day 182 (day 7 / week 26)

Today I wanted to go for a walk. It's about 7:15am as I type this, and it's almost 90 degrees outside, and getting warmer. My hubby says it might rain, but that probably won't affect the heat much. It's still going to be another scorcher today (not like yesterday at 108 though...*whew!*). That being said, I flaked out on my walk and did The Firm, Cardio Sculpt instead, because it's fun. Can you tell that I was excited?

(err der)

Same ol' same ol'. I'm not bored with it yet, which is good, but I am finding myself able to keep up much better now. This is HUGE considering when I first got this workout, I called my sister (during the w/o lol) to give her mad props for being able to keep up w/ the chirography. Man I couldn't keep up at all, I remember thinking it was just nutty. I hope I see some great results from this video! I can see potential! :).

Today's quickfire is to shadow box. I am going to incorporate this with another daily team goal (from the Done Being a Fat Girl group) that I have been forgetting to do--the "Done Girl Dance" lol. Everyday they want us to do this dance for 15 minutes. I guess it's like the happy dance??? Lol. So for the quickfire it says:

*You can move around a room and pretend to fight an imaginary opponent, which involves "dancing" around the room, throwing combinations of punches and ducking and avoiding imaginary punches.

*Or you can work on different punching combinations while staying mostly stationary.

Try to QuickFire Box for 5 minutes spaced out 3-5 times during your day. Set a timer/watch. Try not to make contact ~ Sayin!

So I am going to do the Done Girl Dance in place of the "dancing" part lol and shadow box at the same time lol. This is going to be interesting and I'm sure the Monkey Boy will LOVE this. Turnin' up the music and doing the Squidward butt dance :) Do the Bartman! Everybody shake it from side to side! I keep forgetting to do this Done Girl dance, so now is the perfect time to start up. lol.

I have to say that I was a little nervous about today being the first and doing my measurements, but I'm over it (especially since I did them already lol). It could have been a lot worse, considering that I weighed myself last week and saw that I had gained 5lbs. All in all I am happy and as Loree mentioned yesterday, I am not stopping anytime soon, so this can only get better!

Yesterday I changed my calories burned on sparkpeople to better represent the calories I burn on my power walks since my new discovery (1400+ calories), giving me a new calorie range of 1650-2000 (to eat). Yesterday I didn't even scratch that surface with 1300 at best. Oh well, will try again today! If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I have been watching my salt intake as well and have been staying under 2500mg of sodium daily (in the 1000-1500 range) which surprisingly took very little effort (*whew*). All of these things that I am doing, are lifestyle changes. When I am done with whatever goals I have, with exercise, this won't change. These things are important to me, to stay healthy. I'm not just gonna go gnaw on a salt lick once Jan 1 rolls back around (ok maybe I will, you caught me! ;)).

Ok, here we go!

My measurements:

Measurements: (day 182 / 152 / day 10) (- "/# lost in current month)

Wt: 195.2 / 194.6 / 215 (+0.60#) (total lost 19.8#)
Chest: 37.75" / 39" / 43.75"(-1.25") (total lost -6")
Waist: 33" / 34.75" / 41.5" (-1.75") (total lost -8.5")
Hips: 42.5" / 44" / 47.75" (-1.5") (total lost -5.25")
Neck: 13" / 13" / 14.25" (-0") (total lost -1.25")
Under bust: 33" / 33" / 36.75" (-0") (total lost -3.75")
1" below belly button: 40.5" / 40.75" / 47.5" (-0.25") (total lost -7")
below my bottom (above my thigh): 39.5" / 39.5" / 44" (-0") (total lost -4.50")
R Thigh: 19" / 19.5" / 27" (-0.5") (total lost -8")
L Thigh: 19.5" / 19.5" / 27.5" (-0") (total lost -8")
R Calf: 14.25" / 13.25" / 14.5" (+1") (total lost -0.25")
L Calf: 14.5" / 14" / 14" (+0.5") (total lost -.5")
R upper Arm: 11" / 10.75" / 14" (+0.25") (total lost -3")
L upper Arm: 11.5" / 11" / 13.5" (+0.5") (total lost -2")
R wrist: 5.75" / 5.75" / 6.25" (-0") (total lost -0.5")
L wrist: 5.75" / 5.75" / 6.25" (-0") (total lost -0.5")

Jan 2009

Feb 2009

March 2009

April 1, 2009

May 1, 2009

June 1, 2009

July 1, 2009

Not much of a difference, but I expected this. In June I lost 5.25 inches (gaining 2.25 inches) and gained 0.60 lbs, which I am totally happy with, considering when I weighted myself stupidly last week, I weighed 199 (pretty good comeback from that!). Not too happy seeing green in there, but it could have been worse and some of it makes sense.

For the majority of June I did the 30 Day Shred, and Jillian has us do A LOT of jumping, so that would affect the calves, and she has us do a lot of arm work as well. All in all I am happy and as Loree mentioned yesterday, I am not stopping anytime soon, so this can only get better!

My bodyfat percentage did go up from last month as well, but this might have to do w/ the fact that I probably wasn't eating enough. Surprisingly, I don't really care about this. I know this will take time for me to work on, especially considering that I haven't figured out exactly how much I should be eating quite yet. Still playing with it. The walk that I have been tracking 1400+ calories burned on, isn't the longest walk that I go on, and this month I walked a lot. I will test this theory and see what changes for next month (pretty fascinating to be able to compare numbers and such!).

Anyway I hope you all have a great day! Gonna go do some booty shaking and shadow boxing!

Make today count! You can start new :) it's the beginning of an entire month!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 181 (day 6 / week 26)

I am quite confused. I really thought today was Monday. *scratches head*. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it's actually Tuesday. lol. Oh well, such is life when you are a stay at home mom.

I had an EXCELLENT workout today. I did The Firm, Cardio Sculpt with my Fanny Lifter again. In 60 minutes, I burned 531 calories (SP told me that with low impact step aerobics I would have burned 649). Anyway, on Sunday (I think) I remember thinking, "She's trying to kill us," during the 2nd go around on the fanny lifter, and I found myself thinking it again today, and I laughed out loud, because I remembered saying it previously in the same exact spot. I thought I was having a bad day or something, but nope, I think Allie is really trying to kill us haha! I picture these little horns underneath her princess pony :).


You can see a 7 minute clip of this workout here. Notice the stepford wives smiles that they give during the intro. My hubby and I watch the intro, just for a good laugh. So funny (no offense to them--I'm sure they laugh at it too)! In all seriousness, I really like these ladies. Allie is a great "master trainer" and I am glad to have this video. She gives us a great workout :) (I'm totally just kidding/teasing about the horns and the smiles).

We do this portion near the end, where we are laying our torsos on the fanny lifter and doing leg work...man, I love this! It reminds me of the evil leg lift/kick things on Slim in 6, but these are better, because...it's not as long, so it doesn't feel like torture lol. You can see a small clip of this during the intro to that 7 minute clip. She has us put a 3lb weight in the crease behind our knee. Great workout!

I hope you all have a great Tuesday. Sheesh, I still can't believe it's Tuesday...

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

UPDATE: I calculated my calories burned for a week (3x walking/4x The Firm=6180/week) and changed my calories burned in sparkpeople, and it increased my food! My new range is 1650-2000 daily. Much better than just 1200...I just hope I can actually eat that much and that I will actually see a result! Yaay!

day 180 (day 5 / week 26)

I just got back from my 4.8 mile walk. I finished it in 1:38:30, my average heart rate (HR) was 135 (peak 155) and my HR monitor said that I burned 1543 calories. Is this even possible??? That just seems so high to me, but it could be because I am used to seeing sparkpeople's numbers. *shrugs* I'll find out somehow.

Today was a difficult walk. Not because I didn't want to go, or because my feet hurt (side note: I forgot to take Advil before my walk and nothing in my body hurts one bit right now! Yaay! Another positive side effect from exercising everyday :)). It was difficult because it was so darn hot! Man! It was so hot that it felt like my HR was a lot more elevated than usual on my walk, and it stayed elevated for a longer period of time. It's supposed to get up to 108 today, and I was just baking under the sun. My heart was pounding. We left before 8am, and got home before 10 am, and it was HOT already--88 when we left, 98 when we got back. Man, today is a scorcher (as my Dad would say! lol)!

I have talked about my walks quite a few times, and I think one of those times I mentioned my visual motivators (the traffic lights lol). I decided to take some pictures to share with you what I see on my walk. Mind you that today I did this backwards, so I don't usually see these in this sequence (it's somewhat backwards, but it's how I saw it today).

First motivator. Where I begin my mental journey.

first traffic light


2nd traffic light


I walk by Spanish Trail every time I walk my city block. Beyond the gates are multi-million dollar homes, where some of Las Vegas' elite and celebrities such as Andre Agassi, David Copperfield, Siegfried and even Michael Jackson (RIP) have/had property. I took a pic of this because it's a nice break from looking at sidewalks, walls, trash and traffic...that's all I really see on these walks!


3rd traffic light--almost home! Yaay!


4th and last traffic light


I see my final motivator!



Yaay!



This is the Monkey Boy's reaction to being close to home lol. (woo hoo!)


As my son would say, "TA DA!"
I am one red-faced, happy camper. I am done!

I hope you guys have a great Monday. Can you believe it's almost July! Man this month flew by fast!

Make today count! Before you know it, today will be over!

I can do this, I am a star.

day 179 (day 4 / week 26)

Today was a late day for exercise for me, but I did it! I did only around 25 minutes of strength training/circuit training:

(click on it to make the image larger, if you can't see it)

I hope you guys had a great weekend!

See you tomorrow! Make it count :)

I can do this. I am a star.

day 178 (day 3 / week 26)

Today I did The Firm 3-in-1 Cardio Sculpt. I did the whole thing this time (yaay) and burned 573 calories in 60 minutes. I also will be doing 10 sets of 10 push ups throughout the day instead of all at one time, to spike the metabolism. They can be full on push ups, modified push ups (on the knees) or wall push ups, like from the other day. I am going to do a combo of all 3.

The other day I entered the 36 minutes I did of The Firm into my fitness tracker on SP, and it said that I burned 390 calories (today at the 36 min mark it said I burned 379). It really cracks me up that it grossly under estimates my walking (by like 900 calories), but over estimates my cardio videos (not by much though so that's good). Every one's bodies are different, and react differently to different workouts so I guess that makes sense. So glad this HRM calculates calories burned.

I really like this The Firm workout. It is a complete, total body workout with a warm up and cool down. I had sweat dripping down my face (that never happens!)! It was a GREAT workout, and I like how her (Allie DelRio Pointer's) circuits move along quickly, so you don't really have a chance to get bored. I was able to keep up much better this time, and am getting the hang of her choreography. The leg segment at the end is killer, but I like it :). I don't still feel all pumped afterward, and I actually have energy right now, unlike when I do the 30DS. After the 30 Day Shred, I feel exhausted.

I think I am going to re-do that calorie calculation formula, and account for my walks. I am going to commit to 3 days of my walks a week, and 4 days of these aerobic video's for the calculation. It seems about right. I'm curious to see if those numbers will change at all.

I am kind of mad at myself for not doing the 30DS yesterday, cause I had a 25 day streak going on that I threw out the window lol. Oh well lol. I may or may not do it this afternoon when we get back from my mother's house. We'll see :).

Have a great weekend! Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 177 (day 2 / week 26)

Today was a major eye-opener. Such a beautiful day as well and I had so much fun! I was so excited to exercise today, because of my toy (my heart rate monitor (HRM)). I wanted to do The Firm again, but the Monkey Boy woke up SUPER early, so I decided to go for a walk instead. I was happy to do that because I wanted to see how many calories I burn on my walk. I figured 600-650 at the most. HUGE eye opener!

I walked 4.8 miles (90 minutes) and did my quickfire challenge on my walk also. It was to hop, skip or jump (jumping jacks) 100 times in 4 or 5 different segments. I skipped! I must have looked so funny skipping down the road, pushing my stroller. It was so much fun though! It also got my heart rate into the high 150's. Man, if you haven't skipped in a long time, do it! It's so much fun, it's easy to do, and it's good exercise! Skip 20 times in a row. I was skipping 50 times in a row and had my son laughing so hard. It was so much fun. The sky was really beautiful also, because of the clouds. Thought I would share with you, what I got to see on my walk (3 different areas in the sky all around me) :).

Such beautiful clouds...

The eye opener...

I got home and logged my exercise. For kicks, I entered my walk into my map tracker, like I always do--it tells me how fast i am going, and how many calories I burned. It said I burned 572 calories (or something close to that). I then went into my HRM to the review section.... get this... it said I burned 1411 calories!!!!! HUGE underestimation from sparkpeople. Yesterday it over estimated what I did, but not by much. I bet this could be one of the reasons why nothing is happening for me. This would mean that I am not eating enough calories--at all.

After my cool down and just walking around the house, my HRM said that I had burned 1852 calories (after 2 hours and 17 minutes).


Regardless of all of this it is very fascinating to see the big difference between the two. Craziness. Really opened my eyes, and makes me feel that much more blessed that I was able to get my hands on this cool heart rate monitor (this is also a huge distraction away from the things that frustrate me).

I can't believe it's Friday already. Off to shower and all that fun stuff. I don't think I am going to do the 30 Day Shred today, because of all of the calories I have already burned, but I will add it to the tracker if I do. It's almost been 30 days, so I don't feel bad for not doing it now. I've proved to myself that I can do it. I CAN do it. I just don't want to anymore. lol! (we'll see how that goes lol).

Have a great weekend! Go skip! I promise it's fun and so much FuN! Yaay for skipping!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 176 (day 1 / week 26)

Today I did a 2 parter--one of which I couldn't do before, and sat collecting dust for a good 1.5 years or so. The other an old regular.

I don't know if I ever mentioned it but when we lived in Sparks (Reno), NV, when we first moved there (beginning of 2008), we fell in love with this Longs (drugstore) that was within walking distance to our apartment. We found all sorts of stuff 75%-90% off. I found "The Firm, Body Sculpting System, 3-in-1 workout with the 3-in-1 platform for $40 --it was like 75% off and a last chance item, which meant they didn't want it at all and weren't going to be restocking it. I brought it home, tried it and about died. I was super fat and it was hard to follow, so I kept the platforms out (now my kitchen stools lol) and packed everything away. Today I did "Cardio Sculpt" which is 55 minutes of 1/2 cardio 1/2 body sculpting. I was only able to get in 36 minutes, because The Monkey Boy decided to sit on the platform every time I stepped off of it (very frustrating). He thought it was a game. I did not. (lol). I ended it and went and played with him for a while.

It's almost 3pm as I am typing this, and he still hasn't gone down for his nap. I anticipated this, so I decided to throw in the good'ol 30 Day Shred, Level 3 (day 25--woo hoo! almost done!), and see if I could get through the entire thing w/out him bothering me too much. By this time, I had figured out my HRM, so I used it to see how many calories I burned for the session. 330 calories for 30 minutes. On Sparkpeople, when I enter this (circuit training/30 minutes) it tells me I burn 370 calories, so not much of a difference, but I bet it adds up. I'm glad I figured this thing out. The best part was that my son didn't bug me so much. His favorite show Caillou came on as he was starting to bother me, so he found something else to occupy his mind with (he LOVES Caillou).

Ok, now not to confuse anyone, but I am going to rewind back to the beginning of my day, before any of this...

Rewind....

Today was a better day. A light bulb came over my head this morning, and I realized that I need to distract my brain from thinking of exercise, while I am exercising or about to. This was a problem I had from the get go, and is one of the reasons why I created this blog--I knew I wouldn't exercise, to exercise, but to post something on my blog (so silly, but true). So realizing this, I decided to break out an old/new toy and learn how to use it properly, so that I can distract myself while I am exercising. It worked. It worked great!

There are a couple reliable ways to distract myself from exercise--a new workout and an ulterior motive. I did both. One will last a lot longer than the other :).

I don't remember when, but at some point this year, I bought a new HRM. This one has more bells and whistles than my previous heart rate monitor, and I bought this one because it calculates calories burned. I have been thinking the past few days, "what if SP is overestimating my calories burned?" I would probably gain weight. Today I dusted off the 100+ page manual and learned how to use it, so that I could see if Sparkpeople was overestimating my calories burned.

Maybe this will explain the above 3rd paragraph.

My thoughts are very unorganized today, as you can see. So I did a total of 66 minutes today and used functions in my heart rate monitor that I had never used before :). I also did a new workout that I had never done because I wasn't strong enough to do it before! Yaay! I hope the HRM helps me with the remaining last 5 days of the 30DS. Focusing on my HR being elevated, distracts from being annoyed/bored/tired with the workout :). Yaay :).

Today was a much better day :). I am excited to do The Firm again tomorrow, with my HRM to see how many calories I burn during that. I hope I can do the entire thing this time. Gotta start earlier though! (doh!).

I hope you all have a good one. I can't believe it's almost Friday again! Gees! Time flies by fast!

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 175 (day 7 / week 25)

I want to start off and thank everyone for your kind words and encouragement. You all had such encouraging things to say and you all are right.

Yesterday was a bad day for me so I threw all my chips on the table to see what I had, and today I am going to make a new start with a different mentality (hopefully it will stick).

You guys are right, going into this I didn't have any number but 365 in mind. Now that it's been 6 months, yes I have lost weight and inches, and yes I can do things I couldn't before, but I am still obese, and people still see me that way. You wouldn't know by looking at me that I stay within a set caloric range and exercise daily. I feel like a thin person trapped inside of a huge disgusting body. People that know me don't even think I have stuck with exercising because I am still fat. My husband knows, because he is there. My own mother that I see on a weekly basis is even rude about it (I know I need to give her a word or 2, but it's hard to say something to her--she's my mom!). I could jog laps around every single one of these people that judge me, but no one knows this but me. Everyone (including myself) expects me to be skinny by now. I want to cry out that I am healthy, or get a custom made shirt to prove it (lol), but I won't ever be truly healthy until I am no longer obese and overweight. I need to get over this. You guys are right, if I am in this for the long haul, it needs to be about the healthy lifestyle first, and weight loss second. BUT (and this is a big butt...hehehe) the sad truth is that I need to lose weight in order to get there. I am obese. The only way this will change is if I lose weight. I never wanted this to be about losing weight, but in order to reach the ultimate goal of being healthy, I HAVE to.

The other day when I did the calorie calculation, I nonchalantly mentioned my goal weight--135, but it could have been easily overlooked (I meant for it to be that way). I even went as far as to say that I wanted to reach this by Jan 1, 2010, which is a very healthy goal if I lose 2 lbs a week (this is obviously not happening).To do the calculation you need to have a goal weight in mind, so I picked the highest weight in the recommended range (medical) for my height--102-135. Once I reach 135, anything is possible from there. On my sparkpage, I have weight goals written as well:

1) 200 lbs (done)
2) 180 lbs (although lately 190 has been a big goal)
3) 150 lbs
4) 135 lbs

...heck! Anything is possible NOW I just need to stop having wavering faith and just keep high faith that I can do this, because He gives me the strength to!

Ellie is right. It's not as simple as calories in and calories out. I say that a lot, and I am a douche. It has everything to do with quality of food. I need to work on this. Right now I just fit inside of a number, but if I want chips, I make room in my number bank so that I can have chips. I do this with ice cream too (sugar free, which my hubby really hates that I eat lmao) I still fit in the number. If I wanted to eat chips or ice cream all day long and still fit in my range, that would not be good. I don't do that, because I have learned (about myself) that when I do eat junk, it makes me hungrier and crave more junk (another danger zone). I do need to work on quality though. Better quality. This is a habit I want to stick around forever.

I also need to start watching salt. This is so easy to lose track of! Did you know that a recommended serving of salt is 1 teaspoon a day? I always knew salt wasn't great for you but I honestly thought it was a typo or a spoken mistake when I heard 1 tsp for the first time. I thought "maybe they mean 1 Tablespoon." WOW (not the world of warcraft wow either...lol). Watching Rachael Ray and all of the food network stars at play, blows my mind--they throw salt in their creations like it's nothing! I don't eat this much salt but I bet it's more than 1 tsp a day.

Anyway enough of that. I have a lot to work on and I feel so blessed that you guys are here to support me on my strongest and weakest days. You guys are my stars in a dark sky!

Today I woke up early, did my no computer thing *cry* and man I was SO sore! The standing oblique crunches that I did the other day kicked me hard. Yesterday the windmill lunge things made the lung/knee things from my first Quickfire Challenge kick in again. Today I am feeling everything...which is good. It means my body isn't used to this and it will adapt! Yaay!!! The quickfire for today was to do 100 total (in groups of 20-25) straight leg tricep dips on a chair--which I can't do yet, so I opted to do the 2nd--wall push ups. These feel harmless, but I'm sure I will feel them tomorrow. 5 sets of 20 or 4 of 25 (just get to 100 anyway you can).

Before this, I turned on the 30 day shred (level 1 day 24). I was way too sore to do that. I got about 10 minutes in and had to turn it off. I felt so stiff and could barely move the way she wanted us to. Then put on Turbo Jam's Turbo Sculpt and could only get through 5 mins of that, so I put on Ab Jam and did the 20 minutes. Turbo Jam made me feel a little better because a lot of the movements are very long and stretchy. 35 minutes in all, but I was feeling really sore. I do feel better now (not so stiff and sore), and want to go try to do the 30 day shred again. Hopefully the Monkey Boy will go down so that I can try again. I am calling today a (non)rest day regardless, just because being so sore, I need to take it easy. If I don't get back to it today, I am not going to beat myself up because I don't want to make things worse for tomorrow!

Thank you again for your support and help! I don't have the words to describe how amazing it feels to have someone help you up when you fall. It's just such a blessing!

Make today count! I am because you guys are helping me to! Every step of the way!

I can do this. I am a star!

day 174 (day 6 / week 25)

The Quickfire Challenges (QFC) I mentioned yesterday are kicking my butt! Today my sides are sore from yesterday, and my legs are still a bit sore from the day before. I ended up doing Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred (day 23) and I also did The Biggest Loser Workout--only the warm-up, the low intensity portion and a few minutes of the cool down, because the Monkey Boy came to bother me a few minutes into it. All good. So I got in around an hours worth, not including the quickfire challenge today which is 4 sets of 20 jumping jacks, all throughout the day, to spike the metabolism (I've done 2 of those sets already). She also has us doing (well it's actually "and/or" but I chose "and") 4-5 sets of 20-25 Side Lunge With Windmill Arms. These, like the jumping jacks have elevated my heart, but they are a bit harder, becuase my obliques and glutes are sore and I can really feel these muscles when I do them. If I weren't sore, they would probably be pretty simple and easy to do.

I am a bit disappointed in myself and in general, and a bit angry as well. I weighed myself today and I have gained 5 lbs (I'm back up to 199!) and 4% body fat! I don't understand this at all. I NEVER go over my calories and I NEVER have cheat days! I watch everything and count everything that I put into my mouth, so it doesn't make any sense. If I can't count it, I don't eat it. It really irritates me because people say "exercise more, and eat less" or "do something more active then you already are" like I have no idea what I am doing, or as if I haven't been doing this for over 6 months straight. Everything is accounted for. Even my own mother takes jabs and makes snide/ignorant remarks. It makes me angry that my body fat % went up but I guess I can accept 5lbs, if it is muscle, but I will never know. I did some measurements because I was concerned with the weight gain, to see if anything changed, and some things got bigger (calves) most things stayed the same, and I lost a few quarters of an inch in other places. It's almost the end of the month and I am afraid I won't be losing many inches again :(. Stupid scale. I am so irritated that I weighed myself. I feel like this is all for nothing right now, and this couldn't have come at a worse time, especially since I have been trying to do more. Why on earth would I want to bust my hump even more than I already am, for nothing?

Am I obviously oblivious to something that everyone else including you guys see, that I don't? Please help!

I guess I'm gonna go do some more jumping jacks.

Sorry for the rant...

Make today count.

I can do this. I am a star.

day 173 (day 5 / week 25)

Today I did level 3 and then level 1 (with some level 3 modifications) of the 30 day shred, day 22 (56 minutes), and 5 sets of 20 reps of the Quickfire Challenge (QFC) Side Crunches with 5lb hand weights (this took me about 12 minutes).

In the last week or so, I have realized that I am procrastinating with exercising a lot, and that I am hitting some sort of a plateau with exercise--nothing is changing and I'm getting bored easily (I have mentioned these things a few times here). I also realized that I need to start exercising earlier, because my Monkey Boy is a distraction too, and I need to step it up a notch and exercise more, so that I can quit complaining (and coincidentally eat more lol). It's nice to realize all of this, but nothing will ever change until I actually do something about it.

The computer is my biggest distraction/tool of procrastination. Unfortunately my hubby comes in a strong second. There isn't anything wrong with these things and I definitely don't have to remove them from my life to accomplish my goals (what a surprise that would be to my hubby! lol), especially now that I know what triggers my procrastination for exercise. Yesterday and today I did something about it. One of them fell into my lap without my even looking for it (totally a God thing) which kind of also helps me with another.

I have a routine--I wake up in the morning (6am), go to the kitchen, fill up my water, get my yogurt and vitamins, then sit down (veg) at my computer and read emails and do my sparkpeople thing (points, reading articles, check off my goals, etc) and some other stuff. This routine is a BIG problem. Yesterday I decided that today and onward I would not come to the computer until AFTER I am finished exercising. My computer would be my reward and this TOTALLY worked (for today at least). I was finished with almost an hour of exercise before I normally would have even started--when I procrastinate. On the weekends I am going to try to speed it up and get to exercising while my hubby is in the shower. Out of sight, out of mind. Check and check.

The other thing that I tackled yesterday (the God thing) was my boredom of my workout. I don't feel sore and I am just bored. Randomly, I was invited to a group on sparkpeople called Quickfire Challenge (QFC)--the leader of the group puts up daily challenges/exercises for us to do, and this also helps me a lot with boredom and I am sore today! Yesterday one of the QFC's was to do a side lunge with a knee lift (surprisingly a Jillian Michaels move--it starts at :20 on the screen). It's kind of like the side lunge/anterior shoulder raise in Level 1--30DS (I think this is what she calls it), but w/ no weights/shoulder raise, and the leg that you lunge into, goes into a knee lift. I did 25 of them on each leg, 4 times (4 sets/25 reps). My butt is kickin'! Whew! Doing these QFC's tackles the boredom and also extends my workouts so they are longer--every extra minute helps!

The thing that I am saddest about in all of this revelation is a few articles I read about exercise and losing weight and maintaining weight. I knew that the FDA, ACSM and CDC suggest 30 minutes of MODERATE exercise on most days, but I think I purposefully blocked out the fact that if you want to lose weight or maintain weight loss you need to double that. Studies have shown (conducted by The National Weight Control Registry) that the 5000 people in this study that have lost weight, and have maintained that weight loss for 5 or so years do at least 60 minutes of moderate exercise EVERYDAY. *cry* I guess I need to step it up a notch. The lazy part of me doesn't want to, but I think I am ready. I have been teasing myself with it anyway.

So I guess that's it. I realized what was standing in my way, and I found a way to get around it. Hopefully I can stick to it! If I find myself lingering away from it, I guess I will have to create a sparkpeople goal, so that I can check it off (the same way I got myself to eat enough veggies, drink my water and take my vitamins lol--so sad but you gotta do what you gotta do!).

Have a great Monday! Try to realize something that is blocking you from accomplishing a goal, and find your way around it. Don't give up! Make today count!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 172 (day 4 / week 25)

Today I tried to do the 30 Day Shred, lvl 3 (day 21), but I kept having numerous distractions and then my son wouldn't stop climbing on me, so I didn't get that great of a workout--not like I would have wanted. I love them both to death, but it's frustrating that Dada didn't keep him from bothering me while I am exercising. Today is Father's Day so I didn't bother him about it (I just wish he would have known w/out my having to say something!).

Hopefully the Monkey Boy will take a nap today, so I can do it again. It just didn't feel like the best workout I could have done with everything that was going on around me. I can't expect everyday to be an easy day to exercise, or everyone would be doing it and there would be no excuse not to! I guess it's the challenge of a goal that makes it worth doing.

We bbq'd yesterday for the first time, and it was nice :). Dada loves his fathers day grill, and noticed how much work I had put into it (such a blessing!). Even the Monkey Boy ate some of the turkey burgers that Dada made, and this boy never eats burgers. It had onions and garlic in it and had mustard on it, so I was really surprised with how much of it he ate (close to 1/2 of a burger!).

I hope you all have a great day! Happy Father's Day to all of you Dadas, soon-to-be-Dadas, G-pas and Mamas (or G-Mas) out there playing both roles!

Make today count! Get the whole family outside and do something fun! It won't feel like exercise, I promise!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 171 (day 3 / week 25)

I just got finished with the last bit of my exercise--day 20 of the 30 day shred, level 3 (it was a 2-parter today for a total of 120 minutes). The first part was a 4.79 mile walk with my hubby and the Monkey Boy this morning. When I mapped it out on sparkpeople, my hubby jokingly told me to name it his "gimpy walk," so I did. lol. Poor thing, he has been limping around ever since our walk--his shoes weren't too good to him but either were the pair he wore on our last walk. I think he secretly buys shoes for the looks, and not for anything else, but shhh...don't tell him this ;).


















During our walk, I thought to myself almost immediately and several times into our walk (all marked with a red dots), that I wanted to stop, turn around, or go a shorter different route home which we ended up doing, anyway, only because the Mr. didn't like walking on a main city street with traffic. (it was still almost 5 miles though). I even said out loud to him, "We can do something shorter today," and he would just respond with, "It's your workout," which kind of guilted me into keep going (whatever works, ya know?). After we got to the 1/2 way point, it was easier to just push forward. Seeing the traffic light up in the distance gives you (me) a visual goal, and makes pushing forward A LOT easier. If I don't see that light, it's hard, so thank goodness for those lights (every corner I have to turn onto is a light so I would have punked out long ago w/out those traffic lights lol).

I would have finished the 30 day shred earlier today but I procrastinated. I do that a lot and need to find out how to stop that. A few weeks ago I was able to stop, but it sucked me in again. I'll figure it out eventually, because all it's doing is hurting me in the long run (I don't like exercising later in the day).

Make today count! It'll be gone before you know it!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 170 (day 2 / week 25)

I find myself avoiding Level 2 on the 30 Day Shred, so I decided to do it today, to see what's so darn scary. There isn't anything scary about it, I just don't like the chair squat/lateral shoulder raise thingies and time really drags by on Level 2. Strange, cause it's the same amount of time as Level 1 and 3.

I also don't like this comment that she makes in the middle of the workout that just totally turns me off. She is great and it seems like she is afraid to own it by herself--alone, almost like there is a lack of confidence. She will say something like "I'm good at this!" which I am fine with (I want a confident trainer!), but then she follows it with a "well at least that's what they tell me" with this tone in her voice, almost like (and this probably isn't true at all--me just being psychologically-silly) it's not a true statement until she mentions that other people feel that way. She says it at the beginning of the DVD too! "They say that I am T.V.'s toughest trainer..." and she ends the sentence with this same tone in her voice and body language that just gives me this wild hair! It's like she doesn't have the confidence to just say it and own it--she always has to throw in that someone else or "they" say it. I know it is totally silly of me, but I really don't enjoy listening to her say it every. single. day. Which is why I avoid level 2 also. I leave the room during the DVD intro (since I can't fast forward or skip through it...what's up with that?!?!) so that part is avoidable--I wish I could just delete her saying the "at least that's what they tell me" part lol. She gives us an AWESOME workout, so that's why I don't turn it off all together (plus I made a 30 day commitment out loud to other people in this group). I think I am going to start muting it though, just so I don't let that affect my workout. It's totally a ME issue, not a HER issue because I tell Debbie Siebers to "stop talking" during Slim in 6 too! LOL. And I love her! (I'm sure Jillian is great too :))

I'm in a pissy mood today if you can't tell.

~>:) (me with my wild hair)

I realized yesterday that I am going to have to start getting up even earlier to exercise, and I just don't want to! The Monkey Boy knows that he can get up and get out of bed when he wakes up in the morning now (thanks to his toddler bed), instead of rolling over and going back to sleep, so that is interrupting my morning exercise time AND he has been skipping his naps an awful lot which makes it virtually impossible for me to exercise during the afternoons *whines*. Today he kept shoving books in my face when I was trying to do the walking pushups thingy, and the plank jacks and squat thrusts. He sits on my stomach during the 1 minute Ab part and he always has a tantrum when I ask him to please move. It just stinks cause he does this all the time now. Part of me wants to just stop exercising and give him the attention he wants/deserves (he's only 2 for heavens sake), but I really don't want to flake on my goal, my exercising, or me! I would gladly put him before me and always do but I don't have much "me" time as it is. If I lock the door, I have the bathroom, but he bangs on it until he is let in. Exercise is it for me. When my hubby gets home, it's his time. I know he would prefer me to have my exercise done before he comes home, so he can have his time with us.

When this 30 days is over for the Shred, it will be much easier because I can just put The Monkey boy in his stroller and take him outside and walk/jog, w/out worrying about getting my daily Shred in. Today is day 19 so I have 10 more days left--that will fly by I'm pretty sure as long I stay away from level 2 lol.

Sorry for the double rant.

I guess it's just one of those days. I know that God is on my side, so I am not just going to kick it to the curb, like I want to and call defeat. That would be such a waste of 170 days. And that would be so easy to do! Totally the easy way out, but I would still wonder "what if" and regret it.

Make today count!

Less than 200 days left. I can do this. I am a star.

day 169 (day 1 / week 25)

Today is an exciting day and so this excitement followed me into the exercise room. I am a little sore today from yesterday's walk and then doing level 3 of The Shred (mainly my feet/ankles), so today I just did level 3 and no walk. I might do level 1 or 2 later. We'll see. I don't really like level 2... do you guys think it's punking out if I just go from level 1 to 3, like I did, or must I do level 2 also? lol. I really like level 3. really, really like it :). I don't remember why I don't like level 2, so maybe I should do it today, and remember why... lol. Maybe I won't dislike it anymore! lol

My mom is going to drop off the grill that I scrubbed not too long ago for my hubby's father's day present today! So exciting! I looked at it the other day and the outside looks horrible due to sun exposure. It looks 15 years old from the outside, but the inside is beautimus! I am going to use some furniture spray on it (cause it's greasy), and maybe it will give it all 1 color, instead the sun bleached look. Either way I am excited. My hubby already knows about it, so he won't be surprised, but I can't wait to see his reaction on the inside of the grill...he has seen it before and even had a convo on how much buildup was on it.

Tomorrow I think I am going to go buy some bbq paint for him, so we can paint the inside (it's a dull aluminum right now--still with some dark spots under the elements), and that can be his prezzy, since he already knows about the grill. It'll be a 2 parter--kind of like my exercise lol. I mentioned it here, so that means that I have to follow through and go and.... j/k! That's what I have to do w/ a 2 parter exercise though...lol (so sad).

I didn't eat enough yesterday but I was so full! I have been training myself to eat low calorie foods, so when I have to pack it in on my high exercise days, it's so hard! Last night by like 8pm I was realizing that I needed to get in another 300-400 calories for the day, and I was like "cereal--no that's only 180 calories at most" "fruit--no that's like 80 calories at most, id have to eat the entire container (chopped watermelon, canteloupe and honeydew)!" Then I remembered my ice cream. My sweet sweet ice cream. *drool* It's sugar free, so my eating it only bothers my hubby lol. I had enough fat and carbs left for the day that it wouldn't make a difference if I had any so I served up almost a full cup of it. I ate one bite, got distracted, put it in the freezer to harden up a little bit, and totally forgot about it! So I didn't eat enough. Oh well, such is life. I can have it for breakfast now! No? lol

Make it count! Do some sumo jumps. You can pretend to be a frog, and get exercise in at the same time. *ribbit* (silly rabbit! Frogs don't eat ice cream!).

I can do this. I am a star.

day 168 (day 7 / week 24)

Today I did good. :) I walked an entire city block and then some (in 105 mins) with the Monkey Boy this morning--5.63 miles! I didn't walk it very fast though, which really surprised me. I felt like I was walking fast, but I didn't have my HR monitor on to see how hard I was working. It felt like I was walking hard *shrugs* lol.

(I walked the blue/green line)

About the last 1/4 mile my legs started to tighten up and my foot felt like I was getting a blister. I feel kind of sore now, but I am going to rest for a little while, eat and then do the 30 day shred (day 17!). I love that I can do all of the crazy stuff that she has us do :). It's so empowering!

I am nervous about the amount of calories that I need to eat today. I'm sure I'll get over it... somehow... lol... Dude seriously...if you want to eat a lot, exercise a lot, because then you HAVE TO! Especially if you want to lose weight! That is such a contradiction in my brain and it hurts to think about! It's like what came first, the chicken or the egg (not really lol).

I hope you all have a great Wednesday (Can you believe it's already Wed?!?!?!).

Make today count! It's your only chance!

I can do this, and so can you. We are stars!

day 167 (day 6 / week 24)

Last night was a difficult one. The Monkey Boy never went down for a nap yesterday, so he decided he wanted to go to sleep at 7:30pm. There was no waking him, to keep him up a bit longer. We tried tickling him and playing with his feet, even moving him, and he just stayed asleep.

He woke up 4 times throughout the night. The first time, as we were heading to the sack, and he went back down. Then an hour later he fell out of the bed (it's only a foot off the ground, if that), then at 2:30 and again at 4:30. Then my hubby decided that today (of all days) he would actually wake me up early, like I usually want lol. I don't think I actually budged until 6:30 and I feel pretty crappy right now. I can't wait until our son does better with his bed. He did great the night before!

I have a busy morning ahead of me. I wanted to do the 30 Day Shred, but by the time I got into my exercise room, it was pretty late. I did Turbo Jam's 20 minute workout instead, with my sculpting gloves. I said to myself as I was starting the DVD that I would come back this afternoon when we get home and do The Shred, and that I would update my labels when I do it. I know darn well that if I wait to do that, it will never get done! I am the queen of procrastination! On top of that, I will justify it by saying "I did my exercise for the day so it's all good."

I am going to enter that label now, so I feel obligated to do it. If I don't do it, it will be cheating to me, in a strange sort of way. It's funny how a simple little thing like that can get my butt moving lol. God blessed me with that insight about myself, to make changes where I need to. So please notice, at the bottom, I scheduled myself to do the 30 Day shred, level 3, as well, making that a "twice a day" thing, as well. Knowing that you guys know I am going to come back and do it, will force me to do it. lol.

Do what you gotta do to make today count! This is your only shot!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 166 (day 5 / week 24)

I can't believe there is only 199 days left of my 365 day challenge, isn't that awesome?

My son still hasn't gone down for his nap, and I was waiting for that, to do the 2nd part to my exercise.

This morning before he woke up I did day 15 (1/2 way there! woo hoo!) of the 30 day shred, level 3. The more I do it, the more I enjoy it. I literally couldn't jump more than twice in a row when I started this blog, and now I can do jumping jacks with the best of them. I can do sumo jumps and squat jumps, "rock star" jumps, and can even do jumping lunges (not many yet, but I can do them!).

*jump* *jump* *jump*

I wanted to do level 1 of the 30 day shred during the Monkey Boy's nap, but he hasn't gone down yet. Oh well.

Tomorrow moring is going to be busy. I have another job fair to go to, so I am trying to plan my time accordingly. In a perfect world I would get up before 6, exercise and all that jazz, but it takes me a good 45 minutes to wake up and get my workout-face on. On top of that, I have been sleeping in till 6:15! This doesn't help my case. Oh well

*jump* daddy mac'll make ya *jump* *jump* kriss kross'll make ya *jump* *jump* uh huh, uh huh *jump* *jump*

Make today count!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 165 (day 4 / week 24)

Last night we transformed my Monkey Boy's crib into the toddler bed. He LOVES it and was such a good little man when we put him down to sleep in it for the first time. He got out of bed and played for a little while, but hopped back into bed about 5-10 minutes later, without coming out of his room!

The only bad part about this is that he needs to get used to the opened section of his crib now. He rolled out of bed a couple times last night, and now I am exhausted. I have procrastinated with exercise ALL MORNING--for almost 5 hours now.

I just want to go take a nap. I made today a (non) rest day, although I know I recently had one. I didn't get my full 8 hours in and this princess gets cranky when she doesn't (lol). I did level 1 of the 30 day shred, with heavier weights, and with the variations from Level 3.

I'm gonna go sleep now (lol if the little one will let me). Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 164 (day 3 / week 24)

I totally forgot that we were going to be celebrating my hubby's father's birthday today...actually I thought we were going to be doing it tomorrow, so this is why I didn't post until now. I got up early (enough) and procrastinated to the point that I could only do the 30 day shred, once, instead of twice, then I jumped in the shower and we were off to Nana and Papa's house. Oh well. Once is better than nothing! I'll do them both tomorrow :). I am excited to :).

I can feel my shoulder and back muscles from the plank position exercises we do, and from the traveling push ups, and it feels great! I love the feeling of worked muscles.

A lot of you guys showed interest yesterday, in the Omega 3-6-9 that I mentioned. They have changed my skin, it's so nice now! I usually have pretty dry/flaky skin--especially my feet and elbows. My left elbow gets really really dry during the summer months and my feet usually look horrible, because I live in flip flops. I am not a doctor, and so I am not saying that these omegas are a cure for anything, but I think they have helped me and my grody skin.

My monther in law (MIL) talks about beneficial oils a lot, more specifically, Udo Oil. I never really had any interest in it or what it was, because I thought it was just a fad something or other, that she uses for her Prism Diet. The thing that really got me is that she always says "when you eat olive oil, or smart balance, or a beneficial oil, don't count the calories." That drives me absolutely nutty because in school, they grilled in us "calories in, calories out" and if we weren't supposed to count the calories on EVOO and such, why is there a nutritional fact on the bottle that tells me there is 120 calories per TB (or whatever)? This drove me nuts, which is why I never really paid attention to what Udo Oil is.

We were having our little debate about it once again (maybe a month or 2 ago?), when I asked her where she was getting her info about not counting the calories...yadda yadda yadda and she gave me the information that her prism leader gave to her when she first started about beneficial oils and what to do with them (It was like from the 90's I think--she kept it all this time!). I read them, still didn't agree w/ the calorie part, but became interested because of what it said about added health benefits. She told me to research Udo Erasmus, which I did, and decided, that because she swears on the stuff (and so does her mother)--2 women that I respect and love a lot, that it made her hair/skin/nails much softer and stronger AND that she lost weight, that I would trust her and try it. I said that if I gained any weight, counting the calories or not (her paper work said I could count the calories if it would make those of us with that issue, feel better) that I would stop. The paperwork said to take beneficial oil up to 10 TB a day--again, I'm not a doctor or medical/nutritional professional, so please don't do this--until your skin is soft.
UPDATE 6/15/09: I just want to make sure that you guys aren't misunderstanding this previous sentence. I am not saying to take 10 TB of this a day (or that Udo Erasmus says this either). I do not, and believe it's waaay too much! I think the point that the pamphlet was trying to make was to take a lot of it until your skin is soft--which I also don't think you should do. Read the label of whatever you take (whether it's vitamins or this) and take it as suggested! I took my capsules as the bottle suggested.

Here is the info about Udo's Oil 3-6-9 blend specifically--because she swears by this stuff. His formula uses a 2:1:1 ratio of omega 3, omega 6 and omega 9. He is anal about quality and all that jazz, so his is expensive, but you get what you pay for. On his site, I also saw that he has softgel versions of this, so I took the cheap route, and found Omega 3-6-9 in soft gels (nature's bounty) at CVS pharmacy...they have them everywhere including walmart and target also... and started taking them 3x a day. The best part was that they were BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!! YAAHHOOO! Gotta love that. I figured if I took them, and nothing happened, then I don't feel bad because I spent $12 on both of them (compared to $50 for Udo Oil). I first mentioned that I started taking these in April and don't know or remember when I started seeing a difference (my hubby actually first noticed) but I continue to take it, and my skin isn't dry anymore. I added it as a sparkpeople goal (to take 3x/day) so that I don't forget (along with my glucosamine). The pic on the left, is what I take now. It's a 1:1:1 ratio, and not as strong as Udo Oil ( 6g of Omega-3 ALA, 3g of Omega-6 LA, 13mg GLA, 3g Omega-9 OA), so I bet that stuff works even better! I am not Udo Erasmus, or a Udo expert, or even sell this stuff (you would think I was, huh? lol), and have never taken any classes on beneficial oils before, so please don't go buy this stuff, down the entire bottle, get sick, break out, sweat oil and blame it on me (not that this would happen--you guys get what I'm saying though, right? ;)). CVS now has a different brand on sale, but it's not the same ratio, and is not as potent as what I am taking now, or Udo Oil. I also don't get "fish burps" and I have read a lot about, with fish oils and such. If I take all 3 at one time I do (sometimes even with 2), but I can count on one hand the number of times I have had a fish burp (I hate that term lol)--so that's pretty darn good!

Sorry for the long explanation. I just wanted you guys to know why I started taking this stuff (to prove my loving MIL wrong--awe man!), and give you guys the link to Udo Erasmus' site, so you can figure out if it's right for you. There is a wealth of information on that site, about all of the health benefits associated with beneficial oils,and everything is referenced too (which is always a good indicator that he isn't just making this stuff up himself just for a quick sale lol). My feet look beautimus! I wish I had a before shot so that I could take an after show, and show you the difference. I honestly didn't think it would do anything. Who knew? (my MIL--duh) lol.

Thanks for reading my incoherent rambling!

Make today count!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 163 (day 2 / week 24)

I just got finished exercising, and I feel great today. I took some of your suggestions and ran with it!

Today I did the 30 day shred (day 12) and did Level 3 and then did Level 1 immediately after. I kept my hand weights doing level 1, and used them for a lot of the cardio circuits (jumping jacks, butt kicks and shadow boxing with the hand weights), and did some harder variations in level 1, from level 3 (like the traveling push ups--I love those!). This is exciting and should keep me busy for a while, cause if you do the math, there are a ton of mathematical variations, if you switch everything around. I think I will double up on the days that I don't walk, and will just do one, on my (non) rest days...we'll see :).

I am still trippin' on the fact that I have to eat more calories. I will trust what I learned in school, and trust what the professionals at Sparkpeople say and just do it. If I start gaining weight though (well mostly if my pants get smaller) I'm stopping! I did eat 1350 calories yesterday, and feel great today, so who knows! I'll give it a few weeks to prove me wrong (lol) :).

I also said this (that I would stop if I gained weight because you don't count those calories) when I started taking the Triple Omega's a few weeks ago, and it never happened! My MIL was TOTALLY right (I still don't understand it though--calories in calories out??)! My skin feels and looks better, and so does my hair *shrugs*. I have...scratch that, I HAD flip flop feet (dried crusty feet--you guys know what I'm talking about, right?) and they look so beautimus now! Not dried and crusty at all! You wouldn't even know that I practically live out of my flip flops. Taking my omegas 3x a day really helped (my version of Udo Oil 2:1:1 formula since I can't afford that). If you guys want to know what that is, let me know! Super simple and I think that CVS has them buy one/get one free right now!

Hope you guys have an excellent weekend!

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 162 (day 1 / week 24)

I can't believe how fast this week has gone by...

I found myself today wishing I hadn't committed to the 30 Day Shred (that commitment phobia kicking in lol) and I desperately wanted to do something different. I had a mini tantrum, in my head and procrastinated for a good 2 hours before doing something.

I did the 30 Day Shred, level THREE (day 11) and loved it! I love the traveling pushups, although I liked the walking ones too from Level 2. Not sure why, but I was able to hang with Jillian this time, instead of following along with Anita. It seemed easier, but I bet it's just a fluke lol. I think it's just cause it's new. It went by faster for me than the other 2 levels also, but I think it's because I didn't know what was going to happen next. What's going to happen now that I know what's in all 3 levels? *cry* I'm totally screwed now. Now I have to find something to trick my mind with, in order to keep this going. The sad part is that it's only day ELEVEN! *cry* I'll figure it out, cause there are worser things (like punking out all together). I can do this! I am a star!

Yesterday I said that I was going to give you guys the formula and do mine again, to make sure I'm eating enough, so this is going to be a long post. I learned this formula in school, but found it on sparkpeople.com again, so I am just going to copy/paste from there, since it's easier that way (for me lol). Thinking about this lately made me realize that I am doing something, that makes me crazy, and I said I wasn't going to do it. It's the whole reason why this is probably even an issue. I started weighing myself often again. I hid my scale, but I pull it out of the drawer to use it, and then put it back (great hiding space, and my hubby won't hide it for me! Grrrr). There is something comforting about standing on the scale for me. Knowing if I gained weight, or lost weight w/in a day's time doesn't make me feel like I have to work harder or less, or make me have a "fat" day and tell me what I can or can't wear or anything...I think I'm just more curious and fascinated with weight fluctuation, now that I track and write down everything that I put in my mouth very strictly. It makes me laugh when I see that I weighed 3 lbs less than yesterday morning, and drank the same amount of water, and ate pretty much the same foods (creature of habbit). Regardless, I need to stop! *looks in the mirror and points a finger* Stop it! Do you hear me?!?" *shakes shoulders.* OK...I'm not a crazy person. I promise.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A FITNESS PROFESSIONAL. Please keep this in mind when you do your calculations. However, the fitness professional on sparkpeople.com Becky Hand, a registered dietitian, is the person that made this formula available (I am not putting any blame on her either--I think it's a BLESSING that this info is available for us to use!)

Here is that formula. I am going to use myself as an example, you can just plug your own numbers in to find out your numbers:

Age: 31
HT: 5'3 (63 inches/160 centimeters/1.6 meters)
Current weight: 194 lbs (88 KG)
Goal weight: 135 lbs (61 KG)
Fitness plan: 30-60 minute cardio sessions, 7 times per week

Because these formulas use height in both centimeters and meters, here’s how to calculate it: Multiply height in inches by 2.54 to convert inches to centimeters. So, my height conversion would look like: 63 x 2.54 = 160 centimeters, or 1.6 meters Because these formulas use weight in kilograms, here’s how to calculate it: Divide weight in pounds by 2.2 to convert pounds into kilograms. So, my weight conversion looks like this: 194 ÷ 2.2 = 88 kilograms

STEP 1: DETERMINE YOUR BODY MASS INDEX:

BMI: 34

BMI = weight (in kilograms) divided by height squared (in meters). My BMI = 88 kilograms ÷ (1.6 meters x 1.6 meters) = 34.

STEP 2: SET YOUR WEIGHT LOSS GOAL

I want to weigh 135 by December 31, 2009 (which probably wont happen) so I will settle for 2 lbs a week.

	Because I wants to lose another 59 pounds total, hopefully by the end of the year. That is 29 weeks away. I am setting a goal of 2 pounds a week, to try to get there, which adds up almost perfectly.

STEP 3: PLAN FOR FITNESS

I burn a
minimum: 2,597 calories/week
maximum: 6,069 calories/week

	According to sparkpeople, when I do 30 minutes of "circuit training" (my minimum) at 194 lbs I burn 371 calories/day, a minimum of 2597 calories weekly. On the days that I walk the most (80 minute 4.25 miles=496 calories) and do 30 minutes of circuit training, I burn 867 calories/day, a maximum of 6069 calories weekly. My fitness plan on sparkpeople reflects this with a weekly goal, advising me to burn 1620 calories through cardio, a week (which I ALWAYS go over).

STEP 4: MEETING YOUR BASAL METABOLIC NEEDS

My basal metabolic rate: 1,642 calories

Female BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg.) + (1.8 x height in cm.) – (4.7 x age in years) Male BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm.) - (6.8 x age in years) My BMR = 655 + (9.6 x 88 kg.) + (1.8 x 160 cm) – (4.7 x 31 years) = 1,642 calories

STEP 5: SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE ASSUMPTION

Sparkpeople assumes that outside of exercise, most people live a somewhat sedentary lifestyle:

SparkPeople makes the assumption that everyone is fairly sedentary throughout most of the day, except for the planned fitness activities they do. This sedentary lifestyle includes light walking on the job, light housekeeping, deskwork, running errands, etc. To determine the additional calorie needs of a relatively sedentary lifestyle, multiple your BMR by 1.2 to get the number of calories you need for both basal metabolic functions and light activity.

	Sedentary lifestyle needs: BMR x 1.2 My sedentary lifestyle needs: 1,642 calories x 1.2 = 1,970 calories.

STEP 6: TOTAL DAILY CALORIE NEED

I am exercising everyday, so I need to factor that into the equation:
I burn a minimum: 2,597 calories/week and a maximum: 6,069 calories/week

	My minimum daily calorie burn = 2597 calories weekly ÷ 7 days = 371 additional calories per day. My maximum daily calorie burn = 6069 calories weekly ÷ 7 days = 867 additional calories per day. Minimum: 1970 sedentary calories + 371 fitness calories = 2,341 total calories daily. Maximum: 1970 sedentary calories + 867 fitness calories = 2,837 total calories daily.

STEP 7: ACCOUNT FOR RATE OF WEIGHT LOSS

1 pound of body fat = 3500 calories. I want to lose 2 pounds a week which means that I want to lose 7000 calories a week.

Total Calorie Needs – weight loss rate (in calories per day) = Your Calorie Goal for Weight Loss Since I wants to lose 2 pounds per week, I need to cut 1000 calories per day. So, my minimum weight loss calorie target (2,341 calories – 1000 calories) is 1,341 calories per day, and my maximum weight loss calorie target (2,837 calories – 1000 calories) is 1,837 calories per day.

This makes so much sense to me! A few weeks ago, I realized that if I was eating 1300-1400 calories a day, I was losing weight. If I ate 1200, like sparkpeople has me eating, I go NO WHERE. I am appalled at the amount of calories I need to eat on maximum days, but I guess it makes sense.

Sparkpeople subtracts 250 calories from your weight loss goal (step 7) for the low end of the range, and adds 100 calories, to get the high end of the range. So for me:

on a 30 minute day:
1200 (1091*) calories -- 1441 calories (1200-1450, rounded to the nearest 10)
*The SparkPeople program will NOT allow any female to eat less than 1,200 calories daily or any male to eat less than 1,500 calories daily.

on a 110 minute day:
1587 calories -- 1937 calories (1590-1940, rounded to the nearest 10).

There you have it! I haven't been eating enough, but a part of me feels strange eating more, because the media and "common sense" (clearly not a smart statement at all) says "eat more, gain more, eat less, gain less." It's all about calories in and calories out. To tell you the truth, I'm afraid to eat more than 1500 calories a day because I am afraid I will gain weight. The math says that I wont, though, so I just need to trust that. If I start gaining weight, then we'll see, but for now, I'm still losing :).

Step #10: For Your Health and Safety

The SparkPeople program will NOT allow any female to eat less than 1,200 calories daily or any male to eat less than 1,500 calories daily.

When calories drop too low (usually below 1,200 calories for women and 1,500 calories for men), your body’s protection mechanism switches on because the body thinks it is starving. In order to conserve energy, the body lowers your metabolism and you will not burn calories as quickly. This results in a slower weight loss rate, or sometimes prohibits any weight loss from occurring.

At SparkPeople we call this “Starvation Mode”. When your caloric intake falls below these levels, it is also extremely difficult to obtain all the nutrients that your body needs for health and survival. These very low calorie intakes can also lead to other health problems such as eating disorders, gout, gallstones, and heart complications.

*deep breath* feels much better now. I did this before, but I didn't account for the days that I was doing more than 30 minutes. I would say that 3-4 days a week I am doing more than 30 minutes...

Sorry for the long blog. If you haven't joined sparkpeople yet, you should. It's free, and it's a PERSONALIZED plan. Fit just for you! You don't even need to have gym equipment or a gym membership! You don't even need to have videos! There are free videos on the site, from their Personal Fitness Trainer Nicole. This equation is calculated automatically into your nutrition plan, when you tell it how much exercise you do. It's been such a blessing, and I have regained knowledge that fell out of my head (mommy brain) years ago, and I have a better sense of how to make lasting lifestyle changes. SUCH A BLESSING!

Those of you that introduced sparkpeople to me, I don't have enough gratitude to express to you....thank you! thank you! thank you!

Make today count! Knowledge is power! Make it happen!

I can do this. I am a star.