Onward & Upward!!!

You know, I've just decided that weekends suck for dieting. I seem to do really well during the week and when Friday night rolls around, I am ready for a "free" meal. Unfortunately, that "free" meal seems to last from Friday at about 7:00 till late Sunday evening. I really need to refocus and figure out how I can be just as motivated on the weekends as I am during the week. I seem to undo all the good I've done and gain back everything that I've lost during the weekend. I suppose that the positive thing is that I am not really gaining weight but I'm definitely not losing either. SOMETHING most be done! I think that I will "plan" for one free meal a week and I honestly think I would do best if that free meal was either mid week or Saturday night. I really think that I could maintain good eating standards on Sundays. It's Saturday that seems to be the hardest for me and after eating crappy food Friday night and then all day Saturday, by the time Sunday rolls around my thoughts are usually "screw it, I'll start fresh on Monday".
So, here is my new goal! The start of my week will be Sunday morning, my "free" meal will be Saturday evening provided that I have stayed on track all week. I think that will help! All I need to do is make eating out off limits until Saturday night.

I've been doing great on the exercise front. I walk just over 2 miles every day and I feel a little less winded than I used to. I am going to start adding a mile over the next two weeks.

Oh...and on a completely different note, I must tell you that I've just started selling Scentsy! If you are interested, let me know.

The Journey Continues!

This is going to be quick because I have to leave the house for swimming lessons in 40 minutes and I haven't showered yet!

This has been a great week! I am down 4 pounds and I couldn't be happier!

I'll update more on my strengths and struggles his week later today.

Journey To A New Me!!!

Hooray! I'm super excited today! After doing some serious reflecting yesterday, I feel rejuvinated and am ready to face this up-hill battle..err I mean journey head on! I had a fantastic eating day yesterday! I ate perfectly and I didn't feel deprived one bit. I even had half a pan of brownies sitting on the counter all day and I didn't even feel tempted to have a taste. I can't even begin to tell you how victorious I feel for having had such a great day! There has to be something to taking this whole thing one day at a time that is empowering.

Here's to another great eating day!

Can I Just Start Over???

I honestly don't get it....how you can be super motivated one day and then totally lacking another?

Towards the end of last week, I didn't care one ounce whether or not I was fat. I tried to make healthy choices, when I made poor choices, I watched portion control and I walked almost every morning. When the weekend finally arrived, all I could think about was pizza and ice cream.

So here I sit, having eaten too much over the weekend, afraid to get on the scale and face the music and running out of fat clothes. This whole battle of the bulge is exactly that....a battle and it's one that has me feeling defeated.

Here is what I am going to do. I am going to take it one day at a time....one little obstacle at a time. On days when I am feeling super motivated, I'll be thankful and run with it. On days when I fall off the wagon and feel like eating the wagon, I will re-evaluate and find positive things to be thankful for, like elastic waisted pants. ;-) Honestly, on days when I feel defeated, I will find something good to focus on and move past the negative.

Here's hoping I have a better week. I have a long way to go on this journey and it's a journey that will continue for the rest of my life. Maybe just looking at it as a journey instead of a battle will help me do better.

Battle of the Bulge - Day 9

I have come to the conclusion that husbands and Burger King are EVIL! I did so well yesterday until dinner. I was prepared to have a lovely organic salad with a toasted low carb tortilla and some grilled chicken but nooooooo! My husband wanted to go to Burger King. It didn't even sound good to me but I went anyway. I decided on an A1 burger and I have to tell you....it soooo wasn't worth it! The A1 burger definitley isn't a whopper. No longer will I eat something full of crap and calories if it isn't absolutely delicious! On a positive note, I didn't get fries or ice cream....just the burger so that is a good thing.

I went on my walk this morning! I walked 2.1 miles at a really good pace! I feel geared up ready for a Burger King free day today!

Now...if anyone out there would like a teenager who knows how to stir the pot and creates all kinds of drama....let me know! I also have a whining 10 year old and an almost 4 year tattle tale looking for a home. Heaven help me! My kids are driving me completely nuts today. Heaven help them too because if truth be told, PMS has reared its ugly head and my patience has vanished.

I'm off to do a little deep breathing in between my pushup workout.

Battle of the Bulge - Day 8

I am so happy to be starting day 8 in my quest to win the battle of the bulge! I still feel very motivated to conquer this little issue of weight once and for all and make a change in my life for the better.

I'm still feeling a little weak from the stomach flu last week so I am going to rest a little today. I'm thinking that a nap this afternoon sounds perfect!

Here is an update on the exercise front. I completed day one of the pushup challenge yesterday. I decided to start fresh seeing as I didn't complete week one last week. I have also decided that I am not going to take the easy way out. I will be doing full pushups, women's pushups. It is soooo hard! I have to confess that I did "real" pushups on day one of last week and then decided that I would switch to women's pushups on the second day of the challenge. I have new motivation and have decided that this is called a challenge because it is supposed to be just that...challenging and I have decided that I am ready for the full challenge. I feel good this morning. I'm not as sore as I was after doing pushups last week which is a great thing!

I enjoyed a nice walk this morning and I went a little further than I normally do. My goal is to eventually work my way up to walking about 4 miles a day. I also decided today that I am NOT going to run. After I'm in better shape, I may change my mind but for now, brisk walking works for me.

I'm off to start day one of the situp challenge! I'm not sure what it entails just yet but I'm hoping it isn't too hard on my body. lol

I'm really, really hoping to be down 2 pounds by Friday. I guess we'll see what we see!

Battle of the Bulge Days - 4 - 7

WOW! I haven't blogged because my whole family has been fighting the flu bug since about 12:30 am Friday. My almost 4 year old got it first and was throwing up 15 to 30 minutes. I was so tired Friday after being awake all night dealing with Megan. I spent the day doing laundry (I had three loads just from Megan's vomit-fest) and napping. By Friday night I was completely worn out and started feeling ill myself so I went to bed early and started my own puke-fest at about 4:30 in the morning Saturday. By Saturday afternoon, my 10 year old and 18 year old had joined in the fun and my husband, Keith, was doing his best to take care of everyone despite the fact that he was starting to feel sick himself.

I am SOOOOOO glad to be back to normal! My stomach still feels just a little upset but that is likely because I have eaten anything except for a handful of soda crackers over the last 48 hours.

Needless to say, the only exercise I have done has involved running loads of laundry down to the laundry room and running back and forth from the bathroom.

I am back on track today! I have a fridge full of grilled chicken that I made last week that I plan on eating for lunch and dinner tonight. I also have some beautiful organic greens for a salad which I am really looking forward to eating.

I'll also be starting over on the push-up challenge with day 1 today. My body just feels so weak so I'll see how it goes. I am also starting the situp challenge tomorrow and I will be walking 6 days this week.

I am anxiously waiting for a new book to arrive called the Ultimate New York Diet. I'm excited about the program! It sounds very realistic. I heard the creator of the program talk about it while listening to the Dr. Oz radio show and it sounds both promising and doable. We'll see! If anything, it will be another tool for me to use in creating a program tailored specifically for me.

Alright....I have a goal for today besides making healthy food choices and getting in my walking and pushups. I am going to try to add a weight loss tracker to my blog. I'll see if I can figure out how to do that kinda thing. I think it will help with my motivation.

Battle of the Bulge - Day 3

I'm still feeling pretty motivated today which is a good thing. We are having a big family BBQ tonight which might be a little challenging but I am giving myself permission to eat moderately and enjoy the food I eat.

I am not walking today. I have so much to do to get ready for tonight that I've decided that this will be my 1 day free from walking for the week. I will however do the 100 pushup challenge today and I am NOT looking forward to it! You are suppose to do it every other day. Tuesday I did my trial and made it to 10 pushups. I then did the daily workout which amounted to the following set: 6, 6, 4, 4, 5. I can't even begin to tell you how badly my body hurt yesterday! lol That tells you just how out of shape I am. I am still hurting but will be doing my set of pushups this morning.

That's it for now! I must run and get moving on all of the errands I need to run today. Hopefully I burn some calories!

Battle of the Bulge - Day 2

Yesterday was just okay as far as better eating goes. We had graduation for our 18 year old to go to and at 3:00 pm, we discovered we needed to leave our house an hour earlier than we had originally planned. That threw off our scheduled and at 4:00 pm, when I was still trying to get kids ready and hadn't made a thing for dinner, I ordered pizza. I wasn't horrible....I didn't eat a whole pizza our anything like that but I did eat things that I wasn't really craving and didn't really need just because I was horribly short on time and it was easier to eat pizza than prepare a salad. Here is what I learned yesterday: it would be helpful to have ready made or super easy to throw together food options in my refrigerator. I am grilling up a bunch of chicken later today and chopping it up so that I can use it in wraps and salads. I also need to do a little bit of shopping. I am craving asparagus and salad of all things.

Here is my goals for today. I will grill up my chicken and go through the fridge so that I can make a shopping list. I will have my husband lock the fridge tonight. I know, it sounds crazy but I have a horrible habit of eating in the middle of the night. Not because I am hungry, not because I feel deprived, just because it is a horrible habit that I have established throughout the yars. If I can rid myself of that habit, I know that I will sleep better throughout the night and will wake up feeling more refreshed and without a stomach ache.

On the exercise front, I completed day 1 of the pushup challenge yesterday and am feleing it today! I get a rest from pushups today but will start day 1 of the situp challenge. I got up and went walking this morning too which is awesome because I am so tired right now that I am barely functioning. =)

That's it for today. I'm looking forward to a healthy day with some light eating. I will listen to my body and eat what it needs.

Battle of the Bulge - Day 1

As I was shaving my legs last night, I discovered that I have a rather large dimple on the back of my knee. I came to the harsh realization that I indeed have fat legs which is a huge indicator that something's gotta give! I feel blessed that I have a very proportinate body. I'm not apple shaped or pear shaped. Everything is pretty well in proportion to everything else. My fat legs are a big indicator that there are other very fat areas on my body and I am about to do what I need to do in order to make changes in my life.

I plan on blogging on a daily basis as a way to track how I am doing and what I am feeling. Today is day 1 so there is reason to celebrate!

Here are my goals:

MOVE - I plan on moving more on a daily basis. I have no intentions of becoming a marathon runner or super star athlete. I will simply move more in ways that are enjoyable to me. I got up this morning and went for a brisk walk and I plan on walking later today with a friend. Walking this morning was a great way to start my day!

INCREASE STRENGTH - I am going to complete the 100 pushup challenge and the 200 situp challenge. This won't take more than a few minutes of day of training and it will help me increase my strength and build muscle.

EAT BETTER - I will still eat foods that I enjoy but my goal is to watch portion sizes and strive to make healthy food choices 90% of the time. There are so many healthy foods that I love eating! When faced with the challnge of a craving, I will first eat something good for me. If the craving is still there, then I will allow myself to satisfy the craving using moderation.

I am feeling super pumped and motivated today. These are easy things that I can do for myself that will help me inside and out. Striving to be healthier is a lifelong journey and I believe that I have just stumbled upon a path that will lead me to better health.