No Title for this Post ;-)

I find that that blogging has become a source of support for me, whether anyone is reading or not. The past few weeks have been a bit challenging as far as sticking to the diet is concerned. I've also been feeling so good about the weight I've lost that I'm surprised when I look in the mirror and still see an overweight woman. Huh? I can pull my pants off without unzipping them so clearly my bum is shrinking, so why do I still look like this? That may be confusing to read so let me clarify that I'm not upset about how I look, it's that I feel really great. Mostly anyway LOL.

The newness has worn off. I was excited about the new meals I was making, the changes to my diet, and I thought the time-consuming aspect of researching, planning and making meals would go away. Because the excitement has worn off, so has the drive to put so much effort into this. Unfortunately this is reflected by the numbers on the scale. I have not gained any back because for the most part I've stuck to the plan. For that I'm very happy. However, I need to lose weight at this point, not maintain. Therefore, I need to accept that the hard work of losing weight. I thought that "hard work" meant I'd have to make sacrifices, put in the time at the gym and spend more time cooking (and thus cleaning). But in order to be successful I have to continue finding new recipes, and planning meals and snacks a week at a time. of course the other challenge is doing this on about $5 a day. *sigh*

Tomorrow I will put together a plan for the week, hopefully without having to buy too much stuff from the store.

Also, I've been craving exercise all week but haven't indulged once, and I'm not really sure why. Last Sunday I actually jogged on the treadmill, and since then I've been thinking about how good it feels to move and and use my body in ways that I used to do every day as a kid. It's not normal for me to do things I want, only things that I have to do, so maybe that is the issue here. If I have to exercise, I will, but if I want to, I deny myself because it's all I know how to do--but that's a different topic for a different day.

So in addition to preparing my meal plan for the week, I'm going to treat myself to a trip to the gym. Right after I treat myself to a discount morning movie, at an actual movie theater, something I haven't done in months.

Also, I've relisted my summer goals--which are also rewards--as a reminder of some of the things I'm working toward.

LL xoxo

• Attend an outdoor theatre show
• Attend an off-broadway show 
• Take two out-of-town trips
• Do a bit of yard work
• Spend some time with friends 
• Read

Can you say "Out of Shape?"

Instead of heading indoors to a fitness center, A and I decided to take it outdoors by walking through one of the city parks. Fate was definitely involved as we quickly came upon a workout station (the first of several) and I literally jumped right in to the challenges.

The first one was a row of 6x6's and the challenge was to hop over each one, preferably without stopping. Well, I didn't realize until I tried this that, hey, I don't jump! Not anymore. It was really hard, but I did it, one at a time. A was able to do them faster but he also weighs 90 lbs less. We took a walk around the neighborhood later after dinner and I jumped over a few curbs. It was amazing that just one jump increased my heart rate.

The other stations were for leg lifts (yeah, right, did 2 or 3), step-ups (like what we do with step aerobics; each post was a different height though, so it progressively got harder), and a couple of arm exercises. A and I were a bit worn out when we finished. Even though I did very little, what I was diong was a LOT for me. There is an ache in my arms today, so what does that tell ya? I am waaay out of shape.

It also tells me that walking on the treadmill is only going to do so much. I want to get strong and sculpt my body a bit, and this will take resistant training (which I loathe).

That's all for now. Gonna keep it short and sweet for once LOL Hope all are well.

LL xoxo

Check Out the Efforts on Her ;-)

Milestone Goal: Vacation, June 23, 245 (12lbs & 26 days to go)

Question for readers: what do you do to stay on track or get back on track with your personal goals?

Surprise, surprise I'm retaining water, but it's not as bad as yesterday (then again, I just got out of bed). I've had too many carbs lately, and not the good kind. In my last post I explained how I need to refocus, and I'm happy to report that yesterday was much better.

The first thing I did was get about 7 hours of sleep to give me a better start to the day. I then cooked my lunch and prepared a salad for lunch and snack. A few days ago I started fostering 5 kittens for a local non-profit, and the first thing I do each morning is feed them, clean them, and clean out their pen. It takes about an hour to do this and I get pretty dirty in the process. I have an adult cat that I'm fostering as well, plus my own kitties and a guinea pig (surprisingly, my house neither looks nor smells like a zoo; visitors can't even tell I have all these animals, thanks to my super organizational and cleaning skills LOL) that need attention as well. I decided that the kittens would just eat in their pen and would have to be cleaned later so that I had time for ME, to prepare MY food :-) Later I called my child and explained that the kittens would need bathing, feeding and a cleaned up pen; I'm so prepared for an argument that I avoid passing on chores as much as possible (that's another topic for another day). Moral of the story is that I took steps to put my health first and it paid off.

I knew I was taking A out for a belated birthday dinner to one of our most favoritest Chinese restaurants, and the dish that I always get is Thai Style Shrimp (oh, it's heavenly!), which is tossed in a flour mixture before frying. Flour is a general no-no, however, I am allowed a small amount of carbs now, so I adjusted my eating throughout the day accordingly to allow some wiggle room. Again, very proud of myself :-D

This morning A and I are going on a hike to get a great start to the day (he's getting up at 9a (which he never does). In my refocusing efforts, I'm also going to put together a menu for the week as well as a flexible workout schedule. When I did that a couple of weeks ago it made a HUGE difference in how I ate. When I was at a loss for snack and meal ideas, I'd look at the chart I put on the fridge for some ideas. You know what? I'm going to put that in my blog post tomorrow :-D

And a Happy Mother's Day to a Gettin'-Healthier Me!

2??.??

The shorts I bought about a month ago are falling off of me, and yesterday I wore one of the pairs of jeans I put away last month because they were uncomfortably tight. They are still tight but not as much. Yay, it's working!!

I haven't weighed myself yet today, mostly because I'm waiting for this excess water to escape from my body. Plus I'm starting the induction phase of the South Beach Diet today. My boss/director suggested that I might like it better than Atkins because it allows more healthy carbs. I've spent the past couple of weeks looking into it, and I do like it better. During the induction phase, not only am I allowed more than 15 grams of veggies (not corn, peas or carrots though) per day, I am SUPPOSED to have 2 cups of veggies every night with dinner. I love that! Also, the protein I eat is supposed to be lean and low-fat, something else that Atkins is not as concerned with. In addition, I can have low-fat condiments (yay mayo!) as long as they aren't overloaded with sugar and other carbs.

There are two challenges for me though: money and time (when ISN'T that ever a challenge?). I was reading through the great recipes last night to get some variety and it seems that I could easily spend $100 a week just on my own food (and don't forget, I have a teen to feed). I'm also supposed to eat 3 complete meals, 2 snacks and 1 sweet treat each day. How am I going to do all of this? I'll have to spend hours planning and preparing all this food. When I was silly enough to pay for cable television (ah, thank heavens for Netflix Instant Watch and Hulu), I would watch the BBC America program "You are What You Eat," a terrific show where a holistic foodie spends time with families in their homes guiding through the changes to help them lose weight and feel better. Every family said that they were spending enormous amounts of time planning, shopping and cooking their meals. Looks like that's gonna be me.

So I have to spend some time today creatively planning my meals, based on cost, time involved to prepare the meals, and for flavor and variety.

I'm also going to continue with regular exercising. It will certainly help me lose weight, but it also makes me feel better the next day (I work out after dinner). Even Mr. A likes it. Until last week, he hadn't even set foot on a treadmill! That was fun to watch LOL. After just the first time we went to the gym, he said he slept better and felt better the next day. I've never enjoyed working out with someone so much :-D It's great because it'll help keep me motivated.