Monday, March 30, 2009

Day 17: Decent workout

I started with Level 2 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred which is about 20 minutes long. I followed that up with 30 minutes of Yoga. Even though I enjoy the Yoga routine I've been doing "On Demand," I'm really hoping that a new one gets added soon so I have something else to add to my rotation.

I tried really hard to eat healthy yesterday, but we were out looking at houses and decided to go to Noodles for lunch. I ordered the Whole Grain noodles thinking that would be a healthier choice. When I got home and looked up the caloric content, I was shocked to find that I had eaten 770 calories. I don't think I'll be going back to Noodles any time soon.

I've also incorporated Protein water and protein bars into my diet, so we'll see if those are the "magic pill" for losing weight.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Day 16: Yoga

I only had time for 45 minutes of Yoga this morning. In the hopes that an offer comes through on our house, we are off to look at a few houses later this morning with our agent. I'm fine with 45 minutes of Yoga. I worked out hard for the past two days so the deep stretches felt good.

Had a great dinner last night at Ocean Prime. I ordered Salmon which was prepared with a soy butter sauce and ginger snap peas. I also had the house salad with the honey mustard dressing on the side. I had two small spoonfuls of potatoes and 1 small spoonful of creamed spinach. I drank 3 glasses of wine, too. Oh, and I just remembered my two bites of chocolate cake. By my calculations, the entire meal was around 1300 calories, a bit high, but not terrible. I'm happy with my choices. Obviously, I could have cut calories by not drinking wine and skipping the salad, and one of spoonfuls of potatoes, but I'm not the kind of person who deprives herself when it comes to food. I like to eat, I just need to be mindful of my portion sizes.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Day 15: Another great workout

It's Saturday! I had a great workout today! I did 50 minutes of Jillian's "Boost Your Metabolism" followed by 30 minutes of Yoga Sculpt. I felt great after both workout routines. Again, the only move I just can't bring myself to do is the jumping scissor kicks in Jillian's "BYM."

The number on the scale has dropped to 138 pounds. In general, I'm happy that the numbers keep going down, and I hope that continues.

I bought some of that Protein water and some South Beach Protein bars, we'll see if either of those things help with the weight loss this week.

A few asides: 1) While I'm getting myself ready for my 10 year Anniversary vacation, my sister is getting ready for a cruise she's takikng this July. She's 7 years younger than me and hasn't had any kids, so she's in better shape than I am. I'm let her borrow my 30 Day Shred DVD, just to see if she likes it. (I can get Levels 1 and 2 from Exercise TV On Demand.) She called me today to tell me that she did Level 1 for the first time and felt like she was going to die. I told her that's exactly how I felt after doing it the first time, but that it does get easier. I also told her that while I like the fact that it's a quick workout, right now, it's not enough of a workout for me. I usually do it on my "easy" days.

2) I talked to K about doing the personal trainer, and he said it's fine. My dad will watch the kids for me on Tuesday, so I'm all set for my assessment on Tuesday. We'll see where I go from there. I'd still like to get down a few more pounds before I start with the trainer.

And finally,
3) We are heading to Ocean Prime for dinner tonight with K's parents to celebrate K's promotion at work. I'm looking forward to a nice dinner (that we don't have to pay for), but I also know that I need to make sure I make good choices at dinner and limit my consumption of wine.

Friday, March 27, 2009

My meeting with the personal trainer

I met with a personal trainer today. I'm pretty sure I want to do this, it's just a matter off when to start and what days I can commit to training and finding a baby sitter. I'd really like to get down a few more pounds on my own before I start. I'm not really sure why, I just want the sense of accomplishment that comes with losing weight on my own.

When I told him that my goal was to get down to 120 pounds by mid-June to coincide with our anniversary vacation he didn't seem to think that was an unreasonable goal. I told him all about my previous experience with a personal trainer, and he said he thinks he can do better. I scheduled up an "assessment" for next Tuesday at 1:00.

He encouraged me to drink more water and to incorporate a protein bar into my dailyy routine. I've been working on drinking more water for the last week or so, I suppose I can try the protein bar. He says it will help me build muscle.

Day 14: Great work out!

I did it! I got out of bed when the alarm went off at 5:45 (give or take a minute or two to "shake the cobwebs.") I did 35 minutes of Jillian's "No More Trouble Zones," the "quickie" version." I followed that up with 30 minutes of Yoga. I totally could have done more of Jillian's "NMTZ", but as usual, I was pressed for time and really wanted to do some Yoga today.

I almost wrote, "I feel great" in the subject line, and in general, I do, but my lower back is sore. Again, I think I'm over-training at this point, but I also know I need to do some sort of workout everyday.

Today the scale said 138 lbs; I'm satisfied with that, I was hoping to be down a bit more, but at least the weight is trending down.

Later today I am meeting with a personal trainer. I wrote yesterday that when I finally make it to 130 lbs, I would like to go back to using a trainer to help me with those last 10 or so pounds. This arrangment would be different than my last one. I would actually go to a facility which is a "private gym" and work out there as opposed to someone coming to my house. I really liked the convenience of someone coming to my house, but I know I wasn't doing enough cardio, I think if I go to a "gym" with treadmills and elliptical machines, then I should hopefully get the cardio I'm lacking at home. I will have to enlist the help of my in-laws and perhaps workout out one evening a week after K gets home from work in order to make this work. We'll see, I'm still several pounds away.

Finally, as a complete aside, I'm baking cookies right now. They're not for me, they're for the people who are coming back this morning to take a second look at our house. I thought the smell of "baked goods" in the house might be alluring to a buyer. We'll see. While we've had a healthy number of showings, this is only the second time that someone has come back for a second look. Fingers crossed.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Day 13: Day off?

I may give myself a day off from working out today. I didn't get up at my usual early morning hour. We'll see, I think my body needs the rest, but I also don't want to skip a day. I may do a short workout later this morning after I help out in my daughter's preschool class.

Last night I found a personal trainer that I may use to help me lose "those last 10 pounds." It's kind of pricey, but I figure if I get down to 129/130 again, then I'll need someone to help push me for those last 10 pounds. According to the scale, I only have about 6.5 pounds to go.

I will update later to report whether I worked out or not today.

Updated: I did do a quickie workout. I did Level 2 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred. It's funny how now I consider this workout for my "day off." There was a time not so long ago when this workout kicked my butt. I still don't think it's an easy workout; I sweat like a damn pig, but I'm able to get through it a lot easier than her other two workouts, No More Trouble Zones and Boost Your Metabolism. So, I'm happy with what I did for today. My plan is to get up early tomorrow and go back to my 1.5 hour workout consisting of 45 minutes of cardio and 30 plus minutes of yoga and pilates.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Day 12: Good workout

I slept in again this morning. K is gone, and as predicted, I stayed up too late last night after I did yoga. But, I did get a great workout in this morning. I did Jillian's "Boost Your Metabolism" workout from Exercise TV "On Demand." This workout lasts a little over 50 minutes. I've done this workout a handful of times before, sometimes I'm not able to make it all the way through, but today I made myself push through to the end. The only move that I did not do is the "jumping scissor kicks." I substituted squats.

I thought about wrapping up this morning with about 20 minutes of yoga, but I couldn't find a routine that I liked, and my daughter was at the end of her tolerance for waiting for me to be done. I'm happy with what I did because I think this particular workout is really hard.

Current weight: It's that time of the month, so I'm giving myself a few days off from the scale. I find that I retain water and weigh a pound or 2 more during my period, so I'll shoot for a weigh in on Friday.

Updated to add: I did about 40 minutes of Wii Fit last night. I did 8 minutes of boxing and several coordinating yoga and strength training exercises. I also took a body test and matched my previous low Wii Fit age of 29!!! Not bad for someone who will be 40 in a few short years.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Day 11: Half a workout, so far...

Today, K had to wake up at 4:30 to catch an early flight to Boston. I never really fell back to sleep and was really tired when the alarm went off at 5:45. I made a "deal" with myself that I would do part of my workout this morning and then do the rest of it later.

This morning I did Level 2 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred (about 20 minutes) and followed that up with 10 minutes of Pilates Abs. I was pretty happy with that workout, I even tried to incorporate some of Jillian's Level 3 cardio and ab work. However, I won't consider it a successful day until I do my yoga. Right now, my plan is to do it after the kids go to bed. I have told myself that I can't watch the Biggest Loser until I do my 45 minute Yoga routine. The flaw with my plan that I can already see is that I won't get to bed until 11 or so, and then I'll be tired again in the morning. I lament about this all the time, I thought exercise was supposed to increase energy... I have not felt the affects of that at all.

I will upddate later to confirm that I did my Yoga.

Updated: I did my 45 minute Yoga routine last night after the kids went to sleep.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Day 10: Low Energy

I woke up today with very little energy. The alarm was set for 5:45, but I woke up at 5:25. I really had to give myself a pep talk to get out of bed. I decided to do 45 minutes of Yoga followed by 10 minutes of Pilates Abs. I know I need some cardio, I'll either try to get some in this afternoon, or I'll for sure have to do some tomorrow morning.

I don't know what is wrong with me. I go to bed tired, and I wake up tired. I thought exercising was supposed to give you more energy, but I certainly haven't seen the benefits of that.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Day 9: A bit of a binge last night

It's Sunday, so again, the alarm didn't go off early in the morning, but I did have to set it for 7:15 because we have a few things to take care of this morning.

I haven't weighed myself, and I most likely won't as I binged a little bit last night. We went to our neighbors' house. I took a veggie platter with fat free dip and that's mostly what I ate last night, but I did have a few Doritos and some pretzels with a cheese dip. I stayed away from the cookies, so at least that was good. I did, however, have 3 glasses of wine, which is one more than I had planned to drink.

Today's workout was a quickie. I did Level 2 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred which was about 25 minutes long, and then I did a "new to me" 20 minute Yoga routine. I didn't really care for the yoga program, but at least I did it.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Day 8: Lost Weight

I only have a minute or two before I must leave for a much needed massage, but I wanted to file a quick report.

First, I finally stepped on the scale. I still don't like the number, 140 lbs, but at least it's progress downward. So, I was relieved.

Today is Saturday, so the alarm did not go off as early as it normally does. I got myself out of bed at 8:15 and did 38 minutes of Jillian Micheals' "Boost Your Metabolism" routine which I found "On Demand" on Exercise TV. I followed that up with 30 minutes of Yoga.

A note about my diet: Last night we went to the Piston's game and had the club seats that allow you access to a full buffet. I tried really hard to make healthy choices, it was a Friday during Lent, so I had to choose fish anyway. I stayed away from the desserts, except I did have 4 chocolate covered strawberries... I should have stopped at 2, but I've never seen them bring out so many helpings, I just couldn't help myself. I also only had 3 Cap't and Diets which are pretty low in caloric content by my calculations.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Another word about my weight

I just went back and read a few of my posts from last fall when I challenged myself to do 30 days straight of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. I talked a lot about my weight, and it looks like at one point in October I was "a large piece of chocolate cake" away from 129 lbs. I never made it into the coveted 120s, and in fact I gained 3 pounds "virtually overnight."

Now, I'm essentially right back where I was when I first started to lose weight last July, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I don't feel anywhere near as "fat" as I did before. I feel strong, actually. I still wear a size 8, and I've noticed in the past few days that my pants are fitting better/looser. So, why does the scale say that my weight is increasing? Am I doing something wrong? Am I "over-training?" which is a term I recently heard Jillian say to Tara on Biggest Loser. Am I not drinking enough water? Should I even care about the number on the scale?

I know that I have body fat that I need to get rid of. Most of the body fat that concerns me is around my middle. Special K cereal used to have an ad campaign asking "can you pinch an inch?" Well, I can grab a fist full of disgusting fat from around both of my sides. This is where I need to lose most of my weight. I used to be worried about my "chunky" thighs, but those are really further down on my list of worries.

Hopefully I can sustain this latest effort to lose weight, and if I do, I hope that the weight starts falling off as well. I'm afraid I'll get discouraged if I don't start seeing the scale move down.

Day 7: Good workout; toe hurts!

Alarm: 5:45 and for once M's early morning wake up call worked out just fine. I had just hit the snooze button when I heard M's door open. She came in to use the bathroom. After I put her back to bed, I went downstairs to do my workout.

Workout: I did Jillian Michales' "No More Trouble Zones" which I found on ExerciseTV's "On Demand" channel. I did the quick version which is about 35 minutes. I then did 30 minutes of yoga followed my 10 minutes of pilates abs and 10 minutes of pilates leg slimmer.

As for my toe, in a word, it hurts. More accurately, it aches. It's slightly swollen and a dark gray color. It still hurts to the touch, but it didn't really impact my workout. I was able to jump around on it during Jillian's workout; it only slightly affected the yoga routine. At times, I found myself not wanting to put any pressure on my left foot, but when I did, it was ok.

Weight: I'm writing this entry just before I hit the shower, so I haven't weighed myself. I'm scared to get on the scale...

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Day 6: Broken Toe?!?!

Alarm: 5:45, but I didn't get up to work out. I am so stiff and sore in the morning, I can't get out of bed. I know I need to get back into the habit of working out first thing in the morning, but I'm just not there, yet. As long as I keep doing an afternoon workout, then I'm not too upset with myself, but as soon as I start skipping the afternoon workout, then I'll be mad.

Weight: I REFUSE to step on the scale. I know that I need to track my weight, but lately, every time I step on the scale it seems I have gained another pound. I don't know how it's possible. I've been working out consistently. I've also been keeping track of my calories by writing down everything I eat. I try to stay in the range of 1000 to 1200 calories per day. I think I'm eating a good balance of proteins, fibers, and veggies. I'm a few days away from starting my period, so maybe that is contributing to my weight gain. But, I don't want to make excuses. I used to subscribe to the theory that as I work out, I'm replacing fat with muscle, and because muscle weighs more, it appears on the scale that I'm gaining weight. However, I heard Jillian say on the Biggest Loser that was a myth.

Workout: As I mentioned, I think I broke a toe today, but I'll get to that in a moment. I started today's workout by doing Level 3 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred. If I'm going to lose weight, I know I need to incorporate more cardio. I've been thinking about trying to run again. I hate running, and I fail every time I try to run, but I've heard so many people say that the best and perhaps the most efficient way to burn fat is to run. As soon as the weather gets a little warmer, I'll give it another shot. There I go with my excuses again, but it's not like I'm saying I'm not going to work out until then, I'll keep with my current regimen, and incorporate running in a few weeks or so. I also did a 45 minute Yoga routine. It's a VHS tape that I've had for a long time. I can really tell that my strength has increased quite a bit since doing some of the more advanced routines that I've been doing "On Demand" through Exercise TV.

So, about my toe. It's the toe next to my pinky toe on my left foot. In the scheme of things, it's not a big deal. I finished my yoga routine without much problem. I can walk on it just fine. It hurts to the touch and is a little bit swollen. It also hurts a bit if I put pressure on it. I hurt it while "floating" from "downward dog" to "forward fold." When I jumped, my left foot got caught in the yoga mat. I heard a really loud crack, and it immediately started to swell. As I said, it's not that bad, more of an annoyance than anything.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Day 5: slept in

So, it wasn't really my plan to sleep in this morning, but I do need to give myself a break every once in awhile from the 5:45 wake up if I think I'm going to sustain this exercise regimen. I still plan to workout at some point today, probably after my son's conferences later this morning.

Updated: I did get my workout in today. I did Level 3 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred and about 30 minutes of Yoga.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Day 4

Alarm: 5:30 woke up at 5:45
Weight: 143 lbs (ugh! How is it possible that my weight has gone UP every day? !)

Workout:
20 minutes of Pilates, abs and legs
30 minutes of cardio yoga

Monday, March 16, 2009

Day 3

Alarm: 5:45
Weight: 142 lbs
Goal weight: 120 lbs

Workout: 25 minutes Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, Level 3; 10 mins Pilates Abs, and 30 mins of Yoga

One thing that is so frustrating is that I don't feel as fat as I did when I started my last diet/workout regimen. I actually feel pretty strong. I started working out again pretty regularly in February, but I hadn't stepped on a scale, so I had no idea until I got the Wii Fit for my birthday that I had packed so many pounds back onto my body. I knew that I hadn't done well over the holidays, but I figured it was only a few pounds.

I thought I was making good food choices, but I guess I still need to write down what I'm eating, and really, really watch my portion sizes.

So, here's my latest plan:

1. workout everyday at least 1 hour; try to mix it up
2. watch what I'm eating, and write it down
3. weigh myself every morning
4. no more coffee drinks
5. write in my blog to track how I'm feeling/doing. I'm not going to put the pressure on myself as I did the last time to be creative with every entry; if all I can muster is a basic log of exercise, then that is good enough.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Disappointment

I have regained virtually all the weight that I lost last summer. I am, to say the least, very disappointed in myself. So, here I am again, challenging myself to lose that weight, again, plus a little extra.

Weight: 141 lbs
Goal weight: 120 lbs

Today's workout:
40 minutes of Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000
30 minutes of Yoga
10 minutes of Pilates Abs

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Saturday's workout:

Starting Weight: 143 lbs

40 minutes of Jillian Michaels' Boost Metabolism workout
30 minutes of Yoga
10 minutes of Pilates Abs