My Journey Through Life

I have really been doing a lot of thinking this past week...doing lots of traveling so I have time to think when I am driving. I don't have the patience to spend so much time every day journaling what I eat...I haven't done it for months on Sparkpeople because I don't have the time...or I should say, I really just don't want to take the time. I have determined that I need to learn how to eat normal amounts of good food without having to use some tool or website to track everything I do. I know that is how I have had success but it isn't lasting success cause I can only keep up with it for a few months. I got a DVD and booklet about something called Ayurveda...there is a lot to it that I am still learning, but one of the things is to avoid snacking. For years I have convinced myself that I need to eat 6 times a day...well guess what? It isn't working for me. I feel like I eat all the time and I need to stop...the definition of insanity is doing the same thing ove...

One of my goals is that when I have lost 28 pounds, I will start doing the P90X workouts. I bought the set of DVD's two years ago and was just too heavy and out of shape to do them. I tried, but it was too much for me to sustain. Now I am 6 pounds away from meeting my goal so I started looking at the program last night...specifically the eating plan. I did all the figuring and it came out that I should eat 2400 calories a day when doing the workout. I can't imagine that is correct, I am sure that with the job that I have...spending much of my time in a car or sitting in meetings, that will be too much. Right now I eat between 1300 and 1500 calories a day, burn around 1100 calories in my workouts and I lose 1-2 pounds a week. I wonder if that calculation is based on maintaining weight and building endurance and muscle....who knows? I will have to research it further. The other thing is that I don't know if I will do the P90X every day, or if I will do other workouts, li...

I awake this January 1st with a great positive attitude! I am thankful for every day that I wake up and can share my life with my wonderful husband and fantastic family! I am thankful for the fact that although I haven't taken as good care of myself in the last couple years that I should have, I am still here. I have the opportunity to make the changes necessary to live a full, healthy, long life! I am also thankful that I can pick the sauerkraut off of the pork and don't have to eat it!! YUCK! Ate a good breakfast, just cereal and and orange. I am going to have a banana for a snack now cause we aren't eating for another hour or so and I am hungry now. I tried to do a Yoga routine on-demand, but it was a little advanced for me. I think I better start out with something easier till I get some of this weight off and can move more easily! I did a mile with Leslie and now I am off to shower and then peel potatoes. God Bless you and have a great day! as they say on the Yoga vide...

I woke up this morning around 7am to the sound of Christmas Carols on the radio. I don't have to go to work till later today, so I had the luxury of sleeping in. Decided to by-pass the gym for the quicker alternative of walking with Leslie Sansone on DVD. I don't have to put as many clothes on and I don't have to go out in the cold! I like walking inside, I can still get a good workout without leaving the house. I also like to have a variety of workouts in my routine. Walking is what my big focus is right now. I know that I have osteporosis, I don't know if that is why my hips hurt sometimes when I am laying on my side or if it is just the burden of an extra 50 pounds or so. We will find that out together, dear reader if you continue with me on my journey to good health. Have a wonderful day, whether you are in the frozen tundra of the North or basking in the warmth of a Southern Climate!

I did it! I got myself out the door and to the gym. 15 minutes on the treadmill was all I could take...no, no, not like that...there were to women on the two treadmills next to me and they were talking to loudly that I couldn't hear the news that I was trying to watch. I rarely watch the news so I like my time at the gym to be my catch up on what's going on in the world time. I moved on to an elliptical machine with a blissfully quiet man next to me! Between the two machines I managed 2.28 miles in 30 minutes. After a stop to deposit some checks at the bank, I came home to a nice bowl of honey nut cheerios for breakfast. Working from home today will pose a challenge to not snack all day, but when I start the day off well, it helps me keep on track, especially now that I have you, dear reader to follow me on my journey!

well, I am about to take my first step. I joined the Gym last spring and have barely gotten there. I have been lucky to get there one day a week. I don't expect to go everyday, but to get my money's worth, I need to go more than I have. Until I am retired and have no place to go, I won't join a gym again. It just isn't worth it. We have equipment here at home and I can walk outside or with a video of Leslie Sansone. For the next four months, I need to go at least a couple days a week. That is going to do two things: Help me lose my one pound a week Get me conditioned to do the 'big walk' Here I go...

Well...maybe not sick, but I sure do feel tired all too often. I just can't stay on track with my eating or exercise program. It doesn't seem to matter to me that my life and health depend on it! I get so aggravated with myself! I was inspired by, of all things, watching the movie Julie and Julia. Her statement in the movie that she never finishes anything and needs a deadline is so true of me. I have all these great intentions, but I never finish. When I have a project at work, I finish it because I have to. When it comes to my personal life, there is nothing holding me accountable for finishing, so I don't. I got to thinking, if I did what Julie did, set a time line and got myself into the habit of writing everyday, maybe I could actually complete my goal. So here is my plan, please follow me on my journey to see if I can be successful. If no one follows me, I am sure to fail... I need to lose 50 pounds and a good rate of weight loss is 1 pound per week, so...I will add a...

My husband joined the gym again. I am glad he did, I hope he keeps up with going. He got a three day pass to give someone, so he gave it to me. We are heading out now. We belonged to this gym a year ago and we didn't rejoin cause we just didn't go enough. I don't really want to spend the money, but I am thinking that maybe since I haven't been exercising regularly, I should join. Maybe this time, if I join I will work out more. I would have to set guidelines for myself like, commit to going to the gym three days a week and working out at home three days. If I can get there more, fine, if not, then I will work out at home. That has been my stupid problem in the past. I was working out at home, doing well, decided to join the gym and then got the mindset that if I couldn't get to the gym, I didn't have to work out at all. Stupid, but it is the way my mind works. It is a challenge for me with my work schedule, but I am going to "untry" and just do it! ...

I didn't get a chance to write about this yesterday. I was so happy to see that I have lost weight again this week! I feel so much better! I am sleeping better, even hot flashes seem to be less intense! I want to eat better. I don't want to eat the bad stuff...really, I mean part of me wants it, but I make the good choices instead! It feels great to choose fruit or veggies instead of empty calories. The fruits and veggies also fill me up more, so I don't feel like I have to eat as much. I eat when I am hungry, and only eat till I am full, not stuffed!

I am very frustrated! I ate less all week and worked out every day and there is no change in my weight! I am thinking it may be my sodium intake that is holding me back. I will work to cut that back, plus this is the week of portion control. I do weigh most of what I eat, but still snack on some 100 calorie packs that I don't need. Snacks this week are fruits and veggies, not salty and sweet.

I realized this morning that I am even sleeping better!!! For a long time, I was waking up several times through the night for no apparent reason. The last two nights, I have only awakened when I had to go to the bathroom and this morning, that was only 15 minutes before the alarm was going to go off! I guess the better diet and exercise has many benefits. I heard a commercial for some weight-loss product last night...they said the most obvious thing making it sound like it was some startling new revelation: "Excess body fat accumulates due to poor diet and lack of exercise" Wow, they must be rocket scientists!! Do they think we don't know that? I wonder how many people sat up and said "oh, wow, you mean if I get up off my butt and move and don't eat a dozen donuts every day I will lose weight?!" Oh well, I guess if it motivated one person it was good.

This is me (obviously in the blue dress) last summer...I gained a couple more pounds after this, can't believe I let myself gain all that weight back. I've been thinking a lot lately about my renewed desire to eat right and exercise. I tried so hard for so long to get back on track and just couldn't do it for more than a couple days. I made every excuse to eat more, and not workout. Suddenly, as if I awaking from a bad dream, I have the desire and determination to do this. I did it before, I will do it again. I keep reminding myself that I am going to take baby steps. I am not going to change my plan if someone else challenges me to do so. I am going to stick with my plan and my goals. It is for me and my health. I will continue to be happy with small wins, or, I should say, losses. My goal weight is based on past performance, not any weight chart. When I get to that weight, I will work to maintain it...if I lose more, great, if I don't, I will be happy with where I a...

I am working at home today, doing administrative work, so the challenge will be to not eat constantly. Pretty much think that my big loss last week will keep me motivated, so wish me luck. Walked with Leslie Sansone this morning...off to a good start. Time for breakfast, a shower and then time to work! I have an appointment today, but I am going to call and try to change it to tomorrow so I don't have to take the time away from work that I must get done. My dh is working outside today...poor thing, the high is only supposed to be 25! God Bless him and keep him safe and warm. Happy Tuesday!

I decided that I had to stop making excuses for getting up an exercising, so I set my rooster alarm clock for 6am. The warmth of my blankets held me back a little, but I decided I would get warm while I was exericsing. First thing first...jump on the scale, it is Monday morning, after all. I expected to see a loss of a half pound or so, I exercised a couple of days, but didn't eat as well as I should have. Imagine my surprise when the scale showed a 2.5 pound loss since last Monday!!!! Well, that was enough to get me going. I walked with Leslie Sansone for 30 minutes, then had a bowl of Honey Nut Cherrios and took a shower. Kept my calorie intake low all day, I feel good!!! I feel like I can do this...really, really do it!! I will lose this weight. Total pounds to lose as of January 1, 2009: 55.5 Pounds lost as of January 19: 3.5 Maybe when I have lost most of the weight I will divulge what my starting weight was! Stay tuned!

I am trying to lose weight, a lot of it. Maybe when I have made some progress, I will tell you how much! I have done it before and it always comes back. I am hoping that by setting realistic goals, I will be able to take it off and keep it off. My DH and I will work together to accomplish our goals. My real start date is January 1, but I am taking small steps now to work toward that day. Today I exericsed with my Wii and did some weight training. I am hungry right now and want so much to order Chinese food just one more time before the big changes start! Should I or shouldn't I? It will depend on what DH wants to do. If he wants Chinese, we will order. If he wants to be 'good' I will make a salad. I don't want a salad, but I do want to be healthy. Hey, if anyone is reading this and you have any diet or exercise tips, I'd love to hear them! If you need some advice, I will give you some: www.sparkpeople.com it is a great, free site where you can track what y...