An Update

Well, I forgot to weigh in this morning.  I have been doing so-so lately on eating, although it's been getting a little better.  I have started Jillian Michaels' Ripped in 30, and I'm liking it a lot so far.  I did the first 2 workouts in 30-day Shred so many times I was sick of them, but it's a great video, and I think Ripped in 30 is even better.  I think 30-day-Shred was really effective for my weight loss, so I'm hoping that Ripped in 30 will be also good for my weight maintenance/loss. 

I never did 30-day-Shred more than 2-3 times a week.  My goal for Ripped in 30 is to work up to doing each level 5 days in a row (with 2 rest days), to see what kind of results I get.  Last week was my first week, and, due to extreme soreness, I was only able to do it 3 times.  This week, I'm hopeful I'll be able to do it 4-5 times. 

Jillian workouts are great for my shoulders.  When I do my strength training exercises sans video, I do a lot more shoulder work now because of her videos.  They also work my legs, something I tend to ignore when I'm doing workouts on my own.  My legs are muscular enough just from walking that I tend to neglect those little muscles that don't get worked in my daily life.  Her videos also provide much needed ab work and reminders about form that I tend to forget about when doing ab work on my own. 

I also like her videos because her models are so very ripped.  It tends to make me think in a more positive way about making my body stronger and my muscles more defined, rather than trying to get tiny looking.  

I'm hoping that with the help of Jillian I'll emerge from the cold weather months more toned than before! 

I am so tired, but in a good way

My kids are at camp (mornings only) this week, so, even though I have a billion things I need to do, I decided to use the time to exercise.  Mostly walking, with a little couch-to-5K sprinkled in.  Because my schedule is constantly changing, I've decided I have to plan out my exercise in advance for each week.  So, this week is walking and walking and walking and a little running.

Next week, I hope to be able to do some classes at the Y.

Eating has been pretty good.  I have decided to eat veggie wraps for lunch, until I get tired of them.  The veggies come from my garden or the farmer's market, so they are full of flavor.  I sautee onions and squash in butter, mix them with fresh cucumber and tomato, goat cheese, and I put everything on a couple of Trader Joe's low carb tortillas.  Yummy.

I did go out with friends last night, going out for pizza with friends on Thursday night, and out to lunch at Panera on Saturday.  So, that is not all that good.  Also, my husband made brownies last night.

I would love, love, love to be in the 134's on the scale on Sunday.  We'll see.  I'm going to do my strength training before we head for the pool.

Sunday Weigh-In

Today, with my period starting, I weighed 135.8.  That's okay.  It's not great, but I'm not upset about it.  I don't appear to be either gaining or losing weight right now.  Just fairly stable.  Stable is okay.  Gaining is bad. 

This is really a new experience for me, starting at a relatively low weight and working down to a lower one.  The two times in my life I've lost weight I was a lot fatter to begin with. 

I broke my vow, which was to keep my clothes budget tied to my weight and not to buy clothes until I've reached my geal.  I bought clothes, some pretty summer clothes at summer sales online that I hope to enjoy wearing.  I bought dresses and skirts.  I hope they'll help me to feel good about myself.  I want to enjoy the body I have, even if it is 10 pounsd more than the one I want. 

I've also found that the BEST way to lose weight is to buy some clothes you really love.  It never fails.  At that point, I will lose weight and then my beautiful clothes will look baggy.  Oh, well. 

The good news is that my kids' end-of-year programs are over, and things should settle down a little, and I should be able to get into a better routine.  I'm hoping to take some classes at the Y.  I just need to put them on my calendar and GO.  I'm interested in Zumba, line dancing, yoga, pilates, and spinning (although the spinning classes tend to fill up).  

I did have a fun 30 minutes of roller blading one day, while my son biked. I would have loved to have kept going, but he was done.  After I took a fall, I realized that I need knee pads before I try it again!  My scrapes have healed fine, but I'm over 30, and hurting my knee is a lot bigger of a deal than it was when I was, say, 12. 

The Couch to 5K is not going well at all. Ugh.  I could do it if I weren't so overloaded, but I think for now, I need something a little more exciting and different from what I'm used to. 

Once again, I would love to see the OTHER side of 135 next week. 

Gardening and Health

I am an obsessed vegetable gardener.  It's a good hobby for me because a lot of my other hobbies don't involve much movement.  Playing video games, crocheting, knitting, scrapbooking are all very sedentary hobbies.  At least reading and learning Spanish can be done at the same time as exercise.  I can read while I ride my stationary bike, and I can listen to Spanish podcasts or music or read audio books while walking. 

Gardening, however, is a pretty good physical activity on its own.  There is a lot of walking around the yard and carrying things.  I frequently have to lift compost.  And then there is a lot of bending and squatting.  It's not the most intense activity I can think of to do, but it sure burns a lot more calories than sitting on my butt and blogging. 

It also makes me eat a lot more vegetables because the vegetables from my garden taste fresh and alive.  I'm making an effort to buy more local produce for things I don't grow or don't have at the moment, but it just doesn't compare to a vegetable that is fresh picked and carried by hand into the kitchen, as opposed to picked a few days ago and sent on a truck a few miles.  Or a few hundred miles.  Or a few thousand miles. 

My favorite things to grow in the garden are tomatoes.  Homegrown tomatoes are to die for.  And peppers.  And cucumbers.  And lettuce, spinach, and arugula.  After growing my own salad greens, I can hardly stand the stuff in the grocery store or in restaurants.  And the radishes--oh, the radishes.   And then there are green beans, eggplants, and garlic.  And peas.  And tomatillos for making my own salsa!  And herbs--parsely, basil, sage, rosemary, thyme, cilantro. 

I'm not a gardening evangelist.  I don't think gardening is for everyone.  Not everyone likes it, and that's perfectly okay.  But I think delicious, fresh vegetables are something that can really help a person to lose weight, whether they are from the backyard or from the farmer's market.