Holding my nose to the Grindstone

It's been really one of the hardest weeks in a long time for me, but I am pushing forward. Unfortunately, for me, it's not a downtime moment. I have to hit the grindstone and get some work (real work) done, UGH!

The only way I can deal right now is to keep focusing on exercise. And hey, that's good for the body, right?  It doesn't hurt that I am super amped up on adrenaline and cannot stop moving. Last night I got in a super walk/job and then the #tworkout and burned a lot more calories than I have in a while. It kind of beat up my knee a bit, but really the burn felt so good. So good in fact that I did a sprint run again tonight using my Lolo app. It was hard cause it is so freaking hot outside that no one should have been doing said run, but I stayed in the shade and managed 2 miles in 35 min (not really the best speed, but I was trying to take it easy too) and feel so much better now that it is done.

As for the Burst into Sumer challenge at shrinkingjeans, I think I was up when I weighed in this am, but only by a few ounces. If this adrenaline thing keeps up, I'll be back down again soon, so I hope it does! This is actually my high week in my cycle. So that is promising! I did not do too well with the sleep mini challenge. It is just so hard to get to bed at a normal time. I tend to stay up a bit longer so I can get my son up for a potty break - usually around 11pm. 7 hours means I need to go to bed at 9:30 or 10 at the latest.

This week's challenge is to kick soda - done! I haven't had soda in months. I don't even know how many now, 3 maybe? I did have three cocktails last Friday night, but they were the watery kind and did not draw me back to it's evil clutches. Coffee however, UM, yeah, I think that may be back in my life again. [Today I had a rough time getting it down being all stressed out, but I doubt that is a lasting situation. I am going to need it to get me through this week!!!] I did give it up completely for 5 weeks! Thing is, it did not do anything special for my weight loss, so I feel like as long as I get some caffeine and keep the calories down, It's a good thing - eh?!!

Okay, really now, I could talk all night, but I must get back to the grind!

Weigh In #7

It's Weigh-in Wednesday. The Shrinking Days of Summer is coming to a close soon. Today's weigh in went pretty well, down a little.


.2 to be exact. which isn't a lot when looking at numbers, but when we talk about how I am feeling and how the clothes are fitting, it is a good thing.


Now if I can keep that going. Today is going to be rather tough eating wise. I didn't have all my fresh veggies in the fridge cut up and ready to go. I haven't been grocery shopping to restock, and I really need to do it soon. I had high hopes of replenishing my stash of hummus for today's snack and making some yummy sweet potato fries. None of that happened.


Don't get me wrong. I wasn't a slacker. In my usually hectic and insane life, I ran multiple errands and as we were heading to the grocery store, it was that moment my son said "I have to go potty." Of course you do.


Rushing to make sure we didn't have any "accidents" caused me to forget to grab my list, and my coupons and then it all went to pot. I grabbed the absolute necessities to get through the night and that was that. We cruised home and it was dinner time. Thankfully my husband got home early enough to put my son to bed, and that allowed me to do my wii More Workouts. I even added in a few crunches and some chest presses and flyes.


Wrapping up my workout did not mean it was rest time for me. I am working on a surprise party and that is what consumed the rest of my evening's "free" time. When I finally looked at the clock and realized how late it was, and that my lunch was not packed, AND that there wasn't a whole lot to pack, I left it for today to worry about.


BIG MISTAKE


Today's lunchbox is not that exciting. It consists of slices of bread to make PB&J (NO it is not the natural kind, but it is the kind without High fructose corn syrup and won't cost me a fortune to purchase for my toddler who would eat it from sunrise to sunset - maybe when my husband gets a job we'll get the more expensive stuff). It does contain one apple and a container of peach sauce so my fruit is covered. Other than that, it's pretty sparse. I have been bringing two lunch containers packed full of bright colored veggies to eat. This seems so lame. Maybe I will find a few minutes today and run to the store. Without a toddler and with coupons in hand.

If I could just find a few more minutes to complete a few more tasks in this crazy life of mine, I could find a few minutes to relax too!

It's Weigh-In Wednesday

And I don't care!!!!

I weighed in today and the scale said 137.something. And it was great. Not because the numbers were magically so much lower than they have been in a while (cause they aren't) but because I made it.

I made it through an entire month of no chocolate, no coffee and no diet coke. All in the order of how I crave them. It's been okay missing the diet cokes. Those I am not excited about. The coffee was tough. The chocolate was insane. Especially when you have people that know about your specific plns!

This past weekend was our high school block party. It was a blast. I was surrounded by people I had been friends with in a past life - one which I vaguely remember - and one where I was a skinny girl. I do have one memory being a teen where I sat on the lap of someone (nothing weird) and they told me I had a boney butt. Um, that ain't happening anymore. My son told me (love the honesty of kids-NOT) tonight as he was hitting me for some unknown reason, that my behind was jiggly. Yes, jiggly. Thanks kid! Thanks for reminding me that I am no longer the 115 lb kid from 20+ years ago!!!

I am however on my way back to a physique that makes me happy. For the first time in quite a while I can see it, and I definitely can feel the improvements. Most of the time. Tonight working out was a bit hard. there is a kink that just won't go away in my neck and lower back. But I trudged on. And I am glad I did it. I don't weigh any less than last week (well, i don't think I do) but I feel a lot better.

Here's a photo of me (on the left) and one of my close girlfriend's from H.S. We have been re-acquainted for a while now. Before facebook if you can believe that?! Thanks to our friend for capturing a very happy moment in time!

Now I must stop making yummy mint brownies from the Cooking Light magazine and get back on track with my healthy eating and working out.

Wednesday Weigh-in #4

It's time for the Shrinking Days of Summer Challenge weigh-in. This is week 4. I've not blogged about this prior to today, but am going to attempt to return to my blog with updates more consistently. I logged in to post today and see that there have been two posts I began and never finished. One being week #3's weigh in.

Okay enough of that. Here's the are the numbers. ding ding ding... 138.6.

<< BUMMER >> My weight is up slightly again. I am fluctuating up and down like a roller coaster. Where the heck is that descending hill to the end goal?

Since I haven't posted any numbers previously here (and am still a little freaked out to post them) I'll face the music.
Week #1 - 138
Week #2 - 141
Week #3 - 137
Week #4 - 138.6

It's interesting. The big jump up was a cycle week as well as a race week. I felt puffy all over. I feel better, but it would be so nice to be back down about 10 pounds. Photos just don't look good. My eyes are dark and I just don't look like me.

I know my body has taken a beating over the past couple of years. (for those of you reading this and who don't know my story -in short I gained 80# with my pregnancy and after the birth of my 10lb 4oz son was finally diagnosed with Hypothyroidism almost 2 years later.) Now that my hypothyroidism is finally under control, my body has been a priority for me, though responsibilities have consistently gotten in the way. I manage a couple of weeks being gung-ho for working out, and getting IT ALL done, and then crash pretty hard. It takes me a couple of weeks to recover and then I have to start all over again. I am not sure what the right answer is, but if anyone knows it - definitely let me know!!! I wish hiring a nanny and a housekeeper/cook or personal assistant were options for me because I would jump at those solutions in a moment.

Since a personal trainer and all that other stuff isn't in the budget, I am once again attempting to Get My Shhhtufff Together. I have been working pretty hard at watching what I eat. But it's not enough, it's definitely important to get the workouts in. In effort to get back into the swing, today I got up and worked out before work. It wasn't easy to get up at the crack of dawn, but I managed. It felt pretty good. These creaky bones do not like the am workouts. I didn't have as long as I would have liked, but 27 minutes of cardio is better than none! Tonight I took my son to the pool, so got a few walking laps around with him. AND that kind of cardio is way more fun for me. Looking forward to some more workouts like that.

Okay, time to end this if I am going to make it up again tomorrow morning!