Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Running - 36:00
Weight: 128

Totally retaining water - I've drunk 48oz of water in 1 1/2 hours and have not gone to the bathroom. My rings are tight and I feel a bit bloated. Really, really weird and interesting.

Ran outside after debating about running on the treadmill. Ultimately, "you're being a pansy" won out and I went outside. The air is thick - I felt like I was chewing it. But my lungs didn't burn like last week - wonder what the difference is.

I'm still enjoying it. I still dawdle in the morning before I go out, but I don't dread it at night and I really enjoy it while I'm actually doing it and feel so good afterward. I just wish, wish, wish that I was better at it. It will come - I'm already better than I was before.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Weights
Weight: 128.4

Chest Press: 3x13 @ #5
Reverse Cybex Row: 3x13 @ #7
Shoulder Press: 3x14 @ #1
Triceps Press Down: 3x12 @ #5
BB Curls: 3x14 @ 22lbs
Squats: 200
Time: 39:39

Tough workout this morning. I increased reps or weight with every exercise and it killed me. Wow - I haven't felt that way in a long time. My arms are still a little shakey.

Have been wondering this morning if humidity plays a role in water retention. I'm pretty sick of seeing these weights on the scale. I'm not sure why I'll finally see the low weight and then the next day or two it jumps back up 2-3 pounds. Its quite humid out right now, so I'm wondering if that affects it in any way. I drank 112oz of water yesterday - you would think that water retention wouldn't be an issue, but my rings are tight, I can feel my hands are tight, I feel a bit bloated and I drank 32oz of water within an hour of going to sleep and I didn't wake up over night - all of that suggests some pretty significant water retention.

It is interesting to be able to make all of these observations. Weighing every morning and seeing the fluctuations makes me more observant of the weather, my water intake, my diet, etc. and more in tune with my body and how it is actually feeling beyond my stomach/digestive area - like my hands feeling tight.

I'm starving right now. I think what I really, really want is to get down to my goal weight so I can start maintaining - so I can figure out what I can eat in order to maintain it - like I would really like to add some strawberry yogurt cheerios to my oatmeal this morning, but I've cut them out since deciding to tighten up... I have no intentions of eating poorly after getting to my goal, but I would like to add little things like that and right now I shouldn't.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: running
Weight: 127.4

Ran outside. It was nice and cool, but still humid. Needless to say, I sucked again:) Oh well, I'm still getting better.

I went to Doug's yesterday morning and put a whole bunch of new music on the ipod. It was a nice change of pace, although I was quite excited when London Bridge came on after not hearing any dance music for 25 minutes at that point.

I did really well in terms of eating over the weekend, but not with water. Saturday I stayed within all of my points. We went to Applebee's for dinner and I ordered off of the WW menu. The food was alright - not spectacular - but it was nice to have stayed within my points. Sunday we went to G&G Dykstra's for lunch. John, Deanne and their kids were there. I didn't do bad there, either. Nothing was very WW friendly, but I didn't overindulge, which is key for me. We were there for the entire afternoon and then the girls had VBS... Dave and I never really ended up eating dinner. I had a couple of crackers and cheese and 2 pieces of leftover pizza and a bowl of ice cream and called it good. I hardly drank any water, though.

I was initially kind of ticked that I saw 127.4 on the scale again this morning and then I realized that hey, its better than seeing 129.8 which is what I have been seeing on Monday mornings lately. So I'm making progress! We leave for WI on Thursday morning and I'm hoping to see 125 back on the scale by then. The last month has been quite the struggle.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: running - 34:00
Weight: 125.6

Yes, thats right, my weight is 125.6! Yesterday it was still 127.2. I wish I could have seen all of the in between weights so I would have been encouraged and not kind of getting down and wondering why the heck I couldn't lose anything. I was beginning to think that 125 just wasn't going to be an option and that in order to get through this plateau I was going to have to do something a little extreme like add a lot more running or not use my 35 flex points over the weekend. Neither of which I was really willing to do. I'm really happy to see the scale go down - I needed that. A lot.

Ran this morning and it was humid again. Humidity really amplifies my suckiness in running. My body stops long before I intend to stop and I stop more often. I don't like it - it makes me feel mentally weak. But I'm still better than I was a month ago.

I stink - literally. ick. I think I need new workout clothes.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: running - 38:00
Weight: 127.2

For the last couple of mornings when I step on the scale it looks like its going to stop at 125.4, but then goes to 127.2. I hope that it will stop at 125.4 in the next couple of days.

Last night I did well at FFFFS. I had a pork chop, ramen noodle salad, cucumber tomato salad & some watermelon and some pickles. I didn't have any cake or any steak even though I wanted some of each. I think I did okay. I also didn't have any beer even though I had bought some just for that night. My pork chop was good:)

I combined both of my running routes today. I ran up Woodlawn to 151st to the running path behind Kingston Hills to the end over to Mustang to Appalossa to Holm to Pheasant to Prairie to Mallard Dr to Mallard Lane to Meadowland to Abbot West. I did NOT stop for a drink of water at the park even though I thought about it (running the route in this direction made the water stop more than halfway through the run rather than less than halfway). I ran for longer than I have in a couple of weeks. On my playlist I ran through 4 songs rather. I figured that I walked for 10 minutes out of 38 - 3:30 of which were my warm up walking minutes. So I'm happy with that. I was really happy with that run. I felt like I found a good route and I accomplished some major mental breakthroughs. I need to continue running that route so I can continue running a little further every time. I also did not stop at the top of any hills to catch my breath. I slowed my running, but I didn't stop to walk. I think running the route in the direction was a bit easier because it was a bit less hilly/incliney.

Last night my friend Carissa told me that her sister-in-law mentioned to her last week (she was at FFFFS on Wed night last week) that I look really healthy and fit. I was really happy to hear that. I don't want to look skinny - I want to look fit and I want to look like I work at being in shape. Carissa's response was that I should look that way because I eat really, really well and I work for it. She is so right - and I so appreciate what she said. I do work hard and I'm glad that it finally shows.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Running - 32:00 (I think)
Weight: 127.2

I suck at running. I truly just suck. I run slow. I stop too much to walk. I suck. Oh well. I will get better.

I think that stopping for a water break at the park is a bad idea. it causes me to stop at a critical moment - a moment when I should keep going and break through the mental barrier. Before I started stopping for water I was running far past that before I stopped to walk. Today I stopped for water and struggled to not stop every couple of minutes. Tomorrow, no water.

Last night I weighed myself because I was taking a shower at 8:20pm. I was 126.0 at 8:20pm. Made me feel good - like I'm doing well. This morning I was 127.2, which makes sense because after I weighed myself last night I ate 17 points (had oatmeal for breakfast, but no points after that due to mowing the lawn through my normal lunch time). So I think its going okay. I want to bust through 126 and see 125. I'm working on it.

Tonight is FFFSN or whatever:) I'm bringing pork chops and I need to go out and grab a watermelon, or maybe I'll make cucumber and tomato salad. Something. I need to bring something that I can eat a lot of and not be any points or very low points - I tend to snack there and I have to not do that. Pork chops = yum!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Weights
Weight: 128.6

Butterfly: 3x12 @ #5
Reverse Cybex Row: 3x12 @ #7
Shoulder Press: 3x13 @ #1
Tricep Press Down: 3x15 @ #4
BB Curl: 3x13 @ 22lbs
Time: 36:06

I probably should have done abs, too, but it was already 7:30 by the time I got done and 36 minutes is 2 activity points - going the extra few minutes doesn't add any more than that. So I slack and quit at 36 minutes.

I'm wondering what it is going to take to get me over this plateau of waffling between 126 & 129. I am fully aware that my weight is going to be up after the weekend, but how do I bust past 126? How do I retrain myself so that I'm not giving myself so many exceptions on the weekend? I am stellar during the week. I didn't do bad this weekend, but I'm afraid that it hasn't resulted in a loss. I'm not sure I'm willing to add time to my exercise - not more than 5-10 minutes to my run. I'm not going out there for an hour. I can't do it and I'm not sure I want to do it.

I have got to be more disciplined over the weekend and not allow Dave to talk me into things like chicken wings.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Running/Walking - 32:00
Weight: 131

Ran outside this morning. It is extremely humid - take a step outside and you can feel the air hanging on top of you. It is awful. I debated about running inside, but decided that I was being a wimp and needed to suck it up and go outside. Ugh. It was terrible. My lungs were burning and my legs were initially very achy and tired. After running for 5 minutes I had semi decided to just walk the rest of the way and screw the run. Then while I was walking I decided to walk a song and run a song - so I alternated it that way for the rest of the time. It was very yucky.

I did good over the weekend in terms of points and water. I think I drank almost all of my water, which is definitely an improvement. I didn't go overboard with the food, but I had to estimate much of my dinners. I think I did okay.

Last night we had some pretty high sodium stuff - subway and some wings from hooters (I only had 3), so I'm sure thats why my weight is so high this morning.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Running - treadmill
Distance: 3.00 miles
Time: 35:59
Weight: 127.4

Raining again this morning so I ran on the treadmill. My goal was to run 3 miles faster than last Saturday - and I beat it by a few seconds. Maybe I should run on the treadmill every Saturday as a way to have a little competition with myself.

I ran most of the time. I'm proud of myself and how much I've improved over the last couple of months.

Today begins the test of the weekend. I need to stay within my points and my flex points. We're not going out tonight, so it might be a little easier to do because of that. I also need to make a huge effort to drink all of my water today and tomorrow.

I would really love to be 125 by the time we go to Cheboyagan - 1 1/2 weeks. Its definitely do-able.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: None
Weight: 127.4

I skipped my workout yesterday, too, due to needing to sleep. We got to bed quite late the night before and I just didn't have it in me to get up yesterday and run in the humidty. I thought about possibly running on the treadmill during the afternoon, but I ended up working on the computer to get the memory card reader fixed and never had a chance after that because of tball and baseball games.

This morning I just didn't feel like lifting weights. So I didn't. Maybe I'll have a chance to run on the treadmill later today... will have to wait and see.

Yesterday my weight was back down to 126.2. This morning it waffled between 126.2 & 127.4 a couple of times before settling on the latter. And I had my pajamas on, which I normally don't do. So all is good. Seeing 126.2 yesterday really gave me hope and made me happy. I'm hoping that I'm able to break the 126 mark next week and finally see 125 and make my way down to 120.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: running - 33:00
Weight: 127.2 or .6 don't remember

Got up really early to run this morning because it has been quite humid and hot. I wanted to get out there while it was still kind of not either of those. I'm not sure if it helped. It was still pretty humid at 6am.

My throat/lungs were burning again and my lower legs were tired again. Not sure what it is - must have something to do with the humidity.

Ran the second route again with all of the hills/inclines (I mentioned all of the hills to Michelle next door and she looked at me like I was nuts - so I think she agrees with inclines... she's the runner, not me so I'll go with it. although when facing the incline while running, it sure looks like a mountain to me). I allowed myself to stop and walk for a few paces after each incline to catch my breath. I ran most of the way today,though, with those few spurts of walking.

I enjoy running - maybe not while I'm in the middle of it, although, i do kind of enjoy it then, too - I feel like I'm accomplishing something big for myself. This is a big deal for me - I've never run, ever. When we had to do the mile in junior high and high school, I walked most of the way. I never exercised. I hated running. I tried running in college, but could never get into it. I'm finally enjoying it and feeling good about it. I don't know if I'll ever run any races or do anything fantastic like run 10 miles at one time, but I enjoy what I'm doing now and I'm going to enjoy seeing my progress over time. I know it is only a matter of time before I'm running 3 miles without stopping to walk and then I'll start running those 3 miles faster and then I'll add some distance etc. etc. It may take a while, but it will happen.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Weights
Weight: 128.2

Butterfly: 3x12 @ #5
Reverse Cybex Row: 3x12 @ #7
Shoulder Press: 3x13 @ #1
Tricep Press Down: 3x15 @ #4
BB Curl: 3x13 @ 22lbs
Squats: 200

Workout was fine this morning, nothing remarkable about it.

Yesterday I was physically weird. I was so tired all day, my knees hurt - like the surrounding connecting tissues, not the joint - must have been because of the first day of my period. It was totally weird and I didn't like it;)

Beginning to think that I may have gained a couple of pounds over the last couple of weeks. Its fine. I did well yesterday with sticking to my points. I counted the points from the grapes and I didn't include any additional little cheats - no cheerios in my oatmeal, no bites of other food. I'm STARVING right now!

I don't have a problem during the week:
* I am committed to exercising moreso because of how it affects my sleep than anything else, but it is good for weightloss/maintenance, too.
* I am fine with sticking to my points during the week - I have to tighten up with the no little cheats and make sure I'm counting things like grapes and strawberries.
* I am pretty disciplined about drinking my water. I have certain times that I drink glasses of water and it all adds up to 80 oz in one day. Yesterday I drank more than 100oz.

My problem is weekends and especially special event type situations. I need to:
* count my points on the weekends
* drink water over the weekend
* not make excuses why it is okay to give in
* plan better for wednesday night pool pary bbq - no more chips

Monday, July 14, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Running/Walking - 36:00
Weight: 129.2

Running sucked this morning. Not sure what the deal was. The weather was beautiful: cool, crisp, dry, sunny, low to no humidity. Perfect. But my lungs and throat were burning, my right knee was hurting, my legs felt weak and tired. So I walked a majority of the time. I ran intermittently, but I walked more than not, probably.

A couple of issues to consider:
* perhaps I started off too fast?
* too dehydrated? (20oz of water yesterday - thats it, had chinese on Saturday and mexican last night)
* period is due tomorrow I believe

Combination of them all or one?

Went out with the small group for chinese on Saturday night. It was very good:) I didn't overload myself, but I think any chinese is not good for the diet. The same with Mexican. Bad choices, but at the same time I gave myself permission because I'm going to hit it hard now.

I have 13 weeks to lose 14 pounds. I can do this. I need to be diligent about recording my points and being accurate in my records. I need to count all of the fruit that I eat and measure my foods. I need to consistently drink 80oz of water everyday - including weekends. I need to watch myself over the weekend and be careful to actually count my points on Saturday and Sunday. I can do this... I have three weekends between now and October 10 where it won't be possible - July 31 - Aug 2 (Water park), Labor Day (Gram's cottage), and October 4th (alber's family pictures). So I need to be hard core for the rest of the weekends.

I can do this.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: running
Weight: 128.0
Distance: 3.0 miles
Time: 36:07

Ran on the treadmill this morning because it was pouring outside. the treadmill is 100x easier than running outside. It was kind of nice to not feel like I was sucking wind the entire time and struggling to stay running. it was smooth and not painful:)

I've decided that I'm running at a pretty slow pace outside. I ran at 5.2 and 5.3 this morning and it felt comfortable. When I listen to No Air if I run on the beat it is 5.3 - when I do that outside it feels a little too fast. So I must be running at less than 5.2 outside and I'm probably running only around 2.5 miles outside. Doesn't matter, I will get better and faster as time goes on.

Beginning to wonder if I have in fact gained a couple of pounds. I had been at 126.8 for a day or two, but have gone back up over the last two mornings. I'm sure it is a combination of 3 straight weekends of poor food opportunities (Cubs/Sox party for Dave's clients at Champs, Regional weekend & July 4th weekend), little cheats and possibly eating too much fruit. I have been adding about 1/8 c. of strawberry yogurt cheerios to my oatmeal in the morning and don't figure the points, I have eaten 3-4 abc cookies many days, I eat a bunch of frozen grapes throughout the day, and i've been eating blueberries and raspberries by the handful in the last few days. I don't generally count points for grapes, berries and watermelon since it takes a bunch of them to = 1pt, but if you add it all up, I'm sure it hasn't been a great thing in terms of losing weight.

Tonight we are going to China Town for dinner with our small group. Meaning... another weekend of poor food choices. I will eat my entire dinner with chopsticks so that will mean a lot less rice than I normally eat, but it is still bad for me food. Tomorrow I will sit down and re-evaluate everything. I need to decide if I'm going to even try to lose weight during the rest of the summer or just be happy maintaining. I need to look at the calendar and see what else is coming up and if I can hit it hard on the weeks/weekends in between special weekends and make this work or if it isn't worth the effort until school starts back up. My goal is 115 by October 10th - that's 12-14 pounds in 3 months... if I wait until school starts at the end of August I will only have 6 weeks, so I'm thinking I need to focus on trying to lose SOME during the rest of the summer. I need to sit down and really plan and think it through.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: weights
Weight: 127.2

Must not have drunk enough water yesterday because there is no way I gained 1/2 pound in 24 hours. And by the time I got in the shower (after working out and drinking 48oz of water) I weighed 129.2 - these are the good examples of why weighing myself everyday has been a wonderful thing for me. I see the daily fluctuations, the patterns, etc and don't get upset when it looks like I've gained. A departure from the past.

Workout was good and pretty tough. I don't like lifting weights so much anymore now that I am not trying to outdo my previous workout every time, but I know it is important so I will continue doing it twice a week.

Butterfly: 3x15 @ #4
Reverse Cybex Row: 3x15 @ #6
Shoulder Press: 3x12 @ #1
Triceps Press Down: 3x14 @ #4
Biceps Curl (on machine): 2x10 @ #4, 1x10 @ #3
Abs: 3x15 @ #4
Squats: 200

My legs and body were so tired yesterday from running. I was happy to go to bed:)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Running - 30:00
Weight: 126.8

Ran a different route today and it was full of hills and slight inclines. As a result I walked for less time at once, but more often - I took a few more walking breaks but they were much shorter. Hills are tough! I liked my new route.

I feel so good after I run. I tried to focus pretty intently on breathing today in order to not suck wind so badly and feel like I was laboring so much. I again had a mental block that I had to work through - this time I started out feeling like it was probably slightly too humid and I would have to stop a lot. It wasn't the case and I had to bust through it and I did. I am doing well. I'm enjoying it and I'm hoping that after a month, I will really be much better and be enjoying it even more.

I wish I could go back to running in the city.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Running - 30:00
Weight: 126.8

Already back down to 126.8. Happy about that.

Running was much better this morning. The humidity is either gone or a lot lower and made for much easier running. I kept telling myself that the longer I run in the first part (before I walk) the less I have to run in the second part. Seemed to help keep me going and I ran further than I have in the past.

I am still sweating. I hate that - I think it is warmer and more humid in my house than outside, but I don't want to open everything up until all of the girls are awake - all of their windows are closed and I don't want them to swelter with closed windows.

I'm so glad that running was easier. Something like Monday tends to give me a mental block and I really had to work through it this morning - had to convince myself over and over that Monday was due to the weather and not due to me sucking and needing to stop. Dave ran yesterday and had to stop several times to walk, too.

I just really want to be a better runner. I don't want to labor through the whole thing. I feel like I'm sucking wind the entire time and working so hard and am going so slow. I know I'll get better if I keep trying.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: Weights
Weight: 128.2

Butterfly: 3x15 @ #3
Reverse Cybex Row: 3x12 @ #6
Shoulder Press: 3x12 @ #1
Triceps Press Down: 3x14 @ #4
BB Concentration Curl: 3x15 @ 20lbs
Abs - machine: 2x15 @ #4
Squats: 200
Time: 40:41

It was a good workout this morning. I changed up a few of my exercises but probably need to change a couple of them again.

My weight is down this morning after a day of drinking a bunch of water. I've noticed a pattern in the last few weeks when I've had some poor weekends - I got up to 129.8, then down to 128.2, then down to 126.8 all within a matter of a week or so. We'll see if this is the case this time, too. I want to get beyond this pattern and just keep going past 126.8, however, I realize its more difficult during the summer, so I'm content if I maintain or lose very slowly.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Goal: 115 by October 10

Workout: running
Weight: 129.8

catch up from previous post...

I got down to 126 by the time we left for the regional on the 25th (or whenever it was). I felt really good and was pretty excited - I was at 126 for a few days before leaving. I ate really well at the regional. I chose the healthy stuff on the buffets and loaded up on salad and fruit. I really, really loaded up on fruit to fill up so I didn't want any of the other stuff. I didn't deprive myself and allowed for a taste of this and that, but mainly ate strawberries and pineapple and raspberries.

When I got back I was at 129.8. It was fine - I had had a few beers the night before and really did not drink a whole lot of water for the 4 days that we were gone. I was pretty dehydrated by the time we got back. By July 4th I was back at 126.8 without counting points at all (I figured I would start again after the weekend). I did pretty well over this weekend, but again feel incredibly dehydrated so I'm not worried about being back at 129.8 this morning. I am going to buckle down with the points, though.

As for working out since the previous post...
I ran in Indy and fell in love with it. Running in the city is so much fun. I love it! I can't say I've been so in love with running since we got back, but I have been doing it. I ran two days last week - not a lot, but better than none. I also walked all over Chicago on the 3rd when we went to the fireworks. All in all I'm happy with my diet & exercise over the last 2 crazy 1/2 weeks.

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Today I ran outside. I'm pretty much digging the outside running now. I feel so good afterward. So much better than if I walk. So I continue on. I have been running 3 miles in 36 minutes... there is walking in there so I'm not truly running 12:00 miles. I would say I'm probably running at a 5.0/5.2 pace if I had to guess, which is what I was running on the treadmill.

Today sucked, though. It was pretty humid out there and I just sucked. I didn't make it as long as I normally do before stopping and I ended up walking quite a bit because I just couldn't handle it. Legs were tired, lungs were tired, I was sweating and burning up. When I came home I felt like I was on fire from the heat being emitted from my body. I still love the way I feel afterward, though.

New workout schedule:
M - run
T - weights
W - run
Th - run
F - weights
S - run