Stress Eating?

Yeah, I'm a stress non-eater... Seriously. My best diet is to put a ton of pressure on me.

Right now I'm really wishing we hadn't sold our punching bag prior to moving into the house we live in now. It would be very useful at the moment.

You CAN go back!

I'm getting back on the wagon, slowly but surely.

Last week, I ran/walked and went swimming.

Yesterday afternoon, I ran/walked in the HOT! HUMID! heat.

Now. If I can keep up with that and start back to eating healthy food, well I'll be all set!

24 Days And Counting...

It's been 24 days since I even came close to a hint of a workout. My hiatus ends tonight. I'm sick of myself.

Time to get back into the swing of things...

Okay people, it's been two and a half weeks since this body has ingested anything remotely healthy or done any physical activity over and above the normal movement from bed to shower, car to desk stuff.

I looked at my vacation pictures over the past three years and I do realize that I mistakenly thought I was in rock-hard shape last year. I definitely looked better this year. I really want to keep it up.

BUT... Here come the "buts"...

It's so HOT!
I've not been feeling well since we got back
I've been so busy
I'm exhausted
Did I mention how HOT it is?
Who has the time?
I'm sick and tired of salad and of cooking.
It's so much easier to microwave a burrito.
I've taken my bikini photos. Why bother anymore?

I'm totally boring myself with my excuses. I need some motivation, people. Something to move my bone-tired ass off the couch and out the door while listening to some good tunes on the IPod. Should I attempt to get up early and do my workout in the morning? Stop laughing, Dr Pop! ARGH!!! Maybe I should insist we go to the pool after work each day and just swim some laps. But what about laundry? And cooking dinner? What about those??? I need some help and I need some advice and I need some freaking motivation!!!

What are y'all doing?

Countdown? To What?

Even though summer won't officially begin for a few more days, for me the season officially begins around Memorial Day Weekend.

Now that the "countdown to summer" is at an end, and I completely revised my eating and exercising habits up until the plane to Mexico took off, I'm in need of something else to work towards.

I didn't exercise at all on vacation (unless you count the numerous strolls in town I did, or the half mile sprint through the airport on Saturday in order to just miss a flight) and I ate a lot of BAD but YUMMY stuff six times a day. I guess my new goal is to go back to my healthy self. Sigh!

Three more months of swimsuits...

Goals

So. Everyone who reads this (all three of you) knows my goals...

1) Make healthier food choices
2) Exercise regularly
3) Get bikini-ready in time for my trip (in 9 days...)

And guess what? I'm doing it! I slip up from time to time, but I have really been making a solid effort to eat right (no McDonald's, pizza, junk) and exercise 3 to 4 times per week.

While my butt and abs could still see some improvement, I'm so happy with myself and the results I've been seeing. And every time I feel lacking in motivation, something pops up to get me right back on track.

Keeping up with things on here has been a tremendous help! This is a lifestyle change for me. And I think it may be working. :)

Seriously. Why?

Two f-ing pop tarts at 4 PM. That would be 400 calories. And I ate them both in under 2 minutes.

ARGH!!! I have 10 days left!

Did You Know?

Alcohol makes you retain water?

As does PMS?

And foods high in sodium?

Yeah. I'm de-toxing from the weekend right now. I had to get my system in shape for the massive amount of indulgence that will be occurring in less than three weeks! ;-)

Wagons

I've fallen off the wagon...

I've gotten back on the wagon...

I've been half on and half off the wagon... Like today for instance when I was healthy up until the "Dragon Spicy Beef with Egg Drop Soup and Eggroll" at the Chinese place by the tanning salon.

I've drug the wagon down to the park with child in tow a couple of times, too. But that was literally.

22 days from this exact moment in time, we will be on the beach. My body still isn't quite ready.

So tonight, and for the next 21 nights, I'm going to be super strict and regimented. Salads! Running! Weights! Dips! Lunges! DVD's!

And I'm NOT going to indulge in today's proffered snack of apple pie and strawberry shortcake. Nuh-uh. Nope. Not me!!!

Are you out there?

My first week of seriously stepping it up went pretty well. I got in a solid aerobic workout as well as a 30--40 minute jog/walk Monday-Thursday. I got on the eliptical machine on Friday night and did an hour. It was so crazy fun to do something different. I was so crazy sore the next day. I didn't do anything the next day as a result. Or on Sunday... I lost a couple pounds and finally officially dropped that pants size I've been working on. I should be pleased but I'm being hard on myself and being pissy that it isn't happening quicker. Monday found me back on the eliptical do-hickey for another hour. I am not so sore today. I hope to get another round done tonight as well as at least a short Turbo Jam workout. I'm still banging it out. You?

Setbacks

As I predicted, the family visit has been hell on my plan...

No workout for me Tuesday or Wednesday. Also, while I've been able to eat very well during the day, at dinner I go a little crazy. Last night we had Mexican food. Chips, queso, tacos, refried beans. The works! I ate too much.

My only saving grace over the past two days has been the fact that I've done some cleaning and laundry, and I've walked around more at work. That is good.

Oh, and last night, I did an upper body strength workout. Not too hard, mind you, but it was something at least!

One month, five days until I'm on the beach!!!

Trudging.

Is that a word? Trudging? Am I spelling it correctly? Either way, it suits me just fine. I'm trudging along. I finally got a good grip on the new pace of the new Turbo. I decided this week to add some running into my everyday workout too. Hopefully it'll push me over the hump or rut or whatever I'm in. Also a plus, when running, I don't have to see the young girl with the swan body on Fatblaster. It's funny, I've been doing the original workouts for so long, I'm all "Who are these people? Where are my friends?". Thank goodness for Mindy is all I can say. She's still there doing her easier workout, same as always. And when I say run, I really mean jog. A slow jog.

I'm trying to burn off as much as I can between yesterday and when we go to Disney (on the 28th). Then I'll take a break (fortunately you never gain weight at Disney for all the walking) and go hardcore again for another two weeks. I think this'll be good. I'll let you know how I do.

Oh and in case you're interested, my new favorite song to work out to is Suga Mama by Beyonce.

And with a single-minded determination...

I have turned working out into a habit. Hooray!

Now, I just have to find the time and inclination to work out while my parents are here. It's so easy to fall into the trap of eating all the time and sitting on the couch when they are around. I will just have to force the issue. I have one month and one week until I leave for my trip. I plan to be cut. up. before then.

And I'm on a new calorie-counting kick. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not, though, because I am becoming slightly obsessed with tracking every molecule of food. Hmmm...

Working out at home...

Yesterday was a rough day...

I got home from work.

I relaxed a bit.

I changed and put in "Punch, Kick, and Jam."

I made it through the warm up and a couple of punching sets.

"Mommy!"

I stop working out and spend some time with my family.

Little Pop goes and watches a movie.

I put in "Fat Blaster."

"Mommy!"

I stop working out.

I go play with egg-shaped chalk out on the back porch. I drew rainbows.

I decide to at least get an ab workout in.

I put in "Ab Ripper 200."

I make it through 85 of the 200 reps.

"Bootyhead..."

I stop (partially because I cannot speak and also do crunches at the same time, partially because I couldn't possibly do another rep).

I did spend about half an hour stretching, though. That must count for something, right?

At least I ate well*

*If you don't count the fact that I finished Little Pop's ABC's and 123's with meatballs... It was only a few bites!!!

I'm Back.

(Ha. I posted this on the artsy blog I belong to on accident. Oops. They probably think I'm crazy talking about work-outs and sneakers on the craftyfunstuffblog. Oh well. Maybe I deleted it before anyone saw it.)

Well I made it through a long weekend vacation without gaining weight. So that's good. Now that I'm back I started working out again. I tried out my new FatBlaster today. It was strange but fun. Hopefully I'll "get it" more next time.

A question for you: What kind of sneakers do you wear? I have literally worn my old shoes out. I bought new ones just like the old ones but they make my feet hurt sooo badly. I actually had to take them off half-way through my work out today. So I'm in the market for new ones and I'm unsure what to get. After watching the silly "In Da House" tour of Chalene's house and seeing all her Nikes maybe I'll just get those.

I hope I can stay on track here. I really need to step it up and KEEP it up. Throw some inspiration my way.

Switching Gears

Last week, I didn't work out very much. I think I went a little nuts the week before and needed the recovery time. I did about two days of cardio, a little bit of abs, and some tricep dips.

Does house cleaning count as exercise? I worked up a sweat and used muscles, so I hope so. If it does, then I got three days of cardio. :)

Yesterday afternoon, after I woke up from a nap and inhaled a donut, I decided to run. I did a warm up walk, then ran 1/2 a mile, walked 1/2 a mile, ran 1/2 a mile, and walked another 1/2 mile. It took about 25 minutes in all. I then did the free gift ab video that came with my original TJ purchase. It was a six minute ab workout that is a killer. You do 20 reps of 10 different crunches. Today, my legs feel so weary that I'm rethinking the workout I'm getting from TJ. Either it's not doing it anymore for me, or I'M not doing enough. I'm thinking I'm the problem.

I have a month and a half to lose my belly and gain some arm muscle. I'm focused. I'm driven. And the bitch that I hate, who is my motivation, is looking pretty fat. I love it!!!

Fake Boobs...

Emily,
I've heard that the fake ones do not move like real ones, so you're probably right. As a girl with small-ish and droopy ones, I still feel the movement on some portions of the cardio unless I am wearing an ace-bandage-type jog bra.

Ellen

"Not so good Chalene"

That's what I usually say when she asks "How're you doin'?". I've been trying to find a new swimsuit the past couple days. We're taking a trip in a while and I need one. Last year I struggled with my old one all summer long and this year I just can't do it again. It has no support, it's two sizes too big. I just can't. While it should make me feel good that I don't fit in it anymore, it means I have to shop for a new one. I have to have an underwire bra in it (remember what I said about big boobs) and it's really hard to find them. There were 8 swimsuits at Nordstrom that had them. 6 of those were one pieces (which I can't wear because I am oddly shaped). And the other 2 were horrible. Same situation at Dillards. I did buy one at Dillards but when I brought it home My Man said "It's cute. It's not like...Super Cute. But it's ok." And I don't want to feel like that's what he's thinking. So anyway. I've continued working out. I did the 20 Minute Cardio and Ab Jam yesterday. Oh, and I don't really mean "not so good" when she asks. In general I really like these workouts. They're fun and not entirely annoying.

Hey a quick question...you guys said her boobs are fake, right? Is that why they don't move? Do fake boobs not move? The other girls are either small chested or they're chests bounce when jumping around. But hers don't. I was just curious.

Calorie Counter

Pitter Patterson told me about www.sparkpeople.com as a place to track calories and exercise, etc. I have to say that I was skeptical at first. I was doing South Beach. I didn't need it.

Well, I registered. Just as I created a spreadsheet to track monthly spending and find patterns in it, I need to track what I ingest and look for patterns. Yesterday, for example, I consumed 3000 calories. Actually, that is a low estimate. It makes me slightly ill to think about, but half of those calories came from the "healthy" choice I made for lunch... Chinese food with BROWN rice instead of white. Ugh!

You know something, though? It would be wrong to 100% cut oneself off from all food favorites. It's the perceived deprivation that leads to downfall on any plan to improve your health and fitness. My problem yesterday was not that I ate a 1500 calorie lunch, but rather I came home and ate Cheetos, Taquitos, and handfulls of Golden Grahams instead of something a little better for me for dinner. No vegetables entered my system at all yesterday.

Come to think of it, the "Breakfast of Champions" was probably a better choice for breakfast than the one I made for lunch.

On the exercise front, I'm not necessarily seeing results from my 6-day all-out blitz, but I'm also not seeing the results of my aforementioned lunch, either. Must be a correllation there somewhere. What I am noticing in myself, though, is that I am starting to look forward to the workout. I'm looking forward to rolling my eyes as Chalene asks me if I'm having a good time. And when I'm done, I want to do more. And I feel so much more relaxed afterwards.

Overdoing It.

I have worked out for at least an hour a day since Saturday.

I really should have taken today off. But I didn't. I did Turbo Sculpt instead.

I'm tired.