Slacking

                                         
Quite obviously I have been slacking on my goals. I have gained so much weight in the past few months that I now am less than 10 pounds from the weight I was at my last doctor visit before I had my youngest child (my biggest baby). I need to make some changes. I know that. It is just so hard to stay on track and not let something else slip in the process.
In the last few weeks I have been eating Adkins bars for lunch and drinking slim fast for breakfast. Last week it seemed to have helped. This week, not so much.
A few months ago, my husband and I got an exercise bike at a thrift store for 15.00. I have used it a few times, but not as much as I had planned. I am going to get better. I have to. I can't stand being this big. I am uncomfortable when I sit down. I have less energy. I have more heart burn. It just sucks. I need to learn balance so that I can do everything that I need to for my family as well as myself.

Tuesday Update

I am doing ok so far this week. Yesterday, I wasn't able to drag my sorry butt out of bed to get any exercise in, but today I walked for 10 minutes. It wasn't Pilates, but it felt GREAT! I haven't had a soda since Saturday. I have to tell you, it is getting easier everyday, and it seems easier this time than it was a few weeks ago. I am going to do very well this week. I can feel it!

Just Wanna Cry

When I got on the scale yesterday morning, I had gained weight again. I evaluated how my week had gone and realized it was definitely my fault. Obviously I didn't do well at my goals this week.  I did get the fiber most days. That definitely helped where I needed it. I did horrible at the no soda thing, and I only got any kind of exercise with my Saturday and Sunday morning walks with Chad and the dogs. I have a bit better of a plan for this week, though.

As of yesterday, I am going caffeine/soda free. Yesterday was rough, again. Today was slightly better. Luckily, I was able to take naps both days. I will not be so lucky tomorrow, so we shall see how it goes.

As of today, I am not going out to eat. My goal is to make it though this pay period with only eating food made in someone's home. This one will be kind of hard too since I often forget to make my lunch, but I can do it. I know I can.

Since Chad starts his new job tomorrow, I am going to start getting up when he leaves to work out. Nothing huge. I have a Pilates video that I liked in the past. I am thinking and hoping that it will be a good start to my mornings.

I am also going to try to get more water in me. I will be drinking at least 4 cups a day of plain water. This will be a bit tricky for me because even during the week and a half that I was doing well at not drinking soda, I drank Tang most of the time. This will be another big change.

Got To Get Things Moving

So far the no soda thing is going pretty good. I did have one on Thursday when my sister and I went out for lunch, but in all fairness it was the anniversary of my mom and brother's death. I needed something. I did have a great 9 day streak with no soda, and I know I can go even longer. I am now starting day 3 of no soda, and I feel like crap. I can't even tell you how hard it is to break this habit. I am so tired all of the time. I am moody. I am...I don't know...wanting a Dr. Pepper right about now. I know it will get better. It is a process that I am not used to having to put myself through.

I am going to give you a warning right now. This paragraph, while not too descriptive, may be a bit...icky. I have come up with a new problem. Without going into as many details as I want to for some reason, I have been backed up severely for a few days. I took some Miralax yesterday and today, and things are finally starting to move this morning, but it is still not a fun process. I looked up the possible causes for such a problem and I see myself fitting into 3 categories: lack of fiber, not enough exercise, and hypothyroidism. I am going to start working on two of these this week.

First of all, lack of fiber can be helped fairly easily. I can get several supplements at the store. I can eat more fruits and veggies. I can get certain cereals or snack bars. They will all help. Yesterday, I chose to eat 3 apples. I'm not kidding. That was my lunch and long with water. I will probably eat some today, too. I don't mind adding more fruits and veggies to my diet. I actually would like to do so . I am also going to add supplements for now though. I have got to get this thing taken care of now.

Lack of exercise is something I can tackle as well. All I have to do is figure out the best time to exercise and just make it happen. No more excuses like, "I am just too tired," or "If only the kids would go to sleep," or "It is just too hard after working all day." I exercised on a regular basis while I was single. I was working a worse job then, and I was taking care of this kids on my own. These are horrible excuses!

Here is my pledge to you: I am going to have fiber everyday and some form of exercise everyday this week. I will check in Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday to report my progress. Wish me luck!

No Soda...YIKES!

I made a decision 2 nights ago, no more soda. That means I haven't had soda since Monday. It is killing me! I am so incredibly tired. I had to push myself past a headache around lunch time.
I didn't realize I was so addicted to the darn stuff until I listened to myself tell my husband why I couldn't go without it. I kept trying to make excuses, but it really boiled down to I just didn't want to in the end. All other excuses were shot down by the man. It is almost like he wants me to be healthy or something (the nerve)! He even agreed to give it up with me. I have been impressed with his resolve. (Of course, I haven't spoken to him since he got to work today, so we will see.)
At this point I am taking it day by day. I don't have a goal as to how long I will go without the sugary goodness. I just know it is killing my bank account and expanding my waste line.
Wish me luck!

Good News/Bad News

This week was good and bad. On the good side, I have exercised 5 times this week. On the not so good side, I have gained 2 pounds. Now the question is, do I let the bad get me down or focus on the good and run with it?
Chad and I have been trying to implement one change at a time to our diet and routines. We have done some good things so far. I took me three weeks to get into a better routine that could include exercise, and I know it will be a continued struggle, but I am glad that surpassed my exercise goal this week. As far as the diet part goes, we have decided that we will have at least one fruit or veggie with dinner every night. Since he works a lot of nights, this will mean he has the left overs the next day. I may have left overs for lunch the next day too. That way I don't have to run around and throw random crap together and hope that it will work for lunch. I am hoping that it won't take me as long to implement this change as it has been taking to implement an exercise routine. I am also hoping that by filling up a bit on veggies, I will not be putting as many calories in my system.

Not What I Expected

So far, since I decided I would do this work out jar, I have done four work outs. I took the dogs for walks twice last week, and this week I have done a work out on the Xbox last night and tonight. I haven't even filled the bottom of my jar yet. This is going to be a lot harder than I expected.
The good news is that, for the most part, the exercise is rewarding. It was nice to go walking around the neighborhood and spend time with my husband so that we can pretend we know each other again (he has been working a lot of nights lately). He had an Xbox before we got married and showed me a game for working out he thought I would like. By golly, he was right (someone gets brownie points for knowing his wife)! The only complaint I have is that the darn thing thinks that I am actually fit already. When it told me I could squat lower tonight, I yelled at it. I told it that it knew I was fat and knew I chose the light beginner work outs. It didn't seem to care. It just kept telling me I could squat lower. Geez. I guess I better keep working on that. When I felt like giving up, I just reminded myself of the number I saw on the scale this morning and how disappointed I was that I had gained so much weight back in the last few months.
I know the workouts will start to get easier as I get stronger, and I will get slimmer as I do them. I need to get healthier so I can have a long life with my kids and husband. I have a goal weight in my head for the end of the week. I will get there if it kills me (it probably won't, but you never know)!

Trying it Again

I have been trying to change things a little bit at a time to lose weight. Most of the changes that I have made so far with my diet have been forced by my budget.( I have cut out fast food and most soda.) I lost one pound this week (I know that isn't much, but I will take it). I am hoping as I make more changes I will get more motivation and lose more weight.
Last year I starting a jar to motivate myself to exercise. I would put a macaroni noodle in the jar for every 5 minutes of exercise. The idea was that when the jar got full I would have a party. It was motivating until I accidentally knocked over the jar and spilled most of the macaroni. I was going to have to do all of that work again. I felt so discouraged that I just stopped working out and put up the jar.
I am going to start the jar back up again. I don't think I have the same jar anymore, but I have some empty jars. I am going to use a smaller jar. That way I can get motivation by seeing the jar actually fill up. When the jar is full, I am going to have a social gathering of some sort (most likely a healthy potluck dinner) at my house. I want to have at least 3 parties/dinners at my house by the time I get to my goal weight.

In Violation

I have been on academic advisement since I re-enrolled in school because of my GPA when I was kicked out last year in April. I have known this. I have had to show progress each term. I thought that I was making progress. Apparently I was wrong. I got an email today saying that I was in violation as of 7/11. I'm really not sure why. My GPA is slowly increasing. I currently have 98% in one class and 62.7% in the other (this will go up). Last term the goal was for 100% attendance (that means getting at least one assignment done each week per class). I did that. I admit that I should have done more quality work and should have turned in every assignment on time. I am already off to a better start than I was last term. Ugh! I need to get back to being the over achiever that I know is in me. This week I am going to get everything in like I did last week! (Yes, I know it is already Thursday and getting late to make the goal, but it can still be done.)

Need. Motivation. Today.

So the first half of the week is gone. I have not gotten any exercise in yet. I am trying to motivate myself. I went to bed last night determined to wake up a half hour early and walk the dogs. Of course that meant that my oldest child had a nightmare and the puppy needed water right after that. I was up for about an hour in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I needed that half hour. I reset my alarm and went back to sleep and was still dragging myself out of bed. Needless to say, it is Wednesday and I have yet to get any exercise in. I will have to get something in tomorrow. I will get 3 days in by Sunday. I now have a deal going on with a friend. If I don't get at least 3 days done this week, I will be doing an act of service for her. As much as she deserves it, I would rather it be the other way around (just because that makes me the winner).

Moving Things Around

I have decided to move things around a bit. I realized that my blog that started off to be about my family life was getting to be more and more about my struggle with goals (mostly weight loss). I have decided to split it up a bit. I will now have a blog for my family journal and one for my personal goals. I am really hoping that this will help motivate me to achieve my goals.