I have stayed on the wagon!

Much to my own surprise, I stayed on the fitness wagon. I did get pretty frustrated by the weight gain I experienced last week. But I stuck to it. I am determined not to stay in this body any longer. I find it really difficult to sneak time for working out in my schedule. That is the biggest challenge for me right now. My back is still not right and I work 10 hour shifts doing some pretty physical work. Who know that working in a grocery store would be so physically demanding? Let me tell you that I am a prety tired puppy at the end of my day and I struggle to either work out after or wake up early to go to the gym. I have stuck to my Biggest Loser workouts on the Wii. So, that is good. I just need to really get a reality check on prioritizing my day so I can get in to the gym at least 4 days a week. Today though, I went on a hike for the first time in months. It was awesome! I plan to go back to Mt. Tom tomorrow and do the whole road to the summit. I am "training" for a big hike I am going to do in the Spring with my friend Marge! We are going to do the 7 Sisters hike from the Summit House on Mt. Holyoke to Bear Mountain. I am excited- I have never completed the hike before so this will be a great thing to accomplish. That being the case, I need to get going with my lower body weight training! I did my research and I am going to get back on track with the Body For Life workouts. That means that I will need to get on the ball 3 days a week with the weights at the gym and the 4th day will be cardio at the gym. I plan on doing the other 2 days of cardio here at home. I figure that WiiFit and Biggest Loser games will suffice. Plus, I am going to hike the road on Mt Tom once a week. That is a lot- and will require that I get of my arse and stick to a schedule. I think it is time to post our dry erase board schedule thing in my workout area so I can track it all. I should get on that later. For now, I have to get ready to go to the gym! Later!

From 7.5 down to 1

All that and only a pound gone... Someone please remind me that muscle weighs more than fat and that it will help me burn more fat in the long run. I was pretty discouraged this am at weigh in. But I was not eliminated so that is good. My back still hurts especially when I am sitting down. So, I guess I should go to the doc soon if it continues. Arg! I now have to fight the urge to get a large mocha on my way to work. :) I won't... But I want to. ;) This is the time when I usually say, "screw it" I guess I am just supposed to be fat. But I know that that is just not true. I am this way because of bad decisions and lack of exercise. I will wipe my mopey face off and get back on the horse. I have to work tonight until midnight- then I am going to the gym. I am going to aim for wii fitness games in the am and the gym at night. So long as I am working this late shift, I might as well take advantage of the 24 hour gym. Ok, that is that. Happy Friday.

Many hours of working out lie before me...

Just kidding. I know that I can't put all of my missed workouts into one day but I am going to do a bigger one today to get back into the groove. I went to the gym yesterday for the first time. I did the treadmill for 25 minutes at varying speeds and elevations. I did not run though- since I have not designed that sucker suit quite yet. I figure that walking at a good clip at a higher incline was just as good as me trying to run. I stayed in the nifty little fat burning heart rate zone and called it a day. Then I did ab work. Oblique twists, crunches, lower back presses and lat pull downs. I am trying to get my core stronger so that my back stops hurting. Today, I have some Biggest Loser workouts to catch up on and then I am going to go to the gym for the cardio bit. I may do the bike and the treadmill- we will see how it goes. I have still been eating clean. The other night at work- ( i have been working the overnight shift at work- that has sure messed up this week) they ordered pizza. I had some of my lentil chips and salsa instead. I was impressed. Boy, did I want that pizza though. That is one of my favorite foods. Julia said that she would figure out how to make me one that was weight watcher friendly. :) That is why I love her. (amongst everything else I love about her!) Since we did a complete overhaul of the store including tearing down and rebuilding entire sections of shelving I recon I got my workouts in... even if it wasn't at a gym. :) Alright, so if I can stay away from back injury- I should be back on track. I have to weigh in tomorrow again- yikes. So, I will keep you all posted. Have a good Thursday!

Ouch! Pinched my Sciatic Nerve... no workouts the last two days

Well, my first setback. I have been forgo-ing working out for the last couple of days such that I can make it through work instead. I have been popping the advil and using the heating pad- hopefully that and some stretching will clear this up. It is painful I have to say... ouch. I have been following my eating plan to the letter though! We went out for breakfast this morning and I got an egg white omlete with black beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheddar. I ate one slice of sunflower toast. I split my omlette with Julia and she shared with me her chocolate chip cocconut pancake. While it was more points than I would normally eat for breakfast- it is Sunday, and I am going to eat clean the rest of the day. That being said, I am still going to be on track for more loss next week. I am working the overnight shift at work Monday and Tueday- and I plan to go to the gym after I get out of work. Then I am off Wednesday and Thursday- and I hope to be able to get in some weight training at the gym both those days. I will use my Biggest Loser workouts in between. I missed one day of that this week, so I will have some making up to do. Trust me though, work has been a workout lately. Nothing like 19 pallets of boxes filled with juice and canned goods and pet food and what feels like concrete blocks to get the muscles moving. Yikes. Lots of good articles in the latest issue (Jan/Feb) of Health Magazine. It is the special "Get Back-In-Shape" issue. Check it out on http://www.health.com/. I really liked the article called, Real Secrets to Forever Weight Loss. It summarizes the way to stay on track is to find a way to help others. So, who is in this with me??? Let's stay on track together. Thanks for helping me stay on track by reading this blog!
:)

7.5 Pounds Down!

Whoo! I participated in my Biggest Loser weigh in today- and I have lost 7.5 pounds! That is a feat! It is for me anyway. Still woring on that sucker suit idea... it might actually have legs. Just kidding. I think I just need to develop a compression gut suit like the athletes wear under their shorts. I just need it to come up about 6 more inches and not ride down with use. :) Like athletic Spanxx. lol! I wonder if Lane Bryant would be interested. ha ha ha. oh, that would be funnier if I wasn't really kinda serious. hee hee.
Anyway, last night we had a lemon mushroom chicken made with tofu. (yes, I eat tofu. Ryan, you can stop laughing at any time. Hey- why aren't you following me anyway- some little brother you are. :) ) We had roasted carrots with it. Yummo! And it was only like 6 points total. I am eating a lot better i have to say. I am enjoying fruits and veggies as snacks instead of chocolate Joe-Joe's. Although, I could have them... I just am trying not to. The Candy Cane ones in my pantry right now keep calling to me though. I am sure I will let myself have one this weekend. Maybe. :) We did break down and buy ice cream last night. Peanut Butter Cup. But, it was the 1/2 fat version and we stuck to the serving size. Only 3 points and it was totally worth it!
I have become one of those annoying people that look at labels on food boxes. :) sigh.
So, me and my ipod are heading out with Molly for a walk and I will post again soon! Have a great weekend!

So, today was going to to be the day that I joined the gym... and then I woke up to no heat in the house. Looks like I might just be sticking to the home gym for a while. I could find out that the repair bill won't be that bad and then I will be back to join tomorrow. But, since the repair guy is not even here yet...I will have to wait and see. At any rate, I am plugging along. I made an egg white omlete with mushrooms, tomatoes and some Cabot 75% reduced fat cheese. I have to sat that it was tasty. I have not figured out the points for it yet. I hope it is low. :) I had a banana and half a light mozzarella cheese stick for snack. You might be thinking- why only half the cheese stick? It is because I have a black lab with super-sonic cheese stick wrapper opening hearing. She then gives me "the face" until I relent and share my cheese stick. She just loves cheese... (it is the only way I can hide pills and she will still take them) Sigh. All the better for my caloric intake I guess. :) I am soon heading off to a meeting at work. First, I will make a yummy salad with some of the chicken drummets Julia made last night so that I will not be tempted to eat any snacks that may be provided. I am going to grab a coffee on my way there to keep me warm in our backroom. ( where the meeting will be) Then, I am going to run a couple of errands and come back home to a hopefully warmer house and do my Wii Fit Plus customized cardio workout. Tomorrow, I have to weigh in on Biggest Loser. I don't want to be sent home in the first week. Yikes. There is actually an elimination... not even kidding. I am the only player. I would never be able to face the light of day if I am kicked off. :) So- healthy eating today it is and lots of cardio tonight. :) Enjoy the day!

Day 4 and I haven't given up yet! :)

Wow, this might actually be working. Although, I may be the only person in recorded history to *gain* a pound during the first couple of days of actually eating healthy. I hope this is not a bad sign of things to come. :) sigh. Leave it to me to do things backwards. I am following the Biggest Loser program on my Wii, exercising every other day for at least  25 minutes sustained. I have done lower and upper body exercises so far. I am in for a core workout today. I am also going to add in the yoga from Wii Fit for the balance and stretching. (I suck at balance things... anyone who knows me knows this. So, i hope that I can manage not to hurt myself doing yoga. How funny would that be??? ) I am still on a mission to find my belly button and I realize that means CARDIO. (Have I mentioned how much I hate cardio yet?) I am going to invent a full body compression suit that chicks that are big like me can run in without hurting ourselves from the parts of our bodies that are moving as we are. (and by moving I mean giggling and somehow it is in the opposite rhythm of our motion- and anyone who has experienced this knows what I am talking about. I can not wait to be able to move quickly without my gut trying to detatch from me as I am doing it. Ab crunches, anyone??) :) Sigh. They don't have solutions for these things in all of the fitness mags. Mainly because everyone in them is already fit. I think I may be on to something here with the suit... I wonder if those new Speedo suits that were almost banned from the Olympics would work. lol.
So, I watched The Biggest Loser on tv last night. Wow. Some dude lost 35 pounds in a week. Holy crud, Batman. People in this season are 300lbs and bigger. I am glad that I got this into control before I got to that point. I wonder how much activity they really do in a day to get to the point of dropping 12-30lbs in a week. I would have to live on the treadmill I think. I am glad for the show though- it actually shows people on tv that are not the picture of fitness and shows the actual struggle that they go through both physically and emotionally. I especially like the fact that there is a focus on the struggle some of the contestants go through regarding food. I can completely relate as they are trying to make healthy choices and are tempted with sweets and junk food.
Ok- so today I went on a 50 minute hike with my friend Marge and Miss Molly and the Bella Monster. I am about to change into some shorts and head to the basement to do my Biggest Loser core workout. Then I am going to make something for lunch. Julia made a Cuban style pork and sweet potato stew last night so I will probably have that and a salad. I am so lucky to have someone who is willing to make all of these crazy "clean" recipies for me else I would be sustaining on protein bars and carrot sticks. :)
Things are going well so far! I am fighting the tempation to finish off the Christmas cookies still in the house- but I am holding on to my will power and resisting it. :) More later!

Two days in and going strong!

Hello there fearless readers- here is my post from the flip side... I am two days into my smackdown and things are going well. I worked out last night with my Biggest Loser Wii game. I am going to tell you right now, that thing kicked my butt. Wow. I mean really. I must be the most out of shape lug on the planet because a video game kicked my arse. Sigh. All day long today I remembered how it kicked me cause my quads screamed everytime I bent down. Which I had to often today trust me. I have eaten cleaner in the last two days than I have in months. (that is kinda sad- just saying) I hope that I can keep it up. Temptation is REALLY hard for me to ignore. I have instantaneous gratification disorder when it comes to sweets. Then, just to add insult- Girl Scout cookie ordering season is here. Thin Mints are my *favorite* and I have to say no. Really, no. Now, Julia will tell me that I can have some- I will just have to deduct the "points". What she fails to understand is that I eat them a sleeve at a time. That is like a hundred points I am sure. I only get like 31 a day, so I would have to fast for like a week after that. We all know better than that- so I will have to abstain from the Girl Scout cookies for this year until my will power improves. *arg!*
Tonight for dinner we had a yummy meatloaf with green beans and mashed potatoes. The whole thing was only 8 points! It was good. (and healthy) I will post the recipies of what we are making if anyone wants to know. :)
I am getting ready to workout again tonight. It is like 3 degrees outside with a windchill and snow. That makes working out outside not an option. As I get older my tolerance for cold goes down... especially in my toes and fingertips. I am looking forward to either the thaw, or some significant snow so I can bust out the snowshoes. Ok, so that is it. I am exercising, eating not junk food, drinking tons of water and trying to be good. I am going to try to figure out how to get a picture on here so I can get a "before" picture up. More soon!

Here we go...

So, I joined up at Weight Watcher's online. I have to track everything I eat and my lovely wife is going to figure out how many points I am wasting. ( I mean eating. :) ) i am not used to doing such things but we will give it a go. I am going to rely on Julia to pack up my lunch and snacks for a bit. (ok, she usually does. What am I thinking? ) I am really just using this weight watcher thing as a way to control portion sizes and look for healthy alternatives to things I like to eat.
Tomorrow, I will start at 5:15 am-ish with some oatmeal and a serving of OJ. I am going to take my multivitamin, vitamin D, flax oil, and pack up a big water bottle. I am going to bring a glass of water to bed so I can sip all night and finish it off before I hop into the shower. I have to work at 6am and I am there until 4pm so I will not get any cardio in until I get home. I plan to walk for 30 minutes (unless I am snowblowing) at some point before we leave for Framingham around 7pm. We are going to go see a band out there.
I am going to join the gym this week and I will be following the workout plan from the Biggest Loser. I was lucky enough to pick up the Biggest Loser game for Wii tonight. :) I will be loading that into the old Wii tomorrow. I am going to alternate between that and Wii Fit and Wii Active. I have lots to help me keep track of how often I am exercising and how much I am losing.
More than anything, I hope to just become more fit. I am tired of being tired. I would like to be "athletic" again. I don't care what the scale says- I just want to feel good. I want my orange Mountain Hardwear jacket to fit. :) I am a Libra- I am vain... kinda. :)
So- I have tomato soup, with multigrain crackers, pineapple fruit cup, and a cheese stick for lunch tomorrow. Actually, I am going to use the cheese stick and half the crackers as a snack. I am going to drink nothing but water while I am working. Wish me luck!
I am now off to bed since I have to be up before 5am.

Tomorrow is the Day!

Ok- so, here we are. Happy New Year! I am going to spend time today putting the whole plan together. So stay posted! This will be the first post today. I just wanted to check in and let y'all know that I will officially begin tomorrow! Stay tuned!
:)