Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Weigh-In Day!

So today was weigh-in day! I am always freaked out by that scale. But I know at least once a week I need to get on so I can track my progress. And I am happy to report that in a week I have lost 3.5 pounds! It's exciting to see that kind of progress. It really helps keep me motivated when I can see that what I have been changing in my lifestyle is actually working. I'm not changing everything at once and I'm not going on a diet. I'm not restricting what I can eat. I still eat a candy bar once in a while. But it's just that, once in a while. I still eat potato chips, but I take a handful instead of the whole bag. I am portioning my food out and realizing I am satisfied with the smaller portions of food. I am also cutting back the amount of soda pop I drink. I still drink it, but instead of having a 44 oz. once, even sometimes twice a day, I am drinking a 12 oz can about three times in a week. I know the way I am doing this doesn't work for everybody and that's fine. I have done so many diets throughout my life and they don't work. I can't go on a diet. I just have to slowly change my lifestyle. It certainly isn't easy but I'm doing it. Baby steps.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Week 1- Completed

Well it's Friday! And I just finished my workout for today. My goal this week was to work out every day this week (not including the weekend). And I almost did it. I didn't end up working out on Thursday. And I feel bad about that. At the same time though, I do have to pat myself on the back! I did 4 workouts and that's a lot more than I have done in a very long time. It's been a difficult week as far as nutrition. Food still seems to be that enemy that I have a hard time facing. But I'm doing well. I'm drinking more water and less soda. I'm not eating as many salty foods. And I haven't eaten out at fast food this week. Baby steps after all is what I told myself. I didn't gain all of this weight overnight and I sure as hell am not losing it overnight. It's going to take time. Time to retrain my brain. 

Another positive thing is that since I started to workout this week, my daughter (who is 5) wants to workout with me. I can see how the changes I'm making in my life are affecting her life positively. That is a driving force that helps keep me going. I really don't want her to end up like me. Speaking from experience it's very difficult to grow up when you are overweight. The world is not kind to fat people. I want her to have a healthy lifestyle and just be that...Healthy. 

So I will have my rest days over the weekend, and then pick back up week 2 on Monday! Here is to a healthy life!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

"Just Keep Swimming"

A cute little blue fish once said..."Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about. Dory the blue fish from Finding Nemo. She never seemed to let anything get her down. I find myself using this as my mantra almost daily with everything from the food I choose to working out. Tonight was definitely one of those moments where I just had to tell myself to "Just keep swimming". I struggle with sciatic nerve pain quite often. Today I had a pretty significant flare up. On those days it can takes everything in me to not just sit on the couch and not move. It hurts so bad sometimes. I really wanted to workout tonight. I wanted to keep up my goal to work out every night this week. I was starting to feel like I wasn't going to be able to keep that promise to myself, until my awesome sister Nicole sent me something on Facebook. She sent me an article about ways to work out and stretch with sciatic nerve pain. I read it and then I decided. Why not? I'll give it a try. So I did. And before I knew it I was doing my sit-ups. I was doing my lunges. I was doing my squats. It hurt a bit at first, but I realized quickly that the more I kept moving, the less it hurt. I've heard a saying go "A body in motion tends to stay in motion, while a body at rest tends to stay at rest." It seems true. The pain slowly subsided and I continued on with my workout as I had planned to do. I am so proud of myself. I'm also so happy that I have such awesome people in my life who help me stay motivated and don't want to see me give up. Thank you!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Money isn't going to stop me!

Well, the holiday's are over. The time for indulgence is over. And I was going to join the gym. Well, that was easier said than done. We realized that based on our income, paying a gym membership fee was a fee that just put us in the uncomfortable zone where our finances are. But I've realized that I don't need a professional gym to stay fit and exercise! I know how to do sit-ups, lunges, etc. I can run up and down my stairs for cardio. I can do a form of step aerobics in my living room while watching a movie. So that is what I am doing. Tonight for instance, I started with some light stretching just to loosen myself up. Then I moved on to some sit-ups and then lunges followed by some squats. To get my heart rate going I did a kind of step aerobics routine. I only worked out for about ten minutes but I don't want to push myself too hard right now. I'm at the beginning. I don't want to go so far that I can't even move the next day and not feel like I can workout again. Baby steps is the way to go if I want to succeed.