Weigh-In ... Argh.

Today's Weight: 202.0

Loss/Gain: +1.5 lbs

Total Loss So Far: -29.0 lbs

I'll do my update on my challenge tomorrow.

Learning two things this week.

1. PMS week was not a good week to try and hit 199.
2. Getting up to workout before work is not easy, and I've been a wimp. I've only worked out two mornings this week. Argh. Have to make my body do what it needs to do even though I don't want to. Yea...so I'll get back to you tomorrow with my challenge update.

I can say that I did not overeat this week. If I ate until full I waited until I was hungry again to eat a meal. I munched a bit when I shouldn't have and I ate more chocolate than a once-daily-weight-loss-portion. Not getting those workouts in didn't help anything.

Talk To You Later!

Busy as a Bee

I'm dropping in to say a quick hello in case I don't have time later to post. On top of working full time I've been preparing for a yard sale this weekend. Busy. Busy.

I've gotten up two of the last four mornings to workout before getting ready for school and I plan on getting up tomorrow morning.

I'm doing 30-day Shred those three mornings. I still need to get on top of getting up the other two. It's a little harder than I thought to get up early every single morning to workout. I've always enjoyed working out a little bit later than 6:00 a.m., so this is going to take some getting used to.

Eating has been fine. A little more munchy and added chocolate than normal. But, hhmm....let's see...oh yes, it's been about four weeks. That means I'm due for a visit from TOM any day now, and saw proof in the last 24 hours that it won't be long.

That being said, I'm fully preparing myself to not see 199 on the scale tomorrow. I'm not to upset about it, because I did see it once this week already. Alas, it was only once and it was 199.5, so ... I won't get my hopes up, but you know I'll be showing it for sure in a week if it doesn't magically appear tomorrow morning.

I haven't checked many blogs, but I will catch up soon. I hope you are all having a nice week and I will be back in the morning to post my weigh-in before heading off to school.

Monday Inspiration (I hope) :o)

Today began my four weeks of substituting to finish out the year for a teacher who is off to have her baby. I was a good girl and got up just after 6:00 am to workout before going about the rest of my morning duties. It would be good for me to get up at 5:30, just to have some extra time, but I'm happy I did this much. It wasn't too hard either, so I'm excited about not having to give up my workouts for this temporary job situation. :o) Also, now that I'm home for the day I'm so grateful the workout is done and I can enjoy the evening taking care of other things and relaxing with family.

Today I saw a poster in a neighboring teacher's room with this quote:

"A mistake is a chance to try harder."

Someone commented on my last post that they are impressed I've stuck it out on my weight loss journey for almost a year now. Well, I must say it's because I've continued to use every mistake along the way to learn and try harder the next time. There have been plenty of mistakes, believe me (it's why I've lost 30 pounds in almost a year instead 60 or 90), but I've not let my mistakes push me to quit. I simply refuse to give up on my reaching my weight loss goals this time around. I simply keep going and try harder.

Over the course of time trying harder will always win the battle. I know it's true for me and it can be true for you too!

Have a great week everyone!

Progression Pics 11 Months

Well, for the first time in a while I can say that I've lost more than a couple of pounds during a month.

I showed a six-pound loss since taking my last picture. This doesn't look really noticeable, but I know these last five pounds or so have really helped my clothes to start getting loose. My size 20w stuff is definitely done, it's all way to loose now. And 18w's are comfy, 16w's are beginning to invade my closet. Glory!!

Another non-scale victory is as I was doing the 30-day Shred DVD again yesterday my 12-year-old twin girls walked in at different times and told me they couldn't believe how skinny I was getting. I was wearing the outfit I take my pictures in, which is more snug than what I normally workout in. ;) They are such confidence boosters - those girls!! :D

Weight Loss Progression Pics

Oh, and I'm sorry that the pictures I took last night are so blurry. I need to find out what's up with my camera. It's been blurring the last few times I've taken self portraits. hhm....

I hope you're weekend is going well.

Greek Yogurt Giveaway

Well, I'm not only posting about this giveaway because I think it'd be fun to win, but because I'm thinking seriously of trying some greek yogurt and was tickled it came up in a blog the same week I was having these thoughts. :)

So, click here to read about a giveaway from Barbara at My Journey To Healthy Living. And if you have a minute I'm curious...

• Have you tried greek yogurt?
• What do you think of it?
• Do you think the benefits from greek yogurt are worth the extra cost, or is it more like a scam to make us feel "healthier" for eating it compared to regular yogurt?

Thanks for your opinions!

Weigh-In ... Getttin With It Update #4

Today's Weight: 200.5

Loss/Gain: -2.0 lbs

Total Loss So Far: -30.5 lbs

I stepped on the scale THREE times to make sure this was correct, and then I allowed myself to be VERY excited!!! I texted my husband right away to tell him the good news. It makes me nervous to be this close to 199...maybe next week. We'll see. :) I'm trying not to think about that, because it puts my stomach to jumbling just to think about it.

One day at a time - one day at a time ...

....which is how I've been doing on my Gettin' With It challenge, so here's the results:

• First off ... I want to see at least 10 pounds lost - Beginning weight is 205.0. Yes! 4.5/10 lost so far. So close to halfway there at halfway through my challenge. Woo Hoo!!
• Take my mutli-vitamin and calcium daily. Pretty sure I got it in every day. I might have missed one, but I'm not sure.
• Drink 64 oz. of water daily. Yes! I drank 64 oz all but one day. For some reason Wednesday I was busy or something and didn't quite get the full 64 in, I drank 32 for sure that day though.
• One sweet treat a day. I think I did this at least 5/7 days, but I know the portions weren't always "weight loss size". Funny thing is I'm finding myself not craving the sweets as much any more. It's like the physical hunger for a treat isn't there, but the mental hunger still is. I'm thinking this might have something to do with getting more protein in my diet or eating more fruit. Now if I can listen to my body instead of my mind we'll be okay. I'm finding it hard to do that right now when it comes to the sweets. The regular food part is good, so I know this will come together as well.
• Eat one fruit or veggie with each meal. Again about 5-6 days out of 7. Sundays can be the hardest. Then again I'm trying to make sure it gets done each day, but I can't remember if I did it all seven, so I am leaning towards the safe side by saying I didn't. Sorry if that was confusing... :)
• No snacking if I'm not truly hungry. Again, my snacking has been very little and often times is some cantaloupe I've cut up or some blackberries from the fridge. I'm just happy that's it's not dipping into the M&Ms. :)
• Exercise at least 4 days a week. Today will be four days for me. Though I'm extremely sore from doing the Shred yesterday. Wow. :)

I'm worried about not getting more intense workouts in now that my days will be very busy, but I'm also learning to listen to my body and not eat if I'm not hungry. Less intense/less time working out equals less hunger, so if I stick to listening to my body and only eat until satisfied I'm sure I'll be fine. Wait. I know I'll be fine...I showed a loss this week didn't I ? ;)

Have a great day and a very nice weekend everyone!

On My Way To Being Shredded

With four weeks of full-time work coming up and then summer vacation wherein my kids will be home from school for about ten weeks I figured I'd better figure out what I'm going to do to fit in workouts.

My husband is gracious enough to let me get away in the evenings to the gym, but this ends up taking almost two hours out of every evening. I really don't want to do that more than once or twice. So, I figured I'd better figure out what I can do from home in the mornings.

That's when I decided to look into doing Jillian Michael's 30-day shred. I don't want to lose the strength and speed I have gained through my jogging and using weights at the gym while working out from home, so I needed to find something tough. But I also don't want to get up at 4:00 am every morning to fit an hour-long workout in.

My friend suggested this DVD (and I know many of you have tried it) and said it will probably help me in my running and is also a great, intense workout for a short period of time.

She was right. I've just finished my first workout of the 30-day shred and I'm drenched in sweat and slightly exhausted. IT'S GREAT!!!

I think this DVD will be the perfect workout for me every morning these last few weeks of school. Then I can alternate with them and going for jogs outside during the summer.

As Jillian said at the end of the program...I'm on my way to being shredded. :) Though, honestly, I'll just be glad if it keeps my heart rate up long enough to burn calories and help me lose more weight.

I'll keep you posted. :)