Arghhhhhhh!!!!!

I'm in shock! Well, I don't know why I'm shocked, I'm not really. I have gained..... wait for it, 6lb since December!!!!  As of this morning I weighed 130.6lb! I think that is my heaviest EVER!  It has to stop today. I signed up for Weight Watchers online again. I just need some GOOD motivation, and just eating on my own trying to count calories is not working right now. 

I was doing so good before Christmas with going to the gym and eating right. Then I got sick with a cold just before Christmas, so I missed the gym for about 2 weeks! Then of course Christmas came, the chocolates and candy, cocktails, wine etc all came too. . . . and still missing the gym, it's no wonder I kept gaining. Then I got sick a couple of weeks ago with allergies (cedar fever) and am currently on antibiotics and steroids. Still missed the gym most days other than probably two days over the past 2 weeks.  

So, I just wanted to post an update (so I can look back here at some point and see where I was at and what I was doing at the beginning of the year) so I can track my progress. I thought I didn't want to count points as it seemed easier to count calories, but I've decided counting points is easy too, and being online with the new WW 2012 program seemed pretty motivating too.

Hoping to get to the gym today with my friend/neighbor. I'll try to post at least once a week in here with progress. 

Measurements & New Schedule

Cheryl and I started a new gym workout schedule this weekend. It will last for 6 weeks! Cheryl has gone all out and even done us both a binder (I'll have to take pics and add later). We were at the gym for two hours on Sunday!!! 45 minute cardio workout then we worked on chest (which is always a killer) and new ab moves.

I was supposed to take my measurements that day but forgot, so I took them yesterday. Not much change since last time, but hopefully I'll see some changes as we head in to this new schedule. Here they are:

Bust: 37"

Waist: 32"

Hips: 37"

Right Thigh: 20 1/2"

Right Arm: 10 1/4"

Weight: 126.8 (one day last week I was actually 124.6!!!) :-) but it goes up and down depending on what I eat.

Gym - going strong!

I just wanted to post another update, no pics I'm afraid. This is really just for me as a record of what I'm doing. Cheryl and I are still going to the gym at least 4 times a week, usually 5 or 6 times even. We even went last Thursday morning which was Thanksgiving day!!! 

My diet isn't the greatest, but for the most part I'm watching the things I eat and am maintaining my weight. I can't help but get on the scales some days because even though I'm trying not to focus on my weight but tone up instead, there's always that part of me that is curious, and always that part of me that really still wants to see a few pounds disappear. So, I got on the scale this morning and was shocked to see 126 :-)  Shocked, because I went out last night to see the new Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn (which was the best one so far I think), had two glasses of red wine and more than half of their individual pizzas (artichoke and goats cheese - yum)! That's 2.2lb lost since I last recorded my weight here of 128.2 on Nov 14th. I'm definitely happy with that.

Next week Cheryl and I start a new 6 week gym workout. She's put together a binder for us both, with what cardio and weights we'll do each week. I'll try to take pics of that for next time.  We'll be taking measurements on Sunday (I can compare them with what I took a few weeks ago) and keeping track of those, and setting some individual goals for ourselves too.

Weight:

Nov 14th - 128.2

Nov 30th - 126.0

Quick Update

Just a quick update ...

I've been doing great at going to the gym this past week. I need to start logging here (or somewhere else, usually I add it to my FB status) when I've been and what I worked on. My neighbor Cheryl is really helping to keep me motivated. We are trying to go with each other as much as we can.

Last week I went on Tuesday, twice on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday!!! I'm eating well and have probably lost a pound or two but it just goes back on some days. I'll keep better track of my gym visits, my measurements (from month to month) and weight each Monday (just out of curiosity!)  and try to remember to blog here at least once a week.

Measurements

This past week I went to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, TWICE on Thursday, Friday and Sunday!  I am pretty pleased with myself and I hope I can keep up this good habit for quite some time.... especially over the holidays when it's so easy to not do anything, especially once school is out for Christmas break!

I have to not look at the scale (or so I'm told), because the weight is not coming off. As of this morning I am 128.2. I decided to take my measurements today too. If I am not going to look at the scale then I need to look at the inches ;-)  I'm recording them here so I can look back and see the changes (hopefully) each month. 

So, as of Monday November 14th:

Bust: 37"

Waist: 33"  !!!!! :-o

Hips: 37 1/2"

Right thigh 20 1/2"

Right bicep: 10 1/2"

I plan on eating good this week. AND I must start drinking more water. I've made a menu plan from the Clean Eating website. I will try to post that later.

I'm back!!!

Surprise, it's me, I'm back. Well I haven't been anywhere really, I just stopped posting here for a while because I wasn't really watching what I was eating and I was totally NOT exercising at all. Same old story, I just got out of the habit and got lazy!  Sad to say that my weight has crept back up to 128lb and I just can't seem to lose anything!

Not for the want of trying. . .  I joined my local SNAP gym a few weeks ago. My neighbor/friend Cheryl was going which motivated me to join again. I used to go to Gold's gym but canceled my membership after a year cos I just got sick of going. This Snap gym is much closer to us, just 10 minutes away. SO much better. . . so much so that I even went twice today.  I've been going about 3 times a week for the past few weeks, trying to eat better. Cheryl is trying to follow the Eat Clean Diet, so I'm trying to follow along too. Not being really strict with the diet though, just trying to make 'clean' meals and snack on healthy things like almonds and greek yogurt. 

So, things are going well in the 'look after me' department, but what's bothering me is that I'm not losing weight? Could it be because I'm now gaining muscle? I just really used to like to see the scale show a loss after a few days of eating better, but right now it just seems to be creeping up. I was 123.5 a few weeks ago and slowly it's gone up. Now even eating right it's not going down again :-( 

The holidays are approaching so I don't want to get too strict with my diet, but I'm thinking I might need to go back to WW and actually count my points? Or at least count my calories which I'm not even doing either. 

Anyway, I thought I'd make a quick update in here so that when I browse back through my entries (which I often like to do) I can see where I stand, what I weigh and what I'm doing with regards to exercise.

STS Challenge - Update

I say update because if I'm honest I don't even know what week we're in now! According to Debbie's blog we're starting week 9, so I am usually posting about the week prior, which would be week 8. But I missed posting the weekend before that (which was for week 7), so I'm just gonna call this an overall update!

So, where to start? Well, I haven't gained any weight over the last couple of weeks, BUT I haven't lost any either. I've actually been trying a new diet called Slimming World. Has anyone heard about it/seen it? It was featured in a magazine a couple of weeks ago, and it's from England. My sister has actually done it before but right now she's sticking with WW PointsPlus (or ProPoints as they call it in the UK).  I stopped doing the WW cos I was sick of counting points, then I was just counting calories and to be honest I got rather sick of that too. The SW diet says you don't need to count anything, and it allows you to eat as much pasta, rice, potatoes as you like?!! I know, sounds crazy doesn't it. There's a lot more to it than that, and it's really hard to get all of the information about it right now, even though they've had groups set up and running in TX for the past year. There's no groups near me so I can't even go along to buy the literature. Joining on line is out of the question because based on the exchange rate they want $160 for a 3 month subscription!  

Anyway, all that said, I only stuck with SW for a week. Honestly I don't think it will work for me eating pasta and potatoes all the time, although I didn't put any weight on, I did always feel bloated! Not a good feeling. SO, this week I've decided to re-read my South Beach Diet book!  I probably sound crazy jumping from one diet to another, but it just keeps me motivated to eat healthy. As you probably know, South Beach is all about eating low carb with healthy whole grains etc (after the first two weeks) This week I am doing phase one but I think next week I'll introduce whole wheat bread for breakfast and some fruit. Eating lean protein and salads for dinner is always a good thing, so hubby and I will be trying to stick to that for a while.

Hope everyone else is staying strong on the challenge. I hope to get by and read some blogs this week.