Maybe Not...

Well, I was feeling great so I went back to the gym. Day one went well, so I went the next day and pushed myself just a little harder (still not anywhere near as hard as I did before getting sick). I think I made a mistake. My coughing is back and so is the shortness of breath. Dang it! I am going to hold off until I talk to the doctor and get another xray on Monday. Crazy thing is, even with all this sickly laziness going on, I still lost two pounds. Weird. I probably puked the weight last weekend! Anyways....now I'm just back to playing the waiting game. We'll see what the doc says. Two more days!

Disaster Strikes

I totally slacked off on the blogging part of my health goals. I guess I should tell you where I stand. I've lost about 65 pounds total. While I know that's quite an accomplishment, I wish I had a bigger number to report. I thought I'd be well past my goal by now. I'm currently one size away from my ultimate goal. I reached my first major weight goal, but not my size goal. I'm now reaching for the dream weight goal that I wasn't sure I could accomplish at first, but now know is possible. I was really getting into the habit of being active. I was hiking, rock climbing, running, biking, and lifting weights on a daily basis. When I missed a day, I felt pretty crappy. Then disaster struck. I woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. I went to the doctor, and she sent me straight in for a chest x-ray to confirm her suspicions: Pneumonia. As she thought, my right lung wasn't looking too hot. I have now been off strenuous exercise for two whole weeks. It's KILLING ME! I was in bed for about five days, and still felt pretty bad after that. I had absolutely no energy. I could barely make it up the stairs, so I knew running would be a bad idea. I have now been told I can walk, but should only be working out at about 50% of what I was doing earlier until I get a clear chest xray. At that point, I'm supposed to start out slow and work my way up to 100%. I have an xray one week from today, so pray for clear lungs! I also know it can take months to feel completely normal again. Then....to add to the fun, about ten days into the pneumonia, I caught the flu. I'm currently recovering from a miserable weekend full of constant vomiting, and my chest is not feeling too fantastic. I really hope the pneumonia didn't strike again with greater fury. I was finally feeling my energy coming back, and now it has been lost once again. It has been really hard for me to accept the set back. I was SO close to reaching my goals, and it's hard to put them on hold. I'm trying to be really careful about what I eat and stay on my feet as much as possible, but it's difficult. I have a lot more free time on my hands when I don't spend two hours a day working out, which makes it a lot easier to over-eat. Right now I'm trying to find motivation in every way possible so I don't sabotage my efforts. Wish me luck!

Woohoo! On the Right Track

Well, I went shopping last night because I have nothing in my closet that fits anymore...And....I've lost four sizes so far!!!! Yay! Two more to go to my ultimate goal! Hiking has been an awesome workout. I love it!

Time for an Update

I guess I should get back into this whole blogging about my weight loss thing. I was losing more when I did it! I started out losing a lot really fast, but it has slowed down a lot the last few weeks. I know that's normal, still not easy to see. Today I finally reached my first BIG goal though, which means I've lost 40 pounds. I'm more excited about all the inches I'm losing. I've started doing a lot of weight lifting, so the pounds aren't leaving as quickly, but the inches sure are! It's amazing how much better I feel already. My next big goal is to lose 50 pounds, so ten more and I'll have another celebration!

Woohoo!

Well, I got into the Master of Education program!!! Now I just need to work all the other details out!

Weight Update

Well, thirty pounds gone! I still have a ways to go, but I'm feeling a lot better already. It's amazing what working out everyday can do. My days are a little crazy and long right now with the gym at 5, school, softball until 6 or 7, then grading any papers and going to bed. I like it though. It leaves less time for snacking on junk food! Our first softball game is supposed to be tomorrow. Lets hope the weather cooperates! Wish our Hikers luck!

Lost Track

Well, I lost track of what my weight was when I last posted because it has been a while. I know I have lost 23 pounds total since I started this whole thing. That's great, but sadly I still have a lot more to lose! I do have some good news! I just applied for grad school! If I get I will start working on my Master of Education degree in June! CRAZY! I hope it all works out!

New Ways

So, the treadmills in the gym at my apartment building keep breaking and the bikes are garbage. I finally got fed up with it all because I was starting to use the lack of equipment as an easy excuse not to work out. Needless to say, I have completely failed the past week! Yesterday, I got a post card from Planet Fitness in the mail advertising ten dollars a month with only 1 dollar down. I decided to go take a tour and get some more information. They are the ones with the "I life things up and put them down" commercial. I was wondering how they could enforce/guarantee a judgement free gym. Now I know! There are a few ways they do it. I decided to join. I like that I don't have to have a contract and I love the benefits. I get unlimited tanning, massaging, personal training, and can take a friend in with me for FREE as often as I want! I really love the atmosphere. I haven't joined a gym before now because I always feel too self conscious, but not here! So far, I'm loving it! It's right by work too, so it's super convenient to just hit the gym on my way to or from work. Softball starts tomorrow, so I might try going in the mornings if I can get myself out of bed that early in the morning. I'll at least have to on game days so I don't get to worn out in the evenings. I haven't weighed in lately because I'm terrified of what the reading will be. This weekend I plan to weigh-in. I need to get back on track! I have a pretty hefty goal to meet by July!

off track

Wow...I got really off track with the blogging! I've been working on my teacher portfolio that is due in a couple of weeks. It's a lot of work and has distracted me! I have lost another 5 pounds since I last blogged! I should have lost more this last week, but I had a girls weekend. Two friends spent the weekend with me, and I completely failed my diet. I didn't gain any weight, but I didn't lose any either. I need to be stronger on girls night out! Maybe I'll just explain my goals to my friends so next time, they'll know to help me stay on track. Today I tried a new treadmill work out. Basically, you start by warming up. Then, you do interval training. I go full out as fast and hard as I can run (which for me is 6.5-7) for 40 seconds, then do 90 seconds on a fast walk (4) for 90 seconds and repeat this process 8 times. I got the idea from a physical trainer who said the high intensity works more calories than lower intensity, even if I do the lower intensity twice as long. It was harder than I though it would be! I thought the 90 second walking intervals would make it a piece of cake....boy was I wrong! I was sweating more than ever before on the treadmill. I loved it! It also helped my time go by a lot faster. I'm going to keep it up the rest of the week and we'll see if it makes a difference. Wednesday and Thursday will be challenging. Wednesday, my little brother is opening his mission call, so I'll be going down to PG right after school and getting home late. Thursday, I have parent-teacher conference until 7:30pm. I usually workout after school at about 4pm, so my schedule will be crazy those two days. I'll have to make sure I stay strong and fit a work out in no matter how busy my days are!

Weigh In!

Today was a good weigh-in!!! I have lost 4 pounds this week! I'm really surprised considering my lack of dedication this past weekend....Lets hope next week's weigh-in goes even better!

Vacation Weaknesses

Well, I've giving myself a C- for this weekend. I had Friday and Monday off, so I went out of town. Two of my best friends had birthdays this past week, so we had a big celebration. Thursday I went to Zumba for an hour (love Zumba)! Friday I did some workout videos at my mom's to get some exercise in. So far, I was doing okay with exercising, but diet was a different story. I had 2 pieces of pizza on Friday that my mom bought for me. The whole weekend, I snacked on the valentine candy from my grandma and the peanut butter bars my mom made. Awful, I know. Saturday, I meant to wake up and go to the gym....didn't happen. I slept in way too late and then had to get ready for the big birthday bash...no work out. Not good. We decided to go to Olive Garden for dinner, This was the only good thing I did on Saturday as far as diet and exercise go. I ordered their apricot chicken. It comes with a small piece of chicken, asparagus, and broccoli. No pasta or creamy sauces. I stuck to one breadstick, and started off with salad. I only ate half of my meal and saved the rest for the next day. It was delicious, and I felt good about it. It was actually really nice to eat something healthy. I wasn't all bloated and didn't feel gross afterward, which is exactly how I've felt every other time I go to Olive Garden and order Fettuccine Alfredo. My diet wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either on Sunday, and I didn't exercise either. Not good at all. Today, I have returned to my strict diet. I just finished 60 minutes on the treadmill and am on my way to do some weight training. I've got a lot to make up for this week! I really don't want to weigh-in tomorrow.

Weigh-In

Well, today was good I guess. I lost 3 pounds, which wasn't as much as I had hoped for, but I guess it's better than nothing right? I'm a bit disappointed. I know 2.5-3 is a healthy amount to lose in a week, but this has been the best I have ever done as far as diet and exercise go, but the least I've lost on a diet! In high school, I was losing 5 pounds a week when I actually tried to lose weight. This past summer, I lost almost 20 pounds and 2 pant sizes without trying nearly as hard. It's been frustrating. I'm going to try adding more cardio to my workout routine. Right now I do about 30 minutes a day and 30 minutes of weight training. I think I'm going to up the cardio to 45 minutes a day (minimum) and see what that does! I am feeling pretty good. My endurance has already improved! Tomorrow is going to be tricky. I am going to a Jazz game with family, and will have to leave soon after I get home from work, which means I will have to wake up ridiculously early to workout before work. The gym here at my apartment complex won't be open yet, so I'll probably do some Jillian Michael's and use my own free weights to get some kind of a workout in! I wish I lived in a neighborhood where I could safely go for a run outside!

Measurement Day!

My official weigh-in day for the biggest loser competition at work is every Tuesday. Weekdays are a little crazy for me though, so I've decided to make Saturdays my "measurement" days. Every Saturday I'm going to measure my hips, waist, chest, thighs, calves, and biceps to see if I am losing any inches. My calves, hips, and biceps all stayed the same. I lost one inch on the waist, three on the thighs, and three on the chest! If you know me at all, you know that I will be most excited about the chest numbers! I want all the numbers to go down, but especially the chest! I've done really well with diet and exercise all week. I'm really quite proud of myself because I usually fail miserably on the diet end of things. I have also been more confident with working out. Usually, I hate working out at the gym if anybody else is there because I am super self-conscious. Back in PG, it wasn't a problem because I would work out with my best friend who helped me stay focused and confident because I wasn't alone. Here in Ogden, I have had a harder time, but this week I have pushed past that issue and worked out in my complex's gym every day, no matter who was in there! I really do enjoy working out. I always have. I never have been and never will be a runner, but I love everything else. I took every weight-training class available during high school and get a bit of a high from pushing myself physically, which is why it's pathetic that I let my weight get so out of control. I'm a little nervous for Tuesday's weigh in. I hope I lost at least a pound so I won't have as much embarrassment as last week. Last week's weekly winner lost 3.58% of his body weight. That's crazy! To lost that high of a percentage, I think I would have to lose about 10 pounds (which totally gives away my awful weight if you do the math).

I can't remember whether or not I have explained my nutrition goals. I want to stay around 1500 calories a day. Some people say to go down to 1200 for the best results, but I want to start with a goal that I will be able to keep without cheating. Maybe after a couple of weeks, when I'm used to 1500, I can go down to 1200. I won't go any lower than 1200 though, because I know that can get dangerous. I also try to eat a good breakfast when I leave for work around 7. Then I eat a healthy snack, usually orange or apple slices, during my prep period at 10:15. For lunch, I try to keep it small and healthy and that's around 12:45. I eat one more small snack around 3:30. Usually fruit, carrots, or light string cheese. Then for dinner, I try to keep it healthy again around 6. I'm trying not to eat anything after 7, and I have a big water bottle that is equal to 3 glasses of water that I'm trying to drink three times a day minimum. I've been meeting all of these goals, and the water has actually been causing some challenges because I always end up feeling like I'm going to pee my pants in the middle of a class, so I'll have to plan that a little better! lol. Weekends are probably going to be my biggest challenge because I don't work and I live alone, so I will get bored more often. That is usually when I end up eating junk that I need to avoid. So far, I've been good today! My niece is coming to stay with me tonight, which should give me plenty to do and I'll have her all day tomorrow too. That will help. Wish me luck!


Talk to you tomorrow!

Day Two

I have to say, I really do love working out. Once I actually get to the gym and start working, I love it. I especially like how I feel afterward. Today went really well. I was really careful about what I ate and stayed within my calorie goals. At the gym I rode 5 miles on the bike and jogged on the treadmill for 20 minutes. I also lifted some weights! Can't wait to go again tomorrow!

My New Endeavor

Wow...I'm obviously not great at the whole Blogging scene. I just looked through my last blog. Kadence has changed so much since then! She is now 9 months old and is almost walking! Still the cutest little thing on the planet.

So...I signed up for a biggest loser competition at work. Supposedly they have some pretty awesome prizes. I think it's pretty obvious that I need to lose some weight and get back into shape. The problem is, I always start out strong and then slowly start to fail. To try to fix this problem, I've decided to blog about the process. I've heard it has helped some others to be successful. Even if nobody reads the blog but me, I still have to account for everything I do in a public format, which will hopefully help me out. So, here's the plan. I started keeping an online food journal. It tracks calories taken in and calories burned through exercise. I like the site I'm using because it lets me adjust the amount of calories I want in a day, and then it shows me positive or negative numbers, depending on whether I'm over or under that amount. The goal is to have positive numbers. These mean I'm under my calorie goal. I'm hoping the journal will help me take more responsibility for what I'm eating.

Today was the second weigh-in of the competition. Unfortunately, it was a day of extreme embarrassment for me. I gained one pound instead of losing anything. I knew it would happen too. I have been really sick with an incredibly miserable sinus infection. The headaches and weakness took over and working out was not at the top of my list. I laid around in my sea of tissues and cold medicine while slacking on my new diet regime. I didn't pay any attention to what I ate whatsoever. Not good.

This week I am finally starting to feel better, and I am determined not to be embarrassed again! Today I went to the gym in my apartment complex (gotta love the free stuff). I rode 10 miles on the bike, lifted some weights, and did some ab work. I was pretty good with eating as well. The helpful part of my job is that I have no access to unhealthy snacks let alone time to sit around and eat them.

Well, wish me luck! I'll check back in tomorrow.



PS...My amazing basketball team won the championship and had a perfect undefeated season! Congrats to the amazingly talented girls on the team!