Why Wait??

OK...so I thought I was going to wait until New Years but I decided that, that was a crutch. I just need to start now. I have been battling some sort of cold (sinus) thing so haven't been up to working out but I am starting to feel better. On Saturday, my trainer Tammye, is doing an Weekend Warrior Holiday Blitz. I figure it is a good time to start. Friday I am going to do my assessment; I am trying to convince Travis to do it with me.

Starting weight, before picture, measurements and a timed challenge. I am going to do 10 exercises each 100 times and time myself. After 30 days I am going to do it again and see if my results got faster. The plan that I am following is 5-6 workouts per week, 3 strength and 3 at home. My trainer has taught me so much and so many of the exercises we do are using only your body weight and don't require tons of equipment. Thankfully my little home gym is getting pretty equipped. I would like some TRX bands and maybe a sandbag for Christmas though. I am going to try and do 2 of my strength workouts at home. It also has days of cardio which I am dreading but if I am going to do the half marathon I need to get training now.

The diet that I am planning to follow is a 1400 calorie diet. It is pretty clean eating, reducing processed foods and starchy carbs. I have a grocery list that goes along with the plan, so I am going shopping tomorrow, and doing the assessment tomorrow. Starting Saturday.

Blog Slacker

Wow!! I have really been slacking on my blog. Not really sure why I think that I have just been motivated to do different things with my time. However, I am going to try and get back at it again. I have had some hard months and it is time to make this all happen. This time of year seems so hard. It starts out with Halloween and then Hudson's birthday, Thanksgiving, my birthday, my grandpa's birthday, christmas parties, christmas, and new years. Not a good time to be losing weight. I am just being realistic...and not trying to gain any more for the next few weeks and then start at it hard with the new year. I promise to start blogging regularly about what I am doing at that point.

I will be blogging my food journal, weight, pictures, and some exercise stuff. I am getting excited about it. I am sticking with Tammye my trainer and I think Travis might join a gym on his own and work out in the mornings before work. I also traded another fitness trainer some CPR lessons for a subscription to her blog which has lots of recipes, workout videos, etc. I think it will help me with my at home workouts.

I recently added a kettle bell to my home gym arsenal. I have asked for TRX bands for Christmas. I should be set to do some home workouts and continue with Tammye 1-2 times per week. However, I know that my issues are not with working out. I do love it when I go, finding time to do it at home can be challenging. My biggest issues are with diet though so I am going to start going to the Weight Watcher meetings in January.

I have a big big challenge ahead of me. If you remember one of my posts was about a friend of mine, Win Apel, he had ran a marathon in every state and every continent...well he passed away the day before my birthday (Nov 28th) due to complications with his brain tumor. He was an inspiration to me through this journey and I am going to run in a half marathon, April 28th to honor him. It is the country music marathon in Nashville. Anyone want to join me? The middle of May will be the two year anniversary to me starting this blog and I figure it is a good way to celebrate and hopefully keep me motivated.

More to come very soon!

Ass Chew

So I have been really bad about my blog. I think it is because I am so addicted to Pinterest that I don't care about it as much any more. I have a new love and addiction. However, I know I need to keep it up better. Recently I have been gone out of town..more to come about that and I just havent gotten around to posting. However I have a list of posts that are coming soon.

A few weeks ago I had admitted to not blogging because I was not doing well and sticking to plan; I had admitted that I had gained about five pounds. Well.......

The phone rang and it was my friend Tracy. I have practically known her since I was born and she is truly like an older sister. Oddly we even share birthdays. She was one of my first friends to win the blog award. Well, let me just tell you that she deserves the award. She calls me up and says, "I am so mad at you". Then she went on to give me an ass chewing about how I haven't blogged and how I need to get back on track, etc.

Some people might be mad at this approach but I actually was really glad to hear it. I know that it means that she cares. I know that she is trying to help and sometimes it is just what a person needs to hear. However, it has to be from the right person and at the right time. Someone else could say this and I would be totally offended.

Then this week we have had some out of town, unexpected guests...did I mention that they were Tracy's parents?? So, I haven't updated. But this is my promise to be better. Stay posted for lots of stuff coming soon.

Pinterest

So I joined Pinterest. If you don't know what it is...it is a virtual bulletin board. People share their ideas such as decorating, recipes, style, crafts, kids activities, etc; if you like something then you can pin it to your board. I have found some great recipes there and been able to improvise them a little to keep them lower calorie. I have really enjoyed scanning the ideas and seeing other people's creativity. I'll post some recipes soon or you can just follow me there.

I leave for Boise in just a couple of days. Thankfully I have lost about half of what I had gained. I am weighing around 173 these days. Not where I want to be but maybe I can lose another pound before I leave. I just have to keep reminding myself that this journey is life long and that I just need to keep working at it. Making good decisions about what I eat, is so important to my success.

Sorry I have been out of touch lately. I have been so busy. With two trips to Idaho and CPR classes and my kids, etc..it has been crazy around here. More to come soon. :)

Edamame

My new favorite snack. Edamame. I personally like it cold but lots of people eat it hot. Either way it is good. I buy the bags of lightly salted edamame in the freezer section and just defrost. Then I mix up a little marinade and soak for a few minutes and enjoy. I personally like the pods. They take a little more work but are totally worth it.

Marinade

2 TBSP Soy sauce

2 TBSP Rice Vinegar

1 TBSP Honey

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp ginger (fresh would be best)

Joining the Gym

I think I am going to join the gym. They just built a new National Fitness Center in Maryville and I think that I would utilize it. Over the past year working out with Tammye I have gotten into the habit of working out and I enjoy it. Now that I am not working during the day I can actually have the luxury of going to the gym. So here is the scoop of why I am making this decision; and trust me it was a hard one to make.

1) When I go to the gym in the evenings, it leaves Travis with the kids at night for several hours because of the driving, workout, chatting with friends, driving. I am also away from home about one night a week for CPR class and usually one other night I have some sort of meeting, group activity or social planned. This means that 2-4 times a week I am not home at night.

2) Because I go to a private gym for my training we don't have a gym membership which means that I am the only one that gets to workout. Travis needs to workout too and would like to get back into a workout regime. I have been selfish about my goals and not concerned about his.

3) The gym that I go do does not have childcare. This makes it impossible for me to workout during the day unless I hire a babysitter which costs $25 which makes my one hour workout cost $30 instead of $5.

4) Joining the gym gives me an immediate workout partner...Travis.

5) I just cancelled my bodybugg membership and my weight watcher memberships. I know how to lose weight I just need to do it. This should allow me to be able to hopefully still workout with Tammye on Wednesdays and attend Weekend Warrior.

The bad part about all of this is that I won't be able to see Tammye as much. I have loved my time with her and she has been the best trainer that a girl could ask for. I have been working out with her for just over a year and I have gotten so much stronger! I still plan to workout with her but maybe not quite as often. I can only hope that I can put to use all of the things that she has taught me. If I could do both, I totally would. I am her #1 fan and hope that I can be a true testament of her hard work and dedication to me.

Hopefully I can even send her some new clients. I really do love my workout girls and I know that the current situation is probably absolutely the best for me but I am going to have to sacrifice my own desires for my family. Hopefully as the kids get older this might get easier.

Gluttony: One of the 7 deadly sins

I don't know what has been going on with me lately but I have seriously been gluttonous. I have totally been binging on sugar & snacks. I wake up every morning telling myself that today will be a new today....START today. I make it until like noon. Then I start hitting the snacks. The problem is that we shouldn't even have these snacks in the house but I do have them for my kids. I try to give them to them sparingly but I have to admit that I do have them. Travis is the worst. He starts seeing Halloween candy in August and starts throwing in bags of snickers to the shopping cart.

Oh, how I have sinned. In the last week I have had peanut butter crackers, mini Snickers, fruit snacks, pudding cups, cheese-its, trail mix, cookies and even a pop tart. You would think that right now I would be more motivated than ever. I am headed to Idaho in two weeks to sing at my cousins wedding. I am going to be standing in front of all those people. Have I mentioned that most of my family resemble super models? I feel like I am self sabotaging; yet I don't know why. I truly don't.

So yet another day begins and I will say this is a new day. Confession: I weighed and yesterday I saw 178, this is 10 pounds higher than my lowest weight this year. It is disgusting that I have let this happen. Maybe I can get good and shed 5 before the wedding. I must start now. I can't tell you how embarrassing it is to have a weight loss blog and be gaining weight. That is why I haven't been blogging. I know I need to go back to my accountability.

It is sad that it can take a month to get the weight off, yet it seems to come back in just days.