2 months in

2 months in, and it's still not easy to get up at 5AM on tuesdays and thursdays...A.P. how do you do it??? I'm exhausted (or is that from the cat waking me up 20x per night??)

Besides being exhausted, I feel great, though. My pants all fit now, and I even bought a few tops this weekend...and a pair of jeans ON SALE (I haven't fit in a pair of sale jeans in quite a while.) the almost passing out every Tuesday is getting easier to handle, since I know it means I can fit in my clothes.

Believe it or not, I have not skipped even one bootcamp session yet. the way I figure it, I will be missing 3x in October for trips, so I'm saving it up for then.

slip sliding away

I am seriously considering eating ice cream for dinner tonight. I know it's partly a reaction to my feeling crappy about my life, but I'm at the point where it just doesn't seem to matter. I don't know how to stop the backward slide....

Weigh-in tomorrow

I'm freaking out. I wish it were tonight, so I could just get it over with! I'm stressing over what to do for the next 20 hours. Should I go to the gym tonight? Should I weigh myself tonight to see if I am on track? should I stop drinking water? Should I go to my regular class tomorrow before the weigh in or should I just sit in the sauna so I can skip breakfast??? should I skip eating for the rest of the day today???

This is crazy. I wouldn't even be worrying about this if it wasn't for my team, but I don't want to let them down. Maybe I will have to just see what my weight is tonight and judge from there how drastic I need to be tomorrow. all I know is, I have to at least have those 5 lbs off for the weigh-in. If not, I am going to be very, very sad and embarrassed!

One month of summer left to go!

With one month of summer left to go (well, not in the south, but in the civilized world..) I am trying to figure out how I'm going to keep eating right to continue to lose or at least maintain my weight. I think i truly do have the working out thing solidified - at least for now - but the caloric intake part is going to be tough. There are a lot of things I've cut out of my life this summer that I really just don't want to cut out altogether: beer, wine and cheese night, my awesome cooking... Not sure what to do about it besides just keep trying to count or guesstimate my calories and work on a budget system. Hopefully, the excercise will help me maintain, but I know it's not really going to help me lose any weight.

I do know that I can't continue everything - that would have me in divorce court! Every time my spouse brings home some sort of craft wheat beer telling me he got it for me, since he knows I will only drink 'light' beer, I want to club him on the head - even though in his mind, he is being a good guy. Instead, I'll just need to stay firm in the areas I know I can maintain and stop blaming him for unconsciously sabotaging me...

Last week, my S-I-L told me about an article she read recently that said women over 40 need to work out at least 4 days a week just to maintain their current weight...that depressed me, but at least I know what I am dealing with now. I looked for the article online but couldn't find it. I did find this one, though, which is a 2 minute read about weight loss tips. I liked the part about sleeping : )

http://www.womenfitness.net/top10_losing_weight.htm

Have a great week everyone - I am pushing until my Saturday weigh-in!!

I GAINED 2 lbs.!!

...so now I'm only down 3 lbs and and my weigh -in is in a week and a half. How could one or two nights of wine and food do so much damage? I tried to keep my portions small. It must have been that twix bar the guy on the plane gave me. SO frustrating, considering it took 7 weeks to get it off, and only 3 days to gain half of it back.

Just getting started

Well, I'm finally jumping on the bandwagon and trying to get my fat ass in shape. (Wait, is that negativity allowed on the blog?) Planning to go for a nice walk or a yoga class tonight to jump start my program. Wish me luck.

At least I finished..

Well, completed the 5K today. It was killer. My time wasn't good, 33:20. I was hoping for 10 min miles. I guess it's a goal. I plan on doing one in Sept. that way I stay focused. Maybe I'll fit into an 8 by Christmas..

Eating and Workouts

Interesting article contributed by Sully:

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/digestive-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100146039&gt1=31034

Sobriety

Okay, so I had a BIG indulgence last Tues. One + BOTTLES of wine! Since then, only one 5 beer nite (Friday). I feel better, more focused and less likely to reach for a beer on any given afternoon. That, my friends, is progress! I recieved a "Ms. P, have you lost weight" by a teaching assistant yesterday at school and my shorts were loose. I am also running a 5K on Sat. The scale hasn't moved much, but I guess it isn't all about the scale. I plan on checking my measurements on Mon after 3 weeks. I'll let you know! BTW-Know It All, congrats on the BootCamp and your commitment to keeping us focused!!

Broken

So, bootcamp finally broke me today, a month in. I had to bow out of two rounds of circuit training. But it made me feel better that when I rejoined, even the veterans were having a tough time....doesn't make me a bad guy. I still love it - I do way more than I would on my own, even in a group fitness class. We'll see how long I can last, and if I can make it the entire hour next time : ).

How is everyone doing with their routine? Now that moves are complete and schedules are back in swing is everyone still in the game, or slacking? I had a fairly indulgent weekend, but I'm still in the game. I'll get back to you on that one once my biggest loser challenge is over in 3.5 weeks. I'm hoping my motivation stays strong then!

Goals

How is everybody doing? Haven't heard from a few of you in a while, so I will assume the answer is "super-fantastic"!

I am doing well; after a tough weekend of carb and chocolate cake fantasies, I have emerged victorious. I was not on my very best behavior (dinner out on Saturday and book club Sunday, where my hostess made margaritas for us and ordered in Thai (fried rice and noodles) I was like..."ehhh, that's not exactly where I wanted to spend my calories for the day".) BUT, I ate and drank just a little, keeping my portions under control, and actually managed to stay under 2,000 calories for the day - dessert and all.

The reason I bring this up is that I think the fact that I have a timed goal is really helping me. If there was no end in sight to my diet, I think I would have just folded this weekend. That's not to say that I am going to go back to my old ways after the goal has been reached, but there should be some more room for wiggling then. I know that I can keep this up for another 4 weeks, and that if anything comes up in the meantime I can plan ahead to bank the calories (can you say Mikkeller Beer Dinner??) I really feel like this 10 week plan I am on has enabled me to get in some good habits - and since I know I have 6 weeks down already, the rest will be even easier!

Portion size guide

I was looking at an article about superfoods when I spotted this. It's pretty cool - don't know how much it will help me count calories, but I am definitely portion-size challenged, so I'm hoping I can retain some of it so I can start doling out 'real life sized portions' instead of the super-sized ones I've been eating all my life.:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate

(still haven't gotten my cinnamon pills..I'm going to look for them at target today!)

Holiday Weekends are TOUGH!

How do you avoid the potato salad? How do you tell an Italian mother "no thank you"? How do you avoid the beer??

I say, don't...just keep it in very limited moderation....and keep exercising every day. I don't know how else to handle it!

Power Pills??

So, I was reading one of my thousands of Fitness magazines. This particular one had some interesting info. Grape Seec Extract reportedly protects against wrinkles and skin cancer. They also suggest taking 2, 500-mg cinnamon capsules midday to steady your energy level midday. I think I WILL try that one..

Playlists

Ladies- What are you listening to while you work out on a cardio machine? I am getting bored with my usual playlist and thought if we each give 2-3 songs, it may motivate me. Some recently downloaded by me: Boom, Boom, Pow by the Black Eyed Peas, I'm Only Happy When it Rains-Garbage, Bleed it out-Linkin Park..

If it doesn't "Feel Right"...

I happened to glance over at the 'diet thoughts' feed on the left side of our blog. At that time, this was up there:

"Listen to your body. It is always sending you signals. If it does not "feel right" then it is probably not a good thing for you to do. Check with your doctor."

If I took that advice literally, I'd be laying on my couch every night eating a huge bowl of spaghetti! You know, because it feels soooo right....

BLAH

Okay-so I've been in a funk and unwilling(unable?) to write down what I am eating. I KNOW it's the best way to lose weight, but I find it more challenging than working out. Any suggestions? BTW-Miss Know it all, your gym LIVES on Les Mills. I'm glad you signed up for BootCamp, cuz beside Spinning, I wouldn't know what to recommend!

Fit Day

Over the weekend, a fellow 'biggest loser' competitor told me about a great (free) website where you can track your calories. Very applicable to me, as up until now I was just using a spreadsheet. I am going to enroll today and will report back on pros/cons.

http://www.fitday.com/

Aerobics-challenged

I don't know how you do it APW. My gym keeps confusing me by doing 'new releases' of classes and such...so for all today's classes, you had to register in advance (new release day).

I always get confused since they all sound the same, so I inadvertently signed up for the wrong class. I thought it was an aerobic/martial arts class, but instead, it was an aerobics class on crack. Not only did it kick my butt, but I just am not coordinated enough or quick enough to react to direction for this type of excercise. With the martial arts one, I am seriously laughing the entire time because I am behind 2 steps, but at least I eventually 'get it'. With the aerobics stuff, I can just never seem to catch up or execute what they're doing...

So picture this: 5 instructors on a stage with madonna mics executing in unison all dressed alike, a packed class, and me (red faced, dripping sweat, turning the wrong way at every move and just plain missing some.) Very frustrating.

I actually left the class 35 minutes in. Luckily, I think they were pretty much at the end of the high heart rate stuff, but it doesn't matter..I'll probably never take that class again anyways! I'm wondering whether to walk back over and figure out what the name of my real class is so I can crash it! Nope, too much to do today...friends coming over to pre-party before a wedding reception. Tomorrow, I conquer another class!!

What to do when your diet makes you B*tchy?

Seriously, I cannot get out of my bad mood, and this has happened umpteen times lately. I want to just walk out of this house, but the gym closes soon and I don't want to walk in the hood this late by myself.

I just talked myself into it. Let the vagrants beware!!!

Curious..

Is it wrong to talk myself into working out if I tell myself I can have a glass of wine when I am done??

Neat Article On Staples of the Typical Mediterranean Diet

Some things I have discovered as I've been logging my caloric intake over the past few weeks, but others are new 2 me!

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/Story?id=7911505&page=1

Yay Me!

First, I feel so loved at being an honorary member. Second, guess I need a secret code name, I used my own. Third, since we are here to blog about being fit, I just came back from WW. I lost 3.4 lbs in week one! Obviously week 1 is always a big loss. Now, don't let me fool you because I ate and drank all weekend. My tricks are eating vats of the veggie soup and I only drank on Friday and Saturday. Even I find that hard to believe. It is probably not sustainable.

I am off to Ft Lauderdale tomorrow for four days. I packed my Kashi bars and my gym clothes. Two things that I have never packed to take on vacation before.

Welcome to a new Phi Girl!

we have a new contributor to our site...an honorary phi girl....stay tuned : )

Have a good week!

I am positive we are all going to do well this week. I have more going on this week, I am teaching 2 Mon and Thurs, have a conference on Wed and am going to theater camp tomorrow. I find structure helps me stick to eating well. Hope you all stay on track!

Weekend

I was just out taking a walk - my first exercise in as long as I can remember - and was also trying to come up with strategies for the weekend. I'm spending it with my parents, who are the folks I learned my less-than-wonderful eating and drinking habits from. It seems that every time I am with them, I end up imbibing much more than I plan to, and our entertainment centers around meals and alcoholic beverages.

OH NO, the weekend is here..

Okay, ladies, what strategies are we using for the weekend? I have lunch with the fam on Sat and the Phillies game on Sun. Jay isn't going, so I think I can steer away from the beer, but I MUST have crabby fries from Chickies..

YEAH!! I figured it out. Thanks, S. Okay, so this is the roughest part of the day, btwn 3 and 9. I SO want a few beers..

M - In response to 'Stressing Out' - it sounds like you're focusing on the negative aspects and potential pitfalls of the situation, rather than the opportunity to spend time with friends while integrating the positive changes you're making in your life.

Stressing Today

I have been doing really well all week, but am stressing because I had to meet someone for lunch today and now have to attend a happy hour ...which I got duped into organizing, so I do "have" to attend. gotta set some limits for myself in terms of eating AND ESPECIALLY drinking. Plus, I want to get up early tomorrow to go to the gym - what's a girl to do????
-M

Kicking off the Summer!

We're kicking off the summer by blogging our progress - the Phi Girl support network is up and running!!

A & S - post all your daily trials...I know mine are already building.

-M