Week Eight

Let's get right into it. Current weight- 153.2 lbs, waist- 33.25 inches, hips- 37.5 inches. That's a loss of 2.2 lbs, 2.25 inches in my waist, and 1.5 inches in my hips in one week.

Insanity works.

I really only did five workouts, four of which were intense cardio. The actual cardio portion was between 20-25 minutes. All in all, I didn't spend a lot of time doing hard workouts or weight-lifting. But I was incredibly sore every day. I still haven't finished a whole workout without having to take a break. In fact, I still haven't finished the whole WARM-UP without having to take a break. It's intense. But I don't dread it each day! I look forward to it!

My biggest issue with Insanity at this point is how much my knees are starting to hurt. I don't know if it's a lack of stretching properly or what, because they don't ever hurt during the workout itself. It's more of a stiff feeling later.

The other hard thing? Dehydration headaches. I usually drink 34 ounces of water just in the half hour or so that I'm working out, but the rest of the day is pretty hard to drink water. I'm still battling the occasional pop and iced coffee, but I don't feel it's a compulsive habit at least. And I've quit going to Starbucks! I just have to learn to like water more. I know from experience that the more I drink, the more I start to crave it again but MAN does a cold mountain dew look better some days!

I am leaving Thursday for a family vacation and won't be back until a week from Saturday (the 23rd). I won't be doing a "numbers" post next Monday while I'm there, but I may post a brief update from my phone. My next measurements will be after two weeks, so I'm anxious to see what kind of progress there is! And even though I'll be on vacation, Jenny, the one who got me on to Insanity in the first place, has encouraged me to do my workouts while I'm there. I intend to. I hope it works out. I'm not excited about trying to do them in the middle of the condo!

Things I need to work on in this upcoming week: cutting back on sweets, drinking more water, and taking my vitamins. I'll start taking chondroitin and glucosamine and see if that helps my joints. I'm so old..

Until next time!

Week Six and Seven

I am PUMPED! As promised, I got Insanity. I am only on day three, but I can safely say that these workouts WILL change me. This level of interval training is so intense that I can't sustain a whole 20 minutes yet. I'm totally a beginner, though, so I'm hoping it comes with time.

Let me backtrack. I just came off a 12 day vacation to Colorado, that's why I didn't post last Monday. I couldn't even weigh myself, so I posted that my weight stayed the same. I weighed myself on Monday and it was 155.4. Yesterday I hopped on the scale after I did Insanity and I was up to 157.4 so I think I have been fairly dehydrated. The numbers may even be higher next week. However, I did take some measurements this time! They are as follows (as of last Saturday):

Waist at belly button: 35.5 inches (ugh.. 29 in high school)

Hips: 39 inches

I will now start posting my weight AND my weekly measurements every Monday. (I promise I'll be better. Wait, I have another long vacation coming up.. but after that I will!)

The hardest part right now is reducing sugar. I'm trying to be more conscious of what I eat. I've given up pop for the most part, but I still cave for the occasional iced coffee. I'm adding more fiber and protein to my diet, though, and that definitely helps with cravings. Another hard thing? Getting enough water. Water bites to drink. It's so bland and boring. Ugh. Hopefully I soon crave it, because I was seeing spots in my workout yesterday.

Well, not much time to write today, but this blog will be a priority going forward. Thanks for tuning in!

Week Five.

I started off this week at 156.8. The numbers are slowly going south luckily, but I think it's just normal fluctuation. I still can't get over how busy life can be as a stay-at-home mom, but I'm finally feeling things slow down a little.

I talked to Jenny this week and she showed me a clip from Insanity. WOW. It looks unbelievable. You know it's tough because all these conditioned athletes are just dying in the video. Well.. Crazy is as crazy does. I'm getting it. I'm nowhere near in shape enough to make it through, but I'm pumped to try.

I saw an article this week about good cardio vs. bad cardio. I hadn't ever really thought about any cardio being bad necessarily. Without summarizing all the points in the article, I'll just point out what made me sit up and take notice. What do marathoners look like? Are you surprised by the number of people you know that run long distances but still seem to struggle with their weight? I have always found that to be such a paradox. How can someone have a spare tire when they just ran seventeen miles?! Now think about how sprinters look. Google them. They are ripped. Ridiculously toned. Healthy and strong without a hint of the "skinny flabby" thing that some marathoners have going on.

The difference of course is the type of cardio. Marathoners do a constant low intensity cardio workout every time they run. Sprinters, on the other hand, do bursts of maximum intensity cardio over and over. The big difference is in the interval training.

Normally at this point I would quote statistics and spout off about everything I think I know, but I will spare you just this once. Let me just say that I'm convinced that this high intensity interval training is going to be the answer for me personally. I can't commit to running long distances and I like variety. Insanity sounds perfect for the likes of me. I'm so excited to start.

Week Two, Three, and Four

I have delayed writing this post for several weeks because I've been so busy lately! I finally decided I'm just going to sit down and do it. It'll be short.

I documented my "progress" on the Weekly Weigh-in on the side. As you can see, nothing stellar has been happening. I have yet to find the final push that will get me motivated enough to start. I blame some of this on having a newborn with no schedule, but that is getting better now.

I just can't believe I'm starting week five and I haven't even really begun. It's a frustrating feeling. I'm looking at another very busy week, and then Father's Day weekend we are leaving for ten days or so. I'll try to post when I can, but it'll most likely be while I'm on the run and therefore quite short.

Wish I had more to share. I apologize for appearing to have dropped this project altogether!

Week One

I would like to start this post by saying BAHAHAH! My current weight is 159.8. So basically.. up two pounds. Remember that crabby post I was going to post sometime in the last week letting you know that I had given up sugar.....? Yeah I don't see it either.

Every time I decide to change my eating habits, it takes me a lot to get motivated to start. It is truly the hardest part. I can find all kinds of excuses why I need to put it off. Excuses or not, this past week FLEW by before I could take a breath (although not before I could take a bunch of bites apparently) and now I'm paying for my lack of conscientiousness.

This next week will be different. I hope. Honestly, I haven't quite reached the point where I feel that fire of motivation. Ooh! I just realized why! (See, this is why writing can be cathartic.) I feel swamped. I have a lot to do and I'm falling behind like crazy. It's hard to focus on exercise and eating right when I'm just scrambling to get normal everyday stuff done. So.. my goal for this week is to get caught up so that I feel free to start. It's a busy time of year, but I've eventually got to figure out how to manage a healthy lifestyle even when we're busy.

So I'm sorry to be a big dud, but.. hopefully by next week I'll be a slightly smaller dud. I'll post later this week if I feel like I have anything remotely motivating to share. Until then.

Round 2 is on!

My baby is 8 weeks old today! I had intended to resume updating this blog at 6 weeks postpartum, but life got in the way as it does.

Stats: my pre-pregnancy weight was 153. I got as high as 183, but I was 178 the day I delivered. I am now 158, up 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. This time around I do not have a percentage that I'm shooting for. Instead I will simply post the weight lost in pounds for each week.

I'm hearing a lot of buzz about P90X and running. Those two things have worked for a lot of people. Unfortunately, my schedule doesn't allow me to commit 50-90 minutes each day for exercise, and I can't easily pile the two kids in a stroller and go running on the gravel road. Aside from that, I'm up once or twice a night still, so I'm tired most days. I just don't think I'll be able to hit it super hard right off the bat.

My biggest focus will be on my diet. I want to greatly reduce sugar and flour intake again as that made me feel so good the first time around! So.. at some point this week, I'll finally be mustering the mental energy to give up my sugary pop and my flour-laden meals. Expect a crabby post later this week.

Just this for now. I knew I had to resume doing this eventually.. and now it's on! Now that I'm not working, I will probably be able to manage more frequent posts than just weekly. But no promises yet. Until next time!

Well, I'm no loser..

Ahhh, pregnancy. I do love it. Yes, there are grievances.. and sure, I don't know if I spelled that right.. but there is such a freedom in being pregnant. The complete absence of any judgment for the sheer volume of food consumed. It's.. too easy.

My first trimester excuse was that I was feeling queasy and had to eat all the time to ward off feeling sick. So now I need to think of a new excuse for second trimester. I'm well into my second trimester, so this excuse is long overdue, mind you. I'm starting my 20th week now, so I've had a few months to enjoy the relentless eating that is so freely forgiven during pregnancy.

I went to the doc on Tuesday, and I weighed 164.2. Yeah, I decided that weight is just a number and I know I've never shared it before, but really only because I didn't think it was overly relevant. Now I'm sharing it because I really got tired of sharing the percentage lost in any given week, and I'd just as soon break it down into pounds lost and not have to do any more math than that. Not that I'm about to start weekly updates of what I have gained or anything.. but -ugh, whatever, I don't know how to wrap up that thought and it couldn't be boring me more. I started out this pregnancy at 153 lbs. So I've gained 11.2 in 20 weeks. I believe that's about half what I gained at this point with Jett. But it's definitely starting to come to the forefront that this whole process of losing the baby weight is going to be far easier if I'm conscientious starting now.

So I'm calling out for free advice. Please feel free to leave me tips, even anonymously if you prefer, because I need all the encouragement and motivation I can get.

Here are my struggles:
1. Pop/coffee. I know I should be reducing caffeine, but I really struggle to give up my pop and coffee when I'm pregnant. It's awful. Help me out.

2. I don't exercise. It's not that I don't have the energy or even the time. I can come up with loads of both if I'm really being honest. I think what I need more than anything is a kick in the pants.

3. Eating is delightful. Hah. I eat large meals, I eat numerous meals, and I eat lots of stuff in between that is generally just garbage. My comfort foods are things like pasta, dumplings, things that turn to glue and serve no purpose other than to make me miserable an hour later. I eat until I have heartburn, I eat when I'm not hungry, I eat even when I have no appetite or desire to eat. It's tomfoolishness. Cure me.

4. It's hard to have incentive when my weight is on the rise. I'm not trying to lose weight at all. I just want to be healthier now so that it's easy to be healthy after baby comes. I'd rather have my diet habits be a continuation of how I have been eating (assuming that I've been eating healthy foods) than to try to 'resume' a way of eating after giving it up for nine months. I had to do that with Jett, and it was tough.

So lay it on me, cats. Here's your chance to offer free advice. Or a lecture. Or a motivational powerpoint presentation. I'm counting on YOU to give me the kick in the pants I need!

[Sanctimony need not apply.]

Ready, go!