Re-starting

Wow, that didn't last long. I did Medifast for 2 days before I gave up. I'm back on it today, though. Today I booked our family summer vacation to EASTERN CARIBBEAN !!! Yes, I can hardly stand it. Our vacation is total motivation for sticking with my diet and getting back in the gym.

I used to be a total gym rat ... going 5-6 days a week and weight training 3 of those days with my trainer. I CAN do it again (minus the trainer -- there is no more money for that!!). I've been experiencing some knee issues lately (caused by my weight gain) so I'm going to start back with lap swim. I love the water ... i'm a fish ... and I'm pretty good at it. So that's where I'll start. Slowly I'll get back out in front of everyone and do the weights. Until then, I have weights here at home.

So today started out with a chocolate medifast shake, then had a peanut butter crisp bar mid-morning, and a bag of chili nacho puffs. I'm actually not even hungry today which is great ! I'm making chicken tonight and have the motherload of salad fixins in the refrigerator.

Medifast Day 1

Wow, has it really been OVER a year since I last posted? Since then so many things changed as far as my weight goes. I lost 2 trainers within 2 months of eachother, got placed with another that I didn't really do well with, so needless to say I haven't been to the gym since the MIDDLE OF JUNE !!! I've gained back another 15 lbs or so .... so I'm now only 10 pounds less than my all time high ... and 40 pounds over my all time low. I'm miserable.

So ... today I start a new journey. A friend of mine has been so successful on the Medifast 5 & 1 plan so I thought I'd try it too. So far, I don't like it. I'm hungry, grouchy, and the food tastes like crap (o.k., except for the peanut butter crunch bar I had for breakfast). The plan consists of 5 Medifast "meals" (all the size of a tiny snack ... seriously) and 1 "Lean & Green" meal that you make yourself (5-7 oz. of LEAN protein and 3 veggies from a specific list (no onions, carrots, peas, corn, any veggie that is starchy in the least).

Here are my findings on Day 1.

Medifast "Meal" (hereto referred to as MM) #1:

I chose the Peanut Butter Crunch bar and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I could have eaten the whole box of 7! The bar was seriously a tad less than 3" long. It was over with in a few bites. Next time I will eat teeny tiny bites and attempt to spread it out over 5 minutes at least.

MM #2:

After playing tennis this morning I was starving out of my mind and decided to have the Dutch Chocolate shake. Since all my previous attempts at different shakes were made with non-fat milk, I was cautiously optimistic because t his was made with 8 oz. of water. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad and I could handle these if I had to.

MM #3:

Since this would be my "lunch", I decided to go for the chili. I usually always love chili. When I was on Nutri System i ADORED their chili and would get one for every day of the week. hahaha. Well, let me tell you this. This is NOT chili! You know how Ina Garten always says "how bad can that be"? Well, this was BAD !!!!!! It was bland and has some sort of mystery meat in it and it really scared me. Plus, it looks NOTHING like the picture on the box as you can see.

This is a picture of my tasting the so-called chili:

It kind of resembled vomit. Seriously. OH OH OH, and it totally exploded and spilled all over my microwave and left me with this mess:

The chili was promptly put down the garbage disposal and I made a packet of Cream of Broccoli Soup. Luckily when I ordered they had the option of ordering sample packs of this so I was not stuck with a box if I didn't like it. I wasn't so lucky when it came to the chili. I have 6 more packs in the box and I will probably end up throwing them out.

The soup was so-so. I ate it only cuz I was starving and was actually really full afterward. I also had a bag of crackers as a "snack" to go with my soup (we are allowed 1 SNACK per day from the approved SNACK list ... a list which by the way includes 3 stalks of celery. Who in their right mind would even count 3 stalks of celery as a snack when you are only allowed ONE SNACK? That is ZERO food and I won't count it. You burn more calories just breathing than celery provides. Needless to say, my excitement over having at least a few crackers was quickly extinguished. They were tasteless and kind of stale. Kind of like a water cracker. Oh, and this was the garden vegetable flavor. I tasted no vegetable in it LOL.

MM #4:

On my way out to volunteer for cat rescue, it was the perfect time to eat my next MM. I chose the Chili Nacho Cheese Puffs. I was very excited for these and looked forward to them all day. They looked like taco flavored Kix cereal LOL. Let's just say my enthusiasm ended after I ate the first one. The texture was perfect but they tasted like little dough balls with a weird after taste and they were seasoned with something like unsalted taco seasoning. Not that great. But again, I was starving so I ate them.

Lean & Green:

My Lean & Green main meal tonight was veggies and chicken. BORING. I also ruined my wok today while trying to clean off the burned oil (using Comet) after making Kung Pao Beef the night before for the family. I didn't have the right oil (you need an oil that has a high smoking point) so I used olive oil and the dang stuff burned. Anyhow, all my chicken tonight completely stuck to the wok, something it's NEVER done before. The veggies were boring, too. (no pic, sorry).

MM #5:

My last "meal" of the day is the pudding. It had a horrible after taste. I would much rather eat a sugar free Jello brand pudding for only 60 cals than eat this chemical tasting one for 100. No picture of this as I forgot to take a picture. It's your basic brown pudding LOL.

My thoughts on Medifast are that while it may be great for some (my friend has had great success with it), it is NOT for me. I am completely miserable after 1 day and I can tell I can not stick with this. Eating 100 calorie meals every 3 hours would be o.k. if the food tasted good ... but this stuff is so incredibly ill tasting that I am on the verge of cheating big time. Oh, and I did "cheat" today already and it's only Day 1. I had a 50 calorie serving of no-sugar added applesauce. Big whoop!!! It was AWESOME ROFL.

UPDATE THE NEXT MORNING: Last night I was so hungry and miserable I "cheated" with a fuji apple and a piece of Laughing Cow Cheese. It was the most wonderful thing I ate all day. Then I went psycho and ate 10 (maybe more?) Tostitos tortilla chips. I still am down almost 2 pounds my first day ROFL.

The Month After Christmas

Twas the month after Christmas,
and all through the house,
Nothing would fit me,

not even a blouse.

The cookies I'd nibbled,

the chocolate I'd taste

At the holiday parties

had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales

there arose such a number!

When I walked to the store

(less a walk than a lumber),

I'd remember the marvellous meals I'd prepared;

The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,

The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese

And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."

As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt

And prepared once again to do battle with dirt...

I said to myself, as I only can,

"You can't spend a winter, disguised as a man!"

So, away with the last of the sour cream dip.

Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip.

Every last bit of food that I like must be banished

Till all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won't have a cookie, not even a lick.

I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.

I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie.

I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore...

But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet.

Update to Training Contract

I got a call back yesterday afternoon from the guy I spoke to at the gym and we went back and forth about me getting out of my contract early. He says to cancel the contract I would have to pay half of my remaining months (4) and I would have the sessions from those months left to use (only 8). Well, I have 4 more months left in my contract (at $200/month) so I would have to pay half of those ($400). I already have a bunch of sessions banked up (52) that they gave me to bribe me to sign for a new year contract but I said just keep those sessions and let me out of my contract. I'm not looking to get free sessions, I just want out and I don't want to pay another cent to LA Fitness. He didn’t know how to answer me so he said he’d talk to Manager X and one of them would call back. Well this was around 1:00 yesterday and I never did get a call back.

In the meantime, I emailed my Friday trainer that didn’t show and told her I was cancelling my contract.

A wave of freedom suddenly came over me. After 3-1/2 years of training with someone, I know enough to train someone else and I can certainly train MYSELF!

I will be really proud WHEN I do it on my own and finally lose my weight that has haunted me most of my life.

Oh, oh, and right smack in the middle of all this I killed my cell phone yesterday when it fell out of my pocket as I was getting out out of my car, and it got caught when I closed my car door. Here's a pic of the devastation. Just what I need right now. I don't have a phone upgrade available right now so if I get out of my stupid contract at least I can buy a phone! LOL (or use the ugly one I have from 4 years ago that's old and scratched all over).

Weekly Update

I am going to try to update at least weekly. If anything good happens, I"ll post more.

As far as my weight goes, Jan. 5 was my re-start day and I've only lost 4 pounds. I had actually lost 4 as of last Saturday, then gained 2, then lost again. Today I weighed and I'm back to where I started. Could be time of the month since I've been craving chocolate something horrible and the M&Ms called my name (and I answered! LOL). But, I didn't eat enough to gain 4 pounds so I'm calling it water retention and I'll deal with it.

I didn't go to the gym all week. Since I lost my Mon/Wed trainer, I have no motivation to go. I am getting in some upper body workout while at physical therapy Tuesdays and Thursdays, so at least I"m getting SOMETHING. Today I went for my regular 9:30 Friday and my trainer didn't show! No phone call, nothing, so I did the bike for 35 minutes then headed over to do some legs on my own. I did o.k., but not going to the gym (or at least not doing any legs) in over a month I really notice strength lost.

On my way out I asked to talk to someone about getting out of my training contract. I've made the decision to get out of it and do my workouts on my own. They hemmed and hawed but you know what? I know what I want (to get out of this stupid contract) and i WILL get out of it. Since I started training at LA Fitness in May of 2005, I've spent over $10,000 on training (not including my monthly ripoff of $34.99 a month for the basic gym membership -- I think they should INCLUDE that when you are paying $200-$250 a month for training, but that's another story). Anyhow, of course no one was available to help at the time, so I left my name and number with someone.

*** WARNING: Please note that in the next paragraph I don't speak too nicely about someone, so if you are easily offended by bad language, please don't read any further. ***

The guy I talked to said either he'd call me back when he was done with another client, or have the Manager X (name hidden to protect myself – but he’s the asshole who is the whole reason I lost my trainer) call me. If X is the one that calls me, just wait until I get ahold of his puny ass. He's a short little shit with his head in his ass and I"m going to give him hell for being such a prick. He’s the whole reason my trainer left and I’m just really pissed. O.K., now I"m getting mad and can feel my blood pressure rising, so I better end this. I'll post with the outcome.

Another new trainer ???

On Tuesday I learned that my trainer Ryan that I had on Mondays and Wednesdays had left the gym. I was hoping he would transfer to another location but he decided to leave all together. I am sad. Question is .... do I find ANOTHER trainer for those days (that will be my 4th trainer there), go with my Friday trainer for all 3 days, or try to get out of my stupid contract early ??? I'm really mad at the manager of that facility and feel like just bailing all together but I don't know if I'll be able to get out of my training contract. Then if I do get out of it, where do I go ??? To make it easy I could go with my Friday trainer for all 3 days but I really liked having different people. Everyone trains differently and I didn't get burned out. So .... if you're reading this Ryan ... thanks for everything. You are awesome and you'll do great wherever you go. Best of luck to you and I'll miss you. :-(

I'm also worried about my shoulder. After 4 weeks of therapy it's finally much improved. I have 4 more visits to go. I worry about training 3x a week again and starting the process all over again.

I worked out Friday with someone new when my Friday trainer had to bail on me last minute. I didn't mind, but it's not the same as working out with someone you know and trust already. I had to warn him about my arm, not to make me do too much involving shoulders, so we did a lot of bicep and abs and I've been in pain all weekend LOL.

I did some tricep work, then bicep curls on cable, then supersets of bicep curls using the easy bar. Then we headed to the nautilus machine for some abs and did some oblique crunches and regular crunches. It's the obliques that are killing me.

I haven't weighed today, but as of yesterday (Saturday) I am down 4 pounds from Monday so that's good. This holiday weight is going bye-bye. Whoo hoo. I've dieted and lost weight so many times before that I need to stay focused and stay busy so I don't think about being hungry.

Color is a Good Thing

Someone sent this to me on email and I thought it was so funny I had to share:

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my yearly physical.

My blood pressure was high, my cholesterol was high,

I'd gained some weight, and I didn't feel so hot.

My doctor said eating right doesn't have to be complicated

and it would solve my physical problems. He said

just think in colors...
Fill your plate with with foods that have bright colors...

greens, yellows, reds, etc.

So ... I went right home and ate an entire bowl of :

And sure enough, I felt better immediately.
I never knew eating right could be so easy.

Journaling Again

This week I pushed re-start. I enjoyed my holidays a little too much and gained about 10 pounds since Halloween. I feel like a cow.

I started journaling my food again on Fitday. When I was losing the bulk of my weight before, I always journaled. It really is helpful. Anyhow, here is my food for today. I shoot for 1500 cals daily. Today I was under - whoo hoo :-)

Breakfast:
Cream of wheat - 100 cals
Grapes - 50

Early Lunch: 2 pita sandwiches - 320
(each pita filled with hummus, 1/2 slice reduced fat swiss, cucumber, onion, tomato, spinach leaves
grapes - 50

Snack:
Protein shake made with 1c. FF milk and w/1 tsp nat'l PB - 309

Snack #2:
5 reduced fat wheat thins 43
Slice reduced fat swiss 60
5 slices light salami 60

Dinner:
Lean Cuisine roasted garlic chicken 180
homemade 2-bean salad (green beans & garbanzos) 147

Total:
1208 calories(292 under - whoo hoo)

Toes and Shoulder

Two years ago I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk while running in (gasp!) rubber Old Navy flip flops. I broke and dislocated my big toe bad enough that it required surgery. Everything is healed there, although when the weather is cold I get some aches and pains (dr. said arthritis is definately in my future on that toe).

Fast forward to this past Friday (how weird, my last toe injury also happened on a Friday!!). While rushing around before the kids got off to school I stubbed my middle toe on the right foot on the claw foot of our big, ugly, oak dining room table and this is how the toe looked yesterday:

Today the bruising is less dark but has moved into to the 2nd toe as well, but it actually feels pretty good except for feeling a little numb which is weird but at least I'm bending them some. All day Friday, and all day Saturday it hurt so bad I thought for sure I had broken it. I was waiting until today when I was seeing the orthopaedist for my shoulder pain to squeeze in the topic of my toe and have it checked out at the same time.

So .... I go in for my shoulder thinking they will tell me I have a tear somewhere. Luckily I don't have one. The doctor diagnosed it as Shoulder Impingement Syndrome. Some calcium deposits showed up on the xray too which could also be causing me some of the pain because my shoulder crunches when I move it around in certain ways.

Below is a pic of the calcium deposit just to the left of the bone. It's not a very clear pic because I used my cell phone to take a pic of the xray up on screen.



I got some anti-inflammatories to take and I am starting in with some physical therapy tomorrow and will see the doctor again in 3 weeks. The lady at the front desk of the therapy area was a total bitch. Earlier in the exam room the doctor asked if I wanted my trainer to work with me, or to use the physical therapy there and I said I'd come there for a time or two to see what they do, and then there was no reason my awesome trainer Ryan couldn't step up and work with me at the gym. Why pay twice, plus the doctor told me what to avoid and what to do. When I told the lady at the desk this, she gave me a look like I was a total idiot and said "uh .... your TRAINER is going to do it"? and I said of course, I was going to come for a couple appointments to see what they do and would have him do it. She's damn lucky she didn't catch me on my PMS Witch day. I would have told her to shove some physical therapy up her ass ROFL !!!!!

My food is still out of control. I get very depressed. Now my toe, then my shoulder, I think I will go back to the pool for some lap swim.

Out of control

My eating is out of control. Ever since Halloween my weight has been going up .... that's NOT the direction that I want to be going !!!!!

Yesterday I weighed myself and nearly had a heart attack at the number I saw. Today I weighed and it was TWO pounds MORE !!! Of course, being that it's that time of the month AND eating half a bag of Chex Mix at 10:00pm last night doesn't help, so I'm thinking most of that 2 pounds is water retention from the sodium. But still ... the other weight I've gained is ridiculous. I am the heaviest I've been since June. That makes me so mad. I know my trainer must be disappointed in me. I guess all I can do is keep plugging along and hope that my weight doesn't get more out of control. EVERY YEAR I gain weight from October thru New Years.

I get depressed about gaining, so what do I do??? I eat!! Unfortunatley, I'm one of those people that eat when they are sad and depressed. Why I can't be the type that starves and whittles away ??

None of my clothes fit. The only thing that fits are my FAT shorts (I nearly threw them out, good thing I kept them!) and my gym clothes.

My arm is still killing me and my orthopaedist appointment is on Thursday morning.

Arm Pain Update

UPDATE: When I couldn't even grate cheese this afternoon I finally scheduled an appointment with the orthopaedist. I'm going in December 2.

Recent Workouts

I haven't posted workouts in a while, so I decided to post the past week. I didn't workout that much, but at least I did SOME !!! Some of the weights I go really low weight on becuase of my deltoid injury. Arm is getting worse each week I think, it's really time I make an appointment with the orthopedist.

Monday, 11/10/08 - Upper Body w/trainer
---------------------------------------------------
Hammer Lat Pull 70#/20 reps x 2 sets
Hammer Bench Press 20#/20 reps x 2 sets
Cable Reverse Flies 5#/20 reps x 2 sets (ridiculously low weight!!)
Arm Extensions 30#/20 reps x 2 sets
Cable Curls 15#/20 reps x 2 sets

Curl-up Crunches 2 sets of 20
Reverse Leg Lifts 2 sets of 20

Cardio: 30 minutes on elliptical, level 10-14 Crossramp, level 6-8 Resistance

Wednesday, 11/12/08 - Legs w/trainer
----------------------------------------------
Side step-up on bench 2 sets of 20
Standing Lunges off bench 2 sets of 20
Leg Extension 45#/20 reps; 50#/20 reps
Lying Leg Curls 30#/20 reps; 35#/20 reps
Calf Raises 20#/20 reps x 2 sets

Oblique Crunches 2 sets of 15
Cross Planks 2 sets of 20

Cardio: 35 minutes Bike

Thursday, 11/13/08 - Cardio
------------------------------------
45 minutes on elliptical
level 10-14 Crossramp, level 8 resistance


No workout again until today, Wednesday 11/19. We had the fires here in Chino Hills over the weekend and I think I had enough stress to keep my heart pumping LOL. Lugging boxes of pictures, albums, etc. into the car in case we had to evacuate (we ended up leaving voluntarily at 4:00am on Sunday morning) was good exercise.

Wednesday, 11/19/08 - Upperbody & some legs w/trainer
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Bench Press 45#/20 reps x 3 sets (last set only 15 because of deltoid pain)
Lat Rows 15#/20 reps x 2 sets; 20#/20 reps x 1 set
Lateral Raises 45#/20 reps x 3 sets

Leg Extension 45#/20 reps x 3 sets
Leg Curls 60#/20 reps x 3 sets
Calf Raises 20#/20 reps x 3 sets

Cardio: 45 minutes combo of bike & treadmill


I need to get my food under control. Each day is a new day for me.

Arm Killing Me

Almost 2 months since my last post. I really need to post more often. It helps keep me accountable and from others have said, it helps them too. Really, I will do my best to start posting my workouts again.

Things at the gym are the same and going well. I work out with my trainer Ryan on Monday and Wednesday mornings and he's awesome. I adore him. I work out with my other trainer Elizabeth on Fridays. Monday is still upper body, Wednesday is legs, and Friday is Core/Abs.

My right deltoid is still KILLING me (and getting worse) and I need to see an orthopedist. It even hurts right now, while i'm just sitting here. It hurts like hell during the night and when I am laying flat I can NOT lift my arm up unless I help it with my other arm. Some nights I don't sleep well because I can't find a position that doesn't irritate it. It really sucks!!! I am dragging my feet to see a doctor because I don't want to pay the bill (and I'm afraid they'll say surgery is needed to repair the tear). An MRI is inevitable for diagnosis and I found out from insurance that they will cover 85% of allowable charges with an in-network facility, but I have a $500 deductible for a specialist. So, the minimum I will pay is $500. Ugh. There is an orthopedic office right across the street from my gym, as well as an athletic rehab center, so I think I will go that route. My trainer Ryan said he was going to get me the number for the sports orthopedist that works with the Angels baseball team. How cool would that be! LOL I just don't want to have to drive far for appointments and it would be a 45 min drive one way (without traffic) each time I go there. The orthopedic office across from my gym is a 5 min. drive from home.

My weight ... well let's just say I am pretty much working hard at the gym for nothing. I got down to a good weight at the time of our cruise in August, but crept back up a few (5) pounds. Got those pounds off but yoyo'd back up again. I've been up and down since and i'm currently about 3 pounds over my cruise weight. It's very frustrating but it's my own fault. My eating is out of control. This is a very hard time of year for me. With Halloween candy I went crazy, then I had my birthday 2 days later, and since then I've just been really hungry and eating anything that isn't nailed down. I had a pretty good food day
today (every day is a new day and a re-start), and I worked out tonight doing 45 mins on the elliptical on level 14, so that was good.

Long time no post!

Wow, I didn't realize that August 5 was the last time I did an update. I had just come home from Stampin' Up! Convention and managed to lose weight. We went on a cruise at the end of August and I gained 4.5 pounds. I managed to lose a few, but then gained them right back after a week of horrible eating, and now i'm back on track and back to my pre-cruise weight.

Workouts are going great. I am still doing upper body on Mondays w/Ryan, legs on Wednesdays w/Ryan, and core on Fridays w/Elizabeth.

Yesterday I had a really good leg workout. Today my legs aren't really sore, which surprised me since Ryan kicked my ass yesterday! No scheduled workout this morning, but I'm be going tonight while Katy is at karate. She now helps to teach a lower belt class for 45 minutes, then has her own black belt class following that. That gives me a good amount of time to go to the gym and do an hour of cardio.

The hardest time of the year is coming up .... HALLOWEEN !!! All those mini candybars will be screaming my name so I need to come up with alternatives to reach for instead of that. After Halloween comes my b'day ... then Thanksgiving ... then Christmas. Oh my. Every year for as long as I can remember, January always came with me having gained weight during the past 2-1/2 months. My goal is to lose 10 pounds by Thanksgiving. I hope I can do it.

Home from Convention ... and I LOST WEIGHT!!

Last week I was at a rubber stamp convention in Salt Lake City for 6 days. I had tried so hard in the weeks prior to keep losing weight. My goal was just to MAINTAIN my weight while I was gone. Well, I was pretty selective about what I ate, although I did allow myself a few treats (a big cupcake on Thursday, mexican food twice with a LOT of chips and salsa on Saturday night, Fettucini alfredo Thursday) and i STILL came home weighing 1/2 pound less than I did when I left. We did a LOT of walking so that definately helped. I am so excited. I didn't drink that much water, so knew I might even be retaining some. I drank a lot more yesterday, plus worked out, and this morning I'm a pound less. So ... I'm 1.4 less than I was last Tuesday. YAAAYYYY. I haven't seen this number since early October last year!!!

Oh, and on Saturdy I wore my pair of size 8 shorts whoo hoooooooo!!!!!!! Who cares that they run a little big. They are still an 8 ... and I have the tag to prove it! hahaha.

We leave next Sunday for our cruise and I'd like to be 4.6 less than today ... that would put me exactly where I was last summer when we cruised to Hawaii.

New Trainer

In last week's entry I mentioned I was starting in with a new trainer while my regular one is gone for a month.

I worked out with Ryan on Monday & Wednesday and workouts were good. I really like him and he is a very smart guy. He is a kinesiology major in college and will be going in nursing after that. He knows his stuff!!

Monday was legs, and Wednesday was upper body. I did chest press on the bench with 55 pounds (45 pound bar + 10 pounds of extra weight). My right deltoid was hurting pretty bad Wednesday night and most of Thursday, but seems to have improved and today I am just about back to not feeling anything out of the norm. My deltoid pain isn't soreness from lifting, it's soreness as in injury (suspected tear at the attachment site). This week I will be careful not to overdo, since I am leaving for a 6-day convention a week from Tuesday and I really don't want to be having pain while I am there.

Weight Update

I weighed in yesterday (Saturday, July 19) and I lost 2 pounds since last Saturday. I am on a roll, and I"m really happy !!!! I am now only 4 pounds away from what I was last September, and only 9 pounds from my all-time low. I am very excited.

We leave for our cruise in (I think) 27 days and I"d REALLY like to be down at least 5 more pounds before then. More would be better of course, to give me a little cushion to not be completely paranoid about eating on the ship!

What is really helping is NOT SNACKING at night. I can be good all day, and dinner has gotten easier, and if I eat anything at night, it's usually 1/2 cup light ice cream, or a couple fresh pineapple spears.

My exercise has been good, too. Friday night we did approx. 2.5 mile walk and yesterday we did closer to 3 and a lot of it was uphill in the hot sun.

Hoping to have another great week, and i'm shooting for 1-2 pounds again.

Saturday weigh in

Today is Sunday, but yesterday I weighed 1.5 lbs less than I did last Saturday. I'm happy. Wish it was more (don't we all?) but I am happy with any loss. I had some food challenges in that we celebrated our daughter's birthday and I had cake .... 3 large pieces over 3 days and I still lost 1.5 lbs. Next week I want to shoot for 2 pounds minimum. I'm going to work hard to achieve that.

Tomorrow I start in with a new trainer until August 11 while my regular trainer is out of town for a class. She said I might want to stay with the new trainer after she comes back so we'll so how it goes. She encourages the change and says it would be good for me. Wish me luck !!!

Friday workout and weigh-in

Well, this morning I weighed in back at the same point I was on Wednesday morning. Whoo hoo. I"m glad. Now I hope to keep dropping again. I'd really like to lsoe 5 pounds by the time I leave for my convention (2-1/2 weeks from now) and I'd like to be 10 less by the time we go on our cruise next month (August 17).

Today was back workout. After weights, I did some cardio. A little on elliptical (13 minutes) and then I did 1.25 miles on the treadmill probably running over 3/4 of that.

That's it .... nothing else exciting.

I hate the scale

OK, so yesterday I was below my designated 1500 calories, yet I still gained a pound??? What gives??? This is why i hate the scale. It's enough to drive me mad. I need to listen to those that tell me NOT TO WEIGH EVERYDAY!!! But, when I don't weigh everyday, I lose track of what I"m doing and I get into more trouble. I really didn't drink much (32 oz. at the gym, and a glass of iced tea at dinner) so it's possible I am just retaining water since I was dehydrated.

Anyhow, today I've not eaten much. In fact, I am below even 1000 calories. I didn't even eat my cheerios until the afternoon because I woke up to find my kitchen island covered in ants and some other disgusting things I found that I won't even discuss here (eeww). So, this morning I spent quite a bit of time cleaning my kitchen (and searching for ant stragglers). We have a monthly service, but the last couple weeks I've been finding small groups of ants in the kitchen . They are really the first ants we've had in probably the 6 or so years since we began service.

Anyhow, this afternoon I had honey nut cheerios w/non-fat milk. Tonight I had 2 pieces of Dominos pizza (medium pizza, 1 slice = 160 calories). A little while ago I had another bowl of cheerios cuz I was starving. So all in all I am only at 720 calories. That is WAYYYY under my 1500. If I don't lose anything by tomorrow I"m going to rip my hair out and throw the scale out the window LOL.

No gym today, but I have my regular training session tomorrow morning at 9:00. I think it's back/bicep day.