Bringing out the Swiffer

It has been awhile.  You all know my commitment to writing...

Brief recap of the past month or two.

• hit goal weight
• moved 20 minutes away
• started a new job
• fell off the healthy wagon...

So, what can I do?  Do what I do fairly well, get up, dust myself off, and get back at it.  What will I be doing to accomplish this?

• Plan out meals weeklyish
• Complete the 30 day challenge I set for myself
• Track food
• Track exercise

So what is the challenge?  It is a few challenges I saw on Pinterest combined:

April's Guns,	Buns,	and Ab	challenge
	Push ups	Plank	Squats	Leg Lifts	Dips	Supermans
1	5	10s	50	25	5	25
2	5	12s	55	30	5	30
3	7	15s	60	35	7	35
4	7	Rest	Rest	40	7	40
5	8	20s	70	45	8	45
6	9	25s	75	50	9	50
7	Rest	30s	80	55	Rest	55
8	8	Rest	Rest	60	8	60
9	9	35s	100	Rest	9	Rest
10	10	38s	105	65	10	65
11	10	42s	110	75	10	75
12	12	Rest	Rest	80	12	80
13	12	50s	130	85	12	85
14	Rest	55s	135	90	Rest	90
15	13	60s	140	95	13	95
16	15	Rest	Rest	100	15	100
17	16	65s	150	Rest	16	Rest
18	16	70s	155	100	16	100
19	19	75s	160	50	19	50
20	21	Rest	Rest	60	21	60
21	Rest	80s	180	70	Rest	70
22	23	85s	185	75	23	75
23	26	90s	190	80	26	80
24	28	Rest	Rest	85	28	85
25	30	95s	220	Rest	30	Rest
26	32	100s	225	80	32	80
27	34	110s	230	85	34	85
28	36	Rest	Rest	90	36	90
29	38	115s	240	95	38	95
30	40	120s	250	100	40	100

I did day 1 tonight.  I started with a 20 minute walk/run warm up.  I really did forget how good it feels to sweat and release all the toxins that have building up.  Now to lose those 3-5 pounds I gained....

Ah.Mazed.

You all know how to make someone feel amazing!  I can't believe my pictorial comparison post got almost 200 page views!  It is my highest view post.  I made the picture my cover on FB, and it received more "likes" than I received birthday wishes. 

I need to print the transformation off and hang it on my fridge and on my bathroom mirror...I have had others ask if they could print it to hang up for motivation of their own.  It is really motivating to see how I am motivating/inspiring others. 

The picture is really motivating to keep going.  I have been having days where I think to stop, because I am smaller than I was when I graduated college just over 10 years ago.  I think I need to grab a picture from either my senior year of high school or freshman year of college to see how much further I can go.  I am sooooo close to my goal weight, and once I get there I will focus on toning. 

Also, I have been able to keep this up and keep going despite other areas of my life being chaotic.  At WW meetings, our leader often asks, "Would you say, 'if I can do it, anyone can do it?'"  You can do anything you set to do.  Sometimes it is mind over matter and sometimes, you have to put the matter over your mind.  Like when your head is telling you, that you can't possibly run a mile (unless you have some physical constraint)...but you consistently do 5 on the elliptical.  Tell your brain to SHUT UP (sometimes you have to get nasty to yourself...it is OK.  You should hear the stuff I say to myself when I want to give up) or GET WITH THE PROGRAM and tell your body to do the work.

I still can't get over the attention my last post received.  I am utterly amazed.  Wow!

Time Capsule

A friend suggested that I put up a comparison photo from beginning to end.  I know I did it with my face last time, so I thought I would show you all the whole story:

In the first picture I was complacent with my appearance.  I thought I looked OK.  The second and third picture are from June and July of 2012.  They were taken 3 weeks apart.  The fourth picture is from November of 2012.  The last picture is from Friday night.  This is the first time that I have thought that I looked good.  Where did I go!?!?  Don't mind the dirty bathroom mirror.

Quick pictorial comparison

01/04/12

 

3/29/13

Life happens

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  -Ferris in Ferris Bueller's Day Off

 When looking at my weightloss journey it feels slow. But. when I think of the changes I have made in my life to be healthy, it can seem overwhelmingly fast.  For my nonFacebook friends: I am down 50 pounds.  I have 7 more to go until goal.  Then, I am going to focus on toning.

I feel like these last 7 are going to take forever to come off.  I have had a couple of set back since losing the 50 pounds. I would really like to lose them by the end of April.  This coming week does not seem to have a lot of hope for weight loss either (after all you only have a birthday once a year).

This week I do hope to get back on track with tracking food.  I haven't religiously tracked food in a long time.

Insight/in sight

Insight - the power or act of seeing into a situation (source: www.m-w.com).  I have been providing insight to you all along my journey through this blog (OK, I have taken some hiatuses, but stuff happens!).  Now, my goal is in sight.  It is scary, it is exciting, it is AAAAHHHHHH!

My weight loss this week puts me at 10.8 pounds to goal. Now, I am debating if I should revise my goal or not.  I think I could afford to lose more than that, and it seems more than achievable to lose 15.  I hope to lose the 10 pounds by my doctor appointment in April.  Then, my doctor and I can discuss and decide if losing more than the 10.8 pounds is a good idea or not. 

Here are my weightloss secrets:
1. Plan what you are going to eat.
2. Track what you eat.
3. Plan your activity.
4. Track your activity.
5. Eat your veggies and fruits.
6. Move more than you did before.

What else would you like me to write about!?

Physical Transformation

I haven't blogged in forever.  It was brought to my attention that you haven't seen a new blog post since November.  Sorry.  I have no good excuse.  In September I spilled iced tea all over my keyboard on my laptop. There is a new keyboard on order Christmas, and it is still not here...

I have been really struggling with what to write to inspire my readers.  I have not been following the plan very well.  I have been sick for two weeks.  I had strep throat.  Then a nice head and chest cold settled in.  I haven't really worked out since I got strep.  I have done two 30 minute sessions this week end.  I wish it could have been more.  Something is better than nothing. 

This week end while I was on the bike at the gym, I looked down.  I realized that there is less of me.  I really needed the time off of working out and away from looking at myself all the time.  It was more mental than anything, but I finally am realizing how much weight I have lost mentally.  I see it on the scale, but looking in the mirror I didn't see a difference - until now.

I look forward to getting back into my 6 work out sessions a week :)