Mid-week check

So far, so good. I have been eating fairly well over the past few days- still lots of fruit and veg. I have also been exercising more. To celebrate my new smaller size I went out and bought a few things that will still look good on me when I am smaller. I've even started doing crunches and push ups again. Hopefully we will see improvement next Sunday.

Hip-hip hooray!

My refocusing and venting my frustration worked! Today I weighed myself and I've lost 2 pounds this week for a grand total of seven pounds since the beginning of this challenge! This just proves if you stick to it and don't give up you will reach your goals. Even though 171 is still 20 pounds heavier than I want to be, it is under 173. Now, I have to explain that statement a bit. About nine years ago I joined Jenny Craig, which really did work for me but my starting weight was 173. So don't really feel I made any progress until I can reach a weight lower than that.
After telling you my frustration, I decided to focus on losing weight and not making life changes. In the beginning, I was trying to add fruit and veg to my diet but try not to deprive myself too much. Then I remembered we have a pool! If I wanted to be seen there everyday by friends and neighbors in a bathing suit I had to really start working. On my walk when I was tired of pushing myself to go faster I just keep repeating "bathing suit, dress, bathing suit dress". I also took Karen's advice about the picture with the shorts you want to fit into but this time I used a bathing suit. I have to say I screamed when I saw the picture. Well, I don't have to worry that will all change soon. Thanks again for this push to help me lose weight! Now I really believe I could reach my goals by the end of the challenge. How wonderful would that be!
I have not reached my exercise goal this week but food has been great. I 've been eating cereal in the morning and fruit and veg as snacks at work with one real meal a day. Sometime that meal is a salad with bread but it does fill me up. I have not exceeded 3 coffees a day and I have not decreased the amount of water a day.
Hooray for me! I can't wait to see what I weigh next week!

Losing steam

I have to say, thought my eating has gotten better I've really crapped out on the exercise. Partly I have a hard time when so many other projects are pulling at me but mostly I think it's just the sluggish way that my body loses weight. Brett and I both went on a diet the same day both weighing the same amount. He has lost 7 or 8 pounds while I've just barely squeezed off 2. Isn't that just so depressing! Arg! There, I've let out my frustration and now I just have to keep working past it. My body may take longer but it will get there in the end. I just have to remember for me exercise is the key ingredient for massive weight loss. My exercise may not be very good today but at least I will do something.

As promised

Here is the other post for you Jen. Sorry we've left you alone out there. You just have more stamina than the rest of us I guess. Or maybe I'm just the one who needs short breaks of laziness in between the hard work. Hopefully I'll get back on track soon. We have dresses to fit into! Hope tennis was fun.

Not doing to bad

I weighed myself yesterday (from 3/26/07) and I'm down one more pound! I have also reduced my body fat by 1%. Great! The last few days have been pretty good. Friday was a good food day. I had a fairly healthy lunch then topped it off with a chocolate cake dinner (sorry, that time of the month and it really helped my disposition). Then on Saturday I snacked on a bunch of things, mostly healthy and split a meal with everyone at work. Sunday I had cereal, bratwurst and mash with gravy and beer. Today so far I've had coffee but I haven't been awake that long. I ended up eating an orange, cheese and crackers (only 6), then a burger and fries for dinner (oops).
TUESDAY: I went to work in the morning, had a bowl of soup and a spinach salad, then I came home and made a taco salad for Brett and I. I also drank 1 1/2 margaritas, which kind of off sets the salads but we were celebrating summer. My exercise has been really bad recently but it's so hard to get into a routine when you work on your feet all the time. But, no more excuses. I'll just try again tomorrow.

Feeling Healthy for Spring!

Lets see...Over the past two days I haven't been exercising that much- shopping at LL Bean and house cleaning. Thought the shopping wasn't that vigorous the cleaning wasn't too bad. I could have brought it up a notch and will next time. I have been eating more soup, I think to off set the cheese because we have so much in the fridge and I can't bring myself to waste it. Yesturday, we ate at Pannera (soup and sand) at work I had cashew spinach and soup. Then I had a beer when I got home. So far today I've had coffee, soup, cheese and crackers. It's not really the best of diets but I have stopped eating when I'm not hungry (seems simple but always hard for me) and said no to sweets for the most part. At work I've been ordering veggies or salads instead of real meals with lots of carbs. I haven't been eating as much bread but this is partly due to not having it in the house. I have kept to two cups of coffee a day and water has been replacing it most of the time. I have made lots of little changes which are a step in the right direction but aren't helping me lose weight in the short term. I think it is time for me to renew and revise my goals. So here goes:

New Goals (3/23/07)
* Keep increasing the amout of fruit and veggie in my diet
* Drink at least 6 glasses of water a day
* Work out a minimum of 4 times a week (heart rate must be raised for at least 20 min)
* Stop having a beer after work (a fattening recent development after the party)
* Keep the fire high during the contest (I can always relax in June)

Keeping focused

Definately time to refocus. Yesturday I wasn't able to exercise because I worked all day but I did eat well. It makes it easy since I don't have to pay for my meals and I work at a veggie place, most every thing is pretty good for you. So my goal today is talking a long walk then working on my crunches and lunges. Must remember 72 days!!! Oh, by the way I found the shorts for the challange but there is no way your going to see a pic (maybe the after :}).