Goal: 115 by October 15

Workout: weights
Weight: 126.8

Stalling on 126.8. Not sure if its because of TOM or if its due to eating over the weekend. I really didn't do too badly last weekend. I didn't exactly count my points, but I didn't go crazy and really worked to stay within what I felt were good choices. Not too worried about it - i feel really good at this weight.

Weight workout this morning was fine.

Chest press: 3x15 @ #4
Shoulder press: 3x11 @ #1
Triceps press down: 3x13 @ #4
Upright Row: 3x13 @ #4
BB curl: 3x15 @ 20lbs
Ab machine: 3x15 @ #3
planks: 1 @ 1:00

I felt my back go out this morning in the shower - the disks. Nothing that I did, not sure what happened. It hurts to stand upright. Feels good to sit down or bend over. Took some ibuprofin and it seems to be helping. I'm going to be bummed if this ends up being longer than a day or two - ugh.

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: running/walking - 36:00 (a little longer - don't remember)
Weight: 126.8

I had David transfer my running cd onto our ipod at their house. I worked all day on Tuesday to get the ipod to show up on our computer and it never happened, so now we'll just have to do it this way. The one good thing, I guess, is that Dave pulled his groin muscle in soccer on Sunday and he won't be running any time soon and won't need the ipod for that so its okay that I have my running songs on it and not his music.

I did not workout yesterday because we went to bed late the night before and I needed the sleep. I did, however, jump on the trampoline with Georgia yesterday afternoon which is actually a very, very good workout. I don't know how long I did it so I'm not really counting it, but at least I was active in some way. I also didn't end up eating all of my points yesterday so I guess it all washes.

This morning I ran. And wow was I proud of myself! I have the music set to have some slower songs for walking at certain intervals and it worked out perfectly. I ran for most of the time - I think I took a walking break for about 5 minutes and then ran the rest of the time. I am so proud of myself for the continuous running AFTER a walk break. So proud. I'm sure I ran at a super slow pace, but given all of the inclines and hills it was such a great workout. My legs are tired and sore and I felt so good afterward. I am definitely going to keep this up - I might just become a regular runner by the end of the summer yet! Megan Alderden told me last week that she thinks it takes about a month to get your body acclimated to running - so if that is true by our trip to the water park (july 31) i should be good. I'm very excited about this. I feel like it is a true opportunity to clear my mind and get a great workout and to continually challenge myself.

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: run/walk - outside - 36:00
Weight: 126.8

I tried running outside this morning. I prepared myself last night - I made a new running cd and got myself psyched up for it. I got started this morning and got around the corner and the batteries in my cd player died. I was close enough to home that I turned around and went back to get new ones. So I started again. The running was fine, but the cd player skipped continuously and it was terribly frustrating. I NEED the music for running and when it is constantly skipping it makes the song longer and its just stressful while running. I also got a really bad side cramp so I started walking a lot sooner than I had planned because of those two things. I ended up running again a little bit here and there, but nothing like I would have liked. The cd skipping is that bothersome for me. We have a ipod shuffle, but it won't synch to our computer so we can't change the music on it. We just need to buy a new one, I think. I'll have to look around and see how much all of these ipods are.

Running outside was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I kind of enjoyed it and can see myself doing it some more if I have the music situation figured out. I can feel it in my legs right now and its a good feeling. I would like to be able to run more and more each time. I HAVE to get the music thing figured out.

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: weights
Weight: 126.6

Chest Press: 3x15 @ #4
Shoulder Press: 3x11 @ #1
Tricep Press down: 3x13 @ #4
Upright Row: 3x13 @ #4
BB Curl: 3x15 @ 20lbs
Abs: 3x15 @ #2

Good workout this morning. I increased reps on 3 of my exercises and it was killing me by the last set. I'm not working on building muscle necessarily, but I still want to gain a bit and not just tone.

I was glad to see my weight steady this morning. When I hit that bottom weight for me I always think it must be a fluke and will go up again the next day. I need to remind myself to not go crazy over the weekend. Dave and I are going out for the first time in a long time and I would really like to go crazy, but I won't.

Less than 2 weeks until we go to the regional. I'm going to look online right now for an idea of a possible dress for the awards dinner. It needs to be black and white and somewhat more formal than previous years. I'm also going to order a casual dress from Title 9. I'm looking forward to that weekend since it is always a nice opportunity to go away and have a basically free trip.

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Walking - 36:00
Weight: 126.6

I have been seeing my weight steadily decrease over the last couple of days. 126.6 is awesome! I saw that on the scale this morning and immediately reminded myself to not blow it over the weekend. It is so easy to do that, but I need to continue to count points over the weekend and be disciplined.

I'm hopeful that 115 by October 10 is not so far out of reach - all of last week it seemed hopeless. Not anymore!

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Walk - 36:00
Weight: 128.0

God sure surprised me this morning when I woke up. It has been rainy and humid and crummy around here for several days. Intermitent periods of sun, but nothing promising and always clouds in the sky looming and threatening the next burst. This morning, though, I woke up and saw sun! And bright blue skies. And wispy clouds! And it wasn't humid and hot at 6am. It was awesome and I enjoyed my walk and I enjoyed God's creativity and majesty as I walked.

I'm finding that if I read my devotions before I go for my walk I have a different experience. I have to get up a little earlier to do so, but it is well worth it. I have something to think about and meditate on while I'm walking or at the very least it has tunneled my focus a bit to thinking and praying rather than thinking about nothing.

I'm enjoying this form of exercise. In the past I found walking to be a waste of time - I could get more calories burned in a 1/2 hour of running. But I don't run outside. I've also experienced (in the past) some stress and anxiety about being too far from home while on foot. I know its weird and its very hard to explain, but it definitely existed. I'm enjoying this now, but am fully aware that when the weather is too bad it will be back to running on the treadmill (I hate walking on the treadmill as much as I hate running outside). This is also a new mindset in believing that I'm doing as much good for my heart and body with walking as I would be with running. I still have doubts, but for right now it is better for my soul.

Goal: 120 by June 25

Workout: weights
Weight: 128.8

Chest press: 3x15 @ #4
Shoulder Press: 3x10 @ #1
Tricep Press Down: 3x12 @ #4
Upright Row: 3x12 @ #4
BB Curl: 3x15 @ 20lbs
Ball: 2x10
Squats: 200

I was down to 127 yesterday and then I had a day of eating super high points and today I'm at 128.8. Oh and hardly any water yesterday. I'm just saying that I was quite happy to see 127 yesterday morning because it felt much better than 130.

I did good over the weekend. I counted my points and stayed within my limit and may have even had some left over. I'm definitely not going to make 120 by June 25, but thats okay, I WILL be hovering around 125 by then, which I'm sure was probably one of my original goals. I have to be content losing slowly and enjoying like rather than losing quickly and feeling deprived. So I will revise my ultimate goal from 115 by July 31 to 115 by October 10.

Goal: 120 by June 25

Workout: weights
Weight: 129.8

Chest Press: 3x15 @ #4
Shoulder Press: 3x10 @ #1
Tricep Pressdown: 3x12 @ #4
Upright Row: 3x12 @ #4
BB Bicep Curl: 3x12 @ 24lbs
Ball: 3x10
Squats: 200

Ugh, so annoyed that the weight is not going down. Annoyed with myself for not being a little more self-controlled over Memorial Day weekend and last weekend. New start this weekend. I've been really hungry for the last couple of days and this morning. I'm really hungry right now.

Goal: 120 by June 25

Workout: walking - 36:00
Weight: 129.8

Went walking this morning by myself. It kind of felt weird to be out there without an implied purpose (walking the dog). It also felt kind of weird to not be pulled by him. But it was nice. I'm really enjoying these walks - I have been able to watch the progression of the flowers blooming and the changes people make in their yards over the weekend. Its remarkable to me how almost every house has some sort of splash of color somewhere. Not every house has a bunch of flowers planted throughout the landscaping, but almost every house has at least one or two pots of flowers somewhere. Its just interesting to observe it all and to be blessed by the colorfulness of God's creation. Many times I think that God must have so much fun creating.

Weight was still at 129.8 this morning. Kind of makes me sad. I'm not upset or obsessed about it, but it makes me sad that I really shot myself in the foot over the last couple of weeks. There's a chance that it may still go down this week a little bit, but I had been hovering around 127/128 for a couple of weeks and had gotten as low as 126.4 last week and to now be back up to nearly 130 just makes me sad. It also makes me think that there really is no chance of hitting the 120 by June 25 goal. Oh well - I had been making such good consistent progress, its okay to have one week of gaining I guess. I wish it wasn't so hard to lose weight and so easy to gain;) I hope that once I get down to 115 I don't have this constant struggle all the time.

Have been thinking about my exercise lately - is walking enough? Is walking for 36 minutes enough? Should I add time? Should I be walking closer to 60 minutes? Should I be running in order to get my heart rate up more? This morning I took my pulse and it was 11.5 in 6 seconds (115/minute). Should it be higher? Is this enough in order to be fit? Is enjoying my exercise more important than killing myself?

Goal: 120 by June 25

Workout: Walk - 36:00
Weight: 129.8

I was kind of freaking out internally yesterday because after I had blogged that my weight was 131.6 and I wasn't worried about it I went upstairs to take a shower and weighed myself again - an hour after the 131.6 and I was 133.6. I didn't let it upset me, but I was kind of freaking out all day that I had totally messed up. I have been doing so well - losing consistently or maintaining really well. What had my last two weekends done? How had I messed up that badly and reversed all of the great progress I had made? I weighed myself again in the afternoon - with clothes on, after drinking many glasses of water and eating a couple of meals - I was back at 131.6, which made me feel much, much better - clearly, if I was at 131.6 in the middle of the day, then I don't really weigh 131.6 and I didn't mess up THAT badly.

However, it is still motivation for me to be stricter over the weekends from now on. I have three weekends before the regional and I will be strict for all three and loosen up a bit for the regional just because I don't have much of a choice.

This morning - 129.8. Good, back in the 120's:)

Went for a walk with Brady. I'm still really, really extra tired. I went to sleep around 10:30 last night and woke up at 6:15 and felt like I could have slept for another 2 or 3 hours - very unusual for me. By 3:00 I'm dead and wanting to take a nap. Its gotta be the lingering strep. This just isn't like me.

Goal: 120 by June 25

Workout: Weights
Time: 42:00
Squats: 200
Weight: 131.6

Chest press: 3x15 @ #4
Shoulder Press: 3x10 @ #1
Tricep Press Down: 3x15 @ #3
Upright Row: 3x15 @ #4
BB Curl: 3x12 @ 24lbs
Ball: 3x10

It felt good to work out again this morning. I'm still really tired throughout the day and by late afternoon I'm extremely exhausted. Other than that, I feel really good.

My weight is up this morning. I didn't count points over the weekend, but I didn't go overboard either. I had ribs & 2 beers on Saturday night and last night we had chilis - split a salad and an appetizer trio (southwestern eggrolls - 1, buffalo wings - 2, shanghai boneless wings - 3). I'm sure that much of it is water retention since I haven't had more than 2 glasses of water since Tuesday. I'm also sure that my weight is not 126.4 like it was last week:)

In the past I've only allowed myself to weigh once a week. I thought that I would go crazy with the fluctuations if I weighed more often than that. This time I'm weighing everyday. I like it. I kind of like seeing the fluctuations. I also like seeing the lowest weight throughout the week. I think seeing the fluctuations is helpful for my motivation and my sense of accomplishment.

I'm going to hit it hard now and count my points over the weekends until the regional at the end of the month.