Holy Hell, I am Starving...

Well, the title says it all. I'm freakin hungry. I've been hungry all day, but if I remember correctly, that means that everything is working correctly. I have had a gallon of water, and have taken many trip to the restroom today.

I have been off of my 'diet' for quite some time now. I tried to start back up in December, but I got sick, and had to take medicine which made me super hungry. So, I ate, and I ate some yummy holiday food.

So, here I am, January 31st and today I went back on my diet. I have goals, I have desires, but right now my main goal is just to keep going at this one day at a time.

I haven't much to write, but to Becky Grace: thank you for our 4am talk on January 15th. Your words continue to repeat in my head. Thank you.

Dear Motivation, Please Come Back!

Wow, Its been a while since I have written. I guess I could say the same for keeping up with my health and my weight loss. So, here's to starting over.
Its kind of strange..from my heaviest weight, I have lost over 70 pounds. Since March of this year, I have lost just over 60 pounds. When I look in the mirror, I don't see a difference. I still see fat, and I still see rolls, and I still see myself hidden behind all of that. No, I am not looking for a pitty party, I am not being hard on myself or looking for you all to tell me that I'm beautiful - I already know this. :)

So, my goal for the next few months is to get back on track with my original diet. No more bread, pasta, potatoes, chips, crackers - etc. I'm back on track. I want to lose 40 more pounds by the end of the year. I think its totally do-able, its just going to take concentration and hard work.

I just got done with my first P90X workout. I haven't done this work out in quite some time. I remember trying to do it over a year ago, and WOW what a difference 70 pounds really makes when working out.
It was still definitely hard, and I'm rather exhausted now, but It was easier to get through it - although I was praying for the dvd player to spontaneously combust. I GOT THROUGH IT, and I'm crazy sore, but I'm excited to see how well this does for me doing it 6 days a week along with the diet.

I'll spare you the grueling details of the amount of pushups I did and how I almost knocked the ceiling fan down when I was doing jumping jacks (okay, I'm totally kidding, but it would be really funny - don't you think?!)

Anyway - Short and sweet tonight.

Feel free to send me your motivation, I'll definitely need it over these next few months in order to reach my goal.

I should sleep like a baby tonight after that workout!

Thanks for reading! Have a fabulous week!

Summer is Here, Summer is already over?

Picture Taken July 30, 2010

It seems that my summer has come and gone all in the blink of an eye!
I am both happy and sad about this...
Sad - Well, its summer and its already over! I did manage to go on 2 small vacations, though.
Happy - Its time to get my ass back on a schedule. I haven't really been following my 'diet' and I feel like crap. I haven't been drinking much water and I have been eating at restaurants and eating whatever I felt like. Good news, however, is that I did not gain any weight during this process, but I did manage to maintain my weight.  When my life is on a schedule, I do things so much better. So, tomorrow starts my schedule.
I went grocery shopping and my fridge is filled with Fresh Fruit, Veggies, Water, and Propel Water.
I am starting my healthy way of eating again and I couldn't be more excited about it.

What's even more exciting is that my work schedule was built the way I asked and I actually have time in the mornings to go to the gym and work out every morning!! How exciting! 5 days a week I will be working out!

My blog is short for today. Good thoughts are appreciated!

My legs and ass hurt so bad it actually hurts to sit down.

Oh boy! So I have already expressed my extreme hatred for working out, however, I fully understand that  it is vitally important in my whole weight loss plan. So, my sister goes to YMCA, and I have been tagging onto her membership for about 2 weeks. Its a far drive, but we hired a trainer that works us out in a group of 3.

1st of all, I am way more motivated to work out and lift weights when I have a trainer, however, this whole group thing is kind of interesting. My sister and I are obviously in the group, but then there is the 3rd person - a 52 year old mother who has a bad knee and wants to chit chat the entire time we are doing stuff. Um, I guess that would be cool, if we signed up for a social club!! She told my sister that she would get along with her daughter. Um, have you met my sister?? That is highly unlikely. hahah.

Okay, so workouts with Ward are going pretty well, despite the gabby granny-like tag along. We have only done two so far, and I have developed an extreme hatred for one of the machines. Its the "rowing" one. Where you buckle your feet in, sit low to the ground, grab the handles - slide back and pull the handles and it "rows" your forward. Ugh - what an obnoxious machine. Ward makes us do it for 5 minutes straight. The first time we did it, I hated it. The second time, I hated it even more.

So, I am a recent member at LA Fitness close to my house. I've only been a memeber for a week and I've already been 3 times (plus the 2 times at the Y for the workouts with Ward) So, its been a week of exercising! When you join a gym, they try to get you to sign up for personal training with them...so, I said "what the hell" - I'll meet with you and see what you have to offer.

I went Saturday morning at 8am to meet with Alex, a non-trainer sales guy. He did, however walk me through a "workout" He told me that I shouldn't do cardio before lifting weights because it takes away all of your energy. I have always been told before that cardio before is really good as it gets your heart rate up... hmmm.

Anyway - he took me though a work out - a leg workout, and holy crap did it burn. I did lunges up and down the gym floor 3 times. Then he made me do squats holding weights above my head. THEN, he made me step up sideways onto a stepping board, jump to my other foot, step down on the other side and do a friggin squat.

So, today, Sunday - when I got out of bed, I damn near fell into the wall. My legs hurt so bad, its ridiculous. Sitting down and standing up is quite the challenge. I almost just want to stay standing all day, just so I don't have to worry about how I'm going to manage to sit or stand up. Even my butt hurts... I had no idea that my butt muscles could hurt.

Needless to say, it was a good workout, however, their prices just simply do not fit my lifestyle. And, I hate sales people trying to sell me on their product. Alex's GM came over and tried to upsell his trainers. Too bad the GM had a big ass beer belly. Seriously dude? You are the head of all of the trainers and you have a beer belly? Can you say oxymoron?! He tried to get me to sign up right then and there on 1 workout a week for $150 a month. Seriously? No dude. Then he tried 2 workouts a month. Really? what is the point of having a trainer for 2 times in 1 month - to which he uttered much bullshit.

This week I'm going to do some classes, probably a latin dance class and a yoga class. I really want to attempt a cycling class, but in time. I'm excited for this exercise adventure that is ahead of me...

3 months = amazing!

I lost 15 pounds this past month, and I can hardly believe it. I have lost a total of 48 pounds in just 3 months! Its amazing to me that this is working. I love it, and honestly I wouldn't change anything - well except for the flavor of the vanilla protein shakes. Ew!

Its been a crazy month, with the end of the school year, and the loss of my precious niece. So when things go crazy, my eating habits usually do too. I had a few shitty eating days during this time, but given the circumstances, shit happens. :)

Regardless, the most important thing is that I never over-indulged in one single food. I have found that if I have a craving for something that I eat just a tiny amount to get my craving taken care of, and go on with my day. I have had 1 soda in the past month and the only reason is because my tummy hurt so band and having a Sprite helped to calm down my stomach ache. 

So my goal for this next month is to lose 22 pounds. I truly believe that its do-able, most because I will be going to the gym to work out and sweat 5-6 days a week during the summer! Today was the first day at the gym. I did the elliptical machine - a mile took me 12 minutes. I accidentally kept pressing the + button and I didn't realize until the last part of the mile that I had made it sooo much harder to walk! hah! My sister is my "trainer" for the summer. She had me walking on my friggin tip toes! Whew, that burned!

We focused today on legs and butt, and tomorrow we are going to focus on Chest, Back and Arms and we are going to play racquetball!   I am super excited to see if my goal of 22 pounds this next month is going to happen with adding this much exercise. 

I got rid of a ton of clothing this weekend. Its amazing how much losing almost 50 pounds can really change the way clothes fit.  Its so exciting! I love it!

While I wish that I would have found this "program" years ago, I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. This is happening to me right now for a reason. It's my main focus and I am so excited to see the changes taking place!!  Thank you all so much for your motivation and support!

Enjoy your day and don't forget to Smile!

Vacations make you Cheat on them there Diets...

So, I dont know if you can call my trip to california with 30 of my high school band kids a "vacation" - but it was definitely a trip and I definitely did not follow my diet.
its really tough to travel and keep things going to the same way.  I ate pasta, bread, peanut butter and jelly, granola bars, and I drank a few sodas. Ultimately, I felt pretty shitty. I lacked energy, got pretty bloated, and was pretty exhausted the whole time.

So, normally, once I cheat I usually have a really hard time going back to my diet. However, its Monday and I am right back to my diet. Feeling the way I did on my trip really inspired me to get back to the way I have been eating for the past 8 weeks. One day back on it - and I am feeling so much better today!

Not that big of a post tonight, but I will write more in about a week or so. My goal over the next week is to drink 2 gallons of water each day!

33 pounds down, 38 more to go until I reach goal #1

I went to my 2nd monthly check up at the doctor today. The official number of pounds lost is 33. I lost 12 pounds in the last month, and while that may sound really great, I am somewhat disappointed.
I talked to Dylan (my doc) about my struggles this month, and regardless he said I should be extremely proud of losing 33 pounds in just 8 weeks.

The past couple of weeks were a little tough, with the robbery, getting a pretty horrible cough and just basically letting life get ahead of me. Please, don't get me wrong, I am thrilled with 33 pounds and I am really starting to see some major changes. My pants are starting to fall off, and I'm able to fit into some shirts and pants that I refused to get rid of over the past few years.

I have gone down a pant size, a shirt size, and a bra size.

I had two students tell me today: "Ms. J - you are shrinking! We love it!"
Dylan told me he can really notice a difference in my face.
Marian called me skinny last week.
Colleagues have told me that I look so stylin' - ('cause my cute clothes fit me now!)


I have only a couple of weeks left of this year. I have to get through a california trip with my band kids, our final band concert, the band awards banquet, and graduation. Then, hopefully, some things will be a little easier to get working out in. I plan to get up in the mornings and do some treadmill action and then go swimming. I am really looking forward to the summer!

Anyway..i'm not much in the writing mood, so there will be more to come soon.