The Journey Continues

It’s been 3 weeks since I posted and I’m feeling a little better about my progress these days. I’m close to a breakthrough and I’ll blog about that WHEN it happens so I don’t jinx it.
I am not going to hit my birthday goal, but that’s okay. I plan on having whatever I want on my birthday which is Saturday and then jumping right back onto the weight loss wagon! I hope to lose 11 pounds by the end of the year and THAT is doable! YAY!
Hopefully Yours,
Angel

Progress….

Going, Going. I Just Wish It Were Gone!

What a struggle weight is. I am extremely frustrated with my weight situation. I feel like I am doing what it takes to lose, but am not seeing the results of my effort!
I really blew it last week at TOPS and had a 4.5 pound GAIN! I was devastated to see that. I really don’t think I did anything to make that number. This week I had a 1.5 pound loss, but I’m still reeling from last week so that does NOT make me one bit happy.
I really, really wanted to be at a certain weight for my birthday. At the rate I am going, that seems pretty impossible.
Looking at the statistics- I am down 12 pounds since starting TOPS on 2-29-09. That was 32 weeks ago which means I am losing at the snail rate of about 1/3 pound per week! UGH! If I keep that up I will only lose another 4.5 pounds by the end of the year- nowhere near my goal.
Something has got to change. I am willing to try most anything. I’ve upped my workout substantially over the last couple of months. I don’t think I can up that much more, but I may try. And my calorie count is already at less than 1300 a day average. I don’t eat after 7 pm most days.
I am willing to hear any suggestions!
Desperately,

Angel

The Best Equipment

Here is a link to an article on what is the best equipment to have at home for a great workout.
I wonder if I would use that little mini stepper? Or would it sit in my closet with “The Bean”?  Hmmm….

Getting Challenged

Never, never, never give up! ~Winston Churchill

I’m feeling better about my journey these days. The weight is SO SO slowly starting to budge. I feel like I am getting motivation and support from many different sources including my TOPS girls and Facebook friends.
I tried the Walk at Home Club for a month and set a goal of 100 miles of walking for the month of August. I am happy to say “I did it!” Wow… 100 miles.
I’m not doing the Walk Club anymore, but timely enough a couple of my Facebook friends are offering challenges of their own and it’s helping me stay motivated even though I haven’t had much time to get on the computer to check on them. I’ve decided to bump my miles again this month and am shooting for 110 miles in September.
After talking to an aquaintence of mine who lost her weight and has kept it off, I decided to change things up every now and then to keep my body working and not let it get used to anything. For the last couple of weeks that meant not eating after 7 pm which was actually pretty hard. And I am going to keep that up these next couple of weeks AND add another change. After reading this article by Tim Ferriss, I’m going to try and avoid ANYTHING white in my diet… i.e. rice, sugar, flour, pasta, bread. We’ll see how that goes.
I can feel pretty good about some things. I am the lightest I have been so far this year and I am 8 pounds lighter than I was this time last year.
I’m not giving up, Mr. Churchill!
~Angel

My Goals

August 7

Three months until my birthday. I hope to be fairly close to my goal by then.
Yesterday at TOPS, I was very discouraged. I did lose weight, but only 1/2 a pound. AND it was the lowest loss in the group. I am happy that our group had a no gain week. That was fabulous, but I really felt like I was going to have a good weight loss this week. To bring home the duck as the “Head Honker” (to encourage every one else) that was a sad thing for me. I don’t mind being an encourager. But, usually the duck goes to the person who gained the most. This week since nobody gained it went to the lowest of the losers…me. It was like someone let the air out of me after working so hard.
I even kept a food diary and counted calories Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday…averaging 1250 calories! (Maybe too low?) Our TOPS leader took a look at my food diary and suggested I eat more fruit and less packaged foods. SO that is my goal this week. AND we were asked to give up one thing and I agreed to CHOCOLATE. I don’t know what I was thinking. I am one of those who NEEDS a little chocolate every now and then. This will be interesting!
The Walk Club I am a part of is very inspiring. Some of these girls do 2 or 3 workouts a day! I may try that when Katie starts back to school. Speaking of… she has orientation today. I was supposed to go with her, but I have a stomach bug that is keeping me close to the bathroom. Yucky.
I’ll be back!
Angel

The Walk Club

I am trying something new.
You may know I have been using Leslie Sansone’s Walking tapes and DVDs for over 4 years. She has a Walk Club for tools and support to help you lose weight. We’ll see if it helps!
Walk at Home
On Day 1~
Angel

BMI

This morning on the Wii Fit I discovered that I am only 13 pounds away from a healthy BMI. That’s attainable. I’m going to try and get there before my birthday which is 134 days away! NO problem!

Changing Things Up

Working out is getting to be a chore. I’ve been using the Walk Away the Pounds (WATP) for almost 3 years. And every now and then I do get tired of them. When this happens, I usually purchase a new workout tape. The WATP tapes work for me. They are low impact enough that I can do them. Walking I can do. So, I’ll keep doing them as long as I can. Money is tight right now so buying a new tape just isn’t feasible. And I have a variety of tapes already.
So, I decided to mix things up a little bit. I did this by creating a chart so each day what tape I end up doing will be a surprise of sorts. It will depend on my weight loss or gain for that day. A one mile tape only takes 15 minutes and I would love to just do one of those every day, and that will be my reward IF I’ve lost weight.
Here’s my chart:  
I think it will work for me for now!
I’ve also decided to try something new after the graduation guests leave this week. And that will be a reward day. I’ll diet (be good) for 6 days and take ONE day off (be bad) to eat the things I’ll miss the other 6 days of the week.
I’ll let you know how that goes. If nothing else, I’ll be walking 4 miles the next day after Reward Day.
How are things going for you?
I’d love to hear your comments and encouraging remarks!
Thanks for stopping by!
~Angel