Tuesday, August 20, 2019

It's been a minute...

wow.. it's been a long time since I've posted.  Mainly because I have had zero to write about. No changes in my weight, no changes in my body... just me living my life the same way.

We were on vacation for a few weeks in July and I spent 0 time on the computer. This is the main reason that I did not create a new post or update anyone elses. I needed a mental break from my keyboard, mostly from work but all in all a break from googling and reading etc was also good.

When I returned from vacation, life and work just go busy and the time I spent on my computer were mostly for work reasons and when I finished work at the end of the day, I would shut her off. I needed that.

Well I'm back now. I gained 3 lbs on my vacation and I have finally gotten back to where I started. So I'm at 170.5 which was where I was just before vacation. So still in the 169-171 range that I have not been able to break in almost a year. UGH!

I know what I need to do it. I am just too lazy. I like my weekend splurges and I like the occasional treat. My body is happy right now. It's getting stronger at the gym and shockingly I'm still going 3-4 times a week. That's 3 months! Crazy....

This has been a stressful few weeks with R getting ready to leave again to go play hockey in another province for the year. His car has had  nothing but problems since we bought it for him so I stress about that wanting it to be safe before it drives 1500KM away from me. We will get there. I just need to have patience and trust in the process.

We are not going to go with him this time. He's on his own for now. I plan to visit end of September, Thanksgiving and then he's home for a quick few games in November. I hope he has more confidence this time than last and that he sticks it out. But if he doesn't, he doesn't. It's really not the end of the world.

N is staying home this year. He's switching schools to a local school here and I'm thrilled that he will be home with us.

So need to get through the next few weeks and then I think I'll do a refocus on my eating to try and shake a few pounds before the end of the year.


Wednesday, July 3, 2019

July....

Welp... here we are again. Another Month in the year!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by. Before we know it, summer will be over. The weather has been so so. Some really nice days but yesterday and today have been chilly. I don't mind the cooler weather at night as it helps us sleep but during the day, momma likes the heat!!

Ok... recap of June.  Nothing much changed in June. My weight stayed exactly the same. Actually, that's a lie, it did go down .5 lbs. Big whoop. But I have also come to the conclusion in June that I'm going to focus less on my weight now. I might MIGHT even put the scale away and only weigh once a month.

I'm scared to do that because I have had periods in my life where I just avoid the scale and that has usually been when I know the number on it keeps increasing. I figure avoidance will make the problem go away, right?

Well, I'm trying to get into the menality of how do I feel?, how do my clothes fit?  I do have a scale at the gym so I can use that if I really want a guess at my weight but it's been frustrating seeing the little losses and gains during the week when really all I do care about is the inches now.

So that's my goal for July... put the scale away. At least try to only step on it once a week, but hopefully hold out to one a month.

The workouts are awesome. I love going to the gym and seeing my body get stronger. I still don't have the best cardio and hate cardio machines but I am seeing myself getting stronger in both my lower and upper body which is just what I want. I do want to try and increase my cardio a bit this month, but I do not plan on spending 30+ minutes on any machine. At least for now.

Vacation coming up at the end of the month which I'm so excited for. It seems like so long since we have been away.

I want to post some updates on measurements by next week as that will be one month in since my last measurements. Maybe a pic too... although I don't think there is really much to report/see.

Friday, June 21, 2019

Quick Check In

Nothing much to report which is why I haven't reported. No great movement on the scale and I'm still plugging away at the gym 4 days a week. My body still hurts after my sessions but not nearly as bad as it did the first few weeks.

I have not noticed any significant change in my body but I will press on because I actually really do enjoy going.

Now if I could just get S to go with me!

The weather is glorious but they are calling for a bit of rain this weekend. Boo....

R is out of school now so he will be home with me everyday. We need to get him a job so he's out of my hair or he will drive me batty. He sleeps until noon everyday! UGH.

That's it....

Friday, June 7, 2019

Plugging on

Weight stayed the same this week but I'm actually ok with that. It was my TOM this week and it was a doozy and also I have been working my leg muscles at the gym and they are sore.

Been doing some reading online and it's very common to retain water after work outs for days to weeks to repair muscle tears. So that's what I'm going with!!! :)

Decided to take some measurements yesterday as I start this newish journey and then compared them to the old measurements that I took a year ago.

Here they go:

June 13 - 2018
Weight - 200
Waist - 41
Hips - 45
Bust 43.5


June 6 - 2019 
Weight - 167.5
Waist - 36
Hips - 41
Bust - 40
R Thigh - 21.75
L Thigh - 22
R Arm - 12.5
L Arm - 12

The workouts have been going well, I try to do 15 minutes of interval running on the treadmill which seems to be good and really gets the heart pumping. I tried the elliptical but I hate that thing. I just feel awkward on it. 

Then I move to strength training. Trying to work either upper body or lower body in a session and I do about 10 different exercises.  I'm going to incorporate one full body day as well on either fridays or saturdays because I know I will have a good rest day the next day. 

Then I finish off the workout with 5-7 minutes of bike and a full stretch. 

I do my upper body workout on the ladies side of the gym because it's mostly free weights and the lower body on the mixed side of the gym. I actually feel more comfortable on the mixed (men's side).  It's a larger space and I really feel like nobody is watching me. On the women's side, you are being watched. I know this because I watch as well.... women love to compare, it's just in our nature I think! 

So plan for this weekend is good workout tonight and then trip to the pub. Tomorrow S is working all day so I'll do a full body work out in the morning and run some errands at the mall in the afternoon. Sunday going to visit a friend that just got home from the hospital and then maybe a trip to the nursery to replace a bunch of plants that have died on me! 

Here are two pictures that I wanted to take of my arms.... Left one I'm not Flexing, Right one I am!!! LOL.... What a HUGE difference, NOT! One day... 

 

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Birthday and early end of the month post

Today is my birthday - I'm 47! This is the first birthday in years that I have been excited to celebrate. I don't love birthdays. I love my kid's birthdays as I love to celebrate them but I have not been one to put myself into the spotlight.

It's been one year since I switched to a HFLC (high fat, low carb) way of eating and it was the best thing I've ever done. 

I did reach my weight loss goals plans of getting to 175 but once I got there I didn't want to stop. I set my next goal at 165 and now I've adjusted again to 155.

I have become healthier this year through the food that I put into my body, or rather the food that I no longer put into my body. People ask me all the time, don't you miss this or don't you miss that? Of course I do. I miss pizza, but I can substitute a bread crust for a different crust at home and I'm happy with that. Do I miss fresh Cobb's bread that is baked fresh in the morning? Of course, but I don't miss feeling frumpy, not being able to find clothes that fit me and feeling exhausted at the end of the day.

So yes, I miss cake, I miss sugary drinks, but not enough. I have had a total of 3 pieces of cheesecake in the last year. I would normally eat 3 pieces of cheesecake in a week (if we had the cake hanging around!)  Cheesecake is my downfall. But that's ok. The 3 times I've had it, I have cherished each and every bite.

Ok  - so onto May results. I wasn't going to post until tomorrow but with my birthday dinner tonight I can only expect that my weight may make a bit of a jump in the morning so I'm doing today. And it's my birthday, so there's that!

A few weeks ago I was so mad that my weight was not dropping, in fact it was going up and I could not see a way to get it to stop. I wasn't doing anything different but the scale was not going in the right direction.  Go figure.

On the may long weekend (may 20 to be exact), I joined the local gym. I've been wanting to do it for awhile but I'm also intimidated by it. I spent lots of time watching youtube videos on how to setup a workout routine and how to use different machines.

I have been there 5 times (taking a day off between each session) and I feel great. I'm sore... super sore, but I feel great. I do a bit of cardio at the beginning, then weight train a specific area of my body (legs/glutes, arms/chest, back/shoulders) and then I finish off with 5-10 minutes of light cardio (bike, elliptical etc) and then a light stretch. I'm there for 60-90 minutes usually.

I feel GREAT! Did I say that already? And the scale this morning?! 167.5 :)  So I achieved my may goal of 168 (although one day shy) and I'm ready to kill June!

I'm not one for posting pics but I had to do the selfie in the gym bathroom to try and track my progress. 

Wish I took a bat arms picture as that is my least favorite part of my body, but I was trying to steal the pic quickly before anyone came in! (tee hee)



Tuesday, May 21, 2019

A Frustrating first 1/2 of May

Actually it's more than 1/2 of the month and it's been a total waste!

My weight has not gone down but it's gone up by about 5 lbs.  I have done nothing different, I have cut out my nuts and most cheese and I'm not losing. I'm gaining in fact!

I feel defeated.

The only thing I can do is to start tracking again to ensure that I'm eating correctly. But I have a strong feeling that it's not what I'm eating that is causing me this weight gain.

The only thing that has been different the last few weeks is my allergies, which have been awful and I have been taking lots of antihistamines and decongestants. Other than that.... NOTHING is different.

I'm mad. I know this happens but I would rather it be because I ate a cheesecake or a batch and a 1/2 of cookies.

I joined the local gym yesterday. I'm giving up my Zumba to try something a bit different. I love the Zumba but I was finding that it wasn't challenging me enough lately. I am going to start working a bit harder on my cardio and some strength/conditioning. I am not doing that for weight loss but more for health and my heart. Gotta take care of the ticker. So nervous and a bit excited to go this afternoon.

I'm 9 days from my birthday and 7 lbs away from my goal.... guess that goal is blown out of the water.



Wednesday, May 8, 2019

WI Wednesday?

Considering I started May with a weigh in and it was Wednesday,  I figured I'd continue with wednesday weigh ins and see how it goes.  It's a change up from Mondays which always seem to leave me a wee bit sad cause I usually see a bit of a gain. I don't always eat as well on the weekends, I will splurge on adult beverages and usually breakfast which I don't eat monday to friday. I also don't get nearly enough water into me on the weekends. You would think that the monday weigh in would force me to do these things but I think psychologically, I have convinced myself that mondays will be high and I just roll with it.

So we switch it up. If it ain't working, we adjust, right?!  Well, let's just go with it for now or for the month of May!

So.... May 8th, one week from start and I was at 170.5 today. So down 2 from last wednesday. I love it, but I'm not celebrating. Not celebrating because I seem to always be above that 170 mark and never lower. I probably jinxed myself because when I was in the 200s I always saw 175 as my goal weight. I wanted to be in the 170s. Now I can't get out of the damn range!

I need to be careful this weekend with it being both R's birthday and mother's day. I know we are doing fondue on Saturday for R's birthday or going for steak dinner so I can work around that but not sure what will happen for Mother's day. Likely breakfast somewhere I'm assuming. We will see. Hopefully the 2 lbs is not short lived - it's going to be a challenge!

Ok. so 170.5.

Things I am proud of myself for doing this week:

No NUTS!! Hmmm.... interesting. Not because I didn't want them, but because we don't have them! :)  I have to go to costco tomorrow and I will buy some because they are great snacks for the boys so I will just need to really really work on my will power!  But this was a major plus.

WATER! As mentioned I was not great with  my water on the weekend, but I have been rocking it during the work week. Even making those extra trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night, which usually make me mad but right now, I'm good with it because flush it OUT!

EXERCISE: I have done about 5 sets of Yoga and am loving it. It clears my mind and I'm already feeling improvements in my movement and flexibility. Considering switching my Zumba to a gym membership as a new gym opened just a wee bit away from me. I'm still not 100% convinced and until I'm completely motivated I won't go, so it's still just a thought for me.

Things to improve on: 

SNACKING: Still doing the occasional snack on things I should not. No more pretzels or cookies so that is all good. And again, it is likely because I don't have any of that in the house, but that will change when we go to costco on thursday. Oh well... need to make smart choices.

STEPS! Although my yoga has improved, I'm still not getting the desired 10,000 steps a day. Some days it's 8000, some days it's 6000. Not near the 10,000 I want to be at. So will continue to work at that.

TRACKING: Fail, fail fail.... but that might not be all bad. The week or two that I did track I did notice that I was eating too much and so I adjusted. Maybe the tracking for me is just a check in to make sure I'm doing ok. But tracking would be good, I just get lazy at dinnertime and seem to forget!
I know it keeps me on track though.... LOL, get it? on track?.... lol

We will see where the rest of the week takes me!