Still coming down...

I currently down 17 pounds! Whoo hoo! That is my grand total so far from March 9th to May 4th. So in almost 2 months I am down 17 pounds. Not bad at all.

I have a lot more to say, but not much time to say it.

But later, for sure.

I am sick

I have been sick for the pass couple of days. I have missed work for a few days. I got a lot of rest yesterday and today and now I think I am all better. I may still be a little weak, but I think I can make it to work the rest week.

I have also missed the gym since Sunday, which sucks. I have been on a really good roll. I lost another 1.5 pounds for a total weight loss of 10 pounds in 4 weeks. I am super psyched about that! I also lost several inches off of my waist, hips and breast so far. I can fit several things I have not been able to get into for quite sometime. This makes me happy. Very happy!

Success!

After one week of exercising almost daily & following (sort of) the weight watchers flex point system I lost 6.5 pounds in one week! I am really happy about that. The exercise has not even been too strenuous so far, but I plan to start stepping it up this week. But so far this pass week I have done a lot of walking. I have done the treadmill once, but mostly I have been enjoying the coming Spring weather & getting outside & walking. I did 40 minutes of brisk walking 2 days. The other days I walked during lunch around downtown Frederick, MD. I keep forgetting to take my camera so I can show you all (like anyone reads this) how pretty Frederick is. I promise pictures this week! For work I have to go to court once a week. It is about a 10 minute walk, so I walked this week rather than driving. These little changes seem to really be working for me. In addition to the exercising I have kind of started following weight watchers. I say kind of because I have not officially joined, but I am staying within my alloted points according to what I have read online. I also found this great tool called Daily Plate. I have created a free profile & this helps because I can actually see if I am getting proper nutrition rather than just counting calories, fat & fiber. You could technically eat a bunch of 100 calorie packs of junk food & chemical filled Lean Cuisines & stay within your limits, but I believe in eating real food like brown rice, fish, & oatmeal. Now I only have 75.5 pounds to reach my goal weight! That is still a lot, but I am hopeful that I can get there eventually. Slow & steady. This week my goal will be to lose 4.5 pounds. I know that is a lot, but the first few weeks you can usually lose more before you slow down to 1-2 pounds per week. I hope to be down to my goal by next Feb. Well, I'm going to go get in a good workout at the gym today. Come home & cook something good, relax & enjoy the rest of my weekend.

Long Walk

I took a long walk today at my son's baseball practice. He practices at this huge park called Heritage Farm Park in the town of Walkersville. The park is huge & they have a really nice walking path. I took my 11 year old niece Bryana with me. She did nothing but complain the entire time. She kept asking me to slow down, to take a break, take a short cut. She is very overweight for her age/ height, so I really wanted to try to help her get her weight down. Lola & Bella went too. They loved it! They sniffed & peed & sniffed some more. We walked for a total of 40 minutes (actually Bre finally took a short cut so she probably got in 30 min). Before I dropped Bre off she asked when were going to walk again! Maybe she will get used to it & start to like to exercise after all.

As I was walking I thought how lovely some of the scenere would be for my blog. Next time, pictures! I promise!

I feel pretty good right now! I think I am going to go crash now & get some ZZZZ's.

Something to weigh in on...

I am currently in the process of trying to knock off some weight. I have been thinking about it for awhile, but sometimes it can be such a daunting task. That I hate to even think about all of the work that it takes to lose weight. Back in 2003 I successfully lost about 40 pounds. I felt great & looked great. I lost the weight by getting a personal trainer (very expensive) and eating very well. I only kept the trainer for about 3 months to get on track & then I was fine. Exercise was a habit. Something I just felt that I had to do to feel good. I actually started to enjoy it. I would run into the same people at the gym & you start to kind of root each other on after awhile. I was able to maintain this weight loss give or take 5-10 pounds for 2 years. Then in 2005 I tripped down some stairs and sprained my ankle really bad. I had to wear a "boot" (air cast) for like 6 months. Well, that really put a monkey wrench in my work out plan! So for the past 3 years I have been steadily increasing my weight to gain back all of the 40 pounds plus another 10 for good measure! Dammit! I keep thinking about how much work that was to lose that weight. Now I have to start all over plus an extra 10. Actually the 40 did not even put me at my goal weight so in total I really need to lose like 82 pounds to get to my goal! That is like a whole person! I am actually embarrassed to put that number in black in white for the world to see, but it is what it is.

There are a lot of people at work that are on weight watchers. That is kind of helpful since you have people who are constantly counting up the point value of everything. I don't think I can be a card carrying member of weight watchers, but I do like the idea of a lifestyle that does not require me to give up bread and eat only meat. Or a diet that requires me to give up all sweets forever. So for the past few days I have sort of used the point system to control my eating for the day. The first few days I was going way over what I should have for the day. But I looked at a few great websites that help you see the points values for various foods like this one. There are also sites like this one that tell you all about the system.

In addition, I have a gym membership ( I've had it for almost a year actually ) at Fitness First that I started using again yesterday. I put in about 30 min. on the elliptical trainer for starters. I also plan to go walk around at lunch when I can & maybe walk in the evenings or go to the gym some evenings. I used to lift when I had my trainer so I will also be getting back into that too. My trainer did a great job of teaching me what to do so I know what to do . I just need to get off of my big ass & do it! Speaking of which I need to go take my afternoon walk. Peace!