well, its been awhile

Its been quite some time since my last post.


I am one, YES, ONE, semester away from graduating with my RN and taking my NCLEX. Along this fun filled journey called nursing school, I gained some weight. No, not some, a lot. I was stress eating and eating the yummy fried potatoes and cheese sticks at clinicals and not working out. And for some odd reason, I was gaining weight.

I have decided to lose the weight once and for all, and to that end, I came up with a radical idea. I wasn't going to diet. What??? That's crazy.....how do you expect to lose weight if you don't diet? Its really actually quite simple, so simple in face, that it is ingenious. Instead of going on a diet for a few weeks and falling off as I inevitably do, I would simply change the way that I eat. Go grocery shopping with a plan. Pack lunches for work and clinicals this upcoming semester. Buy fruits and veggies, lean proteins. Reduce my carbs. Drink water vs. iced tea and diet soda.

Eating right is a key component of weight loss, but you also need to work out. Ugh, I know. It feels good after your done, but its hard to make yourself workout. Therefore, my husband and myself are holding each other accountable and we work out together. We have a routine...20 minutes on treadmill, 20 on the stationary bike. We have a game plan...3 days on, 1 day off to rest.

Thus far, this new way of life is paying off. In a week I am down 4.6lbs. I know as I keep going the weight loss will not be as dramatic and I am prepared for that. But what a way to kick it off!!!

Toodles

Its been awhile

I got off the horse my friends, and I ate that stupid horse too!! I am such an "all or nothing" person that if I cant give something 1000% dedication I just don't do it. A few weeks ago (about the time, ironically that school started), I got lazy and fell off the exercise bandwagon. Eating well followed soon afterwards. And though I was bloated and not feeling terrific about how I was feeling, I justified not working out because I didn't feel well (sinuses are killing me) and I needed to devote my time and attention to school and family, not to myself and working out.

Well, I am getting back on the proverbial horse tonight. I blew it big time eating today, but tomorrow is another day. But tonight I will work out, even if it is just a 1/2 hour workout.

I will do this thing!!!

this is the workout I plan to do to jump back into the whole working out stuff!!

Post by Samantha Gibson.

Slow down and enjoy.

Too often in life, we (or I, at least) rush. Hurry hurry hurry. I even walk fast. I was told many years ago that I could be readily identified due to my fast bouncy gait. I hurry through everything. I loved the invention of the DVR so that I could whiz right through the commercials and get straight to the good stuff. Even, or should I say especially with dieting, I want to whiz right through. I want to step on the scale and see immediate weight loss. I mean after all I worked out really good and dieted YESTERDAY. I should see immediate loss, right??

But that kind of zipping through life and dieting has caused me to yo-yo excessively. If I didn't see an IMMEDIATE weight loss on the scale or inches off on the tape measure, then obviously my venture was in vain and I should just give up now. And of course, if I gave up, then what is the harm in having that delicious hot fudge brownie sundae?

So I am taking a slow it down approach to diet and weight loss this time around. I am getting both short, medium, and long term goals. My short term goal is to lose 10 lbs by the 26th of this month when we go to a waterpark, my medium term goal is to lose another 15 lbs by mid September for my bday and brother's wedding, and my long term goal is to be down a total of 30 lbs and maintain that weight by November.

To aid in these goals, my fridge and freezer are packed with vegetables, fruits, chicken, fish and ground turkey. I bought a lot less packaged and canned foods. Trying to eat fresh foods. No snacks except for vegetables and fruits. The kids love to eat fruit thankfully.


Also I am s l o w i n g down as I eat. I realize that there isn't a race to get done with your food. Eat smaller bites, put the fork down between bites and drink lots of H2O. Let your body experience being full and also being hungry. Learn to know the cues so that you eat when hungry and stop when you are full.

ttfn

Cheat Day

Do you have them? I do. I had one yesterday. I think that the occasional cheat days are good for you....psychologically as well as good for your overall diet. But they do just have to be occasional.

We celebrated Father's Day yesterday, because we figured places would be somewhat less crowded on a Saturday afternoon than they would be on a Sunday afternoon. We let my hubby decide where he wanted to go for lunch and he chose a BBQ place. I didn't do *too* badly there, ate a few fries off of the appetizer platter, got ribs, baked potato and cinnamon apples. I did break down and get a sweet tea though, as opposed to my typical water and lemon. But that meal, although not great for me, wasn't really a scale buster, I still was within my calories for the day eating that meal. After lunch, came home and did my kettlebell workout, so go me!!!

The rest of the day is where it got dicey. We had plans to go to the drive in movies that night. Well, we approach the drive in and it starts to rain, so we looked up another movie and see that we have about 40 minutes to kill. That's when we see a buffet joint, and decide to go in and eat prior to the movie. UGH. I didn't eat a lot there, but the food was greasy and just didn't really appeal to me. I did have a nice salad and fruit though. So even that place didn't do a lot of damage for me. And I did get water...wooot wooot!!!

We get to the theater, purchase our tickets and go sit down. That's when hubby asks if I wanted to get popcorn. Well, the smell of movie theater popcorn overcomes me and me and my daughter come back a few moments later with popcorn and pop for all. Yeah I succumbed and got popcorn and pop for all. I didn't eat *too* much popcorn but did get a cherry coke for myself.

But I figure, it's a day that comes around only once a year, we don't really have anything looming on the horizon for a few weeks until 4th of July. And now, I got all of that out of my system. Can focus on good eating and exercise.

ttfn.

Wow, that's a workout that you feel.

So I decided to shake stuff up a little. I have a bunch of workout dvds but get bored with them after awhile, so to switch it up a little, I bought a kettlebell workout set. Came with a 3-lb and 5-lb kettlebell and a dvd. The dvd is divided into a warm-up and 4 separate workouts, each approx 20 minutes; there is an all over fat burning segment, an abs segment, lower body and upper body. Tues I did the upper body and boy did I feel it yesterday!! Took yesterday off and this morning I did the lower body workout. Am hoping after dinner to get the fat burning workout in. I will do kettlebells 4 times a week and my stationary bike 3 days a week. Well thats the plan at least.

Foodwise I am doing pretty good, bought a bunch of chicken, veggies and fresh fruit. But my main focus as of now is on my workout. If I can get going consistently with exercise, I am sure food will naturally fall into place.

ttfn

Getting back on the horse.....for the millionth time

Once again I have come to the place where I am sick and tired of my (lack of) exercise routine. I do so well for such a while, lose weight, get a ton of positive feedback.....and sit back on my laurels. I am so far away from what I know that I can accomplish. And as I have stated before, I am the queen of excuses. Work, school, kids, husband, taking care of my home. Yeah, so what??!!! I know plenty of other people who tackle all that I do (and some of whom do not have the support of family or a spouse). So if they can do it, why not me??

I think part of the reason I sit back so often is because I never had to work hard at being "skinny" while growing up. Growing up I was nicknamed Olyve Oyle (yes, as in the Popeye heroine) due to my skinniness and long legs and arms. I could eat anything and not have to work out. And I got used to it.

But in my mid to late 20's, my metabolism started to turn on me. I slowly started putting on weight, maybe 5 lbs a year or so. That slow weight gain that you don't really notice until your favorite pair of pants no longer fits quite right. And then I had my "baby" (who will be 10 in December). After her, the weight that had slowly acumilated just wasn't going ANYWHERE.

So over the past several years I have yo-yo'd. I cant begin to tell you the number of times that I have gained and lost the same 5-10 lbs.

But I have a goal. I turn the big 4-0 in September. I want to be in the best shape of my life. Yes, while I may have been skinny growing up, I was nowhere near being fit and healthy. I want the nice shape of having toned muscles and I want my insides to be as healthy as my outside!!!

So once again I am going to embark on a healthy lifestyle. Now to make it last!!!!

I could make a 1000 excuses

Its been a good week and 1/2 since I last worked out and my diet went to pot as well. I could blame it on working a TON of hours, managing school, taking care of the house and family, and having really really crappy sinuses. And that would all be valid. But really, I need to make myself a priority and take that 30 minutes a day or so, especially on the days that I do not work to workout. Eating well needs to be a lifestyle, not something I do now and then to shed a few pounds. I will be coming up on the big 4-0 in a few short months and I want to be fit, fabulous and healthy at 40. Diet is gonna be a major part of the equation. I have been skinny before, some may even argue too skinny, but never have I really been toned and fit. I need to come into the next decade of my life healthier than I have ever been. I know that working out and eating correctly makes me feel leaps and bounds better, but it is so hard to get up and get moving. I need to make working out and eating in a healthy manner such a routine that I dont even think about it, its just part of my life!! 
Well this is a new week. I weighed in today at 151, and took my measurements. Next Monday I want to be at 149, and by the end of May I want to see significant improvements on the scale and on the tape measure. I got off my booty today and walked up to the school to get my daughter after school vs driving and did a 30 minute cardio bootcamp workout. I am drenched in sweat and out of breath and LOVING THE FEELING!!! Dinner was healthy as well, grilled chicken, stuffing, carrots and applesauce. Drinking my water to stay hydrated. 
I will accomplish my goal of being fit, fabulous and healthy at 40. But y'all feel free to light a fire under my booty and give me a kick in the pants if I slack off!!! 

ttfn