Happy Birthday to me. :)

Yup, it's my birthday and I'm celebrating. I thought this morning about it, and was reminded of a saying we learned in Weight Watchers a while back. When talking about holidays they ask "Do you want to count calories or count memories?" Well, for my birthday this year, I'm counting memories. A delicious Starbucks 5 pump White Mocha no whip this morning, breakfast burrito for breakfast. And later we're going to the new Harry Potter movie, where I plan to eat buttery and yummy popcorn. Then we're going out to dinner, and I'm going to enjoy the food and the company of my husband and son. Lastly, there's the birthday cake, German Chocolate, my favorite. Going to enjoy a nice big slice of that cake. 


Back on the horse tomorrow with Patty. 


Speaking of Patty, she had to cancel our session on Tuesday. So sad, but these things happen. I was very proud of myself though, I went to the gym anyway and put myself through a workout. I was brutal and ruthless, but caved when the lunges started to hurt. I know, I'm such a softy. I think I did pretty well, I hit my calorie burn goal for the day, and was pleasantly sore. We'll see how sore I am after tomorrow's workout when Patty finds out about today. 


Wish me luck!


Healthy and Happy Living

Weekly Recap

Here we are, another Monday. So here's my week at a glance.

On the 1st, my first official Get Moving Challenge began (if you didn't get in on this one, don't sweat it, I'll have more!) With 13 challengers participating, I'm happy with the turnout for the first run. Today I'm announcing the prize for the winner (which will be determined by a random drawing from everyone who reaches their goal). The prize is...{imagine drum roll here}... a Personalized Pocket Workout Towel (details and photo coming shortly). Good luck to all the participants.

This week, I made a lot of changes, mostly mental, that I think will really start to reflect come my next recap. Thanks to some words of wisdom from my trainer (you can read about it here), I've made some really positive changes & feel great about myself!

This week I started a new journey as well. I have challenged myself (a self proclaimed master pack rat) to get rid of 30 things in 30 days. I'm starting with my wardrobe, which I'm pretty sure now that I've started I will be removing more than 30 things from. Not sure what I'll work on next, but I'm taking baby steps. Even getting rid of a dress I haven't won in years, that is totally out of style, and that doesn't fit my personality anymore, is proving to be difficult. But I'm determined.

As of today I am officially at 13 pounds lost! Woo Hoo! 2.1 lbs to get below 260 again. It's been a few years since I've been below 260, of course it's been a few years since I've been as low as I am. Today, I excitedly had to put on a belt to hold up my favorite jeans!! OK, it is a bittersweet moment, I really like these jeans, but I LOVE shrinking out of my clothes.

Now that we're half way through the year, what are your goals for the back half of 2009?

Healthy and Happy Living

Happy 4th of July! Turning a Corner

Here we are, another holiday on our journey to live healthy. Lucky for me, this isn't one of our big family gathering holidays, so not as many temptations. My hubby is going to grill some steaks, and I'm making a pasta dish and trying some whole wheat noodles. Toss in some corn on the cob, and you have the perfect summer holiday dinner. Set off some little firecrackers and poppers to celebrate Independence Day, does it get any better? So, Happy 4th of July to all my blogging buddies, and any blogstalkers out there. :)

Well, my training session yesterday had an interesting start. I woke up, after sleeping in until noon (boy was that nice). I leasurly rise, head into the garage in my robe to grab my freshly laundered gym clothes from the dryer. My son asks me if daddy is still in bed . . . he wasn't . . . we only have one working car right now . . . my session starts in an hour. I grab my phone and call my hubby, who is at the tire place. Turns out he took the car this morning to fill my tank, and realized my back tires were bald to the point metal was showing, oops. Well, no way he would be home in time for my session. Darn, guess I'll have to call Paul and let him know I need to reschedule. Reaching for the phone - mind ticks - here's the conversation the little angel and devil on my shoulders has;

It's the first time you've rescheduled so no big deal

If you cancel once, it'll be a lot easier in the future

There's not enough time to get ready and get down there

It's ok if you're a few minutes late, you will have already gotten your warm up

Oh come on, give yourself a break!

Are you really giving yourself a break? Or are you sabotaging your efforts and taking the first step towards ruining all the effort you have put in to acheiving your new healthy lifestyle?

Wow, OK, the little angel won this round. Before my hand even hits the phone, I was pulling it back. I grabbed my workout gear, threw on my clothes, grabbed my ID and gym card, filled my water bottle, and headed out the door. As I took the first few steps and realized what I had done, I felt a lift in my spirits. Wow, did I just really talk myself IN to going to the gym?! It's usually the exact opposite. I feel like I've turned a major corner in my life. This is a big sign to me that I'm finally really on the right path.

So, now to the actual training session. This session we worked with a Medicine Ball. Standing in one small area I got a full workout that had my arms and legs wobbly and sore (but in a good way). Lets see if I can remember everything (now I had to make up names for some of them):

Ball Crunches:

1. Lie on your back on an exercise ball

2. Hold medicine ball in hands with arms straight pointing at ceiling

3. Push the ball towards the ceiling while contracting the abs

Toe touchies:

1. Hold ball above your head, legs hip width apart

2. Bend down and (try to) touch the floor with the ball

Twists (this one we did with a heavier ball):

1. Elbows bent, feet hip width apart, hold ball in both hands about stomach level in front of you

2. Twist to the side (keep your feet planted, you should feel the twisting all the way down to your ankles).

3. Return to the middle and pause slightly before continuing to the other side.

Swing Squats:

1. Take a wide stance, hold the ball in both hands above your head, arms straight

2. Swing the ball down between your legs and do a partial squat

Toss backs:

1. Stand with your legs hip width apart

2. Behind you slightly to one side

3. Holding the ball with both hands in front of you, twist towards the person behind you and toss them the ball

4. Pause and have them toss it back

5. As you catch it, swing to the other side and repeat

6. When you're done with the one side, repeat the other way.

Diaganal Tree Choppers (this was felt a little awkward at first)

1. Legs hip width apart, hold ball in both hands above the left shoulder

2. Swing the ball down and past the right leg towards the toe, bend the left knee a little

3. Swing the ball back up to the shoulder

Knee Lifts (these felt pointless for the first 10 reps, then I suddenly felt what they were doing, by 20 I could barely lift my arms):

1. Hold ball ofer head in both hands.

2. Bring it down bending at the elbows and keeping the ball close to the body

3. Lift right knee and touch ball to knee

4. Repeat with other leg

We did between 12 and 20 reps for each exercise, and did 2 circuits (once through everything, the through it all again), with an extra set of the crunches and knee Lifts thrown in at the end to torture me.

After this, I don't think I'll be skipping any of my planned activities in the future. If I can make myself walk to the gym when I don't have my car, I can make myself stop whatever I think is more important long enough to do my workout.

Healthy and Happy Living

Made it through the holiday

Holidays and other occasions where people find reasons to gather and eat (too much), have always been hard for me. I managed to make it through this one without breaking my stride. Sure, the foods we had may not have been the healthiest thing I've eaten all week, but I watched my portions and went to the gym for an afternoon workout. I'm a little sore today, but boy was it worth it. 

I'm looking forward to my first session with my personal trainer on the 30th, I had forgotten how to use many of the machines, and felt a little out of place. A refresher will be very helpful. 

I just started using this new online program, it's based in Facebook, but you sign up at www.weightview.com (I'm sure there's a way to get to it from Facebook, but I did it from their website). You upload a full body shot of yourself, and they'll show you what you'll look like up to 50 lbs lighter. Excited to see what my pic will look like, it takes a couple days. I'll be sure to post it, we'll see how close they are when I actually lose 50 lbs. :)

Things are looking good so far, I feel good, I can already feel my pants fitting better and have had more than one person ask if I've lost weight! Very encouraging. 

Memorial Weekend

Through my first weekend, the time to stare temptation right in the face. Whew, made it. My husband, son and I spent Saturday helping some friends get ready for their up coming bundle of joy (she's due in 2 weeks). With all the tasty snacks, and the wonderful barbecued dinner, I managed to control myself and stay within my calorie budget for the day, without skipping out on everything but just watching my portions. 

I'm learning about different foods, and finding that some of the things I thought weren't so bad for me, are either very unhealthy, or packed full of calories. For example, I used to make breakfast burritos, so a couple eggs, nice big tortilla, plenty of cheese, hashbrowns, some type of meat, and green taco sauce. Well, I hadn't been paying attention, but now that I am I find that there are well over 600 calories in that breakfast. I had no idea the tortillas I was using were over 200 calories each! Guess I'll have to rethink that recipe. 

On the other hand, some of my favorites are wonderful for me! I think radishes are my new favorite snack; very low on calories, tasty, and they make me want to drink lots of water. :)

I've started watching a new show called "Cook Yourself Thin", it's opening my eyes to some tasty food substitutions (even though their calorie counts seem to be off). I recommend it to anyone who'd like to get an idea of how to cut out some calories in your favorite foods, just do your own calorie counts. 

So as day 3 comes to a close I find that I'm actually looking forward to my first weekly weigh in, and that hasn't happened in ages!