Friday, April 1, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
I'm Baaaaack!!!!
Hello dear friends - is it okay if I call you that? It's been more than a while....closer to five months. I've actually had a few people tell me that I really need to update this thing and believe me, I've been thinking about it for quite some time (almost 5 months, ha! ha!) and first there was the holidays - my weight went back up to around 239 and I literally struggled, like I have the past YEAR to get on the losing track again and it just wasn't working...so I gave up. Just kidding. I actually just kept trying to get back in that special weight loss zone - where I am not only physically in it, but mentally in it - and I found my zone at the beginning of March. I am eating A LOT better - conscious of my decisions, weighing (ha) my options when it comes to eating out and closely following a plan that at this point shall remain nameless.....but do not fear - the plan is realistic and something I could do for a very long time. As of this past Saturday I weighed in at 225.1 - I now weigh 2 pounds less than when I got pregnant with the twins 8 years ago. I still weigh in every morning, but my official, put-it-in-the-books weigh in is every Saturday morning. I have lost 14 pounds in about 4 weeks and it is almost laughable to see my body respond to me eating well again - it's been waiting for this moment for over a year while I pushed it at the gym and then crapped around with my eating and now it is very responsive and I can't wait to see what the next 45 pounds brings. More later - and by later I mean Saturday or Sunday - not August = ) I will get some pictures up here too!
this is me now
this is me now
Thursday, November 11, 2010
My Theme Song.....
Yep, that's right. I have a theme song because I'm delusional cool like that. I love this song by Miss Natasha.....it makes for some great running/lifting motivation. Enjoy!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Hardest Things I Do At The Gym....
Do you have those one, two or maybe three things at the gym that are absolutely hard? No matter how many people do them well, it seems like you struggle with them? Here are a FEW of mine:
1. Push-Ups: I blame my height - at 6'2" this girl has some long limbs...I totally rock the kneeling "girl" push-ups, but don't ask me to do the "boy" push-ups because I can only eek out 2 or 3. And don't even get me started on the "tricep push-ups" I can only go down about 1/2 way while I'm on my knees because I definitely fear that my face will meet the floor with a great big thud. We do these at BodyCombat and while I've definitely improved a lot, they are still very challenging.
2. Running: I don't know why, but it is a true struggle for me to run. I think I have good form, but I am just so slow - doesn't mean that I don't try, I do - but I don't have that natural gift of gracefully trotting around the track - it's more like a clopping =)
3. Step-Mill: Holy Cow! If you want to see Em sweat take a gander at me while I'm on the step-mill. It is ridiculously hard for me. I sweat, I breathe hard, I sweat some more and pray to make it to the end of my workout. I would honestly rather RUN (see #2) than do the step-mill. That being said....
I do all 3 of these things at least twice a week. I've started "warming up" with a mile run around the track at the gym every day. Am I fast? Nope. Does my butt jiggle when I run? You betcha. But I do it because I know that eventually I'll get faster - even if it's only shaving 10 seconds off my time - it's still something. Today I ran my mile in 8:45 - fastest I've ever done it. And at the end of my run I thought "Man, I'm slow, let's see what I can do tomorrow". Same with the step-mill - it was HARD to finish those 40 minutes today and I will get my push-ups on at my class on Wednesday and Friday (assuming my daughter doesn't bite anyone). I guess my point is (cheesy line coming up) the HARD is what makes the journey/day/workout worth it - because then it ends up that I've really accomplished something that day.
My question for you is, what are you doing or maybe avoiding that is hard for you to do in your workouts? Think of something you can do this week that will take you out of your "routine" and really help you push yourself!
this is me now
1. Push-Ups: I blame my height - at 6'2" this girl has some long limbs...I totally rock the kneeling "girl" push-ups, but don't ask me to do the "boy" push-ups because I can only eek out 2 or 3. And don't even get me started on the "tricep push-ups" I can only go down about 1/2 way while I'm on my knees because I definitely fear that my face will meet the floor with a great big thud. We do these at BodyCombat and while I've definitely improved a lot, they are still very challenging.
2. Running: I don't know why, but it is a true struggle for me to run. I think I have good form, but I am just so slow - doesn't mean that I don't try, I do - but I don't have that natural gift of gracefully trotting around the track - it's more like a clopping =)
3. Step-Mill: Holy Cow! If you want to see Em sweat take a gander at me while I'm on the step-mill. It is ridiculously hard for me. I sweat, I breathe hard, I sweat some more and pray to make it to the end of my workout. I would honestly rather RUN (see #2) than do the step-mill. That being said....
I do all 3 of these things at least twice a week. I've started "warming up" with a mile run around the track at the gym every day. Am I fast? Nope. Does my butt jiggle when I run? You betcha. But I do it because I know that eventually I'll get faster - even if it's only shaving 10 seconds off my time - it's still something. Today I ran my mile in 8:45 - fastest I've ever done it. And at the end of my run I thought "Man, I'm slow, let's see what I can do tomorrow". Same with the step-mill - it was HARD to finish those 40 minutes today and I will get my push-ups on at my class on Wednesday and Friday (assuming my daughter doesn't bite anyone). I guess my point is (cheesy line coming up) the HARD is what makes the journey/day/workout worth it - because then it ends up that I've really accomplished something that day.
My question for you is, what are you doing or maybe avoiding that is hard for you to do in your workouts? Think of something you can do this week that will take you out of your "routine" and really help you push yourself!
this is me now
Friday, October 29, 2010
A Promise Is A Promise
Please, do not adjust your computer screens - this is actually happening.....blogging twice in one week. I know, it is a little freaky, but just keep reading and everything will be alright. I promised to share some of my new favorites, but first I want to share a "victory" from this week.
Wednesdays and Fridays I take a BodyCombat class at the gym. I have been going for probably 4 or 5 months and I looove it. It is hard, makes me wish I was dead and I look forward to the classes each week. This past Wednesday I dropped my sweet girl Livvy off at the gym daycare and headed up to class. About 20 minutes in one of the workers came to get me out of class - I thought maybe she had a stinky diaper - turns out she BIT a little boys ear.....needless to say, we were sent home for the day. And while I was very upset with my daughter, I confess that I was also very upset for myself. It's been a rough week - I've been doing what I do and for some reason my 234.4 has been a stinkin' 238.3 for much of the week (I was down to 236.7 this morning). I was so upset that I drove across the parking lot to Target - I had a plan..... a plan to eat. I mean, what else was I going to do ???? I could feel all of that anxiety of missing my class and the frustration of jumping back up few pounds building up inside and I instinctively went for the quick fix. I sat in my truck in the parking lot of Target with the engine running for a good 5 minutes - going over in my mind the advantages of getting some junk to eat, how it would make me feel better and make the "situation" not so upsetting. Then I looked at my daughter in the backseat and I wondered what kind of example I was being - and why her biting a kids ear was a free pass to hurt myself - because I would be hating what I'd done a few hours after the binge..... So I drove me and my Mike Tyson daughter home - I immediately pulled out the stroller, put my water in the basket, grabbed my i-pod and went for a great walk/jog for 40 minutes. And I got to take my class today, sweated like crazy, wished for death and left excited for it happen all over again next week.
Moving on...... here are some of the things I've been eating the past month or so.
Breakfast for the past couple of months has been oatmeal. I buy the huge bags of the regular Quaker Oats from Costco - it has to be cooked for 5minutes on the stove. So I set my timer for 3:30 and while that's going I slice up a banana (small or medium, whatever works) and stir the banana in for the last 1:30. After it's all cooked up and in the bowl I add a ton of cinnamon, a packet of splenda/truvia/whatever and add a 1/2 cup of almond or 1% milk when I'm ready to eat it. Tastes like banana nut bread - it is so good and filling.
For my post workout snack I have been having a Myoplex CarbAdvantage chocolate fudge shake and a peanut butter tote. You can find the recipe here - Corinne over at Phit-n-Phat provided links to her recipe book at SparkPeople. Me and Livvy loooove teh pb totes - I end up cutting them into eight squares and we each have one 4 days a week. Make sure you wrap each one in tinfoil after you cut them - mine take around 45 to 50 minutes to cook and I always sprinkle one packet of splenda on top of the whole thing right after it comes out of the oven.
For lunches I have been eating - drumroll please......... Michaelina's Frozen Entree's - I am serious as a heart attack. My beautiful sister Glamazon got me hooked. She loves the Lean Shrimp and Pasta (totally delish) and I'm a bit addicted to the regular manicotti. It seems like a weird thing to have, but they are low in calories and it helps me through the toughest part of my day - I always pair it with a spinach salad: 3 cups of spinach, 1/3 avacado, 2 T. Light Zesty Italian and 1/2 T. of sunflower seeds. In this picture I added 1/4 c. of garbanzo beans and I really did NOT like them in the salad.
Wednesdays and Fridays I take a BodyCombat class at the gym. I have been going for probably 4 or 5 months and I looove it. It is hard, makes me wish I was dead and I look forward to the classes each week. This past Wednesday I dropped my sweet girl Livvy off at the gym daycare and headed up to class. About 20 minutes in one of the workers came to get me out of class - I thought maybe she had a stinky diaper - turns out she BIT a little boys ear.....needless to say, we were sent home for the day. And while I was very upset with my daughter, I confess that I was also very upset for myself. It's been a rough week - I've been doing what I do and for some reason my 234.4 has been a stinkin' 238.3 for much of the week (I was down to 236.7 this morning). I was so upset that I drove across the parking lot to Target - I had a plan..... a plan to eat. I mean, what else was I going to do ???? I could feel all of that anxiety of missing my class and the frustration of jumping back up few pounds building up inside and I instinctively went for the quick fix. I sat in my truck in the parking lot of Target with the engine running for a good 5 minutes - going over in my mind the advantages of getting some junk to eat, how it would make me feel better and make the "situation" not so upsetting. Then I looked at my daughter in the backseat and I wondered what kind of example I was being - and why her biting a kids ear was a free pass to hurt myself - because I would be hating what I'd done a few hours after the binge..... So I drove me and my Mike Tyson daughter home - I immediately pulled out the stroller, put my water in the basket, grabbed my i-pod and went for a great walk/jog for 40 minutes. And I got to take my class today, sweated like crazy, wished for death and left excited for it happen all over again next week.
Moving on...... here are some of the things I've been eating the past month or so.
Breakfast for the past couple of months has been oatmeal. I buy the huge bags of the regular Quaker Oats from Costco - it has to be cooked for 5minutes on the stove. So I set my timer for 3:30 and while that's going I slice up a banana (small or medium, whatever works) and stir the banana in for the last 1:30. After it's all cooked up and in the bowl I add a ton of cinnamon, a packet of splenda/truvia/whatever and add a 1/2 cup of almond or 1% milk when I'm ready to eat it. Tastes like banana nut bread - it is so good and filling.
For my post workout snack I have been having a Myoplex CarbAdvantage chocolate fudge shake and a peanut butter tote. You can find the recipe here - Corinne over at Phit-n-Phat provided links to her recipe book at SparkPeople. Me and Livvy loooove teh pb totes - I end up cutting them into eight squares and we each have one 4 days a week. Make sure you wrap each one in tinfoil after you cut them - mine take around 45 to 50 minutes to cook and I always sprinkle one packet of splenda on top of the whole thing right after it comes out of the oven.
For lunches I have been eating - drumroll please......... Michaelina's Frozen Entree's - I am serious as a heart attack. My beautiful sister Glamazon got me hooked. She loves the Lean Shrimp and Pasta (totally delish) and I'm a bit addicted to the regular manicotti. It seems like a weird thing to have, but they are low in calories and it helps me through the toughest part of my day - I always pair it with a spinach salad: 3 cups of spinach, 1/3 avacado, 2 T. Light Zesty Italian and 1/2 T. of sunflower seeds. In this picture I added 1/4 c. of garbanzo beans and I really did NOT like them in the salad.
This week was interesting - by interesting I mean mentally hard - but I feel like I "won" the week and can't wait for the next seven days.
this is me now.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Are any of you still out there? If you are.....bless your hearts! Thanks for staying interested - whether it's interested in if I'm still losing weight or if I've started gaining it back - whatever floats your boat =)
These past 6 weeks have been interesting....actually more like the past 4 weeks. The first 2 of the 6 weeks since I've posted were pretty much like most of my year has been...... struggling like crazy just to "maintain" or not gain too much weight. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but this changing my life and being different and focusing on the journey and not the destination crap is HARD.
It's hard to find new ways to motivate myself, it's hard coming up with new routines at the gym, it's hard driving home from a trip to Target or Costco and not stopping at McDonald's for lunch, it's hard to lose 63 pounds and then gain some of them back and fluctuate between a 55 pound and 60 pound loss for 6 freakin' months (that's not just hard, it totally sucks too!)
But it's also definitely hard to be so heavy that you only have 3 shirts to wear, it's hard to be so big that all you do is sweat - doesn't matter if it's the middle of summer or the middle of winter, it's hard to LOOK at yourself at 297 pounds and feel like an absolute failure.
Both things are hard - it's hard to change and it's just as hard to stay the same..... I guess it just depends on how "hard" I want my life to be.
Well, I've kept going and it finally clicked again.... thanks in part to my sister, the beautiful Glamazon , we had a conversation about a month ago and she was telling me about how much weight she had been losing and in the middle of our convo I recognized her journey because it was a lot like mine - more like the 2009 journey and not so much the 2010 journey - and all of a sudden everything clicked again! As of Saturday I weighed in at 234.4 - I have lost almost 8 pounds in the last 4 weeks. I feel happy and focused and driven....I feel like my old, new self. I have some new favorites - as in breakfast, lunch and snacks that I will be posting about later this week...promise!
this is me now
These past 6 weeks have been interesting....actually more like the past 4 weeks. The first 2 of the 6 weeks since I've posted were pretty much like most of my year has been...... struggling like crazy just to "maintain" or not gain too much weight. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but this changing my life and being different and focusing on the journey and not the destination crap is HARD.
It's hard to find new ways to motivate myself, it's hard coming up with new routines at the gym, it's hard driving home from a trip to Target or Costco and not stopping at McDonald's for lunch, it's hard to lose 63 pounds and then gain some of them back and fluctuate between a 55 pound and 60 pound loss for 6 freakin' months (that's not just hard, it totally sucks too!)
But it's also definitely hard to be so heavy that you only have 3 shirts to wear, it's hard to be so big that all you do is sweat - doesn't matter if it's the middle of summer or the middle of winter, it's hard to LOOK at yourself at 297 pounds and feel like an absolute failure.
Both things are hard - it's hard to change and it's just as hard to stay the same..... I guess it just depends on how "hard" I want my life to be.
Well, I've kept going and it finally clicked again.... thanks in part to my sister, the beautiful Glamazon , we had a conversation about a month ago and she was telling me about how much weight she had been losing and in the middle of our convo I recognized her journey because it was a lot like mine - more like the 2009 journey and not so much the 2010 journey - and all of a sudden everything clicked again! As of Saturday I weighed in at 234.4 - I have lost almost 8 pounds in the last 4 weeks. I feel happy and focused and driven....I feel like my old, new self. I have some new favorites - as in breakfast, lunch and snacks that I will be posting about later this week...promise!
Monday, September 13, 2010
One Year Older and Wiser Too
I turned 33 yesterday. I'm not one of those people that gets freaked out by getting older - didn't care when I turned 30 and I'm hoping to feel the same way about 40, 50, 60 (you get the picture). This year for my birthday I got exactly what I wanted - a Wendy's card from grandma and grandpa (such a treat!), a gift card from my parents, a gift certificate for a 1 hour massage (I'm excited beyond belief about it), an i-tunes card - I can never have too many great songs for my workouts, from the hubs, and a beautiful bracelet from my daughters. The hubs made an awesome cake and we tolerated enjoyed a nice, crazy, noisy Sunday with the kids. I am looking forward to this next year - a year of trying to live a balanced life, a year of respecting my body and appreciating the gift that it truley is, of trying new things and seeing endless possibilities.
this is me now.
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