Five days of sit-on-assery. Ugh.

Five days. FIVE DAYS people.!! That is how long I have gone without exercising. FIVE. DAYS. It is also the longest I have gone without working out in the past nine months.

STUPID COLLLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!

I can feel my muscles atrophying. I can feel my cardio endurance waning. When I think about my first workout with Jillian after this...I let out a little self-pitying bleat. Maybe I should do level 2 to start? Ugh. It's just so frustrating!!

So far, the scale has been kind. I was on this excellent downward trend before the ick took over, but it's stopped. I'm at 165 today. I am really hoping that it will stay there until I can work out without hacking up a lung.

Yup, still coughing. Though it seems the fever and chills are gone as of yesterday. Won't miss THAT misery.

I guess the good news is, although I am frustrated at not being able to work out, I am not really worried. I am in this for the long haul, so this illness is only a teeny blip on the radar. I will be back to exercising regularly- it's my life now. The scale will continue to go down when my body is ready to let go of more poundage. I will meet my goal and I will keep off the weight.

Be well.

Hack...ugh.

Still sick.

I'm missing my weekend away with my old friends, and I feel like crap on toast. YAY!

This morning the scale read 165. Yeah, we'll see how long that last with me not working out. Virus bonus though- don't have much of an appetite!

That is all.

Weigh in and a phlegm-tastic day*!

*Going for the record of blogger to use the word "phlegm" most in one post. Go ahead, count 'em. Here's a freebie: PHLEGM!

Not to gross, but what the hell is this shit I am hacking outta my lungs?!? Whatever it is, it's getting old. Fast. To top things off, I am left with this sad, croaky version of my voice that is sometimes completely choked off by the phlegmy monstrosities that emerge from below. Fan-freakin-tastic!

But other than a slightly sore chest and irritated throat, I feel FINE. Weird. Still, I am not at work today because talking is really hard, and it makes cough more when I do. Not great for teaching...for which I talk all the livelong day.

Good news though! I weighed in at 166 today! I know! Wtf?!? The scale gods are just beaming down on me lately! I'll take it though I will continue to watch those capricious gods with the narrowed, suspicious eyes of one once burned. You hear me scale gods?!? Gots my eyes on you!

This stupid chest cold reared its ugly head during my workout on Tuesday. I tried to ride the bike, and as I started to breathe heavy, the ol' phlegm began to rattle and I started to cough. Still got in about 25 min with my 8 lbs weights for added fun. Yesterday I had off, and today I dunno. I didn't Shred Tues. as I normally would have because my poor hubby was all back sore (really, really bad then- but doing better now) and had to stay on the couch. No freakin' way am I gonna shred with my ass two feet from his face! He's not allowed to even come into the room when I am shredding. Partly because I look completely ridiculous, and partly because I need to concentrate on that shit and I tend to lose it if he's around.

I guess I am doing something right to lose nearly 5 lbs this week! I'll take it!

Off I go to enjoy being the giant working cog in the phlegm factory! Mmmm. Phlegm.

What...me slack?

Hello the blog! Hope all of you are doing well. Just caught up on some of my blog reading and it seems most of you are.

I want to send a big, GIANT hug to Amber. Send her your good thoughts 'cause the girl is feeling some burnout. I can relate!

I don't know what it is, but I've felt like a slacker lately. I feel like I am giving in more to that inner, hungry-ass bitch that says, "Hey, eat that thing," when I poke my head into the fridge. Not to say that I've been snacking like crazy or binging. Just indulging a bit more. Without a lot of thought. NOT GOOD. I also feel like I've been working out less. Well duh, 'cause I HAVE. I worked out nearly every day in December for the Shred. Now I am doing 4-5 days a week, so it feels like slacking. Despite all this, the crazy is I am down a pound this morning. Wha? We'll see if that lasts until Thursday! I am still trying to watch dinner portions. I do best with this when eating at home.

I am still Shredding! Yup, Jillian is my evil mistress. I am working on mastering some moves in level 3. The one with plank while on weights is killing me. Holding a plank up on weights and then lifting up one elbow back to work the back, then the leg lifted straight up repeat until coronary. OMG. I am proud to say that I can do ONE set off my knees now. By the time I'm done, I am gasping, trembling and sweating like a P.I.G. Then next set is on the knees, and it's still hard!

I mixed things up on Sunday and did the Boot Camp DVD with the kinder, gentler Bob. This DVD has three levels too, but instead of switching up a level, you add on a level as you progress. This way your workout gets harder and LONGER (yeah, I said that :P). Level one is not very challenging, but adding on level two...seriously feel it. There is an ab and tricep workout that makes me want to cry.

I'm still noticing increased muscle tone from these workouts, which is fab. My abs are way stronger, and some definition is poking its way through the flab. I am convinced I have a six-pack under there! This keeps me motivated to do these workouts.

I am seeing my friend Sarah on Vancouver Island (yay ferry ride!) this weekend, and she's got a Friday and Sat. workout alll planned for us. Always thinking of others, that Sarah. :P But, I am hoping she can hook me up with some weight training moves I can try. I have a lame-o exercise room in my building filled with archaic and somewhat scary equipment and a basic weight machine. Plus, I have my free weights. I still want to do the Couch to 5K thing in the next couple months. I hope my knees can take running!

I think you are all caught up now, so off I go to eat better and keep up the exercise!

Facing the scale...and a few other things

PHEW! With the birthday chowing down and fewer workouts, I was worried about my weigh-in this morning. No loss, to be sure, but no gain either!

I did want to share this cool link my friend, Troy, sent me. He's cool like that. Hey, anything with my gal Jillian is interesting to me! You can check out her addressing 8 excuses for not being fit. There's another cool link from there that gives some quick, effective exercises kinda like her DVD. Anyway, thought it was interesting!

This day started out pretty crappy with some fretting about some personal stuff, but then I FINALLY got a replacement for my shit phone that has been lounging on death's front porch for a while now. It's a sweet little thang with a slide out qwerty keyboard. LG somthinorother...can you tell I care? Jus' as long as it works, and I'm happy! Oh, alright, here it is. Oh wow, it's apparenly called the LG Neon. Huh.

Yep, that's the one, 'cept my slide out isn't that girly pink-- it's a much more sophisticated colour, like gray or something.

I also got the Olympic-gear hoodie that I've been eyeing. Canada's team clothing is pretty nice, actually. I love the sort of fitted style of it. Pic sometime, prolly. This is what it looks like though (mine's red but the red pic looked hideous):




THEN we decided to get Pizza Hut 'cause what do you do to stress, but throw comfort food on it! So no workout and pizza for dinner. EPIC FAIL. Lol, but I'm cool. I feel wayyy better after all that than I did before, so to me, WORTH IT.

Bad day for diet and exercise, and weight is status quo, for now, but I will be upping the exercise as I think this is what really works for me. Helllooo Jillian!

Take it easy folksies!

Back to bidness already!

Hey all. Just a quickie update. I had a delicious birthday dinner out at my favourite steakhouse on Monday. I kinda overdid it though. Yeahhh. I did give 1/3 or so of my steak to Jason, and didn't eat all my crack-like yam fries. To die, seriously. The biggie was dessert though. Literally. HUGE brownie sundae! I ate about 2/3 of the brownie and gave up. SO FULL. Ugh. But, I have to say I enjoyed every bite! I don't plan on going bananas on a regular basis, so this was an ok indulgence for me. Now that the b-day craziness is over, back to bidness!

Bidness right now looks a bit sad. Being over-tired and feeling like an ick is coming on pushed me outta a workout this eve. I missed yesterday, too, so it looks like the rest of the week is a must. No skipping!

So that leaves me with one pic of my fab dinner. Look upon it and be jealous of the sense-delighting amazingess that is meat cooked on fire....

Ok you can mostly only see the fries...did I mention those fuckers are GOOD!?!? Damn.

And I just thought this pic was funny...tryin' to take a pic of my cute new shirt. Wasn't quite ready for the shot.



Tomorrow...good food and a date with Jillian.

Party pics and food-guilt

Hey folks! I had a grand ol' time celebrating my birthday a wee bit early on Saturday. It should be illegal to have a b-day on a Monday. Mondays suck the life out of birthday fun. But, Saturday party was great! Had 20 or so people come and do a potluck. The food wasn't exactly healthy, but it was delicious! It wasn't the food I had a problem with though...it was the dessert. I had my small-ish piece of birthday cake, of course, but then my very sweet friend made me some FRESH BAKED COOKIES!!! Oh. My. Warm gooey goodness! How could I resist? I couldn't. I ate four. Blargh. Put that on some alcohol and a few scoops of dip and chips along with my modest dinner, and ICK. I tried to help this food-fest by eating lightly all day beforehand and getting in a good shred with Jillian.

Then today, I went out for lunch with my mom, my sister and her kids. I ate a chicken sammich and a few fries. I decided that I would take it easy on dinner and had oatmeal. Love that stuff! Still, I wish I'd had more veggies today. Shoulda had a salad with lunch at least.

To add to this joyous guilt-fest over bad eating, I made the mistake of weighing myself on my brother's digital scale. 5 lbs heavier. FIVE! I know I could've gained over night, but I'm pretty sure it's the scale weighing me heavier. Lordy. Why did I do that, again?? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I am trying not to think about it.

But, despite all that, I still feel good, strong and happy I had a great time at my party. Screw the food guilt. I also worked out today despite not wanting to SOOO BADLY.

So here are a few pics of my good time...note the dress had it's official debut!

My awesome little bro. He wants to be a doctor...check the smarty-pants on him!

My beautiful sister. So kind to host the party for me!
Weird side-note: we are only 11 months apart, so we will be the same
age for two weeks. Freaky.

Cake. Chocolate. Delicious.

My awesome (and gorgeous) teacher friends. Love these girls!!
(and they read my blog! Hi Asha and Kim!)

Me and hubby.
I look all wacko in the face 'cause
I was saying "HEY" when he grabbed my ass.
Sweet.

I can honestly say, and this is pretty big, that I didn't look at ONE pic of myself and think, "Oh god....fat." I know I've said it before, but it's such a departure for me it bears repeating!

That's all for me, my lovely bloggy friends. :) Have a happy Monday...ok, at least try not to kill anyone. :)

Did it!

I know my official weigh-in day is Monday, but today is the second day in a row that the scale has read:




170!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



And I'm gonna celebrate that NOW! To hell with waiting four days! I have been thinking that Monday is a pretty suck-ass weigh-in day anyway! Bring on Thursdays!

So this brings to an end my first goal of getting to 170. I decided a month ago or so that I would like to try for 160. This is for a couple reasons.

1. I still feel like the sort of central, belly, middle area of my body needs some help. Gotta do me some more gut reduction. I know that even if I lose 10 lbs, the weight might not come off there, but it's a chance I'm willing to take.

2. I know that in my maintenance mode my weight will likely fluctuate as I figure out what I need to do to stay healthy and around my goal weight. I would love to have a buffer zone within which I will still feel fit and comfortable.

Many people have asked me, so what if you reach 160 and still aren't happy? Well, to be honest, I don't know! All I know is that I am going to keep working out, try some weight training and running. If I do this, and I lose more weight, then so be it! Weight loss won't be my focus at 160 though. I really want to just tone muscle and increases my fitness at that point.

So 10 more to go, people! Whoooo!

Aww Awards :)

I feel so special! I gots not one, but TWO Beautiful Blogger awards! Thank you to my awesome partner in criminal acts of fitness, Amber, and to the fabulous and talented Coley!




Along with this blog I have to post seven things about myself. SEVEN. Lordy. Some of this ain't pretty, so be warned.

Ok, here goes...

1. I both love and hate my cat. She's a gorgeous, soft, furry creature who appears to love me- follows me around, meows pitifully when I am gone- but may, in fact, be the devil. She bites, she pees on random objects and clothing, she runs ON THE WALLS putting scratches in said walls. She's destroyed: a camera, a pair of $200 leather boots, a $300 wool coat, a purse and some unsuspecting couch cushions. She also swallowed a sewing needle at 6 months which cost $1000 to fish out. So we figure this cat OWES us. A lot.

2. I am horribly lazy and a terrible procrastinator. This is one of the things I like least about myself. People say to me, "I just have to do things! I can't stand sitting around and doing nothing." I LOVE doing nothing. I LOVE sitting around and accomplishing nothing but maintaining a pulse. It's fabulous. Part of being lazy means I put things off. I'll do it later. Sometime. Um, yes....in the future it will get done. Or not.

3. I am usually about 15 minutes late to things. See #2.

4. I love kids. Well, let me clarify. I love kids who are well-behaved. I don't like them when they behave like little assholes in public places. Like the restaurant in which I am eating. At the table next to mine. All through lunch. Like what kind of parent brings their six rugrats to a restaurant and then lets them just run around? Literally run around the tables. And throw paper airplanes.

5. I am terribly, terribly, terribly vain. I just am, and I've been that way since I was a kid. When I was five, I fell off my bike and needed a few stitches in my forehead. I felt like a disfigured freak and refused to show my face for weeks. I remember hiding out and protesting through hysterical temper-tantrum when my mom tried to drag me out into the world. In Gr. 6 I had to get glasses, but since I hated them, I always "forgot" to bring them. My mom would show up at the door and hand them over. Then everyone would watch a I had to put them on. Embarasinnnnng. I thought they made me look hideous. As an adult, I will NEVER go anywhere without make-up and hair done in some semblance of order. I will not leave in sloppy clothes, pj's or the like. No way. How I perceive my hair looking can actually affect my day. I am not happy to be this concerned with my appearance, but it's the way I am. Live with it.

6. I wish I could sing well. I have always felt envious of those who can. My voice isn't as bad as some, but it's not great. I like to sing in the car, and I really belt it out and pretend like I gots skills. If I had any talent, you wouldn't be able to get me to stop singing. So probably for the best.

7. Since I've lost 50 lbs and don't have to shop in the big girl store, I've developed a minor shopping addiction. I loooove buying new, flattering, smaller clothes. I tell myself I am buying it tight, so it will still fit if I lose more weight. Uh huh. Sure. I already have clothes I bought in September that are too big now. Seems like a big waste of money, yes? But, I love how I look in these clothes, and the idea of hiding all these results under baggy, ill-fitting clothes just makes me SAD. So I shop. :)


So there it is, the somewhat ugly truth. I know these 7 aren't supposed to be necessarily negative, but I just felt like coming clean on some of my less-fabulous qualities.

Now to pass on the award to 7 others....

1. Shane at A Life Apart
2. Jessie at Figuring it Out
3. Tiffany at From 12-6
4. Ally at today is my birthday (omg does this girl make me laugh!)
5. Lucas at Petite Flower
6. The Phat Nanny
7. Former Fat Chick

If you have already received this award, well, you are even more fabulous than I thought! :)


Jillian kicked my ass this evening like I baked her a cake and made her eat it. I am trying to follow along with hard-core girl and not do the girly-style, and f-me is it hard! I am sweating and gasping trying to keep my frickin' body weight up on the killer "up on the weights in plank and lifting one arm back and then lifting a leg." Yeah that description is for shit, but it's all I got. Main point is...it KILLS me. Every time. But I guess the effort is worth it, 'cause hubby noticed some ab definition today! Yayyyy! I had to stand up really straight and have a lamp throwing light sort of across my stomach, but he saw it!

I have been really hungry at night lately, and it's getting old. I tried the tea thing, which used to work, and I am still hungry. Stupid stomach! I still feel like I am eating more than usual.

Ok, time for bed. This post took way too long. I don't even have the energy to tell my 7 peeps I gave them award. Tomorrow. (Dammit, #2 rears its ugly head!)

Laterz

Monday, you didn't get me...sucka.

Ahh Monday...ender of weekend, starter of work week. How little you are loved. But I don't hate you so much because TWO good things happened today.

Good thing #1: I weighed in this morn, and I've lost 2 lbs this week! Whooooo!

Good thing #2: I used the $$ my mom gave me for Christmas to buy myself the most deeelishious Italian lambskin jacket. Ooooh baby is this thing soft and supple! It's a blazer style- very fitted and tailored. LOVE IT! I'll get a pic soon.

Oh, and I'd like to add a late 3rd good thing:

Good thing #3: I worked out even though I was knackered and wanted to just sink into the couch and let it ooze up around me until we were one entity.

So take THAT Monday!

I must also say thank you and, might I add, *blush* at all the lovely comments about my new dress! You are all much too kind. That would be the 4th good thing of the day!

So I've been thinking about my future on this journey o' mine. I have 10 lbs to go until I am in that fabled maintenance mode. I think that I'd like to start weight training. I like the idea of strengthening my muscles. My friend Sarah does alternating days of strength and cardio and she maintains her weight fairly well (within 10 lbs). I am going to visit her at the end of the month, so I'll see what wisdom she can impart whilst I am there. Can't wait!

The other thing I am considering is trying my hand at running (finally!) in the spring. I love the idea of the Couch to 5k thing. It is nice and laid out for me, so I just have to follow along. I am a great follower. This is why I love the DVDs. I have someone to tell me what the fuck I need to do! Then I do it! Yeah, I'd LOVE to have a trainer to tell me what to do, but first I'd have to start crappin' those gold bricks, as the hubster is fond of saying.

And that's all the blog I got in me today. Later y'all!


Oh, and can I just say...

ONLY ONE POUND TO MY FIRST GOAL!! YEAHHHHH!

New dressness

Helloooooooooo. Pardon me whilst I blow some dust off my blog....

Ok, good as new! I know, it's only been a few days, but I always feel bad when I don't blog nearly daily. Things have been going fairly well in my world. I've worked out, mostly the Shred, but only 4 days the past week. Booo. I wanted to work out yesterday, but things were crazy. I'm aiming for about 5 days per week now. Food-wise I was great during the week, but I did a bit o' drinking (3 coolers) last night and then had my nieces b-day dinner with lasagna, garlic bread and caesar salad. Cake for dessert, natch. I ate a bit more than usual, and boy could I feel it! My stomach felt wayy uncomfortable with that much food and I still fill ick now. Must do better with MY b-day dinner next week!

The Mystery Bus tour was FUN. I will tell ya more tomorrow. Tonight I will just share with you a couple pics of the new dress I bought- couldn't resist! I think it's cute...hope you like. :)

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Aaaaand the dress:

How does that look...lemme seeee.

Strike a pose.

What's that? Muscle?!?!

A lil' help from hubby on this one.

I was adjusting the dress here...

And the back.

Flat Out freakin' fantastic!

Greetings! I have to mention that my hubby found Flat Out bread HERE in CANADA! OMG! We never have any of that good shit here! It's the low-fat Italian herb, and it makes a kick-ass pizza. It's 120 calories for the bread, so with about 15 cals worth of sauce and a scant sprinkling of reduced fat mozza, and 6 minutes in the oven to MMM delicious! New favourite lunch/snack. It's a bit big for the snack, so I'd share it with J, maybe. :)

I had more reason to distrust that sneaky bastard of a scale this morning. It has steadily been showing me a loss since after Christmas. I went from 173 to 175 (thanks x-mas crap) and then two days later 173 and today 171! It could be as low as 170, but I think it was a shade above that mark, so I'm sayin' 171. Have I mentioned I hate my scale? Maybe a new one for my b-day?? I'd love any suggestions for a good brand/model. I have a lot of distrust with these things and I want a really GOOD one.

The problem is I think the scale is being shifty. I think it's preparing for a coup of some sort. Why? Because I'm still eating MORE than usual! Why am I losing weight after eating more?!! WTF? So yeah, I don't trust it. If it stays consistent for a few more days, maybe I'll break out the celebratory dance moves. Until then, scale, I gots my eye on you!

I didn't work out last night, but I shredded with Jillian this eve. Definitely getting easier! I still have to do mostly the girly-style moves, but I am trying the first set off the knees- gotta keep pushing! Oh knees! That reminds me...I think I helped my knees today! I wondered if being on my knees for the push ups etc. was contributing to the hurting, so I put a pillow under there and whaddya know...lots less pain! Me smart.

Got many compliments at work the last few days. Love that. :) Speaking of work, I am a bit nervous about our staff winter social event. It's a mystery bus outing. We know almost nothing about what we're doing. All we know is we will be fed (the organizer threw out some bogus message about boiled hot dogs, but pretty sure he knows he'll be lynched if that's what we get!) and there will be some activities (which could involve some booze). We will be in teams for one activity, too. I am on Team Russia (hello Olympics theme! I cringe to think of what pseudo-olympic-games-type crap we could be coerced into doing!). Mmmkay. It's all going down on Saturday, so I'll keep you posted on the mysterious goings on.

Crossing fingers...hoping scale will read 171 or lower tomorrow!

Monday weigh-in bidness

And so ends the 4th day of 2010 and my first day back to work. Work was not as soul-sucking as I expected. Gotta love those kids for making my job fun (most of the time!).

I didn't work out yesterday since I think I ate too much dinner and it felt like a ball of lead in my tummy all night (note to self: keep an eye on portions and STOP eating before feeling full!). The very idea of shredding with THAT in there...UGH. So I shredded my ass this eve instead. I do love how tired I feel after Jillian has had her wicked way with me and all my muscles are pleasantly sore. I am still just tickled that somewhere along the way I improved enough to do the jumping lunges properly! Amazing how the body will get stronger and stronger if you push it.

The scale has actually been kind for two days in a row! I can happily report I am back to 173. Of course, that means no change for the week, but meh, I'll take it!

I am definitely feeling hungrier these days....the dreaded snack monster returns! All that extra food I had over the holidays seems to have trained my body to want it again. I have to get back to ignoring hunger between snack times until it goes away.

On another note, I am excited about my birthday coming up! Not the getting older part, 'cause I'm not crazy, but the celebrating with friends part. Just a couple weeks now. I'm celebrating two days early to hit the weekend. It will be a potluck/games/booze fest. I'll be the big 36. Whooooo. It will be cool to hit this age being the lightest and fittest I've been in 13 years or so!

Later!

The end of the Shred? Not hardly!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had fun ringing in 2010. I have to say, living in Olympics Central has me a little burned out on 2010 already! I actually wish I could jump ship and go somewhere far from here in February. But, I digress!

Today is all about the end of the Shred Challenge. I wish I could say I did it every day in December, but truly I missed four days, I believe. Considering the time of the year, I will take it! I haven't taken any pics to compare with the first ones I took, but I will soon. For now you may peruse the measurements...


That was then............And then this............And this is now

Chest: 42.5..................42 (-.5)...................41.5 (-1 total)

Ribcage: 35.5..............34.75 (-.75).............34.25 (1.25)

Waist: 33.5..................33 (-.5)...................32.75 (-.25)

Hips: 40.......................40 (nada)...............39.75 (-.25)

Upper Thigh: 24.5.......24 (-.5)...................23.5 (-1)

Upper Arm: 12.5..........12 (-.5)....................12 (-.5)

Weight: 178..................175 (-3)................175 (-3)


Total inches lost during Shred: 4.25
Total lbs lost during Shred: 3

Now, I have to say that I did lose more weight, but the x-mas food fun added 2 back. Dammit. The coolest thing about doing the Shred has to be the muscles I have gained. Can I just say, I LOVE muscles! I can see why people body build now! I am going to visit my friend Sarah (Hi Sarah!) this month, and she's said she will give me some instruction on weights I can do. SO EXCITED! She's an awesome role model, I have to say. She was never HUGE, but she had about 30 lbs to lose, and she lost it many, many years ago, while we were still in university, and she has KEPT IT OFF. So inspirational! This girl has made exercise a part of her life. It's awesome, and exactly what my life must be like, too.

I can't have the mentality that I am just working out "for now" just to lose weight. I will ALWAYS work out. And I have to say, having these DVDs to use has made that fact much less soul deadening than before. It really seemed like a death sentence before! Like an interminable punishment. Now, I can see myself Shredding, or doing Boot Camp, or even trying one of the other DVDs in the series! I love how the workouts make me feel. Now the idea of intermixing some weight training sounds exciting. I still have a hard time motivating myself to work out, don't get me wrong, but I am starting to love the way I feel, and look, from doing it. What better motivation is there than feeling great about myself?

I am excited to see where my body will be in 15 lbs from now. I want to see more changes. I am determined to see more, and yes...oh yes...I will get them. I am getting better and stronger all the time. Even today, I did more in the level 3 Shred than ever before! I did one move in full plank instead of on my knees for the first time, and I also stuck the jumping lunges for the first time! I would try before, and instead of both feet landing at the same time, my front foot would always come down first. Not today, my friends! I killed it!

As for the New Year's thing, I don't have any resolutions, really. I am just going to keep doing what I need to do to lose weight and get as fit as I can.

2010 is the year I reach my goal weight and stay there. Booya.