Slight Fall off the Wagon, but Back Up Again

Yeah, it wasn't a good week last week. The travelling and then coming home with a sore back, guests sleeping in the family room where the Wii Fit is located, people over for dinner..... all not a good combination.

The good news is that I did not gain any weight this week and that I'm back on track this morning. Last night I walked with Bart and this morning I was at the Y at 5:20. Did my 40 minute interval workout and came home raring to go for the day.

Hopefully this week I can really start watching what I eat again and get in my workouts and maybe I can start losing like I was before.... I'm tired of the plateau.

But at least i'm not gaining it back which has been my pattern. There is that!

Two Days in a Row

Went to the Fitness Center here in the hotel at 5:20 this morning. Did a 30 minute workout. Feel great. I have to speak for a total of 9 hours over the next 15, so I needed to be energized and it worked!

Big Surprise

I had a horrible week in regards to eating and exercise, probably the most pathetic since starting in March -- and I lost a half a pound. I was really surprised. I almost didn't get up and go to the Y today, but I hadn't missed going on a Monday in 7 months, so I had to do it, even though I hadn't been for an entire week.

So I am officially at the lowest weight I can remember since 1994.... another 10 pounds or so and I'll be lower than I can remember since 1988.... That's a LONG time....

I did my 40 minute workout and am now more inspired to eat better on this trip...... now that I know I started to lose again and finally got off this plateau...

First Strength Training

Pretty pathetic -- I am supposed to be doing 15 of each.

I did 5 pushups (knees only), 3 crunches, 3 back bends.... did get the 15 lunges in. I realized I need more space so I am going to have to find a new place to do them. It was a mediocre workout at best.

It Finally Came

For my birthday I had asked Bart for the No Excuse Weight Loss System because I wanted the heart monitor program. Well, it finally came, but i had pointed him to the wrong page of the website, so he ordered the one withOUT the heart monitor. However, the system seems as though it will be motivating. It has a web-based software program where you record your workouts and weight loss and you can earn prizes and join challenges and everything. I've been listening to his call in radio show for several months and been using his interval workouts, so I am hoping this will continue to help me.

I did not work out yestereday or today and I am feeling it. GOing to go do some stuff on the Wii now.

I ate like there was no tomorrow for two days as well.

Sigh.

Starting the Week Happy (even if it could be based on a lie)

I got up this morning and headed to the YMCA, weighing in at 257 again, finally, after gaining. That means that since last week I've lost six pounds.

I thought about going back and checking the scale again to make sure, but decided against it. I figured that even if it was a lie, I could bask in it for a week and be disappointed next week.

I've been doing two things differently that, if it is accurate, may be contributing to it. I've been trying to have something to eat within one hour of getting out of bed. Apparenty this jumpstarts the metabolism. I have been trying to have something for breakfast every day the past 7 months, but I was eating it two or three hours after I got up....

And of course, only one dessert a week.

Salinda joined me for my workout this morning and I outlasted her, which always makes me smile.

Now I just need to keep going... hopefully the scale was right and next week i'll hit a new 14 year low.....

My Own Hottest Party Ever

Well, yesterday and today it's been me, in the basement at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. having my personal hottest party ever with the Dance Dance Revolution game on the Wii. I'm getting a little better at it and after I finish some strength training and such on the Wii I've been working on improving my dance moves. It gets my heart rate up, so that's the point.

Glad I'm alone though. I'm sure it's not pretty.

Is this not the WAY, to start a new day....

I wake up Dominyk and wilson every morning with a very ugly version of this song:

"Good morning to YOU, good morning to YOU, we're all in our places with sunshiny faces, is this not the WAYYYYYYYYY... to start a new day."

And I make sure it's good and ugly if they haven't stirred by the time I get to the word way. I'm so annoying.

Anyway, I did go to teh Y this morning and did half of an interval workout -- no treadmills were free for the first 20 minutes I was there....

Last night I walked with Bart.

Yesterday morning I got on the Wii Fit for a bit and then did DDR - HOttest Party for a few minutes. That can really get the heart rate up.

So that's my report. Oh yeah, and I have done pretty well with food so far this week. No desserts, not too many carbs, snacking between meals to keep metabolism flowing. I'm trying to follow the 15 secrets of weight loss that my online personal trainer Jonathan Roche recommends.

But I'm still not doing things as well as I'd like. One day at a time though, remembering the progress I've made....

Starting the Week Off Right

I began my week at the YMCA this morning. I have gained another pound and now I am just mad. So, I'm going to have to channel that anger into something positive.

I did my 40 minute workout -- 7 minute warm up on bike, 30 minute interval workout (3.5 incline, 4.4 pushing, 2.8 recovery), 3 minute cool down. For some reason my back is hurting today, but I did the workout anyway.

I have decided to have an all out war -- attacking the weight this week and trying not to slip up on anything. My take it or leave it approach to a lot of the habits I had incorporated this spring and summer is really hurting me.

So that's my plan. I'm going to do everything I'm supposed to do for 7 days and see if it makes a difference. Sigh. It sure doesn't sound fun.

Took a 15 minute break

I was freezing. It' cold in my office. My former self would have gone upstairs to crawl under warm blankets.

Instead, I went into the family room and did the Wii Fit for 15 miutes. Did some stretches, worked some muscles, and got my heart rate up....

I'm warmer.

The Reverse is True

Well, I did it. I got up at 5 and made it to the Y by 5:25. I did my 40 minute interval workout:

6 minutes on bike
30 minutes on treadmill -- 3.0 incline, 4.3 mph exertion, 2.8 mph for recovery times...
4 minutes on bike

I hated getting up. I hated crawling out of my warm bed and heading out into what is every day a colder world. I hated driving there and mumbled to myself about how it was so early and I was so tired and how I should have gone to bed earlier....

And while on the treadmill I was moaning to myself as well.... so hard to get moving, hate this, why am I doing this ... grrrr.

But, when I was done, I LOVED the feeling. I have tons more energy. I was home in time to shower and get ready, with 15 minutes to spare to blog before waking up the children. I feel positive about my day. My body feels energized.

I have noticed that the reverse is true from what I would expect. (I know, that's a stupid sentence, but I'm too lazy to go back and change it. However, in the time it took me to write that it was a stupid sentence, I could have gone back and fixed the sentence, and now, for sure, explaining that in the time it took for me to tell you that I acknowledge that the time that I used to explain I was lazy, I certainly could have fixed the sentence..... oh well).

I would expect that on the nights when I sleep 8 hours and do not exercise, I would feel more rested during the day as my body would not be as tired. But the reverse is true. If I get up after 6 hours of sleep and do my 40 minute workout, I feel better all day long and get way more done, with lots more energy than if I sleep 8 hours and don't workout at all.

And for someone who spent 19 years doing as little moving as possible, it's too bad I didn't figure it out long ago.

The Good News and the Bad News

The Good News is that 14 people have already joined the Third Degree Parenting Losers weight loss group that I set up yesterday. I am excited that we will have some support going on and I believe we are off to a great start. Eleven of those members have introduced themselves already.

Here is what I wrote in the introduction to the group:

Parenting kids with special needs is a different kind of parenting. Kids with medical, behavioral or emotional issues, whether they are adopted, foster children, or children by birth, require a lot from us. We often forget to take care of ourselves.

3ºP (Third Degree Parenting) Losers is for people parenting these children who are attempting to lose weight or just get healthy. Join us as we encourage each other to "put our own oxygen mask first."

You can join the group by clicking here.

Other good news is that I avoided eating out and desserts (except two small bites of Bart's dessert at church last night) and pretty much ate what I was supposed to. I also walked with Bart last night.

But this morning I woke up with a horrible headache so I put off my morning workout. Now I'm going to have to fit it in sometime today and that doesn't always go well. So that's the bad news.

One day at a time, some of them pathetic...

Huge Slump

Good Grief, I'm having a hard time all the sudden. I did go to the Y on Monday morning, had gained 2.5 pounds. But I had a good workout and then walked with Bart at lunchtime and again at night.

Yesterday morning I had a workout on the Wii Fit that was pathetic and walked again last night. But this morning I could not make myself do anything and I'm regretting it. I had my alarm set to go to the Y, but it didn't happen.

But my eating is so unhealthy and I just can't seem to get back on track. I have a few ideas of how I am going to do that.

1) Set My October Goals. For October, I am going to only have one dessert a week. I've been letting this slip, having a bite of this and a bite of that and it's not helping me in any way. If I cut them out all together, it is demoralizing, so once a week I can have one sweet thing....

2) Create a yahoo group for parents of kids with special needs who are trying to lose weight. I think being the moderator of a group like that might help me to go back into the mode of where I felt like I was a role model and doing what I was supposed to do.

3) I'm going to try to limit my eating out -- we don't have the money anyway.... but sometimes it's just easier.

So, we'll see how it goes. I simply cannot let this weight come back on. That is unacceptable to me.