4 posts tagged “weight loss”

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 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 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.