Happy Birthday

I want to wish my wife a very special Happy Birthday. I love you so much and I am so glad that you enjoyed your gift.

A fit gift for me!

My husband had an Edible Arrangements fruit basket delivered to me for my 33rd Bday (similar to the pic above).

It is so beautiful and it really made my day! I forgot all about the weight I didn't lose enough of (for the moment). It has pineapples, strawberries, grapes and cantaloupe.

I love it! Thanks honey!

Frustration settling in...

Today is my Bday and I expected to get on the scale and get a nice Bday surprise...wrong!!! The scale first displayed 195.4 (WTF!)...then before I got dressed I got on again and it displayed 194.6...my regular number that I can't seem to get past. I ate less than usual yesterday, we hiked Kennesaw Mountain on Sunday...and still no results! Could it be too much resistance training? Did I overdo it with the hill? Should I do more cardio than weights? I'm not sure what's going on!

It's time to talk to someone...

Shay's Measurement Updates

I am pretty content today. My official weigh-in weight is 194.6 (same weight I've been seeing for a few days now).

Chest, 44"
Waist, 40"
Hips, 46"
Thighs, 26" (both)
Arms, 12" (both)

That's a loss all over......yayyyyy me!

James is still the Biggest Loser right now, though. He weighed in at 319.4. Go Hubby!!!

He's the biggest loser!

Thanks to James for those nice comments about me! I am very proud of us also. This is the longest that we've stuck to a work out plan together...perhaps our time at Lifetime Fitness in Rochester is comparable but I feel better about this!

A day after I posted about possibly being stuck at a plateau I got on the scale and I was 194.6 and I've been there pretty much since. I have waivered between that and 195. I can't complain, though, because SLOWLY but surely the scale is moving in the right direction. Sometimes we get on the scale in the morning and James has lost...and I haven't :( Oh well, that's life! I am so proud of him! He's seeing results and so am I! That's all that matters!

I am a little concerned about our upcoming vacations and what will happen to our workouts and exercise; however, this is our plan: research gyms/recreation centers in the area (and we already have one), ensure a gym is at our hotel in Tampa (check), research restaurants in the local area and their nutrition information to make sure we make better decisions.

James is right...we are being tested by Satan! Gym closing, upcoming vacations, weekend temptations when going out with friends. Keep us in your prayers!

Are we on to something???

I wanted to put to the test my idea that we may need to have to add another full day of cardio. We both got onto the scale after our day of weights and we lost minimal. We got onto the scale after a full day of cardio and we lost more weight. Shay still seems to think that we may need to increase our intensity on our 30 minutes of cardio on our weight training days. We really have not talked about it but I am willing to see if my wife is onto something.

I am feeling pretty good about my eating. I am seeing results and my guardian angel (Shay) had to put me in check on Tuesday night because I almost ate a 4th taco and 2 pop tarts. Pop tarts were 200 calories per pastry. Oouch!!! I was a little disturbed that I could not eat it at the time, but I know that it was the best thing to do. I am grateful for her to be there to help me out.

Today was day 18 of our workouts and we found out that our gym is closing in just 6 days. Satan is trying to get in our way already. We have begun talking about new plans as far as where we will be working out. We are being and we have to be proactive about this whole situation. I am proud of my wife and proud of us for our dedication. This is, I believe, the longest that we have stuck to working out together.

YOU GO US!!!

Plateau?

Okay...I'm not sure if I'm at a plateau this early or what??? I seem to be stuck at 196 point whatever whenever I get on the scale now since last week. I suggested to James that we might need to increase our intesity. James thinks perhaps we're not doing enough and should add another full cardio day. I don't know????? I suggested that we talk to someone.

We're going to continue to press forward but I don't know how discouraged I will get if I continue to see this number day after day. I just want out of the 190s....that's when I'll know I have accomplished something....that's my measuring stick right now!

Pressing forward

It seems that I am at a stand still for now. I'm not sure if it's my visitor (Aunt Flow) or what? I am hoovering around 197ish and James is hoovering around 325ish the last couple of days. The good thing is that it's just a few days. Hey...I'm not 199 so I'll take it. I just know I can't be stupid again and blow my progress over the weekend. I see how long it's taking me just to get back to the same weight I just weighed in at last Sunday. Honestly, with diet and exercise combined I would think that the weight would just be falling off of our bodies...especially James (men lose faster concept). We're a little surprised that we have lost so little since becoming more serious about the gym. We have stuck to our plan and this is almost the end of week 3. I am so proud of us. We will just continue to press forward. I can definitely say that my clothes seem to feel better....not necessarily a looser fit but they don't feel tight (like they sometimes can feel).

Here are some tips I picked up on the internet:

Weigh yourself. Stepping on the scale first thing (after the bathroom, before breakfast, wearing little to nothing) gives you the most accurate read on your weight, which can fluctuate by up to three pounds during the day! It's a good idea to weigh in daily: A study from Brown University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill showed that 61 percent of people who did so maintained their weight within five pounds over time (compared with 32 percent who weighed in less often), mainly because it helped them catch weight gain early.

Eat breakfast if you're watching your weight. A hearty starter, ideally eaten within 15 to 30 minutes of waking and no later than 8 a.m., will help you stave off a gain. "If you don't eat breakfast, your body thinks it's in starvation mode, and you'll eat more food later on," Edlund says. A Harvard Medical School study confirms that people who ate a morning meal were one third less likely to be obese than those who didn't. Go for whole grains (oatmeal, whole-grain cereal, or whole-grain toast) with a serving of protein (an egg, a tablespoon of nut butter, or a slice of low-fat cheese) and some fruit to keep you alert and feeling full for longer. Aim for a meal of around 200 to 300 calories.

Get moving. Late afternoon to early evening (5 to 6 p.m.) may just be the best time to exercise, because that's when you're hottest, literally. Your body temperature reaches its daily peak (2 to 3 degrees warmer than in the morning), giving you maximum muscle strength, flexibility, agility, and stamina as well as faster reaction times. Even your lungs are using oxygen more efficiently at this time. You'll work out harder with less perceived effort and are less likely to injure yourself. Of course, any exercise is better than none, so if an early workout fits best with your schedule, keep it there. In fact, a.m. exercisers are most likely to stick to their habit: Studies have shown that more than 90 percent of people who work out in the morning are consistent about doing it.

Info found at http://health.msn.com/womens-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100239654&gt1=31036

Getting back on track

So...I worked out (30 minutes straight elliptical trainer) and followed it up with resistance training and......of course I feel much better. I ate right, cleaned out my system and now I can look forward. By the way, to top everything off yesterday I got a visitor (Aunt Flow)....at this time...I can't believe it. Anyway, I weighed in at 197 on the scale this morning so that is good....not the best but I'll take it. Like I said in my previous post, that was a lesson learned!!! I am hoping when Aunt Flow leaves, she'll leave me feeling and weighing much less!

Oh, I forgot to mention...my little black book is now a little green book. James got me a nicer one. Much appreciated hubby!!!

Restaurants are evil!!!

So after monitoring my calories that entire week and working my a** off at the gym Monday thru Friday, I turned around and blew it on Sunday by going out to eat with friends. Then I topped it off with ice cream at Bruesters. Why? It definitely wasn't worth it. I had fun hanging out but I have determined that if I don't take this seriously and stop going out to restaurants for awhile, I won't ever get out of the 190s. I'll just be playing around and losing the same five pounds over and over and over. That will get old...and discouraging. In all honesty, I probably needed to experience this. On my official weigh-in day I got down to 196.8. The next day I weighed in at 199.2. Now what I'm hoping is that over a two day period I'll get back to 196.8 with ease because I just need to get all of the crap I ate out of my system; however, it's a good possibility that I could spend all week working my a** off again just to get back to 196.8. Never again! If I even think about doing that again, I just need to reflect on this post.

IT WASN"T WORTH IT!!!

Shay's Measurement Updates

James is still trying to determine the right place to measure me on my arms and legs. This fool is using tatoos and blemishes as his marking point....lol

Here goes:

Chest, 44.5"
Waist, 40.5"
Hips, 46.5"
Thighs, 27" (both)
Arms, 12.5" (both)

A week ends and a week begins

Well well well. Another week is done. This is our 8th weigh in day and I must be honest, I am a bit discouraged. I started this whole process weighing 330, I now weigh 326. I had gotten as low as 320.6. I am discouraged a bit but I am still ready to press on. My wife weighed in today and by the looks on her face she is not totally happy, she had a loss of 2.6. She is now at 196.8. I am proud of her and myself because we have not even spoken of quiting our new scheduled workout plan. We have been going strong for 2 full weeks now. With week 3 on the horizon, I can only hope that we can see even better results this week.

I will be honest, last night was a temptation for me. We went on a drive just to get out of the house for awhile (I really think we wanted to show off our new headlight and our new tag light, lol). I was having some cravings. I wanted pizza, burgers and my wife admitted she wanted wings, boy did that sound good. But SUCCESS!!! We drove around, my wife began to fall asleep and we came home without putting any of that in our mouths. All we had was some Vitamin Water 10 and 2 sticks of sugar free gum <5 calories a stick. I am proud of our exhibition of self control. So many times in the past we would have had a McDonalds double cheeseburger between our lips. Not this time!

Week 3 is upon us for working out and we have made a change. We are now going to start weighing in on Saturday's. My thought process is, we work out Monday - Friday and do very little to nothing on Saturday and then weigh in on Sunday. We really are not having a "last chance workout". Lets see how this works for us.

Until next time, please hope for the weight to keep falling off of us.

Shay's Progress

Well, I tweeked some things and now I am starting to see results. The calorie counting is working for me. I have been doing it all week and it is becoming easier and easier (still not saying I want to count for the rest of my life, though) but it's not bad. I don't make a big deal out of it...no fancy books, no special paper, just a small notepad that I can keep in my purse.

Here is a summary of my week so far:

Day, Calories, Weight (weigh-in the next morning)

Monday, 1280, 198.8 lbs
Tuesday, 1350, 197.6 lbs
Wednesday, 1395, 196.8 lbs
Thursday, 1505, 196 lbs
Friday, 1395, 195.8
Saturday, 1705, 196.8
Sunday, way too many, 199.2 (Blew it in one night but plan to get back on track)

James took my measurements for me also...just in case I didn't see any results on the scale. Of course I hate my measurements, nevertheless, they're mine...for now at least.

Measurements (Taken 6/9/09):

Chest, 45"
Waist, 41"
Hips, 47"
Thighs, both 28"
Arms, both 12"

Measurement goals:

I would love to see myself at around 38,28,38 (Chest, waist, hips). I don't think that's too bad, and if I can get smaller that's even better. Of course as those three come down, the thighs and arms will also. I am not sure what measurement goals I want for my thighs and arms anyway. I just want to look well portioned.

Estimate of Calorie Needs to Lose Weight

Here is a very rough guide of how many calories you need per day, if you want to lose weight. It's a ballpark estimate only.

Women (Non-Active) typically need about 1100-1300 calories per day
Women (Active) typically need about 1400-1600 calories per day
Men (Non-Active) typically need about 1600-1800 calories per day
Men (Active) typically need about 1800-2000 calories per day

Located at: www.annecollins.com/guide-to-calorie-needs.htm

My Little Black Book

So I brought in reinforcement...the little black book that I can keep in my purse and track my calories. No, I don't plan on being a calorie counter for the rest of my life but I feel that I need this now.

I am still struggling with negative thoughts like "What if I don't lose any weight"? I know it's only been five days of working out and perhaps I blew it over the weekend and didn't realize it...I'm not sure. I just need to see some type of loss. I will be happy if that scale tells me 197lbs this week....that's fine for me. I just need to see the number change!!! Please!!!

In the past, I haven't had success with exercise. I can exercise for an entire month and lose a total of 5 lbs but diet change seems to give me more change. I don't know...that's just my body and has been my experience. Now, cardio has yielded better results than weights. I want to give this a real try, though. I haven't exercised long enough in my opinion to just throw in the towel. Now, if I have been exercising for 3 to 4 months without results, I will be very, very concerned. Hell, I'm already concerned. I need to push these negative thoughts out of my mind. Go away negative thoughts! Go away!

God, please give me the strength to continue with or without instant gratification!!!! (Hey, I'm going to post that one on my facebook)

Anyway, I plan to get on the scale a few times this week (official weigh in is still on Sunday) just so I don't get any surprises on Sunday...not good for me right now. If I see that nothings happening, I need to make changes sooner rather than later.

Wish me a better week!

Overcoming obstacles

Well, this is weigh in day and things didn't go as I hoped...for me. James lost 5 lbs (Congrats babe!!!) but I only lost .2 lbs. I coudn't believe it! After all of those great workouts. I might have blown it the day before because we went to BW3s (Buffalo Wild Wings) and although, I didn't feel bad about what I ate, perhabs it was too much. I had 10 wings and shared round home potatoes with my husband.

I read some articles on why I might not have lost weight and decided (after reading) that perhaps I should monitor my calories (1200 per day limit). If it's a number game I can't go wrong, right? Don't know. Also, I have been doing resistance training this week. Perhaps I lost inches. We plan to take my measurements as back up.

This is going to be hard and hopefully I can move past for week two. I will say that until I got on that scale, I was very much looking forward to week 2...not it will be a struggle but I'll just try and push through.

Week 1 Recap

Well, well, well. Week 1 is done and boy what a week it was. I was really looking forward to day 1 and day 2 as well. But day 3 and 4 could have been so much better. Day 3 was vicious for me because we were awaken at 2am because our oldest son had an issue over 500 miles away. I didn't get any sleep and went to work all day. Boy what a day. Still worked out though but it was brutal. Day 4 my wife and I had some beef and it was very unpleasant, but we did it. Day 5 we argured in the parking lot. Not a great start, but it ended very well. We had a great workout and it brought an end to the first week.

I hope we see results, but I am more hopeful that we maintain our motivation into Week 2. Week 2 will bring on its own issues, so until then, Here here for us and the successful completion of week 1.

You cannot get to week 2 unless you complete week 1.

Our Plan (updated)

I just read the first entry and our plan has definitely changed since then.

Here goes:

• Monday - Upper body (30 minutes), Cardio (30 minutes)
• Tuesday - Cardio (at least 1 hour)
• Wednesday - Lower body (30 minutes), Cardio (30 minutes)
• Thursday - Cardio (at least 1 hour)
• Friday - Upper body (30 minutes), Cardio (30 minutes)
• Saturday Off - (optional exercise)
• Sunday Off - (optional exercise)

Eating - Just watching what we eat at this point, trying not to go out eat as often

James might have to confirm this if I've posted anything incorrectly

Does it get easier?

Wow...each day is a struggle and this seems like one of the hardest challenges I will ever face. I hope as each day passes by, it becomes easier and just a way of life. Okay...I am talking like it's been two months or something...lol. This is the fourth day and we will be going back to Ballys (God willing). I'll admit...I don't dread it as much as I did the first two days, however...

I think what we both need to prepare for now is when we don't see results on the scale. I know it will happen. This most recent time that we tried to lose by working out at home, it happened. It always happens. I can't even make guarantees anymore. All I can do is pray for the strength to make it another day, for both of us to make it another day to the gym and work towards this goal. I can't begin to tell you how bad I want this. Of course, though, you always want the end result without having to work hard. I can tell that there is no quick fix to this problem. I just hope it gets easier.

Return to the gym

Well, this should get us some results. All we need to do is stick to the plan. Sounds simple enough.

Anyway, we had such a wonderful weekend. The kind of weekend that makes you forget all of your stress...just living life. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend....downtown walking, fruit markets, spending, spending, and more spending...but overall, just good quality time spent with my husband.

I swear, I just want to lose this weight and have more times like those.