why did i wait so long?

I know I’ve been a bad blogger lately. Hoping the computer charger will be in soon. I can only get on here at work, which is limited.  One more week of craziness, and the chaotic mess that is my life should subside a little. today was weigh in day. I am down another 3 lbs. last week =195.8,  today =192.6.  I can’t wait to see the 180’s. I just recalculated my bmi.  My BMI is 33. I started at over 50, but even after losing 113lbs, I am still considered obese! that is just amazing to me. I have to get down to about 173 lbs before I move into the “overweight” category.  As i’ve mentioned before, my sister has a personal trainer and has been giving her all kinds of good advice. He says that the most effective way to workout (burn the most calories) is to do circuit type training. Meaning mixing cardio with strength training. so yesterday I made my own little circuit class. the people at the gym probably thought I was crazy. I did 10 min on the elyptical, 10 minutes weights, 10 min treadmill, then weights, then stair stepper, then weights…and so on for 90 minutes. I am telling you, the time flew by. It was almost like I was in one of my spin circuit classes. It seemed to go by a lot quicker than doing 50 or 60 straight minutes of cardio, then 30 minutes of weights.  I dont care if I looked crazy or not, what ever burns the most calories and gives me a more effective work out is the way I want to go. today I had:

oatmeal with honey, cinnamon and smart balance light butter

cottage cheese, cantelope

grilled shrimp, steamed broccoli, more cantelope

couple bites of chocolate (oops), some coffee, about 15 peanuts

french onion soup with cheese, no crouton

well, our computer charger is ordered, but hasn’t arrived yet.  so, still no computer. I am at work now. I miss being on this site! I miss my computer. We are all moved into our new place. It went pretty smoothly. We cleaned the old house up and turned in the keys today. So, thats a big load off my shoulders. The next week will still be pretty hectic. I have to work overtime, plus do this class for work (ACLS) if anyone knows about that. Its advanced cardiac life support. I just dont want to take the time to study for it.  I’ve been doing well with eating and working out. I am starting to shock myself when I pass a mirror. I am almost unrecognizable to myself, LOL!  I just cant believe how much losing weight changes your looks.  I mean it changes everything!  I really feel like a totally different person. much healthier, more outgoing, more confidence. Its awesome. well, just wanted to catch up. talk to ya all later

Just wanted to get on here real quick for an update. I am doing ok. we are moving this week and everything is hectic around the house. our computer charger broke, so my laptop is out of commission. I am at work now, so the only time i have to get on the internet is at work (where Im suppose to be working) hehe.  Hopefully we will get a new charger soon.  I am looking forward to getting this move over with. The other day I broke a big glass bowl and cut my pinky finger real bad. had to go to the ER for stitches. OUCH, that hurt so bad. I was like the biggest baby, LOL. so, honestly the only thing I kept thinking is…”how am I going to strength train with a cut pinky?”  I can’t bend it.  I did a good workout thursday, but had to modify some things. Going to the gym this morning after work. Ive been eating on plan. I am proud of that since its been such a stressful month. seriously cant wait til the middle of may. by then, all this move will be behind me, and the class I have to take at work, that i have been dreading will be over. I just have to make it till then.

update: saturday afternoon, I weighed myself for my weekly weigh in. I am down 2 lbs!! well, almost. last week I was 197.6.   today = 195.8!!  just wanted to share

my sister had a long talk with her personal trainer guy yesterday and she wrote me an email to tell me what she learned. I am sharing it with you guys…. these are questions I was wondering about, and asked her to ask him.  so here is her email:

ok, so he said it really doesn’t matter if you are going to do cardio first or strength training first. he said if you are going to do strength training first at least do 5 mins of cardio before hand to warm up the joints and get blood flowing to the muscles. it helps healing and repair time for the muscles. but it is always the best to combine cardio with strength training.  (like circuit training)

as for intensity here is the skinny on that.
your body has 3 possible sources of energy… carbs, protein and fat. protein is the last resort, so it really has 2 choices.. fat or carbs. and that does depend on your intensity of the workout. training at a high level of intensity forces your body to draw on carb cals for energy. they are more efficient sources of energy, so your body goes for that (carbs) if you are working hard. if you are training at a low intensity, your body doesn’t need to be as efficient, and it will draw on a higher percentage of fat cals for fuel. that is why so many ppl think it is better to train at a lower intensity. they are WRONG!! they think ppl should only train in their fat burning zones. the thing is, even though a greater PERCENTAGE of fat cals is used during low intensity exercise, the TOTAL number of fat cals used is greater during high intensity exercise b/c more overall cals are burned. for example, in a half hour of low intensity exercise, you might burn 100 cals… of those, 80% would be fat cals…. meaning you’ve burned 80 fat cals… in a half hour of high intensity exercise, you might burn 300 cals. of those, about 33% will be fat cals, meaning you’ve burned 100 fat calories. get it? even though the percentage of fat cals burned is higher during low intensity exercise, you are burning so many more total cals during high intensity exercise that, percentages aside, you are still burning more fat cals, not to mention the 200 carb cals you are burning as well. high intensity workouts also give you a higher fat afterburn.  you will burn more fat long after your workout is over…

it is also true that carb cals become fat cals after a while anyway, so a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. BURN AS MANY DAMN CALORIES AS YOU CAN. that is the point.

there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, though it is very dim and flickering. LOL   but all the painting is done at our new place. DH installed the new blinds, calked the stuff that needed caulking, replaced some tile in the bathrooms, ect… so its coming along.  The place is looking better.  I really love the house we live in now, and am going to be upset to leave it, but I am really loving the PRICE of our new place. The location is also very nice DIRECTLY BEHIND MY GYM!!! woo hoo! I have NO excuse to not excercise. I can literally walk there within a minute.  The inside of the house is looking very nice, and we do have a screened in lanai. I am content with the situation. besides, having more money to spend on other things will be nice.  so, the next two weeks will be moving. Its sort of nice that we can take our time and move in slowly instead of doing it all at once. next week i am going to start putting up my pictures and decorations and moving in the rest of the closets and stuff.

  I am back on track, and going to focus on working out five days a week. I need to up my game again and get this last 60 lbs off. 

  so, guess what?  my sister was approached a few weeks ago by a personal trainer! he was asking her all kinds of questions about her weight loss and work out routine, to make a long long story short….he offered to train her five days a week for FREE!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!  its like winning the lottery.  whats the catch you say?  he wants her to be his advertisment once she is down to her goal weight!! she is currently 240lbs, and he says she will be 135 and toned by december!! so once she is at goal, he will use her before and after pics as advertisment. she will be like a walking commercial for him!  we are so excited for her. Of course I am soooooooo freaking jealous, but very happy and excited for her. She is going to tell me everything that he teaches her! so its also beneficial for me . I will keep you updated on her progress too. So far she has done two training sessions with him and feels like a sore wet noodle, LOL… talk to you all later.

B- cheerios with skim milk

S- string cheese 2%

L- brussel sprouts, greek yogurt w/honey

D- subway turkey on wheat with cheese and light mayo

S- protein shake, post work out      few bites of combos snacks

well, its been a busy few days. also stressful.  Easter was nice. I ate candy and all the yummy food dh cooked. I was ok with that. I had planned to indulge on easter, and I did. I enjoyed it. It would have been great if I would have stopped there.  So monday I woke up planning on going right back on track. breakfast was good. Then I had to go to our new house and paint with the kids. The kids are on spring break which is really bad timing with the move and painting and packing I’ve been doing. It’s very hard to get things done with them home. so honestly I think the stress of the day just got to me, plus all the carb craving I was doing from the day before. The easter candy was still abundant in the house, along with all the left overs,  so you probably know what happened next….yup, I caved.  there went day two of over eating and eating the wrong stuff.  today was a little better, I worked out…but still didn’t go back on plan like I should have.  Its been a very bad few days for me, I’ve probably gained a few lbs and set myself back a week or so just because I couldn’t control myself.  All I have been doing is cleaning out closets, dressers, drawers, and cabinets, painting, scrubbing, washing.  I am so sick of it! I just want to get back to my normal routine.  After my workout tonight, I felt much better. I am ready to get back on track and back to focusing on working out. I can’t set myself back just because I am stressed out right now. gaining weight and eating crap will just make the stress 100 times worse! so, I promise to eat right, work out, and get all the other stuff done that I need to do.  Its only a couple more weeks and this move will be behind me. I hope you all had a wonderful easter.

Ok, I just wanted to say, I am really really concerned about sterling. I hope every day that I get on here that she is going to post a new blog. ugh….. It just doesn’t seem right that she would have left and not said anything to anyone. I have a horrible feeling. I just wish someone knew how to get a hold of her to make sure she is ok.  I really hope she comes back soon, if only to let us know she is alright. she was such an inspiration to me (and others).  I learned something new from every post she wrote. I miss her, and pray she is ok. 

I have been at work, and very tempted with easter candy and cookies these last couple days. I am letting myself indulge tomorrow. Honestly I am looking forward to it, although dredding it at the same time. I just hope to god i can stay in some control and not get so full and sick that I regret letting myself eat the good stuff.  Its been a long while since Ive “cheated” so, I have it coming. Just sort of scared I might go off the deep end. LOL   keep me in your thoughts

Im sure you all have the same temptations this time of year. UGH……

thank you all for your wonderful comments :D   I have been super busy these last few days and it doesn’t look like its going to let up any time soon.  I have to get packing for our move to our new place. We found a new place but it needs painting and some fixing up, so that is keeping me occupied on my days off. Ive been so busy and stressed lately, but Im still eating right and trying to find time to work out. I will get on here as much as possible because I miss reading all your blogs.   I think once we are moved and my financial situation is more stable….my stress level will go down significantly.  Cant wait to see what you all have been up to.   

Can you believe it!!!!!! It’s actually here!  The day I’ve been waiting for 4 EVER!! The day I see a 1  instead of a 2!! Im telling you what, I haven’t felt this proud, happy, excited, accomplished, and just plain good in a looooooong, looooong time!!! I feel on top of the world today!  I’ve broken out in tears of joy already 3 or 4 times just because I am so freaking happy!!! It feels like I’ve gotten over that hump, you know….like I know I am going to reach my goal and its all down hill from here :D    I know I still have to work hard and all that, but it just feels so reachable now! I will never ever ever be over 200 lbs again! all is right with the world today. I have been under a lot of stress lately with finances, moving,  a lot of changes going on in our lives, but you know what…its all good. Nothing is going to stress me out today, nothing will put me in a bad mood today, nothing will shatter my happiness today, because today…april 3rd 2009 Heidi has reached ONEderland!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Have I mentioned I hate working full time? LOL…. I just got off a three day (12hr/day) stretch, and I feel like I have been out of the loop for a week. ugh….  well, April 1st will be my one year mark from the begining of my new healthy lifestyle/journey. I can’t believe It’s already been a year! the time really flew by.  I dont think I’ve ever changed so many things in a year as I have this last year.  I’ve gone from morbidly obese, weak, unhealthy, tired all the time, low self esteem, unable to tie my shoes, shave my legs, or do any physical activity whatsoever….to being just overweight, healthy, more energetic, confident, active, bike riding, muscle building, on my way to being the person I want to be! lots of changes.  I’ll never let myself get to that place I was a year ago.  I never want to feel that way again. I was a prisoner in my own body and I’ve set myself free. thats truely how i feel.  

So there’s this newspaper thing that goes around our county’s medical systems (hospitals, clinics, ect.) that sent a letter to my gym asking if there was anyone there who had lost a lot of weight with the help of exercise.  The trainers at the gym all know me (i’ve been going there almost a year now). They know how much I’ve lost and how dedicated I am to working out.  So, they gave the journalist my number. The lady called me tonight to ask if they could interview me and use my story as a piece in the paper. It will also be in the city paper sometime in april!  so she interviewed me right there on the spot!  I dont know exactly how long the article will be, but Im pretty siked about it.  Its mainly about how being active has helped me in my weight loss. they have this campaign going on called “the start campain” which is trying to get the community motivated to start walking and basically be more active. So I’ll try to find a link to the newspaper when it comes out so you all can read the article.  Very cool stuff ,eh?   She asked me a lot of questions, but some of them were somewhat difficult to answer.  Like the question “what could you say to people to try to get them to go out and start walking?” I mean, i know it seems like a pretty easy question to answer, but I was at a loss for words.  I told her it was hard to put into words how being active has totally changed every thing about my life.  Its more important than most people realize it is.  I can’t even remember exactly what I told her, but it was along the lines of…” I dont think I could have lost nearly as much weight as I have without exercise”, “i feel more energetic” stuff like that…but none of what I said made me satisfied with the answer. Because I dont think there is any way to express to people how much better I feel, how important being physically active is to my life now, and how many years I believe I have added to my life. I  want to scream “JUST DO IT”.  ya know?

Dh started school today.  He’s very excited. I am too, but still a little scared of the financial situation this is going to leave us in for two years!  I know its to better our situation and Im totally supportive of his choice to do this, but that doesn’t make it any less scary. I just dont like worrying about money. Oh well, I just need to keep in mind that my family is all healthy, i am healthy,  we have the necessities to survive…so who cares about the rest, right?  It’s all good

B- cheerios with light soy milk

S- salad with romaine, spinach, vegies, and light catalina dressing

L- bar b que baked chicken, cottage cheese, steamed brocolli and cauliflower

S- sugar free pudding

S- fudge bar

D- chicken philly flatbread, cottage cheese, steamed vegies, and an orange

post workout: protein shake