Tag Archives: exercise goals

Month 2 Review

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In the past two weeks, since my last weigh in, I lost 3.4lbs!!!!  Holy moly I did not think that would happen!  I was hoping to come out even after all the cake/ice cream, and food on the road, and party/vacation food.  When we got home from my grandparents I made sure to get right back on the healthy eating track.  I exercised every day and probably underrate a little bit: it was SO HOT all I wanted to eat was salad, smoothies, and fruit.  So maybe that helped.  My total loss in two months is 24.2lbs!  I was hoping to be at 30lbs in two months but I am not complaining about 24.2 at all.  Especially because the past two weeks were rough on the diet front.

Last month I wrote down a few goals for this month.  Looks like I sort of accomplished two and missed the other two.  The goals I consider accomplished were to start running: I went running once.  So that’s a start right??  ;)  The other was to ride 10 miles on my bike.  This one I accomplished on Saturday which technically was one day after the month ended but I’m counting it anyway.  The two I missed were to have 5 workouts a week – birthday party prep and vacation prep/vacation really made it tough to accomplish this goal.  I’m finding that 4 workouts a week is a little more realistic with 5 being a bonus.  We’ll see how this month goes.  The one I definitely didn’t hit was to lose 15lbs this month.  I only lost 10 this month.  But really I shouldn’t say “only” I am really proud of the 10lbs I did lose.  So reflecting on this past month I am completely satisfied with how it all went down.

So now lets talk about goals for this month.  I’m still hoping for 15lbs this month so I will make that a goal.  I continue to have a desire to run so my goal is to run 3 times this month – I know that isn’t a lot but its a start and with the weather being so hot and the fact that I refuse to run indoors its the most I’m committing to.  I hope to continue riding my bike and instead of my goal being for one ride I will keep track and do a monthly miles goal of 25 miles.  I am really only able to get on my bike when Preston is with his dad and because I don’t know how much that will be this month I don’t want to over commit myself.  My last goal for this month is to get more sleep!!  My goal is to get 8+ hours at least 5 nights a week.  So in bullet form:

  • Lose 15lbs this month
  • Run 3 times this month
  • Ride 25 miles cumulative this month
  • 8+ hours of sleep at least 5 nights/week

 

birthday party prep never ends…

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I haven’t done any official exercise since Friday – I think!  Yikes!  Saturday Preston and I ran errands for his birthday party.  Sunday was Father’s Day and I ran errands instead of working out.  Monday I was doing heavy lifting at my aunts but I don’t count that as official exercise.  Yesterday we were watching my nephew and now its Wednesday!  If you don’t work really hard to get workouts into your schedule they simply don’t happen!!  Its been a nice break, but I know I need to get back on the horse PRONTO!

I have a standing elliptical date with my friend Marissa today at 4pm so I’ll definitely be able to make that.  Tomorrow is tough because Pres and I are headed back to the city for more packing at my Aunt’s and then I work in the evening.  Friday I may have to force myself to go to the gym in the morning before work.  And by “I may have to” I mean I WILL. Saturday I have to cut the grass and that I count as a workout because there is hardly one stretch of flat ground on the whole lawn and its about an hour of work or more so that counts to me.  AND its all I’ll have time for before Preston’s birthday party!!!

I’m thinking I will weigh myself on Saturday morning this week instead of Sunday because I will likely have a piece of cake at the party and then I’ll be celebrating my friend Heidi’s birthday Saturday evening and who knows what food and drinks will look like then.  I am not planning on much of a loss this week because of the lack of exercise and the indulgence on Father’s Day.  Who knows?!?!?

The last few days its be SO HOT!  I’ve been trying to up my water to at least 100oz each day.  Its hard to get it all in but I am definitely finding I want to drink more water when the temperature is so high.  Its also helpful too encourage Preston to drink a lot more water.  Hopefully I’ll have some good news about my weigh in on Saturday, if not I’m hoping next week (my birthday week – and Preston’s) I will hit the gym more and clean up my eating so that I see a decent number by Thursday which is my big day.

I’m on a roll!!

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Happy weigh in this morning!!!!  3.8lbs this week!!!  For a total of 17.6lbs in 5 weeks :)  This makes for a very happy Megan.  I had a feeling the loss this week would be decent due to last weeks low loss.  But it is nice to see that I’m just cruising right along.  I am hoping to lose 6 more pounds by my birthday on the 28th, hopefully that will be a no brainer.

I have started really going through the parts of my closet that have sat quietly waiting for my return for years :)  Haven’t gotten to the boxes of clothes that don’t fit yet, but its fun and exciting to pull out clothes from before Preston was born and actually fit into some of it!  The best part is I am finding a few work clothes to tide me over for now.  I don’t care if my clothes are baggy when I’m hanging around the house or running errands with Preston but I don’t want to wear baggy pants to work.  So that is all very promising.  Excited to get down to an 18 – haven’t worn that size in 5 years probably.  :)    :)    :)

This week I did a much better job of getting myself all the way to 1200 calories and then some.  I made sure to have a larger breakfast and snack some as well.  I intentionally burned calories/worked out 6 days this week, which felt really good!  I am surprised how well my body is accepting of the way I’m pushing it – in fact I think my body is really happy about it.  I was talking to a friend the other day about starting a C25k program but wasn’t sure if I’m ready to do that.  I’d still like to drop a little bit more weight before I start that so that I’m not putting so much strain on my body, my knee is finally not experiencing much pain at all going up and down stairs or anything so I don’t want to screw that up by straining it.  Maybe after I’ve lost a total of 25lbs I’ll revisit the running thing.  My only true running goal is to be able to run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.  I ran a turkey trot/thanksgiving morning race with my family two years in a row and I wanted to make it an annual tradition and then I stopped running and gained weight and drifted from that but every year I think about it and wish I was in shape to do it.  So this year I’m definitely planning to Turkey Trot – but I’m completely confident at this rate that I”ll be prepared to run a 5k by the end of November, so I might sign up for a 5k for September or something to work for.

I decided I’d like to set up a few mini goals for myself each month just to keep myself pushing.  So here’s a short list.

  • Do a 10 mile bike ride
  • Lose 15lbs this month (June 6 to July 6)
  • Get 5 work outs in each week
  • Start running

Its not much, but it’ll push me to work this month.  Like always the food is the most important part.  I promised myself I’d do a good food plan last week and I didn’t, so this week I HAVE TO DO IT!!  I really need to throw some variety in there and have bigger variations in my day to day calorie intakes to keep my body guessing and working hard.  I’m thinking maybe 2-1600 calorie days this week and one 1400 calorie day and the others closer to 1200 to see what kind of reaction my body has to that.  Hope you had a good week and met whatever goals you set out for yourself!

One Month Down!!

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I kind of forgot yesterday to mention that I am officially one month and 14lbs down!  Woohoo!  I feel so good and optimistic about losing this time around :)  I need to do an update on my pictures (yes I know I’ve posted none of them, I’m still feeling a bit shy) but I redid my measurements and was completely shocked at the changes!  So let me share:

  • Waist: -3.0 inches
  • Hip: -3.0 inches
  • Ribs: -1.0 inches
  • Chest: -3.0 inches
  • Upper arm: -0.5 inches
  • Thigh: -1.0 inches

Whoa.  That is so encouraging!!

This past month I think I did a number of things really well.  One thing is my earlier bedtime.  Getting more sleep at night has definitely helped me stay the course – the days I’m not rested have been the rougher ones for sure!  Eating as much fiber as I can has helped me feel full longer and has helped with cravings as well.  Additionally the 96+oz. of water that I’m drinking every day help me get by between meals/snacks without feeling hungry.  I really didn’t think I would exercise as much as I did this month because I thought it would feel like too much, but I’ve really only done what I want to do and just pushed a little to head to the gym if I’m not in the mood.  But it definitely always helps me feel better.

When I started last month I was able to do about 35 minutes on the elliptical comfortably and 40-45 was pushing it.  I am now regularly doing 60 minutes on the elliptical and at a higher resistance and feel really good through the majority of the workout.  I exercised 19 of the past 30 days.  At the beginning of the month I was a tight size 22 pant and am now a barely tight/just right size 20 (that was unexpected).  This month we went from Pres being in school and taking gymnastics class to summertime and ballet class :)  The transition time is always interesting.  I have posted 4 new meals that I have repeatedly enjoyed this month.  My average pounds lost per week is 3.5.  All in all a pretty respectable and exciting first month.

…You are not the Biggest Loser

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This morning I opened up my email and found this waiting for me…

Just a couple of weeks/months ago I signed up at NBC.com to get info on when they were casting for the next season.  Looks like its coming up at the end of this month.  And the Chicago location is barely a stones throw away from my house!  But as soon as I opened this email a wide smirk passed across my face.  I don’t need this information.  I’m doing this on my own.

After watching season after season of this show (the show started around the time I was losing weight – 2005/6) I began to dream about being a contestant.  I am fully aware that the way they do things is a bit controversial but I wanted the results.  I held myself back from auditioning for the past three years because I’m a single mom and couldn’t fathom being away from Preston and/or figuring out the childcare situation.  I always wonder how contestants are able to just take a leave of absence from life and most have a spouse taking care of their children and jobs that allow them to do something like this – or at least I assume.  I however don’t know anyone that would be able or willing to sign up for up to 4 months of 24/7 childcare of Pres and I only get paid when I work and if I stopped working I’d have to rebuild my caseload and so it just hasn’t ever felt totally right for me.

This year I thought: If I don’t lose the weight really soon I continue to run the risk of shortening my life and if I die how would all those logistics get figured out with someone having to raise my son etc.  I decided that this year I would audition so that maybe if I were picked I could get out of the danger zone and live a long life for Preston.  I thought if its in God’s divine plan for me to lose the weight and do it by being on the show I’ll get a spot and somehow I’ll figure out the childcare/no income thing.  I mean I somehow managed to get through graduate school with a toddler!

And now here I am, one month into making some drastic changes for my life and feeling good about where I am ALL ON MY OWN (well sans show at least).  Receiving that email reminded me that the plans we make for ourselves are not often the way the plans play out.  It motivated me to keep on trucking.  The people who wait in line and audition for the show are not where I am.  They are where I felt I was when I signed up to receive the email.  I feel blessed and excited that I can delete that email and not worry about logistics of child care, just logistics of feeding myself the right fuel and getting my workouts in.  It reminds me I’ve come a long way mentally in the weeks/months since I signed up for that email, and that will help me keep on, keeping on.  :)

Have you ever considered auditioning for Biggest Loser?  Have you ever actually auditioned and gone through that process – I’m always curious about the behind the scenes stuff.

Weigh In

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I only lost 0.8lbs this week.  I have to admit I was a little bit disappointed when I weighed in, but at the same time I just knew I wasn’t going to have much of a loss this week.  Paired with my big loss last week, and I just didn’t feel so great about this week.  But after the initial let down I was fine with it.  For one, I knew it wasn’t going to be a big loss and since that was confirmed now I know that weeks like this past one don’t yield such big numbers.  Also, it means that hopefully next week will be a good week.

I’m pretty sure I know where I went wrong last week.  For starters I didn’t eat enough calories!!!  This is becoming a common theme and I think it relates very closely to the way I was limiting calories at the end of my last significant weight loss.  Its definitely not the same, it just relates.  I am good at eating really minimal calories and less good at being flexible and allowing wiggle room.  But counting calories has really helped me see this so I think this has been a fabulous learning experience.  Once I notice I am not going to hit 1200 calories I tend to eat enough to get me caught up.  Leading me to the next problem – I eat too few calories all day and then at dinner I eat more because that is when I realize I won’t have enough for the day.

So this week I’m going to plan it all out again.  Down to the calories to make sure I’m getting enough during the day.  The thing is since I’m not eating huge meals anymore, my stomach has gone back to regular size and so the meals I am eating keep me full and I sort of forget about eating until I get hungry and then its too late.  So I have to get ahead of this pattern and just plan out the times in which I’ll eat, and what.  I’m thinking that including more snacks will do the trick.

So my total loss is not at 13.8lbs down and I’m totally ok with it.  I like this journey; it even surprises me that its been a month already.  I definitely feel like my body is changing and my clothes are fitting better every single day :)  And that makes me feel fabulous.  As well as the energy and lack of severe pain in my knees :)  All in all the month has been good.

Since I’m upping the snacks this week I’d love some ideas about good 100-200 calorie snacks.  Hope your weekends were fabulous!!

Sunday Funday!

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Weeeeeeeee!!!!   I lost 4.8lbs this week!!!!!!!  I am totally ecstatic.  This brings me to a total of exactly 13lbs lost in 3 weeks!  I am really starting to feel a change in my body and at some point the changes will be noticeable to other people and that is really exciting to me!  I’m also looking forward to busting out my clothes from smaller sizes.  I currently have one pair of work pants – I ironically busted the button on one pair the week before I started exercising and eating better – the work pants I’m left with are cut a bit larger than the ones I broke and they are hanging on for dear life around my waist.    It feels really good to see those things happening.

I’m well aware that I won’t be able to keep up a near 5lb weight loss every week but it feels good to have a few here and there.  I exercised 4 times this past week.  I used the elliptical twice, both times for one hour.  One day I doubled up and did the elliptical in the morning and rode my bike for 20 minutes in the evening.  Another day I just rode my bike for about half an hour.  And yesterday I cut the grass and cleaned all day long so I count that as my calories burns for that day.  I tried to focus on just enjoying the activity and not feeling forced to do anything.  WIth the weather being nice I’m not wanting to be at the gym every time I need to exercise and I love getting on my bike and riding around the neighborhood.

As far as food goes I stayed pretty close to 1200 calories a day.  Last Sunday I am sure I went way over that as I shared last Monday I decided to join the family dinner instead of eat my own stuff.  There were two days I fell a little bit short of 1200 calories, which I really don’t like to do it just happened and hopefully next week I can have 7 days of 1200 calories consumed each day.  My main goals with food are to get 35g of Fiber every day, always include fruit and/or vegetable with every meal, and try to use them as snacks as well, try to get as much protein as I can, keep the sodium as low as I can by purchasing Low Sodium products and not adding salt to most things.  My breakfast was typical two servings of Fiber One cereal with a bit of Truvia and Fat Free Milk with some fruit like an apple or cantaloupe.  I’m on a cantaloupe kick right now.  Mmmm.  For lunch this week I had some leftover White Chili and I also made some wraps with a large Whole Wheat Tortilla, plain Hummus, Swiss Cheese, Black Beans, and thin sliced Cucumber.  MMMMMMM.  So good!!  Dinner this week I also had some of the leftover White Chili, I had the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad from Panera twice, and my sweet potato and asparagus dinner one night.  I snacked on Apples and String Cheese, Almonds, and had Jello Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding a couple of times as well.

I always try to drink 96oz of water a day and some days were better than others.  I would say 4 days I got all 96oz and the rest it was closer to 72oz.  Sleep is another big factor in weight loss and this week was kind of a crap shoot.  The week started off horribly.  Preston was sick – really just suffering from horrible allergies – so I was up several times in the night with him coughing, puking, crying, the whole bit.  It was not fun.  We got him on some allergy meds to stop the cough and deal with some other things like a baby ear infection and then sleep returned to normal.  Starting Wednesday I probably got 8-9 hours a night the rest of the week.  I have to say getting enough sleep helps TREMENDOUSLY with not having cravings or feeling unsatisfied.  Yay sleep!

Today I’m planning to go for a short bike ride this morning, head to Mass, then hang out with my Aunt all afternoon :) Tomorrow I have a workout date with a friend to start the week off right!

How did your week go?  Did you have any two-a-day workouts this week?  Did you discover any new recipes or meals that you didn’t think would be a great as they turned out to be?

Saturday Check In.

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Tomorrow is my fourth weigh in!  Three weeks down :)  The day before a weigh in I am always hyper aware of what my activity level is and what I’m eating.  Today I have a lot of cleaning and organizing planned, meal planning, and some sort of work out – probably a bike ride if the weather allows, otherwise I’ll head over to Xsport and do the elliptical.  I have definitely been feeling thinner this week.  I feel like my body is changing a lot and it probably is changing but so much of that is mental too.  I think this week I’ve had a really good mental shift.

I am not as afraid to think about the future and continuing this diet and losing weight.  The first two weeks were tough because of switching things up so drastically for my body that I was hungry at weird times and times when I knew I couldn’t eat like bedtime.  I was just off a little bit.  This week though I’ve been feeling really positive about this change.  I am loving all the support I’m finding in family, friends, and the blog-world.  Its been SO helpful and encouraging!!!

I am hoping for a more than 3 pound loss this week.  We’ll see.  If I don’t get it I will manage it but it’d be nice.  Either way I know my body is starting to change.  I don’t see all the puffiness in my face anymore.  And it feels like my waist is shrinking.  I’ll do measurements in another week (I’m planning to do them once a month).  That should be exciting!  Hope you all have fun plans for today and are doing something fun to enjoy the long weekend.  I am home alone – Preston is with his dad and my parents are out of town so its nice to just do my own thing for a few days :)

Old School

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Remember when it was popular to fill out those never ending surveys about yourself and post them on MySpace and Facebook?  Yea the post I’m working on is taking me longer than I thought it would so I decided to find a survey and do it so I had something to post tonight.  An hour + later… here it is :)

  1. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?  Closed – Always.  Bathroom door: Open – Always.  Bedroom door: Closed – Always.
  2. Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel?  No, I’m picky about what I put on my hair.
  3. Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?  I only use a fitted sheet, no top sheet.
  4. Have you ever stolen a street sign before?  Not that I remember, but street cones and other weird things yes in high school.
  5. Do you like to use post-it notes?  I’m more of a notepad kind of girl :)
  6. Do you cut out coupons but then never use them?  I don’t cut out coupons, I should though.
  7. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees?  Neither!?!?!
  8. Do you have freckles?  Yes.  Arms, shoulders, used to have them on my face.
  9. Do you always smile for pictures?  If I know its being taken, yes.
  10. What is your biggest pet peeve?  Waiting on people.
  11. Do you ever count your steps when you walk?  Rarely if ever.
  12. Have you ever peed in the woods?  Yes, I’m sure I have although I’m struggling to bring up a true memory.
  13. What about pooped in the woods?  No I don’t think so.  Eew.
  14. Do you ever dance, even if there is no music playing?  Yes definitely.
  15. Do you chew your pens and pencils?  I used to but not so much anymore.
  16. What size is your bed? Queen.  I know I sleep alone – or with Preston pretty regularly but I really want a giant King size bed all for myself :)
  17. Is it ok for guys to wear pink?  Absolutely!!!
  18. Do you still watch cartoons?  Only with Preston, never on my own.  
  19. What’s your least favorite movie?  Robot in the Family – from a long time ago, worst movie ever!  
  20. What do you drink with dinner?  Water.  Sometimes Arnold Palmer or Diet Coke.  
  21. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?  BBQ sauce or Honey Mustard – that is of course if I was eating chicken nuggets anymore ;)  
  22. What is your favorite food?  Pizza  
  23. What movies could you watch over and over again and never get sick of them?  A League of Their Own, Hook – I’ve really become more of  TV series watcher on Netflix and Grey’s is one I have watched through a couple of times.  
  24. Last person you kissed/kissed you?  Kevin, an ex.  
  25. Were you ever a girl scout?  Yes through 8th grade.
  26. Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?  Hahahaha – NO WAY!!!  
  27. When was the last time  you wrote a letter to someone on paper?  Maybe thank you notes at Christmas… not sure.  
  28. Can you change the oil on a car?  I was taught once but probably not.  
  29. Ever gotten a speeding ticket?  Yes like 4 of them in the 13 years I’ve been driving.  Last one was over a year ago.  
  30. Ran out of gas?  Yes, once.  I had to call my friend to come rescue me.
  31. Favorite kind of sandwich?  Chicken salad or Peanut Butter and Honey.  
  32. Best thing to eat for breakfast?  I love breakfast.  All of it.  Pancakes, waffles, omelets…  Lately I’ve been enjoying some low calorie egg sandwiches, mmm…  
  33. What is your usual bedtime?  11pm  
  34. Are you lazy?  Yes, yes I am.  The part of myself I am currently doing battle with.  
  35. When you were a kid what did you dress up as for Halloween?  First let me say I’m not really a fan of Halloween.  Never really was.  I was a princess once, Peter Pan, a farmer, and the March Hare.  
  36. How many languages can you speak?  Just english.  My undergrad major was in American Sign Language Interpreting, its not a spoken language and I am no longer fluent because I haven’t used it in years :(  
  37. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?  Yes, one.  Shape.  It was like $2.50 for a year.  
  38. Which are better Legos or Lincoln Logs?  Legos.
  39. Are you stubborn?  I can be, but I’m other things before stubborn.  
  40. Ever watch soap operas?  No  
  41. Afraid of heights?  YES HORRIFIED!!!
  42. Sing in the car?  Always!  Now that Preston is old enough we sing duets – mostly Disney princess duets.  
  43. Dance in the shower?  No, I’m not coordinated enough, I’d probably fall and break something if I tried.
  44. Dance in the car?  I try, its nothing noteworthy.
  45. Every used a gun?  Yes, my dad took me skeet shooting once.  
  46. Last time you got your portrait taken by a photographer?  Senior pictures – 12 years ago…  
  47. Do you think musicals are cheesy?  Only in the best way!  Love me some musicals.  I’ve been meaning to introduce Preston to Newsies soon!  
  48. Is Christmas stressful?  No, not really.  Its fun and I enjoy spending time with my family.  
  49. Ever eat a pierogi?  Yes.  Preston’s dad is half polish so I was introduced sometime while we were dating.  
  50. Favorite type of fruit pie?  One that doesn’t have fruit in it.  Strawberry Shortcake is the only dessert I allow fruit to come into contact with my dessert.  
  51. Take a vitamin daily?  No, I should, but I don’t.  
  52. Wear slippers?  Not since I was thinner – I was always cold then.  Maybe next winter ;)  
  53. Wear a bath robe?  No but I’d love to have one.
  54. What do you wear to bed?  A tank top and pj pants usually.  Nothing fancy or exciting unfortunately.  
  55. Wal-Mart, Target, or Kmart?  TARGET.  
  56. Nike or Adidas?  Nike.  
  57. Cheetos or Fritos?  Cheetos!  
  58. Peanuts or Sunflower Seeds?  Peanuts 
  59. Ever take dance lessons?  Ballet when I was 5 and Jazz when I was 6.  I got kicked out of ballet class for talking several times and the Jazz recital required me to jump out of a Chinese dragon head and I was too afraid so I quit.  
  60. Ever won a spelling bee?  No, but that would be awesome!  I kind of have a thing for spelling bees – like I own documentaries on the Scripps National Spelling Bee, that kind of thing :)  
  61. Have you ever cried from happiness?  YES.  When Preston was born.  
  62. Regularly burn incense?  no  
  63. Ever been in love?  Yes.  Had my heart broken the first time.  Broke his heart the second time.  And kind of just drifted apart the 3rd time.  Here’s hoping number 4 is a keeper!!  
  64. What was the last concert you saw?  Ingrid Michaelson.  :)  
  65. Hot tea or Cold tea?  Both.  
  66. Tea or Coffee?  Tea if I had to choose, never been into coffee.  But I’d probably pick water over both of those choices.  
  67. Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?  yes  
  68. Are you patient?  No.  This is one of my least favorite qualities…
  69. Ever won a contest?  I won 100, 100 Grand bars in 7th grade for correctly guessing how many matches were in a jar when we were celebrating the death of Joe Camel…. nothing since then.  Lame.  
  70. Ever have plastic surgery?  Not yet ;)  
  71. Which are better, black or green olives?   Depends on my mood.  I only eat olives plain, never with or on top of something else.  
  72. Can you knit or crochet?  no  
  73. Do you want to get married?  Yes, probably more than anything else in this world.  
  74. Do you have kids?  The one and only Preston Richard, the most perfect kid for me that God could have ever thought of :)  
  75. What is your favorite color?  Green
  76. Do you wear shoes in the house?  As a result of living in Asia, I’m a no shoes in the house kind of person.  Although I do wear flip flops when my feet hurt.
  77. Who would you call first if you won the lottery?  My best friend Katie  
  78. What’s the first thing you do when you go online? Facebook.  Its my homepage, haha.  
  79. Do you like sushi?  No.  I wish I did because it would make me cooler.  But my first sushi experienced consisted of sushi from the grocery store and MGD’s also after being exposed to stomach flu – needless to say the association has ruined sushi for me.
  80. What are you doing tomorrow?  Working a couple of hours.  Exercising.  Hanging with some friends from high school.  

Wow.  That took a lot longer than I thought it would.  If you’ve read all the way to the bottom props to you!  What are you doing tomorrow?

Lazy Town

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I think I’m getting a hang of the food changes I have made over the past two and a half weeks.  The hunger at night and other times has calmed down and the head hunger (when I think I’m hungry, but its not a message being sent from my stomach) has also dissipated.  I am still working to perfect the right proportions of protein, fiber, veggies, and fruits etc. but the important thing is I’m making my calorie intake goal every day for the most part and I’m not feeling deprived!  One of the keys to my success this far must be having several meal ideas that I can throw together in a matter of minutes so that I don’t feel like its a whole production just to eat.  Maybe the nutrient content could be improved but I’ve got time to work on that :)

So the next piece of the puzzle is exercise.  I recall really enjoying exercise after I had lost about 50lbs or so 7 years ago and I long to get back to that place.  Then I was a college student with lots of time to go for a run or to the gym etc.  Now I’m a single mom with a 4 year old who needs supervision at all times and I work in the evenings – the evenings I don’t work I have to stay home because he is sleeping so I can’t just go for a run all carefree and without responsibilities.  So getting the exercise in is a different beast than it was 7 years ago.  I have actually maintained some level of fitness over the years, I’m able to go an hour on the elliptical when I push myself and 7 years ago when I began losing weight 20 minutes almost killed me.  I do take Preston with me to the gym a couple of days a week and that’s alright but the monotony of showing up at the every day is depressing to me – I really started to enjoy running because there’s so much to see and you’re outside but that is rarely an option for me lately.  So I guess its just time to get creative.  I have a library of workout DVD’s in my possession that would likely yield some good results.

I have actually only opened the top 3 DVD’s in that pile, and I’ve owned them all for some years now… I also have a copy of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred – I think its in my sisters possession right now – I’ve heard good things about the 30 Day Shred.  The problem is when to do them?  And is it really enjoyable to sweat it out in front of your TV every day??  I just think its kind of boring.  Anybody have advice on how to make DVD exercise fun?  I would have to do these before Preston wakes up (ugh!) or after he goes to bed because I can just imagine him climbing all over me while I’m trying to hold plank pose and it being a bit frustrating (fun for him though!).

I also own a set of resistance bands (still in the package) that I used to know how to use.  In fact, my senior year of college I took a class called Body Tune Up where we used only our own body weight and resistance bands to exercise, I wish I kept my workout plans and notes from that class!  I suppose I could search around online for some resistance band ideas, or maybe find a DVD that focuses on using them.

I have a set of 10lb hand weights and 5lb hand weights.  I have thought adding to my collection some 2 or 3lb weights might be beneficial – but in all honesty I don’t exactly know what to do with them (like how many reps, sets, how to work different muscle groups on different days etc).  I also have my bike and my dad has one of those contraptions that holds your rear tire so you remain stationary – that’s definitely something I could do with Preston home I suppose.  The thing with all of these ideas are that they kind of bore me.  The only time I found myself gaining muscle and enjoying it was when I was seeing a trainer because then it became slightly social and intimidating enough for me to get it together – but I am not in a position to afford a trainer these days.  I also still have issues with my knees so I can’t do squats right now and I know a lot of workout DVDs love to kill you with squats.

As I’m writing all of this its starting to feel like I’m just making excuses to not do what I should be doing.  Clearly I have enough options to get my sweat on without leaving the house and faltering on my responsibility to supervise Preston.  Maybe I just need to suck it up.  I just need a plan! (I LOVE a good plan!!)  I’m thinking of maybe challenging myself to workout everyday for a month or something and make my “rest” day a day that I go for a more leisurely bike ride or a long walk with Preston or something.  Any ideas or suggestions to this whole – getting exercise in – dilemma would be greatly appreciated.  Or cheerleading for me to just get off my butt and make a plan for myself I’d be ok with that too ;)

What’s your favorite way to exercise at home?  How do you stay motivated and enjoy your workouts when you’re at home?  What kind of challenges have you tried with yourself to get you moving??