breaking through the barrier

First, I forgot to tell you that yesterday I did my daily things of 250 crunches, 60 wall push ups, 15 bent knee push ups.

I moved closer to my goal, as you could see by my weigh in post. However, I had other things on my mind when I went to bed last night besides the weigh in. I knew that today, Monday, would be week 5, day 3 of my C25K challenge, and it was 5 min warm up, 20 min run, and 5 min cool down..my thoughts, "20 minute run, are you kidding me??!!!" I was thinking about it quite a bit today. I knew that I could wait a day, but also knew that week 5 I planned on finishing yesterday and didn't. So, I went to the gym, and my good treadmill was free. I did my stretching and then got on. During the warm up I was psyching myself out a bit, thinking, okay, it's 20 minutes, big deal, you can do it....but was still trying to convince myself, ya know? The warm up was counting down, then the timer rang and I started running at 4.5. I decided that it would be silly to look at the countdown timer, as usual, I just looked out into the sea of machines and people working out. I looked down at various times throughout the run. At 4 minutes, I said to myself, "you ran 8 minutes straight last night, you're half way there." I wasn't feeling out of breath or fatigued, though my knee was a little sore. Then, I hit right around 16 minutes(11 minutes into the run), and I was still feeling good, just reminded myself, "you are half way there, and you are doing totally fine." I got to where I had about 3 minutes left to run, and just told myself, "3 minutes man, you have been able to run that for awhile, you can do this, you are so close!" Then I couldn't stop looking. I didn't really feel that bad or anything, I think it was getting to a point that I was just so excited that I was going to be able to finish the run! I finished the run, and went into cool down. I did 2 sprints at 7.5 for 30 seconds during the cool down. During the run I reflected a bit on when I first started this challenge, when I has to psych myself up for 60 seconds of running. It made me smile throughout most of my run. I broke the barrier/limiting belief that I had in my brain, and I feel so good!

My next run will be on Wednesday, and it actually goes back to breaking up the running and walking, but just for the next 2 days. After that, it will only be running. So, Shay suggested moving up the speed just .1 just every other week would challenge my body and help me, so that is what I plan to do on Wednesday, I will move up to 4.6 run, and I will increase by .1 each week that I have left of the challenge.

Pictures--well, I have been taking them, but have had some difficulty uploading to twitter and will find the thing to add to the blog to post some on here.

When I did the weigh in this morning, I also did all of my measurements. Here are the stats for that:

neck: -.5
chest: -.2
upper arms: -1.3
forearm: -.4
waist: -2.0
hips: -5.0
calf: this stayed the same, but it seems more solid to me..go figure.

Today's stats:
7.5 hours of sleep, woke up on my own

calories burned:3214
calories consumed:1272
calorie deficit:1942

SO, my goal for 1900 calorie deficit was hit, I broke the run for 20 minute barrier, OH, and I tried chocolate soy milk. Didn't love the after taste, but moved away from cow's milk, and I feel better about that. So, tried something new the first day of the week!

Okay, sorry that this was so long, just a bunch to report today!

Oh, even if you don't want to write a comment below, you can just check one of the boxes below to tell me what you thought. You can also post this blog to your facebook, my space, twitter, whatever by clicking on one of those below too.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!-----------what about you? how did you get healthier today??

~Cindy Lou

Weigh in #10

Quick post to let you know that I weighed in this morning. I moved 3.8 closer to my goal for a total of 33.6 pounds in 10 weeks. Missed my set goal by 1.6 pounds, but that is okay. I have hit the 30 pound mark, so I have earned a movie. Not sure if I will see it this week or next, I'll let you know.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

stressed sunday

Why was I stressed? Well, I got up with no work planned for the day, which sounds like a great thing, right? For me, I like to have something planned in the morning so that I don't just sit around and do very little. Again, I know this sounds strange, but it's the way my brain works.

I am feeling stress for a few reasons, but mainly 1, money. Many people are going through tough times financially, and though I have this focus, I am trying to get jobs to keep me going. I have some things booked, which is totally fabulous, but each day I work more towards getting more work. I have money that I owe to my mom and I have booked the wellness cruise and don't want to back out of that due to money. I will figure out a way to make sure those two financial obligations are taken care of before the cruise, but it is something that is on my mind constantly. I am happy that I am not eating my way through that stress, but unfortunately, I got in a "thinking and reflective" mood today. I did accomplish things around my apartment that needed to be done, but that wasn't until about 10pm. During the day, I ate my meals when I was supposed to, and ate great, healthy meals, though nothing very creative, so strange since I was home and had the ability to cook. I pulled out a couple of movies. Million Dollar Baby was the first one. It is so inspiring to see her working towards her dream and goal, and the fact that Hillary Swank had to prepare so intensly for that role is inspiring too. Near the end of that movie, I got a "tweet" on twitter from Shay who had been on the Biggest Loser. She recently asked if we had any questions to go ahead and ask. I did, and it was great to get some feedback about my running. There were a couple of other exchanges, which was so nice, but the last one, she congratulated me on what I have accomplished so far. Since I don't have a support system in my home, and I really don't have people that comment on here or contact me much regarding this, it can get a little challenging to want to get up and go to the gym on a day when you are having challenges. Her words of encouragement got me off of the couch and into the gym, it was the little push that I needed!! Thanks Shay for continuing to be an inspiration and encourager even after the Biggest Loser show, you don't know how much your words helped me today!

So, what did I do at the gym? Week 5, day 2 of C25K when I first got there, it was GREAT!!! I had to do the 5min warm up, then 8 min run, 5 min walk, 8 min run, then cool down. I have been a little freaked out about doing 8 min straight of running, and it was totally not a big deal at all!! I was mentally prepared, and my breathing was good, and my knee was a little shaky at one point, but it worked out totally fine. I even did 30 second sprints at 7.5 during the cool down!! Then an hour of weights, and then I actually went back to the treadmill and did some more walking and only a little running and then 2 more sprints like the others!! with all of the treadmill work, I walked or ran for a total of 3.1 miles. That is basically a 5K. Now to just accomplish it all together! My next C25K day is a 20 minute run!!
we'll see how far that gets me!

When I got home, did a ton of stuff around the apartment, and burned some more calories. It's amazing how many calories you burn just cleaning and folding laundry!

okay, my stas for the day:
8 hours of sleep

Calories burned: 2869
calories consumed:1481
calorie deficit:1388

so, again, didn't hit my calorie deficit, but I accomplished something I was dreading and worried about. I ran for 8 min straight, 2 times in 21 minutes!!!


Off to bed with new plans and goals for a better week. Tomorrow is weigh in #10, and I need a good night of sleep! Plans for some job prospecting before work!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Spectacular Saturday

I got up earlier than planned, but still I got in 7 hours of sleep. Until about 3pm, I was with the girls still. We didn't really do much early in the day, but we did make some nutritious and delicious gluten free oatmeal with fresh bananas, strawberries and pecans. It is a favorite of one of the girls, friday we made the other favorite for lunch, cabbage salad. We did some activity around outside, I did a ton of walking with the girls, but I did quite a bit more on Friday, for many more hours.

I dropped the girls off, and left later than originally planned so that I could spend a little more time with the girls. Yesterday I didn't go to the gym, and I totally spaced and didn't do my crunches or push ups. By the time I remembered, it was midnight. If you remember, Thursday was another bad day and wasn't able to go to the gym, and was very inactive! Well, I was dying to go to the gym! I had plans to meet friends for dinner at 6pm, and it was 3 when I left the girls. I got home and changed, went to the gym and did week 5, day 1 of my C25K!! I was able to do sprints too. Today was 5 min run, 3 min walk, repeat 2 times. I couldn't believe how much easier it was than I anticipated it being, it felt so good!! I made it home and was able to shower and get cleaned up and meet my friends on time! What this taught me is that if I have 2 hours, I can get in 30 minutes of activity and still have time to get cleaned up, including straightening my hair, in less than 2 hours!!

I had a nice dinner, played some board games with my long time friends, it was a great night!! Very healthy eating, just some steamed veggies and rice. They were very thoughtful and noticed that I looked different. I still have difficulty noticing, but with my pants fitting a little less snug, I know that my body is changing.

I got home about 10:30. I changed clothes and did crunches, wall and bent knee push ups from Friday, then did 50 minutes on the Wii, then did today's crunches, wall and bent knee push ups, and finished with the "meditation" on the Wii. It felt so great to be able to stay focused on what my goal is!

here are my stats for the day:
calories burned: 3784
calories consumed:1471
calorie deficit:2313

Though today was great with my calorie balance, I really have not hit my deficit goal lately. Tomorrow I get to sleep in. Plan to go for Week 5, day 2 of C25K and possibly play racquetball also. a few things around the house and some more at the gym. I will get a ton done, and plan to map out the week and make sure my weekly goals are in line with my monthly and long term goals, so that I can get where I want to go in a more efficient time.

Off to sleep now, and will be turning off the phone, that rarely happens!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Fabulous Friday!

One of my most favorite days in such a very long time!!! I got to go and take care of the 2 girls that I used to nanny for 4.5 years. I miss them so much, it was great to be able to spend the entire day with them, spend the night and I will have them until abouty 2 on Saturday. I couldn't access my bodybugg account to enter food or sync my armband, so, I just decided that I would blog it all today, Saturday night.

I was very active with the girls all day, but no oppportunity to go to the gym at all. So, when you see my sats, remember that I was able to burn that many calories just being with the kids and doing household things like dishes, laundry, etc. So, for all of you stay at home moms, you're probably burning the calories that you need to if you are keeping up with the kids.

The biggest problem with today was that I took the girls out to dinner at Fresh Choice. It really is normally fine, but I decided to have some frozen yogurt, which I usually don't do. Then later that night, the girls and I had popcorn and watched a movie, so my calories consumed went up.

My stats for the day: only 3 hours of sleep on Thursday night.

Calories burned:3484
calories consumed:2158
Calorie deficit: 1326

I did splurge a bit with the girls, and I thought about it, and did think the calories would end up okay, but clearly, I wasn't correct. Need to work on that skill a little bit. However, it is okay to have a little extra, I did still have a deficit, and was aware that it might go higher because of the additional foods, but I was okay with that for thi s day.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Thursday

What a crazy day. I got 8 hours of sleep, and felt great when I got up! I got many things done around the apartment, and did some job things that needed to get done. Worked only a couple of hours and then had to hop in the car and drive for about 3 hours(no activity), then went to a TEAM meeting, (some walking, but mainly sitting so no activity), then 2 hour drive home. As you can see, very little activity!! After the meeting, many of us went out to Denny's restaurant. NO, I didn't eat anything, I just stood up and walked around and talked with people. I looked at all of the food that people were eating. Nothing wrong with it for them at all, it just made me reflect on foods that I used to eat when I would go out to eat there. I looked and realized that I am happy that I have the habit of eating every 4 hours and I know how many calories I need to consume at each meal. Eventually, if I want to splurge, it's fine, I will just need to work out accordingly. I feel better eating the way that I do, knowing that the only time I eat is every 4 hours, there's no "room" for that stress or emotional eating, it makes it easier to stay on track. I still have to make the right decisions at meal time, but the routine helps make things easier. Does any of this make sense, or am I just rambling? Both, I know, sorry! :)

There were quite a few people tonight who commented on me moving closer to my goal, and the way I was looking. It felt good, but at the same time, it is hard for me to take the compliment, knowing that I have much more to go. I am excited to move closer to my goal, and more determined to do it quickly!

I was very fidgety at the meeting and the restaurant. It was crazy, my body knew I normally work out at that time. I need to get off to bed. I will do my crunches and push ups tomorrow. I will not have any gym time tomorrow because I will be at an overnight "job". However, I am hoping to be able to use the Wii fit and to run around a ton with the girls!

Oh, stats for the day. as you know, I got 8 hours of sleep...
calories burned:2699
calories consumed:1334
calorie deficit:1365

One thing that I was reminded of today is that eating beans is a good way to feel full, but not a ton of calories!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Wednesday

I am a bit delayed on this entry, this is becoming a bad habit!

The day started with 45 minutes of racquetball with my amazing friend, Jon. We both wanted to play and then wanted to work out a little afterwards. The plan was for me to do the C25K, week 5, day 1. Well, there were NO treadmills available. Since we did cardio with the racquetball, so we did some upper body work out on the machines. Well, we tried some new machines, so that was cool! Then, we were getting ready to head up to do crunches on the machines on the 2nd floor. Jon decided to do the piece of equipment where you support your weight by leaning against the back pad, and bending your arms and putting your weight on them, then you lift your knees up to your chest, it works on your abs. Then he said, "okay, your turn." I responded with, "no way, I can't do that one, it will kill me." He said, "do it!" in a nice but forceful friend tone :) So, as afraid as I was, I did 5!!! Then, after a little rest, I did 3 more. It felt so good, that is the first time I have ever done that piece of equipment. Well, I guess I'll have to add it to my routine. Then, up to do crunches on the equipment there. I did my 250, so got that out of the way, then when I got home, I did my 60 wall push ups and 15 bent knee pushups. That about did it for the activity for the day, unfortunately. I did play a game of hockey at my job, but that's about it.

I don't know why I lost momentum in the evening. I ended up online helping a friend with a problem and looking at job listings. I also was able to get in bed early enough so that I would get enough sleep.

my stats:
calories burned:3144
calories consumed:1884
calorie deficit:1260

So, didn't hit my calorie deficit. I did burn quite a few calories, but the sushi that I ate for dinner did me in. Now I am aware of the calories that are in it, and I can adjust it accordingly.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

tuesday

slept in..whoo hoo! I called and got more info about Jilian's cruise and did an initial booking. time will tell what I do to get the money I need for the cruise.

Not a very active morning or early afernoon. here's a quick run down for the day so that I can be off to bed...
tired...1 game of hockey in 100 degree heat, work, a meeting, and even though I was tired, I knew I needed to do week 4, day 3 of the C25K, since I slept through it last night. Well, went to the gym, did the 16 minutes of running, and 8 min of walking(plus 5 min warm up and 5 min cool down)...oh yeah..500 crunches, 120 wall push ups and 32 bent knee push ups---i really don't like missing a day..my abs will be sore tomorrow I think. RAcquetball in the morning with Jon!

today's stats are pretty sad considering I did all of that, but I didn't have much activity...here they are:

calories burned: 3196
calories consumed:1497
calorie deficit:1699

Here's what I learned today: I left my meeting at 10:15, got home and was changed and at the gym by 11pm. I stretched and was able to run on the good treadmill! I had no desire to do anything after my meeting. I was tired, ya know? But, I knew that I had to move closer to my goal, especially because yesterday, though I had a deficit, it was not a huge calorie deficit day. I remembered what I have been taught, and think I have mentioned before, "if the dream is big enough, the facts don't count". I will be off to bed in about 5 minutes and I will get about 6.5 hours of sleep. I wish I could say it was a full 7, but this will have to do for tonight.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Monday

well, glad i posted my weigh in #9 early in the day! I lef the house at 5:45am, worked 7-11am. I was able to walk by the ocean again for about a total of 2 hours, it was warm and beautiful! Then I worked another job from 12-7. I got home, ate a small dinner and was tired so I decided to take a short nap on the couch. i woke up at 3:30 in the morning. Guess I missed the work out, huh? I moved to my bed, took awhile to sleep, then slept another few hours...hence the lack of post!!

the stats for the day were:

calories burned: 3267
calories consumed:1451
calorie deficit:1816

lerning and growing into a healthier me!
~cindy Lou

wegh in #9

quick post to let you know that I moved 2.4 closer to my goal for a total of 29.8pounds. not what I wanted, but better than I anticipated.

more tonight
cindy

learning new things

First, I just looked at the length of this post, and it is a bit long, sorry, but many things to say at this point of just over 2 month mark.

The strange but cool thing about this journey is that I am learning my limits and learning more of what my body needs. I am "meeting" new people on twitter for sure. (on twitter you can search for "jillianinspired") One cool thing I am finding on twitter is all of the people with gluten free and/or vegan blogs/websites. There is one where I got a recipe for sweet and sour tofu! can't wait to try that! also, one called the sensitive pantry..she shows pictures of all of the recipes, and there are gluten free, vegan, egg and dairy free recipes!! I will post the links on the blog for you to check out.

Let's take the "learning my limits" comment that I made. Well, the limits that I am talking about have to do with sleep and physical activity. Working this shift of 7am-11am isn't too bad, but it is 1 hour away. We have already established that I am not a morning person, and I have done physical activity at that job, but basically get home and need a nap. I also don't have the physical energy to do much after that either. It's sort of strange. I have also noticed that since it is such a variation from my regular schedule, my eating is off, and I have not been drinking enough water at all! ...as i get up and get a glass of water right now :)

My calorie deficits for this week were not up to the levels that I have set as goals. I have looked at the daily, weekly, monthly goals that I have set, and they seem realistic. I think that like I mentioned before, there are times every month that my body slows down. It's reality, and I need to not beat myself up for taking time to get more sleep if I am tired even if I need to work out. I know that in the past, I would work out, even if it meant that I was only going to get 4 hours of sleep. It is okay short term, but it would end up taking a toll on my body. However, I never really made the real connection there, until now. So, with good health, as Jillian Michaels stresses, you need to sleep. There is so much great info in that book about sleep and how your body burns the calories and what to eat at night, it is something that I finally realize how important it is for me. Tonight is the last night that I will have this "broken" sleep. Tomorrow night after work, I WILL be working out, and will actually end up doing weed 4, day 3 of the C25K challenge, and then move into week 5 on Wednesday. I will be able to sleep in on Tuesday and get back on track.

So, the recipe for sweet and sour tofu i will probably try this week, and will make it instead of the stir fy that I was going to make. That will be my new recipe this week. I have now found some good resources for recipes and will make some better, higher protien choices. The recipes that I have been trying each week(one of my goals to try a new recipe each week) have been just some variations on old favorites more than really new things. This week, my mom made me some wonderful things!! She makes the most incredible banana bread!!! So, I brought over my GF flour and the other ingredients, sugar, walnuts..you know, and she made me banana bread! I look forward to trying it in the morning! With the body bugg program, I can enter in all the ingredients, how many servings it makes, and then it will give me the total calories per serving. It is about 232 calories for a 1/2inch thick slice. So, it isn't something that I will eat every day, but by freezing half of it I can have it for a treat at breakfast once in awhle. She also made these AMAZING sesame breadsticks that she used to make when I was growing up. Well, she made them for me too. Unfortunately, they are sooo adicting!! I froze the remainder of them and can take out 1 or 2 at a time. Those are about 85 calories each. The other unfortunate thing is how many that I ate before I figured the calories. However, I didn't go over my calories consumed, so that is good!!


Oh, I did do my 50 wall push ups, my 10 knee push ups and my 225 crunches!!

Plan for tomorrow:
up to 250 crunches a day!
Weigh in #9
new pictures


Well, here are the stats for the day:
calories burned: 2673
calories comsumed:1582
calorie deficit:1091
--all meals packed for tomorrow and just about to enter into bodybugg and then go to sleep.

well, that's all for now
learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

rest and listening to my body

I am going to make this quick again, because I neeeed sleep. It is 9:30, and last night, it took me hours to fall asleep early, and then I only got 3.5 hours of sleep. I ended up taking a nap for 3 hours today. I listened to my body. I know that if I don't get the sleep, it's not healthy and I will probably get sick.

The day started at 4:30am, I left for my job at 5:40am. I got a lot of walking in and it was along the coast while pushing the stroller with a 1 year old in it.

NO working out at the gym today, and more calories than anticipated. Tomorrow will be better, and I still had a calorie deficit, so that's the important thing. I had to rest, and need to rest now. Here are the stats for today:

calories burned: 2772
calories consumed:1704
calorie deficit:1068

I have made a game plan for tomorrow, and I know that the possibility of gym time is small. I will be going to watch a roller derby game that my former boss will be in. I will also be going out to dinner with a good friend, so need to balance the calories really well tomorrow for sure!!

okay, talk with you later!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Thursday

I was half way through my post and it got deleted...so, here I go again.......

Well, an early post...so strange! For the next four days I have a job that is one hour away. That's not a big deal, but the reason the post is early is because I need to be at the job at 7am!! It will be nice because it is at the ocean. I LOVE being by the ocean, and since I have no other work tomorrow, I plan to pack up food for the day, extra clothes and shoes, and a sweatshirt for sure!!! It will be overcast until noon, I'm sure, but I hope to take a nice long walk along the coast! It will be a good work out to walk on the sand too.

I am starting to see the signs of the body type change. When I was playing hockey yesterday, I got a sunburn on the back of my neck and upper back. Why is that a sign??? my shirt was so big that it was slipping down in the back, I guess!

Last night I got 8.5 hours of sleep. Today I had no work, but took advantage of the day to get all of my errands done in one day instead of trying to squeeze then in after I have worked a long day. The bank, Target, and then to Whole Foods. Before I shopped, I got lunch there. A banana and some cabbage salad, it was sooo delicious. I took time for myself, ate it at a table there and then wrote about 10 cards to kids I know that will be starting school in the next week or two. It felt nice to just not be rushing around, which has been my life for so long. I do miss the work, but am trying to embrace the down time and not just lay around and do nothing. THen, to the post office, then the grocery store for my mom and dropped some things off there, then home to unload my groceries!! Well, I had big plans to work out a lot, but my facebook account got restored today, and I took the time to respond to all of the messages I got, that were asking if I was okay. I ended up not going to the gym for only about 45 minutes. I did the treadmill and weights. I walked on the treadmill and did two 7.0 sprints for 30 seconds each. It felt good, but my knee is a bit stiff. Now to do the crunches and the push ups..I j ust remembered..I'll be back!
***50 wall push ups, 20 knee bent push ups(10 from today, 10 from yesterday), and 225crunches.

Even with my fitness focus, I still have to get regular day to day things done, along with searching for more work each day and sometimes, it just feels a little overwhelming. I have not felt too energetic or eager to do much of anything this week. I realize that this feeling comes once a month, and so I'm guessing that I won't be moving much closer to my goal this week, but I will keep working towards it no matter what.

So, I have a freind that told me about a spa that she went to. It was recently rated the #1 destination spa in the world last month. It is called Rancho la Puerta. When she was there, she learned that the 5 things you need to lose weight are:
#1- cardio
#2-relaxation
#3-weights
#4-stretching
#5-consume fewer calories

well, I am doing all of the above, except the relaxing part. That is my biggest challenge. I think that the meditating and yoga may count as relaxing though. I do need to take time for myself, that is true. She suggested that I go there for one of my "rewards". Unfortunately, I am still trying to get the money together to go on the Jillian cruise in October! I am taking jobs that I am offered, and still have the goal to go on the cruise, but it may be a last minute thing..we'll see how it goes. I am hopeful and looking towards the positive. For now, I will focus on the fitness and the rest will come if it is meant to be!!!

I am now off to get ready for bed and get my 7 hours of sleep before my big day. I will report back tomorrow and hopefully have a huge calorie deficit too!

Ugg...I almost forgot my stats, here they are:
calories burned: 2342
calories consumed:1116
calorie deficit:1226

I also didn't have as many waking hours to work with either. so, better numbers in the next 3 days!!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

wednesday

How did I forget to post Wednesday??

I thinik because I thought I would burn a ton of calories, but really wasn't feeling up to anything, and then was really tired..strange day!!!

4 games of hockey with a 12 year old, C25K, Week 4,Day 2, 50 wall push ups, and 225 crunches. 3800 calorie burn...only 2200 deficit. Oh, i guess those are my stats for the day.

I was feeling really tired and really hungry for the day. It was strange!!! in the eve, I ended up eating half a gf chocolate chip cookie and i still only went over my calories 53 for the day. I was talking to a runner today. She said that when she runs, she is waaay more hungry. I know that I need to listen to that, or my body won't be getting enough calories either. I still go back to why I ate the half of a cookie. It's not a big deal, I can eat a cookie, but nothing sounded good. I hate to say it or bring it up, but I think that I am feeling this way for a reason...one that comes every month. So, not expecting a huge change in weight this week.

The crunches felt more challenging last week, and I didn't do the 10 bent knee push ups, just 50 wall push ups. Tomorrow will be better, and even though I didn't hit my 3000 calorie deficit, but I hit 2000, and that was better than nothing, right? I feel like I have been saying that all week. I think it is good to just let you know w hat I am feeling. If you are reading this and going through a journey like me, maybe you feel the same way. Maybe you have some words of encouragement for me, I don't know.

Tomorrow will be a great day. No matter what type of day I have, I do my best to look at the positive in it.

I wanted to say that since I haven't had facebook, I have turned to Twitter to get some motivation and stay in touch with some people that inspire me too. So, though this is a "jillian inspired journey", I have to say that Bob from the biggest loser has inspired me too, along with so many of the people who were on the show. I am now following them on twitter too, and it's been great. Thank you to all of you for your inspiration!!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

fell waaay short

My day started out with plans to work, and then the job got cancelled. I know that Tuesday is my down day, but figured that since I had the day free then basically I could do more than one work out.

When I found out the news that I wasn't going to work, i knew I had an hour or so until I needed to eat lunch. So, I made the most of the time and I went to the gym right away. I did 5 min on the bike because my good treadmill wasn't free, then I did week 4 day 2 of C25K. I upped my speed to 3.7 walk and 4.7 run, and did 2 7.0 sprints for 30 seconds during the cool down time.

when I got home, I ate lunch and then decided to take a little time for myself and read a book, it is called "the ultimate life" it is sooo good!! well, then I felt a little tired, that usually happens when I have so little activity going on. So, I went to take a nap for a few minutes....3 hours later...I woke up!!! well, I had dinner and then had about an hour until I had to leave for a meeting. So, I decided to do another quick little work out for 30 minutes! I did some running and some weights. After the meeting, I got home and knew that I had a little time to work out still. I did my 225 crunches, 10 knee push ups and 50 wall push ups. Then I pulled out a video tape I came across for tae bo. I did part of the instrunctional video, but then decided to enter my food and do the blog so that I could get some sleep.

Well, I checked the total of my calories, and I was totally shocked and disappointed. Since I wasn't running around with kids and doing a million things and taking a long nap, my calories burned were so low!! I had eaten a little more at lunch than usual, but figured with my extra work outs it would be fine. well, here are the stats:

I slept almot 8 hours
calories burned:2812
calories consumed:1727
calorie deficit:1085

well, that's okay, and more will be burned tomorrow and the following days this week.

I did a menu for the rest of the week and a grocery list. In addition, I scheduled all of my work out time for the next two weeks. Progress has been made, so that is a good thing, but a nap sure does suck the calorie burn away!!

Thanks for reading!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

update from Monday

well, I just thought I would ammend yesterdays post. I was cleaning out my cooler bag from yesterday, I pulled out the bottle from the salad dressing and the sesame seeds and I remembered that i only ate half of each serving!! just now I realized that I entered too many servings of my Mona Vie, so after changing those things i have come very close to my deficit goal. So, my updated stats are:

calories consumed:1403
calorie deficit: 1847

whoo hoo, so got closer to my deficit goal than I thought! Last night after I blogged I started thinking about the day and realized that I consumed about 200 more calories than normal. That is where I could have made a change to meet my calorie deficit, especially since I knew that I was going to go to a movie in the evening and sit totally still for 2 hours.

Planning my week of meals has been a challenge, but this morning, I today I am going to plan the entire week out and the times that I will eat too. I tend to plan that according to when I happen to get up.

Okay, have a wonderful day, and I will check in with you tonight!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

weigh in #8 and reward day

Today I got to go to the chiropractor, it was great! I had some difficulty taking deep breaths while I was running last night. So, a little adjustment, and my lungs opened right up.

easy day at work with some activity, but not too much..I'm sure that Alex will make up for it tomorrow in hockey games when I see him!!

Tonight I finally took my reward for moving 20 pounds closer to my goal a couple of weeks back. I decided to see the new Julia Roberts movie, "Eat, Pray, Love". It was such a fabulous movie!! It was perfect timing to see it too. I left feeling so at peace. A movie always helps me just decompress. I brought my air popped popcorn and an apple and my 1 gluten free cookie in. It's funny, I saved the cookie for last, but when I ate it, it tasted good, but it was pretty sweet. Not too sure that I will eat many more of them. Nice to have something here that I can give to someone if they stop by though. :) The movie helped me see some things that I need to think about in my life. The funny part was the eating part of the movie. She ate sooo many things that I don't, it was funny. the spaghetti sure did look good though!!

The move lasted longer than I anticipated and I didn't get home until about 10pm. I thought that I would go to the gym, but figured thaT I would lose time, so I just did the Wii and my push ups and crunches here.

Here are my stats:
only 6 hours of sleep

calories burned:3250
calories consumed: 1632
calorie deficit: 1618

so, didn't hit my deficit goal, since I had the movie, I sort of expectetd that, but when I did the Wii, I didn't feel that I had the energy that I normally do. It could be that I didn't get enough sleep, but part of me thinks it was the cookie..the sugar and butter in it, ya know what I mean? who knows. I will figure it out next time that I decide to try one of those cookies.

OH, I almost forgot!! At my weigh in this morning, I moved 3.4 closer to my goal! making that a total of 27.4 closer to my goal!

off to sleep now.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Sunday

Busy busy day, but only a couple hours of working out.

I had many work type things to do, did some grocery shopping, and cleaned my entire apartment.

I have been doing really well eating within my calorie goal and eating every 4 hours. I like that I know when I am going to eat for sure. Even if I feel a little hungry before the 4 hours, I drink some water and know that in a little bit I will eat. It also teaches me that what I ate at the previous meal wasn't enough to sustain me so that I can adjust that type of meal in the future!

I promised some of the children that I take care of that I would make them some gluten free chocolate chip cookies. So, I did. I didn't snitch any batter, I didn't try any after I baked them, and they have been on the counter for a couple of hours now, and I didn't eat one!! I figured out the calories in one cookie and it is about 200. They will be in the freezer and io plan to have occassionally. Tomorrow night I am finally going to go to my movie for my 20 pound reward! I plan to bring a cookie for a treat during the movie along with some veggies or air popped popcorn tomorrow after work. Then I will be coming home to work out.

I did 400 crunches to make up for yesterday and today, and I did 20 push ups(with knees, not straight legs).

For working out tonight, here is what I did. I did some rhythm boxing on the Wii. Then, at the gym, here's what happened... The good treadmill was taken, so I decided to just deal and use one of the older ones and hope for the best with my knee. Well, I didn't last very long. Not because of my knee, but because it just was so much harder to run on! I don't know, maybe it's all in my head, but it was tough. I did the warm up, 3 min run @ 4.4, 90 sec walk @ 3.5, 5 min run, 2.5 min walk, 3 min run..then I walked for a little bit, but knew I didn't have it in me to do the 5 min , plus my breathing was really labored, it was strange. So, I got off and did weights. Then, when I was done, the good treadmill was free, so I did the 5 min run, and during cool down, did a sprint at 7.0 for 45 seconds and 7.2 for 30 seconds. It felt so great!!! Then I got home, finished my last 100 crunches, did 30 min of free step on the Wii, and the second set of 10 push ups.

Last night I slept 8 hours and then have been active all day!

here are the stats:

calories burned: 3389
calories consumed: 1442
calorie deficit: 1947

Weigh in tomorrow. In looking at my calorie deficits, I don't think I hit pounds, but we will see!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Saturday..morning workouts..ugg

Today I knew that I was going to be in the car for 6 hours and at a seminar, with very little moving around, for about 5 hours. So, I went to bed a little early on Friday night so that I could go to the gym in the morning, and I had to go to get something fixed on my car before hitting the road at noon! I did it, I went to the gym at about 8:30am. Okay, the gym is incredibly crazy at that hour of the morning on Saturday. The plan was to do the C25K on the treadmill and then head home. No treadmills were available!! So, I did the bike for about 10 minutes, then finally, I did get on a treadmill, one of the older ones though. I have confirmed that first thing in the morning is not the time for me to work out, at least for now. I felt like I had 50 pound weights on my feet!! I did the warm up and the 3 minute run, and it was so difficult, I couldn't even run at my regular speed. I got off and did the bike a little more and then went home and got cleaned up. I went to the car place and they said it was going to be about 90 minutes. So, I made a good use of my time and walked to Target and did some shopping! Then walked around the mall a bit. I saw that PF Chang's was open. I knew they had a gluten free menu, so I went in and asked a few questions. It is so funny, the vegetarian lettuce wraps are not gluten free because of the tofu, but the chicken wraps are gluten free. So, I found out that if I don't mind waiting an extra 5 minutes or so, I could request the chicken wraps with no chicken and they would cut everything fresh for me to make the lettuce wraps!! The manager even gave me her name so that I had a person of reference if there was a problem!! So, I am counting that as my "new recipe" for the week. Well, I walked back to the tire store and then basically the rest of the day was in activity except some walking around at the seminar and at the 30 minute break.

I haven't really noticed a huge difference in the way things fit or how I look. I mean that I know that I have gotten lighter, but i don't see a big difference. Today, however, I had to see if I had a belt because my pants were pretty loose in the waist!

People have been saying that I look good, so that feels good. Tonight at the seminar, a lot of people mentioned how good I looked. That felt good, but it is sometimes hard to accept the compliment when I know I have so much more to go.

I didn't do crunches, so I have to do 400 on Sunday!.

I got 7.5 hours of sleep last night...here are the other stats...

calories burned:2963
calories consumed:1266
calorie deficit:1697

So, for a day with no gym activity, I feel good that I burned as many calories as I did. Sunday will be better for sure!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!

~Cindy Lou

Friday

Oh my Gosh!! I thought I just had to do Saturday and Sunday's posts, but I forgot to do Friday!! I apologize for not following through with my set goal of posting every day!

For Friday I got 8 hours of sleep and planned on a lot of activity after I finished my 5 hour job that day. I had some pet sitting to do and stuff to do around the house to get ready for my day away from home on Saturday. I only did a little bit on the Wii, and didn't go to the gym, even though I planned to go. I felt in sort of a funk, overwhelmed that I wasn't hitting all of the goals that I had been setting. Oh, I did do my 200 crunches.

Oh, one thing I did was realize that I could start doing push ups. It is tough on my shoulder when I do a regular push up, so for starters, I am planning to do them on my knees.

my stats for the day were:

calories burned:2610
calories consumed:1304
calorie deficit:1306

So, I didn't actually hit my goal, but considering that I didn't really do any workout work, I did great. The fact that I still had a deficit and didn't break even, I feel good about that.

Big day tomorrow with only a small chance of activity..in the morning.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

how unproductive

the subject title says it all. no gym due to schedule. I got up this morning, very sore, did things around the house a bit and only worked about 4 hours, but then was in the car and at a meeting from 6:45pm until about 1:30am. So, not much to report.

Here are the stats for the day.
7.5 hours of sleep
calories burned:2710
calories consumed:1656
calorie deficit:1054

looks like I will have a lot to do to catch up tomorrow, saturday and sunday!

Oh, here's a quote from the meeting that I went to tonight.
"get up and strive to be and do better today than the day before"

"give yourself permission to dream and win."

okay, those are things that I need to work on, hopefully they are helpful to you too.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

record breaking day!

Whoo hoo!!! LOTS of Wii with Alex, the 12 year old, and 4 games of hockey! I had all of my food packed and entered online, so I knew how many calories I was going to consume for the day, and I KNEW today would be a good day for calorie burning and overall deficit. One thing that is cool about hanging out with Alex is that he is seeing what I am eating and he asks a ton of questions about why I eat what I eat. It sounds like he has always looked at labels, and not sure if he asked a lot of questions before, but for me, he's asking questions like, "what is this word, and what is it?" It is great to be able to talk to him about healthy food and see him get interested in it too!

Well after work I checked on some pets, at 2 houses, home for a quick 135 calorie dinner and then off to the gym!

Here's the deal with the gym...If I get there before 10pm, it is packed!!! It is hard to get on the PRECOR treadmill that doesn't bother my knees. SO, i did the bike for a bout 10 minutes and then when the treadmill opened, I did week 4, day 1 of the C25K, and it really wasn't that much of a struggle! it was the 5 min warm up walk, 3 minutes jog(I did 4.5 for all "jog's). then walk for 90 seconds, jog for 5 minutes, walk for 2.5 minutes, then repeat..oh, then a 5 min cool down. The really great thing is that this time I ran more than I walked!! Out of 28 minutes, I ran 16! Also, during the cool down, I did some sprints again; one at 7.0 for 30 seconds and one at 7.5 again. Then weights and then did the treadmill for about another 15 min, just walking, but did another 7.5 sprint!

I headed home and when I got there, I had about 30 minutes left before midnight. Well, I pulled out the Wii. I did advanced step and then did beginner and advanced skateboarding! I only did the skateboarding because Alex got me hooked on it yesterday and today. Then did my meditation time for 3 minutes.

Well, I knew it would be a great calorie burn overall, but wasn't sure how much. Here are the stats:

7 hours of sleep
calories burned:4354
calories consumed:1356
calorie deficit:2998

Those numbers..amazing!!!! 2998, to my recollection, that is a record!!! Almost an entire pound in one day. I feel great!

I will be able to sleep in tomorrow, and I only work a few hours, but then have driving and a meeting, so won't get too much activity in tomorrow. Going to shoot for a morning work out though..maybe just some swimming.

okay, off to bed, thanks so much for reading!!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

down day

I worked all day, had my meeting tonight and work at 9 tomorrow. So, today will be my down day for the week. I know I need to make it a consistent day, but the problem is that my schedule is rarely consistent. I think that since I generally do have work on Tuesdays, and always have a meeting, then maybe I will make Tuesdays my down day consistently, so that I can get a full 7 or more hours of sleep. It seems to make the most sense.

Today I had an 8 hour day at work, but it was hardly a day of just hanging out and doing nothing! 3 games of hockey with Alex! In addition, cleaning out and reorganizing his room to get ready for the new school year, we also did some things on the Wii, and the funniest of all was me doing the skateboarding on Wii fit plus..that is definately NOT my sport. Hockey was quite a work out each time. I didn't win any of the games, but i did a ton of running around for sure! I am very sure that we will be doing some tomorrow too, but he has challenged me to a game of monopoly, and he is really good at that. We had a great time today!!

After my meeting, I came home and did my 200 crunches, and after this, I am headed straight to bed!

Here are the stats for today. I got 6.5 hours of sleep.
Calories burned:3453
calories consumed:1337
calorie deficit: 2117

Here is what was reinforced today. Even when I am not going to work out and I have an 8 hour work day, if I just keep busy, and watch the calories, then I can hit my calorie deficit goal for the day. I can only imagine how many calories I would have burned if I decided to go to the gym today too!! But, sleep is also a goal and very much needed for my health too.

Thanks for reading!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

a side note about RULES

Just wanted to throw this side note in...

I have had a few people tell me over the years that I have too many rules about food. I have been doing a lot of thinking about this. After all, this whole journey is to learn to grow into a happy and healthier me. I can only do that by taking the input and seeing if and how it is affecting me and make adjustments accordingly. So, here are the "rules" that seem to fit into the "too many rules" category. 1-I don't eat meat, 2-little to no refined sugar, 3-little to no dairy, 4-no sodas, 5-basically no caffeine, only occassional green tea, 6-no artificial sweeteners, 7-no smoking, drugs, alcohol and 8-no gluten. Let me just tell you why I have these guidelines. I started my life not enjoying meat. I was very small and didn't really grow at the typical rate. From what I recall my mom telling me, after being in the hospital for a few days for tests, all they found was that I was anemic. So, my memories of dinner are my dad yelling at me to eat meat. I was little, so I could be remembering it wrong, but that is how I remember it. I know my dad was doing everything he could to make me be healthy, so how could I fault him. I just know that I never liked meat, and I never felt like I was allowed to make the choice of NOT eating it. So, now, as an adult, I have the ability to really think about what I DO want to put into my body. I know that refined sugar is both not healthy for your teeth and body AND it increases inflamation, causing my joints to hurt. Milk affects my body the same way. Sodas, caffeine, artificial sweeteners are all not good for your body and the functioning of your body. One exception, small amounts of caffeine can aid in concentration some studies find. #7, well smoking and drugs, I don't think need any explaination. The alcohol..well, much of it has gluten, but I have never really enjoyed the taste of it, so why eat it? Last one is gluten. Well, I can't eat it as I have explained in the blog early on, due to celiac disease. So, I guess the bottom line is, I eat the foods that I want to eat because they make me feel good and healthy, not sore. I am not saying that if you eat any of those things that's bad. I am saying that for me, those things are not a good choice for my body.

Hope that clarifies my "rules".

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Weigh in #7, struggles

Struggles and overcoming them is a good lesson for today. I got up early, without 7 hours of sleep to do a simple task of getting a nail removed from my tires and get them rotated. well, 3 hours later, the tire with the nail was repaired and is now my spare. I needed new tires. Just because I am focused on a certain goal, doesn't make the rest of my life stop, and if my dream is big enough, the facts don't matter. If my dream is big enough, I can keep looking towards that and not let the little obstacles pull me down. It was an unplanned expense, so I will have to work more hours, taking away from work out time, in order to make up for it. But again, my dream is big!!

Weigh in #7...I moved 2.8 pounds closer to my goal for a total of 24 pounds in 7 weeks. My goal for this week is 6 pounds. I have passed a big hurdle and that is getting past the 23 pound mark. That is how close I got to my goal last time I did this, and I am now lighter than I was when I hit the 23 pound mark last time. The next hurdle I have is about 6 pounds away. My goal is to reach that this week, even though it will be tough, I am going to push for it. about 6 years ago I hit the 30 pound mark, so when I hit that next monday, that will be another big hurdle.

After working my 7 hour day where I did lots of running around and a ton of laundry. I decided that I was going to take my "reward" of going to a movie tonight. However, when I got to the theater, I realized that there was nothing that I wanted to see. I got a late start on working out also because I ate dinner and then ran over to take care of some wonderful cats! Well, at the gym, I started back with the C25K when I got to the gym. It has been 2 weeks, so I was not sure how it would go. I wanted to make sure that I didn't overuse it my first day back, so I did week 3 over again. I was totally fine doing it!! I was actually smiling because I was so happy that I wasn't struggling with it at all! After that, I rode the bike about 5 miles and then actually went back to the treadmill to do the C25k again. I only did part of it, but I could tell my knee was a bit fatigued, so I did a cool down walk, and then left. When I got home, I did the boxing on the Wii and the advanced step, my 200 crunches and the "meditation" on the Wii also. I was pretty confident about my calories burned, but didn't know it would be this good :) Here are my stats:

Calories burned: 3894
calories consumed: 1570
calorie deficit:2324

I met my goal and started the week off with a bang! I need to do a little more than that each day to reach my 6 pound goal, but I will work hard for it for sure!!
The movie "eat, pray, love" comes out on friday, and plan to go and see that. I am planning on my #8 weigh in next Monday being 6pounds, and then I will see a double feature because I will have hit 30 pounds and going to a movie is the reward for that too!

Okay, off to bed, big day tomorrow.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

better than nothing

Today I finished my overnight job about 3, and had grand plans. I accomplished about 90% of the list that I made for the day. Unfortunately, the 2 work outs I planned were the things that I didn't get done. With the chaos of the hacking incident and the work that came up last minute, I had so many things to do at home. However, I did get some Wii time in.

In reading what I wrote, it looks like excuses. Well, I guess in a sense they are. I think that the fitness is the priority, but in order to work this week and get other jobs scheduled, I had to take care of some things at home, and that needed to take priority.

Tomorrow is weigh in, and I guess that I am a little nervous because I spent very little time in the gym this week.

Calories burned:2953
Calories consumed:1477
Calorie deficit:1476

I still had a deficit, so that is great. 500 less than my goal, but that is okay, What I am finding is that I have to make changes to the plan if another thing takes priority.

Oh, almost forgot. I got almost 8 hours of sleep last night!

Enjoy your day!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Making due-Saturday

Okay well I did an overnight job and had no access to my computer. I had no idea how many calories I was going to burn, and only an estimate of the amount of calories. I was sooo happy that I prepared all of my food before I went and had it all measured and basically ready to eat!

I did a lot of running around with this little 4 year old, but knew that I had plenty of time after he went to bed to work out. I brought a jump rope with me, had a floor for the crunches, knew I could do jumping jacks, and they had a Wii! So, got plenty of time on the Wii fit. I did a bunch of the yoga moves and all the aerobics things that I usually do. I think that I did a total of 2.5 hours, but could have been more like 2, not sure.

I forgot to mention that last weekend, I was able to take the time to do something that Jillian recommended in her book. Basically, get rid of all meds. I have not used my allergy meds since a week before starting this blog. I have also only used tylenol or aleve a couple of times since the blog started, and very little before that too. I took the time to go through all the meds that I did have. I had plenty to throw away due to expiring, and then threw away everything except my asthma meds, singulair for allergies, tylenol and aleve just in case. I also kept the prescription of prednisone because if something major happens, I will have it. I don't plan on actually using any of the meds listed, but am sort of just looking at it as a safety net. When they expire, then I will see if I ended up using any of it and make the decision then. I also did some research on shin splints, and feel that is the problem that I have been having when I run. I have rested it for 2 weeks, and will focus on getting back into the C25K this week. So, hopefully no Aleve will be needed, and ice and Mona vie will do the trick to prevent any problems.

Okay, I got to bed about midnight on Saturday, 7 or more hours of sleep will probably happen. here are the other stats:

Calories Burned:3270
Calories Consumed:1372
Calorie deficit: 1928

Glad I hit my goal. Weigh in in 2 days!!!

thanks for reading.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Friday

Well, it was really great to get a good 7.5 hours of sleep. I had longer to sleep, but my body woke up on it's own. It was my step dad's birthday, so went over and dropped of his gift and visited for a little while. Ran a couple of errands and then worked for 5 hours. Even though I was organizing and running around with a 4.5 year old, not too many calories burned. Had to go to Whole Foods, so finally when I got home, I planned on working out. I realized I had to pack up my things and food for 2 days at an overnight job tomorrow/sunday. I usually just pack up some food, pots or pans and end up cooking things where I go to do overnight jobs. This time I actually packed every meal. Will only have to cook one. Eveything is measured and weighed, and will pack up in a cooler in the morning. It feels really good that everything is planned out. There is no option to grab something else and nothing to think about as far as when and what to eat.

As far as activity, this will be my "down day" with no working out at all I guess. I am still tired. When I cooked the chocolate chip cookies with the girls last night, I was really careful, but the gluten in the flower really got to me. I used to be able to do a batch here and there, but my system just can't take it. So, feeling really tired.

Oh, I did do my crunches yesterday-175

Today's stats:
7.5 hours of sleep
Calories burned:about 2800
Calories consumed:1545
Calorie deficit: about 1241

So, didn't hit the 1900 goal, but at the house whre I am pet sitting tomorrow, I plan to do the Wii after the 4 year old goes to bed, and probably for a couple of hours, plus running around after him, I think it will be a good "burn" day.

I am off to bed now. The biggest thing that I have learned is that no matter what, I just can't use regular flour. My skin was itchy, my eyes were and are still sore and a bit itchy..it's crazy! The little particles floating around just really aren't okay for my system in any way, even when I am careful. That's what I learned.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Thursday

Thursday was quite a day and since I was so incredibly tired, I just went to bed. So, here's the blog from that day.

It was such a wonderful day! I started the day with one family (8:30-12:30) and then to an other just for a couple of hours and then I got to go over to Santa Cruz and see the girls. (Grace and Charlotte) I was looking forward to all the families that I got to work with and see!! The morning was a lot of physical activity around the house I was working, and in the afternoon, running around with two 4.5 year olds in the yard and the park was tons of fun and active too! Then a drive to Santa Cruz, and time with the girls! We went to dinner at Fresh Choice. That is always a great option for me because the majority is vegetarian, and they have everything labeled if it is gluten free/vegetarian too. It was great to be with the girls and take them somewher ethat they were exctied to go to also. When we got home, their other request was to make chocolate chip cookies. I had picked up the ingredients on my way to their house, so we made the cookies and had a great evening together. I had originally planned to stay the night, but ended up not needing to. when I got home, I was pretty wiped out for sure. i really have no idea if I worked out, but I really don't think so. See, I told you that I was tired! I knew that I was going to be able to sleep in, so finished some things online, and got to bed.

considering there was no real work out, my stats are pretty good..except for sleep.

sleep was only about 3 or 4 hours.
calories burned: 3835
calories consumed:1243
calorie deficit:2592

So, overall, a pretty good day!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

what a day!!!

Can you say busy? I think that today taught me a few things. I generally have a pretty busy schedule, but today was a huge variety with a bunch of challenges thrown in too. Well, I was finishing an overnight pet sitting job, when i got a call from an old friend that an email was delievered saying bad things happened to me in London, and could he send money. Well, you guessed it, SCAM!! My email got hacked. I got more texts and calls from people both checking on me to make sure I was okay and to let me know that they got it and my email must have been hacked. Such thoughtful friends and family! Then, read a text from my boss at 10am job that said she was sick and could I come at 12 and bring some things. Since I was headed home, I stopped, got the things, dropped them off, got home, made breakfast and packed a snack for Ellen's kids while Ellen packed the car. Said a sad good bye to them, washed the sheets, and picked up the kitchen a little. Then did some computer stuff to try and change passwords and contact proper athorities and things like that(still not done, need to finish that after this). Then, when trying to get onto facebook, found out that not only had the hacker changed my email password, but my facebook one too. I know I was a little frenzied, but mainly just because I wanted to get things done to make sure no more damage was done. All of sudden I realized, "wow, I got up 2.5 hours ago and haven't eaten, maybe that would be a good idea!"....can I just say...DUH!! Well, after some eggs and a gluten free tortilla, my brain was doing a little bit better. I still had to get ready for work, but luckily I had planned ahead and packed my food the night before! I got to hang out with Alex today. Thank goodness he loves his hockey, because with the way the day was shaping up, I really didn't know if I would make it to the gym. So, hockey, monopoly, a little Wii and a trip to visit some pets while I was there. Finally, after work, things slowed down a bit. Got home and returned things to my mom's, got home and left again to return a key to a family where I had been pet sitting. I really wanted to hear about their trip, so got home for the final time about 10/10:30..not sure exactly. ~~are you tired yet?? I sure am~~ Then, took a look around the house. If you have been reading my blog at all, you know that I kind of like things in their place and cleaned up. Well, after having house guests(and I LOVED having them), I needed to remake my bed, do some laundry, load the dishwasher, wipe down the kitchen and bathroom, vacuum and pick up some toys that were left out. Then, realized I needed to do my crunches. Oh,I almost forgot, I left my mom's and realized my tire was low, I joked with her, "with the day I had, there's probably a nail in it. haha!" Then, when I went to fill it up..you are not going to believe this..a screw was in the tire and it has a slow leak! I was laughing so hard!

Okay, all that I can say is that after this type of day, I could be angry, stressed and just overwhelmed. I know when I left my mom's I was a little hyped, but like I said earlier, it was more about things I had to finish, not the incident. The hacking thing didn't upset me as much as it bugged me that I had to be hassled with dealing with all the stuff. Does that make any sense? hope so! A few years ago, I know I would have flipped out and screamed and let it ruin my day. But I had fun losing in hockey and Monopoly to Alex. I didn't really think much about the hacking thing unless someone texted or called to check on me.

I could use this busy day or the hacking incident as an excuse to not get anything done at home, or get the things back to my mom that I had borrowed, or take care of logging my food, doing my crunches or doing this blog. I could also just grab some food and sit on the couch and have a pitty party. I am so happy to say that I didn't even think about getting food and wallowing! I did what I needed to do to move towards my goal. We can focus on what we are going through, or set our sites on what we are going to. Another great thing I have learned from TEAM.

With all of that said, I was a little worried about calories burned today. I was happy that I got 7 hours of sleep last night, though tonight will not be the same, unfortunately. Back to normal tomorrow night for sure!! well, as usual, here are my stats:

calories burned:3307
calories consumed:1289
calorie deficit:2018.

So, even without going to the gym, and with having a busy day, by watching the calories, I was able to hit my calorie deficit. Whoo hoo!! I will sleep good knowing that I made good health choices today!

I hope that you know that if you have a challenge that you are going through right now, it is temporary, it will not be part of your life forever, and look at where you are trying to get to and move in that direction. You can do it if it is really what you want in your life!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Terrific tuesday

Hello to all of you! After not hitting my calorie burn goal yesterday, I really wanted to make sure that I went over today. I spent a little time with Ellen and the kids this morning. Then I worked from 11-6. Well, I played 2 games of hockey with the 12 year old I was watching. I ate my food on time, had breaks from hockey and played monopoly, it was a great day! Then took care of pets at two different homes, and helped some great kids do some things for their parent's 20th anniversary. I also was able to hang out for a short time with Ellen and the kids, and take a walk around the park while the kids were playing on the playground(late night playground time). I am sad because I missed my meeting tonight, but by the time the majority of things were done, that had to be done at certain times, I would have been much too late to get there. UGG. Now hanging with the pets, and about to head to bed. Obviously not the end of the day, but since I am headed to bed, I'll give you the stats for the day...here you go:

Oh, before I forget, I haven't been sleeping as many hours, so tomorrow night will be an early night I'm sure.

Calories burned: 3828
calories consumed:1773
calorie deficit:2055

That's all for tonight, sorry these have been so short and to the point, but hope you are seeing that even though I am busy, I am finding time to get my calorie deficit or get close to it. I am having to leave some things out, and reprioritize a bit, but that's what we do to meet our goals, right?

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

pretty good day!!

I got 4.2 pounds closer to my goal today for a total of 22.2 pounds, I think. That means I get to go to a movie this week!! It is a busy week, so may have to wait until next week, but I will go, I'm so excited!!!

My friend, Ellen, and her 2 cool kids are staying with me for a few days. It is so great, and so much fun, but it does take a toll on the working out time. I went to the mall with them and walked around a little, but we really didn't go too far. I worked at a job today only for 5 hours. So, when we were outside at the playground, I grabbed some scrap pieces of wood, stacked them up, and did some step work out! The little girl said, "what are you doing, exercising?" I of course replied with "yep." but also added, "I want to play with you, but since you are swinging and playing your game, I'll do this until you are ready." She said, "okay, I'll tell you when I'm ready, but you keep exercising now." I think I did my crunches at some point during the day too, I think when she did bathroom breaks or something, can't remember. HMM.. I just remembered that, and I did 175 tonight, and 150 to make up for monday. Cool, I did way more crunches than needed, awesome! Well, when I got home, Ellen, went out, and I stayed home with the kids and put them to bed. I wanted to go to bed too, but I KNEW I hadn't met my calorie deficit goal yet. So, I did a few things on the computer and then broke out the Wii, since I was watching the kids, couldn't really leave. I wasn't able to hit my calorie deficit goal, but here are the stats:

calories burned:3179
calories consumed: 1573
calorie deficit: 1606
Not terrible, but didn't hit the goal.

Will have to burn more tomorrow!

thanks for reading, and have a good night!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Weigh in #6

Hi, mini post..I got 4.2 pounds closer to my goal this week!! more later today. whoo hoo! That means more than 20 pound loss!!

more later tonight...

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

last chance work out

Today was such a great day! I got to do the things that I wanted to do and that I had to do. Hung out with one of my best friends and her 2 terrific kids. Only 2 pet sitting homes today, and one job with 3 GREAT kids. I had so much fun with all of them!

After checking on one houseful of pets with Evan, the day started by walking to the park at my apartment complex, while the kids were playing, Ellen and I walked laps around the playground. Then to work and one of the places that we went to was a skateboarding park. No, I didn't skateboard. However, while the kids were doing their thing, I was just outside of the park and walked back and forth on the grass to keep moving. Checked on other pets, then I got to meet ellen and her kids for dinner at Fresh Choice. I love that Fresh Choice lists if something is gluten free. Yes, you have a risk of contamination, but so far so good. Because you can get so many things there, and calories can add up on a salad, I was a little concerned. I also had a baked potato with a little butter and sunflower seeds on it. Well, I did pay attention to what I was eating, and I did great with calories at that meal!!
We got back and took a short little walk to the park, I just visited with Ellen. After the kids were in bed, I headed off to the gym. I couln't find the knee brace, so I just went and figured that I would do my best. Well, I decided to try and run. It didn't hurt at all on the treadmill that I was using at the gym!!! I only ran a total of 4.5 minutes and walked about the same, but I didn't really want to chance it with my knee. When I got off, that's when I noticed it hurting, go figure. So, I did about 40 minutes of weights, then 5 minutes of swimming too.
then, back to check on pets again, and let the dog in.

As far as sleep. Well, I am sleeping on the couch, which is actually fairly comfortable, but I woke up after about 5 hours last night, and then didn't get a ton of restful sleep after that. I am tired again tonight, and will be off to bed very soon. As far as my stats...here you go:

Calories burned: 4002
calories consumed: 1630
calorie deficit: 2372!!

Well, tomorrow is my weigh in. I am feeling really good about it. I have beeen feeling more definition in my arm muscles, so that is a good feeling for sure! We always hear, "muscle weighs more than fat". I have even used that phrase but I just looked it up online. I started laughing at myself at the first thing I read because well, duh, "five pounds is five pounds, muscle can't weigh more than fat." However, here is what I learned:

The correct way to state the muscle weighs more than fat scenario is, "Muscle is heavier by volume than fat."

A woman weighing 150 pounds with 19% fat will look much smaller (and be much healthier) than a woman at 150 pounds with 35% fat. They weigh the same, yet the composition is different. Because muscle is more dense than fat the person with less fat and more muscle will look smaller.

Does that make sense? There was also a picture of 5 lbs of fat and 5 lbs of muscle, and muscle looks prettier too.

Hope you learned something today too!

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

where did the day go??

Well, the day started out with taking the dogs out. I slept better than I thought I would, but not fabulously. Then I packed up my things and headed to racquetball with my nephew, Grant. I didn't win, but we had close games, and there were no shut outs!! I even made him sweat, so I know that I did okay. I am hoping that in time, we will be more equally matched. Time will tell.

After the racquetball, and hanging out a bit, I had some more pets to check on, then home to finish getting the house ready for my friend and her 2 cool kids to come and stay with me for a few days. At about 1:30, I hit a wall, and took a 2.5 hour nap. I couldn't believe it, but I guess I was tired. I finished at the apartment, checked on pets, but did no major gym time. The knee is still bothering me, I haven't done any C25K all week, and I am thinking that will set me back. I am hoping that all of the stuff on the Wii that I have been doing will be enough so I can get back in the running mode tomorrow. Oh, I did my 150 crunches tonight. I didn't start feeling any "burn" until about 70, and it was minor, so that is good, because Monday it goes up to 175 per day!!

Tonight when they got here, we took the kids out for a moonlight walk and play on the playground. When the kids were getting to bed, I sync'd my bodybugg and was 15 calories short of my 1900 deficit goal, and only 5 minutes to burn them. I think that I would have burned them just with moving around the apartment, but wanted to be sure, so I did a bunch of jumping jacks. Stats are below...

calories consumed: 1503
calories burned: 3424
total deficit: 1921

I feel like the day got away from me and I find myself asking, "where did the day go?" do you ever feel like that? I know I was productive yesterday and today in my apartment and hitting calorie burn, but still don't feel like I accomplished much because I wasn't in the gym or the pool.

I think tomorrow will be a very active day, and I will be at the gym for sure, hopefully doing C25K!! and for sure some weights.

Have a wonderful day!
Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou

Friday

It is Saturday night, and I am finally posting for Friday. next week will be better with posting every day. After working and going to 3 houses to watch pets, I was so tired Friday night, that I didn't do any work out in the gym, and basically went to bed early because I had to get up early on Saturday for a racquetball game at 7am with my nephew.

I was very active, mainly organining various areas for a family I was helping, and that kept me very active for 5 hours straight. So, even though it wasn't a typical work out, I did burn a bunch of calories.

Only 6.5 hours of sleep, and I did NOT have my CPAP machine for my sleep apnea. I felt okay, but tired for sure.

I did really well with preparing and bringing my food, and eating on time, so that is a plus for the day!! I also made sure that I did my 150 crunches.

So here's the calorie break down:...loooking at my calorie break down, it looks like I did work out..maybe on the Wii, now that I think about it.

calories consumed: 1464
calories burned: 3479
calorie deficit: 2015

Thanks for keeping up with me..I can't believe I already forgot what I did yesterday.

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou