Step Away From the Cake

Nothing like a good run to set your head straight. I definitely need to change my mind set as I said the other day. So it starts right here and right now.  I decided on my run that for the following week I will do the following: I will workout everyday, 3 days running, 3 days biking,  weights in front of the TV, and one day elliptical.  I will eat less then 1500 calories every single day I will know this because I will write down everything I eat I will lose 2 lbs this week  I will also take it one day at a time.  I'm not going to think about what needs to be done tomorrow or the day after, I'm going to focus on the here and now.  Live in the moment like my dogs do. Edit:  I will be posting my workouts and calories every day in order to keep myself on track and accountable.  Day 1 did not go as well as planned but didn't end up as bad as I feared either.   Workout:     56 min run/walk  Calories consumed:...

That is quickly becoming my mantra.  I will.....  No more I'll try or I want to, none of that crap anymore.  I will.  If I don't really want to do something I won't put it on my list o' things to do.  At least activity wise.  I did say yesterday that I was going to ride my bike today and run tomorrow.  I'm not.  I'm running today and riding tomorrow.  Just a little change.  So it's time to get moving.  I'm off for an hour or so. 

Life is what happens while you are making other plans. - John Lennon It's too true. I also think much of what I accomplish has to be in my thoughts before it happens. I had big plans for this week and I've actually accomplished about 85% of them, so that's not bad, but life threw me some curve balls in the meantime. My project, which I put off doing, turned out to be much larger then I anticipated. My workouts got derailed by TOM!!! My cleaning plans got shifted a little due to us getting a new member of the family this afternoon. Nothing ever seems to go exactly the way it should. But I think I've realized something this week, I'm approaching some things all wrong. I have to have it in my head that I am whatever it is I'm considering. For example, when I decided to become a teacher I did not go around saying "I want to be a teacher" I said "I'm going to be a teacher." And guess what? I am. The two times I did the Honolulu...

10 more days left of vacation - woo hoo!!!! I'm going on a bike ride this morning but the weather is looking a little iffy I'm trying to see what it decides to do. I've accomplished a lot this week and I'm very pleased with that. The next couple of days are going to be focused on school work. My project was extended for another week - thank god - so I have more time to work on that. I really want to get it done and out of the way though. I'm sick of thinking about it. Nothing else to say really. I'm going to see what the weather does in the next few minutes and head out on the bike. I'm only riding for about 45 minutes so I should be fine whatever happens.

When I was at my healthiest I ate certain things that I just loved. I had a couple of recipes that were the backbone of my diet (I mean that in a way of eating not a restriction). Then I started reading things; you need X amount of protein, eat protein with every meal, eat 6 times a day, blah, blah, blah. But the bad part was I listened. I started eating more protein - that didn't help me lose weight. I started eating protein with every meal - okay, that I like. I started eating 6 times a day - I couldn't keep track of that. It got crazy. I got crazy and would just say 'oh, the hell with it all.' For the last couple of months I've been more focused on eating when I'm hungry and controlling portion sizes. What I've discovered is that there are times when I need to eat every 2-3 hours and there are times when I don't. There are times when protein is exactly what I need and times when it's not. In other words, what the 'experts' say...

When I eat right and work out I can tell when my metabolism changes. Can others tell? If I'm eating junk and working out it doesn't work, but if I'm watching my food intake, sticking to healthy, whole foods, I can definitely tell. The first sign is that I stop getting full. I eat until I'm satisfied and never reach fullness. At first I thought this was due to me watching what I eat but I've found if I'm not working out this doesn't happen. The next sign is that I get hungry more frequently. What satisfied me when I started no longer does, I have to eat more often. Finally, it's like I can feel my stomach empty. I don't get full and it's almost like I can feel the digestion happening. It's hard to explain and even stranger to experience. As I said, this doesn't happen if I'm not working out. I can go day without eating and be sitting around the house doing nothing and not get like this. But if I workout, regularly, it happens...

I was really worried about ending up doing a lot of nothing over this break. That has been my past habit and I really didn't want that to happen again. Well, it's not. Even though it is only day 4 I have been super busy. So busy in fact that I have not been able to do all the workouts I wanted. I had planned on 3 workouts a day but that is just not happening. I've been so busy doing things around the house and for school that I don't stop moving until 8 pm. By then I'm exhausted and there's no way I'm working out. The good news is that I'm starting every day with a workout. I decided that I want to get back into running and triathlons next year and have taken that to heart. Sunday I went out for a walk and ended up doing some short bursts of running. Yesterday I decided to get serious. It's 14 weeks until New Year's Day and I want to do the 10k. So I dug up a training schedule and that starts in 2 weeks and decided to use these 2 weeks ...

I started my shape up over the weekend but Hubby and I have a routine over the weekends that's pretty set in stone. Luckily I was able to keep the food in check and I got my workouts in so that was a huge success. But today it really begins. I went shopping yesterday and stocked up on tons of fruits and veggies. Since I'll be home for all my meals I plan to do lots of stir frys and salads. I'm not sure about the protein part yet, I may pick up some roasted chicken while I'm out today to have a quick protein to add. I've been reading weight loss blogs a lot this weekend and I've noticed two things. Either people do it or they don't. The ones that seemed to have slipped and gained the weight back seem to be those that first, made it a 'diet', and second, did not make it a priority. The ones who are succeeding, still, make it a way of life and make it non-negotiable. Whether they are single and have lots of free time on their hands or they ...

I plan on being very active these two weeks I'm off even if that activity is doing chores around the house. I'll be working out every morning and biking riding and such but I'm also doing some major house cleaning, more like spring cleaning.  I've also spent some time today getting this laptop up and running all my stuff.  I didn't have iTunes on this so I had to load that and now I'm loading up all my music. I also had to load all the drivers for all my toys, my GPS, my Kodak camera, my husband's Canon camera , my Sony, and a bunch of other stuff. I don't even know all the stuff that I use but every time I go to do something I realize I have to load the drivers for it. {{sigh}} So I've sat here a little more then I wanted to today. Now I'm off to have some dinner and watch the season premier of Desperate Housewives. I can't wait!!!!

I've been reading a lot of weight loss blogs lately.  It seems to go in cycles with me, I started out reading weight loss blogs, moved on to running/triathlon blogs, now I'm back to the weight loss ones.  I've also noticed a bit of a pattern though I'm not quite sure how to explain it.  Some of the bloggers that I started following back in the beginning, who were very successful at weight loss, some are still around and it seems like they've gained the weight back.  Not all of the bloggers and not always all of the weight, but some. Meanwhile there are others that I've just found that are very successful, they have lost weight and either kept it off or continue to lose. Why is that? What's the difference between these people?  What is the secret?  Myself, I'm among the former group, at one point I was 20 lbs lighter then I am now, I was incredibly active and athletic.  What happened?  Why did it change?  I have some ideas but I know I don't ...