Checking in...

It's been awhile since I checked in. After getting home from our fabulous trip, I felt so jet lagged that I couldn't drag myself to the gym for about a week. I don't know why I was so jet lagged, Singapore is the same time zone and Thailand is only one hour different. I guess that's what happens when you are alone with the kids for two weeks straight. :)

And since we've been home, I've only made it to the gym a couple of times. But now that school is started and we are getting into a normal routine, I have a goal. My youngest will now be at pre-school for a few hours every morning, and I plan to use part of that time at the gym. I think going in the morning will be a lot better for me than late at night.

I was a little surprised this morning when I weighed myself that I had only gained one pound back. After the month I've had, I thought for sure I would have gained more. Well, I am grateful for that, but I've still got a lot of work to do. It's time to get focused again, set my goals, and get going.

hooray!

Went to the gym last night and weighed myself again.... down 2 more lbs! Hooray! That brings me to a total of 8 lbs in about 5 or 6 weeks. It's coming off faster now that I've really got myself focused on a goal and I'm in the right frame of mind. Yay! I hope it keeps coming off!

The gym my hubby and I go to is about an 8 minute bus ride down the street, but it closes at 10:30pm. So usually what happens is I leave to go right after he gets home from work while he eats dinner with the kids. If he's home early, then I can get in 1.5-2 hours of cardio/weights. If he gets home later and I only have time for 30 min - 1 hour, then I usually focus on cardio. I have to leave the gym by 9:30pm so that he can get there before 10pm so that he has time to do his weight lifting. (Then he'll run home for his cardio... takes him about 25 min- most of it up hill!)

Last night he got home a bit later, and I had to wait forever for the bus, and so by the time I got to the gym, I knew I would only have about 45 minutes. I gave myself a really intense workout on the elliptical to make up for the short time I had. As I was about to leave, Sam sent me a text that said I could stay later because he wanted to study. Yay! So I rounded out a full hour of cardio and then did weights for a little while. After that, I still had some time left before the gym closed, so I got on a treadmill. My intention was to just walk for awhile, but I ended up running for 15 minutes. The good part? I felt like I could have run longer!! The bad part? My hips and lower back didn't like it so much. I'm a little sore this morning.

I am feeling really good now, though. Obviously because I could run for 15 minutes without getting winded (and this was a 7.7 speed), my heart and lungs are getting healthier, and I'm building up my endurance. And during my weight lifting, I can feel my upper body getting stronger, too, because it's not such a struggle anymore. I still have a long way to go, for sure, but I am really happy with the progress I am making.

And I am really, really looking forward to Zoe starting pre-school in September because that gives me 3 hours every morning that I can do whatever the heck I want... i.e. going to the gym. :)


p.s. I adjusted my ticker at the top. Embarrassed or not about my weight gain, I'm proud of getting it off!

ok, but....

I have been working out really hard this week. My hubby has had the night shift, so I've been able to go to the gym for longer periods of time during the day while he can be home with the kids. My weight has fluctuated down and back up 2lbs over the last week. Unfortunately today, it's back up. I feel like it's not really reflecting how much work I've been putting in. On the other hand, I do have to take some responsibility because I have had a few days where I have not been eating as well as I should. I had some major cravings that I gave in to, and also have been doing a lot of running around, and so haven't been on my regular schedule. I am still focused on my goal, and so I'm hoping tomorrow to get back on track with my food. Hopefully my weight will keep heading down in the right direction!!

My ticker doesn't really reflect all the weight I've lost, though, because it went up several more pounds, but I was too embarrassed to adjust my ticker... So really, even though it says only -1 (from my original starting point), I've actually lost about 6 in the last 3 weeks. I can already start to feel my pants loosening up a bit, which is a relief because I really, really did not want to have to go buy new "fat clothes."

Only 3 weeks until we leave for Singapore and Thailand!! I'm hoping to be down about 9 more pounds, but that might be a little too ambitious....... Wish me luck!

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On the right path

This week has been fantastic for me. I truly believe I am finally in the right frame of mind. I've set a very realistic goal for myself, and I have a date that I want to reach my goal by. And when I've accomplished that, I'll set my next goal.

I think that one of the things that was tripping me up was that my end goal was so huge and so far away that I kept thinking "there's plenty of time". Well, I'm nearly out of time for that huge goal!

But like I said, this week has been fantastic. Throughout the whole day, I keep repeating my goal in my head so that I don't forget what I'm working towards. I've been sticking (98%... had to sneak some m&m's yesterday) to my diet plan. I've been getting regular time in at the gym. And most importantly, I've been controling my cravings. I did sneak some m&m's, but I didn't devour the whole bag like I usually would. It felt fantastic to be in control of those feelings.

I feel healthy, I feel good, and I definitely plan to stick to it.

Oops

Things haven't been going so well. For the last 3 weeks, I've only made it to the gym once or twice per week for various reasons, which has really set me back. My weight has been fluctuating a lot, and it's been frustrating. I wish that I had some real progress to report, but I don't.

I've been getting really down on myself, because last year I gave myself a goal to lose 30 lbs before I turn 30 (in August), but instead, I somehow managed to gain 20 lbs. And now I'm only about 6 weeks away from my birthday, and I have 50 pounds to lose instead. :( Another thing is that my dh and I are thinking about having another baby. I've been ready (emotionally) for quite a long time to have another one, but with my weight issues, I am sooo not ready physically. As it is, I'm only about 8 pounds away from my heaviest pregnancy weight, and that's not where I want to start AT ALL. I hate the idea of post-poning pregnancy any more than we already have, but on the other hand, I hate the idea of getting pregnant now at this weight.

It's so weird to me because some days I'll have this huge resolve to do better and eat better and have a positive attitude, and it will last a day or two or three, but then somehow it fizzles away. I don't know why my emotions fluctuate so much. I know what I have to do, I know how to do it, I know why I should and why I want to do it... So why is it still so hard?

On the plus side, last night I did get to go to the gym, and I did about an hour and 20 minutes of cardio, and another 20 min or so on the weight machines.

This next week we have a friend coming into town and staying with us, so I don't know if I'll get to go to the gym very much. She's a vegan, though, so I'm hoping she'll teach me how to cook some new, healthier meals! :) We'll see how things go.