15 posts tagged “gym”

Since UT is No Longer Trying To Lose

Oct 10, 2009
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The Texas/Colorado game is in the 4th quarter, and I'm so happy (and relieved) that Texas has decided they want to win. I thought I'd take a minute while I'm sitting in front of the tv and do some blogging.

Things have been moving fast around here, just like always. I will resort to my old crutch, the bullet point, to bring you up to speed on the happenings at our house.

-I just finished my first long term sub job at the kids' elementary school. It was a 4 week job teaching the gifted and talented class and it was the perfect job to get me back into the swing of elementary education. I enjoyed myself, got reacquainted with the elementary way of doing things, and had some great learning experiences. I think I still was in a preschool mindset as it took me much longer to explain things than it should have, and I realized within the last week that I was explaining things too much, and not leaving much for the kids to figure out on their own. Mental note taken.

-I was offered my second long term sub job, which made me very happy and was a great little ego boost as the principal wouldn't have offered it to me if I had not been doing a good job with the GT class. This one starts in early November and is a 2nd grade class. My biggest behavior problem in the GT classes is in this homeroom, and it's going to be a challenge, but I will surely grow from it.

-My second round of measurements for the Total Transformation contest was yesterday. All numbers went down, including weight. Yay! At my September measurement, my weight had not changed, even though inches and body fat percentage all went down, and Mandi (the trainer) told me to step up my cardio and only do weights twice a week. Evidently this was my magic bullet and I have made myself run on the treadmill and make sure that my heartrate is in the correct range while doing cardio and it has made all the difference. Now that things are in motion, I look forward to seeing how I do over the next 4 weeks.

-Brendan and Collin are playing baseball and enjoying themselves. Collin has a fantastic coach and we are so grateful that Coach Jeff got Collin on his team. He has improved greatly since the beginning of the season, and it has required a lot of patience from Coach Jeff and the assistant coaches. Cole is coaching Brendan's team again, and they are having a mediocre season. They, too, have improved, but for some reason they just can't get their stuff together completely.

-Kaelin is taking jazz and ballet and she really loves her jazz class. She is bored with ballet, but was told by the owner of her dance studio that she needs to take ballet in addition to whatever other class she wants to take. She doesn't complain about it, but she doesn't really like it. She is loving 3rd grade and is still quite the social butterfly.

There are 6 minutes left in the football game, and it appears that Texas has a victory wrapped up. It shouldn't have taken them the whole first half to get this far ahead, but I'm just glad they got here. Hook 'em, Horns!!

Where Did the Summer Go?

Aug 18, 2009
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I thought of this really profound blogpost the other night as I was falling asleep. Unfortunately it has escaped my very frazzled brain, and who knows if I will ever recover it? So, here's what I have to say instead of the profound post...

The kids go back to school on Monday, and it doesn't seem possible that summer is already over. Brendan is starting middle school and he is so ready. I think I'm ready. It will be an adjustment, that's for sure. Kaelin is going into 3rd grade. She will be upstairs at her elementary school for the first time and she thinks she's pretty cool. Collin is very quickly leaving behind all traces of being the baby and seems to be growing up at an alarming pace. He's starting 1st grade and I've said many prayers for his teacher. I am unemployed for the first time in several years. I'm hoping to sub, but I just got my 2nd reference in yesterday, and I don't know if I'll be on the list or not. I sure hope so because I need to make some money.

I'm still spending time at the gym regularly, and I've signed up to participate in their "Total Transformation" contest. I had to be weighed, measured (body fat % and inches) and photographed, and that wasn't awkward at all (I'm rolling my eyes). It's a 3 month contest, and hopefully at the end of the 3 months my pictures will look completely different and the measurements will shrink. I am pretty sure that even though I was eating healthy food, my calorie intake was too high, so I'm watching my food more carefully. I have the Lose it! app on my iPhone (Cole got me my iPhone for our anniversary...yay) and it's helping me keep up with calories much better than I was before.

And speaking of anniversaries. Cole and I celebrated 14 years on July 29. We took the kids and ate at The Melting Pot. I gave Cole a new iPod and he got me an iPhone. Yay! I love it! The kids loved The Melting Pot. Of course the chocolate was everybody's favorite. We had the original (chocolate and peanut butter) and I think the other one was S'mores.

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me - Part 14

Jun 26, 2009
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Me - after a workout - June 26, 2009

Today I am happy! The scale has finally realized that I want the number to go down! After 5 weeks of going to the gym daily (M-F) I have lost 5 pounds. I have gone down at least 1 clothing size, but I was anxiously awaiting the falling numbers on the scale, and I'm happy to finally be seeing that.

This week I pushed myself a little harder. I've had a cold/allergies all week and it hasn't been easy, but I made it. Highlights from this week at the gym include:

- I did skullcrushers (best triceps exercise ever) for the first time.

- Increased resistance consistently on each cardio machine.

- Did lunges this morning (I hate lunges, but they are great for your butt).

- Added a new exercise for butt/hamstrings.

- Increased weight on some arm exercises.

- I LOST 5 POUNDS!!!

The rule that I generally follow as far as what I eat is...if it doesn't have any nutritional value whatsoever, it doesn't go into my mouth. There are times that I let myself have a few chips, and this weekend I will have dessert, but generally I stick to the above rule. I keep a lot of fresh fruit on hand, and vegetables that are easy to cook.

Next week is going to be a bit of a challenge as I will be at Centri-Kid camp with Brendan, and will not have access to a gym. It looks like running is in my future. Ick!

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me - Part 13

Jun 13, 2009
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Today marked the third week in a row that I made it to the gym 5 times! Yay, me! I am still not seeing the number on

Me - June 12, 2009

the scale go down like I want to, but my clothes are getting looser and looser, and I can see muscle tone where there used to be almost none.

A typical workout for me consists of:

20 minute cardio warmup

30 or so minutes of weights

20 more minutes of cardio

Today I did upper body and I increased weights on several of the exercises that I do. I can consistently do sets of 12 pushups, and I plan to increase that number next week. I've been using caloriecount.about.com to keep up with my food intake and exercise, and I've found it to be very helpful. There are lists of exercises for each muscle group as well as grades for any food that I enter. It also give me a pie chart of what kinds of foods I've eaten and what percentage of my diet they make up- fats, carbs, protein. I typed in all of my information and my goals, and it gave me a daily calorie limit. I also was given a reasonable timeline to reach my goal weight. I find all of this very helpful because when I look at what I've eaten in a day it's much easier for me to improve upon it the next day. If you are looking for something to help you with your weight loss and/or fitness goals, I recommend this website highly.

To add another visual to the mix, I'm uploading a picture that was taken today not long after I got home from the gym. Pictures are always a good encourager to keep going to the gym!

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me - Part 12

May 30, 2009
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Yikes! This is my 12th post about my getting in shape/weight loss journey, and not much has changed. I let myself get very frustrated with my foot and trying to get rid of plantar fasciitis. First, I could only ride the bike, and then a few weeks later my podiatrist said I could do the elliptical and walk on the treadmill, but no resistance or incline. Do you know how boring that is?? Then I got busy with baseball and preschool, and I wasn't making it to the gym regularly, which caused more frustration. But now baseball and preschool are over, my foot still gives me some pain here and there, but I'm moving on, and I made it to the gym 5 days this week, watched what I ate, and I lost 2 pounds! Yay! I decided I will lose 15 pounds by the Keith Urban concert, which is July 11. It's not like Keith Urban is going to see me or anything, but I do better when I have a deadline. So I am finally kicking it into gear and I will get to my goal weight.

Some positives I noticed this week after working out 5 times:

- 2 pound weight loss

- I can now do 2 sets of 12 push-ups (knees) and originally I could barely get through 2 sets of 8

- The muscle tone in my legs is finally present - there is still plenty of fat to get out of the way, but I can feel muscle in there!

- Core exercises are coming along nicely. Maybe someday I'll have 6 pack abs!!

- When I left the gym yesterday I felt a sense of accomplishment unlike any I've felt in a long time.

I'm making garlic lime chicken, corn on the cob, and brown rice for dinner, followed by fresh fruit for dessert. Yum! Weekends always give me some trouble, but I'm planning ahead. Check back soon...I might start posting pictures weekly so I can share my progress. Maybe...

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me - Part 10 - Game ON!

Apr 13, 2009
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My sweet tooth won the battle this weekend. Reese's peanut butter eggs are my absolute favorite candy in the world, and I had 2 of them over the weekend. In addition to some Peeps, Robin's eggs, and various other desserts at April's house last night. Have you had those red velvet cake balls covered in white chocolate? Who can resist those?? Anyway, I've been serious about working out for weeks now, and I've been good with my diet, but it's time to kick it in gear and win this battle. I've promised myself that I will eat nothing sweet except for no more than 1 100 calorie pack of something every couple of days. Right now I have the chocolate covered pretzel 100 calorie packs. I love those!

The foot is feeling good. I'm anxious to get my orthotics and my new shoes and get on with life. I had my second orientation (first time the trainer didn't give me a written program so I was told I could have another one) at the gym last Friday and this trainer had me do a lot of core work, which I desperately need. I told him I had not been good about working my core, and he said he could tell that those muscles are weak. But I did everything he told me to (including planks) and on Saturday it actually hurt to exhale.

I've learned that we all have issues with various things in our lives, and I've faced the fact that food is a real issue for me. I can resist many things that other people can not, but I can't resist certain foods - mainly sweets. This is my struggle, and I appreciate the encouragement that some of you have taken the time to give me on this blog. I need all of the strength and good wishes (and prayers) I can get. Thank you.

So here I go...no more playing around. It's time to get that evil sweet tooth under control and get healthy. Game on!

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 9

Mar 30, 2009
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Yesterday I was told by a friend that I need to do another "You'll Be Seeing Less of Me" post. Which was a good point because it has been a while since I updated this blog, so here I am.

Before I get to the post at hand, I just want to let you know that Kaelin sailed through her surgery like it was no big deal. She is a tough little cookie, and her surgeon was even impressed with her at her return visit last Wednesday. The tooth was bigger than expected, and it required more digging and drilling than was originally thought to get it out. The extra tooth fairy left her $10...Kaelin was happy about that! And, Kelly, I read your comment, but have not taken time to respond (sorry). Kaelin just had an extra tooth in the roof of her mouth. It is hereditary and she is the third person we know of in my family to have it. There has been one female from each generation starting with my mom that had an extra tooth. I'm curious to see who will have the next one!

So onto the point of this post. I have had some ups and down with my fitness goals over the past few weeks. The scale is still not my friend, but I gave myself a little reality check and the truth was even though the meals that I was eating were healthy, low fat meals, I was still eating too much sugar in snacks. I have a terrible sweet tooth and it was causing me some real trouble. But I've been working really hard to conquer the sweet tooth, and for the last 4 days I've had almost nothing sweet at all. I'm working harder than I've ever worked at the gym and I have to say I am proud of myself for that. I am starting to see muscles reappear (still buried under fat, but they're there) that haven't been visible for years. I think if I can keep my diet under control I can get in shape and lose weight pretty easily. I like the working out part...it's the eating less sugar that is bugging me!! However, I am stronger than my sweet tooth and it shall be conquered!! ; )

Anyone watching American Idol? I have many, many thoughts and opinions on that topic, but I will save them for another day. Suffice it to say that I will do a happy dance when I no longer have to see Adam Lambert on my tv screen twice a week.

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 8

Feb 26, 2009
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Now that I've spoken my mind about certain people in our society, I can return to my usual and probably uninteresting blog posts. It's time for an update from the gym!

It appears that I did not make my 3 pound weight loss goal this week. Two factors contributed to this - one of which is my perpetual sweet tooth and the other is something that nobody really wants me to talk about on this here internet. I think I lost a pound. I need a better scale - one of those digital ones and I need for it to moo at me when I step on it! ; ) I would like to keep track of my weight loss and I can't do it with the scale that I have. My diet has definitely improved, but it needs to improve more. I have made it to the gym 3 times this week and nothing should get in the way of me getting there tomorrow. Things that I accomplished this week are:

-Increased weight on leg exercises to 50 pounds, except for hamstrings. I was going for technique on that one and I did 30 pounds.

-I pushed myself harder today on the elliptical and the treadmill than I ever have before.

-Did stomach crunches on the exercise ball today and the stretch on my back felt *so* good.

-Added a leg exercise whose name escapes me right now. It's the one that's always with the free weights and you lie down and push the weight up. I love that one and I did it today. It felt incredible!

-Despite the fact that I missed 1 day at the gym this week and I didn't make my weight loss goal, I AM NOT quitting. To quote the oh-so-southern Scarlet O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day."

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 7

Feb 19, 2009
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I spent an hour and a half at the gym this morning. I did a lot of cardio and an upper body workout. My favorite thing about this gym is there are never a whole lot of people there, and those that are appear to be about my age (and older) and fitness level. I don't miss the meat market feel that bigger gyms tend to have. I've been there, done that, but it was about 15 years and at least 50 pounds ago.

Here's what I accomplished today:

30 minutes on the elliptical - going forward and backward

30 minutes on the treadmill

new triceps exercise that works the triceps better than the other ones I've done

my goal over the next week is to lose 3 pounds (by next Thursday)

My house is suffering terribly because of the attention I'm giving to working out. I should probably get some cleaning done now.

You'll Be Seeing Less of Me Part 6

Feb 12, 2009
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My goal for this week was to make it to the gym every day (Monday through Friday). I've made it 4 days so far, and tomorrow's easy since it's Friday and I don't have to work. So, yay! Today got off to a rough start - I got up late, tried to get Keith Urban tickets and it didn't go well, and I was feeling tired and lazy, so I almost didn't go to the gym. But then I decided to get off the couch and go. Of course I felt 100 times better after I worked out and I felt like I had accomplished something, so that was good. Also, I:

-made it for 20 minutes on the elliptical

-did bicep curls with the 12.5 pound weights instead of the 10 pound ones

-went a little bit faster than yesterday on the treadmill

That's progress.

I'm still feeling tired and lazy, though. And I feel a migraine coming on for the third day in a row.