouts where I have felt very unmotivated in fact I may just finish this week out with only 4 cardio workouts. I did my weight workout routine twice and worked on my abs (my least favorite area of my body) twice. After working out for 13 years now sometimes its still a struggle that never completely goes away.

I'm frustrated at how slow my body loses weight. Right now its going between 164- 164.5 depending on the day of the week ugh! I think its much harder to lose just a few pounds than a bunch of weight at least in the beginning. I start out each day keeping my food diary and then forget it after breakfast...sigh.....no such thing as perfect record keeping at least for me.

Got sad news today that one of my elderly neighbors died overnight not unexpected but still say you know?

Hopefully my next workout will be better than my last and next week will be a great one!

Denial Lies We Tell Ourselves

I don't think I made excuses about my weight when it was 197 I was just numb about it and tried hard not to think about. What made me finally want to change was looking at my wedding pictures and being embarrassed by how fat I looked in them.Those pictures finally snapped me out of my denial that I was Fat and something had to change and it did change I joined a gym, got a trainer for a while and changed my eating for good.

Don't lie to yourself by saying I'm gonna start my diet Monday or go join a gym next week the emotional part of losing the weight is just as hard or harder than the physical part. Also, don't expect losing the weight to solve all your life problems trust me it won't you'll just have a smaller body to deal with the problems in. I've lost weight more than once in my life and I never kept it all off until this last time when I lost the 40 pounds then I let the grieve of my moms passing give me an excuse to eat whatever I wanted and 10 pounds crept back on. The only thing that saved me from regaining all my weight was I kept doing some exercise and I kept a check on the number on the scale still I let myself keep those extra pounds for way to long because losing them and getting all the way down to a healthier weight requires hard work and I just wasn't ready yet now I am!

There are 10 principles I follow, and I learned them from the book: Make The Connection by Bob Greene Oprah's trainer back in 1997. Seeing Oprah lose the weight I thought if she could lose the weight then I could to.... This plan is a lifestyle fix not a traditional diet.

Exercise aerobically, five to seven days a week(preferably in the morning) So excuses don't get in the way!
Exercise in the zone( at a level seven or eight) Perceived exertion rate... You gotta sweat!!
Exercise for 20-60 minutes each exercise session. Start out at 20 minutes and build from there.
Eat a low-fat balanced diet each day. I find I do better on low fat and still have my carbs for running!
Eat three meals and two snacks each day. I try to keep my calorie level at 1600
Limit or eliminate alcohol. I quit drinking I think that put at least 20 lbs on me!
Stop eating two to three hours before bedtime
Drink six to eight glasses of water daily
Have at least two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables daily
The most important step: Renew your commitment to healthy living each day!

I'm off to practice my No More Excuses Lifestyle....until next time....What made you ready to lose weight and change your life? Please leave a comment....

Struggling With Motivation This Week

Thanks for stopping by.This week it has been hard for me to be motivated to workout plus once I am working out I have struggled to do the cardio until about half way into the workout. My inner whiner really has been giving me a fit about working out she doesn't want to she says things like whats the use? Your weight is staying the same why bother? I'm tired, I don't feel good to name just a few of the things my inner whiner says its enough to drive a girl mad....Fortunately I have been working out a long time 13 years so I have learned to ignore her or yell at her to shut up!! I have completed all my workouts but not enjoyed them much so far this week do you ever have weeks like that? Is is just me? Mid life crazies?

I have new shoes they are Asics Gel I believe.They are fine but not what I wanted in my heart if you know what I mean. I bought what I could afford not what I wanted(like) these were $40.00 instead of my usual $100.00. The shoes help get the job done but I feel like a elephant when I jog/run in them.They feel heavier to me than my regular shoes when in reality the're probably similar weights. I turned my ankle last Thursday in my old pair of shoes trying to compensate for how worn out they really were so I knew I had to replace them for my safety's sake.

I have been doing better keeping my food journal this week and keeping the calories in the appropriate range so hopefully my weight will budge down on the scale. I've actually started eating more vegetables like I am supposed to again as well so food is better.

I think of lots of stuff to blog about while I'm doing my workouts most days then I promptly forget as soon as I sit down to type it out at my computer. I will try to blog more often. Can't wait for spring to get outside again....then I look forward to my workouts.

Till next time....How do you get through times of low motivation to workout? Please leave a comment.

Mid Week Check In Goal For Year 2010

Well its the first full week here of a shiny new year and I feel like I am off to a good start with my workouts this week so far. Monday I managed to jog/walk 48:41 minutes for a total of 3.07 miles then on Tuesday I managed another 43:01 minutes for a total of 2.67 miles along with doing a upper and lower body workout. Today, Wednesday I worked out 49:59 minutes for a total of 3.09 miles.

Each week I try to workout a minimum of 5 times for 3 miles walked/jogged each time or maybe just walked on a 6% incline on my treadmill. Also this year I am hoping to do 2 weight workouts each week along with ab work three times.

Most of all this year I am trying to eat healthy and get down to my goal weight of 148 so that I don't get high blood pressure, and I bring my cholesterol level down. I originally lost 40 pounds then my mom dies in 2004 and I gained 10 pounds back now I have lost 3 of those. I'm usually faithful to my cardio but I must clean up my eating put it this way if working out like crazy was gonna make me skinny I'd be there by now after 13 years of working out...hard to believe its been that long time flies!

Best of all my skinny jeans are loose again so I must be doing something right. Have been slacking on keeping a food journal but I do weigh and measure my food daily and strive to quit eating 2-3 hours before bedtime I find this to be most helpful.
Next time I do my at home weight workout I will post it here. I do hand free weights for upper body and I am still developing my lower body routine.
Till next time y'all Please leave a note to let me know you were by.
Susan

My Workout Week In Review

I worked out six days this last week which is rare for me to do usually its just five days a week. Here's how it went.
Day Time Miles Kcals

Sun 50min 3.11 455

Mon 66 4.08 578

Tue off

Wed 36 2.29 336

Thur 35 2.06 298

Fri 35 1.98 289

Sat 37 2.35 350

The workouts consisted of mostly walking/jogging on my home treadmill. I'm still slow I walk a 3.6 and jog at a 4.8. Right now I am 10 weeks post-op I had a hysterectomy on Oct 23rd last year. My recovery has been good so far I think because I was in shape going in to it.

I prefer to be outside but lately our weather is too miserable for that. A couple of days last week I worked out with free weights on my upper body and I use my Pilate's ball to workout my lower body with squats. I also do other floor exercises to keep me in my jeans. I did workout my abs three times this last week. I finally tried a Jillian Michaels video and it was hard it kicked my butt! I think its too advanced for me right now.


Eating hasn't been stellar this week my weight has gone between 165-164.5, also I haven't been journaling my food lately either so I don't know how many calories I am consuming have to get back to it.

I made a new recipe last night it was a turkey meatloaf. It was so good! The recipe was so simple and I felt good eating it because it wasn't greasy like meatloaf made from ground beef.



I found this at Kraftfoods.com


1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen LOUIS RICH Pure Ground Turkey, thawed
1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1 small onion, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup ketchup, divided
Make It
PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Mix all ingredients except 1/4 cup of the ketchup.
SHAPE into loaf in 12x8-inch baking dish.
BAKE 45 to 50 minutes or until cooked through. Let stand 5 minutes. Top with remaining 1/4 cup ketchup.
Thats all for now if you made it this far please leave a kind comment and let me know you were by for a visit.
Till next time.
Susan

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and welcome to my very first blog entry. My name is Susan and I live in Central Florida. Here I am doing my treadmill workout .I decided to start writing this blog as a way of sharing my keep fit journey and my struggles to lose another 20 pounds and to offer support and hope to others. I have been working out since the end of March 1997 when I weighed a whopping 197 pounds today I weigh 164 my height is 5'6. Originally back in 1997 I lost 40 pounds and I maintained this weight loss for a few years until my mom died back in Dec 2004. Since then in spite of my working out 5 days a week most weeks my weight has been between 168-172 was the highest.

Recently I was able to start slowly losing weight again and this time its for health reasons not vanity. I don't want to have high blood pressure or heart disease....recently I saw my doctor for heart burn issues and was put on Nexium. My doctor said that losing weight would help alleviate my digestive issues so that is even more incentive! I struggle with eating right not enough veggies and to many sweets and calories on a daily basis. My daily afternoon drink of non-diet soda is a major downfall, and yes I know its bad for me but I crave the sweetness.

Well, I think that is more than enough of a introduction post. I have been reading others blogs and been inspired to start blogging and to eat better as well as keep up the keeping fit. Till next time...

Susan