I haven’t given up, I promise.  I just haven’t been stepping on the scale to be able to post any changes.

My husband and I started working out together on September 29th.  We’ve never worked out together before (always separate or sometimes not at all).  We’re both really enjoying it (except for the getting up early part).  It helps to work out with a partner (pushes you to go farther).  We’re in the middle of week three this week.  Next week is a recovery week, but we will still be working out every day doing some cardio and a ton of stretch training.

We are doing the Beachbody P90X program.  It’s a 90 day program and I’m sure you’ve seen the infomercial on the TV before.  I’ve talked with several people who have done this workout and have gotten incredible results.  I’m not expecting to look “ripped” at the end of 90 days, since I have about 30 pounds I want to lose, but I do expect to be smaller and start showing some definition in some areas.  My husband on the other hand has about 5-10 pounds to lose (or so he says), but to me he’s in great shape already.  I have no doubt that he’ll be “ripped” or darn close to it at the end of 90 days.  I can already see a change in him.  Can you say “lucky me”.  Now I just need to give him a wife that matches his physique.

I will eventually post before and after photos, but they won’t be coming until I can see a noticeable improvement and am more proud of the body I’ve created.  More to come.  In the meantime, check out P90X.  It’s amazing!!!

Well, I stayed the same this week (blaming it on Aunt Flo’s visit again…man, that feels like just last week that she visited…*sigh*).  Nothing exciting to explain.  I did very well this past week with lifting weights, but didn’t do so well with cardio.  It’s definitely something I need to incorporate together (they go hand-in-hand).  I did purchase a few DVD’s on eBay this past week to help get me motivated (some step videos and kickboxing).  We’ll see if they get me motivated to work in some cardio this week.  We’ll see how this week goes.

I stepped on the scale this morning and lost another pound (and this is after half a large pizza last night…..wow, did I just admit that?).  So, I’ve now lost a total of 5 pounds, which translates to 20 sticks of butter.  Yea!  Some progress.

I’ve decided to do the Body-for-LIFE workout plan (weights three times a week and cardio three times a week with one day off from exercising).  We’ll see if I can stick with it.  I’m determined to get in at least 5 days of working out, but would love to work out a sixth day (which would be a Saturday).  There’s just something about working out on the weekends that never sticks with me, which is why I say, “we’ll see if I can stick with it”.

My eating plan will be the Eat Clean diet, which I’ve been doing, but not for every meal.  You can tell if I Eat Clean because I post the recipe here.  When I’m not posting recipes, I’m either making the meal again, eating leftovers of the meal, or not eating clean (which is probably the actual reason).  I would like to hit it hard, but it obviously takes commitment and I’ve never been committed to following a diet through.  I keep telling myself this is a way of life, but then think what way of life doesn’t include French toast smothered with butter and syrup for breakfast, fast food for lunch, and Mexican for dinner.  Ok, so that just proves what I’d prefer to be eating on a daily basis and why I need to lose weight.

So….here’s to another week….

This is one pound of butter.  Each stick of butter is 4oz., therefore 1/4 of a pound.  My 18-week challenge is to lose 100 sticks of butter - mostly the ones spread over my thighs, upper arms, and gut.

As of yesterday morning, I have lost 4 pounds.  Translated into butter, that’s 16 sticks.  Sixteen sticks!

As a very visual person, this stick of butter comparison is very helpful.  Not for stopping my craving for anything I can dip in or coat with butter, but for realizing that a pound is actually quite a large mass.  Not to mention an accomplishment.

With weight training, I am expecting to gain some muscle mass, which will show in my weigh ins (as not losing any weight).  Since the scale isn’t always motivating (seeing the numbers drop each week), I needed to pick something else that was visual (that should increase every week by adding more sticks of butter to it to represent my weight loss).  Even if I lose .25 (1/4 of a pound), that still represents in adding one more stick of butter to my pile, which shows change (however slight it is).

What visual aids do you use to show how much you’ve lost and to help keep you motivated?

Against my better judgment, I jumped on the scale this morning……and gained 4 pounds!  Yep, you read correctly…..4 pounds.  I’m not concerned though and I’m not going to let it get me down.  This is where I wish I could use another “no weigh-in” pass, but if I start throwing that out there each week, I’ll never weigh-in and then find that when I do step on the scale, it’ll read a gain of more pounds than I’m willing to think of.  I can’t rely on the scale to determine how healthy I am.

I did eat well last week and did work out 4 times (weights and cardio).  This definitely had to make a difference, which makes me wonder if I should have weighed in Friday morning.  I was feeling great going into the weekend, but we went away this past weekend and we ate out a lot!  I have no willpower when going to a restaurant.  I can’t just order a salad or a side veggie plate.  I can’t even begin to describe some of the greasy concoctions I ate.  It all tasted amazing, but hardly any of it settled well.  Our hotel had a made-to-order breakfast and we ate dessert after almost every meal.

The big thing for me is jumping right back on track after a food fest like that.  I’m already determined I’m going to, so the motivation isn’t lost.  Here’s to a better week.

Aunt Flo came for a visit this week and coupled with making and…..um…..eating the cookies and muffins that I made yesterday, I’ve decided NOT to even go near the scale today.  There’s no way it could be my friend.  I’ll check back in next week on the weigh in.

No, I didn’t forget to weigh in yesterday.  I purposefully skipped weighing in.  I was going to post to say that when you join Weight Watchers, they even give you a “no weigh in” pass that you can use for one week.  I was going to pretend to use that yesterday.

Last week I didn’t do so well with my eating or exercising.  I didn’t exercise at all due to awful foot pain (a pain I’ve never experienced on the ball of my foot called Sesamoiditis….sounds like more of a fungus than a foot pain).  We also went out to eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant, stopped by Starbucks for a Grande coffee favorite and dessert (larger than life size), and also ate various other junk related food throughout the week.

I always seem to do well for a week or two and then fall off the wagon.  In the past, I would completely quit, then gain the weight back, plus more, but I’m determined to change those bad behaviors.  So, I stepped on the scale today and thought that I needed to be truthful with myself and keep myself accountable (even if I gained weight).  To my surprise, I lost a half pound, which I’ll take.  And with that small encouragement, I’m jumping back on that wagon and getting back on track.

I’m a subscriber to Oxygen magazine and love it!  I read it from cover to cover, including what the Editor-in-Chief and the Publisher have to say.  In the October 2008 issue (yes, I know, it’s only August and I already have the October issue….I don’t quite understand it myself), the Publisher reminds us all about making our New Year’s resolutions in January and asks how many of us have stuck to them.  Well, I for one have had the same resolution for the past 10 years (to lose this weight once and for all).

The Publisher continues on by saying, “It’s not New Year’s, but our resolution, starting now, is to weight train all body parts regularly, to keep to three to four cardio sessions a week and to eat clean 24/7.”  He then goes on to say, “I’ll do it with you and we won’t need to make our usual New Year’s resolution.  We’ll already be where we want to be.  Let’s make it happen.  No excuses!”    I do find that very motivating.  How awesome would it be to be at goal weight (or at least close to it) by this coming January.  How awesome would it be to not have to make that resolution once again.  It doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” plan.  So what, that I didn’t stick to this in January this past year or the years before.  I’m accountable right here and right now for my actions.  I can’t change the past, but can make a change to do something about it NOW!  I’d like to try to stick with the cardio and weight training sessions each week and do my best to eat clean 20/6 (instead of 24/7….hey, I can’t expect to be perfect all the time).  So, that’s the plan for now.  Stay tuned for my journey.

This week I’ve done amazing!  I’ve worked out (well, twice, but I’m out of shape and was in a ton of pain, so needed to give my body some rest….yes, that’s my excuse).  I’ve eaten so well this week.  Everything has been “clean” for the most part, although I did indulge in the neighbors baked goods (I actually called twice to get some…..how sad is that?).  I had three toffee cookies, three chocolate chip muffins, and added to that a few pieces of licorice (maybe 4) and some pretzel rods (and this was spread out over the week).  I didn’t eat out (and I so wanted some pizza this weekend).  We even had a neighborhood party and I made sure to eat before we left the house so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat all the goodies there (and to my surprise, I ate absolutely nothing there, which is why I called my neighbors to get a “fix” from them).

So, I jumped on the scale today (not expecting anything too big, but after such a great week (compared to normal for me), I thought for sure I would have lost at least two pounds) AND….nothing.  I’m the same.  How frustrating!  All that work this past week, not indulging in the many things I really wanted to indulge in and for nothing…..until I decided to take my measurements (which I’ve heard is always good to do when you are not seeing the results you want on the scale).  The results….I’ve lost 3 inches in my waist, 1.5 inches in my hips, and 1 inch in my chest.  Not too bad.  It’s something and I’ll take it!  I just need to find something to motivate me to continue on this week and hopefully see something on the scale next week (or in the measurements again).  Wish me luck!

Every Monday I would like to weigh in and post how much I’ve lost on my blog.  This will serve as a motivation to me (in case anyone is checking up on me) and to just say it “out loud” (for anyone to read) will make this blog my accountability and will help me further my goal.  Please feel free to check up on how I’m doing each Monday or know to skip this day if you’re not interested. :)  One person who has motivated me to put my stats on this blog is Donna Downey.  Her recent post is all the motivation I need.

I will say that I did not exercise last week at all (although I had planned to).  I also did not eat extremely well, but far better than I ate in the weeks past.  I did incorporate several Eat Clean recipes, which I think makes a difference.  I also enjoyed several processed foods, including ice cream, licorice, chocolate chips, and a little fast food (all in moderation though).  I’m not about jumping into something “cold turkey”, so this week, I’ll do a little better (no fast food) and we’ll see where it takes me.  I also know that the weight dropped this week was a lot of “water weight”, but yet still very motivating (enough for me to want to continue on to see what the next week holds).

So, with that said (drum roll please), I lost exactly 5 pounds (to the ounce) this week.  Yea! My BMI went down 0.9, which is awesome! I am wanting to lose weight for my health (with the added benefit of looking good), so I will be watching my BMI and rooting for that “healthy” BMI number (only 17 more pounds to go to get to the “healthy” range).  *sigh* Diabetes and Heart Disease run heavily in my family and at the rate I’m going, I’m heading down that path. It’s time to make a change.