Slacking...

I know I've been very MIA on the blog lately, just had a lot going on. Rob and I have been going through some things that I won't talk about on here, because certain things do need to be kept private. I can say that what we have been through had brought us closer, made us stronger, and has shown me what true love and unconditional love really is and that it does exist. :-)

The other reason I didn't post anything last week is because I didn't go to the gym at all last week. My workout buddy hurt her back, I hurt my tailbone and we had a lot do for our last class of our management course so we decided to focus on that. We slacked so much during this course that it was very stressful and we vowed to never let that happen again. I do have to say that the tailbone thing was my fault. A night of drinking and a small hill in the backyard are not a good combo lol.

I can definitely say that I can tell a difference in my mood and energy when I don't go to the gym, and I hate it. I went to the gym on Thursday and sitting on the machines irritated my tailbone so I didn't do very much. I skipped Friday night so I could recover some more, but I did go yesterday morning. I did free weights and one machine so that my tailbone would hurt that much. I also ended up doing 30 crunches and a total of 10 minutes on the elliptical. 10 minutes is my personal best, so I was very proud of myself! I ended up asking my workout buddy how she stays on so long because once my legs burn I feel like I'm going to die, even though I know I really won't. She told me how her boyfriend said that it's good when it burns (which I've known, but it still sucks). and that she just does less strides. After asking some more questions I learned that she focuses on the number of strides she does rather than on the time. I tried that for the last 5 minutes I was on the elliptical and it totally makes a difference. When I start to feel that burn and don't think I can go any longer, I take a 15-30 second break, and then start back up. I'm thinking that on Tuesday night I'm going to be able to stay on even longer...I actually can't wait to see my frenemy, the elliptical!

As for the crunches, I haven't done those in about a year. I was up to 50 last time I did the gym so it did kind of suck that I only did 30, but at least I started them back up. I'm paying for it today. My abs are so sore, but it's well worth it and it lets me know that I'm doing what I need to be.

We all know that what and how you eat is just as important and working out though, and since I wasn't going to they gym last week, I was worried about how my eating habits would be. I think I did alright overall. There were times that I probably ate more than I should or ate something I shouldn't have, but it wasn't too bad. About a month ago I decided to start going to Earth Fare, an organic supermarket here in Knoxville, but never ended up going. The reason I wanted to go was because another woman I go to school with had started going and said after a few days she could tell the difference and she felt so much better by replacing what she ate with the organic/gluten free food. On Wednesday she told us that she had lost 15 lbs just by starting to buy her food from Earth Fare and that she hadn't worked out. I figured that if I replace certain foods in addition to my working out, it'll be a good combo. And it really isn't that much more expensive than normal groceries, I can't wait to try it out!

Oh, I almost forgot, I've also signed up for kickboxing classes! I'm soooooo freaking excited about this!!!! I've been interested in kickboxing since I was about 18/19, but because it's not cheap, have never been able to do it. Well, the other day I received my daily email from Living Social about a local martial arts academy offering unlimited kickboxing sessions for one month for only $25 instead of the normal $150. That's an 83% discount! I texted Rob immediately and after talking with him, decided to go for it! I signed up for the deal, and now I'm just waiting for the e-mail that gives me all the details about when it starts and everything. I've never purchased anything from Living Social so I'm not sure how long it takes, but I know it'll be well worth it!

Once I start the kickboxing sessions, my gym time will be cut back, but only by a day or two, and it'll only be for a month. I'm also hoping that I'll be able to get in some sessions during other days that aren't my normal gym days so that I won't really miss that much gym time.

I think I've covered everything that's gone on since the last update, and I'll make sure to not go so long without posting again! Now if only my Dad would get back to posting more too... :-)

It's Been A While...

Bank on track...woot! In my last post I said that I would be back in the gym on Thursday, but that didn't happen. Here in TN, just the threat of snow is enough cause for businesses to close and people run to the store all in a panic for milk and bread. Well, we got snow and ice on Thursday and since the way to the gym is on back roads, neither I nor my friend wanted to chance it, plus there was the possibility that the Y would close before normal time. I know,I know, I'm from Syracuse, so I should be fine with snow...I am, it's ice and people in TN that scare me in regards to driving in the snow. Seriously, light snow causes them to slow down to 5 mph, yet in the rain it makes them go 90 mph, so don't get it.

 Anyways.... I got back to the gym last night and it felt great! I've been feeling like the treadmill just isn't doing it for me anymore, so I want to stick with the bike and elliptical. The elliptical and I have a love/hate type of relationship. I want to be able to do a high resistance at a fast pace, but it just isn't happening...yet. I know it's something I have to build up with, but for anyone that knows me, I have no patience. Since I've only been able to use it for about 2 1/2 minutes and then felt like I was going to die, I figured I would increase my time in increments of 30 seconds. I told my friend to make sure I at least stayed on for 3 minutes last night, I ended up staying on for 5 minutes! For those of you that are like, "that's not very long," if you've never used an elliptical and you're just starting to get back in shape, they are a bitch! I've used them before, but only for a couple minutes at a time, and the one time I was able to stay on for 15 minutes was after doing lots of cardio on other machines. My goal is to eventually be able to stay on for 30 minutes. I love that the elliptical works multiple areas, whereas the treadmill doesn't really. The elliptical works your glutes, calves, quads, hamstrings and anterior tibialis for your lower body; and for your upper body it works your lats, pecs, triceps and biceps. For more information about how it works these muscles and the benefits of an elliptical check out this site: http://www.livestrong.com/article/159027-what-part-of-the-body-does-the-elliptical-target/  It will give you all the info you need. And Dad, it helps people with knee problems, because it takes the weight of them, so you may want to check it out!

 After my proud 5 minutes on what it going to become my new best friend (the elliptical), I did my circuit set that ActivTrax printed for me. We skipped the additional 20 minutes of cardio because we were both feeling the burn, and since it was our first night back to the gym in a week, we felt we did good. I have decided not to keep going with the ActivTrax because it keeps printing the same workout and it's supposed to generate new ones each day and it hasn't been doing so. It did teach me about circuit training though so I know which machines I want and need to use so I think I'll do just fine without it.

 I can't remember if I've posted about The Biggest Loser or not, but in case I haven't...this is my first season watching and I love it! Bob and Dolvett are hardcore! This season is about no excuses, so I've decided to apply that to myself as well. For me, it's just a very motivational show. I seriously end up all teary eyed by the end, I have no idea what is wrong with me lol. This week they had the nutritionist on and I learned some things I didn't know and different variations on some recipes that I'm looking forward to trying. I haven't checked it out yet, but on their site they also have different recipes. The one that I really want to try is a variation on pizza. Instead of ordering pizza or buying a frozen one, you take a sprouted tortilla, add some marinara and a little cheese and bake it in the oven for a few minutes. It's like your own little personal pizza, but much healthier! I'm also going to see if picturing Bob and Dolvett all in my face will help me push myself harder. It helped me a little last night, so we'll see how it works today.

 Another thing I'm trying out is eating yogurt for a snack or dessert. I really like the Yoplait Light; they have so many different flavors and they're all very yummy and satisfying. I've had the apple turnover and strawberry shortcake so far, and I still have key lime pie, blueberry patch, red velvet cake and black forest cake. I've had all of those flavors before except the apple turnover and strawberry shortcake, and after having those as well I can say that they're all delicious!

 Well, time for me to get ready to head out to the gym, I'll try to post more when I'm back!

Hang in there

I guess it is just a rough week all around. Seems like the gremlins are wanting to bug everyone in the family. It's been a tough work week, but some funny text messages from my daughter have helped. When I get upset, it's time to snack. I've been fighting that much better than expected. Those 3 Musketeer bars in the vendor machine have been calling, but none have made it my way. Thanks Jenn! I'm so proud of you for this idea and I'm proud that you have been going back to college. You told me your goals when you started your courses again and I really hope you stick to it. I may be in the "Y" thing within four weeks and I hope that is the extra spark I need. I have been pretty good with my eating overall. One bad day over the weekend, Jenn mentioned pizza to me, guess what we had that night, and yes I did tie your chowwing effort in that way dear daughter. Like I told you, I was once told that one off day a week isn't too bad according to some people I've talked to. Just get back on track the nice day and don't worry about what happened. You and I are both going to be much better people after we get where we are headed with this journey. I'll be back this weekend as well with another update. Dad

Slacking

I know, I know, I haven't really posted anything lately. This is actually going to be a pretty short entry too. I haven't really worked out since Friday night, and even then I didn't really put in a really good workout. I don't know what it is, I just feel stuck. I feel like everything I'm doing in life is what other people are wanting me to do. The getting in shape thing is what I want to do, so at least I know I'll be ok with that. School, my personality, friends, it's like I can't be myself. I have to do what makes my husband and friends happy, I can't do what makes me happy. School is one example. When I first started at the school I'm at now, I was so excited, I couldn't wait. I was bettering myself and my life, and it was for me. Now, I really could care less about it, not really sure I still want to even pursue this degree, but I'm constantly told that I have to. I get chewed out about how much money I would be wasting and blah blah blah. With friends, if I'm one of your best friends and I'm giving you my honest opinion that you're acting like a 2 year old, why am I a bitch? Aren't friends supposed to be honest with each other? I just don't get some people I guess. I have a lot to think about and I just want to know that I'm doing the right thing, going down the right path, and I hate not knowing if I'm doing what I'm supposed to. I don't know what the right path is for me anymore. I do know that I will be back at the gym on Thursday, so I promise that by this weekend at the latest, I'll have a brand new entry! Thank you to whoever reads this, for letting me vent this morning. :-)

No Longer A Y Virgin...

Woot! So my first time working out at the Y last night went better than I had even expected.They have this system called ActivTrax that is so awesome. It starts you off with a strength test on various machines to see what and how much you can handle. Once you enter that info in the system you choose all these options like what you're goal for working out is, how many circuit sets you want to do, and what areas you want to work on. It then prints out a customized workout for you to do. It tells you which machines to use, how much weight to use, how many reps to do and how much cardio is recommended. You enter the information in the system again and the next time you go, you print out a new workout. You do this each time, and each time you get a different workout to do. I think this is such an awesome thing. It's like having your own trainer without the expensive price tag they come with. It also offers nutritional guidance but I haven't explored that part of it yet.
I do have to say that I've never done circuit workouts before but I always heard good things about them. After last night, I'm definitely a believer in them! I've worked out at gyms before and not even broken a sweat at times. Let me tell y'all, I definitely broke a sweat last night! My workout had me do 5-10 minutes of a cardio warm-up, then like 8-10 machines for two circuit sets that was for a full body workout, then 20 minutes of cardio again. Now I'll be honest, for my warm-up I only did 5 minutes and for my cardio I only did 15 minutes. I'll work my way up though, and I did do everything that it told me to do for the circuits.

When I started this process, I thought I would be going to the gym everyday, but my friend, who is also my workout buddy, thought it would be best if we went 3 times a week and worked our way up. I may go an extra day, but if I don't I'm not worried, because your muscles do need time to heal after working out. So for the most part, we'll be going on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week. If I do add an extra day, I may go on Sunday mornings to get some extra cardio in.

On a side note, I feel like I need to stress how important it is to have family and friends that support you to lose weight and get in shape. The last thing you need is someone wanting to know why you ate when you did or why you ate what you did. There's a way to be supportive and not be a dictator and force your way upon others. Basically, you don't need to be an ass. You're all probably wondering why I'm saying all this, and I apologize, but I needed to vent. I'm not perfect and I don't claim to be. I did wake up around midnight last night and I was hungry so I ate two small pieces of pizza. No, I shouldn't have done it, but I did. My husband thinks it's the end of the world and that I'm not going to lose weight and blah blah blah. Mind you, he's like 100 lbs bigger than I am. Granted, he's more muscle than fat, but he's still got some chunkage going on himself, so it's like he's the pot calling the kettle black. He now thinks that I just don't want to listen to him or anything he has to say on this matter so that he's not going to talk to me at all in regards to this subject. Really? Are you serious? I need support during all this, not be chastised for having a midnight snack, which is something that's rare for me.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now, thank you all for letting me vent about that. I do want to thank everyone that does support me during this, you're all awesome and an important part of my life. I love you all!

Dad's Start

Well, I'm glad I was not at my ex-wife's house in Tennessee, not sure I'd restrain as well as Jenn did with lasagna. Good job Jenn! I have enjoyed the first two days of 2012 as days off from work, but I'll head back tomorrow. Plotting some strategies for working out, but walks with near zero windchills will keep that from happening. I am looking at the Y here in Cortland as well. Very bad knees, but the pool does has walking lanes at certain times of the day, may be a good way to start walking without as much stress on my knees. Meals have been good so far. Just a bowl of Cherrios, no sugar, for breakfast. Finishing off the New Year's Eve ham with sandwiches both days. Just a couple of hot dogs last night, my wife was under the weather and slept most of the day, which was something she really needed to do. Tonight another test though, mac and cheese, hmm. Will certainly work on eating less than usual. It might take a little to really get into the swing of the losing weight deal, but I need to do it for my daughters and my wife. Back to work tomorrow, that helps as well, not sitting around the house all day. Later all and keep up the good work Jenn.
Love, Dad

This Chunky Girl's Weakness...

If there's one type of food that I have a hard time doing portion control with, it's anything Italian, especially my mom's lasagna. What does my mom do the day after my dad and I started to do this blog? Invite me over to her and my stepdad's house for lasagna dinner the following night. Now of course I'm all excited because it's been a while since I've had her lasagna, but then I realize that I'm going to do this right and exercise portion control.

Since I knew that I was going to be going to my mom's yesterday I decided to at least start the day off right. I had two scrambled eggs, two pieces of toast and two pieces of turkey bacon with a small glass of orange juice. I was definitely starting out on the right track. When I got to my mom's it was around noon and I was ready for lunch so I had a ham and cheese sandwich and I'll admit, some ice cream. Now before I get chastised for eating ice cream, y'all should know that Ben & Jerry's has these little, itty-bitty sized containers now that's about 4 tablespoons. Well, maybe a little more, but I can't remember. It's like portion control for people who like ice cream though, it's genius! And that was all I ate until dinner at 5.

I soooo have to pat myself on the back for my lasagna control. I can normally get my grub on when it comes to lasagna, but this time was different. I had a small salad beforehand, and then 2 small pieces of lasagna and 2 small slices of Italian bread, plus I had a hard time finishing all of it! I did do the whole using a smaller plate thing to trick myself that I was eating more than I was, and anyone who doesn't believe that it works, just try it once and you'll see how much it really does. Now of course I did slip around 9 because I was bored and I snagged another small piece of lasagna, but it was really small and it wasn't like I ate snacks all day. I only ate my 3 meals and didn't keep up on drinking water like I should have. I'm not going to beat my self up though because everyone slips, you just learn from it and start again the next day.

I have some more I'd like to add, but unfortunately I have to go to work today...blah. Hopefully I'll be able to post about how my first time at the Y goes tonight...I can't wait!

A New Year

Just like everyone, I decide every year that my resolution is going to be to lose weight and get in shape; and just like everyone, I never stick with it. I always say that this year is different and I start off really great  at first but then something happens and I fall off the wagon. After reading some very inspiring stories and quotes the past few weeks, I've realized that I really can do this, I just need to believe in myself more. 

I've tried the whole expensive, trendy gym thing with my husband, and instead of focusing on what I need to do, I start to focus on people around me. I start worrying about what I wear and how my hair and makeup look. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about. You're at the gym with your man and you start to feel pretty good about yourself, and then you see that one girl who's in great shape, her hair and makeup look fantastic and you're like how the hell does she do it and why is she even here? Of course then, the husband claims not to notice her and tells you that you're not reaching your potential during your workout and to use your state of paranoia as motivation. Coincidence? Maybe, but I of course, don't think so. Now I'm not bashing men here or anything, and I know I have a good man, but come on, he's human. And to be honest, us women have some pretty good man candy to look at too. I'm so getting off subject here...

This year, is totally going to be different though. I say that with confidence! The reason being, I have two friends from school that I'm going to be going to the Y to workout with now, instead of my husband. Working out with other women who are sharing a common goal and can push you even when you feel like you're going to die = great workout plan. At least for me anyways. The fitness areas where all the cardio equipment and weights are, is a little smaller than The Rush (the expensive, trendy gym I mentioned earlier), but it also doesn't feel like it's a place where you have to impress people. Plus they have all the great classes to take, just like the Rush. 

Another reason I feel like this year is going to be a successful one in regards to getting in shape, is because of my dad. I read multiple stories about fathers and daughters joining forces to beat the battle of the bulge together and they were a great support system for each other. Just like the father-daughter teams I have read about, my dad and I share the same love of food. I've never been a skinny girl, I've always been on the chunky side, and while everyone thinks it's cute when you're little, it so isn't as you keep getting older. Now I'm not going to starve myself or anything, and I'm not going to stop eating food I love because I actually eat pretty well. I just need to drink more water and learn portion control. Which is a lot harder than it sounds. So anyways, I decided to ask my dad what he thought about doing the whole weight loss thing together even though we live in different states and just writing a blog to help us in our journey. I'll admit, I thought he was going to say no. My dad's a little stubborn, ok, very stubborn and that's another trait I inherited from him but it's a whole other story. Well you can imagine my excitement when he agreed to do this whole blog idea! 

Looking good isn't the only reason I'm wanting to get in shape. I don't care about the actually number on the scale, I care about how much is muscle and how much is fat and wanting to just be in good shape and be fit and healthy. Major run-on sentence I know, but it's my blog, not English class, so whatever. My dad was actually diagnosed with Type II Diabetes a couple years ago and it's something that worries me. I worry about developing it myself, and I also worry about something happening to him. I don't know what I'd do without my dad around (yes, I'm a daddy's girl-always have been, always will be), and I worry about my little sister and stepmom. (Don't start getting teary-eyed on me now Dad...shake it off, man up...no mushy stuff!) All of these factors combined is what will be my motivation this year. I also read something the other day about if you hadn't have put something off last year, you'd be where you wanted to be already or something to that effect, and it made me realize that if I would've stuck with the gym last year, I'd already be in shape, so yay for procrastination. That was sarcasm if you couldn't tell. 

Anyways, I think I've bored you all enough for the time being. Both my Dad and I will be posting during our journey, and sometimes it may be about other stuff in addition to the whole weight loss thing, but I hope whoever does read this finds it interesting and inspiring. And it's ok to laugh too, life wouldn't be any fun if it was all serious, and hell, watching or hearing about me trying out a new machine at the gym is always hilarious when I'm just learning how to use it!

Watch out 2012, I'm ready for the start of a great year, and to saying goodbye to being chunkified and hello to looking fantabulous!