Can I Finally Do It?

...and we're off...

2009-10-20T17:35:00.001-07:00

I was able to go the gym today. Colin's tummy issues seemed to be resolved...so I dropped Jordan off at school and headed to the gym. I did 25 minutes on the elliptical and some arm strength training. I also did my abs and back exercises.

Eating today went OK.

Breakfast:

Banana
Coffee, FF french vanilla creamer and two splenda packets

Lunch: (this is where I kinda did bad. I took Colin to lunch while we waited for Jordan to finish school)

Lean Pastrami on white bread with one slice of swiss cheese and 10 french fries. (yikes!) couldn't resist. I should have gotten a salad. Damn.

Dinner: South Beach diet bar....A few pieces of chicken from last nights stir fry.

And...though I said I wouldn't ... two glasses of wine. I really need to get some other drinks/tea/seltzer water or something to drink at night. I don't want water, I want SOMETHING else...so tonight with my options as milk or wine, I took wine. FAIL.

I am going up in a little while to pack my gym bag and get my clothes and kids clothes ready for the morning. I am taking a 9:15 Pilates class, and I have (YEAH!) a 10:30 massage at the chiro office at my gym. They are offering a free 30 massage, so I'm taking advantage tomorrow while Colin is in the gym daycare.

I know I said I'd talk goals and measurements today, but I never got a chance to take them today, so I'll try tomorrow.

Goals: I'd love to be at 125 by New Years Eve. That is my ULTIMATE Goal. That is about 12 lbs which I think is doable in 2.5 months. I'd LOVE to be 120...but that might be pushing it. If I am at 120 I am making Scott take me out and I am wearing a super hot NEW dress.

:-)

Today's the day...

2009-10-19T06:01:00.000-07:00

Well, as I mentioned in my last post I have been reading Linda's Body Talk blog and have become motivated to get back into shape and most importantly, focus on my diet.

I've gotten some great ideas on meals and snacks from her and her reader responses. Seeing what other people eat really made me realize how I am not eating very well and need to improve my diet drastically.

Also, I am determined to go back to the gym and get in a routine. I was planning on it today but Colin has some sort of tummy issue and I don't want to take him to the gym and get someone else sick. So for today I'll have to settle with eating well, and may take a walk with the kids this afternoon instead. Not as good as a workout but it will have to do today. I do have a 30 Day Shred DVD that's been gathering dust on my entertainment center that I could break out during nap time....hmmm....

I sat and went through her site and all the posts and responses and made a list of some foods/snacks I thought might I might like. Now, its off to get Jordan at school and go grocery shopping to stock up on some healthy foods! I already hit BJ's last week to stock my freezer with proteins, now for the healthy veggies to go with it...

I'm planning on keeping a food journal online here as well to keep accountable. Tomorrow I will talk about my stats and my goals.

So far today I've eaten the following:
DD FV Coffee with Fat Free FV creamer and two splenda packets
Bowl of Special K Berries with milk

Getting back into the groove

2009-10-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

Ok...I've been lurking on Linda's Body Talk blog and I realized how lame my diet is, and how lame I've been about working out. I really have no excuse. I have the time. Jordan is in school, and Colin is fine in the gym daycare, so why am I so lazy?

No more excuses. Back into gear starting MONDAY. No wine during the week. Gym at least 4 days a week (if not MORE) and most importantly...keeping up with my diet. I just need to learn to make smarter choices and PLAN AHEAD. Linda's blog has been keeping a food journal and all her followers have been responding to her food diary and giving me GREAT ideas for food and giving me ideas as to what I should be eating. Providing some realistic expectations for my meals. I really have never really 'dieted' before.

In high school, I was TINY...like I barely weighed 100 lbs when I graduated. That was just how I was, it wasn't due to any effort on my part. In my early 20's I gained a little weight, but nothing crazy, and if anything it just made my boobs bigger, so its like not really a big deal, right? Well, in my early (ahem), ok MID- 30's I am now struggling to even keep my weight below the 140 mark. If you told me that 15 years ago, I would have thought that was CRAZY. Surely I'd never gain almost 40 lbs after HS.

But, alas, 15 years and 2 kids later, here I am. And I am determined to do something about it.

Starting NOW. (Well, Monday.)

Mulligan!

2008-11-30T18:31:00.000-08:00

Ok. I am calling a mulligan. Do over.

With the holidays, Colin's birthday and guests in town and all sorts of craziness I got off track with my workouts and my weight watchers. I am starting Day One of my workout again tomorrow (at 5:30 a.m.) and am skipping weight watchers for now and following the diet outlined in the plan. Mostly lots of lean meats and veggies for first few weeks, then loosens up a bit to allow more carbs etc.

I think my best plan is to do my workouts as planned, and stick to the diet during the week. I find that my weekends are my downfall. I go overboard and then feel off track and hard to get back on the wagon again on Monday. I'm thinking I allow myself the weekends (instead of feeling like I F-ed up) to eat and drink as I like, I can be more strict with myself during the week. Like, ok, I can forgo this philly cheesesteak, because I can have one on Saturday? Make sense?

I am now adding work into the mix with my workouts and thats a new dynamic. I am thinking I will be working about 10 hours a week, and hopefully most of those when Colin is napping, so that limits my workout time. If I can't coordinate it and get myself up early or workout while watching Colin, I may decide to join my old gym and workout right after I drop off Jordan at school. This way Colin can go to the daycare while I workout and when I get home I can work while he naps, then off to pick up J at school. This might be a more realistic schedule for me.

More updates later....promise! I'll be better. I swear.

Day Two...

2008-10-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

So...I've completed two of the workouts for my first week of P90X. Collectively, I've spent about two hours jogging, jumping, rolling, squatting, and kicking all over my garage.

The first workout I did was called Core Synergistics. It is about an hour long including warm up and cool down and focuses on your core muscles, abs, back, etc. All in all it wasn't too bad. The biggest problem I had was with the push ups as I am not strong at all with my upper body. There was a lot of abdominal work which wasn't so bad, and quite a bit of lunges as well. I made it through ok and am mildly sore (but I must admit, knowing that I had 5 more days of workouts this week, I didn't really try as hard as I could to keep up with all the different types of push ups.)

Today was Cardio X which is about an hour as well, and is designed to just burn calories. This DVD is basically snip-its of the other cardio CD's in the program. At first I thought it was going to be a cake walk, because we did a 5 minute warm up and then some yoga poses, which were mildly challenging.

But then we started with the Plyometrics moves...which is a bunch of jumping and squatting....that got my heart racing in about a minute. I muddled through the plyo moves, and just when I thought we were moving on to something else, Tony (the host) says..."One more time through the plyo moves!" so I had to do it ALL OVER AGAIN. It was a bit challenging!

So after plyo, it was on to Kenpo, which is basically kick boxing. This kept up my heart rate but I didn't find it too hard....just trying to be coordinated to do all the punch moves was tough for me. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut! I think if I hadn't been taking kick boxing once a week over the last two months at the gym, it would have seemed alot harder because it was definitely a good workout.

Then onto the CORE section...basically repeating alot of the moves I did yesterday...which was tough because it was pushing all my sorest muscles.

So...two days down.....88 to go? Ugh...that sounds so bad, doesn't it. Maybe I should think of this as a lifestyle change? Or is that worse? I'm not sure!

I went to Costco and loaded up on all sort of good protein foods...chicken, salmon, shrimp etc..since Scott and I are doing the diet as well. I have a feeling this will be a bigger challenge for me...after all, there was no wine listed on my food guide!!!! Aghhhhhhhhh.....and you know I love my pasta and rice....

On a separate note, I was up early this morning and I happened downstairs to catch Scott's workout (his workout today was Plyometrics) and all I can say is that I am glad that DVD is not in my rotation! (Scott is doing the classic version, and I am doing the lean version so some of our workouts are different) I got a good chuckle at Scott hopping around the garage swearing at the host....I'll have to sneak a video for you all...shhhhhh. I tease but I do have to say it is nice doing this workout "together". We are both on the same page with our diet and we can laugh (much later, after we catch our breath) at the torture we are going through. It's pretty cool.

...And We Are Off!

2008-10-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

So....my husband and I have been complaining for years about how out of shape we both are compared to when we first met. Now, I have some readily available excuses...such as having children (two in the last three years) and aging (my metabolism isn't what it was when I was 20!) but we decided enough of the excuses and time to get in shape.

We had family in town two weekends ago, and one Scott's cousins was telling Scott and I about a program he and his girlfriend have been doing....P90X. Its by the same people that do Turbo Jam, and Slim in 6 (which sits, ahem, in my DVD cabinet gathering dust). Basically it is 12 workouts you alternate over a 90 day period. Once you determine what your fitness goals are (bulking up, slimming down) you work from a calendar of workouts specific to that goal. You work in three phases, each a month long. From what I understand, each workout is an hour long, and you do a workout 6 days a week, with one day to rest. In the last week of each phase is a recovery week, where you still work out but the program cuts you a little slack and lets your body recover from the hell it has put you through for the prior three weeks.

I am a little intimidated by this program, as it seems pretty intense, lots of people have written to not even try this program if you are just starting working out. Luckily I've been working out the last few months, but am no where near in the shape I want to be. I only hope I can keep up and finally see some meaningful results from working out.

Originally, when my husband ordered this, I thought I would try a tape now and then in addition to my classes at the gym...but my gym went belly up and closed last week....so this is it for now...Could it be fate? Could this be the program I finally stick to and get myself back in some sort of shape that I can be remotely proud of?

I'm about to sit down and watch the introduction DVD now. Tomorrow morning its GO TIME....and we are starting with workout number one. Then off to grocery store to buy all the food I'm ALLOWED to have.

I'll keep you up to date...and maybe, just maybe, I'll get up the guts to post my "before" picture...But don't count on it!