Six Weeks In

I am six weeks in to the Biggest Loser At Home challenge.  I am 11lbs lighter and 15.5 inches smaller.  I can run over a mile.  I've lifted over 100,000 lbs.  My jeans are too big.  My shirts fit. I had to buy a belt.  I'm getting up at 5 in the morning most weekdays and exercising about an hour each time. 

All of those things I count as successes and I am happy to have conquered them.

Now here's the flipside.  It feels like it is taking forever.   I want more off, faster.  I want to not only participate in this BLAH challenge I want to WIN!  With lots of things I feel no need for competition.  But this is one of those things I most certainly do and to deny it would be to lie.  ($400-600!!!!!)

So what else will it take to help me not only keep going but win?  That I'm not sure.  I'm researching Interval training.  I've already added Strength Training.  ST won't help me drop lbs quickly but will help over the long run and improve the way I look taking me from round and squishy to smaller and tighter.  I am contemplating adding in more exercise.  More workouts.  I've done well up to now with what I'm doing.  I'm really not knocking it! I am just ready for more.  Ready to kick it up a notch.  This is the middle stretch and I have a choice, keep going as I am and possibly plateau or kick it up a notch and pray that it works. 

My diet has been pretty good.  I did have a normal week of blah, you can probably guess which week that would be!  But I'm back on track, Lord willing, to stay.  What can I do there to make it better?  Perhaps reduce carbs and up protein.  My veggie intake is good.  My fat is even ok.  Could be lower, but I'm getting it from healthy sources for the most part.  My water intake is good. 

In a dream world I could have a personal trainer, and a cook, possibly a nutritionist too. But I am not a celebrity, nor do I really want to share the credit for my hard work.  I am doing this, with support from many people but it won't be because someone else took care of the tiny details for me.  Oh, and before you think I'm getting really cocky, I am 100% aware that it is GOD changing me and working in me that has got me this far.  Me, getting up at 5:15 in the morning. . . you don't really think I take credit for that, do you?! lol

November 2009

Feb. 2010

Sara

Goal Met!

Today I made my first goal! I have officially lost 10lbs.  I can book my pedicure.  :D  Only, now I don't want to quite yet.  Funny how that goes, eh?  I want a reason to have had a pedicure. 

I needed that this week.  It was beginning to feel like I'd never make it.  It started to feel like the change wouldn't be happening.  Then I stepped on the scale and it said what I've been waiting to see.  200.4  I started at 211 on January 11th.  That is 5.02% lost!! 

Did you know that weight loss without exercise can actually be up to 25% muscle loss?  I didn't but it sure does make me glad I am exercising and building muscle.  Hopefully I'm building a lot of muscle.  That's what the strength training is supposed to be all about.  That and definition.  I'd love to actually LOOK strong instead of fluffy.

I'm making it at least two miles a day for cardio.  It's either on the treadmill or on the elliptical.  Today I walked over half of the two miles but I had adjusted the incline and usually I leave that flat.  I pushed it with the Strength Training circuit today too.  I'm slowly but surely getting there.  Now if only my body would hurry up and change so I can see it!!! LOL

Sara

Things I Like

I like quiet.  In a clean room. 

I like chocolate and a good book.

I like the ocean and the gorgeous shells that wash up on it's shores.

I like the beach and the way the sand feels beneath my feet.

I like sunshine and how it warms my skin.

I like fires in a fireplace and watching the flames dance while the heat warms me up clear to my bones.

I like stretching after a yawn.

I like the smell of roses especially on a warm summer day.

I like hugs from people I love.

I like fuzzy socks that don't fit in my shoes but keep my toes warm.

I like chairs big enough to curl up in and soft enough to relax into.

I like the sound of my children laughing, especially the giggles.

I like hot baths in bathtubs you can sink in up to your chin.

I like coffee dates with friends where you talk about anything and everything and the coffee is optional.

I like Moms Nights Out and playing games, laughing and praying with friends.

I like gardening and eating tomatoes out of my own backyard.

I like holding a baby and making them smile.

I like listening to my children as they learn to read, learn to add, learn anything new.

I like long trips to new places I've never been before. 

I like shiney things like diamonds and sparkles and fingernail polish.

I like eating oven warm bread with real butter and honey.

I like waking up in my husbands arms and knowing he loves me unconditionally. 

I like holding hands and walking in the rain, or in the sunshine, or in the dark.

I like watching basketball and cheering for my team.

I like second hand stores and finding amazing deals.

I like ordering foods I've never tried before and finding new favorites.

I like falling asleep in my husbands arms and knowing he loves only me the way I love only him. 

I like real whipped cream right out of the can or on top of gingerbread still warm from baking.

I like standing beside the ocean or a lake.

I like giving gifts to people especially when I find something perfect for them.

I like reading book so good they make me laugh and cry.

I like listening to music that makes me want to dance.

I like caramels with nuts and chocolate.

I like stickers.

I like the way Spanish moss makes trees look like old ladies with shawls on.

I like steak medium rare with sauteed mushrooms.

I like long talks.

I like finding a scripture that speaks to me in a way it never has before.

I like singing songs and hymns.

I like being with friends and family especially on special occasions.

I like my house clean.

I like the colors blue and green and purple and red.

I like welcoming my husband home after he's been at work all day.

I like time away from home and being by myself.

I like the way I feel after I've run a mile or even two.

I like to hear encouraging words.

I like recieving gifts especially those that someone thought about and chose just for me.

I like to encourage and help other people.

I like pedicures and massages.

I like spending time with my husband.

I like eating pizza and hot garlic sticks.

I like puppies, kittens and babies of almost any kind of animal.

I like shooting guns and hitting the target as close to the center as possible.

I like succeeding and making goals.

I like the way my children smell after a bath.

I like life.

Week 4 Weigh In for BLAH

This morning was the week 4 weigh in for the BLAH challenge I'm participating in.  I weighed in and an hour later, when I stepped on the scale before going in the shower it had dropped almost another pound!!!  I just laughed.  My week 4 total stands as reported.  202.4  I'm soooo close to 200!! I can hardly wait to break it.

I also measured again this morning.  I'm finding that to be VERY encouraging.  My total inches lost in 4 weeks is 13 inches.  THIRTEEN!!! Three are off my waist, two off my chest, not bust, area.  Tim will be happy it's not melting off my bust the way it usually does.  Although I'm sure it will at some point.  My thigh dropped a couple of inches too, and I know there is more, stronger muscle there than there was 4 weeks ago. 

This morning I decided to get on the treadmill and stick with it for my entire 30 minutes.  I made it to 2 miles in 30 minutes and just a few seconds!! Then I walked to cool down for another five minutes and went .25 of a mile.  I'm excited to have made it jogging/running for 2 miles without stopping! That is exciting. 

I'm reading the book The ABS Diet.  My friend Tiffany recommended it.  The copy I'm reading is so written for men it's not even funny.  There is one out for women now.  I want to check that out as the references to increasing testosterone, etc. just doesn't appeal to me! LOL

I am thankful that today is not my marker for the Pedicure.  Even with the extra near pound before my shower I would've missed by .4 of a pound.  THAT is just not happening. lol  I am going to earn that pedicure and hopefully get to the SPA pedicure too.  I need to go to just under 201 to earn the Spa pedicure.  I have two workout days to make it.  I think I can do it! 

Another positive result for today was that one of the new bras I picked up a few weeks ago while shopping with Tim now fits!! I bought a couple with smaller band or cup sizes while they were $8.  This new one is a pretty one.  :)  So now I have two decent ones to wear!!

On a weird note, I can not find one of my sports bras and I'm also missing a pair of jeans.  Where on earth could they be?  The laundry is caught up. They aren't on the floor under the bed or on the floor of the closet.   That makes 2 pairs of jeans missing.  No one else wears close to my size so where could they be? Odd.  I'm hoping they show up.

That's it for now. 

The Day Before Weigh In

Tomorrow marks the 4th Weigh in.  It will be the measure for 1/4 way through the BLAH challenge.  Just a little over since it's a 15 week challenge, actually.  They say it takes a month to make something a habit.  So I guess then that tomorrow exercising and choosing healthy food is a habit?  I hope so.  It's one I'd like to keep. 

I just tried on the green windbreaker pants I wore the last time the girls and I went cross country skiing.  Last time I was a mite cranky.  Every time I bent over or knelt down the snap popped and the velcro opened on the side.  Today Tim left me his black, fleece lined snowpants to wear because it's cold.  But I tried on the green ones anyway, just to see.  I snapped them easily.  I bent over, bent down, knelt down and twisted and couldn't get the snap to pop open.  YAY!! 

I think tomorrow I may have my oldest take a picture of me wearing what I wore for my before picture 4 weeks ago.  It would be neat to have the pictures to compare.  I'm hoping I will see a difference. 

Tim has been great.  He's such a sweetheart. This morning as we cuddled on the couch for a few minutes before he left for work he told me again that he is proud of me.  I appreciate him telling me that.  It really is pushing me to get up at 5:30 and eat then go to the gym.  I still feel tired but I think it's getting better.  I'm sleeping at night and falling alseep before 1, most of the time it's before 11! So those are good things.  Time with Tim in the morning while the girls are still sleeping is a sweet bonus too.  Although often they are up and that makes it a challenge instead of bonus time.

A sweet friend has offered to have my girls at her house for the day, so Tim and I will be heading to the Scandanavian Spa after Valentines day, for the day!  I wanted to take him there last year and I'm so excited to get to go this year!  And to have the entire day.  It will mean a short week for him, which isn't a bad thing either.  He could use an extra day or two of rest.  He works hard.  My friend, Nikki, lost her husband last week to complications from what started as the Flu.  It's really had me counting my blessings in Tim and thanking God for him. 

On another topic, I think tomorrow I might get to try Zumba!!  I've never done it but it looks like FUN!  It will be a bonus workout as I have every intention of going in the morning too.    Zumba is at night.  It's at the Y and included in the cost of membership so no added fee!  FUN!  If I go I will let you know how it goes. 

Be His Valentine

I take my job as Wife and Mom very seriously.  I study how to do better with this job, striving to learn how to be the best Mom and Wife I can be.  Sometimes I come across something in my studying that hits me in the heart, or square between the eyes, and sometimes it comes a sucker punch to the stomach.  I encountered all three today. 

If you are a Wife and/or a Mom check out www.avirtuouswoman.org. A couple of days ago I got a facebook message about this and decided to check it out.  I read day 2, then day 3.  Today I started with day 1.  One, two, punches landed.  I'm knocked to my knees.  I read day 4.  I'm hit in the heart, then between the eyes and then in the stomach as I go down for the count.  Down again to my knees and on my face before God begging for forgiveness and asking Him to please deliver me from these sins. 

As with all things this isn't out of the blue.  God seems to know I'm a little slow on the uptake with some things.  I need to hear them again and again before I wake up and go "OH! You're talking to ME about that!"  So the girls and I have been reading through Proverbs for a few months, one a day according to the date.  Multiple times in the last six months I've read about a foolish wife who tears down her home with her own hands.  I've read about the wife who's husband can safely trust in her.  I've longed to be that wife and yet I know, I'm not.  My desire and my actions have not agreed. 

I pray that this is a turning point for me and not yet another brief moment of clarity that I soon obscure with my stronger desire to please me.  Now, it's time for me to feed our children, continue to care for them and to work on our home so it is truly a safe haven for Tim to be.   I have an amazing husband, I pray God will continue to teach me how to be an amazing wife. 

Week 3 BLAH

BLAH stands for Biggest Loser At Home, in case you were curious.   Yesterday was our week 3 weigh in and while I wasn't thrilled with my 2.5lb loss originally I have come around to seeing it as the positive it is.  In three weeks I have lost 7.5lbs which is an average of 2.5lbs per week.  If I continue with that average, by the time warm weather hits, 20 weeks from now, I will be AT MY GOAL! That would be June 23rd. 

In case you are thinking "She's crazy, it's warm before then!" Let me remind you that I live in Ontario and that this past summer it most certainly was not. LOL  It is spring like weather but it is not really warm weather.  Not the "I'm hot" kind of weather.  Besides, don't wreck my thinking.  HA HA! 

By my birthday in April I can achieve 180lbs.  It's been nearly 5 years since I last saw 180lbs and I didn't get to stay there very long.  This time I'm playing for keeps.  My birthday is not that far away.  I can so do this!

Oh, and back to the Biggest Loser At Home update.  I am in the top 10!!  I would love to make it into the top 5 but right now it is filled with some very hard working women.  I've got my work cut out for me.  I'm holding my breath that I can really win this.  Inside I believe I can but I'm afraid to believe too hard.  Regardless if I win the money or not I will have won so much!  But the money is a lovely thought, a truly wonderful, "Just think what curriculum I could buy with that! And maybe a pair of jeans too!" thought.  It's fun to imagine.  But day dreaming won't get me where I want to be.  My actions will. 

So here's to actions that speak louder than my words!! Here's to Ipods and TobyMac.  Here's to friends and family who encourage!  Here's to God who not only put the desire in my heart but set plans in motion that I would never have dreamed of asking for.  Thank you!!