Reasons

These past couple weeks have been kind of hard. We have all had such stressful, strange schedules that we haven't seemed to have time to get the gym together. I have been using my recumbent bike as much as I can., but I will admit I haven't been too faithful at it.

A couple of weeks ago I made a list of the differences I felt after just one week of working out. I figured I should probably stick it on the blog! I am not exaggerating in any way when I say that things changed DRASTICALLY after just one week. Here's the list.

- I lost 2 pounds.
- My clothes fit looser.
- I had a tremendous amount of energy.
- I was satisfied with only 6-7 hours of sleep a night and didn't feel fatigued or sleepy during the day.
- I was more agile and limber after doing around 300 crunches each time we went.
- I didn't have the cravings for sweet treats that I usually get.
- I was able to easily stay in my calorie range each day.
- Things were better in the [ahem] bedroom.

Those are some major improvements to my life in such a small amount of time. Imagine if I went to the gym for a whole year! I would be a super woman! I am just grateful that I started going and have seen results so quickly. I know that the ultimate goal is weight loss, but honestly the energy boost is almost the best thing so far.

I need to kick it up a notch this week and keep all of these things in mind when I feel myself slipping up on my routine. I will keep you posted! I just got two of the Biggest Loser books and I think I will be posting some of the tips and info here for you all to benefit from!

The Year of Self-Discovery

I have been thinking a lot these past two weeks about what to make of this blog. Do I continue to only have it be about my husband and I's day to day life? Do I include weight-loss in it? Do I make a whole other blog for the weight/exercise area of my life? What to do...

I came to two conclusions. One is that I failed you all last year. I failed myself, also. I took this amazing 365 days of my life and wasted almost every one of them as far as being accountable for my actions weight-wise. I am ashamed to say that not only did I not lose the weight I wanted to last year, I put on almost 20 pounds.

It was a rough 365 days. I was DEPRESSED. I was anxious. I was self-conscious. I was hypocritical. I was in no way my best self. I let my feelings of self-loathing seep in to my marriage and create a small gap between my husband and I. I blamed him for the things that I wasn't doing to keep up with my house. I used my side business against him, using the 2 jobs as a way to make him do everything around the house. He never once complained...which I love him so much for! But I KNOW that I was WRONG to do that! I could go on and on, airing every piece of dirty laundry to you all, but I won't.

Instead, I will ask your forgiveness and ask you to simply keep reading.

 I want this year to be magical! I want to shine and I want to help you shine also! I want to remember who I am, why I am here, and prepare myself emotionally, physically and mentally for my next chapter of life! Parenthood! (No, this is not an announcement! But believe me...when the time comes to announce it you will know!) I want to make these changes with you there as a support system. God put us here on this earth for each other! We are supposed to help, encourage, and love. I want to be that for you, as much as I hope you will be that for me. 

My second conclusion is this...I want to have the blog be an entire synopses of my life. I want to post about all kinds of things: weight loss, feelings of inadequacy, exercise, recipes, religion, love, hope, family, and many, many other things.

I hope you keep reading.
I WILL keep posting.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Starting weight: 256
Current weight: 255
Total lost: 1 lb

Here I am, a week later and a pound lighter!

I know some of you may be thinking, "one pound..that's all?"

Honestly though, one pound is pretty good considering I have had a hard time adjusting this week.

I started with Teresa on Thursday and we got our accounts set up. I went grocery shopping that night and bought all kinds of yummy healthy food like Oroweat sandwich thins, Kashi GoLean Cereal, fruits, veggies, salad, low-fat cheese and lunch meat, and other healthy treats to help me when I need a snack at night. (My new favorite thing is 94% fat free kettle corn!)

I will say that I stayed on plan about half of the time this week, but I did order pizza with Eli twice, and we went out for Mexican once during that time. I don't know why I am having a little bit of a harder time getting motivated this week, but I am attributing some of it to the gloomy January blues. January makes me all dark and twisty inside, and I long to stay wrapped up in my warm bed all day. This also makes me want to eat continually.

I am going to start doing a workout video that helped me lat year when I was all gung-ho about losing. It's called "Leslie Sansone's Walk Firm and Fast 4 Mile workout," (costs about $9.00 at your local Walmart Super-center.) There are 3 miles that you can walk, with a warm up mile, a fast paced mile, and a mile that includes strength training. The entire video is about 65 minutes long, but you can stop at any time and skip straight to the cool down. I like it because she incorporates various aerobic moves while you are walking so you can tone up at the same time. I plan on beginning that DVD tomorrow, and we will see if that helps at all.

All in all, I am still excited about this journey and I plan to do it wisely...I don't want to lose all of the weight quickly and have it come right back on if I ever cheat or have a bad spell.

I hope you are all still reading and continue to do so...I am loving the posts I write because not only am I weighing in to Teresa, I'm weighing in to the world!