slimmersoon

I’ll admit it, I have an entire room of workout equipment.  I should be in awesome shape!  But so much gets all too frequently covered in dust.  I have decided to really, really use what I have and work out this body to get in shape.  I even bought some new gadgets and I’m loving them.  I need to get back to my treadmill but for the last two weeks I have focused more on strength exercises.  I have started using my stability ball and have been doing crunches like crazy.  So much so that it seems that ache in my abs is a constant now (and I love that).  I recently received one of those step box thingies for my birthday and decided to give it a real go.  Caution!!! If you are out of shape you should start slow and on the lowest level, good advice that I myself didn’t take.  I did 15 minutes non-stop at a rapid pace and for the next 3 days I was in so much pain.  I’m not kidding, everyone was laughing at me at work and at home because I was walking all goofy.  My calf muscles were screaming, it felt like constant charlie horses in my muscles.  Today finally being able to walk again, I gave it another go at a lower level and much slower pace, we will see tomorrow I guess.  Hopefully I can still walk or people at work are going to be wondering about me :)  Today I was at a sporting goods store and finally caved in and bought another gadget I had been eyeing, it’s one of those weighted bars.  I got the 12 pound one and I’m very excited about it, my arms definately need some shaping up.  I have seen different ways to use these in magazines I just need to figure out exactly how to do all of the different exercises.  I have been trying to sneak in more exercise when I can, it can be very hard on those days when I’m at work because I get up at 4:30am and then work all day then don’t get back home til 8pm.  I am getting more exercise and I need to start focusing more on my food, I was doing so good but slid a bit during and after my vacation.  But I’m gaining motivation and I am ready to see the numbers on that scale slide (down), so here goes! 

Well, I’ve been on vacation this past week and it was wonderful.  My boyfriend and I both celebrated our birthdays and our 12 year anniversary last Sunday by going away for a week in the Smoky Mountains.  It was our first real vacation together in all these years.  We rented a cabin up in the mountains and I had so much fun.  The leaves were changing and everything was so beautiful.  One day we went to Gatlinberg and did the tourist thing and then we discovered the National Park and everyday after that was spent there.  I got to see a bear.  We even got in some hiking, and oh did my body let me know I’m out of shape (I really appreciated that our cabin had a hot tub after that first hike).  By the last day of hiking I was loving it, being active and out in nature.  I felt inspired to start doing more active things outside back here at home.  Check out a few of our pictures from the trip.

Our vacation was beautiful, great, and much needed.  I can definately say I didn’t want it to end.  But while we were active and did not eat out as much as we could have.  I have seen a gain (I’ll admit I did have a caramel apple among other things).  We came home Friday night, then we had a huge family get together on Saturday with tons of good ole’ southern cooking then we ate out last night.  I had fried fish (bad, I know and full of salt.)  So today I was very nervous about getting on the scale with good reason.  I had over a 5 pound gain, granted some of it is probably all of the salt from last night, but no good.  I also have not been drinking water, we have no groceries here at home and it is time to restock.  I go back to work tomorrow and have made up my mind to get back to it.  I was doing really well and while I wouldn’t trade one second of my vacation I’m ready to get back in healthy mode.  I had DVR’d some episodes of Biggest Loser and watched them today while doing some situps and other exercises in my living room floor.  We were going to go biking but discovered one of the bikes needs repairs first.  I had a blast but know I have work to do.  I will be eating healthy and taking lunch to work, getting in exercise every chance I can and drinking lots of water.  So off to start a new week.  Hope its a great one for you guys too! 

Sunday night and man what a weekend.  It has been a good weekend, busy but good.  It seems like I need a few more days rest before heading back to work in the morning.  I have been go go go all weekend especially yesterday.  Friday we got a late start we headed into town.  We did lots of shopping, took care of some errands and went to eat.  Yesterday I got an earlier start, but I did get up and exercise before starting my day.  My boyfriend and I have the same birthday and it is also our anniversary, its coming up next weekend.  We went and visited with his dad then went into town and met my family for lunch, they took us out to eat (for our b-day/anniversary) and then we all went to my brother’s house, where they had cake and ice cream.  You could definately say it was not a good food day for me, but I was really glad I had exercised first thing.   We were rushing from place to place and finally went to a pub last night to watch one of our friend’s bands play.  We had a great time!  Today I have been trying to catch up on housework (mainly laundry) and reading blogs.  I cooked a bisque for supper tonight and am ready to get back on track tomorrow. 

While my eating has not been the best this weekend, I’m not upset or beating myself up about it.  I had a great weekend with my friends and family and I still journaled everything, even the cake and ice cream.  I drank my water and got in some exercise, though not as much as planned.  Tomorrows a new day and I’m ready.  I’ve already planned what I’m taking for lunch, I will pack extra water and hopefully be able to sneak down to the workout room on last break for some exercise.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend! 

I had such good momentum going.  But I feel it beginning to wane.  I’m still journaling all of my food and trying (key word here) to make healthy food choices.  My exercise is taking a bit of a hit, and I started out the week so good.  Yesterday I worked a 12 hour shift, which is my norm, 6:45am to 7:15pm, anyways around 5 or so I received a call that my boyfriends father was in the ER at another hospital, again.  I had planned to go down to the workout room after my shift and try to get in some kind of a workout so the day wouldn’t be a total waste in the exercise area, but instead went to the ER.  He has lung cancer for the second time and an aortic aneurism along with various other things.  Good news was the aneurism wasn’t leaking but he may have had a small TIA, but he didn’t want to be admitted to the hospital to have the stroke work up done.  Told the doctor he would rather do it as an outpatient.  I don’t know why men can be so stubborn with things that are so serious.  I guess the nurse in me took over and when everyone else went out for a while I stayed behind and talked to him about just how serious it could get and was as blunt as possible.  The doctor kept asking “you sure you don’t want to let us admit you and get all of these tests done now?”  But no, stubborn. 

Anyways, with those events, yesterday was a bust on exercise.  Food was also not the best, I did take my lunch to work and got in plenty of water.  But I picked up a happy meal on the way to the hospital, I wasn’t sure how long we would be there.  I could have done much worse.  But on the bright side, I weighed this morning and I am down 2 pounds!!!Yay!!!  It’s only been 4 days since my last weigh in but I’m thrilled to see the scale moving down again. 

 Today, so far has been kind of weird, I have tons to do and I’m so far behind.  I’m planning to leave shortly and knock out all of my errands and to-dos and hopefully get back in in time this evening to get some treadmill time in.  Hope you all are having a great Friday.

Today has been a pretty good day, despite working 12 hours and commuting and all the rest.  Yesterday’s workout and journaling food seems to be working, at least in the motivation department.  I even managed to sneak down to the weight room on my last break and got in 15 minutes of power incline intervals on the treadmill.  I have been successfully journaling since Saturday- I rarely make it a full week before giving up.  I’m also doing much better on getting in my water, I have only had 2 diet cokes today.  I’m feeling more energy and seemed to handle my stress better at work today.  I know I have to stick with the exercise, as it totally changes my mood for the better.  My muscles have that sore ache that I’m doing something good and I’m loving it.

Tonight I came home from work and jumped in the shower, fixed my bowl of cheerios for dinner and headed to my computer for some buddyslim motivation.  I think not blogging and not reading the blogs was part of my problem when I was in my slump.  I missed my buddyslim buddies.  I get so motivated reading blogs and comments and learning about other’s successes.  My motivation is high right now and I’m going to do everthing I can to keep it up.  I’m looking forward to weighing in next week, wow did I really just say that?

Happy Hump Day

It’s that time again, time to get back to basics.  I have not posted a blog in quite a while.  My life has been…. hectic for sure.  First I had some health issues, I was taking meds for my migraines and started having side effects, which sent me to the ER.  Then once I stopped the meds I had migraines almost constantly.  I went to like 5 doctors appointments and had a CT, which was negative, and now I’m started on new meds, which seem to be helping somewhat.  Then just as all that was getting under control 2 hurricanes hit us and working the while was just overwhelming.  We were lucky as far as the hurricanes go, no real damage just out of power for 7 or 8 days.  However, I lost all of the food in my fridge and my deep freezer, which led to lots of eating out and unhealthy food. 

I noticed that my scale was starting to creep back up a few pounds and I want no part of that, so it is time to buckle down.  I’m starting off slow but with determination.  Last week I started doing some exercises, nothing major just sit-ups, lunges, and arm stuff while watching tv.  Saturday I decided to get really serious and I have begun journaling everything I eat again.  I never seem to stick with journaling for long because I was always so concerned with keeping up with all of the details (fat, calories, sodium, fiber, etc).  This time I’m just going to keep up with what it is I’m putting in my mouth for a few weeks, to decide what my weaknesses are.  I’m still trying to restrict the possible migraine trigger foods (there are tons of them).  We finally went and bought groceries (no coming storms to worry about for the moment, lol) and I’m cooking at home as much as possible and taking my lunch to work.  Fast food is evil, and what’s more I don’t really like it, its just that it is convenient.

All weekend I have been sick with a migraine and sinus issues so I have spent the last few days in bed and on the couch.  But today I was feeling a little better and ‘no time like the present’ I got my butt up and exercised.  I walked 60 minutes on the treadmill and did 15 minutes of weights, abs, and arms.  I’m ready to see that scale get to moving- down that is. 

I have been reading lots of your posts and must say it has been the motivation I was lacking.  Well I must go for now, my timer just went off and supper is ready- chicken enchiladas, yum (they are healthy).  Hope you are all having a great day.

Fear and Stress are horrible things.  Especially if you are trying to lose weight.  I know there is such a thing as good stress but my stress lately has not been good.  It’s bad stress and too much of it.  About two weeks ago I had to go to the emergency room.  I had been taking some medicine to prevent migraines and I started having problems with my vision and pain around my eyes- listed as serious side effects, that if experienced seek emergency medical attention.  …..  So since my little trip to the ER I have had 2 appointments with my general practitioner, 2 appointments with my eye doctor and lots of bloodwork.  I was taken off the medication and since then have had migraines almost daily.  The last two days I was sound asleep and woke up because my migraines were hurting so bad.  It sucks waking up and starting your day with a headache that bad!  The problem has been the doctor’s are not really sure what’s causing all of the headaches, apparently the medicine I was on did help to prevent the migraines but after the scare that sent me to the ER I am not willing to take the medicine anymore.  So here is where the fear comes in.  My doctor has ordered a CT for me, to see if there is anything going on to cause the migraines.  And while I want answers, after some research I have done- the things that could be found by a CT are definately nothing I want anything to do with.  So I’m hoping that everything comes out okay and hopefully I can find a new way to reduce the migraines.

I have been looking into migraine diets.  Have any of you tried this?  I bought a book and have done some research online.  It is very similar to the diet restrictions for people on MAOIs.  The thing about the recommended diet is that most of the foods that I am eating will now be off limits.  There are lists and lists of migraine trigger foods, and although they may be healthy and diet friendly they may still trigger the headaches.  Examples: aged cheeses, cured meats (lunch meats), citrus fruits, nuts, yogurt/sour cream, meat and veggie extracts, broad beans, tomatoes, caffeine, and the big one artificial sweeteners.  So, needless to say its time for a complete diet overhaul.  I had gotten so used to eating my “diet foods” which contain those artificial sweeteners and now I will have to teach myself how to diet without them.  And I so love my diet cokes, and I used to choose yogurt for a healthy low cal snack but no more.  Since all of this has started I have noticed the scale is not so nice to me.  I just really need to focus and find my footing.  I will have to track everything that goes into my mouth to find what foods are ‘my’ triggers for migraines but hopefully just writing it all down will help me not overdo it.  I am nervous because it is recommended to eat every 3-4 hours to maintain blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia can be a trigger also) and with “my diet foods” restricted I am afraid.  I am afraid of gaining back what took me so long to lose.   It’s going to be hard.

I finally got there.  Yay!  After weeks and weeks of inching my towards a very small 5 pound mini goal, I finally did it.  I weighed in this morning and I made it!  It’s been taking me a really long time to lose but I’m making progress and I am really excited.  The scale read 164.2 this morning.  I think I’m going to set my next mini goal for the 150’s.  It’s been so long.  Even back when I did WW several years back my lowest weight was 163 (a 40 pound loss at the time) then I started gaining back.  But there is no turning back this time.  It certainly does help that I have been getting lots of compliments lately.  Don’t you just love those.  Some of them are from people that I have not seen in a long time so the last time they saw me was 30 pounds ago or so.  But I’ll still take them.  Compliments make you feel good and want to keep going.  I’m going to work hard to keep my motivation strong.  I recently got some smaller clothes and that helps and even some of the jeans I bought a few months back are starting to get a little loose :).  Thank you all for the support, I appreciate it in helping me with my motivation.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I have not posted in quite a while, but don’t think that I have given up.  No mam, I am still in this, my progress may be slow but I am still making progress and I am very happy with what I have done so far.  I am still not following any specific diet.  I have been reducing my portions, and learning to listen to my body- sounds weird.  I was raised in a clean your plate family and it has been very hard to learn to stop eating when I’m satisfied and walk away with food still sitting there.  I know it’s all in my head but it can be hard to undo years and years of learned behaviors.  But I have been doing pretty good lately.  I have, on a few occasions, eaten to the point that I was full (even really full once or twice) and I now loathe that feeling.  I like being able to stop when I have had just enough.  I rationalize that I’m not wasting- the rest can be saved for another time.  I also have been trying really hard to choose healthier foods.  I have been doing a lot of research on nutrition and “superfoods.”  And for the most part my diet is relatively healthy, I’m not going to lie on occasion I’ll still have pizza or whatever.  Everything in moderation.  Oh and do I love my diet coke, I know that it is not good for me, but it is one addiction I’m just not ready to give up.  I have been drinking more water, even packing 3-4 bottles in my work bag every day.  Baby steps, lol.  Last night my guy and I went out to eat (sushi again, my favorite) and then went shopping.  I had to buy some new scrubs for work, because (yay) my old ones are too big and they look all frumpy.  I actually fit into a small pant!!!!!  Little things make me so happy sometimes.  I was so excited I bought 2 pairs, I’m such a nerd.  I’m still really lacking in the exercise area.  I really think that is one of the reasons my stress level has been up.  When I exercise regularly I find it easier to cope with stress- have more energy, the whole 9 yards.  I was trying to sneak in short breaks to the workout room at work but things have been so crazy, that hasn’t worked out lately.  I have gotten some good exercise working out in our garden and yard but it’s just not enough.  I think its time to dig out my treadmill, I’m sure its feeling lonely back there in that room all alone for all this time, lol. 

Ups and Downs are to be expected or so it said when I posted my weight today.  But today, it was a gain.  My first to post here on buddyslim.  It’s only 2 pounds but still hard to see.  I have lots of reasons I could rationalize my gain on, TOM, too much salt, etc. But nonetheless its still a gain.  I’m just more motivated now to get back on track.  I still want to reach my next mini goal before my vacation in July.  I totally think that it is doable.  I just have to get focused.  So I’m cutting out all fried foods, which is not much.  Upping my water.  My fridge is stocked with healthy foods and my garden should help.  I have lots of fresh veggies.  I have also started wearing my pedometer again.  I got over 4 miles today at work.  I also finally got my key for the work out room downstairs at work, I just have to make myself take the breaks to use it.  So, here I go- back on track!