24 miles down, 341 to go :)

i lifted weights too tonight.

and i avoided snacking all afternoon. I am so proud of myself for that one. Even when there was a platter of cinnamon rolls in the office kitchen. I'm not even tempted!

21.5 miles down / 343.5 to go :)

Daily Log, etc.

• 19 miles down, 346 to go!!

• i am also proud of myself b/c tonight at the Y i participated in a class - core conditioning or something like that...i have always wanted to join in a class since i've been working out at gyms but tonight was the first time i actually did it. i was a bit uncoordinated compared to the others there but oh well....at least i did it!

• i joined back up with WW today. i was excited to find that i weigh right about what i did the last time i officially weighed in there in october. so, while i was not successful at losing any more weight, i was successful at maintaining a weight. and that's a lot better than the way i used to be (i gained 5-10 lbs a year all through college until the day that my former personal trainer pointed that out and i realized if i didn't change that i would weigh at least 300 lbs in 10 years...)

• anyways, i am really looking forward to shedding the last 10-20 lbs. if i lose 15 more then i will be at the weight i was when i was in state fair band right before my junior year of high school. that's pretty much the skinniest i've ever known myself to be. i hardly look like "me" in the pics from back then. dave asked me the other day if i could even visualize myself skinnier than that. i said "no" - and i think maybe that's part of what has held me back since august... anyways, it's time now to go to the next level!

• i'm feeling very hungry after my first day of not cheating on the WW plan at all in probably 6 months. but not too hungry. i think i have to get back in the mindset that i had last spring - being a little hungry is a good thing cuz it means i'm probably going to lose weight. YES!

Weight Watchers re-visited

I'm re-joining WW on Wed. I want to lose about 20 more lbs. I want to stop eating junk. I want to feel the way I did last spring when I would watch 2, 3, and 4 lbs melt away each week... I'm joining with a friend from work. We are going to keep each other accountable in the midst of all the pizza, fun-sized candy bars, cookies, donuts, pretzels, and other various snacks that wind up sitting out in the office kitchen!

Daily Log

17 miles down, 348 to go

Daily Log

13.5 miles down / 351.5 to go

lifted weights too

Daily Log of Activity

10 miles down / 355 to go

And I lifted weights for the first time in a while this evening!!

6.5 miles down / 358.5 to go :)

Daily Log of Activity

3.5 miles down /361.5 miles to go

...and now i'm thinking i might need new tennis shoes. my toes hurt!!!!

2007, here I come!!

So I was browsing thru this one girls' blog this evening. http://miralas.blogspot.com/2007/01/happy-new-year.html I found her site a while back.... I've never actually commented on it or anything. I just think it's cool cuz she often puts on neat Western US pics and Dave & I once dreamt of moving to Wyoming, so...I guess I'm living vicariously thru her. So, anyhow, I did not know that she'd lost 30 lbs last year. Or that she read the whole Bible.

I was also checking out Chris & Jenni's site (they're the ones who had the house fire earlier this year) http://www.chrisandjenni.com/2007/01/02/follow-the-leader/ I decided that I should set a New Years Resolution so that I will stay more on track but do like Jenni said her pastor suggested and state what I'm not going to do and what I will do instead, since the Bible does that.

I want to set a goal of running/walking 365 miles this year. I know I won't be able to run 500 miles like the girl in Wyoming but I will start logging the miles that I run/walk at the gym or outside from now on so that I know what kind of progress I'm making. This goal should ensure that I never can take much time off exercising this year :) And that should lead me to lose more weight...YES!

Lesson Learned...

So, while I've been out trying to be "Super-engineer" the past 2 weeks, I've successfully reduced my workout time to about 30 mins/week. I have felt down, depressed (hence all the complaining on the our regular blog), and I have gained back some of the weight I lost in November.

Yesterday I was feeling really discouraged. I felt like my fat was growing. Ah! So, David and I were discussing how I can get back on track before we went to bed last night.. I decided there were a couple problems.

1. I'm not tracking all my food intake anymore. I need to be more regular about writing it all down.
2. I'm not getting some of the pep talks I got at the WW meetings since I quit. (But I still don't think that I will re-join yet. Dave convinced me that it would be a greater victory to lose weight on my own.)
3. I am trying to juggle working extra hours, preparing for Christmas, and maintain the same level of health/fitness and plan out all my meals to be healthy. It is just not working. I think in my mind that if I work extra hours at my job that it shouldn't effect my health/fitness, etc. I thought that I was just not used to it but maybe next week I could begin to handle the working extra and still not suffer health/fitness-wise. However, last night I started thinking about it realistically.... If I work an extra hour each day at my job, then that takes away the hour in the evening I would spend at the gym. If I decide to go to the gym anyways (which I usually don't do cuz I am tired at that point and feel I deserve a night off cuz I worked so hard), then I end up getting home an hour later. I am grouchier when I get home then and rush through making dinner because I'm starving. I make poor choices about what to eat or I just plain overeat good foods b/c I'm "starving". Anyways, then David suffers b/c I get in a bad mood from waiting to eat, and he has to wait too, and then I gain weight and feel bad about my looks and...yeah....then we just don't have the same relationship. Whew! It's a domino effect. What a disaster. Just from working a little extra. Ahhhhhh.... Anyways, so we decided that I should really make working out a priority. I will not lose weight even if I eat the same amount if I'm not exercising like I normally do. We're paying for a gym membership. I might as well use it.
4. But then............I worked till 6:15 tonight (an extra hour and 45 mins....). I called Dave. He said he'd be at work till at least 8. So I worked out and came home to an empty house.

And now I'm wondering..........is this all there is to life???

(Ok. So I didn't really mean to end this post all depressed-sounding...I really am feeling good about stuff since I worked out. It's an instant mood lifter. I just wish Dave were here to share it with me....ok. yeah. depressed-sounding again. I think I should just give up and call it a night! See ya!)

lost 4.2 lbs in november. yes!

New Diet Strategy

well, i decided, in an attempt to save money, to not officially do weight watchers anymore. i'm gonna try it on my own for now on. i feel that i need to buy a new more accurate scale to do this. so we probably will this weekend. this is a little scary for me but i'm determined to prove to myself that i can lose weight on my own without the structured program...

Fitness Goal Attained!!!!!!!!!

Ever since last July (...15 months ago...) when I began working out consistently, I have had the goal to be able to run a mile. And if I could run a mile, I would like to run it faster than I did in high school (which, let's face it, was no record...12:30 was the fastest then...)

So, anyhow, last July I could barely run 10 seconds without coughing and wheezing...I was so out of shape. Ever since, I've been hitting the gym 2-5 times / week. I usually try to do 30 mins of cardio (treadmill, elliptical, stairstepper, etc.) in addition to some weight training. Gradually, I've trained myself to run. I have been slowly increasing the amount of time that I run within each 30 min period. In March, I began working out in intervals of 1 or 2 mins of walking and running for a total of 30 mins. Slowly over the summer I increased the amount of running time. In September on a biz trip to Knoxville, I managed to run the longest ever - 5 minutes straight. I was so ecstatic! Then I began increasing to 6, 7, 8 minutes of running. Last Friday, Oct 6th, I ran 10 minutes then I decided if I just kept going a little longer, I would have run a full mile. So I did it. I ran 1 whole mile in 11:20. I was so proud of myself. Monday I tried to do it again. I was a little under the weather and did not quite make my time from Friday. Ran it in 11:46 though. I know that these are not stellar times by any means. I know people who run 5 minutes miles. But for someone who couldn't even run 10 seconds straight just over a year ago, I think that I've made fantastic strides!! I feel on top of the world!! YES!

Well, it really pays to write down goals....

....and write down what I'm eating...

September is starting off really well. I lost 4.4 lbs this week. (I weighed in today so I'd know where I was before going on vacation.) I'm over halfway to my goal of weight loss for the whole month of September! I just have to be good and not gain it all back this week...

Today at weigh-in I found out I'd lost another 1.2 lbs. I have almost recooped the 3+ lbs that I gained a few weeks back. It boosted my confidence to see a loss over 1 lb. Kinda made me want to keep going.

At the meeting, we talked about setting goals for September and writing down things we will do to try to reach our goals. I have decided to set a goal to lose 8 lbs in the month of September. That will be 2 lbs/week basically. I know that I need to step it up a gear and setting a goal like this might just help. I think I will do several things to reach this goal:

1. Reduce the number of 100 calorie packs, manufactured foods I eat. Eat more naturally occuring foods such as fruits, veggies.
2. TRACK my points. Stay within the recommended ranges (i.e., actually FOLLOW the WW plan!)
3. Reduce the number of times I eat out in a week.
4. Reduce the number of desserts and snacks I eat.
5. Only eat when I need nourishment, not because I'm bored, happy, sad, etc.
6. If making something at home, change the recipes to be healthier.
7. Remember that although I look a lot better now, I still want to lose almost 20 lbs!!!

cheerleading for myself...

weighed in yesterday. lost 0.6 lbs since my last weigh-in august 7th. i think that's pretty good considering all the food i had for our anniversary, then eating out while on biz trips the last 10 days. i feel a renewed commitment. i only have about 20 more lbs that i want to lose. i know that i can do it. i want to get down another size. then i can really begin to SHOP! YAY!

revamping the diet

thinking about going on a "raw" diet where i eat nothing cooked for as long as possible. only fruits, veggies, nuts, etc. no meat. or maybe the protein shake thing again for 2 days. i need to jump start the weight loss again, stop eating 100 calorie packs of doritos and cheetos cuz i feel it's not as bad since it's only 100 cals. if i do something drastic like this it will psychologically shrink my stomach and maybe i won't feel the need to eat as much as i have been the last couple of weeks.

Ahhhhhhhhhh...gained 2.4 lbs this week. A little discouraged but deep down I know that I am just not trying as hard as I did when I started this diet. I need to be realistic and stay focused. I feel fat tonight.................ate too much in a state of depression after weighing in I think...