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!!

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.

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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.

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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

Take that, stress!!

I worked a long day today and was stressed to the max. Ate a little chocolate that I shouldn't have. Was making excuses the whole way home as to why I didnt need to work out. I was too tired. I worked 14 hours. I have to get up and go to work for another (at least) 12 hours tomorrow. 

I came home and ate the pasta and grilled chicken my hubby made me....YUMMMY. Tooled around on the net for a few minutes. Started to feel guilty for not working out. So I did my 10 minute boot camp workout. It may not have been much, but I SOME fitness in today. I am proud of myself for that one small step today. 

April...here I come

After pretty much abandoning working out and diet in the month of March, I have no one but my self to blame for the 2 lbs that I regained. Time to get serious in April. My goals are:

• work out on my days off, doing both cardio and my arms workout
• watch my portions
• buy and take healthy snacks to work
• buy more fruits and veggies

I really want to get down about 8 lbs this month, so no more excuses, only results.

No more excuses Wed

For whatever reason, the month of March was a bad month for me diet and exercise wise. I only really got in a few good workouts, and my eating slacked off as well. I was eating a lot of fast food and junk. Thats gonna STOP!!!! I went grocery shopping today and got a lot of fruit and healthy snacks....they are already hidden in my car so that I can have them at work....no more running to the vending machine for a quick fix pick me up.

Bought lots of good quality meat. Gonna try to limit my carb consumption. But that is HARD!!!! Ugh. My name is Gretchen and I am addicted to carbohydrates....lol. I need to start eating in moderation again.

I got in a good workout today, feel good about that. I only work 3 days a week, there is no reason I can not work out on my days that I am off.

Feel good after my workout, need to try to shave off at least the 2 lbs that I gained this month by months end. And even though I dont really have any inches or lbs to show a loss of, I will post a picture again this month. I need to post the good, the bad and the ugly.

TTFY

Non scale victory

So I have fallen off the bandwagon the last week or so, busy at work, stress, etc..., I am about to go workout in a few, but first wanted to share some non scale victories of mine.

I havent really felt comfortable in dresses in a long time. I have worn to weddings but never really felt good about my body in them. Well my sister's baby shower is coming up at the end of the month and after losing weight, decided I would try a few on. I ended up buying a really cute dress from Penny's and I dont look or feel like a stuffed sausage in it!!! Woot woot!!!

this is the dress:


The other victory is finally being able to buy and feel good in a pair of skinny jeans. Bought a pair last night and they fit and feel good!!

February photo

I am gonna wait until Friday to do my weight and stats, but wanted to get in this month's photo, well, before the end of the month!!!

I was doing the Fab Ab Challenge on https://www.facebook.com/fitchixcentral and I noticed a real difference in my abdominal area from last month to this month. Next month their challenge is Lean Legs, so I hope I see results from that challenge as well!

Without further ado, here is my photo from February.....

 as a reminder, here is my January photo

goal accomplished?

I had made a goal for myself of getting below 150 by the end of this month. Well I weighed in on Thursday and the result was...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................149.6!!!!!!!

So freaking proud of myself!!! Working out and eating proper portions has been KEY!! I'm not gonna lie and say that I never eat sweets or chocolate because that would be a bold faced lie!! I totally have a Hershey's miniature or 2....and when I get stressed at work I will grab 85 cents and grab a candy bar, because lets face it, sometimes that is the ONLY break I get off of the floor. But I think the main thing is not drinking pop, not even diet pop. And I really try to avoid the frozen dinners, the sodium content is KILLER high.

Here are my stats:

weight 150.8 to 149.6
waist 27.25 to 27.0
hips 37.5 to 37.0
thighs 21.0 to 21.0
arms 10.25 to 10.25

lost a total of 1.2 lbs and .75"

goal by next weekend is to be down another 1-2 lbs and shave off an inch.

No longer in a "love-hate" relationship

Oh boy, I used to have the best "love-hate" relationship with my body. I just loved to hate it. I could pick out all of my imperfections blindfolded. If someone dared to give me a compliment, I had at the ready a litany of things that were not perfect about my body. And boy oh boy, did I love to over indulge and then hate myself for being human.

At the beginning of the year though, when I really started to get serious about weight, something clicked psychologically as well, and I started to accept my body, flaws and all. Don't get me wrong, I am not all the way there yet..I still think parts of my body aren't as great as they could be, but I no longer loathe my body. and that HUGE for me!!!!

That being said, here are my stats from the last week.

Weight lost was 1.2 lbs, down from 152 to 150.8
Waist went from 27.75 to 27.25, down .5"
Hips went from 38 to 37.5, down .5"
thighs went from 21.5 to 21 down .5" x2
arms remained at 10.25

total loss of 2"

Am hoping next week to break into the 140"s and lose another inch or so

Slowly but steadily winning the race

Its been a hot minute and 2, count em, 2 weigh ins since I last updated. Oh dear. Need to stay more on top of this.

Since recap. My weigh in on Feb 1 yielded 0 lbs lost, but I whittled off a grand total of 2.5". Woot, Woot!!!!

Today's weigh in:

previous weight: 153, today's weight 152 for 1 lbs lost
previous waist: 28.5", today's: 27.75" for .5" lost
previous hips: 38.75, today's: 38" for .75" lost
previous thighs: 22", today's: 21.5 for a total of 1" lost
previous arms: 10.25, today's arms: 10.25" for 0" lost

With my work and school schedules really taking a HUGE portion of my time its hard to work out and eat the way that I should, but I am giving it my very best effort


ttfn

weigh in 1-23

Lets just say I wasnt holding out much hope for a great weigh in and measurements today. I worked all weekend, Fri, Sat, Sun, and on the days that I work I really dont have the effort to put in an additional workout. And several of the days at work this past weigh in week were beyond stressful. I know that when I stress I retain weight.

With that said, I managed to lose 1 lb. My waist went down .25", my HIPS went down 1.25" and my thighs and arms remained the same. So a loss of 1 lbs and loss of inches of 1.50". I cant be unhappy with that!! Next week I am striving for 2 lbs loss and another inch or so being whittled off of my body

ttfn

Weigh in 1-16

Am gonna try my best to have a weigh in every week. And taking measurements. I feel that measurements are an even more important guide than the numbers on the scale, which can be thrown off by a variety of factors.

Weight: last week 156, this week 154 (-2 lbs!!!!)

Measurements:
Hips: last week 40.5, this week 40.5 (no loss)
Thighs: last week 23.5 x2 , this week 22.5 x 2 (-2")
waist: last week 30.5, this week 29.25 (-1.25)
arms: no comparables since I just started measuring this week but 10.5 x2

total inches this week is 142.5 with a loss of 3.25"

cant wait to see what next week has in store for me. Would love a loss of about 2-3 lbs and inches lost of about 3-4"

ttfn

January photo

To show my progress along this journey (and it is a journey, believe me) I will document with a photo monthly, to show my (hopeful) progress. Plus its a way to keep me accountable. so without further ado, January photo



I feel I need to work on my stomach, thighs, hips/butt and triceps. Today I did 1/2 hour of just sweat and boy did it kick my bootie!!!! I hope to see progress next month. Also Tues when I do my official weigh in, I start keeping track of measurements as well, my waist, thighs, hips and arms.


ttfy

Mid January update

I know that every year everyone makes the resolution to lose weight and get healthier, well thus far I have really stuck to it. I made a list of goals to accomplish this month.

1. to lose about 8 lbs...that would put me around 149, taking me out of the 150's

2. to drink more water, have been dong really well thus far

3. not grabbing fast food while at work, but instead taking leftovers or lean cuisine, etc...

4. to make working out a priority on my days off, even 1/2 hour a day...it will get hard once I start back with my classes next week, but I can carve out 1/2 hour, it would make me more productive as a person

5. to have an indulgence once a week, a nice desert and having healthy snacks the rest of the week

6. to be more consistent at tracking of MFP

so far I have done pretty well. My eldest is having a darn candy bar sale, but I only ate 2, and went to Subway once for lunch, due to the leftovers I set aside were eaten by others. The scale is being kind to me as well. Lost about 2 lbs since the beginning of the month. I have been consistent with my food and exercise tracking and with exercise in general. I havent had any pop since new years day. I am all about this. Now when school starts next week, i really hope I still have that same enthusiasm