Bonus Post: Setting Goals

When it comes to getting back in shape, having a goal usually helps keep the motivation going.  When I was losing weight with Weight Watchers, my goal was to lose weight each week no matter how much it was.  Yes, of course I was disappointed when it was only a .2 or .3 loss but hey, at the end of the day it's still a loss and that's always better than a gain.  Whenever a gain happened, I would get upset then move on and tell myself I'd do better next week.  Having a gain one week usually pushed me to try harder the next week.  I usually try to have a fitness goal and a weight loss goal since those things don't necessarily go hand in hand.  When I was still doing Weight Watchers, my weight loss goal always took center stage and I fit in the fitness when I could.  Now that I'm somewhat in a healthy weight range, fitness takes center stage.

My current goals:

• Run at least 3 times a week (to complete C25k)
• After completing C25k, run a 5k
• Consistently lose weight every week (no matter how little the loss)
• Get more lean.
• I realize this goal is ambiguous but I've been taking pictures of myself every week so I can see the difference.  Another way to track this is taking measurements every week.
• Do at least 1 activity on the weekend.  Doesn't matter if it's a walk, hike, playing catch, whatever.. Anything where I am not sitting on a couch and moving will count here.

On the other hand, having unrealistic goals or goals that seem too far away can be counter-productive.  Example: Say you need to lose 50lbs, looking at the total amount of weight you want to lose may seem overwhelming and you may quit before getting very far because only losing 1 or less pounds a week will make you realize how far you have to go.  Instead, work on celebrating every 5lbs which feels a lot more reasonable.

Another popular unrealistic goal (I've done this many times), is to try to keep a crazy workout schedule. If you have the time then maybe working out 6 days a week for 2+ hours at a time will work for you.  For the rest of us without that kind of time, setting a small goal that fits reasonably within your lifestyle is a lot better.  Whenever I started out doing too much I always just stopped because it seemed like too much to handle, and I'd get burnt out.  This past weekend, I was supposed to complete Week1 of C25k on Saturday morning.  As soon as I woke up on Saturday I realized that wasn't happening.  I enjoy my lazy mornings with my husband so to think I would get up early and run on the weekends seems silly.

Last one then I'll leave you alone: Starting a new "diet" that is super restrictive and thinking you'll stick with it.  Maybe some people can but I certainly can't.  That's what I loved about Weight Watchers; it taught you how to lose weight while still going out and enjoying yourself.  Any diet that completely cuts out something is usually something I wouldn't be able to stick with.  I love food and I still want to be able to enjoy what I'm eating.

alright that's it.  I'll leave you alone now.  see ya!

Week 1 of Doing it Right

EDIT:  Was supposed to post this last Tuesday but completely forgot.

This morning marked the start of it all.  I took before pictures last night which I'm hesitant to post on here so I think I'll wait until there is a noticeable difference.  I weighed in this morning at 157.6 which I think is due to all the junk I ate yesterday, like a huge Gyros which was uber delicious but definitely very caloric.  This morning I also went for my first run in months.  I did Week 1 Day 1 of C25k and it was tough.  I haven't done any sort of activity since Mencuha because of my surgery and it felt good to get out there.  Running in the morning is great because I love watching the sunrise and everything is so still. Once we get back into shape I think I want to start rock climbing again using the passes they gave us when we cancelled our membership.  It was a great way to build muscle and I felt really strong when I was climbing.

So that was last Tuesday. It is now Monday and I have completely Week 1 of C25k.  I ran in the morning on Tuesday, Thursday and this morning.  Here's the recap on time/distance:

Week 1
Day 1: 14:31 pace and 2.06 miles
Day 2: 14:24 pace and 2.08 miles
Day 3: 14:10 pace and 2.11 miles

So I'm getting faster which is nice :)  Weight as of this morning: 157.2 so slow going on that front but that's ok.  As I start running more and building up muscle, it'll help me lose the weight.  Doesn't help I'm still snacking like crazy on the weekends so I need to cut that out.  Tomorrow I'm starting Week 2 and I think I'll just run every morning except Fridays.  My husband got a new job and has to get up at 5:30 or earlier now so I've decided to just get up with him and go for a run then.  It'll give me plenty of time to get ready which will be nice so I'm not rushing all over the place in the morning.  Although, I did forget to put on deodorant this morning so maybe the extra time doesn't matter :P  I'll also have all weekend to recover from running.  I did try to tell myself that I would run on the weekend but really, that's not happening and I knew that.

well really that's all until I finish Week 3.  stay tuned for the update :)

I'll do it this time, I promise!

So much for all my talk about getting back in shape.  I do so well during the week then on the weekend it all falls apart and I have to start all over each Monday.  I really need to stop doing that and I'm going to.  October 1 I'm starting C25k again.  If I remember, I'm going to take pictures of what my body looks like now and take weekly comparison pictures so I can keep track of the changes.

I really want to get back in shape and I know I keep saying that but this time, I'm going to do it.  I want to look like this again:

This is when I was working out 3-4 times a week which included running and lifting weights. Really, I just want to be happy with where I am physically and I want to finally get down to my goal of 146.  That would be 50lbs lost and it would be awesome.

I'm thinking of maybe getting some free weights (or using cans) and getting 30 day shred.  I'm sure that would kick my butt.  I just need the motivation to get started and I'm determined to start on October 1st.  I think taking a picture every week of progress will help in the motivation department. 

Anyway, that's all my jumbled thoughts at the moment. There are other exciting and not so exciting things going on in our lives right now but I can't share yet :P  As soon as I can share, I will.  have a lovely day!

Cute videooo

Quick update:  152.8!!  that's the lowest I've been since around January I think.  I'm excited this is working so well.  In a couple weeks I'm going to start jogging again and then I can get some muscles again, yay!

and as promised here is a cute video to make your day a little brighter. enjoy :)

The look they give each other before they start dancing gets me every time.  

Skinny Rules Update

it's been a couple weeks since my last update but I didn't really have anything to share last week.  Over Labor Day weekend I gained about 3lbs from a combination of being lazy and eating wayy too much.  Needless to say I was a little ashamed so I didn't want to share.  Now that I had a great weekend with no overeating I feel better about sharing it.

Weight update: 154.0.  That's right, I'm back down to where I should be (almost).  Once I can start working out again I'm hoping to get that down even further and get my muscles back in shape.  I can tell I hardly have any muscle anymore and I don't like it.  I miss the leanness I had when I was working out/running so that's my goal.  Not sure when that'll happen though do to finances and my recovery but we'll see.  At the very least my hubby and I will be hiking again as soon as San Diego gets the memo that it's almost Fall and shouldn't be 90+ degrees in September.

Thoughts on Skinny Rules:

Since we've been getting back into the rules, I've realized I'm going to use them as more of a guideline.  Some nights it's easier to just have carbs with dinner because it's what we have in the house and cooking a whole meal without carbs is a lot of work sometimes.  Plus I'm still having some sort of alcohol when I get home from work because it helps me relax after a day at the office.  I know if I strictly followed the rules I would lose faster, but I'm kind of approaching this the way I did Weight Watchers.  If I follow the rules my own way and do it in a way that makes it easy for me, it's more likely I'll keep doing it.  I know that doesn't give me a lot of accountability but I'm still following the rules as much as I can and as much as I'm comfortable with.  Maybe over time I'll follow them more but for now I'm going to slowly incorporate them into my habits.

I was going to leave you with a funny video or something but I'm pressed for time and want to get this posted so I'll find something good for next time.

cheers :)

Progress!

Good morning everyone!  So happy it's Friday again :D  This was my first 5 day work week since the week of July 16th so it has been a long one.  Thankfully it's a 3 day weekend so next week will go by quickly too!

anyway, progress.  progress on my weight loss which I think is mostly related to my on-going lack of appetite. Example for you:  I pack my lunch every day and yesterday I packed a turkey sandwich on a bagel thin, non-fat greek yogurt, serving size of almonds, reduced fat cheezits, fig newtons, sugar free jello and an apple.  While at work I only had the sandwich, cheezits, jello and the fig newtons.  I had to have a quick dinner since I was going to get my haircut so I ate the yogurt, apple, almonds and an english muffin for dinner and I wasn't hungry at all after only having that.  I think I got hungry right before bed but I just had a low cal Popsicle instead and it was all I needed.  This morning I weighed in at 154.8 so something is working.

So speaking of haircut, here's a couple pictures I took this morning.

I absolutely love the cut.  I found the hairstylist on Groupon cause she had a deal where it was only $30 for a haircut and style.  I'm so glad I did it because she was great.  I finally found a hairstylist in SD that is good and affordable because as much as I would like to keep going to Amber, it's so expensive with having to drive up to LA each time.  My new hairstylist is Brittney and she said she would be able to work within my budget for what I need done which means I'm getting color done soon too! 

Aside from all that goodness, it's Friday and we're having another game night tonight.  We got 4 new games in the past month and we're excited to share them with everyone.  Other than game night we have no plans this weekend.  I'm playing with the idea of going on some sort of hike/walk, probably down at the beach since it's going to be hella hot this weekend.  I've been stuck indoors every weekend for the past month (by choice last weekend, driving for 2 and in the hospital for 2) and I just want to get out and enjoy the weather.

That's all for now, have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back with more Skinny Rules updates next week :)

Back to the norm

Well, now that I have time to breath and move on with my life, I can get back to normal updates.

So on last normal update before my body decided to implode on me, I was just starting out with the Skinny Rules.  For that one week we did pretty well.  No carbs after lunch and I actually felt more full than usual.  My snacking was at a minimum and if I really really needed to snack on something I would have a piece of fruit.  I felt like I was doing pretty well but never had a chance to weigh myself before being admitted to the hospital.  I did weigh myself when I got home the first time and I was up to 166.  I know I was still full of all the fluids they gave me plus my belly was still full of the gas they pumped in during surgery so I didn't pay much attention to the number.  I was more just curious.

I obviously didn't follow the rules when I was in the hospital but my appetite was so little I don't think it mattered much. And by little appetite I mean little. One of the the breakfasts I was given I just drank the milk and the juice, I don't think I actually ate anything.  That was pretty true for my whole stay there.  The first time I felt like I actually got something filling was when one of my visitors brought me a Jamba Juice.  Nothing else I had been given up to that point sounded good but Jamba Juice did the trick.  It was also my first experience with hospital food and yeah, it's pretty bad so maybe that's why I didn't have much of an appetite. anyway. moving on.

So a light appetite and a loose following of the rules brings me to now.  I weighed myself this morning and I'm actually down to 156.2 which is progress so I'm happy.  Since standing for long periods of time hurts my back, cooking has been a little harder to manage the past few days.  I've decided that ease of cooking is a higher priority than following the rules completely so we've occasionally been having carbs at dinner just to make it easier on me plus it's been ridiculously hot so anything I can cook without using the oven has been helpful.

As far as exercise goes, I can't see myself doing much more than walking for the next couple weeks.  Maybe towards the end of September I can get that gym membership and start working out again.

Anyway I need to end this here.. I got a lot of work to do and only so much time to do it in.  Time to stop distracting myself :)