Hello! Man, my exercising must be kicking my butt because it's so hard to get out of bed. My legs and arms feel kind of tight so maybe I need to spend more time stretching.

Hey Jodie - your food sounds yummy! I don't think I could eat that little in a day. I'm such a stickler for snackies. I had a total of four chicken breasts yesterday, one at breakfast, one at lunch and two for dinner. At lunch I had veggies with it. I also had a serving of Hershey's Kisses which is 8 pieces throughout the day, as well as an ice cream sandwich and an apple. I definitely didn't need the ice cream sandwich but it was sooo good lol. I ate it right before I went to the gym LOL.

My DH and I were watching "A Beautiful Mind" last night and that distracted me from getting to the gym on time. By the time I got there, I just had enough time to do a 30 minute elliptical run, some crunches and stretching before I took my shower and all. I think the elliptical is getting better for me and I'm at a more consistent pace.

I'm starting the day with a big cup of diet Dr. Pepper and a grilled chicken breast on a whole wheat bun. I don't know what it is about the chicken breasts, but I don't think I can ever get tired of them and I keep them in the freezer (pre-cooked) and throw them in the microwave, maybe add a dab of bbq sauce which I did today. And they are good protein and filling.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Girlie, you think I eat too little? Well, I hope not. I think if I ate more I would feel horrible about myself and prolly not lose. I really feel full most of the time, and don't feel deprived at all...if you say this is a little bit of food, then boy-howdy, that's cool! I kinda felt I was pushing it a bit yesterday, but managed to keep it all under control.

Protien is so important, I just never realized. Of course, so many diets have us eating nothing but carrots and lettuce and rice cakes...no wonder I always felt like poo and had awful breath as well. We need that protien and also fat too! This was a great epiphany for me when I finally realized to *listen to my body*. What are your goals, Girlie? Are you trying to lose or maintain, or simply exercise more?

This morning I did about 15 minutes of the fat burning bellydance tape...ooh, the calf burn! My Pilates tape and exercise ball should be here today, and I am looking forward to a break from bellydance!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Girlie, you are my hero! Not getting home from the gym 'til midnight...my bedtime is nine and at ten I cannot hold my eyes open one more second! You are da bomb! I would like to take advantage of a gym, though. I live about 25 miles away from one, which would make it too much of a hassle to do. but, next year when I start at the University I hope I will be able to grab a little time in the gym before I head home after class. I hope...but I don't know how that all works. Hopefully I will have lost more weight by then, and feel a little less self-conscious about being among the buff and horribly young.

Speaking of weight loss...remember I said my body had quit losing for about 2 weeks or so? Well, it caught up and I lost a total of 5 pounds this week. It just dropped off. That is a total of 15 pounds lost so far. I feel fabulous! Even doing a bit of the bellydance to the radio as I folded clothes this morning!

Yesterday I ate very little, just a krave bar (which I have found really gives me energy and fills me up for a good long time!) and a handful of Goldfish for a snack and a taco for dinner...my tummy never growled all day! The day before I ate a little more. Can't remember what exactly (that was too long ago! ) but my appetite was a little larger on Thursday.

So far today, 30 minutes with my new exercise ball. I love it! Breakfast was a Krave bar and milk. Lunch will prolly be a leftover taco (homemade, not Taco Bell!), dinner will be hamburgers.

Have a great day!

I am looking for someone to yell at me when I need them to lol.

About me - I am looking to lose 15-20 lbs over all, am down 6 pounds in one month, thanks to Pilates 4-5x a week and keeping a eye on my food. I am trying to get myself walking regularly. I seem to be afraid of the treadmill lol.

I cant count on my dh to kick my butt bc he doesnt want to tell me that I "have to workout" - its like me asking him if I look fat, there is no right answer lol.

So I am going to try to post here daily and tell you all my excercise accomplishments and my food choices (good or not so good).

Will talk to you soon!
Kitty

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in awhile, my life has been a little hectic lately :S but I will definitely try to get on a lot more, its only 15 or so minutes out of my day so I'm sure I can manage.

Anyway, yesterday my eating was the best it has been since.. I can't even remember when its been that good! lol It might not be that great, but I have never been one for healthy eating, even when I was at my best weight. Heres how it went:
B: strawberries, banana, applesauce
L: carrots and cucumbers, tuna sandwich on flax soy bread(thats a big step for me! haha)
D: roasted marinated chicken, salad with cucumbers and red pepper

Wow, I think thats more veggies and fruits than I've eaten this entire week!! Today wasn't as good, but hey now that I've done it once, I'm sure it will start to get easier.
Also, I've been running/walking for almost two weeks now, and I've definitely started to notice improvements. When I started, I would do about half and half running/walking for about 1.5 miles in about 20 minutes. Well yesterday, I did 2.5 miles, more running than walking in about 28 minutes, and I found I wasn't even really getting that tired until about 22 minutes into it. Before then i was getting tired, but it was almost a pleasant kind of tired, if that makes sense lol. Anyways, I'm done rambling on. I'm going to go running in a bit, so I may check in after that to tell you how it went. Cya!

75 minutes of exercise Girlie? That's great!! Right now, I have been going about 30 minutes, but I want to by the summer be doing around 45 or be running the full 30 minutes. I think I am going to try increasing time before I take the walking aspect out of my exercise.
Tonight was another great night of exercise, I did a 20 minute pilates video, and I had a 30 minute run/walk doing about 2.7 miles! That's my best ever since I've started running. I am trying out for a baseball team at the moment, and I think this is really going to help my performance if I do end up making the team.

Just wondering, does anyone have any suggestions for healthy snacks that aren't too big but are somewhat filling for before supper, after supper, etc? I don't want to be eating anything too fattening, but I need something to hold me over. Thanks! hehe

Okay, everyone seems to be doing so well, and we all seem so upbeat! I think we all deserve a round of applause!

Yesterday, I feel as if I passed my fery first big test, and I feel great about myself for it. My family all had to go visit my cousin in the hospital yesterday, and where my family congregates, there will be food. They decided to go on a Dairy Queen run! My DH asked what I wanted, and I said "whatever." Danger. Anyway, I ended up having 1/2 of a double cheeseburger (equals 1 right? ) and maybe 10 bites of the cheesecake blizzard that I could have wolfed down like a crazed animal. Oh, and a diet coke. That's it! There were fries, ice cream cones, shrimp, salads with heavy dressing....I passed it all up! Not even a nibble! So. while I wasn't perfect, I was a much improved version of me.

And I spent 30 minutes doing Pilates on the stability ball which was awesome! I just adore my big blue ball already, and I've only had it for a few days.

Good luck this week everyone!

Ahh worst day ever!! McDonalds for breakfast which made me so sick all I ate for lunch was a salad, crackers and cheese snack plus the REST of a HUGE chocolate bunny I got for easter, and THAT made me so sick all I could eat for dinner was a salad. I can't believe I have eaten this bad, but hopefully tomorrow I will be back on track. Honestly, I don't know what came over me with the chocolate. I had been soo good at just eating a bit at a time, but I wanted sugar and it was there, and once I started I couldn't stop! All my chocolate is gone now thank goodness, one less thing to add to my butt! lol And to top it all off, I haven't exercised at all today, but hopefully I will be biking some because I really feel like I need to work off the 5 pounds I must have gained hehe.

Girlie, don't worry, I'm sure one day soon if you keep sticking with it you will be back running too!! Wow, I definitely have not worked my way up to 5 miles yet, but that would be wonderful! Even if I don't lose that much weight from this, I really want to stay active and fit, I would love to be able to do sports without getting as tired as I do now, or just even having stronger muscles so I can lift and carry things easier! And thanks for the food tips, mmm I love those low-fat doritos as much as the regular kind!

Jodie, that's great on the Dairy Queen eating, that's quite an accomplishment, especially since Dairy Queen is one of the most tempting places ever! hehe Ice cream AND fast food in one cannot be a good combo Just wondering, how much did your ball cost? I've been thinking about getting one, but then I'd have to get the videos to know different exercises to do etc.. How much did the video cost you that you are using as well?

Anyways, I'll check in later, bye girls

Woohoo I am so excited I walked 45 minutes yesterday! Problem is that I had new sneakers on and I have 3 blisters on my feet (2 bled). Any suggestions on how to relieve the pain?

Today is a pilates day anyway. Ate well yesterday, made good food choices. Little nervous about weighing in on Thurday (no not weight watchers, just my "day" to weigh myself. I don't feel like I have lost but I don't think I have gained. I had a GREAT weigh in last week. )

Well good luck, your posts are all awesome. Keep up the good work!!!

Kitty

Hello, all!

Kitty, I'm glad that you are doing well. Everything will pay off. I get so nervous and excited for my weigh in day...but we all will have gains and losses, good weeks and bad weeks. We will have "bad" weigh ins even when we feel like we did everything "right". I haven't had one yet, but the make me feel terrible!

Then again, we will sometimes have "bad" weeks. We all need to have a 'breakdown' every once in a while during our journey to success. What we are doing is not easy, but we can do it.

I was so tired yesterday. I decided to take the night off of exercise and go to bed early. But then I woke up early, around 5am, and couldn't get back to sleep so I went to the gym. I didn't have time for a warm up, but went straight to the elliptical machine and did 45 minutes. It started to get hard around 30 minutes but I trudged along. My problem is that my mouth gets so dry so I take sips of water periodically, but I'm afraid to drink too much...it makes me get a stomach cramp.

I feel pretty awake now that I'm at work and I'm proud of myself for going. I might still go tonite and do a little something...I'm going crazy. Maybe I shouldn't go and overdo it. I'll see how I feel tonite. For now, I'm munching on Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast. I hope this work day goes by quickly...or at least the morning. I've got ham and beans in the crock pot at home for lunch!

Hope to hear from you all!

PS - for those of you who have a big ball, what do you do on it? I have used the big ball at the gym to stretch and that's nice. I have seen some people lie on their backs and do leg lifts, lifting the ball with both legs.

Also, If anyone is looking for a tape, I have the Walk Away the Pounds 3 mile and it's pretty good. Maybe I'll do that as a bit of a light workout tonite. I say light because it's not like the elliptical machine that makes me pour sweat, but I do break a sweat and it keeps you moving for 45 minutes. Yeah...I think that's what I'll do tonite! I'll use my 2lb weights as well. I admit that I get annoyed listening to the same thing over and over so I don't do the tape very often!

Oh, and Kitty - I'm sorry about the blisters. And three of them! I know how you feel! Maybe that's why I'm putting off buying new shoes lol!

I'd say for you to try to alternate shoes for a while until the blisters heal. I remember I would put band-aids over the blisters but they just come off. Try using a thicker pair of socks so the shoes don't rub so much. My husband is one of those guys who will drain his blisters by sterilizing a needle and just making a hole small enough to drain, then use peroxide to help clean and dry them out so they heal faster. Some say not to do this because the blister is the skin's defense mechanism.

I hope this helped a bit!