Start to a new start

Well its now been over a month since Ive posted here and most have probably disappeared and no longer are following along but if anyone is here is an update...
1) Ive gained a bit of weight but am determined that I must get this weight off. It eats me up each time I weigh and see that ugly number
2) I have now changed to a new school and they are starting a faculty fit club..great now I have some motivation! How it works:
~$20 to sign up per semester
~must pay $1 each week I gain (if that isnt motivation I dont know what is)
~the weekly winner (% lost) will win the people who gained weight's money
~at the end 1st place wins 50%, 2nd place wins 30%, and 3rd place wins 20%
Weigh in starts this Friday and we will weigh in each week on Fridays. Its just the motivation Ive been needing! I sure dont want to lose any $ so I must lose!!
3) My ultimate goal for losing the weigh or even starting the faculty club at our school is because we are in the process of adopting and I want to be in great shape so I can run, play and have fun with our future child I cant wait!
4) Just for a reminder..here is my beginning and what I got down to before gaining an additional 13 lbs + no toneing at all just feel flabby!

2 months....

Wow has it been a really long time and this thing is dying a slow, slow death so thought I would try to revitalize it and see if anyone is still reading along or not.

Sunday I had one of those "what am I doing days" that has really shed some light and made me really wake up. Ive decided to really refocus now that summer is coming soon I want to fit into some of those cute clothes that I bought last year when I had lost the weight and then have come to find it again.

Some goals to hopefully keep me on track
-Exercise at least 4-5X a week (even if its walking around our neighborhood)
-order some aerobic videos (any recommendations please leave a comment!)
-keep track of food intake (started this again yesterday with a new app on the iPhone called Lose It and it seems to work well)
-drink lots of water and stay away from sweet tea (limit is 1X per week)
-fried foods limited to 1X per week (gotta start somewhere)
-lose 1 lb per week
-limit eating out to 1-2X per week
-figure out what fruits and veggies are and eat them!

Hopefully I will have more time to post and have a reason to as well!

Boy am I out of shape....

Well I know I havent posted in here for a while its because yes I have been down and out, gaining weight but Friday I officially have a plan for stopping it. Me and hubby both joined the gym and it only cost us for both of us to join per month $35 at the YMCA, how much cheaper can it get! Today was the first day though that we went due to having class, church and just plain learning the times they close and open. I must just tell my victory for today and my "boy am I outta shape story" though.

So today was one of the first days in a LONGGG time I felt good about my choices in food and I ever exercised and real exercise that I actually had a good sweat.

So today was the first time that we actually went to the Y and I worked out for 10 minutes on the elliptical that kicked my butt big time. I was in such pain before the 10 minutes but kept pushing myself for that 10 minutes and said I can make it come on (I was kind of my own cheerleader ) and made it, after that I did the bike for 20 minutes and I left there and even with those two things I am sore..how pathetic is that? I sweated like something else and have never drank a full bottle of water down any faster either. At first I really didnt want to go but am so glad we (me and hubby) went I felt so much better afterwards and am looking forward to going tomorrow.

Working out today just made me realize just how badly out of shape I really have gotten. I used to be able to do elliptical for 20-30 minutes with not feeling like I was going to do, now I have to work at getting back to that point, I can do it just have to work a bit harder to get there!

I just had to share so that hopefully in a few weeks/months I can look back and realize how far I have come and so someone can remind me of that too!

For food, I did well with eating veggies and fruits and felt so much better about myself today. I have also gotten addicted to blackberies they are my new fruit that I love!

Gain....

I had a gain today of 1.4 lbs (exactly what I LOST last week!) Im really not too bummed out because I know how much crap I ate eating in the cafeteria this week and with the fried chicken strips and cookies it didnt help. I need to get back to bringing my own lunch. I know I can do it I got me a new FB ticker and am all ready for it to start going down for good in the right direction.

Goals so I can come back to them as well...
1) Start back journaling (it really does make a HUGE difference)
2) get back to working out on a regular basis (at least 4X per week for at least 30 minutes)
3) try to eliminate/cut way down on fried foods and sweet tea
4) lose 1 lb per week and get into the 150's before Chrismas which would make me have a normal BMI instead of overweight for the first time in years and years!
5) tone up

Shopping + Healthy foods

Thank you girls for all the congrats It truly has made a huge difference for sure in my weekend with the loss instead of gain or maintain. Today me, my mom, and grandmother all went to this little fruit/veggie stand and I got a ton of fruits and veggies all for only $11 I was so proud of myself. Now I have lots of good and healthy snacks instead of junk. I got lettuce, cucumbers, onion, pears, bananas, apples, plums and it seems like there was something else but to say the least there was lots of good stuff so Im headed for a great week for sure

My goals for this week..have to take it week by week and I think it really helps to focus on the small picture even though I have a big picture in my mind as well:
1) eat lots of fruits and veggies (should be pretty easy)
2) track my food each day
3) drink at least 50 oz. of water
4) exercise on my elliptical that has been collecting dust at least 3-4 times before Friday
5) cut down on useless sweets (ice cream, sweet tea, etc.). Ive probably been eating a good too much sweets. I love the 100 calorie packs for sure but honestly they probably make my hungrier than fuller.

So these are my goals for this week and Im sticking with it

Im hoping to see a loss and with that loss the LOWEST I have to see. If I see a .1 lb loss it will be the lowest and anything more than .1 will be my all time lowest I cant wait to see a lower number

Also to make my day for sure I went clothes shopping because Im running out my pants that fit me and thats a good thing because they are too big. Well when I went I could comfortably fit into a size 10. I have been kind of squeezing my way in but I can comfortably fit into it. Oh and then for a shirt I fit into a small. IM more of a medium shirt but I fit into a small it was wonderful. The clearance items were so much more fun because it was small and mediums in shirts and I could fit into them. Then last but not least is shoes. I actually went down a 1/2 size in shoes and could actually wear some cuter shoes because Im not having to fit into the wide size anymore and they actually looked cute. Now wonder shopping is so addictive when you can fit into cute stuff..haha! I always hated to go shopping because I hated to see the larger number. Now I just want to be in a size 8, no more double digits I cant wait! Shopping=so much fun when you are smaller.

Short Hair and Running....

This week has been going really well with eating/exercising and Im hoping to see a loss tomorrow. I also got a subscription to Runners World yesterday so hopefully it will come in before too long. Dont ask me why I have such a desire to run but its a great one. Maybe its because I always gave up and said I cant do it because its too difficult the same thing I did with WL for a long time. Its just one of those things thats like I want to do this.

I saw an article on Runners World that I thought was interesting that said you should never increase your mileage for running by more than 10% in one week. Supposedly its how you can get injured easily if you overkill yourself. So Im taking it slow and I know I can work my way up. Me and hubby both ran today and while we still cant run long distances I didnt get as winded as I did the other day when I did it so its getting better and hopefully I can up my mileage and such soon.

Oh and the other thing was I chopped my hair off, maybe about 4-5 inches today I love it! Short hair was always one of those things I did in the summer but hated it because I looked so much fatter because of it. Well this is the first year Im loving it and dont feel like such a fat butt over a short hair cut. I will have to upload the picture I took of it.

The other thing was I went to get my new Drivers license and it was one of the first pictures that I have taken since driving that I told my real weight and actually loved my picture and I know it all has to do with the weight Ive lost.

So food for today...
Breakfast: Fiber One peach yogurt with 1/2 c Apple Cinnamon cherrios mixed in, water
Lunch: Crawfish etoufee with brown rice, water
Dinner: peanut butter & jelly, half of crab cake, water
Snack: Strawberry banana smoothie bar, 17 honey wheat crackers, 2 X 16.9 oz. water
Exercise: walk/run

Accomplishments for the year and goals for 2008

Well while I have been on a little break you can guess it correctly that Ive gained a few pounds. Im not happy to report it but hey the new year is right around the corner and that is good news for sure because that will get myself back into shape for sure.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and didnt eat too much..haha!

So while the end of the year is coming to an end I just thought I would put my accomplishments for the year...
*lost 40 lbs (ok maybe a little less after Christmas) and maintained that weight off pretty well until Christmas...
*have figured out what works and doesnt and have learned so much about nutrition that all of my family have started asking me what Im doing to lose the weight and even my hubby so its a great feeling
*exercise is not a far out dream anymore but a reality of its happening. I enjoy it instead of dreading it. I can actually walk miles and miles at athletic events and other outings and not feel like Im about to pass out
*I am comfortably in a size 10, wow never thought I would ever see that number again. My other clothes are so big on me that Im going to have to raid my closet and get rid of all my "fat clothes" the only problem is I guess I might have to go shopping for clothes that fit..haha!
*water-I love drinking water even though I still have my sweet tea love as well but Im getting better about it. My hubby always jokes around and says I can chug water faster than anyone he knows..guess thats a good thing..haha!

I feel like I have accomplished so many things this year even though this was a tough, tough year with so many changes but I feel like I did the best with the changes. Job changes, moves * 3 and adjusting to being a first year teacher was tough and I think 2008 will be a fabulous year Ill get down to my goal weight!!

Goals for 2008.....
*exercise more and tone up my flab.......Ive got my elliptical back as well as several fitness DVD's that I actually have space to do both now and I cant wait. We also have a nice park right behind our new house that we can walk to so I cant wait to use that as well. Im also looking to really step up running. Me and hubby started it last year but never made a good dent in it.
*water-need to still work on getting my water but its getting better
*lose 20-25 lbs.....depending on how many I gained during the holidays but I want to get down to 145 by June 2008 as that will be about 1 lb per week so thats definitely doable and then maintain for the rest of the year. We are heading to Hawaii and June 2008 so I want to look the best by then!
*cut down sweet tea....this one still needs a little improvement but as long as we eat in Im good but eat out and its a dangerous thing.
*Eat out less.....this goes hand and hand with the first one but we need to eat in more its much better and now that I have a great kitchen to cook in our new house I think it will get better for sure!

Well I hope everyone had a fabulous Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2008! I doubt I will get back on before then as we are going out of town this weekend and Im still unpacking boxes until then so see you next year!

Weigh In

Well last week I obviously kicked butt with exercise and everything but this week Im not sure what the deal was I just couldnt get focused and crap sounded better or well I dont want to say better but more so what was there and I was too lazy to go out and get something better.

My reward for such a bad eating schedule...2.8 GAIN....I cant believe I gained that much. I dont know when the last time I gained that much in a week..yikes. part of me just feels like falling off the bandwagon and saying screw it but I know I cant have that mentality Im better than that I can do this but I must say part of me feels like giving up after having a gain that much..how in the world did I gain that much?? I dont think I ate that bad but who knows I have been slacking and well I guess thats my reward. Ive got to get back to eating right and tracking or its going to be another gain next week..With the 2.8 gain that puts me at 175.8..not good...

So anyone else stuck in a rut?? Im in a major rut and this article came in today and it came just in time so thought I would share for anyone else stuck in a rut, hope it helps you out as well
14 Tips to Starting and Sticking with It

I will definitely be back to tracking on Monday so if I dont come post, someone come yell at me, deal??

My goals for June:
1)track food everyday (Ive only done it Monday-Friday)
2) drink more water..Im setting my goal at 50 oz. per day

These are two issues I know will help me more than I realize it. I can do this and just need to remember Im better than giving into junk...

Goals

Since it is now May 6 and I have yet to do my goals for this month I thought it was time to finally write them down
*drink 50 oz of water (Ive gotten way off of this one, need to get back in the habit)
*cut sweet tea down to 2-3 times a week (one issue Ive been majorly struggling with)
*track food daily

Hopefully with some set goals and hopefully life getting back to normal Ill be able to stay on track I hope.

Wednesday Food

Much, much better day yesterday. I stayed pretty close to points with my exercise, sodium was at almost a normal level at 2566 mg, sugar was still a tad high but a little lower as well at 65. I know this sounds so odd but I can tell such a major difference from eating less sodium. I dont feel nearly as bloated and just having a much better day has really helped for sure.

Besides the sweet tea and protein bar my sugar would have only been at 23 g so its still a work in progress but at least its moving in the right direction.

I got in two servings of fruits today so go me, over what I wanted to be at but still not exactly perfect

For my splurges/victories of the day: I got a burger but instead of getting a big ole burger I got the kids size. Much smaller burger and much less calories, fat, and pts then got the kids fries of course too. Of course Chad was teasing me the entire time saying I was too old to order a kids meal and of course I told him you are never too old and its just the right portion for a meal instead of the huge, huge portions most places give you. Then on top of that instead of getting my usual at least 2 or 3 glasses of tea I stuck with the one kids cup of sweet tea.

Then for dinner the flatbread melt is absolutely amazing but has a bit of points for sure. I took off the ranch sauce which wasnt loaded in calories in fat but did lower the points by about 1.5 and it tasted amazingly good without it. I got it on the side thinking I would try it I tried one dab and about puked the sauce I thought was pretty nasty Im not a fan of bellpepers so I didnt have those on either so it took off a few but not much.

Next week will be pretty crazy as we will be going down to look for a house and all that fun jazz so if Im kind of scarce a few days thats why. We will be officially moving down on April 30 but depending on when our house sells we may leave our stuff at our house so its all depending on the sale of the house for now!

Im hoping for maybe a small loss but dont think it will be anything over a pound but Ill see in the morning!
***************
Breakfast: Special K Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter bar (4), water (0)
Lunch: kids cheeseburger (7), Kids french fries (4), Barbecue Sauce (1), Sweet Tea (2)
Dinner: Arby's Fajita Flatbread Melt (w/o peppers & ranch) (10), Fruit Cup(1)
Snacks: Banana
Water: 63.8 oz.
Exercise: 60 minute walk
WW pts: 30 - 4 EX = 26
Total Calories: 1428
Calories Burned: 240

Tuesday Food

Yesterday was an ok day, nothing grand. I knew we were going out to TGIF for probably our last time for a while so I ate a smaller lunch and kind of saved up my pts for that. I still went over but not horribly considering as much as I had in the high calorie range. TGIF's fries and their sesame jack chicken strips are to die for I thought to myself when else am I going to get this again. Then afterwards I felt horrible for my decisions but what could I do after I already ate it? Move on and accept it. The sodium of the items were unreal. If I dont get my sodium content down I sware I might just explode. I love how with sparkpeople you can compare each day to others and see how well or how bad you did, great option and I use it all the time!

Sodium: Just to show how much of a problem I obviously have with sodium over a 6 day span I have consumed 26,182 mg of sodium..YIKES! Divide that by 6 and Im at an average of 4363 per day, not good at all. Eating out is absolutely killing this and yes I do need to work better on my control of items and sodium content for sure. I should be at no more than 2300-2500 mg a day is my goal.

Sugar: For my sugar (another area Ive been focusing on) for a 6 day period its at 436, divide by 6 and Im at an average of 72 per day. Still need to focus on getting this one down but Im doing much better at it but still needs some work.

For the fruit and veggie thing: I think Ive been doing much, much better at this and focusing on getting in at least one of either one and Ive been succeeding but still a work in progress for sure.

For my success of the day yesterday: I actually turned down a chocolate krispy kreme doughnut and those are one of my favorites so go me

I dont know if anyone else has seen these but Sparkpeople has calendars each month with different themes I think they are pretty cool. This month is:
30 days to Greater Happiness

Last Months was 30 days to a Healthier Diet which has some wonderful stuff
***********************
Breakfast: Special K Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter bar (4), Banana (1), water (0)
Lunch: Lean Cuisine Herb Roasted Chicken (3), water (0)
Dinner: TGIFridays sesame jack chicken strips (11), fries (5), Honey Mustard (2), 2 breadstick (4), 1 glass of Sweet Tea (2)
Snacks: none
Water: 33.8 oz.
Exercise: 15 minute walk
WW pts: 33
Total Calories: 1608
Calories Burned: 67

Monday Food

So yes I still really am alive I promise I didnt go anywhere just been incredibly busy. We will actually be moving about 6 hours away in a few weeks so if i go missing thats why. This will be a tough month with moving, not being able to cook and all that good jazz but Im ready to get this month off to a great start and lose even more!

The weekend has been so-so I didnt indulge in anything but did get a shake and ate a little higher breakfast which had too much sodium so I feel like Im taking in all that and still trying to get all the sugar and sodium out of my system for now. I feel like this blimp that is majorly bloated..haha yes I know TMI right?! I got in a ton of exercise this weekend but my lovely Monday morning to see how I did scale report...I was up 2 lbs I really wanted to beat the scale to no extent but yes Its still surviving for now.

Also Im on the 12 months of Health, Fitness, and Fun Group so I thought I would outline some of my goals for April
*workout 5X a week (this month will probably be the toughest for this one but at least 30 minutes of something additional)
*eat at least one fruit or veggie each day (something I am still working on)
*cut down on sodium and sugars
I can do this, just need some accountability and someone that will come kick my butt if I dont..haha!
**************
Breakfast: Bruegger's 1/2 Pumpernickel Bagel (3), Light Herb Garlic Cream Cheese (1)
Lunch: Mellow Mushroom 1/2 BBQ Chicken small pizza (7), banana (1)
Dinner: Chick-Fil-A Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich (5), honey roasted BBQ sauce (2), small fruit cup (1) with 1 tbsp FF condensed milk (1), icedream cone (4)
Snacks: Honeydew Melon (1), Sargento Light String Cheese (1)
Water: 50.7 oz.
Exercise: 30 minute walk
WW pts: 27- 3 EX = 24
Total Calories: 1339
Calories Burned: 120