Tired--good tired

I worked pretty much all day today packing and moving. I am amazed at the amount of energy, motivation and stamina that I have. It is truly a blessing to not be so overweight and having to rest often in order to keep going. I'm profoundly grateful for my new body and life.

Tomorrow is the big move day and then there's a lot of unpacking and Monday cleaning the house we're leaving. Lots of exercise, so that's good. :) Good night!

Goal met!

Not my ultimate goal, but a stop along the way. I have always wanted to weigh less than my husband and this morning I do! By two pounds, even! I told him he has to stay where he is so I can keep getting further away from his weight. Now I need to figure out what my next mini-goal should be. Probably seeing the 180s.

There it is again

I was right in my previous post. I am back down to 192 this morning. I was going to stop weighing myself every day, but I'm still doing it. It doesn't drive me crazy if the numbers are moving! :) I just needed to be patient and let my body do its thing.

Keeping busy moving stuff. Life is crazy right now.

Realization

I realized something this morning as I was thinking about my weight. The Friday before my free day last week I weighed 192. It was my lowest yet. Pretty exciting, right? Well, then I had my day- of-lots-of-eating and haven't ever seen it since. My lowest is 194 since then. I've been frustrated with myself because I feel like it's all my fault and I messed up that progress. While there is probably some truth to that, there's another factor that I had forgotten. The truth is, that is how I lose weight. I hang out at one weight for a while, then see a dip to a new low. The number almost always goes back up for a few days to even a week or two, and eventually I make it back down to that number and beyond. Eating aside, that's just how my body seems to do weight loss. So I patiently wait for those numbers to make another appearance.

This was a good week. I used my free points more wisely and didn't go completely overboard with them. I can't wait to see what this next week will bring.

Shirts

Brad was doing laundry and he mistakenly hung one of Rachel's (age 11) shirts in my closet. Twice. Talk about an ego boost!

I even borrowed a half slip from Rachel a couple of Sundays ago. It was pretty short, but fit around my waist without cutting off my circulation. (I think it was an adult size Small.)

We're having a garage sale tomorrow and the next week will be consumed with packing the house for our move (across town.) It's a lot of work, but it's good physical activity. I went running this morning anyway, though, just to feel like I'm getting official exercise in.

Dear Diary

I've got to keep up with my journal entry point for the day, so here I am. :)

Things are busy, but going well. I went running this morning. I haven't been in a while, so it was good to get out and run. I went for two miles.

The challenge is great for keeping me focused and accountable. I also think I'm going to stop weighing every day. I'm seeing a lot of fluctuation, both up and down and it's driving me crazy. Once a week should be enough for now.

We have a garage sale on Saturday and we're moving across town the next Saturday, so I need to get busy!

Reflections on my weekend

Saturday we went to the park with the kids. I swung on one of the swings there at the park. My hips weren't entirely comfortable, but I totally fit. Then, I spent a good 15-20 minutes going up the stairs and down the slides. First it was with Adam, then eventually I was just following him around and going down because it was fun/to get my exercise in for the day. :)

I used Saturday as my free day and therefore didn't make myself follow the no sweets rule, or the no junk food rule. I'll tell you, I didn't feel good at the end of the day and I felt even worse this morning when the scale read the same thing it did last Monday, the first day of the challenge! Ick. We'll have to see what tomorrow brings. I know there are diets out there that allow and encourage one day a week off, but if I'm going to do that, I need to not pig out so much. Oink, oink.

Day 4

Still plugging along, making good choices. It's funny, but having made the commitment to this challenge has really changed my behavior. I still have to try hard, but it's really helping. Pounds are coming off, too. 192 this morning! Brad weighed this morning and we were exactly the same. My next goal was to weigh less than him. So close I can taste it!

Tomorrow is going to be my free day. I am going to use my free points for everything except exercise and fruits and veggies. We have several graduation parties to attend, so I want to be able to enjoy the food there.

Dog tired!

I've worked hard all day long today and I'm so ready to hit the sack! I've been doing really well with my eating. I'll be surprised if my weight doesn't drop significantly with this fitness challenge. I hope so!

I redid the walk I hated so much last week today. I had a friend with me, so that was much more fun. It wasn't nearly as bad. My back still hurt, just not as much and it wasn't cold. I haven't run in a while, I hope to get that in tomorrow. Good night!

I'm really liking this

I woke up early today and got part of my exercise done, read my scriptures and am ready to face the day. I really like this feeling.

When I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing with my time, I just end up not doing important things, like scriptures and journal and even sometimes exercise. With something like this challenge to keep me focused on what I want to be doing, I feel so much more centered and peaceful.

This morning Rachel came upstairs and found me sitting in the recliner, just finishing up with reading my scriptures with the back door open. You could hear the birds chirping and the misty morning air was invigorating. She sat down and we talked for a couple of minutes. Then she said, "It feels like something special is supposed to happen today." I know what she means. It just feels different to have enough sleep and to deliberately start your day off right.

Here's hoping the rest of the day follows this great morning.

One day down, lots to go!

I completed the first day of my challenge. I think I'm going to have a perfect 10 point day. It is definitely taking some work of the mind to make sure I'm following my plan. I still need to read in my scriptures and get to bed on time.

I am super busy right now with moving and garage sale preparations. We are moving in about 3 weeks and only have a little bit packed so far. Lots of work and physical activity!

I did a full T-tapp workout today. Felt good.

Sometimes exercise sucks

Yesterday I went for a walk. I walked close to three miles. It was awful. I hated the last half of that walk with a passion. First of all, it was much colder than I realized when I left the house and instead of going back and getting a jacket, I just went ahead and walked. I figured I'd warm up and be fine. Well, the wind had other ideas. Brrr.

On the way back from my turn-around point I was so cold and my back was killing me. I stopped several times to stretch my back out. At one point I even found some grass to lie down on to make my back feel better. It helped. But man, I think that walk was harder than most of my runs--including the longer ones.

Don't know why that is, but sometimes exercise is just harder. Yesterday was one of those days.

Feeling good

I'm feeling good lately. Not frantic, but just settling into life and for the most part making good choices. My weight has continued to go down bit by bit. I've been at 194 this week.

Next Monday I will start a healthy habits challenge that my sister invited me to do. (It's open to anyone, so holler if you're interested. If you want to be part of the official group, you have to sign up by the 9th.) I'll cut and paste the email I got about it:

Healthy Habits & Wellness Challenge 2009

This is a 12 week Challenge beginning May 11th and ending August 3rd 2009!

DEADLINE - We start this challenge on May 11th - You must be signed up and paid by May 9th @ 12 midnight to participate!


Daily Habits
Each item is worth 1 point, with a possible 10 points per day

1 7 hours of sleep
2 48 oz. water
3 45 minutes of exercise (not necessarily consecutive)
4 2 servings of veggies, 2 servings of fruit
5 No soda, beer, wine, unhealthy snacks, or bad fast food [anything FRIED]
6 No sweets [desserts, pastries and sugary snacks & cereals] * sugar-free alternatives are ok
7 No eating after dinner/8pm
8 15 minutes of scripture reading (or other spiritual text if you don't do scripture)
9 One journal entry (any length)
10 Express sincere appreciation or praise to your spouse (if single, to another person)


Note: You have one free point per category per week. (You may not use a sugar point to have a soda if you have already had soda on a free point. You may also not use an unused journal entry point to skip your exercise. Points are category specific - free points too!)

Exceptions
You are excused from the sweet rule on YOUR BIRTHDAY.
You are allowed three sick days where you are excused from exercising and eating veg/fruit/water [if you can't eat/drink] This is ONLY to be used if you are indeed sick.


PAY to PLAY

This challenge costs $20.00. All paid participants are qualified to win. You must pay to have the ability to win a portion of the kitty. The money is directly paid to a designated PayPal account that is not accessed until the winnings are divided and delivered at the end of the challenge. The more participants the Better! With more of us pulling together the more support we can get and give! So invite your family, friends, and neighbors to join us in this Wellness Challenge and let’s GO! (Simply forward this email to family or friends to invite them!)


Scoring
All scoring is "on your honor." Please update the shared Google spreadsheet each day, or week with your points. I will send you this after you have paid.
There are two categories of winners:

The 3 Challengers with the most points will equally divide 80% of the cash in the Challenge Fund. For example, if there is $500 in the kitty, $400 will be allocated amongst the three players with the most points.

2. All participants with more than 505 points, or 60% of the available points. Because the Wellness Challenge is partly about getting the most points, but mostly about process, any person who gets an average of 6 points or better per day, will have won, and will be eligible for a random giveaway which will be funded by the remaining 20% in the Challenge Fund.


I love this challenge because EVERY person has the ability to get 10 points daily and there are more things to "DO" and not just "DON'T".

The clock is ticking - invite your family and friends and sign-up today!

This is going to be Great!

(end of email)

I'm excited to do this because it will help me focus on some habits I haven't been doing so great on. Yay!

Because one of the items on this list is journal entry, I'll be updating my blog more often. See you soon!