If you want something you have never had, you have to do something you have never done

This saying doesn't totally hold true for me, because I feel like it is something that I have had. For years I was thin and in shape, however...it has been so long that I have forgotten what it feels like. So last night was my first night of my small personal training "bootcamp" sessions. The workout was hard but the lady in charge is very nice. It is weird, you feel like you need to do what she says but she is definitely not all in your face or yelling at you. Then again, she could have been being easy on me for my first time. It was pretty much circuit training mostly doing activities using your body weight (lunges, push ups, squats, plank, etc) with the use of other equipment such as stability balls, cables, medicine balls, dumbbells, sliders and the bosu balance ball. It was a great workout, worked out your core as well as your arms and legs. There were several stations around the gym. She would show you the exercise and then we all went to a different station and did the exercise and then moved to the other station. All in all there was about 12 stations and we did each of them twice.

I am sore today. My quads mostly but I am sure that I will be hurting even more tomorrow. I have worked out on and off for a long time and would consider myself very familiar with most exercises done in the gym. Last night was different as most of them were exercises I had never seen before. I am going to try and take some pictures next time; many of the exercises could be done with minimal equipment at home. All the ladies in the group have been doing this for a while and are in super good shape. They were all very nice and encouraging. I will definitely be going back as I feel this will really help take me to the next level. It will build my strength and endurance and mix up my workouts. I am retaining a little water today so trying to drink more to flush it out.

Tomorrow is Weekend Warrior: Power Hour, I'll be posting again to let you know how it goes.

Obesity

So there are so many things that I love about East TN. There is so much to do close by, the weather is great, the people are friendly, I could write a list a mile long. However, two things that I don't like about it is that we are one of the fattest states and one of the most medicated. A new article came out today and TN is the second most medicated state in the nation.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

In the second-most medicated state, Tennessee, there were 16.9 retail prescriptions filled per capita. More than 65% of adults in the state can be classified as obese or overweight, and 10% of all adults have diabetes. Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas round out the top five.

It really made me think! 16.9 per capita? Are you kidding me? Think about how many people in the state aren't on any medication. There are lots of people under the age of 25 that aren't on any and there are still several healthy people that don't take any meds (i.e., Travis and I). That means that there are a lot of people that take even more than 16.9 prescriptions. This is crazy! It is almost unbelievable. This is an average....which means for every person taking under 16.9 meds there is someone taking more. I am astonished.

I read msnbc.com every day. Almost every single day there is an article about obesity. Obesity causes more risk for heart disease, cancer, miscarriage, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure and cholesterol just to name a few. It also affects your children's health as well as your mental and emotional state. I sometimes get disgusted when I think about how people smoke (sorry to my friends that are smokers) when there is all this information out there about how bad it is for you. Why would anyone ever even try a cigarette? BUT THEN...I think...I am no better! I read articles every day about the health downfalls of obesity yet until now I wasn't willing to do anything about it. Actually, I think that obesity is worse than smoking as it has an effect on my areas of the body and leads to more co-morbidities.>

I am so glad that I am doing something about it now! The next question is what can I do to help the people of Tennessee? My wheels are turning....any suggestions??

Staying the Course

Well, this week I am just trying to stay the course. I had to retake my points calculator quiz now that I am under 200. My points dropped down to only 25 a day. I have been having a hard time in the past eating only 27 and I know that I as I lose even more weight I will only be allowed less and less points. I am also really trying to focus on exercise as I will need as many activity points as possible.

Today I ate 24.5 points and earned 3 activity points. It was a good day. I ate sensibly and had a nice day at work. After work, Travis and the kids met me at my friends pool and we went for an evening swim. The water felt so nice and the kids loved it. When I got home I ate a protein rich dinner and then hit the treadmill. I am still watching season 4 of Biggest Loser. I am getting excited for the new season to start.

My friend Tracy called me today and she is coming to visit in Oct. I am excited to see her. It is her first time to TN. She is bringing our friend Liz with her too. I know she likes the outdoors so hopefully we can enjoy a swim at the lake and a good hike or something while she is here. October is such a great time of year in East TN. Speaking of October, Race for the Cure is the last Saturday in October. I have good news and bad news about this. The good news is that the other day I registered for the race and got my free T-shirt. The lady at the table asked me what size I would like and I said X-Lg, please. She looked at me and said, "Is it for you", I replied, "yes"...then she said, "you better just get a Large, the X-Large will be way to big" If that lady only new how she had just made my day. It is satisfaction in the small things. The bad news is that I have totally neglected my C25K program and need to get my arse in gear! I only have about 10-11 weeks till the race and it is a 9 week program. I know that I still can do it but I can't slack at all. I have to be guaranteed those 3 workouts per week. They are only 30 minutes so I need to just do it.

Well, that is all for now! Good night.

Weight Watcher Results: Week 17

Finally! In the 100s and not going back! Because I had a 3 pound loss this week I will have to be on my game next week. I don't want to be disappointed next week and I know how it is when you have a good week, the next week is never as good. However, I am setting myself up for success. I have to make very good choices on everything I eat. No mindless snacking. Last week I got a new Nalgene bottle and it has been much easier to drink my water. I also broke my cycle of no exercise. I hadn't been on the treadmill for two weeks but I got on this morning and plan to finish my episode of Biggest Loser tonight. I am also planning to go to my first training session on Wednesday night. Travis has a co-worker that has lost a substantial amount of weight recently too and she is wanting to come with me on Wednesday. It has been so hot and the workouts are outside; if anything I will sweat off some weight.

Well, I am excited about this new chapter of my life. Life in the 100s. Next goal is 185. That was the thinnest I had been in the last 10 years. Here is a picture of me five years ago at 185. I can't wait to be even thinner than that!

Why is it so Hard to Lose and Easy to Gain

Today I was on Facebook and one of my friend's posts said "why is it so hard to lose and easy to gain"...then Travis sent me an article and one of the excerpts from it explained it pretty well. Here it is.

You can do okay with one cheat meal a week, but if you decide that you’re going to do more than that; be ready to up the frequency of your cardio. But even if you are prepared to do this, it is still not ideal; unless you are genetically gifted you will almost never be able to exercise enough to mask a bad diet. Even some professional athletes have problems with weight control because of poor eating practices despite the high volume of training they undergo. The reason for this is because a great cardio session can help you burn anywhere between 300 calories or 500 calories if you are really dedicated and plan on hitting the treadmill for a long time. However, in one meal at a restaurant or at a fast food place, it is not hard to consume 800+ calories in one sitting. So if you begin to increase the frequency of your cheat meals in the hoped that cardio will make up for it; you will quickly get caught up in a race you may very well lose.

This is what I have been struggling with this week. I have one little cheat and then I am screwed. I can be good 95% of the day and then 5% of the time I make poor decisions. Isn't 95% still an A? I feel like I am giving it such a good effort and doing so good. I am proud of my 95% but it makes me so mad that 5% can give you an F and make you fail. I don't feel like a failure though. I have got to be on point. No meeting in the middle. There will be time for that when I am on maintenance, but for now if I am going to reach my goal I have got to be in weight loss mode. In order for me to succeed I have got to do better. The good news is that usually at this point is when I give up and I dont feel like giving up, I am just having a little pit stop along my road to success. Fact of the matter is that I have been spending too much time at the rest stop though. The past few weeks have been bad. I haven't lost much weight and even gained last week. I haven't exercised. I have been under lots and lots of stress and I haven't done a perfect job at logging my food. I have also slipped into eating too many meals out. I have been on the run so much lately that it is just hard but it is no excuse. I just have to keep packing my lunch, on CPR nights I need to pack my dinner too. I know that I can do it. While it has taken me a long time to get under 200...there is one thing that I know for sure. Once I get there...I will never go back!

Dont worry....well maybe a little

OK..so sorry it has taken me so long to post. I have had several friends call or text to make sure I dont need an "intervention". I don't. I am still plugging along and I have not given up. I did have a very hard week last week though and think I gained about a pound.

August is my busiest time of year with CPR. Lots of students need it before returning to work, teachers, daycare providers, etc. So I had four classes last week and three this week. It is exhausting and makes it so I am away from home for practically every meal. Last week I slipped up. I found myself eating out more, munching on unhealthy snack foods, not drinking water, not finding time to exercise. Overall, I was still better and more conscientious of what I was eating than normal but definitely letting it slip. The most important thing that I have discovered however is that you can't let one week define you. I just have to pick it up where I left it. I can't get discouraged because quickly you are down the downward spiral.

So, yes...I had a bad week. No..I have not given up or plan to. It has just been a crazy week. I am starting my boot camp workouts next week. I have a friend that is maybe going to do it with me. I also have a new friend starting weight watchers, so it will be good to have another person to share ideas with. I am pretty depressed that I am not in the 100s yet. So close, it is like I have a mental, phyiscal block with that number. The good news is, that once I get there...I am never going back!

Thanks for all the support. I will let you know how the new workouts treat me. I also did not track my points last week. Yesterday however, I started a new! I'll be posting more soon.

Blog Award

This month's Blog Award goes to my life long friend, Tracy Sise, in California. I have known her since I was born and she lived just down the street from me growing up. Her parents and my grandparents are best of friends and we have spent lots of time together. We have lots in common, including our birthday and enjoy talking to each other and sharing our life's blessings, challenges and experiences with each other. Tracy and me are 11 years a part. Growing up, she baby sat me and I always looked up to her as an older sister. I wish I had a recent picture to share but last summer when we went to visit my camera got lost in Yosemite National Park, (so, I had to steal this one from her hubby's facebook page). As we have grown older we have became even closer and I love her tons. She really is the closest thing I have to a sister. She knows my family dynamic very well, being around my mom, grandparents and friends; she knows my past and present as well as anyone. Her parents are also like second parents to me and I love them too.

Tracy has done Weight Watchers before so she has been great to talk to. She also sticks to a strict diet herself and exercises often. She has sent me emails, calls and gives me recipes to try..all which have been very helpful. I posted one of the recipes (salsa pork chops) on the blog. They were great! However, while Tracy supports my diet her real support comes from knowing my story. Like I said, I have known her for so long that I don't really have any secrets from her. She knows me. I call her to vent or to get my emotional support. There aren't very many people that you can get that from so I am so thankful to have her. She also is very honest and we both have told each other things that we probably don't like to hear. But...that's okay, it is what I need.

Last week, Tracy challenged me to workout in the mornings. I let her down. I wasn't able to do it. She has forgotten what it is like to work and have two kids under the age of 3. :) I just cannot get myself to wake up at 5:30am. I am still going to give it a shot but it might have to be next week. I need to prep myself to go to bed at 9 if I am going to do it and not at midnight.

Thanks for all your support Tracy. I Love you! Wish we were closer but excited to see you in the spring!