Getting in Shape Update

Well, I've been hitting the DVDs and Yoga studio hard. Last week I completed 655 minutes of exercise. That's with one day off. I have now scheduled 2 days off each week and I'm hoping to complete at least 600 minutes each week. My new mantra is stick with it, and I have to remind myself of that constantly. Since I started working out I have only lost 1 pound, and I don't think I've lost anything in the waist. That's disappointing, but I have to be honest--I haven't been doing the best that I can in the eating department.  It is so hard for me to do both---eat right and exercise. One or the other, but both seems to be so difficult for me. I'm gonna stick with it though. I can tell my arms are getting stronger, and my forward-folding (hamstring) flexibility has improved.

I totally get winded during the Firm DVDs. I actually have to pause the DVD sometimes. Sometimes I'm out of breath, and sometimes it is mental. I just have to work up the motivation to do another set of leg presses. I've been doing the exercises with heavy weights, but I haven't moved up to 10 pounds on leg presses. Maybe next month. I've also added some of the hops, but I still nix the plyo. I just hate jumping.

I have weights and measures on Friday so I'm going to really concentrate on the food aspect. I don't have high hopes for the scale, but we'll see.

I'm So Proud of My Mom!

My mom has gone through a lifestyle change and has been eating more protein and doing more exercise since last October. I saw her at Thanksgiving and she'd lost a few pounds, but nothing drastic. When she came to visit earlier this month she was completely different. I've never seen her this tiny! Same great Mom in a new and improved package! I'm so proud of my mom for sticking with her new lifestyle.

For reference you can check out our Family Photo from last July.

Weight Loss Challenge--Final Weigh In

The final weigh in was yesterday. I officially lost 12.6 pounds over the 12 weeks and won the challenge (and another 75 dollars.) I didn't work out the last 4 weeks. Sad really. But I did keep the eating in check. I'm happy with how far I've come, but I want to lose another 4 or 5 pounds. It's nice to be able to fit into my skinny jeans again. I've lost 2.5 inches in my waist. I need to get back to working out and actually counting all my carbs and protein grams. I'm not planning a beach vacation this year, but I am planning on going to California in May. We will most likely visit the beach and I want to look good in a swimsuit. And I'd love for my skinny jeans to fit a little more loosely.

I think this weight loss challenge has changed how I eat and how I will continue to eat. I eat a lot less bread and a lot more protein than I used to. The diet has really been integrated into my life. Now I have to integrate the exercise....

Weight Loss Challenge -- 6 week weigh in

Today was the 6 week weigh in for my weight loss challenge. I won! I lost 8 pounds in 6 weeks, so I won 75 bucks. Most days I was able to keep my calories in check, and I've been able to figure out how to work 110g of protein into my diet each day. I've been doing the firm work outs and going to yoga regularly. I have lost inches, but I'm still not at my peak. I'd like to lose about 10 more pounds. My copies of p90x are messed up, so I haven't been doing those. I just need to keep up eating right and doing other work outs. I've agreed to continue the 30-40-30 diet through April with Val. If I keep up with things that long I'm sure I can lose the 10 pounds.

Weight Loss Challenge

We are having a weight loss challenge at work. There are 5 or 6 of us who chipped in 25 bucks apiece for prize money. There will be a weigh ins at 6 weeks and 12 weeks for prize money. The official weigh in (at work) says I've lost 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. I lost 4 in the first week. I don't feel like I really put much effort into my work outs last week. I just don't think Gillian Michaels stuff is for me. Last January I tried to do the 30 day shred and I hated it. I hate plyometrics. I hate jumping around. So I'm going to go back to my old standby---The Firm--and I'm going to try some P90x (I'm scared.)

As far as the diet goes I'm trying to stay under 1500 calories a day, and I'm trying to eat a 30-40-30 balance. 30% fat, 40% carbs, and 30% protein. It's hard to eat 30% protein. Most days I'm low on protein and high on carbs. I'm going to try and turn that around. It's hard. Lots of calculations. Lots of planning. And no cake.

Goodbye Madison

My skin had gotten really thin over my piercing, and I had decided to take it out at the end of the month. Then I got a follicular cyst on the top end and my skin swelled up and a hard lump formed. I moved my "quit date" per say, up to the 22d, but I couldn't last until then. The lump hadn't gone away and it was hurting last night. As soon as I got home today I took it out. It sort of hurt, and got stuck right under where the lump is. I think scar tissue has started forming. So hopefully some vitamin E and other skin treatments will help soften the skin and make the lump go away.

I'm a little sad. Bye Bye Bling.

I originally got the piercing when I lost weight. Since then I've gained weight. My plan is to lose the weight, let my neck heal, then get it re-pierced in a year or two. I'm going to miss my Madison Piercing.

Yoga Week

I went to Yoga 4 times this week. I had classes with 3 new teachers. One of the teachers was downright crazy. I loved him. He was mumbling in Sanskrit and teasing us that we were going to have to stand in Tadasana with our arms over our heads for the rest of the class. The music at the beginning of class was all calm flute music and in the middle of class Bohemian Rhapsody came on. I was smiling throughout the whole class. New teacher, new poses, new fun. The teacher suggested a full bind for Ardha Matsyendrasana (half lord of the fishes). I don't know why I'd never thought of it before. I always did the half bind. I enjoyed all the twists and binds, but sat out the inversions. I think he thought I was copping out. Especially with camel, but since I got pierced camel makes me feel as though I'm choking. I think by the end of class he might have realized why I was doing Viparita Karani instead of the inversions. I was so exhausted on Friday that I didn't go to yoga. I came home and was a total couch potato. I slept a lot yesterday and didn't work out at all. I think I may go to yoga tonight. I'm hoping to go to that crazy guy's yoga class again next week. Then I can show him how much I love inversions. As a reward for all that yoga I feel better and the scale has come down. I think yoga is helping with some much needed detox.

Day of Reckoning

I stepped on the scale this morning and the balance arm hit the top. Hard. I slid the weight to the right and I'm about 150. That's it. I quit the shred. I'm done with it. I've gained weight since I started doing the shred. It doesn't work for me. I need to do what I know works. Yoga works and the Firm dvds work. I haven't been feeling well at all lately. I decided that I really need to put yoga as a priority in my life again. I went to yoga today for the first time in about a month. I feel great. Because I'm so overweight I'm going to go to Yoga tomorrow through Friday. Then I'm going to hit the Firm hard. When it comes to diet I'm going low cal liquid for a couple of days and then I'm going to really try to avoid salt and butter for a bit.

Sitting on the Side of the Road

I have totally fallen off the wagon. I haven't exercised regularly in over a month. My eating habits are atrocious. I have been so bloated it hurts. My salt intake has skyrocketed and my water intake has bottomed out. I can't seem to get enough salt. I'm so salty that I dreamt I was a pickle. I can't get over that. I keep saying it. I'm a salty pickle. It makes me chuckle, but it really isn't funny. I need to get back with the program.

I'm being lazy, and I'm eating tons of crappy foods, but I haven't started drinking. Every time I go to H Mart I buy mint to make mojitos. Then it always ends up going bad. There is a package of mint in the fridge right now. Some of it might still be good. Maybe I'll have a drink tonight before I start detoxing tomorrow. I have to bite the bullet, weigh in, work out, eat right, and drink at least 120 ounces of water a day in an attempt to unpickle myself. Ha!

Oh Yeah, Baby!

This morning I weighed in at 140. How did I celebrate? With Chick Fil-A and a trip to the dairy. Ross got a black cherry milk shake and I got chocolate cake batter and peanut butter ice cream. I really wanted to try that combo. There wasn't really anyone there when we got there, but all of a sudden the place was swarmed with lots of people and small children so we picked up our quart of cake batter ice cream and left.

All New Record

I have a bunch of things that I'd like to blog about, but I will do them one at a time instead of having a long meandering stream of consciousness post.  First up--my work out minutes last week. I blew through my old record and set a new record of 640 minutes.  I didn't break 140, but I'm close. Maybe I'll get there by the end of the month. I'm going to rest a little now. I think my body really needs a break, so I'm only aiming for 300 minutes this week.

New Record

Hiking yesterday helped me break my previous weekly work out minutes record (just barely).  My new record is 525 minutes.  I'm planning on breaking that (and hopefully 140 lb) this week with lots of yoga and hiking.

Time to Recommit

I was really bummed last week that I didn't make my weight goal for the month.   I was so close earlier in the month that I thought for sure I'd make it.  Things just didn't work out that way.

I have three weeks until Memorial Day.  I can still make the weight goal that I originally set.  I just need to recommit to working out and eating right.  I'm seriously thinking about buying an unlimited monthly pass for yoga--just to help me make my goal.  My main concern is that the yoga studio is 26 miles away (and I'd have to pay for parking!!!!).  It's so much easier and cheaper just to do podcasts at home.  Maybe I'll put the space heater in the bathroom so it can be hot yoga instead of warm yoga!

Time to get started on my 80 ounces of water for the day and sort laundry.

Random Stuff

1. Friday was my day out. I drove around Baltimore with the top down on the car. It was so nice and sunny and I got to see parts of Baltimore I hadn't ever seen before. I really didn't get out much when I lived there. I went nuts at H Mart. I hadn't been to an Asian grocery store in a couple of months. I loaded up on veggies and meat to make beef bulgogi. Cucumbers 4/$1! Mint! Ooh, I think I'll have a mojito and a Gordon's cup this week.

2. Ross is currently obsessed with fail blog.

3. No luck with the job search so far. Lisa Diane is in Singapore. She has a job she loves and she gets to travel. I'm jealous.

4. I fell below my previous low (weight wise) and have been below it for the last two weeks. I think I will meet my weight goal for this month. I worked out a lot this week (350 mins so far). I have been doing a lot of leg exercises. Man, I'm feeling them today.

5. Today we drove 75 miles (one way) to eat Logan's rolls. Damn they were good, but I don't think we'll be doing that very often.

6. We still have cable, but the cartoon network has disappeared. What Not To Wear has become my daily dose of crap tv. I'm beginning to feel the need for some structured jackets, but I don't think I'll give up my platform flip flops. That show makes me want to shop, but I resist because no one has given me a Visa card with $5,000 on it.

Things Have Changed

Well, I guess things are always changing. Today I did a really old work out. It was the first work out video I ever bought. I bought it to get in shape for the wedding. After the first time I did the video I had trouble getting up the stairs to our apartment because my legs were so sore--and I didn't even get through the whole thing! Today I did every rep, and with much heavier weights than I used to. These are good changes. On Tuesday I hit a whole new low with my weight. This is the lowest I've been in my adult life. Woohoo!

Slacker!

Okay, so I've been a total slacker lately. Lazy about everything. I haven't been soaking or taping my piercing like I should. Last night I saw a small white dot on the side of a growing follicular cyst at the bottom of my piercing. I tried to drain it. I poked, prodded and squeezed. It bled a little. I cleaned it up and decided to tape down the piercing for the night. As I went to tape the top I suddenly saw the huge puddle of goo that had formed around the top gem. It actually grossed me out! I cleaned it, taped it, and went to bed. This morning I'm going to soak it and thoroughly clean it.

I've also been slacking on the diet and exercise front. One work out in the first week of the month, and then the only thing I did last week worth mentioning was hustling through the airport. I'm planning on working out at home at some point today. I did weights and measures this am and I'm thrilled and amazed that I haven't gained any weight in the last two weeks. Still, I need to get back with the program. I thought about going on a whole foods diet. Nothing but whole grains, fruits, veggies, and lean meats. Nothing processed, no added sugars. The problem is I know how expensive that would be. Still, I'm going to try and avoid sugars and C's for the next couple of weeks. I had a good start this am: fruit salad (bananas, blackberries, nectarines, grapes, apples, kiwi, and pears) with whey, vanilla, cinnamon and milk.

Now it is time to get to work. More posts about the weekend later.

12 Weeks

I can't believe it has been 12 weeks since I got my piercing. I have a second piece of jewelry, and it seems to be fitting nicely. I got really lazy before and after the dessert party and did not soak it regularly (if at all). I've started getting a lot of goo and blood out of it this week. I got unlazy and started soaking again and taking my vitamins. In the photo it looks like there is a cyst forming again, but I don't think there is. The pink area just above the bottom bead is just scar tissue.
I weighed myself this morning, despite my friend Hugo being here and eating a ton of salt in the last few days. I was 3 pounds up from my low (which happens to be where I was 12 weeks ago). I seem to just bounce between here and my low of 142.5. Grr. This week was not a good work out week for me. Next week is going to be crazy. I've told my dad that I have set a goal of biking 50 miles with him over the Thanksgiving weekend. I think that is completely reasonable.
There are five and a half weeks until the end of the year. I hope I can end the year at or below my low. I seem to have hit a wall, but Lord knows I'll bang my head into it until I break through or pass out. I'm nothing if not stubborn.

Burn Out

I am exhausted today. We made it to the gym and I manged two hours of working out. That makes 350 for the week. Not bad for such a busy week. Last week I got in 435 minutes. I'm hoping to hit that again this coming week. I'm not sure what I'll do for a work out tomorrow. I've got jury duty in the morning. I packed myself some reading material and a couple of snacks. I hope I'm not there all day. Parking is very far away and seems complicated, so Ross is going to take me and then pick me up. I have been only lifting weights with my left side (upper body)because I am lopsided. I'm not sure what is the best way to fix that--so I just decided to only work my left side for a couple of weeks. Like I said this morning--I've managed not to gain any weight with all the desserts! I need to get rid of all the leftovers so that I won't eat anymore of them. I'm at my low. Maybe by Thanksgiving I can hit 140. I'm going to keep trying.

Adding Up

I didn't go for a walk every day this week, but I did do some sort of exercise every day this week. My total minutes this week added up to 450! I did yoga 4 times this week! I'm hoping to be able to keep up the 450 minutes/week for the rest of the month. Hopefully the minutes will add up and my weight will come down.

Hundreds of Q-tips

Well, I haven't been up to too much lately. I have been pretty lazy. I am trying to lose weight this month, and as part of the plan I am going to walk every day. That didn't work out so well at first, but Ross and I have gone on a walk every day since Saturday. I managed to do 75 minutes of yoga yesterday and still walk for an hour. Now if I can only keep the snacking under control. I'm really hungry at the moment. I was really starting to miss working out, so this week I'm going to do yoga and a couple of weights classes. That will help me feel better and help me lose weight (hopefully).
Tiffany, Robert, and Ethan came over for lunch on Sunday. Ross grilled some veggies and some steaks. Man, those fillets were good! Ethan was super excited to see his uncle Ross. Tiffany and I went estate sale shopping and she found some fancy collector plates at a great price.
My piercing is really healing up. I am going through a lot of tape and hundreds of Q-tips. The trash can in the bathroom is just full of them! Funny thing--I think the piercing is healing up slightly pointing to the right. I guess that's better than not healing up at all.
Oh, Saturday night I made banana bread and oatmeal cookies. I was having a craving for cookies. I used dried cherries instead of raisins. Mmmmm. I think tomorrow I'm going to experiment with making the pumpkin brownies in cupcake shape. I so have the munchies right now. Grrr.