The scale

If I were a superhero then the scale would be my arch-nemesis. We decided that since the scale started acting up we would move it from the uneven part of floor to a stable part. After doing this it became real friendly. Today during my unofficial weigh in I showed a 2 1/2 pound loss. I really hope that it's for real and that it's from all my hard work not just uneven flooring. We will find out come Tuesday.

Girls Night Out

I have decided that I need a girls night. The guys in our lives go, go, go and we sit home. The only time I leave the house really is to either take a child shopping, attend a PTO event or some other child school related activity. Don't get me wrong I love being part of the PTO and feeling that I have a say in what happens. But, mommy needs time away also. So I sent out a text to all my close friends saying let's do it. Don't ask permission, just plan. That is what we are going to do. We need this. Now we just need a fun name for our girls night. I think once a month will work and we will plan, try, and do different fun things each time. Drink a little wine, eat a few chocolates, and gossip until we run out of things to talk about. I can't wait. I think the first one will be on March 3rd at my house. I have a ton planned that day but I think really it's the best day for most so I will make it work. I can't wait!

Long Night

Is it bad that I am not getting my workout in tonight? I am so tired, my kids are wired and not going to bed, and I think I am getting sick. So do any of these excuses work? I normally don't miss my workout but maybe missing this one will shake up my weight loss.


One reason I love the internet, it allows you to find articles supporting anything you need it to. I found one that says that you should take a day to rest. Give yourself at least one full day off from any kind of official exercise routines. A day off from working out is a great way to not only allow some well-deserved rest for your body, but also to help you relax mentally and emotionally. Even though working out is mostly a physical activity, your mind and emotions are involved too, and pushing yourself too hard can actually have some adverse effects in the form of feeling stressed, frustrated, overwhelmed or burned out. It went on to say that on your day off, you can still engage in physical activities, but try to keep them unofficial – activities like window shopping, playing with the kids in the backyard or taking a relaxing stroll on the beach are great ways to relax, recharge and restore your physical and mental energy.


I really need some motivation, r&r, and a little push.

Love this sign. I need it.. okay maybe that's part of my problem.

Weigh In

This sucks... as you can guess I didn't reach goal today. I knew going into the week that it was going to be a bad weigh in. At one point this weekend I was up almost a pound. When I stepped on the scale this morning I thought for sure I would still be up a pound, but was hoping for a scale miracle. What do you think happened? I flat lined and stayed even at 175.0.

I am trying to stay positive. Just really hard when a weigh in goes this way.

Feeling sorry for myself..

Spent the day running around the house cleaning anything and everything I could find to clean. I can still smell the pinesol and mop n' glow. As soon as I finished, Jasmine managed to spill fruit juice on the floor so guess what sticky again. So happy!!



Our wonderful friends from out of town stopped over to say hi. They are such wonderful people, but I can't help to get jealous of her and how great she looks. She has two kids; a 4 year old and a 7 month old yet she looks amazing. I had a chance to talk to her and found out that she is juicing for breakfast and snack. Eating Lean Cruisine for lunch and dinner. She is also working out twice a day. She is in the army and has a weigh in coming up and has been struggling to drop her last little bit of weight before then. I undertstand our lifestyles are different as well as our environements, but still doesn't seem fair. Why is it that she has time to workout? Why is it that her body is happy with this type of diet and responding to it? I find myself cheating still and I know that is part of my problem. I guess you can say I am still allowing myself to use stupid excuses and feel sorry for myself. Still just doesn't seem fair. I workout EVERY night at least 45 mins. some nights closer to 55 minutes. Do I need to increase my workout? I am not tracking my meals like I should, so maybe that's what's wrong. I just don't know what to do. You would think after 7 weeks on this "diet" I would feel better about it and myself but after tonight I am not so sure. I feel the same or worse then ever before. I am worried about Tuesday's weigh in. The scale hasn't been nice this week and I just know it will show a gain this week. I have 5 weeks until our trip and still 5 1/2 pounds from goal weight. I am ready to lose those pounds plus set my next goal weight. I guess you could say that I am pretty depressed tonight and should go to bed. I am going to take my pills, wash my face, and hope for some positive motivation to find me in the am.  

Saturday

Saturday should be used for relaxing, cuddling, movie watching, and sleeping in. Not my Saturday, no no. It is used for house cleaning, grocery shopping, and power walking. Feeling pretty good. I got a good 5 mile cardio walk in. I felt like I needed a good workout to work off the 6 cups of popcorn I ate. That's right 500 calories of popcorn. I feel like I need to walk another 5 miles though.

Today's menu is as follows:
- Sausage, egg burrito for breakfast
- Venison Burger for lunch (not too good)
- Popcorn as snack
- Lean Cuisine for dinner

Tomorrows plan is to sleep in.. Ha Ha - mother of three that isn't going to happen.

Butt Belly

That's right I said it; I have a butt belly. I have lost some belly fat and have been left with this freaky looking belly. I look like I have two butt cheeks with the folded wrinkly looking crack in the middle. It is so nasty, I need to do something with it. 


I started looking at some exercises to tighten up that skin if at all possible. Below are some examples I found that claim to tighten up mid-section in no time! The goal is to try to do at least 15 – 20 repetitions of each exercise listed below.

• Leg up straight arm crunch -- This exercise will help tone your upper abs and can be performed using a dumbbell to make it more challenging. Lie flat on your back with your legs up at a 90 degree angle from the floor. With your arms straight (hold a dumbbell if you desire), curl your shoulders and upper back off the floor using your abs while pulling your arms up towards the ceiling. Hold for a second; then slowly lower your shoulders and back down toward the floor. Keep your arms straight and legs up during the entire exercise.

• Air Bike -- The air bike is performed lying on your back as well. Place your hands behind your head with your elbows bent and your knees pulled slightly toward you. Using your abs, curl your shoulders up off the floor and pull your right elbow to your left knee until they are touching (or almost touching). Then alternate by pulling your left elbow to you right knee. Continue alternating right to left until you’ve reached the desired number of repetitions.

• Side Bridge -- The side bridge will strengthen and tone your obliques. The exercise is performed lying on your side. Resting your weight on your elbow and forearm, raise your mid-section until your torso and legs form a straight line (sloped upward). Simply holding this position will help tone your abs; hold the position as long as you can.

• Lying Leg Raises -- Lying leg raises will help you tone and tighten skin around your lower abdominal muscles. Lie flat on your back with your legs straight and up in the air (90 degrees from the floor). Keeping your legs as straight as possible, slowly lower them out in front of you until they are almost touching the floor; then lift them back up to your starting position and repeat.

• Pelvic Thrusts -- Pelvic thrusts will also help tone up your lower abs. As with leg raises, lie on your back with your legs up in the air (90 degrees from the floor). While keeping your legs up, slowly lift your pelvis off the floor and upward using your lower abdominal muscles; then lower yourself back down to the floor and repeat.

Weigh In

So True, So True! 

It is weigh in day. Good bad or other wise; I had to do it. I woke up this morning feeling pretty bad about my diet yesterday and lack of workout. The scale during the week had me getting pretty excited.. Last week I was 2 pounds from reaching my first 10 pounds since changing my lifestyle and 38 pounds from all time high weight. I saw this personal goal this week a couple times and have been hoping and praying that this morning I would see it again and get to report that I did it.. Sadly I do not get to do that. I stepped on the scale this morning and what did I see 175.6. I tried everything to drop another 1/2 pound. I went to the bathroom. I washed my face. I laid on the floor and did some crunches. After all was said and done the best I could do was 175.0. So that is what I am recording for this week. That is 1.6 pounds lost this week, and I am excited about that. Stay tuned next week to hear my announcement; because it WILL happen. 

All the other guys...

I have purchased them all.. 6 week body makeover, Weight Watchers, South Beach, YOU Diet, Grapefruit Diet, Herbalife and the list goes on and on.  I have bought weights, bikes, belts, dvd's, wii games, steps, gym clothes, and athletic shoes. Why is it that none of this worked before? The fact is they did. I lost a pound here, a pound there. What happened during the holidays, or when on vacation? I gained weight and lost my motivation and in turn gained my weight back. Once you stop following the diet, stop taking the pills, stop drinking the shakes you gain weight.

This time I plan on doing it my way the best way with healthy food and hard work. Weight loss isn't just about diet and exercise but also being mentally ready to lose weight. You can drink the miracle shake but if your not ready to lose weight, you will gain it back. I know now, that I am ready to lose weight and keep it off.

Tomorrow is an important day; it is weigh in day. I am really hoping to reach my first goal of 10 pounds gone. If not this week it WILL be next. My first goal weigh is 174.4 As I said before this is also 38 pounds down from all time high. This is a Nikki. I have almost lost a Nikki. Okay I know she is a small person but added to my thighs, back, tummy, hips, and heart that is a lot of weight gone. On my way to losing a Jasmine, and will end with a Kayla. I love you girls but tired of seeing you on my thighs, hips, and butt.

It is hard to mentally get ready to lose weight. Here are a couple weight loss tips I have found:

• Tip #1 - Set Goals -- Setting goals is an important step for the achievement of success in any area of your life. If you want to lose weight sit down and write out out your fitness goals. Do you want to lose 5 pounds? Do you want to exercise more regularly? Do you want to eat a healthier diet? Having written goals makes it 10 times more likely that you will achieve your goal.
• Tip #2 - Prioritize Your Time -- Okay so you don't have time? I am here to say you do. Do I really need to list everything I do and yet I still find time. Consider writing in exercise as an appointment in your calendar. In addition, plan out your shopping list and meals in advance. Come up with ways to better use your time and commit the necessary time to improving your health.
• Tip #3 - Don't Go For the Quick Fix -- Patience is a virtue, but it is almost always lacking when it comes to weight loss programs. There are 2 main problems with seeking the quick fix. First, the tendency to want something for nothing leaves people disappointed and de-motivated. There is no way around putting in the work. Something for nothing does not exist! The second problem with seeking the quick fix is that it often addressed the symptoms and not the cause of the problem. Go slow and steady because consistency is really important.
• Tip #4 - Think About Changing Your Lifestyle --Healthy Eating and Exercising Regularly are like taking a bath. You only experience the benefits if you continually do it on a regular basis. So many people say that diets don't work because when people go off the diet they gain weight back. But, the word diet actually means "way of life" not restriction. Everyone is always on a diet, it's just that every one's way of life is different.
• Tip #5 - Commit to Your Routine -- Once you have goals, you must commit to your eating and exercise routine. Your level of commitment will determine your results. If you just kinda commit, then you'll likely have low results. However, if you fully commit to your routine and put your all into it, your results will likely be much better.
• Tip #6 - Keep a Workout and Food Journal -- Keeping track of your progress and activities is a great way to keep you moving in the direction of your goals. We all think we exercise more than we actually do, and we all think we eat less than we actually eat. A workout journal and food journal will help to give you a less biased opinion about your activities. The better you can determine how your plan is going the easier it is to modify it to reach your goals. This is hard for me but I use fatsecret.com to track everything. Great site!
• Tip #7 - Forget About Moderation Strive for Excellence -- Everything in moderation except moderation. I understand the statement "Everything in Moderation", but the problem is that everyone has a different definition of moderation. For some people drinking alcohol in moderation is 1 drink a week, and for others it's 4 or 5 drinks 3-4 times a week.
  
  If you want to be successful in anything you have to strive for excellence in that endeavor, and do your best all the time. If a habit is bad for your health, then you should likely always avoid it. Here's an analogy. Would you ever tell a child, "lying and stealing is okay but only moderation"-- of course not. So why do we talk ourselves into doing things that we know are not right by using well it's okay if I do bad stuff only in moderation.
  
  Now, I know that no one is perfect, I am not, but striving for excellence is all about truly doing your best to make the best decisions all the time. You and your body deserve the best.
  
  How you think determines what you do. And what you do determines how you feel. So set goals, prioritize your time, commit to long-term success, and strive for excellence. We are going to do this. If we want it we will get it.
  

Dirty Little Trick

My morning started out pretty interesting. I stepped on the scale; as I always do and it said that I had lost 10 pounds since yesterday. Now everyone knows that's not possible so I stepped on it again, and same reading. Now I am starting to think that maybe it's right, but it can't be so I step on it again this time I move it just a little bit thinking that maybe it's unbalanced. You guessed it, same thing. Okay now this can't be. I decided to move it to the other side of the room and this time I was only down a half pound. Now this makes more sense. I have to tell you though - I loved the way the scale looked. I can't wait to see that number for real. Saddly after today, it wont be anytime soon.

We decided to take the girls to the show. We took them to see Journey 2 in 3D. It was pretty good. Not sure it was $70 good but good. I ate tub butter popcorn and a drank a diet coke. I also ate a handful of candy m&m's. I am hoping that my smart diet the day before and the rest of today made up for it.

After the show and my junk food snacking I was feeling pretty guilty and discussing so I popped my dvd in and did 4 miles. Felt pretty good but still feeling like I didn't do enough. I am going to try to get up early (I know this is what I said yesterday) to get an extra workout in. Until tomorrow; have a great night.

New Hair Style

Mom is last no more. I did something I never do; I went and got my hair done. It was expensive and I felt and continue to feel quilty. Okay this isn't the best shot of me or my hair cut. As you can see though curls bounced back and bright new highlights. Prettier in person. I also took an updated fitness picture that actually looks worse than the one I took 5 weeks ago. I think it's the tighter clothes but because I am being honest to myself I am going to blog my updated photo. I have nothing to be embarrest about, just something to want to fight to change.

 

176 pounds (ok I know can see through my shirt :) )