Setting Goals

In March I spent 5+ weeks working out every day, sometimes even twice a day.  I never consistently lost weight, just yo-yo'd up and down, never dipping below my starting weight.  At the time I was nursing and eating like a horse just to keep from having hot/sweaty/shaky/weak/irritable hypoglycemic crashes.  Basically I wasn't able to cut back my daily calorie intake without getting more sick than normal.  You can imagine my frustration and how unbelievably easy it was to give up.  So I did!

My sweet Goob is 14 months now, and he's finally more interested in other things than nursing...HOORAY!  Do I seem more excited than I should be?  I am!  Don't get me wrong, I loved nursing, but there were things that I was ready to do for myself and I knew he was close to being ready to move on too.    

So I'M BACK, and I won't stop till I've reached my goals.

A couple weeks ago I started crunching the numbers (my FIL and BIL would be proud) to see how much I needed to lose, and about how long it would take to lose that amount.  Here's what I came up with:

I had 24 lbs to lose and have found that if I stick to my guns I can lose 2 lbs per week, which is a healthy rate.  At the time my birthday just so happened to be 13 weeks away.  This would give me 1 week or 2 lbs leeway and still be able to reach my goal.  Perfect timing to get in gear! 

I planned to do a quick workout first thing in the morning, before eating breakfast, and one other later in the day if I could squeeze it in or deal with Goob crawling all over me while doing a DVD at home. 

I try to run 1 mile a day, 1 workout DVD, and then do some free weights or abs. Nothing ever ends up being more than 1 hour.  I just don't have the time for more.  

I follow a 1200 calorie diet, but not necessarily counting.  I eat a certain number of portions from each food group, which works out to be about 1200.  I also do portion control.  My food scale is my best friend right now :)

This is what the tracker I made looks like, 1200 cal of course (so less servings)

I started my second lifestyle change (the first being after I had Twodles*) 2 weeks ago on August 12th, and I've met my 2 lb goal each week.

I will be posting periodically about my progress on the blog, but plan to give a weekly weigh-in via FB.

After my favorite run thus far (it was raining)  

Fastest time for 1 mile

I am excited to feel better...and look better.  

*It's hard to imagine that the first time I went through this process I was almost 20 lbs heavier than I am now!  I'm so glad I started out right when I got pregnant with Goob, and will choose to feel blessed that I must take this time to lose weight rather than be pregnant again like I want.  

Daily Doubles

One of my weight loss goals, to do a short morning workout and then a longer one in the evening every day- is what I will refer to as Daily Doubles.

As Jillian says, she's "TV's toughest trainer"  hahaha

Yesterday was the first of many more.  I have to be honest I didn't want to do it.  I tried to do a workout video yesterday morning, but Twodles kept yelling at me "NO MOOOOOM, WE ARN DOIN DAT!"  Apparently he doesn't realize that I've set some goals!

Today was even more difficult with Goob crawling all over me.  In order to work up a sweat or elevate my heart rate without having to stop every five seconds to fend off the "extra help" I've decided that I will have to wait till Goob is down for his morning nap.

You see, the whole idea behind doing a morning workout is to exercise before you eat.  You burn more fat that way.  There is much talk over whether this is a valid method or not.  In the articles I have seen, exercising in a "fasted state" is not beneficial for athletes (as they probably don't have much fat to lose, and need the fuel to reach optimal performance) But for those looking to lose weight it seems to be legit.

For one, as has been known for some time, exercising in a fasted state (usually possible only before breakfast), coaxes the body to burn a greater percentage of fat for fuel during vigorous exercise, instead of relying primarily on carbohydrates. (source found here)

Seems easy enough right?  Well, my only problem is that Goob doesn't go down till around 9am.  That has proved quite difficult since I am up for at least an hour or more before I can even start the workout.  Not only will I be so super hungry, but it gives me ample time to convince myself I don't need to do it.

Good thing I have such an awesome cheerleader. Twodles always encourages me to exercise, and even does it right along with me most mornings, for a few minutes anyway.  He has even settled into the little routine we have of exercising first and then getting to watch a short PBS show while I hop in the shower.

Love his little tongue sticking out

Endorphins...YES PLEASE!

Many of you know that at the beginning of the year I decided to get my rear in gear and lose some weight. I wish I could blame it all on having a baby. But let's be honest, I was carrying the weight of a baby LONG before I ever got pregnant.  I joined a program at the University I attend similar to Biggest Loser: trainers, nutritionist, the whole bit.  The program went about 3 months and in that time I lost 30 pounds. Afterward I kept up it up on my own and lost almost 10 pounds more.  Then Scout Camp happened.  Thankfully I only gained 5 pounds and I'm glad to say that after a near 7-week hiatus I'M BACK IN THE GAME!

I made my way to the gym this morning, dragging my feet as I went, thinking how I REALLY did not want to experience that lovely jello jiggler feeling I get when I run on the treadmill.  I was dreading even more the fact that I had no music.  I finally did the much-needed music cleanse yesterday.  I will admit that it has taken years for my conscience to catch up with me on the music pirating I did as a teen.  This amazing talk by David A. Bednar has been ringing in my ears since the day I heard him give it, and prompted the initial cleanse that same day (yes, I did cleanse once before but got sneaky and found the music again on the old Mac...shame on me).  So today I opted for Pandora, which turned out to be the best thing that happened for my workout session.

I pick my station (just in case you were wondering, I typed in Bruno Mars) and started jiggling...I mean jogging.  After about 2 minutes Katy Perry's "Firework" came on and I found my groove!  Next thing I know I'm having to try extremely hard to overcome this insatiable desire to sing out loud and dance on the treadmill (imagine me doing something like this but WAY better).  I was smiling big and really enjoying myself, which is incredible because I STILL hate running.  I felt like I could (here's the point were you think Im going to write "I felt like I could run a marathon!"  I'm not that crazy) be in a musical! You know the star in the next High School Musical: Poor college student with a post pregnancy jello jiggler body.  I'm sure it would get GREAT reviews!  Anyway, I was rockin' it on the treadmill and I felt AMAZING!  I finished up a sweet workout, all thanks to Dave Bednar, Pandora, Katy Perry, and last but not least a super imagination!  Endorphins...YES PLEASE!