February 27, 2011

Stuck: Week 8

I rocked the new diet in January and lost 21 pounds, but the scale has not budged much in February (I've stalled at the 25 pound mark). I have, however, made my way back to the gym so all is not lost. After the great debate as to where Husband and I should workout, I decided to stick with our current YMCA membership and make the best of what we already have. We have a family membership and I've been going on Saturdays with the kids so I can get a workout in and take them for the open swim. It really makes me feel like super mom!

It took me a bit to get back in the swing of exercising, but I have figured out both a routine that I can tolerate and a schedule that I'm pretty confident that I can stick with. For the longest time, I have been doing nothing but cardio and I've finally realized how much I hate cardio. I would go a few times and then give up because I loathed the idea of getting back on the treadmill. Over the past couple of weeks, I've discovered how much I enjoy strength training. I know the cardio workout is important so I've been doing 15 minutes on the treadmill before hitting the weight room for 45 minutes and then I finish up with 15 more minutes on the treadmill. It has made a world of difference only having to survive 15 minutes of cardio at a time. I actually get annoyed with having to let my muscles rest for two days before working out again.

I'm getting stronger. I'm lifting more weight in most areas, though my upper body is still so weak and I'm struggling to add any weight to my arm exercises. I've also increased my speed on the treadmill by .7 mph which is a huge accomplishment for me. Part of the reason I hate the cardio workouts so much is because I get winded so easily. My lung capacity is expanding, my heart is getting stronger, and I finally feel the results of quitting smoking for the first time in 7+ months. I've even forgotten my inhaler the last couple of times I've packed my gym bag because it simply isn't a necessity anymore.

I'm hoping to get it all together in the coming month. I know I can eat better and succeed at losing weight through dieting. I'm loving how my workouts are empowering me, and how accomplished I feel sticking with the new routine and pushing myself further than I've ever gone. I want to make up for the lost weeks of February in March... spring is just around the corner and summer will be here before I know it. I refuse to spend another summer uncomfortable in everything I wear. Truthfully, no matter what the season or what I've worn, nothing has ever sufficiently covered up the *me* that I so desperately try to hide. I don't want to live like that anymore. I want to be comfortable with who I am and I simply can't in this body that I currently occupy.

February 19, 2011

Drum Roll Please...


I just got back from a killer workout at the gym followed by swimming with the kids. Before the insanity of a morning filled with trying to get everything done so we could head out the door, I tentatively stepped on the scale for my weekly weigh-in. I lost another pound. I posted last week that I would be happy just maintaining this week with Valentine's plans and the like, but I actually managed to lose that little bit more. I'm not thrilled with just a pound, but what this pound accomplishes is pretty awesome... I have officially lost 25 pounds since the first of the year. Technically 30 pounds if you count the five I gained a couple weeks back and had to lose again.

Milestones like this our real motivators for me. If I hadn't reached the 25 pound mark today, I think there is a good chance I would have bailed on my workout this morning and probably swimming since I wasn't already there to take the kids. Let's just hope that it doesn't take me four whole days to recuperate from this workout. I did the exact same workout on Valentine's Day and was too sore until today to attempt it again. Husband says it will get easier. I'm going to trust his expertise as I discovered this morning that, in the two years since we joined the 'Y', I have only used the weight room about a dozen times which renders me pretty much clueless in the realm of strength training. I want to use the weight room at least ten more times by the end of March so I can say that I've gone two dozen times in two years. Hey, once a month does not sound nearly as bad as every other month. That's the story I'm sticking with anyway.

February 16, 2011

VD at the Gym

Get your head out of the gutter! There is no personal trainer at our local YMCA spreading disease. Sorry to disappoint if you were hoping for a juicy scandal...

Husband and I celebrated Valentine's Day a day late this year because our kids had obligations on the actual day and, well, duty called. So we scheduled the in-laws to babysit the following day. They descended on our house yesterday a few minutes before preschool let out which allowed us to make our escape right after I threw a quick lunch together for 3yr-old-boy.

There had been much debate about what we were going to do and where we were going to go during our four hour hiatus. All of the indecisiveness stemmed from the "great gym debate" that I mentioned in my last post. For two years, I have longed to join the *other* YMCA. When we first joined our YMCA, the other one was in the process of being built. Since construction ended, I have drooled and pined over the magnificence of this brand new facility. Everything about it is bigger and better... including the cost.

The other 'Y' is further away from us and costs $18 more a month. Swim lessons for the kids cost more for half the amount of classes that our current 'Y' offers. So, as much as I would love to attend the *free* cycling classes and not be charged above the cost of my membership like our current location, and as much as I would love to drop my kids in the beautiful new child care areas or youth gym while I workout, I will never be able to justify the added expense. The whole situation turns me into a spoiled brat and I kind of freaked out about it right before our date yesterday.

The plan was to checkout the *other* YMCA again to see if it is as wonderful as I remember from the last time we checked it out. I then realized that it probably *is* just as fabulous as I remember it, but that I was going to draw the exact same conclusion as last time... that it is not worth the extra drive and cost... and I was going to end up just as disappointed as I was the last time we went. Probably not the mood I wanted to set for my Valentine's outing with Husband. So I stomped my feet, threw a tantrum, and moved on.

Instead of visiting the oh-so-perfect-too-far-away-too-expensive other 'Y', we went to our current does-the-job-but-man-it-needs-a-remodel-and-free-cycle-classes 'Y'. I don't know if it was because I am angry that I simply can't justify what I want or if I was just determined to make use of what I have, but I pushed myself in that workout harder than I have ever pushed. I pushed myself until I thought I was going to puke and then pushed harder. I typically hate working out, but this time it felt good. Maybe I just haven't been working hard enough in the past and I've actually been bored. Yesterday was a challenge and I rocked it!

We followed up our workouts with lunch and we were good about our food choices. Husband had suggested my favorite restaurant, but I turned it down knowing that the reason it has been my favorite restaurant is because of one dish that I no longer have any business eating... ever again. The meal has got to easily be double my current daily calorie intake. We ended up at Applebee's because of the Weight Watcher selections and the new "under 550 calorie" menu options. Not the most romantic venue, but we were kid free and that is good enough in itself!

Just as a side note: If you know of any other restaurants that offer low calorie menu items and list the calorie content (I do not like guess work), please, let me know. I can eat the same thing over and over, but I think Husband will get sick of Applebee's after awhile. Variety, even if it is only one other option, would help.

February 13, 2011

Reporting In... Week 6

It has been a crazy past few days and I have to be up for church in less than 7 hours, but I wanted to check-in before I call it a night. Saturdays are weigh-in around here and last week was as close to disaster as a dieter can get. I did pick myself up and carry on, though, and I am happy to say that, not only did I lose the 5 pounds I gained last week, but an additional three. Yep, 8 pounds this week... and that's with a Super Bowl party in the mix last weekend.

I'll be happy to maintain this week since Valentine's Day is Monday and Husband and I are going out. I also have a fridge full of leftover marinara sauce and bread sticks from the spaghetti dinner I helped with at our church last night. Mmm... bread sticks. Oh, and MIL had us over for dinner tonight and I did not restrain myself in. the. least. *sigh* I hate genetics.

I'll try to write more in the next couple of days. Husband and I are in the midst of the great gym debate. Stay where we are? Join something closer to home? Splurge on the fancy new facility further away? Screw all of the options and do work out DVDs at home (that one is more an option for me). I hate not knowing what decision to make almost as much as I hate my genes. *I think I might just be a little tired and cranky at this point* We'll talk more later. Night all!

February 5, 2011

Packing (On) the Meat

Today is weigh-in day and, as much as I do not want to report in, I am going to hold myself accountable and report the effects of my falling off the wagon during the blizzard. I gained 5 (FIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) pounds this week. *hangs head in shame* I think it might have been a combination of those damn peanut butter M&M cookies that I just had to bake in the midst of the snowy chaos outside and having to clear out the freezer for the big meat sale that our local grocery store holds once (sometimes twice) a year.

I spent this morning dividing up and packaging the bulk amounts of cow and pig that the man hauled in from his grocery store adventures. Husband spent two hours waiting in line to have everything sliced by the butcher. As depressed as I was to see the number on the scale this morning, I did take some comfort from the slabs of ribs and steaks and pork chops in front of me. Just one package weighed 13 pounds. I'm still down 3 pounds more than that and the package was both big and heavy. As absurd as it is, knowing that I have rid my body of such a hunk of meat made me feel better.

I made it to the gym yesterday in an attempt to undo the sins I committed during Snowmageddon 2011. I even convinced Husband to join me which is the total opposite of what usually transpires with him trying to get me to go with him. He was super thankful as he had "one of the best workouts ever". Good for you, Punk. I, on the other hand, thought I was going to die right there on that treadmill.

I pushed myself and didn't give in after 10 minutes like I wanted to. Eventually, my muscles gave up their protest allowing me to go for over an hour. I increased my speed to the highest I've ever done once every joint in my body stopped screaming. It felt good to get back to it and I burned about 400 calories. I wonder if my body is in shock and refusing to let go of the weight thinking I am trying to commit suicide through exercise and what must feel like starvation after overdosing on cookies for two days. I guess we'll see what happens next week.

February 2, 2011

Is that Snow or Sugar?

Blizzard = Baking = Peanut butter M&M cookies = Cathy is off the wagon.

But I helped the man shovel us out for the first time ever in our almost 9 years of marriage.

So I'm hoping I burned up some of those peanut-buttery, M&M-goodness calories.


Unfortunately, we're not going anywhere for awhile with all of this snow...

...and I still have 3 dozen cookies left. Help Me!