Long, rambling update.

The real update is that there is no update! I am in the same place I've been for the past few months. So, 133 pounds lost. I'm totally ok with this. I just want to maintain. 

Now, I do have a lot I want to ramble about. I'm going to try to be organized about it, but my brain gets out of control sometimes, and I can't keep my thoughts all in a line. 

1. I did start jogging again. I was going to do the same program I followed before, but then I got sick. I was shocked. I haven't been sick in a long time, but the weather has been crazy and my allergies have been out of control. So, while I was sick I read up on the real Couch to 5K thingy and decided to give it a try. 

How do I feel about it? I like it. It's different. It gives me something on paper to follow. I like having a plan when I get to the gym, and when I can complete that plan, I feel great. I'm in my third week. I'm adding the jogging in on top of my regular workouts. I'm trying to be more active. 

2. Speaking of active, I'm also trying this 100 push ups thing. You can find their website here. I'm also in the third week for this program. I was starting this the same time I was starting the jogging again, but I got sick and ended up moving it back a week. This site has a lot of cool little challenges. I think I will do more, depending on how the push up thing goes. I've pretty much managed to put myself on the middle track. Every so often I have to see how many push ups I can do at one time and that helps me to determine what workouts I will do. I like it. It gives me something else on paper to follow. I'm also doing this in addition to my regular workouts. 

3. So, I got sick. It really effed me up for a few weeks. I thought I was having allergies and a cold, but I really had bronchitis. I kept looking at my doctor like he was crazy. I have not had bronchitis in I don't know how long. I didn't even feel bad. I went to the doctor to get more allergy medicine and I figured since I was there I would ask him about this cough I could not get rid of. Turns out my cold was worse than I thought! Anyway, I've been on the meds for about a week now and I feel a lot better. 

4. The holidays have been in full swing around me. I feel myself being too tempted. I know I have not been the best eater lately. It's starting to weigh on my conscience too. I'm really needing to tighten the reigns here for the rest of the year.....and next year. I don't feel myself slipping backward, but I'm noticing little habits creeping back in. I'm trying to catch them and squash them before it gets bad, but I know I have not been the best eater lately. Working out has been no problem. I wish I had more time for the gym, then I could just pig out all day....yum. 

5. There is something that has been bothering me lately.....skin. I am so over this extra skin. I'm sure a lot of you can understand that feeling too. I just want it gone. It will not go away on it's own. I'm am very proud of the fact that I lost all this weight with no medical intervention. I worked my ass off, literally. It was a slow process and I will forever be so proud of what I did, but this extra skin is really giving me different body issues. I'm at the point that I don't even want my boyfriend to see me in pajamas.....and that is a really unrealistic request! I need to save money to get it removed, but there are so many other things I need before I do that. It's on my list though, and it will happen. I'm just so tired of all this skin. 

Well, that's my rambling update for the day. I need to spend more time on my blog and reading other blogs, but I just get so busy. I'm thinking about scheduling a true "blog time" for myself a few days a week! That might help me get my act together and keep me more accountable to myself!

What's been going on with me?

I don't like to always be super personal in my blog posts, but I know that in the past I've mentioned things here and there about what I'm doing when I'm not working out!

Well, I have been so busy lately. The Holiday's are fast approaching. I've been busy with work, baking, working out, hanging out with my boyfriend, hanging out with friends, and having tons of November birthdays! 

Truthfully, I've been falling off the blogging bandwagon. I struggle to find time in the day to make posts. There are some days that I feel like I will have time to sit and write, then I will have to work late or meet some other obligation that pops up out of no where. 

When I do have time to write, I will try to write like 3 or 4 blogs. I will have so much on my mind that I want to blog about, and I just can't stop until I get it out! I carry around paper scraps in my purse with blog ideas on them. 

Also, I've been really happy with the guy I've been dating and when I do find free time, I find ways to fill it by spending time with him. I'm still trying to find the perfect balance of everything I need to do and want to do. I'm sure it's nearly impossible to find the perfect balance for anything! Let me know if anyone has the perfect balance in their life, I would like to know what you are doing!

I'm really looking forward to the Holidays. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just love how that time of the year feels. I love everything about the holiday season. My boyfriend does not so much care for Christmas, but I think I will convert him. Who doesn't love Christmas??

Update, Update, Update.

What? November already? 

Well, this update won't be too long! I'm still MAINTAINING my weight. So, I'm still at 133 pounds lost. I was worried that I was not going to be able to even do an update, because the scale at the gym has been broken. I only use that scale. I feel like it's better to use the same scale for each weigh in.

I finished the running/jogging program I was doing. It was 10 weeks long and I completed those 10 weeks from August 6 to October 14. By the end I was jogging for 34 minutes and I was going over 3 miles! I also jogged on a 1.0 incline. I heard somewhere that jogging on a slight incline makes it more like jogging outside. 

After I finished my 10 weeks, I decided to take a jog outside at the local Reserve/Dam. It was a really nice fall day, and it seemed like an excellent idea. Well, treadmill jogging and outside jogging are super, super different! I was jogging for 6 minutes and it seemed like an eternity. I was exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I KNEW I wasn't going to be able to go for 34 minutes and make it over 3 miles. I was just hoping I would be able to jog for about 7-10 minutes, walk for a few, and then repeat a few times. NOPE, I was spent after those first 6 minutes! I had to revamp my exercise plans for the day and think of some other workout to do outside! Oh well, it was still a beautiful day and I'm glad I was outside. 

My work schedule is changing a little and my workout time is getting all effed up! Actually, it's not. I just have to go to a different gym location, but I'm not liking that gym too much. I shouldn't really complain. I should feel lucky that I can go to any gym that is part of the gym group I belong to. I also only have to go to that location one day a week. 

Overall, things are pretty damn good. I'm getting pumped for the Holidays and I love to do all my winter baking! I already started some of my baking. My boyfriend is pretty excited about all the baking because I need someone to be a taster for all my stuff. 

I am trying to catch up and read as many blogs as possible. I read them, but I don't really leave myself time to comment, but I promise I'm trying to keep up on what everyone is up to! 

An AWESOME weekend!

I think my weekend was fan-freakin-tastic. I didn't really do much, but I've been having a great time lately. I am still following meal plans and whatnot, but you can really tell that I'm getting Spring Fever. 


Anyway, as you all know, Sunday was Easter. I spent time with my family and we searched for Easter Eggs and what-not. Although, on a complete side note, I'm upset with the Easter Bunny these days (AKA, my mom). The Easter Bunny is giving out cash these days. I NEVER got cash from the Easter Bunny. These kids opening eggs and cash is falling out! Outrageous! I want to go back in time and get money for Easter!


Ok, back to my real purpose for writing this.....food. There was so much food. My mom even said that she was not going to make a ton of food. I should know what she means when she says that. She means that she is going to make half portions of a ton of food! 


I can't complain though, Momma doesn't go all out like she used to. She used to make elaborate meals and foods almost every weekend. She's slowed down on it over the past few years. Now she only goes all out about 3 or 4 times a year. 


The food situation wasn't bad. I was able to control myself. I also went with Janelle and did a killer hill workout before I had to go to family stuff. So by the time I got to Mom's house it was time for me to eat a big post workout meal. 


I know the day was not a total food success day, but it was damn close. 


Overall, the day was great. After family time I had a few other obligations. I went and saw some other people and managed not to gorge myself or drink myself stupid. 


So far this week has gone well. I have done a few really tough workouts and my whole body is super sore. I love that super sore feeling though!

Update time!

We're gonna pretend like I wrote this yesterday!

In December I did manage to lose weight. Not as much as I should have, but I still lost. As I said in a previous post Christmas was really tough; worse than Thanksgiving.

Anyway, let's get down to business. I lost 3 pounds. That makes a total weight loss of 113 pounds. Now, as far as inches go, I lost 5.25 inches. That is a big inches loss for the month. I do have to come clean though, I did gain about an inch in my leg, but I know that is just muscle, but I lost from everywhere else. Ok, I also didn't lose from my arm, but that hasn't changed in like 6 months. So, now I've lost a total of 85.75 inches.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed that I was able to lose 3 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I had a lot of temptation around me. I fought the temptations as much as possible, but I can't be perfect all the time.

However, I did accomplish a few things that I thought were impossible. I did not eat the cookie dough when I was baking. I didn't lick the bowl, I didn't lick the beaters, and I didn't sample the cookies as they were coming out of the oven. When I realized I could handle baking without snacking my way through the process I realized that I could do just about anything, because cookie dough is freaking tasty.

Now it's a new month and a new year. There are no big holidays coming up and I don't have any big events to attend. I will be able to stay focused and not have any temptation in my way.

I've been killing the workouts lately. I do need to back off a smidge though because my left shoulder has been hurting and so has my left hip.....not sure what that means, but it makes me think I'm getting old!

Christmas eating

Ok, I'm cutting right to the chase.....I think I ate more on Christmas than I did on Thanksgiving.

I know, I know, Thanksgiving is the eating holiday; not Christmas!

I started the day off really well. I had breakfast and waited until I was supposed to eat my snack to get to my mom's house. I think that's where I made my mistake. I underestimated the deliciousness of the cookies I made.

It's not as bad as I make it sound, but it's something I haven't done in a long, long time. I grazed throughout the day. I never really sat down and at plate after plate of food. Hell, my family didn't even make that much food! We really cut back. I didn't make all the varieties of cookies I usually make. We didn't have all the desserts or foods that we would usually make.

I was just snacking here and there all day long. I don't even think I realized what was going on. After a while I just felt so full and uncomfortable! I know it was a bad thing. Hey, at least I didn't have alcohol on top of all those sweets!

I think the difference between Thanksgiving and Christmas is all the cookies. There are cookies that my family only makes one time a year. There are a lot of things we only make one time a year for Christmas or Thanksgiving. This has been true my whole life. That's why so many of those cookies are a real treat. I know that no one will make them for a year.

I eat sweets throughout the year. I don't deprive myself. If I crave something I work it into my meals. Apparently I tasted those delicious, once a year cookies and lost my head!

Ok, I even think I'm making it sound worse than it probably is. I know that I didn't binge or anything, but I have to remember that I can't graze all day! I just keep adding food on top of food....it sounds gross to even think about.

I have to weigh myself this weekend. I hope the damage is more mental than physical!

My family usually does ugly Christmas sweaters.
We were doing that even before it was popular.
This year we decided to mix it up and wear
Forever Lazy's. They are not as awesome
as the commercial makes them sound!

New Meal Plan!

I've been on the same meal plan for about 5 months. Today I started a new one. I was getting bored with what I was doing, only because it wasn't a challenge anymore to find food to fit the calories, protein, and fat.

I will be going to the store on Wednesday or Thursday. It's so much fun to go food shopping right after starting a new meal plan.

Anyway, it hasn't changed that much. A few less calories per meal, but the protein per meal is just about the same. I will post the details of it under my meal plans.

I also think I'm out of my slump. I was struggling through the beginning of November because of so many birthdays and family obligations. Thanksgiving didn't help either, but yesterday was a good day for the scale and I. I managed to drop 3 pounds. I should be doing that every 2 weeks and I will get my butt back to doing that. These holidays are killing me! At least I haven't gained!

I've still been very busy with work and trying to find a new balance with working out, having a life, eating, and working....it's getting easier. I've been reading a lot of blogs, but not having much time to comment.

Too busy for my own good!

I prefer to be busy. It keeps me more focused. However, lately I've been so busy that getting to the gym has been more of chore than usual! Don't get me wrong; I'm still going to the gym 5-6 days a week, but it's really been difficult.

Overall, this is a bad time of year to be so busy that the gym may have to take a back seat. I've been doing a lot of baking for the Holidays and there have been a lot of people coming to town to visit. I've also been working my butt off and picking up extra hours and jobs whenever I can. All of this leads to a lot of tempataion and the desire to take short cuts. I feel like my self control could crash at any minute. I need to make sure that I'm still getting to the gym on my regular scheduled days.

Things will calm down in January, but until them I'm going to be super busy. On top of everything I'm running out of time to shop for Christmas! I have passed up shopping to go to the gym, but I'm getting to the point where I'm going to have to finish shopping for gifts!

I've never looked so forward to a holiday in my life and only because it will be a day that I can't work! I will also have to workout at home that day because the gym will obviously be closed for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to it too because I will get to sit on my butt for a little bit in the morning. I won't have to wake up to the alarm, and that is pretty exciting for me these days!

Here's to hoping I make it through the Holidays without losing my mind or my will power!

Well, I survived

I managed to stay sane on Thanksgiving. I used all the self control in the world and managed to not stuff my face and make myself sick from eating. Whew....it was a tough task.

I'm not sure if you know this or not, but my mom is the best cook this side of the Mississippi and on the other side of the Mississippi, the rest of her family are the best cooks. We've got the country on lock down for the best cooking. All of this fantastic cooking makes a person want to stuff their face.

Anyway, I did not snack all morning before dinner time. I ate every three hours like I'm supposed to. I know I didn't get the right amount of protein, but there were a lot of things I wanted to try so I ate tiny portions when it was my time to eat. I planned the day so I would have to eat when the whole family was sitting down to eat. I only had a small spoonful of the foods I wanted to try, and I totally passed up seconds.

I did have to walk away from the table before everyone else because I was done eating and I did not want seconds, but I could not stop thinking about the delicious food all around me. I think it also helped that we did everything buffet style this year and all the food was on the counter and buffet behind us. There was no food on the table. That really helped.

After I was done I spent some time playing with my niece and nephews. I was hoping to burn off some calories. I was trying really hard to not just sit on my butt for the rest of the day.

I did have dessert though. My mom makes apple pie twice a year. There is no way I could pass up apple pie. I cut my own piece and it really was a little baby piece of pie.

Overall, I think I managed pretty well, but I know that November has been a rough month for me. I've had 4 different family birthdays, a graduation, and Thanksgiving. I've also done a ton of baking, but for some reason that didn't even make me flinch. I was totally in control and able to bake without sampling.

Yesterday I did my regular workout and took a walk at the Reserve for an hour. It was pretty nice out. I figured I needed to take advantage of the nice weather. I also had a Bod Pod yesterday. I think I was trying to torture myself by getting a Bod Pod the day after a holiday full of eating, but that wasn't even that bad. Janelle did have to talk me down a little afterward. I was hoping for better.

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm pretty excited, but I'm not gonna lie; since I woke up at 6:30 A.M. I've been repeating to myself, "I think I can, I think I can". While I was making my cheesy, broccoli, rice casserole I was telling myself that I won't pig out today. While I was in the shower I was telling myself that I will only have one serving of the foods I want to try.

I'm assuming you get my gist today. I've been mentally pumping mysef up for the past hour and a half.

Really, I just keep reminding myself that it's one day and my family makes foods that we only make on Thanksgiving. We've also cut our recipes in half. We are making the foods that we always make, but we are making less. We're hoping to cut down on overeating and leftovers. My mom also made 2 pies and that's it. We really cut down on desserts and the foods that we snack on while we're waiting for dinner.

My mom also planned for us to eat earlier in the day so we would have more time to get up and be active in the late afternoon. The fam has been pretty proactive this year in having a reasonable Thanksgiving.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about today. It's nice weather, so I'll probably go for a walk after we eat. Hopefully, I can convince the fam that they also want to take a walk. I would feel bad if I just ate and took off for a walk by myself.

Oh....and....I'm gettting a Bod Pod tomorrow! What kind of crazy person schedules to have their body fat measured the day after Thanksgiving? Me, I guess.

Trying to stay positive.

Basically, I'm a little irritated with myself.

I said the other week that November is a rough month because of birthday's and Thanksgiving. My sister had a November birthday and my neice and nephews were all born in November. Busy, busy, busy. This year my sister also graduated from college. All of these events mean going out to eat, celebrating, eating, blah, blah, blah.

So, I've probably gone out to eat more this month than I have in the past year and a half. I've researched menus to find food that will fit into my meal plan, calories, protein, saturated fats, and I planned my whole eating schedule around what time we were going out to dinner. I even ordered food that I would never have ordered or eaten a year and half ago.

I ate freakin' salmon! I hate fish, but knew it was a good choice and it was really all that would fit into my meal plan. It wasn't even that bad either. I'm not sure if I will ever eat it again, but I tried it once! I didn't eat dessert, I didn't drink booze, and I didn't pick off other people's plates.

I also didn't lose any weight in the last two weeks. I'm pretty disappointed.

So, I'm trying to find the positive in the past two weeks. I didn't lose, but I didn't gain. I maintained. I also know that I made better food choices and I didn't pig out. I know that a year and a half ago I would have stuffed my face and ordered delicious deep fried foods. I know I would have ordered drinks and I know I would have ordered dessert.

I'm trying to remind myself just how far I really have come and how much my food choices and self control have changed. I guess I'm learning how to maintain my weight, but I'm not in a maintaining weight mode, I'm still in a losing weight mode.

I still have to make it through Thanksgiving this week. I know I'm not going to be perfect on Thursday. My family Thanksgiving is made up of foods that we only make once a year. We have decided to cut back on the desserts and we are cutting a lot of recipes in half as well. Everyone in my family wants to make better food choices that day. We all want to be able to taste and sample everything,  but we don't want to pig out. I know that my family as a whole wants to eat less and we all are making the effort to cook less!

Really, I keep telling myself that I've made it this far and I'm going to keep going. I don't like to be disappointed with myself, but there is nothing I can do at certain times of the year. I feel like I would be rude to skip family things because of food or going out to eat. I also think it is rude to just sit at a restaurant and not eat anything. I have done that in the past and my family has dealt with it. I have to make some choices that I'm not always happy with, but that's just life. Birthdays and holidays come up from time to time, but 4 birthdays, a graduation, and Thanksgiving all in one month is way to much for me.

Baking

I love, love, love to bake. I love to make sweets. I like to cook too, but baking is my favorite. I don't bake year round though. I usually only bake during the holidays. Guess what? It's totally baking season and I'm not prepared.

Last year I didn't bake too much. I didn't know how to handle making things that I wasn't going to eat. It didn't turn out to be that bad though. I was able to make what I needed to and not stuff my face with cookies and whatnot.

This year, I really, really want to do a ton of baking. Last week I had to make a few things for a carry-in at work, and I think that spurred my desire for all of this baking. I made pumpkin cookies for the carry-in and they were awesome, or so I've been told. I didn't get to eat any.

I'm not sure if any of you like to bake, but it is really friggin' hard to make something that you AREN'T going to eat. It's also really hard to make things and not take little samples as I'm baking to make sure it's tasting right. I usually have people taste and sample for me as I go to make sure everything is going ok.

This week I have a lot of free time and I plan on baking, a lot. I have an entire list of things I need to make and will make. I just hope that I don't fall off the wagon and start "sampling" everything I'm making!

Crazy November

November is my busiest month of the year. My neice and nephews were all born in November, one of my sisters was born in November, Thanksgiving is in November.....and a whole bunch of other things go on this month.

Birthdays and Thanksgiving are fun, but they all have one thing in common...food. Damn food.

Last night we went out to eat at a new restaurant downtown that is all local and organic, so that's cool. I ordered a tuna burger and didn't eat the whole thing.  I was pretty proud of myself. Then one of my sisters suggested dessert. I'm sure she was totally right about how good the ice cream is and how delicious everything else is.

Ice cream is my weakness. Total weakenss. I can't even tell you the last time I had ice cream. The server started rambling off the flavors of ice cream and I just put my head down and put my hands over my ears. I'm sure it was quite a site and I probably looked like an asshole, but I was in hell at that exact moment.

To make matters worse there was no way I could just get up and go outside while everyone had dessert. The restaruant is very small and we were all packed in at our table. I would have had to make 2 people get up to let me out.

So, I sat there. I sat there and I watched everyone eat cake and ice cream. I was so freakin' happy when everyone was done.

Today I have to go to my nephew's birthday party. There will be a lot of food there. A lot of food made by my mom, who is the best cook in the world. I'm trying to figure out what the hell I need to do. I'll figure it out. I'm getting ready to go to the gym and I usually have some of my best thoughts when I'm at the gym.