Scale Says One Thing, Measuring Tape Says Another

Hi all!  So since Andrew and I started our weight-loss challenge on September 10th, I have gained and lost the same five pounds several times. Grrr! My problem is not exercise. I've found multiple ways to be active that I really enjoy, the most recent being walking outside.  My problem is food. I grocery shop alone or with my munchkin, so generally I stay in the very healthy areas of the store and make it home with lots of veggies and fruits, eggs, etc.  So I can stock our fridge and cupboards with the nutritious stuff, but we still battle with restaurants and fast food. There are a couple of very tasty places within seconds of our home and most days we do just fine, but, well, you know... we have moments (ahem, days) of weakness, as well.

So from 9/10 the scale says I've gained two pounds. However, my measuring tape says I've lost 10.25in off my shoulders, chest and waist. I'll take it!

For now I'll keep walking and doing my elliptical. I've realized in the last couple of weeks I really need flexibility and my daily goal right now is to do one active thing. I recently started walking with a friend and with Hubs when said friend is preoccupied. Last week I walked 13.5 miles over the course of four days. It's not a lot but it's a start and I feel incredibly good and refreshed by the time I get home. When I'm tired after only a mile and want to stop, what drives me forward is this thought- Why did I let myself get to the point where walking in flat ground for 3 miles is difficult?

Day One of Shred

Well, I just finished my first day with Jillian. There were a few minor moments when I took a small break, but I finished strong and probably won't be able to sit on a toilet tomorrow without crying.

I missed my weekly workout with my trainer this week. Munchkin woke up at 4:30am and I wasn't about to do anything that required changing out of my pjs and putting down the coffee pot. I should've just stuck a straw in it, really. I did pretty well with my food until evening, when I came across a bag of those dark chocolate covered pomegranate pieces.... let's just say we don't need to worry about them anymore and leave it at that...

The last two weeks were pretty chaotic and strange and we had some "family stuff" going on, but this week (or today, really) I've recommitted to this adventure and I'm ready for the soreness and the energy brought on by kick-ass work outs and eating to fuel.

On another note, I'm on the hunt for a gently used jogging stroller. As soon as I get my hands on one Munchkin and I will begin a Couch to 5k program. I'm eager to start exercising outside. I've always loved walking with Hubs and friends, but there's something about those joggers I see every day, sweating their asses off and loving it... for some strange reason I've always envied that, for as long as I can remember. I am a little nervous about being alone out there, but we're gonna be going on the local green belt late in the mornings, so there should be a decent amount of other SAHMs out there. Maybe we'll meet new people! Or maybe Mister will want to start the program, too, and we can go together.... we shall see...

Munchkin is asleep, then we're headed out for a walk with some friends. What are you doing to be active today?

Happy Wednesday!

A Year Later ...

And I've lost nine pounds. Really? In a year? I'll tell you why- from last October until, roughly, six weeks ago, I stopped caring. Don't get me wrong, I cared about wanting to be thinner and more fabulous, but I didn't care ENOUGH to really clean out my pantry and get my booty back on the elliptical.

I started seeing a trainer again. This one is polar opposite from the one I had a few years back. While she was great and definitely helped me accomplish my goals, this time around I want to come at it from a different angle. I don't want to feel micromanaged, or like someone else is going to be disappointed in me if I mess up. The disappointment and joy are mine and mine alone. I'm taking responsibility for myself, giving the credit and glory to myself. Karin kicks my ass one hour per week, but the other six days I'm on my own and, while last time I had a trainer this terrified me, this time I am totally stoked.

So here's where we're at...

Mondays: elliptical, 40+ minutes, make sure I'm dripping but not dying.
Tuesdays: circuit/strength training with Karin, 60 minutes.
Wednesdays: elliptical, 40+ minutes
Thursdays: Power 90 3-4 (not P90x), 35 minutes, elliptical, 40+ minutes
Fridays: elliptical, 40+ minutes
Saturdays: same as Thursdays.

This is what I'm HOPING to accomplish each week. If I must I'll rearrange things, but I'm trying to do three days of strength and five of cardio. Sunday is a rest day. I'm only allowing myself one day off, because for me, well, it's a slippery slope.

Are you guys tired of this yet? I'm thinking you stopped reading this blog two years ago.... but on the off-chance there's still someone out there who isn't bored of my yo-yo-ing, bring on the encouraging words!

Day 3!

I don't have much time, a friend is coming over for a haircut and coffee.  We're also going on a walk, you see, because I actually walk now. :) 

Today is day 3 of Phase 1.  I woke up and weighed myself first-thing (after peeing, of course) and I'm down almost 5 pounds since Monday morning!  I'm seeing incredibly fast results.  I know the weigh is mainly water weight from all of the sodium and chemically-altered food that were in my system, but it's still enough to motivate and inspire me to keep going. 

Yesterday morning I went for a walk with a friend, we walked about 3 miles in 45 minutes.  (My mile average literally has not changed since 7th grade gym.)  It felt great and we decided to form a sort of "stroller club" with a few other friends from church.  We're going to walk once a week together, next time is on Monday.  I'm so excited that I'm making this change all on my own!

Last night for dinner I made taco salad, sans tortilla chips.  Not gonna lie, the chips definitely make it better, but I can live without them for two weeks.  I found Ortega taco seasoning with 40% less sodium and I used lean ground beef and vegetarian (fat-free) refried beans.  Piled on top of a giant bed of romaine hearts and baby spring mix and topped with some cheese it turned out to be a pretty tasty dinner!  Dessert, however, was my favorite.  I toasted a bunch of sliced almonds in the oven, then did a layer of sugar-free cheesecake-flavored Jell-O pudding, a layer of sugar-free chocolate fudge Jell-O pudding and a layer of Cool Whip Lite, then topped it with some of the leftover toasted almonds.  IT really hit the spot, so much, in fact, that I felt a little guilty after eating it, like I had eaten something "forbidden".  And I know "sugar-free" really doesn't sound great, but if I couldn't tell the difference I doubt most people could.

That is all for now.  I'll be spending the better half of my afternoon cooking my minestrone soup (it's a process, but so worth it.) 

Life... food... laziness...

Wow.  Well my last post on this blog was approximately 2-3 months before I got pregnant.  During my pregnancy I lost 17 pounds (for no reason at all, wasn't sick or anything, doc said it just happens with some women).  This was perfectly okay with me.  I didn't keep my activity up much and I definitely ate whatever was in front of my face whenever I felt like it.  At the end of my pregnancy I came out +4 pounds.  Not bad, right?  After Owen was born I lost 22 pounds in the first three weeks.  I felt invincible!  Super Mom, unaffected by food or beverage, fabulous big boobs and a freshly-flattened tummy.  Didn't last long.  Super Mom was defeated by... duh duh duhhhh.... the Sugar Monster.  You know those things people say about eating "whatever you want while breastfeeding because it doesn't stick"?  Total and complete bull.  I've learned first-hand that if you're going to lose weight breastfeeding, it's in your blood.  I quickly gained back the 22 pounds (plus a few...) and now I'm at an all-time high of........ not telling.  Did you think I was going to tell?  Only one other person in this world knows and that's because she has to love me know matter what (thanks Mommy!) 

After a pretty surreal and depressing sit-down with my wonderful mother, I realized that I am slowly killing myself with what I'm putting in my body.  We discussed my health and the potential (and very real) consequences.  What it comes down to is this:  I need to be healthy.  Thin would be fantastic, but health is the number one goal here.  I have a very young son, I'd like to give him lots of adorable brothers and sisters.  I'd like to give them all a healthy and active upbringing.  I'd like to show them that there is more in this life than deliciously poisonous high fructose corn syrup and addictive video games/internet/tv.  I am currently the perfect example of the average American woman-  Overweight.  Sedentary.  Lazy.  Well, ladies and gents, this is about to change, and I hope you will all witness! 

I've done this before.  I had the trainer, I had the food program.  I had the resources.  I gained back all of the weight and I went back to all of the terrible eating habits I had before.  Obviously this is a hard thing to change and these are hard habits to break.  The healthy habits were proving hard to restore until this talk I had with my mom.  It was eye-opening and inspiring and terrifying, all at the same time.  So here we go.  Round 2 of  Hayley vs. Food & Couch.  Hayley's gonna come out on top this time, peeps.

After a spontaneous trip to Winco late last night, our refrigerator is now stocked with fresh vegetables, lean meat and lots of eggs, cheese and milk.  The cabinets are stocked with peanut butter, quinoa and Sweet n' Low (gotta have it for me tea.  Not backing down on this one.)  Today marks day one of Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet.  I've never tried a "diet", and this one seems more like a lifestyle than a "diet" anyway.  The diet was created by Dr. Arther Agatston.  He's a cardiologist and hopefully by the end of this week I'll believe he's a genius, as well.  The "diet" is broken up into three phases.  Phase 1 consists of lean protein, fresh vegetables, salads, reduced- or non-fat dairy, and eggs.  No carbohydrates, including complex carbohydrates.  This means no fruit.  At this point, the no-fruit-thing doesn't bother me.  I do believe, however, by the end of the next thirteen days I'll have a new found appreciation for fruit and it's natural sugars.  Here's what is still/was on the menu today, to give you an idea of what an average day of Phase 1 looks like:

Breakfast:  1 whole egg + 3 egg whites, scrambled.  I added Benefiber to them (turns out you can add that stuff to anything.  Weird.)  I then sprinkled some colby jack cheese on top of the eggs.  This was 264 calories. 
Snack:  1 low-moisture part-skim mozzarella string cheese.  80 calories.
Lunch:  3 cups of baby spring mix salad, 1/2 a medium-sized orange bell pepper, 1/8 cup of sliced almonds and 2 tbsp of Lite Northern Italian dressing, all mixed together.  I also had a small protein shake made up of chocolate whey protein powder and water (chilled overnight.  If it's not cold enough it's harder to drink, honestly.)  Lunch was 340 calories.
Snack: one Yoplait Light Fat-Free Very Vanilla yogurt and 2 tbsp of peanut butter.  I love peanut butter and was perfectly content to just eat if off a spoon.  This girl hates celery.  The yogurt was 110 calories and the peanut butter was 190.  (...I'm just realizing in this very moment that peanut butter is very high in calories...)
Dinner tonight will be this:  3oz chicken tenderloin, grilled on the stove in olive oil and various spices, homemade marinara and reduced-fat mozzarella cheese.  A healthy spin on chicken parmigiana, if you will.  We will also be having a salad like I had with lunch. 

I'm trying to stick to the same exact meal plan for breakfast and lunch every day during Phase 1, but will mix up dinners.  Dinners will be rotated with this chicken and salad dish, a turkey sausage minestrone (compliments of ColorFuel, best recipe I ever tried) and a turkey and quinoa chili (also compliments of ColorFuel). 

Andrew is following the majority of this as well.  We're including 4-5 days of walking per week and I will be doing at least 2 days a week of weight-training.  Wish us luck!!!

Oh boy.

Well, here I am, 2 months and 1 day since my last update. You can safely assume that I've made no progress, weight-loss wise, and I've been horrified at the idea of giving you all that information. But now that it's out of the way...

I just got over a wicked case of bronchitis, or something very bronchitis-like. I've been on the bench for the last 4ish weeks, and tomorrow is my first day back at the gym. I'm feeling very.... indifferent. I'm not nervous or excited.... I'm not really sure what to expect. I suppose you could say I'm a little anxious. I've been trying to keep up with my food, but as far as exercise goes, it's been for the most part non-existent. I've been on a few walks in the last week, but the first few weeks I was basically on bed rest. I hope I'm never in that situation again, but I suppose when you only get sick every few years it's on natural for it to hit you hard.

I'm not sure what's up with my weight, and I'm not really sure what's up with my attitude. I feel defeated, and I sometimes feel like a failure. Like I've failed myself, but more importantly, I've failed all of you and all of the people I had a part in inspiring in the beginning. Maybe I should be thinking more about me and less about you, but that's just not natural for me.

I talked to a friend last week about how I've been feeling, and I came to a realization. I knew there would be physical plateaus, and I expected them, and I was prepared for them. What I didn't expect or prepare for were mental/psychological plateaus. In the beginning of this "plateau", the first weeks when I wasn't down or I was up a teensy bit, it didn't affect me much. I felt like maybe there were things I needed to improve on (truth: I knew there were things I needed to improve on.) But week, after week, after week, after week.... well, it builds up like a big ball of fiery self-doubt and pity, and that has gotten me nowhere. I know that I need to "go back to the drawing board" or "start from square one". I need to get back to the mindset I had a year ago when I knew this was what I wanted, and I believed I would reach my goals. I need to remember WHY I'm doing this, and think about my precious (future) babies who I will want nothing more than to have a healthy life.

Thoughts and prayers will be greatly appreciated on the next leg of this journey.

p.s. Sorry this was such a downer! Love you all!

ColorFuel!!

So, once again, it's been a while! I hope all of my "followers" (creepy) are doing wonderfully and enjoying 2010 so far. :)

First of all, I'll allow you all to give me a cyber-pat-on-the-back. I'm back in the game, back on track, and throwing myself full-fledged into my new lifestyle of choice. Thank you, thank you. A dear friend of mine (aside from when she's torturing me) started a FABULOUS new food program. Anyone who wants to lose weight and/or get healthy needs to visit www.colorfuelfitness.com S.T.A.T.!

I am SO excited about this. I started the plan on Tuesday, and my weight is down two pounds... in two days... seriously. I came into this feeling discouraged, emotional and negative. And now, two days later, I see how silly I was being. IT'S WORKING ALREADY! :)

I just feel so happy. I'm loving the way my body feels, and sooner or later I'm going to (crosses fingers) see some pretty amazing results from this. I encourage all of you to check out this plan. It's simple, it's fun, and it works!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to eat my afternoon snack (blueberry smoothie... yummmm!)