Down Again!

Hello!

Well, following my checklist of what to do last week paid off!  I am down 2.2 pounds today, losing the weight that I gained last week plus a little extra.  I've been focusing on working out almost everyday (five days this week), drinking a lot more water, and staying under my 1500 calorie limit each day.  We even had a splurge day- Tim and I went to Applebees Monday after our lunch shift.  We went for the $5.99 burgers, and happened to hit happy hour as well.  We went a little crazy, and got burgers, mozzarella sticks, and I had a margarita.  It was wonderful after a rough shift at work, and nice to not think about the calories for a little bit.

I was immediately filled with guilt after we splurged.  We also aren't used to having that heavy food anymore, so we promptly passed out when we got home.  After the nap, I hit the gym for the second time that day, doing 35 minutes on the bike in the morning and 25 in the evening.  To top off the day, we went for frozen yogurt (we did walk there- about 1/2 mile).  Total calories for that day were very high, about 2400!  I burned about 800 at the gym, and serving averages about 150-230 calories burned per hour, so I ended up breaking even.  Still, it is crazy to think that used to be a regular day for us- without the exercise.  Now, when we go over on food for the day, I make sure to make up for it.  I'm ok working off the food, as it allows me to break the healthy food cycle every now and then.  Days like that also serve as a reminder to how easy it would be to slip back.  2400 calories is about 2/3 of a pound.  If we didn't work out, I could easily have gained about a half pound (theoretically) in one day!  I also recognized how terrible I felt after eating.  We fell asleep almost immediately after returning home- I felt so sluggish, and had to make myself go back down to workout again.  I have gotten used to feeling better everyday, and I don't want to give that up for burgers!

This week, we are planning on trying out this recipe I found on Women's Health Magazine for a healthy version of Arroz con Pollo.  We will also be walking to the frozen yogurt place down the street a night or two this week.  As long as we don't pile on the toppings, an 8 ounce serving only has 110 calories, and it's delicious!  This coming from a girl who loves ice cream- got hooked on it from a young age.  This is just as good, and we walk there and back, so it's not a terrible treat to have!

I am hoping to be officially down a size within a month.  I can fit into one size smaller jeans, but they are a little snug for how I like the fit.  I have lost three inches around my waist (so it looks like I am curvy), an inch around my hips, belly and boobs, and about a half inch each from my neck and arms.  That's a total loss of seven inches!! Sadly, I haven't lost anything from my legs yet,  but I'm really looking forward to it!

I hope this is helping some of you get motivated to be healthier!  If I can manage to lose weight without feeling like I'm suffering, I know anyone can!  Feel free to ask any questions, or comment any tips of your own!  I still haven't worked out with the website how to comment anonymously from smartphones, but hopefully that bug will be worked out with blogger!
(you may be able to if you go to the full site version on your phone)

Have a great week!

"Progress"

Hey everyone! 

I'm still doing my challenge- but I think it should be a "fitness" challenge instead of a "running" challenge.  My legs really aren't running legs yet.  It gets really hard on the joints, and I don't want to be walking around like an old lady yet.  Here is my journal from where we last left off: 

Day six:  I went a little bit longer today!  I ran for 23 minutes, and kept up with the warm up for three minutes, then intervals of 2 minutes after that.  I’m getting faster little by little every day!  My pace today was 13.29 minute miles, so I went 1.73 miles!  I’m hoping to be up to two miles next week, in about 25 minutes.  I wanted to push myself today to go 25 minutes, but I don’t want to push too hard and have to stop.  I also went to the grocery store today and got healthy food, because I gained one pound at TOPS today, and I don’t want to be doing all this running and sweating for nothing.

Day Seven:  I opted for the bike instead of a run today.  Running is hard on the hips and knees.  I figured I’d give them a bit of a break.  To keep up with exercising, I went for 35 minutes and did just over seven miles, with higher resistance on the bike.  Thanks to the running, I’ve built up more cardio strength.  I was able to do much higher resistance than normal for both rest and work periods.  

Day Eight:  I got up to two miles today!! I really, really didn’t want to work out.  I almost skipped it for a nap.  A nap wouldn’t have gotten me as sweaty, but I also am really proud of getting up to two miles- at 24:54!!!  I kept going, and did my last rest interval, for a total of 26 minutes, 2.07 miles.  I’m down to under 13 minute miles!! Much better than the 15+ minute mile I started with (or the 17 minute mile outside).  12.56 minute miles to be exact!! I am very glad I worked out when I wanted to do anything but that.  I made myself put on the shoes, and said I was just going to do a short workout.  I ended up doing my longest and farthest run (so far).  Keep at it!!

I am getting a little discouraged with my weight loss so far. I've been working out way more than I ever have (which was pretty much nothing), we have cut out all fast food, and judging by my "cheat days," we've cut out about 800-1000 calories on a daily basis. I've also cut back on beer- I didn't drink a lot before, but now I don't drink any. With all of this that we've cut out, and all the work I've been doing, I haven't had a lot of progress. I'm still only down about ten pounds from my heaviest at the beginning of the year, and have only gone down about three pounds since I joined TOPS. It's very frustrating!!!

We sometimes go out to eat, and I'm sure that doesn't help, but overall, we've made a drastic change in what we eat, and I'm really sad about the lack of results.

On the plus side, I've never been able to do a mile in 12.5 minutes, and today I did two of them! I know my heart is getting in better shape, and I am getting healthier. But can't I get healthier and lose some pounds?

Anyway, things that I've been doing to hopefully be down this week are: stocking up on healthy lunch things. We've been having turkey wraps on either spinach tortillas or using lettuce wraps, with soup or cottage cheese for lunch. We've also been getting back into our smoothie kick. I now know that I can eat lettuce wraps, and that I like almond milk. We put it in our smoothies, and I put some in coffee or hot chocolate when I have a cup.

I have also been getting better at recognizing when I am hungry versus when I want to eat. It gets pretty difficult sometimes to stay under 1500 calories, but I really do try! We have also been trying to take out dinner from the freezer in the morning, and prep meals before we go to work so we have no excuse to make dinner at home.

I hope some of this is helping with your weight loss goals!

Also, I've discovered that mobile commenting isn't working as "anonymous," but it works to comment if you are on a computer. Don't know why that is- but feel free to email me! eringesine@gmail.com

Running Challenge Progress!

Hey all,

So I started a 21 day challenge to run every day.  I'm very much a beginner, so it's been difficult, and I already missed a day due to pain.  I'm working through it, and it is making me feel pretty good about myself.  I've been keeping a daily journal after each run, and here it is so far:

Day one: I “ran” about a 15.4 minute mile.  Last time I ran- around my birthday last year, I was at 17 minute miles, so its better.  All the cycling I’ve been doing has helped a bit with my cardio strength.  I was able to run for two minutes straight, and could have gone a little more, but I don’t want to go too hard and have to stop before the challenge is even over.  I’m happy with being able to run for two minutes at a time!  Before, when I’ve tried running, it was a struggle to get to 30 seconds at a time- even when I was in better shape than I am now!  So, I warmed up for five minutes walking, ran for two then walked for three.  I repeated until I got to twenty minutes.  I’m planning on running twenty minutes each day the first week, 25 the second week, and 30 the third week.  If I can manage that through this challenge, I will then start focusing on shaving time off my pace.  My legs feel like jello, and I was a little dizzy when I stepped off the treadmill, but more water before I run will help that!

Day two:  My time went down a bit, today I did a 14.19 minute mile.  It’s not great or anything, but for me, I’ll take it.  My shins hurt a bit when I was on the treadmill, but I think they’re just more sore than anything.  To be safe, one day a week during my running challenge, I’m going to get on the bike instead of the treadmill.  I know that it isn’t running, but I’m hoping it will help with stretching out my legs.  They’ve never really run before.  I kept with the run two minutes, walk three minutes thing today, but I upped the speed a bit, where my “rest” periods were at a brisker pace, and my “work” periods were a bit faster, about a 5.7 on the machine- about 10 minute miles.  I wasn’t dizzy this time, and ran a bit later in the afternoon, after eating breakfast and having a couple glasses of water, and binge-watching The Following.  I definitely need to find some stretches and exercises to get my knees stronger, they are sore.  

Day three: I skipped today. :(  I didn’t want to!  I busted my toe up real nice at work and it was too swollen to get into my running shoes.  The group at work I’m doing the challenge with is starting tomorrow, so I’ll “start” with them.

Day four:  I ran outside today.  It was difficult. It’s pretty hilly by my place, and my toe was still in bad shape.  It hurt to jog, so I mostly walked.  I went about 1.5 miles in 25 minutes, and only made it through one “work” period of about 1 ½ minutes.  I am glad that I went for a run, but I will stick to the treadmill for right now.  As a beginner, it is nice to be able to set a pace, and see the timer for each rest and work set.  I like knowing exactly how fast I am going at each interval.  

Day five:  Back to the treadmill today.  I picked up the pace a bit, and ran 1.44 miles in 20 minutes.  I’m trying to decrease my rest interval times, so I warmed up for three minutes today, then did 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off for the rest of the run.  This is difficult, and very challenging for me, but something about it also makes me feel strong.  Running through the shin splints, sweat, and past the voice in my head saying “stop!” makes me feel pretty powerful.  

I'm getting faster on the treadmill and am able to shorten my rest periods, which makes me feel pretty badass. Tomorrow is TOPS, so I'll see at weigh-in how it's working. We haven't been as diligent with our food as we have in the past, but we are slowly getting back on track.

I'm also working on a presentation for TOPS, every week someone does about a 20-30 minute talk on anything weight-loss related, and it's my turn next week! I have it done, if it goes over well, I'll post it here.

If you want to come along for a weight loss challenge, let me know!!


Also, I've had a few people tell me they've had problems commenting directly on the blog- I removed the word verification part, if it helps, comment! If it doesn't, email me! eringesine@gmail.com

Thanks! Talk to you soon!