Muscles I forgot I had??

So, my fabulous workout buddy ( my daughter) thought it would be a great idea to change things up a bit at the gym. We have been reading lots of workout articles, mostly in Oxygen Magazine, and they do all talk about having a variety in your workout. You get used to a routine, and so do your muscles. The best thing to do? Have a variety in your workouts, so you don't get bored, and you really get a good head to toe workout. So, we switched up the ab workout a bit! HOLY CRAP! Everytime I breathe, stand up, sit down, turn around, lay down or get out of bed, I GROAN!

I LOVE IT!!

Oh! And today was Weigh-In Day. Down another 0.4! WHOOP! WHOOP!

OUTDATED?? Who Cares? They fit!!

There is almost nothing about losing weight that I love more than going through my closet and trying on clothes I haven't worn in years! I have a pair of jeans I keep trying on, knowing one day they WILL fit! I woke up yesterday feeling even lighter than the day before and I ran into the closet, pulled them off the hanger, and slipped into them. TA DA!! It felt sooo good. I decided no matter what the temperature on this hot summer day, I was going to wear them. When I put them on later in the day, with my tank top and flip flops, I realized they were a bit dated. And actually, they were a little low on my hips, and a little wide in the butt. So I decided to roll them up, wear them low, and pretend they were "boyfriend" jeans. I think I pulled it off. My daughter and husband said they looked great!! :)

I am also now wearing regular bra's, instead of sports bra's all day. Because I can.

Bootcamp Anyone?

So my neighbor sends me a text. "Wanna go to bootcamp? It's bring a friend day.". I think to myself, what the heck? I've been hitting the gym hard. Sure! Love to!
So she picks me up at 6:20 A.M!!! Who knew the sun was up?? We head to bootcamp. I am going to KICK SOME ASS!! Well, HOLY COW! That was one hour of nothing but trying to make my body do things it didn't want to do. Well, ok. That's maybe a slight exageration, but it was much harder than I expected it to be. I did feel like a million bucks on the way home. So much so, that I told my daughter (my WW buddy) I still planned on going to the gym after our WW meeting that morning. And I DID!
Weigh in went super! Gained 0.6 last week, and lost 1.6 this week, so in all, down another pound. Weighing in at 173 this week. YAHOO! YIPEEE! Feeling good!
Went to a get together with some girls I had not seen in months. It felt so good when they all made such a big deal about how different and how good I looked. I..... ATE..... IT...... UP!!
That dreaded "Work Lake Trip" was scheduled for this weekend, but has now been put off for two weeks. I was hoping to be at 170 for the lake weekend, so looks like that might happen after all!
Hoping to make some yummy new recipes over the weekend!

Maybe shop for a new pair of pants???

Did that REALLY just happen?

Many mornings, I wake up, and I just FEEL thinner. On those mornings I go into my closet and I pull out this pair of jeans (the first time, there was an actual DUST line where they were on the hanger). I have had this pair of jeans in my closet for a very long time. They are a size 10. I know at one point I wore them, but it didn't last very long. Well, guess what? I put them on this morning!!! I mean, I wouldn't wear them out of the house, and I'm pretty sure it would be hard to breathe if I'd had them on very long, BUT I GOT THEM ON AND ZIPPED!! How freaking cool is that??

Um.......Uh Oh......

Well, I haven’t had a day like yesterday in a really, really long time. I totally lost all control. I let the stress of the day get the best of me. AND to make things MORE frustrating for me, I did ALL the things you are supposed to do when you want to eat out of stress. I took a walk, I called a friend (my hubby), I played with my dog, I read a magazine on the deck! Then……….I lost it. The minute I was alone in the house, I ate cheese and crackers, immediately followed by a handful of pretzels, finishing this off with a WW mini fudge bar. As I am throwing away my fudge bar stick, the oven timer goes off and I eat a piece of baked tilapia right out of the dish it was baked in, followed by two bowls of cereal (WHAT??), followed by a handful of peanuts AND a handful of  chocolate chips, followed by two very large glasses of wine! I was supposed to be saving these “Wine Points” for a wedding reception this Saturday night.  Then I filled up the third glass and headed to the bathtub!! I didn’t actually TASTE or enjoy anything I ate. I was very aware of what was happening, but honestly had no power to stop it! I felt like TOTAL crap!!

If you are a WW member, you know we have an allowance of points we can use throughout the week for whatever we would like. I kept thinking to myself, this CAN’T be more than 49 points of crap! Can it??? I really have NO idea. But probably.

So I spent my time in the bathtub reflecting…….(finishing my wine)……texting humorous (or so I thought) messages to friends. I REALLY needed a laugh. I accepted responsibility for my poor handling of the stressful day, and then sent a text to a WW member for support. Of course she said all the right things to make me feel better, and to remind me that I am human, and not perfect. Thank you Jo!

What I have learned. I have been going to WW meetings now for almost two years consecutively. I have lost 32 pounds VERY slowly. I have changed so many things about my lifestyle in general. There are going to be bumps in the road. Maybe yesterday was more of a hill. But it happened, and it’s over. To help me avoid that in the future, I will remember how crappy I felt afterwards, and take a drive, turn up the tunes, and get myself out of the house until I know I have dealt with the stress. 

Today? Make the best choices and hit the gym hard!

It’s a new day.

Wednesday Weigh-In!

Up 0.4 today. No Biggie. We went to a party Saturday night and I may have over indulged on the snacks a bit, but I had a great time getting dressed and feeling great about the way I looked. The compliments at the party were great too!
I upped my weights at the gym last week, and I upped my reps, and I upped the amount of things I am doing, so I think I will chalk up the gain to nothing more than MUSCLE!! :)
Crazy busy day planned, so off to the gym, but had to get an update in on the weigh in.

My daughter has lost over 7 pounds in 4 weeks! I am SO proud!!

Can't sleep from excitement!

This is crazy, but the last few weeks have really gone well on the scale. I'm averaging a pound a week, and although that really doesn't sound like much, lets keep in mind I stayed around the same weight for about six month's. This morning I couldn't sleep and all I could think about was getting up and trying on clothes in my closet! Now, I pretty much spent all day YESTERDAY in my closet trying on and re-trying on, just so I could say, "Yep, that really does fit now!" Or, "This seems big enough now, I'm adding it to the donate bag." So, what did I do this morning? I got up at 4:00 a.m. and fixed a pot of coffee, added my 1 T. of fat free half and half (sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?) and 1 T. of sugar free carmel syrup (I swear it is delicious!) and headed to my closet. I spent about 2 hours trying to put together an outfit for a party we are going to on Saturday night! Then I snuck into my daughter's closet and started stealing stuff from her! I found some REALLY cute stuff I'm certain she forgot she had! Well, that just encouraged me more to shed these pounds, so I headed to the gym for my 30 minutes of cardio, and instead, I did 50 minutes!! Yay me! Pat's on the back all the way home from the gym!

Just think about how much beer I'll be able to drink Saturday night!!

Can I get a Whoop Whoop??

I was VERY pleased at the scale today! I worked really hard at the gym this week, drank LOTS of water, went to a wedding reception Friday night (I assigned myself the designated driver and didn’t eat ANY cake), and a bridal shower on Saturday afternoon,(the hostess did a fabulous job of having TONS of fruit and veggie options) and I lost 3.2 lbs this week! I got another 5 lb award at my WW meeting, and my total loss is at 32.6 lbs. I am not very happy with the way my legs look. I may always have that cellulite thing going on, but I am very pleased with my new arms!



Here’s to success next week on the scale!

Husband's Work Party....AT THE LAKE!!!!

Ok, even I know, skinny girls are self concious in a swim suit. So here I am, a big girl, going to a my husband's work event, at the lake, for an entire weekend. I'm going to be spending this time with people I either don't know very well, or have never met, in my SWIMSUIT!! I don't want to embarrass my husband. (He would say I look great though. I'm so blessed to have him.) I've always been pretty good at pretending like I am completely comfortable in my swimsuit, (you know the drill, great sunglasses, lip gloss, cute jewelry, pedicure, great hat, cute cover-up wrapped around the butt and thighs), but I never want to appear TOO comfortable in my suit. I try really hard, TOO HARD, to give the impression that I am confident, but I'm always thinking to myself, "Try not to appear TOO confident, because I don't want anyone to think that I think that I look good". I KNOW what I look like, I'm just pretending like I don't care!! Wow, the whole thought process is exhausting, and this trip is three weeks away!
Okay, I have three weeks. Maybe I up the leg weights at the gym! Increase my existing glute workout! Add more cardio! Yip, add squats to the workout! Drink a gallon of water a day for the next three weeks! Go to the gym twice a day for the next three weeks!! Eat no red meat!!! Ride my bike to the gym!!! No carbs at all!!!! Add an excercise class!!!! Have liposuction on my thighs!!!!!
Okay, really? Follow the plan. Live good. Be positive. Be confident. Make healthy choices.
Go to the lake. Have a great time. Listen to my husband.

I Really Do Like Beer!

My husband and I went to the B&B this weekend and had a great, relaxing, wonderful weekend! There was a little Irish Pub about 50 feet from the B&B, so you KNOW we had to visit. (That was my plan all along.) It was a little cloudy, a little cool, but lots of people were out and about. There were families, older couples holding hands, young couples on dates, and a few scattered bikers here and there. I loved the variety.  I was starving and couldn’t wait to be seated, order a beer, and enjoy the people watching. We had a little wait, so they directed us to the brewery next door. Thank you very much! I was introduced to their summer brew. It had a great taste, not a dark beer, but much more flavor than my MGD 64 I had become used to. Apparently a little higher alcohol content too! As we were seated, all I could think about was indulging in something I hadn’t in a long time. I had no desire for a salad of any kind. NOPE. I went for the beer battered fish and chips. Okay, I did order the kids meal. Kudos’ to me here. It was one huge piece of fish, and I’m pretty sure my French fry portion was equivalent to the regular order. I also ordered a bowl of Cheddar Ale soup. I am just now seeing the BEER pattern here. Oh dear. I rinsed all of this down with two more beers! I did however leave quite a few fries in my basket. I did give myself a little pat on the back for knowing when to stop with the fries. The next morning for breakfast we were served lots of yummies. The first course was fresh fruit and yogurt with a cranberry muffin. I ate it all. I even added real butter to my muffin. The next course was a croissant, three slices of crispy bacon, and a wonderful Italian quiche. I finished off the croissant, two thirds of the quiche and one and a half slices of bacon. I ACTUALLY LEFT FOOD ON MY PLATE!! I have had a hard time with that, feeling like I am wasting food. But I am learning to get over it. Typically, at a restaurant, I can take the leftovers home, and usually, I do. All of that being said, today was Weigh-In Day. Up 0.2 lbs. No surprise here. I knew from journaling I had overdone this week. My only real surprise was that I didn’t gain more than I did. It is possible my over indulging could show up next week on the scale, and I am determined to not let that happen. This gain, as I have learned, is expected in the weight loss journey. The fact that I didn’t hit the gym ONCE this week didn’t help either. My schedule was CRAZY this week, and I had two over nights away from home. I try to plan well for those occasions, and I have become much better at it. My plan to only consume an alcoholic beverage one day this week went drastically down hill. I think I actually had ONE day that I didn’t have an alcoholic beverage? EGADS!! That’s where the journaling can really be effective. I can look back at my week and see the mistakes I made, even though I had a pretty good idea.

Today after the weight watcher meeting, my WW buddy (who is kicking ass and lost 1.0 lb this week) and I headed to the gym. We both had an awesome workout of cardio and weight lifting! Then to the grocery store to the salad bar to load up on veggies and a little (very little) taco meat topped with salsa! This is our favorite new lunch!

Here’s to a successful week!