Bringing in the Reserves....

So I had to take a drastic step to get myself back on track (haha).  I enlisted the help of my sister Cheryl and my sister-in-law, Leslee.  They both live very healthy lifestyles and have great tips for healthy eating as well as encouragement in my weight-loss journey.  I need someone to keep me accountable - i.e., check in with me to see if I did go to the gym, how is my eating, etc.  Cheryl & Lester are great for that.  At Leslee's suggestion, I also downloaded the "My Fitness Pal" app which has been great.  Especially for someone a bit obsessive like me -- you can track every calorie you eat for the day as well as water consumption and your workouts.  It has kept me on track very well so far - I am, however, just a week into this.  Haha!

My goals are to lose the 18 lbs or so I've gained and get back to where I was at this time last year - feeling fit and strong!  I'm on the way but have a ways to go...I can already feel positive changes though.  My jacket had been feeling a bit snug around my waist and I can feel the slightest change with that. 

I moved recently into a condo and I am loving it so far!  The complex where I live is quiet and is HUGE.  In the afternoons over the past 3-4 days, I have taken walks as the weather has been nice and a bit warmer.  I can take a 30 minute walk by doing a loop through various parts of the complex, which also includes a VERY steep hill.  The first couple times I walked the entire time; yesterday (small victory), I jogged up that VERY steep hill TWICE!  :)  I don't intend for these walks to replace my usual cardio at the gym or on the running trail outside; rather, I want them to supplement my workouts and just be almost an added bonus.  I know it will be great for my endurance especially with the hills. 

Stairway to Hell

I've been pretty firmly back in my routine for a couple weeks now (almost 3?) and feeling good so far!  Weigh-in is not until Thursday and I'm trying to prepare myself in case the scale doesn't move much. Reason being, I've been hitting the weights really well and I know that the scale number might be a bit misleading -- I could still be losing fat & gaining muscle so my weight might not go down as much as I'd like.  We shall see!  I do feel smaller already and not as lethargic as I have for a while so that is a win.

I had grown accustomed to doing longer runs on the treadmill back when I was in the thick of my weight loss journey (bad pun haha).....in the last year or so, I've gotten away from that and just done shorter runs.  I've changed things up a little bit the last few weeks, which I am hoping will boost my metabolism.  I have done HIIT (high intensity interval training) the past few times I've run on the treadmill....that is a workout!  Basically I run for 3 minutes, then raise the incline quite a bit and up my speed as well for a 30-second burst....then I slow it down for 3 more minutes, then another 30-second burst, slow it down, and repeat....I usually do this for about 30 minutes total.  I try to lengthen each 'burst' by 2-5 seconds as I progress through my run. 

So since my goal right now is to lose fat (not just maintain my weight as I've done for a while before I got lazy haha)....I wanted to add in something else for my cardio workout to change it up and keep my body guessing.

I have never used the stairmaster/step climber at my gym...until last week.  Holy cow.  Now I know why I haven't.  I thought I was going to die in Planet Fitness.  All the way in the last row.  Under the step climber.  This could be partly because I attempted to use it right after doing my 30 minute interval run on the treadmill...but I believe it's mostly because I've been out of shape for a while!

I wish I had it on video the first time I tried it.....I almost fell off just getting on the stupid thing because I didn't realize the steps will start moving as soon as you step on it.  haha  There was a younger girl next to me (cute Russian-looking girl, I'll call her Svetlana)....thankfully she was nice enough to show me how to use it...all the while maintaining her speed on the climber, seemingly without breaking a sweat.  Ugh...I hate Svetlana.  Haha  Anyway.....this day was a victory as I did 5 minutes on the step climber......and a few days later, over the weekend, when I did cardio again, I did 6 minutes! 

I am toying with the idea of trying to do the climber for my cardio routine next time (prob Thursday?) just to see if I can make it a whole 20 minutes (that's the normal default workout time on there and I'm curious if I can do it).  Just to switch it up a little, I may try that and then do a short, fast run on the treadmill after.  Will keep you posted!

In this corner....weighing one pound less than last week....

Ok so I am back to my weigh-ins every 2 weeks like I did when I first started my weight loss journey.  I have found that is the best 'weigh' to do it for me (haha I'm a dork).  I am often tempted to weigh myself every day to see if the scale is moving down....and sometimes, I will admit, I do take a sneak peek before weigh-in day.  But once I have my mind set to doing weigh-ins every 2 weeks, I'm pretty good about it.  It's almost fun to work your butt off and hope to see results at the end of that 2 week period.  It also keeps me somewhat honest with regards to my workouts and food choices, knowing that day is coming.  I have always done weigh-ins on Thursdays; I'm not sure why, that's just how I've done it.  So I weighed myself on Jan 9th (YIKES) and for the next week, I did go to the gym maybe once and did somewhat awful with my food choices.  The next week I buckled down and got fully back into my routine.

I weighed myself on Thursday, Jan 23rd and was down a pound.  That's a good thing since really, I had only been back on my program for one week.  Next weigh-in is Thursday, Feb. 6th so I'm hoping for good results then.  I also pay attention to how my clothes fit -- my pants have all been tight, to the point I can't even wear my black dress pants to work right now.  So I will monitor that as well; I can't wait to be able to wear all my regular clothes again!  I've just been going back & forth between the one pair of jeans that fit me and my leggings.  I have cute stuff that I can't wear and that's annoying!  Haha

PS - just a note, still doing great at the gym, I went Saturday AND Sunday and then did legs & back this morning.  :)  And my food choices have been really good too.  Only thing that was somewhat of a 'cheat' was my mashed potatoes & baked mac & cheese (small portion) with my tilapia from Ruby Tuesday on Saturday night. 

I'm on a roll...

So I've been to the gym Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday (today) this week!  Small victories add up!  And the only reason I didn't go on Wednesday was because we had some snow and I needed to get the driveway cleared for us to go to school/work. 

Monday, as I said in my last post, I did legs and back.  I knew I would be hurting badly from doing that since it had been so long and WOW was I right.  I am still feeling the effects today, 3 days later!  I know it won't be like this every time, as long as I keep up with my routine! 

Today I did cardio and my legs felt like tree trunks on the treadmill (how's that for some alliteration!?) They felt pretty tight even before I went to the gym so I attempted to loosen them up on the bike before going on the treadmill.  It didn't help much. haha

I did, however, do about 25 mins on the treadmill; I mixed it up a bit, did a nice, easy run, then some interval running (raise the incline & speed), then a walk at a high incline.  I try and change it up so I'm not just running flat each time I do the treadmill, especially since I'm trying to lose weight.

I can tell I'm getting back in a good routine at the gym, I'm already antsy to go tomorrow -- and that's saying something because tomorrow is chest & shoulders day (shoulders is my least favorite!)

If you can't say something nice.....

The truth hurts!  Not all the time but sometimes for sure.  And definitely this morning.  Haha!

I went to the gym on Saturday, slept in yesterday (oopsie), and went again this morning to do legs & back.  I will NOT be able to walk the rest of the week, I believe! 

Anyway this morning I saw a woman I haven't seen in a while; the days I have been at the gym recently, she wasn't there at the same time.  So this morning I smiled & waved to her and she came up and gave me a hug.  I felt bad as I was sweaty (typical).  lol  Anyway she said it was great to see me and asked how I was.  I said thanks and said I was doing great, just trying to get back in the routine, that I had gotten lazy and gained some weight back.  She said, "Yeah, you can tell...."  ::crickets:: 

Haha!  Thankfully, I am not easily offended...at least not anymore.  Having 2 older brothers will cure you of that.  And truthfully, she's right.  I figured other people must be able to tell because I can feel the difference - in my clothes, and just how I feel. Perhaps to people I see all the time, they might not be able to tell but to someone I haven't seen in a few months, they can definitely tell. 

So what do you do with comments like that.....the old me (I mean way back in 2009-2010), would've been seriously bummed out over that and probably eaten something I shouldn't.  Now I will (hopefully) just use it as motivation to get my butt back in gear. 

I need to lose about 20 lbs, quite honestly, to get back to my best shape.  Not that it has to be exactly 20 lbs but right around there....I'm disappointed in myself because last year around this time or in February, I felt so strong physically.  I don't feel that right now but I also have hope because I know how to do this, I know I can get back there. 

First step to accomplishing this:  stop buying Oreos for Isaiah.  lol

Lower Your Expectations

What?  Lower expectations?  That's normally not a great thing but today for me it was.  As I mentioned, I haven't done weights in quite a while.  So when I went to the gym this morning (yay - victory!) to do chest & shoulders, I told myself not to expect to be on par with where I was the last time I did weights. 

I went in with an open mind and did my best but also didn't try to kill myself.  Surprisingly, there were quite a few sets I was able to do the same weight as last time but maybe not quite as many reps.  And I know that will come with time. 

Some of the exercises (hanging shoulder raises), I was able to do the exact same -- I couldn't believe it! 

Shoulder press, which is probably my least favorite, was definitely the hardest but that's no surprise for me.  It's the hardest for me when I'm in the gym every day.  lol

What a great start to a rainy Saturday though.....now the other half of my struggles - to make sure I keep my eating in check today.  Wish me luck!

Fit Fam

So I follow quite a few fitness Instagram accounts and they always refer to their 'fitfam'....or Fitness Family.  Basically fellow fitness enthusiasts, etc.  My son would probably be mortified at me using the term 'fitfam' but it's what's on my mind today....

I went to the gym this morning for the first time in a LONG time.  I mean, according to my notebook, I haven't done weights since June.  :(   I have been to the gym more recently than that but it was for cardio. 

I hate the way I feel right now - lethargic, chubby, weak, clothes too tight, etc.   So today when my alarm went off, I actually got up and went!  I said enough is enough...the only way I'm going to feel better is to get back in my routine.

I'm so happy I did - I ran just over a mile and then did plank and the glute machines.  Didn't wanna kill myself first day back in a while but I felt great just for getting there!  Will be posting some current pics soon as I want to track my progress.  I need/want to lose about 25 pounds so I began recording weekly weigh-ins again like I used to, as of today.  The stupid thing is, I KNOW how to do this, I KNOW how to lose weight and get fit - I've done it already!  I've just been lazy....and honestly, there was probably some effects of the divorce, etc. going on as well.  But I am motivated (finally) to get back on track!

My 'fitfam' at the gym was wonderful - saw so many familiar faces - at 4am, it's a pretty faithful crew.  So many of them came up to me and told me how happy they were to see me, that they had missed me and encouraged me to come every day again.  There's never judgment, as they can all relate to 'falling off the wagon'.  So great to have people who understand you, especially at 4am.  Haha!