Peer Pressure workout

I promised myself today that I was going to walk on a treadmill for 1.6 miles which I'm told is half of a 5K. I want to sign up for some 5K's coming up, even if just to walk them. I won't do it though until I can prove to myself that I CAN walk that far. Once I prove that, I may just go ahead and invest in an iPod and get the C25K app so I can learn to run that far. Maybe.








I think it's been since January since I was working out daily. I've done a little here and there, but nothing to sustain the muscle that I had attained. Saturday we went to a nearby university for Kiddo to participate in a Youth Olympics. I brought my knitting in my backpack along with a few other items and I was SORE from carrying that around all day. I found myself wanting to sit down - a lot. I found it a bit difficult to get up off the floor after sitting down. 3 months ago that wouldn't have been the case.







This morning I hauled my paczki laden hips out to the gym right after Kiddo got on the bus. My belly was hurting from yesterday's abuse and I was tired from staying up reading my Picoult novel and the time change. Fat lady in my mind was saying "stay home, take a nap!" but I really really wanted to see my big city girlfriends so I went before I could get comfortable at home. Once I was there, I realized it was a half hour before school started for them. Oh well, I thought, At least I will see them in passing and get to chat a little on my way out. But when I got to 1.5 mile and the treadmill beside me opened up and my friends joined me, we had such a fun time talking that I lost track of time. My legs eventually began aching so I slowed down a tiny bit when I would've normally quit and gone home. I reminded myself that a bit of discomfort wouldn't do me any harm - look at the people on Biggest Loser who work out until they hurl. Nasty.







Discomfort morphed into pain and finally the other girls wanted to quit and lift weights. I looked at my workout summary and was amazed.

My goal for tomorrow? 3 miles.

As I progress, we'll see more photos illustrating incline. Baby steps my friends - baby steps.

My back feels AWESOME.



I came home at ate a banana. I'm still hungry so I might go find some walnuts or almonds to nosh on while I start working on my hideous to-do list.



I've taken vitamins 2 days in a row thanks to Spunkysuzi's challenge.
 
I'll try to get a better quality photo next time.

Banana Bread recipe

So Suzi's challenge this week is to try a new recipe and I'll probably try at least two. I had three bananas that were in sore need of baking so I pulled out the cute little Cook This, Not That cookbook. Naturally, the recipe required 4 bananas. One quick call to Mrs. Obvious, otherwise known as my  BFF Mandy, and I realized doh - use a quarter cup of applesauce to make up for the missing nanner.  Because of family preferences I also varied from the recipe in that  I left out the walnuts and replaced cinnamon with nutmeg.  Here is the original recipe:

4 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt
4 Tbsp melted butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF and butter a 9 X 5 loaf pan

Combine bananas, yogurt, buter, eggs, and vanilla in large mixing boal, stirring until blended. In separate bowl, combine together all remaining inggredients.  Gently fold dry ingredients into wet mixture and stir until fully incorporated.

Scrape bater into prepared pan. Bake on a low oven rack for about 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan.

The best news is that the whole loaf counts as 4 servings. 350 calories 12 g fat each.

Just out of the oven, perfect mid-morning snack. It is super-delicious!  I think we may make some more using all applesauce and cinnamon as soon as this is gone. Which shouldn't take long.

Now you'll see why I'm not a professional photographer.

stupid pain.

Yesterday was a full day of volunteering and 3/4 of day of intense pain.

It's bad enough to have killer menstrual cramps. I'm used to that for a day or two every month and can ignore it. This time, I'll spare you the details, but it is particularly unpleasant.  But that wasn't enough! Even though I felt otherwise "fine" while I shelved books at the school library, when I got out of the car at home afterwards, I had pain in my left leg from my knee all the way up to my lower back. Not muscle soreness - I can deal with that with basic whining techniques. Not sciatica, I've been down that now seemingly pleasant road before. No, this is different.

I took my Voltaren and went about my day sitting at the church and working on the weekly newsletter and walking became less of chore as the meds kicked in. It was barely noticeable until I got home and *gasp* tried to climb a stair-step. I'm telling you this hurts all along the long bone and OUCH it takes my breath away.  But now, it only hurts when I'm going up the steps.

So yesterday I skipped squats.  I did do 91 sit-ups for that challenge though. I keep stretching my legs and my back and it seems to be getting a little better. But I think I'd better rest it for another day. If that doesn't help, maybe a chiro? I've never been to one before but a friend works in the office for a chiro practice somewhere nearby.

A dusting of snow today caused backups on I-75 near the Ohio turnpike. Another good reason to stay home. Fools can't drive.

Starting the 200 Situps Challenge on Monday. Who's With Me?

Here is the link to the program:

http://www.twohundredsitups.com/

I did my test set today - 25, although I wouldn't call them "good form". I doubt if I managed the 35º angle they suggest, but I did the best I could manage with these fat rolls getting in the way.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow where my abs would be if they existed.

I'm half way through the 200 squats program. Kiddo started the push ups program today. I need to do that one too, but I may wait until I'm halfway through the situps. I don't want to pile on too much at once and then end up getting overwhelmed.

So, here's your official invitation: Join me in the situps program. Let's do it! The time investment is minimul - Less than 10 minutes, 3 days a week.

The Hate-Loss Challenge

Over at Fat Girl Wearing Thin, I've joined this great new challenge because it  has a really cute badge it is in alignment with how I want to live. Check it out here:



In general I do a fairly good job at saying positive things to others, even on my grumpy days. In order to keep on track, though, I will need to embrace the habit of lifting myself up as well. Here's to trying to end the self-hate that creeps in on the dark days. I am confident that I can do this! Come join us!

I didn't BLOW IT and Wrapping Up the HOT 100

Over 100 days ago I joined two challenges.

On Septmeber 15, Erika at "Fat Like Me" posted this gem. The gist of the challenge was to avoid undoing any of the hard work we'd accomplished this year by gaining the usual 5 to 15 holiday pounds. By losing 11.6 lbs, I have risen to the challenge!  I believe that without the encouragement of bloggy friends like Erika and all of you, it would've been a struggle this year. Intuitive eating flew out the window some of the last few days, just as calorie counting would've. So many times I thought "screw this, I'm eating for fun today" but because of the challenges and my aversion to total public humiliation, I maintained the downward weight trend, even though the line on the chart leveled off a great deal towards the end.

Here are my Hot 100 Goals Set for the last 100 days of the year which happened to have coincided with the beginning of autumn.

Health: Go to bed by 10 pm nightly


About 95% of the time, I was successful with this goal. Even when I did my sleep study, I was tucked in an hour ahead of schedule because I am now so accustomed to it. Hopefully once treatment is in place, 10 pm will be the only time I go to bed - no more 9 am and 1 pm naps.

Nutrition: Eat more fruit!
Our good friend Patrick at Responsibility 199 was key in setting and achieving this goal. Although I rarely eat the 5 servings that I know make me feel the best, I am definitely improving and eating fruit on a daily basis. When we went to my mother's for Xmas, I was astounded by the lack of fruits and vegetables offered for the holiday meal and then I realized - they were never a part of my life growing up, either. Occasionally we'd have canned processed fruit and veggies but not as a general rule. Hmmm. back then I was on an all-carb high fat diet and I was thin as a rail, and yet I was active all the time. Something to think about, although clearly not a good ongoing plan!  Thanks Patrick for getting me started on that!
Activity: Achieve BMI at or below 35
This is a goal that I should've never published. Putting deadlines and numbers together is almost certain to gaurantee failure when it comes to me. That must be some psychological impairment that I have that motivates me to rebel against numbers.  Maybe I should learn more about "Avoidant Personality Disorder." Or, maybe it's better not to know. I think I'll avoid it for now. At any rate, my current BMI is
36.33.  Obviously it doesnt agree with the BMI app on my phone, which I liked a lot better because it told me  what I wanted to hear. Still, I'm sticking with the Wii Fit's calculations.

Accountability: Blog at least 2x daily
For me, this ended up not being a very realistic goal. I ended up having to choose between reading lots of blogs or posting my own. I have a ton of unfinished blog posts sitting in my dashboard now for upcoming posts because I'd start the 2nd daily post and then remember that I hadn't read a few of my favorites. Plus, the goal had a number tied to it. Always a bad idea when I'm me.



Pay it Forward: Encourage hubby to join the journey
I'm going to count myself as successful on this one despite the fact that he isn't on board. I can do that, because I did encourage him. Of course, I can't control his actions so I can't make him do what I think is best for him. I'll keep encouraging and one of these days I'll even let him know that I finally weigh less than him. However, I need that spread to be a little wider before I share that paticular secret. I'm very competitive like that.


Thanks everybody for your continued support, advice, and comraderie. I have lost a total of 57 pounds last year through practicing mindfulness. With that came a lot of learning about controlling my ongoing anxiety issues as well. I find myself entering 2011 not only 57 lbs lighter, but also taking being less fearful of doctors and people in general. I'm becoming the best me I can be, which is a continous process. Several months ago when I started reading my BIL's blog, it didn't occur to me that there were so many other weight loss blogs out  on the interwebs, let alone that I would end the year learning from so many and publishing one of my one with over a hundred thirty followers!

Nobody knows what the next 365 days will bring. There will be successes and challenges, to be sure. We're all in this together, cheering one another on towards the goal of weighing less, living healthy lives, and making better choices. I'm confident we'll hear a lot more success stories, NSV's, weigh-ins, setbacks, injuries, excuses, meal plans, ideas, recipes, foibles, and maybe even a runner jogging into the side of a parked van here and there. 

Peace!

200 Squat Challenge: Day 2, Week 3/Power of One/Healthy Living Goals

I just did my squats and my grand total for the day is 173! Let's see if the one-armed Mandy(t) can beat that!  Whoo, my back hurts and my legs are gelatinous. (There's a word you can't work into daily conversation without trying).

Trying to catch up on reading blogs and I see that one of the most cleverly named blogs, Cankles and Carrots is joining a challenge called The Power of One at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans blog. Because I'm not afraid of failure, and because Steve's HOT 100 is cming to a close, I foolishly signed up.  Please go over and suffer along check it out with me.  I have no idea what I've signed up for. Really. I'm not good at tracking on routines of any kind. I tend to rebel against them, even if - or especially when - they are self imposed.

The thing that sold me on this challenge was the cute and clever name of the blog  fact that they outwardly reject the notion of new year's resolutions. Sold! However, the challenge for today is to list my new healthy living goals. So, what can I come up with for this?

• Continue Blogging Daily
• Increase my compassion capacity
• Stretch my frustration tolerance (Thanks Anne!)
• Continue losing weight and making my doctor happy
• Participate in a 5K walk in the first half of the year
• Achieve a healthy BMI by the end of the year

Another part of the challenge is to take measurements and a "before" photo which I will do tomorrow at the gym since I have no clue where our tape measure is now. Kiddo has a playdate in the afternoon and I plan to visit the gym at that time, so I'll ask the trainer to take measurements for me at that time. I do know that my weight this morning was 232 lbs even. It says I should blog about my bathroom scale, but I use my Wii Fit board as my scale and it's not in the potty :) (tee hee, I said potty).

Hot 100 and "I Refuse to Blow It Over the Holidays" update

I've lost 9 lbs since the first day of autumn. More would be better, but as long as it's going the right direction, I won't complain.

Health: Go to bed by 10 pm nightly
I've done very well on this except for last night when I had a hard time winding down after a day full of family fun :)

Nutrition: Eat more fruit!
I could do a lot better. I've been slacking here but I have lots of big juicy grapes waiting for me and I don't intend to let them go to waste!

Activity: Achieve BMI at or below 35
36.82 It's getting there! And with the new gym membership, it should get there a LOT faster now

Accountability: Blog at least 2x daily
This has been more difficult with all of the holiday prep and not much profound to say. Not a lot on my mind except for cleaning.


Pay it Forward: Encourage hubby to join the journey

Quote of the day "I could try to lose weight too, ya know"  :)

Hot 100 and I'm Not Gonna Blow It Challenge updates

Back on the first day of autumn, I joined these two challenges - for more details, see the links in my sidebar.

For the Hot 100 Challenge we got to set our own goals, and we do a weekly update.


Health: Go to bed by 10 pm nightly
I did really well this week!

Food: Eat more fruit!
I am making fruit my bi-otch!

Activity: Achieve BMI at or below 35 (37.26 currently - getting closer!)


Accountability: Blog at least 2x daily
Yeah baby!

As for the "I'm Not Going to Blow It Over the Holidays" challenge, it' is to keep us focused and working hard over the holidays. And I can honestly say that I made it through Halloween without a net gain!  I'm so thankful for this challenge because it's helped me not completely pig out, although I have enjoyed a bit o chocolate recently! Much different than a bag of chocolate (Sam's Club size)








Pay it Forward: Encourage hubby to join the journey

November Challenge from Christine

Yesterday I stumbled upon this blog by Christine

I think these blog challenges are fun. Sometimes the goals don't seem all that realistic to begin with, but I like to see how far along I can get within the allotted time. I may not "succeed" as far as 100% accomplishing the daily goals, but every little bit I do achieve makes me a feel like a success.

Her challenge has to do with daily exercise and it looks like a lot of it. I will be adding these to my daily walks and it should add some variety to keep me from being bored out of my mind. I have missed my water exercise routine since the ponds in NW Ohio aren't exactly agreeable this time of year and I think the challenge will help replace those exercises.  Here's what she's doing (and expects of others in the challenge as well)

She'll do 2 sets of 15 of each of these daily. Ouch!  Me too! DOUBLE ouch!

crunches, reverse crunches, bicycle crunches, abdominal twists
push-ups, triceps kick-backs, hammer curls, tricep dips.

I confess that I don't know what a lot of these are, but she has links to videos of most of them. I also confess that I can't do one push-up from the ground, so I may be starting them against a wall.   Please check out her blog and join up with me. This will add some variety to our workouts AND some definition to our bellies and arm flaps.

Me & My Big Mouth!

Me and my big mouth are going to be consuming lots of fruit today and I wonder if you will all help me out!

My bloggy friend Patrick has a terrifically inpiring blog of his journey to a healthy life. It's called Responsibility 199 and today is the 199th day of his journey. Patrick has recently inspired me to eat more fruit and my daughter and I have been amazingly regular ever since we started our race to cover a page with fruit stickers. At any rate, to make a short story long, I thought it would be a FABULOUS idea to challenge all of Patrick's fans and friends to see if we could consume a total of 199 servings of fruit today.  So, whattya say? Please take a moment to click any of those links and let Patrick know (1) that you support him and (2) how many servings of fruit you've consumed today.

Thanks!

Friday Fun for Forty & Further

Oh, I almost forgot to post the Friday Follow!  Thanks Mimi for the reminder.


A quick note to update more on my Hot 100 challenge - Hubby said today maybe he'd have to start losing weight. I was showing him how loose my wedding set is getting (not as loose as my birthday suit) and it made an impression on him.

Also, I did well last week on being in bed by 10. One night we stayed up late for a special occasion, but the rest I've done well on. So I'm drinking tons of water and getting lots of sleep, washing my hands a lot but still ended up sick. Bah. I need more fruit for sure. I let myself get frustrated because I can't digest the citrus well and that limits me, but that doesn't mean I can eat a boatload of bananas, pears, apples, and other fun fruits. Maybe it's time to try pomegranates and mangoes. Something else? What do you guys think?

Update on challenges

Well, at least I'm doing a good job posting 2x daily for my Hot 100 Goals.

Other than that, this hasn't been a very successful week. Slight weight gain actually, but less than 2 lbs so I'm not worried about it, it will go back down as I continue to work. Could be partially hormonal as I gear up for the next love fest with AF, or it could be that I have approximately 8 lbs of mucous in my head this morning. Ugh.  I see lots of water in my near future, and lots of walking. And I better be seeing lots of fruit as well!

Update on Challenges

Health: Go to bed by 10 pm nightly
- Only stayed up to 11 one night this week!



Food: Eat more fruit!
-Just realized I didn't have any fruit at all yesterday (unless you count banana bread) but have been working it in every day except then!

Activity: Achieve BMI at or below 35
Last week it was 37.72 and today it's (drumroll please) 37.3!



Accountability: Blog at least 2x daily
Check!



Pay it Forward: Encourage hubby to join the journey
I'm approaching his weight. Maybe that will motivate him. Only 5 more lbs to go.



Still trending downward which is the goal for the "I'm Not Going to Blow It Over the Holidays" challenge. In fact, I'm down more than 5 lbs since the first day of the challenge.

Please click on the tags in my sidebar to find out more about each challenge.

And being down 50 lbs overall makes me VERY happy!

Update on Challenges

Hot 100

Health: Go to bed by 10 pm nightly I've been sleeping almost all the time the last few days, so I'm sure I haven't been up past 10 pm since my return from the Windy City

Food: Eat more fruit! I may have done a little TOO well with this at the beginning of the week. I normally stay away from citrus because of the acid content and my sissy belly not being able to handle it. Perhaps the pineapple extravaganza and the bellyaching are just a coincindence, though.


Activity: Achieve BMI at or below 35 (37.72 currently) It's getting closer!

Accountability: Blog at least 2x daily Didn't keep up too well on this one in Chicago but I'm getting back into the swing of things!


I refuse to blow it over the holidays challenge

Update: I have lost three and a half pounds since the first day of autumn. Now, this is not quite the amount that I had hoped for, but as long as I continue to see a downward trend, I won't complain. I am currently teetering at 240.1 lbs. Another pound down and I will be in a new decade AND officially 50 lbs down. Maybe tomorrow?

Hot 100 and I'm not going to blow it updates

It's been a week since these challenges began. Here are my goals and the results so far:

Health: Go to bed by 10 pm nightly.  This worked for me every day except yesterday when my daughter was having a hard time going to sleep. Her dad couldn't be home at bedtime and the separation anxiety was too much for her. She loves her some daddy time. I can't sleep until she's asleep, so I had to be patient. I think I was only about an hour late.


Food: Eat more fruit! I've started a fruit frenzy and am eating fruit at least once a day which is more than before. Today is farmer's market and I'm looking forward to some local pears and apples. Thanks Patrick (Responsibility 199) for the inspiration!



Activity: Achieve BMI at or below 35 Currnently 37.99 -> moving in the right direction!



Accountability: Blog at least 2x daily I have done so every day so far! Woot!



Pay it Forward: Encourage hubby to join the journey He's not taking the bait yet, but I'm still dangling the carrot (maybe if I put some ranch dipping sauce under it, he'll go for it).
 
And my overall results are 1.5 lb down from last week. It's not as good as usual, but with 4 days of not exercising, it's about right.  I've also found lots of great new blogs through The Hot 100 with lots of great people hosting them. They've restored my confidence in blogland. I love finding the good guys!

This morning I hung out with my cousin and we ended up at Bob Evans for breakfast after a trip to Ziebart and our favorite hangout - the bookstore. He's one of my favorite people in the world.

Up late tonight

Have a sad little girl in the house tonight and I'm staying up until I'm sure she's fast asleep. Apparently she hasn't been informed of the Hot 100 challenge and the commitments I made there. Well, kiddo, mommy's tired. She got into that 10 pm habit quickly. Mommy loves sleep. Sleeeep

My favorite anti-depressant

I exercised again today, more purposefully this time - playing Walk It Out on the Wii again but it's always a better work out on the single-player mode, at least with my kid.   Island is coming along nicely and I even put together 3 constellations today so the sky is brighter at night. Finally figured out how to do that.

Hungry now, had too light of a lunch, I guess. Maybe I'll go for a banana and some walnuts. Definitely gotta do something about all this fruit around here! Plus, I think kiddo has pulled ahead of me with her fruit sticker collection. It's a wonder that kid isn't in the bathroom all the time. At least she's motivated!

I've had a bit of knee pain lately (weather related?) and hadn't really exercised well for 3 or 4 days. Or is it 5?  I began to lose track. We played tennis, baseball, and bowling on Wii Sports during that time, but nothing really to get my heart rate where it needs to be to burn fat. My mood has been TERRIBLE though and I was  so tired of  my annoying family (and not the one that birthed me) that I just wanted to spend the day in bed. But, I didn't - I erxercised instead and guess what?  I feel great now!  Sure, the knee is hollerin' at me a bit more, but my soul is so much lighter. I can not figure out any evolutionary or even religious reason why we humans do this to ourselves: avoid exercise, get depressed, avoid more, be sad more . . .downward spiral.  Any clues on how that behavior could possibly benefit mankind?

Even with the lack of purposeful movement, my weight has remained steady, though. It's just another reinforcement that you don't have to starve  yourself to lose weight.  Move a little more, eat a little less . . . be at peace. It's almost been a week since the first day of autumn that started the Hot 100 and I'm Not Gonna Blow It challenges in my sidebar. I intend to be down at least a pound or two so I got to move-it-move-it!

Feeling Fruity Challenge

I am SO stealing Patrick's idea!  But really, I'm only sharing it because he said it was okay AND he still has it so it isn't as if it's really theft.

Patrick said he likes playing with his food. ME TOO! My kid does, too, of course.  Also, I know I've been lax (pun intended) about adding more fruit to my diet. Kiddo and hubby loooooove fruit, but me not so much. I love grains and nuts. I guess that explains why Mandy is my BFF. But I digress.

After discussing it with kiddo and tweaking my orignal plan according to some of her AWESOME suggestions, this is what we've decided to do.

We taped 4 sheets of notebook paper onto the back of our pantry door. One for me, one for kid, one for dad, and one for guests - because it really isn't fair to leave them out of the fun. Sorry cats, you're on your own for this challenge. We chose the Whenever we eat a fruit, we add it's sticker to our page. If there isn't a sticker on the piece of fruit, we will add a tally mark in the side margin of our page so that we at least are keeping track. It will be fun to see who fills up their page first. I was winning earlier today with 2 stickers, normally there would be 1 or 0 fresh fruits in my belly by the end of the day. Kiddo had an orange before bed so my lead is somewhat diminished.  Here's what the door looked like before she added her sticker.

As you can see, kiddo has organized hers into columns. I have no idea where she gets her penchant for organization  - possibly her paternal grandmother. Not me.

We decided to add the tally marks because we very much try to purchase our produce locally. In fact, we have an apple-picking outing due one day soon. I doubt we can get the local orchard to put stickers on all of the fruit still in the tree because - well, lets face it people are just lazy bastards. So, we still want to get credit for these apples and she came up with that idea. Works for me!

I hope some of you will join us in our little fruity frenzy. I'll try to remember to post progress photos of our door on the first of each month as it fills. I think this would be a great way to encourage youngsters to eat more fresh produce. Most importantly, it will make it more fun for me if others play along, and it is - after all - all about me.

Thanks again, Patrick (Responsibility 199) for the  inspiration. Don't make me say "thinspiration."

Nighty Night

Bedtime is coming WAY too early for me. It's only 2nd night of going to bed by 10. Hmmm. . . considering taking my laptop to bed with me but that pretty much defeats th purpose.

So glad the mini-cheer thing is over.

Looks like I'll be able to mail out the give-away books next week. Sorry for the delay. I have no excuse except for total lack of organization.