Well It Is About Time That I Post!

There is nothing really exciting and new happening currently but I figured I would do my best to update.  Over the past week or so I have been able to finally try my hand at swimming for exercising.  I am not really sure how I feel about it really.  It is a nice change, and the water is often refreshing.  But the 30 minutes that I have myself in there feels like about a day, why is that?!?!  I also just feel like I am swimming "wrong."  Maybe I am not, but something isn't right.  So I do my best to get the 30 minutes, and my arms haven't gone a day without feeling it!  I have to get back on track with my Body Gospel dvd's, I did them for a couple of days and then got distracted with going swimming at the gym! Heaven forbid I do them both! ;)  As of my last weigh-in, I am down 8lbs.  I try not to really focus on the scale though, so I plan to start doing measurements.  The scale tends to make me crazy and it's too easy to get a number..measurements will require a little more time and work from me!  The past couple of days have been harder for me food wise, when its "girl time" it's harder to resist all those things!!  Anyways, I would love to hear from all of you and see what your doing to stay with it!

Getting Out Of My Own Way

Well, guess what everybody?  I managed to avoid working out again.  Sure I have done a few walks and a few work out videos, but I know that's not nearly enough to do what I have to do.  I have been complaining that I don't like the gym I am at because it is too small, etc.  Anyways I have had a membership for LA Fitness from when I was in MN, but haven't been using one since the nearest gym was 20 minutes away. But it also has a pool and just a more comfortable atmosphere for me to be in.  So what I am trying to say, is that I am going to go to the gym I want to go to and get use of the membership.  I don't have a standard job right now so I have no excuses not to!  I just need to get over myself and get on it. 

I did the elliptical today mainly because I think you get the most "calories for your time."  I really would like to incorporate swimming into my cardio routine.  I have always liked it, and I know its a good workout.  I just have to figure out what kind of calories get burned doing it! I am hoping some new surroundings will bring out the fight in me at the gym so I can take over my life.

The Ugly...Well Kind Of.

Well to start, I finally got my hands on the Body Gospel dvd's.  Along with the dvds you get 2 resistance bands, a couple of booklets, a measuring tape, and a chart to fill out your measurements...that part scares me!  Anyways, so I did the assigned work out for the day and it was doable.  There were a few parts that I had to just keep moving, and got my dog involved...she didn't care for that!  Apparently she is still sore from her work out yesterday.  I found her laying on the floor, on her back lifting her legs up and down, it was hilarious!! I fail for missing the kodak moment!!  Anyways, its been about 45 minutes and I can still feel my body burning, so I am assuming I got a good work out!  Next time I will wear my HR monitor to keep track of calories burned.  Sometimes that thing just puts too much pressure on me, and I stress about getting to a certain amount of calories...not helpful!

To the real reason of the ugly part...food journal.  I dislike these very much and I have yet to succeed in keeping the effort up.  When I am doing them, they are helpful.  You don't have to remember every little thing that you ate and the calories involved when you just write it down.  You would think that would be enough for me to take the extra 30 seconds and do it...but it's not.  I have not found the reasoning for this yet either, I am actually just going to chalk it up to pure laziness.  So, I am going to add this to my list of things to defeat.  We all know that results are better we food and calories are tracked, after all calories in, calories out.  Anyone else struggle with this?  It seems so simple! Talk to y'all later! :) 

Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.

Busy Bee

Wow, It has been a crazy few days! Last night I was able to get my new design companies website together and launched! The company is called Pink Heart Design, and the focus is on customized invitations.  This is really exciting for me, as I have always wanted to do this!  So now I am busy making advertising fliers and business cards to help kick start the business.

Kevin, Annie, and I went on a walk today, and about half way through I thought we were crazy!  It was mega hot today, with high humidity.  Annie and I were about to pass out!  But I am glad we got out and got moving, definitely makes you feel better about things.  I also joined www.jillianmichaels.com the other day since she is offering one month free.  Wow, grocery shopping for the recipes had me stressed!  Eating healthy definitely takes work and patience!  So, I am going to try it out for the month and see how it goes, hopefully the shopping gets easier.  :)

"Believe It, Be It" By Ali Vincent

I just finished reading the book "Believe It, Be It" by Ali Vincent, for the second time.  She is a crowned Biggest Loser.  Usually I can't read books over a second time but this one I could, and I found stuff that I had missed the first time.  The book is all about believing in yourself, and how she got herself there.  She started out not caring, and being pretty fearful of actually doing something about.  Her sister would often try and get her to watch the Biggest Loser, but she refused since she thought it was making fun of people.  She finally gave in and watched the show realizing she was completely wrong about it all.  As a matter of fact she said, "I am going to apply," and then quickly backtracked out of fear.  I am sure this is something that many of us do all the time in all different situations.  I know I definitely have multiple times, being afraid of failure, but also afraid of success.  The book goes through Ali's whole weight loss journey with the show, and the mental obstacles she had to face.  It is a great book to help you find out how to believe in yourself.  I am most definitely still working on that, but the book gives me a glimmer of hope, which keeps growing every time I read things similar.  All in all, give it a read, I think you would enjoy it.

Facebook Page!

Hey everyone, I made a facebook page for this blog today!  I will update both sites, so view whatever one is easiest for you.  The facebook page will allow for discussions between everyone, so all in all a better learning tool!

Calories & Books

Julie Hadden (former Biggest Loser contestant), wrote in her book "Fat Chance" to treat your calories as money.  For instance if you are on a 1200 calorie a day allowance, think of it as $1200 for food.  Is that candy bar or treat really worth 3 or $400?  Probably not.  This has helped me on multiple occasions!  I know I have read in multiple places that women are typically set on a 1200 calorie budget and men are at 1600.  This should be a minimum as your body still needs fuel to keep running!  You don't give your car extra fuel...because it won't fit!  Think of your body as a gas tank, if you give it more food than it can handle its going to bulge! 

I have ready many weight loss books by various different people, and I thought I would go over them again to be able to give everyone a pseudo review of them.  Remember I am no professional so it will definitely just be my opinion!  Would love to have everyone's input on their favorite, not so favorite books!

Stagnant

The past couple of days have been pretty stagnant for me as far as exercise goes.  Mainly because I am being a chicken about going to the gym.  I am in a new town and don't know anyone so you would think that I would be pretty carefree about going.  I can't tell you how many times I didn't want to go to the gym in my home state out of fear of running into people I know, since I was ashamed of how I looked.  For some reason I have this idea that everyone but me looks pretty exercising.  Ha ha!!  Anyways, so now I am always wrapped up in the fact that I am uncomfortable going along, and the normal "gym issues."  I know that they are all in my head for the most part, but it is still a major setback!  I am still waiting for my dvd's to come and so I just keep finding excuses for not exercising.  Although, my eating has been pretty good, with a few exceptions.  I do notice that my body is processing my insulin injections better and I am not having to take as much insulin for meals, which is a nice money savings since I am without insurance for right now.  So for the past couple days not much has been going on except for me fighting my inner demons.  What sets you back?

Body Gospel

A couple of days ago I placed an order to receive Body Gospel from BeachBody.  I always like to have things I can do at home in addition to the gym.  Mainly so that I don't have an excuse to NOT work out!  Yesterday I had been going through my work out dvds and ended up just watching them instead of participating, wouldn't it be nice if it worked that way!  I have a lot of the Biggest Loser work out dvds, tae-bo, turbo jam, and some Jillian Michaels.  While I have done all or at least part of all of these, I think I am just needing something new.  Those work outs seem to remind me of all the times I have started and quit when I wasn't seeing results fast enough or at all. Remember, I have little to no patience!  I am really excited to get these dvd's, and start something fresh!  I will keep you updated on how they are!

The N Word

Negativity, yesterday and today it has reared its ugly head.  I know the reasons why I need to stay positive, I just haven't learned how yet.  How do you get to the point of having a positive thought, and it not sounding stupid?  Not sure if I am too cynical or what the deal is in this department.  I really admire people who have got the positive thinking down, it is quite a feat.  I am really trying to hand this whole ordeal up to God and put it in his hands, but this is a struggle for me.  I like to do things on my own, and I usually find out the hard way to do them.  Lord, please let your will be stronger than mine!