I'm back! Woo! Here are my results for the day:
Calories: 1471
Fruit: One apple
Water: 8 1/2 cups
Exercise: 21.5 minutes on the elliptical
Scale: Nope. :)
A little better on the calories today - I like the number being in the 1300s or 1400s. Better on the elliptical. It's amazing how much ground I lost in a month and a half of not going to the gym! I did fine today as far as my cardiovascular system was concerned, but my thighs got very sore. I'll get back there soon enough. If I did 21 1/2 minutes tonight, maybe I can do 25 tomorrow.
So, a good day! Here's to another one tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday Again
Look at me, back at the end of the day to tell you how I did! Hee.
Here's how I did today!
Calories: 1528. High end of my range, but under my upper limit, so I'm happy. :)
Fruit: A banana with lunch.
Exercise: I managed to get through almost 15 minutes on the new elliptical that Jim bought us yesterday. Yay, new elliptical! Boo, not working out for a month and a half (the bike doesn't count, apparently, since it never got me that short of breath or got my heart rate that high) means that 15 minutes on the elliptical kicks my butt. I'll be back on it tomorrow, though.
Water: If I finish what's in front of me, I'll be over 9 cups today. Yay!
Scale: I didn't step so much as a single toe on it.
Here's how I did today!
Calories: 1528. High end of my range, but under my upper limit, so I'm happy. :)
Fruit: A banana with lunch.
Exercise: I managed to get through almost 15 minutes on the new elliptical that Jim bought us yesterday. Yay, new elliptical! Boo, not working out for a month and a half (the bike doesn't count, apparently, since it never got me that short of breath or got my heart rate that high) means that 15 minutes on the elliptical kicks my butt. I'll be back on it tomorrow, though.
Water: If I finish what's in front of me, I'll be over 9 cups today. Yay!
Scale: I didn't step so much as a single toe on it.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Weekly Wrap Up
So, week one of my 28 Day Challenge is over, and how did I do? Well, uh...yeah, not very well. Here are my five daily challenges, with a breakdown of how I did on each:
1. Eat in my calorie range every day. Um, not so much. Did I at all this week? I think so, but barely. Let's just say I was not very good at saying no to myself this week.
2. Drink at last 8 glasses of water every day. I did great on this Monday - Friday. I even managed to get all eight glasses in while I was at work, and then got a couple more in at night when I got home. Yesterday and today, I only got about four cups, so I still have to work on the weekend water drinking.
3. Don't step on the scale. I got on it twice. And I'm rethinking this one anyway. A lot of my overeating happened because my mind was here: if I don't have to weigh in for four weeks, then I can overeat today! I'll still have so many more days to be good before I have to step on the scale! Um, not good. I'm sticking to the weighing in once a month for now, but after this 28 days is over, I might switch back to every week. We'll see. I like the idea of seeing a big loss after four weeks, but if it makes me think I can do badly for the first week or two, then I'm shooting myself in my own foot.
4. Exercise every day. I worked out at least three days, so I did okay on this one. It wasn't every day, but it was more than I've been doing. And I'll do even better this next week, because Jim bought us an elliptical today! He got it all together and we tested it out a bit tonight, and it works just as well as the expensive one the gym had, and it's right in my own living room. Yay! I'll start using it tomorrow after work.
5. Eat at least one piece of fruit per day. I actually did okay on this one, too! I ate at least one piece of fruit every day except yesterday and today. Not bad!
Okay, so a so so first week, but week two will be better. And I'll try to be better at coming in here and updating every day, to keep myself honest. :) So I'll see you tomorrow night!
1. Eat in my calorie range every day. Um, not so much. Did I at all this week? I think so, but barely. Let's just say I was not very good at saying no to myself this week.
2. Drink at last 8 glasses of water every day. I did great on this Monday - Friday. I even managed to get all eight glasses in while I was at work, and then got a couple more in at night when I got home. Yesterday and today, I only got about four cups, so I still have to work on the weekend water drinking.
3. Don't step on the scale. I got on it twice. And I'm rethinking this one anyway. A lot of my overeating happened because my mind was here: if I don't have to weigh in for four weeks, then I can overeat today! I'll still have so many more days to be good before I have to step on the scale! Um, not good. I'm sticking to the weighing in once a month for now, but after this 28 days is over, I might switch back to every week. We'll see. I like the idea of seeing a big loss after four weeks, but if it makes me think I can do badly for the first week or two, then I'm shooting myself in my own foot.
4. Exercise every day. I worked out at least three days, so I did okay on this one. It wasn't every day, but it was more than I've been doing. And I'll do even better this next week, because Jim bought us an elliptical today! He got it all together and we tested it out a bit tonight, and it works just as well as the expensive one the gym had, and it's right in my own living room. Yay! I'll start using it tomorrow after work.
5. Eat at least one piece of fruit per day. I actually did okay on this one, too! I ate at least one piece of fruit every day except yesterday and today. Not bad!
Okay, so a so so first week, but week two will be better. And I'll try to be better at coming in here and updating every day, to keep myself honest. :) So I'll see you tomorrow night!
Monday, February 21, 2011
End of Day One
I am so very tired. It's 7:28 p.m. and I feel like it's the middle of the night, I'm so tired. I don't think I'm going to be up very much longer.
That being said, here are today's stats!
Calories: 1500. Higher than I would normally do on a weekday, but did I mention I was tired? Really, the fact that I managed to do this well is amazing to me.
Exercise: I did 15 minutes on the bike, then when I felt like I would lose my mind from boredom (I was watching TV while doing it, but exercise machines just aren't fun no matter what), I took a break and did my floor work - crunches and buttock tucks. Then I got back on the bike and did 15 minutes again. Woo! Considering how tired I was (am), I'm very happy with that.
Fruit: I ate a Fruit Naturals cup of mandarin oranges.
Water: I'm working on cup number seven - one more to go. I'll make sure to get it in before I hit the bed and hopefully sleep like the dead. Or sleep like a babe, since that sounds less horrible.
Scale: I didn't go anywhere near it. :)
That being said, here are today's stats!
Calories: 1500. Higher than I would normally do on a weekday, but did I mention I was tired? Really, the fact that I managed to do this well is amazing to me.
Exercise: I did 15 minutes on the bike, then when I felt like I would lose my mind from boredom (I was watching TV while doing it, but exercise machines just aren't fun no matter what), I took a break and did my floor work - crunches and buttock tucks. Then I got back on the bike and did 15 minutes again. Woo! Considering how tired I was (am), I'm very happy with that.
Fruit: I ate a Fruit Naturals cup of mandarin oranges.
Water: I'm working on cup number seven - one more to go. I'll make sure to get it in before I hit the bed and hopefully sleep like the dead. Or sleep like a babe, since that sounds less horrible.
Scale: I didn't go anywhere near it. :)
28 Day Plan
It's currently 3:28 a.m. I went to bed at 10:00, and have been laying here awake ever since. Oh insomnia, why do you only hit on work nights? Seriously, now I'm going to have to call in (I don't know about you, but I can't work on no sleep - I can't even type a sentence in here without making a ton of mistakes, so assuming I was able to drive myself to work without killing myself in a car accident, I'd be making stupid mistakes all day, so no thanks).
Anyway. I came up with a plan last night, before I went to bed and never went to sleep. The name of this blog is 30 Days of Denise, because when I started it, I was chronicling a 30 day challenge of basically behaving on my diet and not messing up at all. I succeeded, and then never did that many days in a row again. Well, I'm going to change that, because while I've been doing well on weekdays, for the most part, I have been falling apart on weekends, and it can't continue. I have a deadline here, people! I can't screw around anymore, not even for a day or two on the weekends.
So, here's the plan I came up with, while I was failing to get to sleep. For 28 days in a row (less than the 30 in my blog title, but oh well - an even four weeks is just easier to keep track of), I will do the following:
*Eat between 1200 and 1550 calories per day (the amount Spark People tells me I should eat in order to lose weight).
*Exercise - cardio for half an hour, and then floor exercises to strengthen my abs, butt and legs, plus hand weight or resistance band work for my arms (every day for the cardio and floor work, every other day for the weight work).
*Eat at least one piece of fruit. Okay, this may sound like a no brainer for most of you, but even though I like apples, bananas, strawberries, mandarin oranges and orange juice, if given the choice between any of those and a granola bar as a snack, I'll take the granola bar every time. I need to work on getting more fruit into my diet.
*Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day. This is usually an easy one for me, except on the weekend. Then I allow myself a soda or two, and the water doesn't happen. It's time to change that. I can still have a weekend day soda if I want, but it has to come in addition to the water, not in place of it.
*Don't step on the scale until the 28 days are over! This may well be the hardest one for me. When I'm not doing well, I have no problem staying away from the scale. Who wants to see their weight go up? Not me. But when I'm doing well, I want to see the weight go down, so I end up getting on the scale every day. It's not healthy for my state of mind. So I am setting this part of the challenge to keep me off the damn scale until each 28 day period is over.
In addition to the above things, I'll be writing in here every day. If I don't really have anything to say (I'm wordy, but not wordy enough to do a whole essay every single day), then I'll just do an entry giving the following stats at the end of each day:
Number of Calories Eaten:
Cups of water I drank:
What fruit I ate:
What I did for exercise:
Did I step on the scale?: (This one should always have no for an answer, and having to post the answer here will hopefully help me stay off the blasted thing.)
So there's my plan, that I detailed to myself when I should have been sleeping. I'm hoping to get on the scale at the end of the 28 days and see good news. We'll see!
Oh, and I don't have an exact starting weight for this 28 day period, because my period is due, and the water weight has packed on, so I stayed off the scale this weekend (plus I ate way too much the last two days). I will say, though, that on Thursday I was down to around 212.75. Woo! (I say around 212.75 because I can get on my scale five times and get five different weights. It's frustrating, but what are you going to do. I usually go with the lowest weight I get - that was the lowest on that day.) Who knows, maybe in this first 28 days I'll get below that 200 number! This season's biggest loser contestants are calling having a weight that starts with a 1 being in "Onederland." I want to be in onederland so badly! Maybe 28 days from now I'll be there.
Okay, now I'm going to mindlessly surf the web in lieu of sleeping, then call in to work as an insomniac loser, and then probably lay in bed or on the futon all day watching TV and wishing I weren't so tired. I will still get in my exercise, though. I don't have to be wide awake and alert to sit my ass on the exercise bike and pedal while watching TV.
Here's to a great 28 days! And no repeat of this insomnia anytime soon!
Anyway. I came up with a plan last night, before I went to bed and never went to sleep. The name of this blog is 30 Days of Denise, because when I started it, I was chronicling a 30 day challenge of basically behaving on my diet and not messing up at all. I succeeded, and then never did that many days in a row again. Well, I'm going to change that, because while I've been doing well on weekdays, for the most part, I have been falling apart on weekends, and it can't continue. I have a deadline here, people! I can't screw around anymore, not even for a day or two on the weekends.
So, here's the plan I came up with, while I was failing to get to sleep. For 28 days in a row (less than the 30 in my blog title, but oh well - an even four weeks is just easier to keep track of), I will do the following:
*Eat between 1200 and 1550 calories per day (the amount Spark People tells me I should eat in order to lose weight).
*Exercise - cardio for half an hour, and then floor exercises to strengthen my abs, butt and legs, plus hand weight or resistance band work for my arms (every day for the cardio and floor work, every other day for the weight work).
*Eat at least one piece of fruit. Okay, this may sound like a no brainer for most of you, but even though I like apples, bananas, strawberries, mandarin oranges and orange juice, if given the choice between any of those and a granola bar as a snack, I'll take the granola bar every time. I need to work on getting more fruit into my diet.
*Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day. This is usually an easy one for me, except on the weekend. Then I allow myself a soda or two, and the water doesn't happen. It's time to change that. I can still have a weekend day soda if I want, but it has to come in addition to the water, not in place of it.
*Don't step on the scale until the 28 days are over! This may well be the hardest one for me. When I'm not doing well, I have no problem staying away from the scale. Who wants to see their weight go up? Not me. But when I'm doing well, I want to see the weight go down, so I end up getting on the scale every day. It's not healthy for my state of mind. So I am setting this part of the challenge to keep me off the damn scale until each 28 day period is over.
In addition to the above things, I'll be writing in here every day. If I don't really have anything to say (I'm wordy, but not wordy enough to do a whole essay every single day), then I'll just do an entry giving the following stats at the end of each day:
Number of Calories Eaten:
Cups of water I drank:
What fruit I ate:
What I did for exercise:
Did I step on the scale?: (This one should always have no for an answer, and having to post the answer here will hopefully help me stay off the blasted thing.)
So there's my plan, that I detailed to myself when I should have been sleeping. I'm hoping to get on the scale at the end of the 28 days and see good news. We'll see!
Oh, and I don't have an exact starting weight for this 28 day period, because my period is due, and the water weight has packed on, so I stayed off the scale this weekend (plus I ate way too much the last two days). I will say, though, that on Thursday I was down to around 212.75. Woo! (I say around 212.75 because I can get on my scale five times and get five different weights. It's frustrating, but what are you going to do. I usually go with the lowest weight I get - that was the lowest on that day.) Who knows, maybe in this first 28 days I'll get below that 200 number! This season's biggest loser contestants are calling having a weight that starts with a 1 being in "Onederland." I want to be in onederland so badly! Maybe 28 days from now I'll be there.
Okay, now I'm going to mindlessly surf the web in lieu of sleeping, then call in to work as an insomniac loser, and then probably lay in bed or on the futon all day watching TV and wishing I weren't so tired. I will still get in my exercise, though. I don't have to be wide awake and alert to sit my ass on the exercise bike and pedal while watching TV.
Here's to a great 28 days! And no repeat of this insomnia anytime soon!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Keeping My Focus Short, Not Long-Term
I didn't weigh in on Monday, because I was BAD last week. Oh man, I ate so much. :D
But I've been making up for it this week, and doing really well, so I'll be back weighing in at some point this weekend or on Monday, and I should have good news to report.
But here's one thing I've realized about this weight loss attempt. I'm not focusing on how much I have left to lose. In fact, I haven't really stopped to figure it out at all. When I started I knew what weight I wanted to be at by my wedding, I figured out how much weight I'd have to lose each week to get there, and I've focused only on those numbers. If I don't make a weekly weight, I don't get too concerned, as long as I can make the monthly goal. I'm working hard right now to make sure that my week of messing up doesn't stop me from reaching my goal for the end of this month.
And I really do think that focusing on the short term goals, while keeping the long term goal in the back of my mind, has really helped me. It's so easy to get discouraged if you think about the big number that you still have left to lose. I mean, I went into this wanting to lose 87.5 pounds! That sounds almost impossible. But 2.5 pounds here, 10 pounds there, sounds so much more reasonable and achievable.
And I also always have in the back of my mind that eating this small amount (1300-1400 calories) is only temporary. When I get to my goal, I'll be able to increase that a bit in order to maintain the weight where I want to stay. Eating the way I used to should never become a daily habit with me again, but I'll be able to eat a normal amount, and I won't have to focus quite so much on how many calories are in each meal I eat. That keeps me going, too, when it feels like I can't stand counting calories yet another day.
I like having a plan of just monitoring my weight once a week to make sure it isn't creeping back up, and cutting back for a few days if it does. That sounds so NICE!
And for right now, I just keep plugging away, day after day, knowing that if I get through each day without overeating, my body will do what I want it to do. The end will come, and in fact it's creeping closer and closer with every passing week. And I can get to that end goal without having to focus on the big number that signifies how much work I have left to do.
But I've been making up for it this week, and doing really well, so I'll be back weighing in at some point this weekend or on Monday, and I should have good news to report.
But here's one thing I've realized about this weight loss attempt. I'm not focusing on how much I have left to lose. In fact, I haven't really stopped to figure it out at all. When I started I knew what weight I wanted to be at by my wedding, I figured out how much weight I'd have to lose each week to get there, and I've focused only on those numbers. If I don't make a weekly weight, I don't get too concerned, as long as I can make the monthly goal. I'm working hard right now to make sure that my week of messing up doesn't stop me from reaching my goal for the end of this month.
And I really do think that focusing on the short term goals, while keeping the long term goal in the back of my mind, has really helped me. It's so easy to get discouraged if you think about the big number that you still have left to lose. I mean, I went into this wanting to lose 87.5 pounds! That sounds almost impossible. But 2.5 pounds here, 10 pounds there, sounds so much more reasonable and achievable.
And I also always have in the back of my mind that eating this small amount (1300-1400 calories) is only temporary. When I get to my goal, I'll be able to increase that a bit in order to maintain the weight where I want to stay. Eating the way I used to should never become a daily habit with me again, but I'll be able to eat a normal amount, and I won't have to focus quite so much on how many calories are in each meal I eat. That keeps me going, too, when it feels like I can't stand counting calories yet another day.
I like having a plan of just monitoring my weight once a week to make sure it isn't creeping back up, and cutting back for a few days if it does. That sounds so NICE!
And for right now, I just keep plugging away, day after day, knowing that if I get through each day without overeating, my body will do what I want it to do. The end will come, and in fact it's creeping closer and closer with every passing week. And I can get to that end goal without having to focus on the big number that signifies how much work I have left to do.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Kicking Ass and Taking Names
Weeks keep going by, and so far I keep kicking butt. I'm down two pounds this week, woo! My total so far is 12.25 pounds lost, and it's been just five weeks, so I'm right on course. Yay!
I've been pretty good at making wise choices lately, too. Yesterday we went to Denny's for a late breakfast/early lunch. Instead of getting my favorite cheeseburger and seasoned fries (yum), I got two scrambled eggs, two pieces of toast and two pieces of bacon. The bacon sounds bad, but just two slices fit into my day's calories easily. Then we went to the hockey game at work last night, and of course there aren't really any wise choices there - just bad ones and not so bad ones. So I chose a not so bad one and got two slices of pizza. I ate one and a half slices, and gave the other half to Jim. And it fit into my day's calories, so again - the wisest choice I could have made, from a menu that was either pizza or fried foods and not much else.
I love that I've been staying so motivated, too. I guess I just needed to have that wedding deadline looming larger with every passing week! The idea of that coming, and there not being any time to goof around anymore, has pushed me to do well every week, so far. And I'm going to make sure that continues!
I've been pretty good at making wise choices lately, too. Yesterday we went to Denny's for a late breakfast/early lunch. Instead of getting my favorite cheeseburger and seasoned fries (yum), I got two scrambled eggs, two pieces of toast and two pieces of bacon. The bacon sounds bad, but just two slices fit into my day's calories easily. Then we went to the hockey game at work last night, and of course there aren't really any wise choices there - just bad ones and not so bad ones. So I chose a not so bad one and got two slices of pizza. I ate one and a half slices, and gave the other half to Jim. And it fit into my day's calories, so again - the wisest choice I could have made, from a menu that was either pizza or fried foods and not much else.
I love that I've been staying so motivated, too. I guess I just needed to have that wedding deadline looming larger with every passing week! The idea of that coming, and there not being any time to goof around anymore, has pushed me to do well every week, so far. And I'm going to make sure that continues!
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