Blogging Through the Alphabet: E is for Exercise

As I continue down this healthy living path I have been attempting to increase my exercise again. After each baby I get lazy, sit around too much, eat unhealthily and gain weight. Not only am I trying to improve my diet, I know I have to get moving to burn calories. 

Really, I have no excuse for not exercising now. No excuse but pure laziness. 

When I was trying to lose weight years ago, the only exercise I could really do was walk. Walking around town before work was my daily exercise. Unless it was raining, then I had that excuse not to exercise. Then I purchased an aerobics DVD from First Place, which helped me to exercise when I couldn't get outdoors. This was years ago, before I met Harold, while I was still working at the Montessori. 

In recent years I have been alternating between the DVD, walking and our new toy, the Wii Fit Plus.There was a time when I was doing a bit of the WiiFit Plus and the DVD, though that has been a while. I love the WiiFit Plus, but it is hard to get a good cardiovascular workout in as even with the "aerobic" exercises you constantly have to stop and wait for the program to go through giving you your points and telling you how many calories you burned and then you have to choose a new exercise. I'm not knocking the WiiFit Plus, it has been there for me quite some time, but there are definitely some things that could be improved upon. It is great for a beginner though. 

I have been following my own made up routine these last couple of months, though I have been sporadic and that needs to change. I like to start with My Routine, where I can select my yoga and strength exercises. I do about 18 minutes of this for warm up purposes. Then I move on to the Stepping and the Rhythm Boxing. I follow that with some bicycling and the Obstacle Course. Then I cool down with some more stepping and balance activities. 

I like to get my exercise out of the way before the children wake up, otherwise I rarely find time to fit it in. When I do exercise with the children up, they tend to distract me and I don't do as well. Especially when a certain little boy keeps getting underfoot. But the constant bickering doesn't help either when it comes to me being able to concentrate.  

So, here is the plan for the next 30 days. We are finishing up the first round of our Biggest Loser Challenge in our Facebook Weight Loss Accountability Group in two weeks. Then we will be starting up another challenge. These challenges really do keep me motivated. To help me along with this challenge I have accepted Amanda's "Spring into Fitness" challenge. Amanda blogs over at Honor Your Health and she is starting this neat little challenge to exercise for 30 minutes every day for 30 days in an effort to regain the habit of exercising. I think I will take a picture of my activity log to share daily here on the blog. Maybe I will include what I have eaten during the day on this post, but maybe not. It takes a lot more time to write down what I am eating than it does to upload a picture of the exercises I completed. We'll see.

If I exercise using the DVD or take a walk I will log that to share. I am really hoping to alternate between all three so I can keep from getting bored. 

If you would like to join in on this challenge, head on over to Amanda's blog Honor Your Health to see the details and her reminder of exercise precautions. 

Here's to getting moving and improving our health!

Blogging Through the Alphabet: D is for Diet

Diet...not in the terms of "I'm on a diet."

But, from dictionary.com- the food and drink that a person or animal regularly consumes. 

I have tried going on different diets in the past. But, as is quite common, once I was off that diet, the weight came back. I really, truly want to be able to change my eating habits and be able to continue with a healthy lifestyle. I've heard it said that it takes 21 days for a habit to form. When I looked it up, I discovered that time frame is actually a myth. I read that it could take closer to two months or even a year (or more) to develop a habit, to make it a part of your life. 

I have to say, that took me by surprise. I figured, if I could consciously work toward making these healthy lifestyle changes for 3 weeks it would be easier and easier to continue with them. Now, it appears, that the conscious decision making is going to be a lot harder. 

So, what habits/lifestyle changes am I wanting to change in regards to my diet?

I have started to juice again and I would like to continue. It surely would be easier if I didn't have to prepare food for the rest of the family and if it didn't take me so long to prepare the juice. But I plan to persevere. My first week and a half were great. I lost 7 pounds in one week. I was juicing in place of eating dinner. Then it started to go down hill with family coming over bearing food and wanting to make sweet desserts. Oh, and going to the movie and chowing down on popcorn probably didn't help. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to stay faithful to my healthier diet since that weekend. 

Here is what I want to get back to.

Breakfast:

2 egg whites with veggies (spinach, mushrooms, bell pepper and grape tomatoes)

This is either served with a fruit (preferable blueberries) or in a wrap. 

Green Tea

Lunch:

Big salad (If I had a wrap at breakfast, I have the salad with salad dressing. If I didn't have the wrap at breakfast, I make my salad in the wrap which I first spread with hummus.)

The salad may consist of: Romaine, baby spinach, mushrooms, pepper, onion, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower,with some dried fruit on top. I add a serving of vinaigrette dressing.  

Dinner:

A few cups of veggie/fruit juice which I juice with my Champion Juicer to get those living nutrients out. I have been using a fellow blogger's recipe for Kid-Friendly Green Juice (though the girls don't like it).  Marcy at Juicing Momma has several other recipes that I would like to try. Plus I have found some other recipes online that have intrigued me. I plan on sharing more about those at a later date. I actually found an article titled, "Best Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss." After I read through it some more I will start implementing and sharing.

Then I may have a bit of the dinner, though I have been known to not have anything besides the juice. 

Throughout the day I drink lots of water. The goal is at least 9. If I feel really hungry between meals I have allowed myself to eat some crackers. The problems start when I give in to the unhealthy choices. 

As you can see, I am trying to cut out meat and dairy again, along with limiting the carbs. I would slowly like to get rid of sugar, salt and white flour as well. These are some things I did without when I was following the Hallelujah Acres "diet" several years ago. 

Hopefully, I can start to be more faithful to my plan.

Blogging Through the Alphabet- A is for ...Again

Again...

I gained weight...again.

Okay, so...it's been awhile. My poor neglected blog goes along with my poor neglected health. My weight has climbed back to what it was before I started my weight loss journey in Dec 2010.
For the last 2 months I have been struggling with trying to get healthier, but my numbers have only fluctuated between the same few pounds.

I've been struggling...again.

I tried different motivations. I looked for the different challenges that I was a part of a couple of years ago, but wasn't happy with the change over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans and couldn't find any others. My sweet hubby tried motivating me by promising me a certain amount of money toward a better camera for a certain amount of weight lost. Now, you would have thought that would have motivated me. Unfortunately, not near as much as I hoped.  I joined in with a bunch of great ladies from the Schoolhouse Review Crew as a Facebook Weight Loss Accountability group was formed. I even joined in on this groups Biggest Loser Challenge. Still, I wasn't losing weight. Even after trying things that worked in the past...again.

I am not sure what happened last Thursday, but suddenly I decided I had had enough.

I started juicing...again
I started eating healthier and restricting dairy, meat and sugar...again
I started exercising...again
I started losing weight...again.

I know I could have given up again, but I didn't.
I was reminded that the Lord's mercy's are new every morning.

Weekly Weigh In- June Tune Up/Weight Loss Wednesdays- 6/13/12

       

Not sure if you read last week's post, but I mentioned how last week's weight loss helped me psychologically. Unfortunately this weeks weight GAIN also impacted me psychologically. I know I snacked more this past week and didn't meet most of my goals. And then I got upset and really snacked today. Wondering if I will ever learn. Here's to a better week.

 Here are my goals for June. Let's see how I did.

Green = success

Red= Failure

1. No snacking after dinner. (Only exception is Saturday for movie and popcorn night.)
2. Get to bed by 11:00 or soon thereafter depending on baby.
3. Get moving somehow everyday.
4. Dessert at lunch is fruit.
5. Dessert at dinner is a healthy snack. Like today we had graham crackers and fat free cool whip. 
6. I will allow myself a unhealthy dessert once or twice a week (if I am making something with the girls.) 
7. I will write down everything I eat. I am not going to attempt to sit down and figure out my calories at this point. But I will keep a record of what I eat.

Didn't drink my tea every day and my water consumption wasn't as good. Guess I know why I gained weight. Thing is, I didn't expect to gain almost ALL of it back.  Grrrrr.

So, my starting weight for this summer of weight loss is 242.1

Last week's weight was 238.5

This week's weight is

I gained 2.9 pounds.

I am now 19.5 pounds lighter than my highest weight in Dec of 2010.

And I never did get my measurements.

Weekly Weigh In- June Tune Up/Weight Loss Wednesdays

       

I did it, I did it!!

Not sure how, but I lost 3.5 pounds this past week. Well, I guess I have some ideas, but I didn't do anything drastic (I can't seeing as I am nursing). My biggest hope was that I stop gaining weight by making my small changes I outlined last week in my goals. I know I can't keep up this pace with these small changes, but this felt good and helped a great deal psychologically.  

I haven't done a good job getting my meals written down, but I have been more conscious of what I have been eating. I have started measuring out my food as best I can. The only problem is, it really does take longer to make a meal this way, especially taking into account that I am making meals for the 3 girls and a hubby while trying to get it all done before the baby starts crying again.  

 Here are my goals for June. Let's see how I did.

Green = success

Red= Failure

1. No snacking after dinner. (Only exception is Saturday for movie and popcorn night.)
2. Get to bed by 11:00 or soon thereafter depending on baby.
3. Get moving somehow everyday.
4. Dessert at lunch is fruit. Most of the time
5. Dessert at dinner is a healthy snack. Like today we had graham crackers and fat free cool whip. 
6. I will allow myself a unhealthy dessert once or twice a week (if I am making something with the girls.) We had ice cream the other night but there was such a small amount we also had a graham cracker and cool whip.
7. I will write down everything I eat. I am not going to attempt to sit down and figure out my calories at this point. But I will keep a record of what I eat.

Let's see, what else did I do. I also added my one morning cup of green tea and started drinking my 2 cups of water before a meal. Okay, okay, I know I should have already been drinking sufficient water because of breastfeeding, but I keep forgetting. Making myself have the 2 cups before a meal helps me to insure I get it in, plus it helps curb the snacking while eating. I have done some snacking between meals (so glad I didn't make a goal not to), but usually it was only if I was hungry. I couldn't believe how hungry I was getting without all the snacking. 

This week, over at Weight Loss Wednesdays the topic is Summer. I am not sure how I am going to do this summer. Two summers ago is when I was gaining weight after having Hannah. Then I lost weight between Dec of that year and May of 2011. Last summer I was pregnant. It's going to be fun seeing how the summer will go. We will get outside to the park and for walks (as long as it decides to stop raining...today is hopeful), but I am not sure what else I will do yet. 

So, my starting weight for this summer of weight loss is 242.1

Down to 238.5

Weight loss- 3.6 pounds!!

I am now 22.4 pounds lighter than my highest weight in Dec of 2010.

Now I just need to get my measurements.

Time to Refocus and Get Healthy

I hadn't realized it had been so long since I had posted on this poor neglected blog. So, I guess it is time for a little update. Baby Harold was born Feb 17th via c-section. Yes, that is 3 1/2 months ago. Would you like to see a picture of him?

So, he is now 3 1/2 months old and I am almost as heavy as I was when I went in to have him. NOT what I wanted to do. I have tried talking myself into eating better and getting off my duff to exercise, but I just haven't  had the motivation. I am not sure what happened yesterday, but suddenly I was looking for weight loss challenges on blogs again, because I know that accountability and little bit of competition are what helped me before. I know I can't lose a whole heck of a lot too fast as I am nursing, but eating the junk food is one of my big downfalls right now and that isn't great for the baby anyway. So, I figured, if I start eating healthier, don't snack and get moving I will not have any adverse effects on the nursing as it is what I should be doing anyway. And it should lead to weight loss. At least I hope so, seeing as I am joining in on one challenge with a partner.

Anyway, a little bit of a summary of my weight ups and downs.

I was at my lowest weight on July 11, 2011- 217 pounds exactly. 

I started gaining weight with the pregnancy. Gaining a bit more than I wanted to because of the inability to exercise how I wanted to and eating poorly.

Right before the baby was born I weighed in at 246.3 (ouch! The only good thing is I didn't get near as heavy as I did with Hannah. I had been up to 261 with her.)

I lost a good bit giving birth. When I weighed myself when I got home I was down to 228.6.

I had one more week of loss-225.1 before I started gaining weight.

I went from 225.1 to 245.2 between February 27th and May 28th. I was averaging about 2 pounds of weight GAIN a week. That is worse than when I was pregnant for crying out loud. 

I think seeing these numbers and realizing where I was headed is what brought me to my senses. I refuse to get to the same weight I was when the baby was born. No way, no how. Yes, I was a pound away from being as heavy as I was the day before I went in to have the baby. So, I decided it was time to take action and FAST. Time to find some blog challenges. Time to stop the SNACKING. Time to start MOVING. 

I decided I needed to make some small goals. Here are my plans for June. I am so hoping they are going to work.

1. No snacking after dinner. (Only exception is Saturday for movie and popcorn night.)
2. Get to bed by 11:00 or soon thereafter depending on baby (yes I know I failed on this tonight).
3. Get moving somehow everyday.
4. Dessert at lunch is fruit.
5. Dessert at dinner is a healthy snack. Like today we had graham crackers and fat free cool whip. 
6. I will allow myself a unhealthy dessert once or twice a week (if I am making something with the girls.)
7. I will write down everything I eat. I am not going to attempt to sit down and figure out my calories at this point. But I will keep a record of what I eat.

So, my starting weight for this summer of weight loss is 242.1

I am still 18.8 pounds lighter than my highest weight in Dec of 2010.

A Bit of an Update and some goals

Just wanted to say, "I'm still here!"
I have completely neglected this blog the last several months. I knew my weight was going to keep going up, but when it was going up too fast I just was too chicken to blog about it. I just checked a pregnancy weight gain chart and realized I have already gained more than I should for the entire pregnancy, even though I am only 34 weeks. My doctor however, does say my weight gain is acceptable. I have gained 29 pounds. I guess it could be worse.
My walks are non existent. And will continue to be non existent seeing as the snow has finally arrived and I don't want to risk falling at 34 weeks pregnant. The balance board no longer works (we just tried it with new batteries). I am addicted to chocolate and peanut butter, preferably ice cream. And I have to eat before bed, depending upon how late I stay up.
I am trying to eat my salads again. At the beginning of the pregnancy and until recently I just couldn't down more than a little bit, not even a side salad size. And I had been used to eat a big plate full of salad before I got pregnant! For some reason I have no problem scarfing down starchy foods though. I have 4.5 weeks to improve my eating habits, to get out of this rut, so that after the baby is born on Feb 17 I can flow straight back into the good habits I had 9 months ago. I will not be able to exercise for a while. I am having a c-section. But I will try my hardest to limit the sugary snacks.
I was thrilled to find out Plus Size Bloggers is starting a new challenge a few days after I give birth. Perfect timing. Not sure how it will work, but I will make it my goal to do all I can.