Tough It Out Tuesday...

Forgive me for my delayed posts. I haven't felt well all weekend and just did not take the time to report in. I weighed myself yesterday and was at 215.8 lbs. I went up a few but am happy I did not go up more than that as the holiday was very challenging and I found myself eating all the things I shouldn't have with minimal to no portion control thoughts in mind. I haven't worked out since last Wed. What a debbie downer I know but not feeling well has added to this, and again an excuse but I have literally had no energy. Today will be my starting fresh type of day and I will maybe walk but nothing extensive until I am feeling better. I'll check back in Friday...Have A Good One :-)

Mo Better Monday

Since I do this blog I always have to be honest about my success and failures. This last week was not the greatest. I had too many reasons for not working out i.e. hair appt on Wednesday, my Project Blueprint graduation on Thursday evening...no reason on Friday, Sat & Sun besides I just did not feel like doing it so I didn't. I did well eating however I had about 4 slices of Sweet Potato pie throughout the weekend, ok so maybe I didn't do well, but I did outside of the pie. 2 of those slices of pie I had late Sunday evening---->NO BUENO. With my many bumps in the road this week I am mentally prepared to kick myself in the ass this week and go hard to make up for my laziness last week. My weigh in this morning had me at 215.4 lbs which is still a loss but it could have been greater had I did what I needed to do. Today is a new day!! Until next time....

And The Beat Goes On....

I have continued to eat well and get in my workouts. I did not work out tonight because I had my hair done. You all should understand that!! I also will not get in a workout tomorrow as I am participating in my graduation ceremony for a program called Project Blueprint which is sponsored by the United Way..so again the hair as to look decent therefore I have to forgo my workout. I will make up for these two days of no exercise by completing a workout on Saturday and Sunday which is my off days.

My eating has remained in check and I am focused on eating 3 meals and 2 snacks so I do not feel hungry. This will allow me to stay full and not crave things I shouldn't have. I hope to have some more exciting dialogue for you on Friday. I had a wonderful quote I wanted to share but I left it in my car and it is too far away from my bed and outside so my laziness is telling me not to move, I am warm and comfy so I will share it with you on Friday. Have a good one!!

Week 2 Has Begun....

The weekend was very challenging. I did not have much to eat on Saturday since I was at a scrapbook crop so near the end of the evening I started craving every type of fattening food in existence. I ended up ordering a chicken cheesesteak and onion rings. I only ate half of the cheesesteak and 5 onion rings but end result it wasn't necessary. On Sunday I also allowed myself some ranch cheese potatoes, a small portion of course but again probably wasnt the choice I should have made. I am going to focus more on already having my meals ready just like I am going to work to keep me in check on the weekends.

I woke up this morning and weighed in. Starting weight last Monday 219.0 lbs, today I was at 216.8 lbs. I was happy and ready to keep up this challenge to be the best I can be health wise! and to look better as well..LOL

I completed the Jillian Michael on Demand Workout...loving it even though it is difficult for me until I get some more upper body strength. I did not eat enough today but I did not eat anything I shouldn't have. See you on Wednesday!!

Day 5...HighFive for Making It This Far

Overall it wasn't a bad week. I didn't find myself hungry as much as I usually am since I made some adjustments insuring I ate throughout the day...breakfast, morning snack, lunch, after lunch snack, dinner and sometimes a small evening snack. I continued with my Friday Dailyburn workout as well as added an On Demand Jillian Michael Boost Metabolism workout thanks to my facebook friend, I'll call her HM, stating she had done one. I said hmmmm I didn't think of that, now I can have some variety and not fear boredom with the few exercise DVD's I own.

Let me tell you about a situation I found myself in this evening. I am happy to say I didn't do too bad considering the damage I could have done. I volunteered at movie night at my oldest daughters school. I was tasked with insuring the snacks were stocked for the parents and students to take to watch Toy Story 3. The snacks were an assortment of potato chips..some of my favorites cheese puffs, Herr's corn chips, sour cream and onion etc. Right next to the chips were bowls of candy. I swear the devil was trying to take me DOWNNNNN!!!! Every piece of candy I love was in this bowl..Whoppers, Milk Duds, Heath bars (MY FAVORITE), Starbursts and Skittles. I did indulge but a very minimal indulge..1 mini Heath Bar, that's right 1, Uno, Um, Jeden, एक (Yes, all these words mean ONE)....I tried to savor the taste of the creamy milk chocolate and English Toffee..I wonder if I was drooling?? I took tiny bites and let it move slowly around my mouth....ok let me stop!! IT WAS WONDERFUL...remember I told you I have a major sweet tooth!!

I am going to try to get some type of workout in this weekend. I can proudly say I have worked out 5 days this week!! Yay!!! BTW, I decided I would commit to blogging M, W & F unless I have something I really need to get off my chest. Look for me to post my weigh in results and measurements on Monday. Again thanks for the support and if your out there on a weight loss journey please know that YOU CAN DO IT!!

Can't Stop, Won't Stop....

Hello peeps,

Finally getting home for the evening and I am tired so I will keep it short and sweet tonight. I continue to input my food on Dailyburn. Today was my exercise day off according to daily burn, however you know I am in the zone so I did a 30 min treadmill exercise during my lunch hour. I took the advice of my Soror and fellow Bridesmaid Allie and put the incline on 12 with a speed of 3.1 and walked it out!! It was grueling, worse then my run walk days. After the 2 min mark I was dripping sweat so I said this must work! I really wanted to get off after I hit 10 mins but I reminded myself that I couldn't quit and I had a goal to reach so I forged on and completed 31 mins to be exact!! Time to get ready for bed!! Sweet dreams of cupcakes jumping over my head!! LMAO...not, I think it will be carrot and celery sticks that will jump into a pond of light ranch dressing.....

Sore Marks The Spot On Day 3....

Two day of workouts and I am sore. Today went well. No really cravings today which is always helpful, guess my mind was on other things. I figured today I will give you a sample of what I have been eating. I am not saying it is the best food choices, however it is way better than what I would normally eat.

Sample of Tuesday's Food Intake:

• Breakfast
• 2 Fiber Choice Tablets
• 1 Cantaloupe Wedge
• 3 Slices Turkey Bacon
• 1 Blueberry Oikos Greek Yogurt
• Morning Snack
• Caramel Rice Cake
• 1 TBSP Peanut Butter
• Lunch
• Progresso Light Beef Pot Roast Soup
• 9 Turkey Pepperoni
• 1 Sargento Light String Cheese
• Dinner
• 1 Center Cut Baked Pork Chop
• 1 TBSP BBQ Sauce
• 1 Cup French Cut String Beans
• 1/4 Cup Velveeta Shells & Chess
• 8 Glasses of Water

I can look at what I eat and say I can still make improvements, however I choose not to critique myself just yet and give myself sometime before going to the other end of the spectrum.

Today I received an email notification from Dailyburn reminding me I needed to complete my workout since I had not reported my progress. I completed my workout after I ate dinner. To give you an example of the workout that I had to do see below:

DailyBurn Wednesday Workout:

• 10 minute brisk walk
• Ab Crunch 3 sets, 20 reps
• Bicycle Kicks 3 sets, 20 reps
• Crunch Cross Body 3 sets, 20 reps
• Hip Lifts 3 sets, 15 reps
• Supermans 3 sets, 15 reps
• Bird Dogs 3 sets, 15 reps

After I completed this I felt like I had not done enough, I didn't really break a sweat but then I thought about it and I am sure I will feel it in my abs tomorrow. I added two additional workouts and ran for 10 mins around my living room. I know it sounds crazy but that is what I did. I set my cell phone alarm for 10 mins, moved the couch back and ran around the living. My girls thought this was soo much fun as they chased me. I had to advise this is to only be done when I am working out, not sure how this will go over LOL. This 10 min exercise had my heart rate up and I broke a sweat. Couldn't wait to drink some ice cold water. After I did this I was feeling extra motivated and decided to do Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred. I was extremely tired half way through probably because of all I had done prior to the video but I sucked it up and finished strong. I bet I will be sorry tomorrow :-/ Overall my day was successful. I am about to drink my last bottle of water of the evening, hop in the shower and get some reading in. Until next time......

What day is it?? Day 2....

I see I have some followers, YAY!! Today was a good day. I was very motivated to stay on task and with that being said, I have to be brutally honest I was craving some french fries. I beat it!! Drank some water, chewed a piece of gum, busy at work and I forgot about the fries. Another situation I encountered today occured during my trip to the mall to pick up my sisters laptop from the Apple store. I passed by one of my favorite spots, drum roll please.....CINNABON...I started talking to myself, "you can do this", "It's Day 2, don't give up", "You don't need it, and why do you want it anyway it is not nourishing your body"...I talked myself right out of it while I swiftly walked past, but ohhhh the smells. I am drooling thinking about it...LOL My point is, it is the beginning and I will have many other days like this but I am focusing on my need to nourish my body not to over indulge in all the wonderful sweet treats that I like to eat...If you don't already know I prefer cakes, cookies, brownies, pie, candy over a real meal any day of the week!! HA HA

I must say I am loving Dailyburn!! Once I input my food intake (I am tracking anything I put in my mouth) it provides me with this wonderful pie chart that lets me know if I ate enough calories, protein, fat and carbs. There is an indicator based on my weight that I should be eating 1833 to 2083 calories, now I think this is pretty steep considering I want to lose weight, however I probably ate over 3000 calories in sweets prior to this so let me hush my mouth and try to be follow these guidelines!!! Day 1-I did not meet the goal and ate 1206 calories, Day 2-I ate 1389 calories. Protein goal is 102-176 grams, Day 1-50.9, Day 2-89.9. Fat goal is 45-78 g, Day 1-61.7, Day 2-59.2. Carb goal is 195-293 g, Day 1-119.7, Day 2-131.8. The common trend in these numbers is I am able to reach my fat intake goal, GO FIGURE!!...I will continue to work on trying to reach and not exceed the goals and will report my numbers from time to time.

Another great feature of Dailyburn is the exercise programs. I found a training plan and it provides me with workouts to complete 3 days a week. Not only have I committed to doing the 3 day workouts, I have also planned to work out 2 additional days and take off on the weekend. Tonight I did not have a Dailyburn workout but I did an at home DVD. One of my favorites (not really, who really enjoys exercise?? I don't see any hands raised!!! LOL) Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I completed Level 1, which is a 20 min exercise routine. I know your probably thinking 20 mins, that is all? Well I have you to know the intensity is very important so if you can workout for 20 mins at a high intensity you will see the results down the line. I was still able to record this exercise in my exercise log. I plan to have someone measure before Monday and when I do I will provide my measurements as well. One thing I learned in my previous weight loss efforts is that you sometime see the difference in the way your clothes fit before you actually see the number on your scale move. Having accurate measurements taken is important and another way to track your progress. Another lessoned I learned from Momma Gene is not to be a scale whore!!! ha ha...well I still haven't mastered this approach. I wont get on the scale everyday but I will track my progress every Monday so also look for me to post that number as well.

All in all it was a successful day! I am feeling good about the efforts I have put forth so far! Again, thanks for your support and feel free to leave me comments!

In The Beginning

I am ashame to say that I embarked on a weight loss journey not too long ago and while I was successful it ended in failure. How is this possible? Simple, I went back to eating unhealthy foods and not exercising. End result I gained back 15 lbs. What is making me do it again, you may ask?? First off I felt better, less aches and pains, increased self esteem (a sister was looking GOOD) and last but a very important mention I was asked to be in my Sorority Sister's wedding in May 2011. Now I know it is November, and I also know me. It may take me a minute or two, or a day or 3 to really get my mind where it needs to be to take on this challenge full force.

Today marks the first day of my challenge. I tried on my dress and had to order a size 18 UGH!! But I am looking to get some major alternations in April. I don't want to just wear the dress, I want to WEAR the dress, if you know what I mean! Right now I feel blah in the dress, but that is going to change. I invite you to watch me transform and also hold me accountable when the need is there. I am posting the picture of me in the dress...UGH but again there has to be some accountability and me telling the world, well hmmm what would you call it?? Starting weight 219.0 lbs...LET's GET IT!!! BTW..I found a great website http://www.dailyburn.com/ I am using this site to track my daily food intake, daily exercise and I also joined a lose 35 lb challenge....Thanks in advance for taking this journey with me!!! Ta Ta for now!