Jim's week in review ... back in the saddle again

Yup! Back in the saddle indeed! This has been a good week! My water consumption was up (2-3 bottles per day) and ... don't freak out on this one ... I have been riding my exercise bike again! Every morning this week I have spent 15 minutes on the bike. Honestly, I had forgotten how good that felt. On Tuesday, I went in to work having ridden and a couple teachers mentioned how chipper I was looking.

This weekend, I will be out camping and hiking We will be hiking on the trails of the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest on the Parnell Segment. First we will be heading to a camp shelter near the Parnell Observation tower and take fresh pics for the front page of my hiking website (which I really need to update). The website can be found at http://mnjhiketheiat.net (shameless self-promotion). My plan for Saturday is to hike and aside from breakfast, eat nothing but a couple protein bars and drink nothing but water all day.

A couple times in the past week, I have had some severe intestinal issues, including some bloating, belching (a nasty, sulfuric affair) and diarrhea. A friend suggested a nice little OTC remedy, and I took it for the first time last night and the early results seem promising. I will post more about the results of trying this out next week.

And now, the moment of truth. If you remember my post last week, I had gone back up to 275. Well, today I am down to 273.2 (loss of 1.8). I think that once I break through the 270 barrier, I will probably start losing more rapidly ... I just need to break through that barrier.

Well, off to work for me, and happy losing to you!

Mamavation Monday - Dropping the Ball

Happy Monday, everyone. Oh how I wish I could say that I had another butt kicking weigh in this morning. I didn't, though. I totally dropped the ball this last week. My water intake was pretty much non-existant. My dietary habits weren't bad, actually but probably could have been improved upon. Exercise...oh right...that's the thing you do when you get up and move about, right? Ok, I didn't totally slack there. In fact, I spent about 4 hours in the pool last week helping little kids learn how to swim. Apparently that wasn't enough to counteract the not drinking of water and such.

I'm still down 10 pounds from where I started. This is a good thing. I'm not closer to my mini goal of 275. That's annoying. I managed to lose 10 pounds. I know more how to do this. This is good. I totally didn't do it. That's bad.

The reality is that I know what I did wrong. I know that I let emotions totally get in the way of what I needed to be doing. It's been a rocky week for that. I just got to the part of things where I could move on from that last big rejection when that person suddenly popped up again and started acting like nothing had happened. That is such a man thing, I swear. Now to those few male readers I have, please don't take it personally. It's just that I've never experienced that behavior in anyone other than a man.

On top of that, I felt totally rejected by someone else that I've cared about for years. So, that didn't help. Plus, lately, I've been feeling really isolated. Truth be told, I am isolated. I live in the middle of nowhere and don't really have the money to go see people plus my house is in no condition (total representation of where I am emotionally) to have anyone here. I've also felt really apart from my mamavation lovelies. I'm sure a lot of that is all in my head but since this latest round started I feel like no one has time for me anymore and they're all busy with each other.

Now, really, I'm sure that's not the case at all. Heck, it's no one's job to babysit me. I'm just as capable of picking up the phone and texting or what have you. It's also my job to get off my sizeable rear end and get moving on things. I wrote this long thing yesterday (where very few people can actually read it) and I said that I'm not as put together as everyone thinks I am. I'm really not. Right now, I'm actually really fragile. I'm emotionally tired right now and that's dangerous for someone trying to lose weight.

So, where is this post going? I have no idea. I seem to have totally lost the thread of where that was...I guess I'll just say that a person can never have too much support. I need support. Jim needs support. My Mamavation sisters need support. I'm asking my friends to come out of the woodwork right now and remind me of all the awesome things about me and to show me some support. Together, we can do anything, even shed over 100 pounds. I'm going to look at this gain as a good thing. It reminded me of what I need to be focusing on. 10 pounds down, 101 to go.

Average Daily Water Intake: I won't say 0 but it was really, really low.
Workouts: 4 hours of pool time working with kids
Weight Change: +1.8 (current weight: 281.6)
Overall Weight Change: -10.2 pounds


PS No, there is no rhyme or reason for today's graphic other than when I was looking for something related to 2 pounds it came up and amused me. So, enjoy today's McHottie, everyone!

Jim's week in review... Spring Break Edition!

So, today is the final day of spring break. Spring break is ... well, it is fun. It is also my worst nightmare. Let me explain. I am a mindless snacker. If I am home, I will snack, pure and simple. It doesn't have to do with being hungry, it has to do with habit. It is a habit I am trying very hard to break. I can think nothing of watching something on TV and munching on a bag of chips or pretzels. As a matter of fact, I really AM thinking of nothing while I am doing it. So my main defense has been to not have those snack foods in the house.

Spring break, however ... well, it kinda queers things. I had my first family barbecue of the year during spring break this year. My brother and sister and their families came over, we fired up the grill and cooked up a storm. Chicken breasts, dogs and burgers (both beef and turkey). I limited the other items to veggie trays. No creamy potato salads and no pasta salads, both of which are absolute diet killers. My sister makes an awesome salsa, though. However, there is always an abundance of chips and pretzels at a barbecue, and now those are just sitting on my counter.

Add to that, there was Easter dinner yesterday, and I was invited to a Palm Sunday dinner last week. then during the week, I was on the go alot, so there was a lot of eating out. Needless to say, I didn't do so good this week. Have you ever felt like you were losing the same three pounds over and over again? I have looked at my posts since starting to blog here and realized I have been fluctuating between 275 and 272 most of the time. My trip to the scale today found me at 275 again. Over the next few weeks, I am sure I will lose down to 272 again, then end up messing up again. I really need to start thinking thin!

Well, back up on the horse ... time to drink water, stop eating and start exercising again ... and until Friday, I hope that you, gentle readers will do better than I have been. Anyone with a few ideas on how I can break the habit of mindless snacking, please drop a comment. I could use the help.

Jim's Week in Review ... a few days late this time!

I lost my key!

They say that the key to weight loss is drinking plenty of water. I have failed in this lately. Sad, but true. I havne't been drinking water as I should. Of course, I haven't really been drinking many fluids at all lately. I have decided to get myself back on track this week, while I am on Spring break. Sadly, in the last week or so, I have gained a little weight back, and I am tipping the scales at 273.0, for a gain of .6 pounds.

However, it isn't all bad news this week! As anyone who has had a weight problem knows, closets tend to take on a layered consistency. The person who is fighting a weight problem has int heir closet the clothes that fit them now, the clothes that are just a little too small, and the clothes that are a little too big.

Well, over the last few days, I was cleaning out my closet. My closet didn't have clothes bigger than what I had been wearing over the last year ... I was as big and heavy as I had been in a long time. The sizes in my closet only went down, and guess what? I was able to fit in the slightly smaller sizes again. I rearranged my clothes around a new reality ... I had clothes that were too big again! I will check in on Friday and let you know how I am doing with my water intake and weight again.

Mamavation Monday - Fantastic Weekend

Ok, so I have to say I don't know what happened to Jim on Friday or heck, what's happened to Deanne for something like the past 3 weeks. I'm going to have to check in on them and see what's up.

That being said, I had a super awesome fantastic wonderful want to do it again so soon weekend! What did you do, I hear the crowds all murmur in wonder? I went to Toledo! I know it's Ohio. Please don't remind me. Yes, I know I'm a Michigan girl and we're supposed to hate all things Ohio. This is Toledo, though. It's practically a part of Michigan and if we hadn't lost the war, it still would be. So, they get a pass. Ok? No being mean to Toledo, at least until Toledo does something bad to us. Then, trust me, we can be as mean as we want..once we evacuate some of the bestest people in the whole wide world from there.

Now, knowing my loyal readers I can just bet they're wondering who these fantastic wonderful fantabulous awesomesauce wrapped in bacon people are. Well, they're none other than Zac and James. Some of you may know of Zac due to the rumors that were going around that we're a hot item. Sadly, we are not. The man just does not recognize what would be good for him when it's right under his nose..*giggles*  James, however, is brand new in my scope of awesomesauce people. We met at Zac's play (which freaking rocked, by the way. If you're in Toledo, go see Inventing Van Gogh immediately. Ok, not immediately, it doesn't show again until Friday but you know what I mean!) on Friday. You guys know me, I cannot sit quietly if there are people around that I could be talking to! In this case, it got me talking to Breann and James and it turns out, they're also friends of Zac's and purely awesome people.  James and I met up again on Facebook and so far, we have just had a total riot swapping good music choices and just talking and laughing. Good things are going to come from this new friendship. I can just see it. So, I got to meet some fantabulous new people, see a seriously kick ass play (which I'm making plans to see a 2nd time but shhhh..no one knows that yet.), spend time with the amazing Zac (who I've missed horribly) aaaaannnnddd I even got some blog work done.

So, yep yep..all in all a very good weekend and one rambling post about it. I guess that makes you all wonder if this girl actually lost any weight last week with the insanity that it was plus a twingy knee. Yes, the knee is still not totally healed but it's getting there. I actually managed to fit in a couple of workouts last week.  The knee does not like side stepping but that will come with time. After all, it had been pretty badly messed up.

Ok, I've rambled on long enough. Let's get to the "good stuff". The numbers for this week are (I feel like I'm calling the lotto...wow, I am random today..hyperactive brain aisle 1):

Average Daily Water Intake: 70oz
Workouts: 2 Walking Workouts plus some upper body
Weight Change: -4.6 (current weight: 279.8)
Overall Weight Change: -12.0 pounds

Mamavation Monday - I'm back!

ello ello my lovelies! It's Monday and I'm back! Not just back writing but slowly finding my way back into fitness and weight loss! I'm thrilled to report that the knee is probably 99% better now and that means I can get some workouts in again. The trick to fixing it? You're not going to believe this. A pair of shoes. Seriously. My knee wasn't getting worse and then one day the pair of Earth Footwear shoes that I had won arrived. Since I can't resist leaving anything new in a box, I took them out and put them on while I was waiting for the boys to get out of school. Then, I wore them around for the next couple of hours. When I took them off, I realized my knee was feeling tons better! I wore them the next day for a serious trial..grocery shopping. I should have been crying by the time that trip was done. I know because I was the week before when I was in just as much pain starting. I wasn't! I actually felt better. So, word to all of you out there...get good shoes. Get shoes that really support your feet. This is probably a bit duh, but your feet support your whole body so if they're out of whack so is your entire body. My next goal? To get a pair of their fitness shoes. I'm in love with the black Rebounds but they're out of my price range for now.

Ok, so after what probably sounded like an infomercial, but was totally sincere, let's get back to my week in review. I had the boys here this week so that was enormous amounts of fun. We made some really decent headway and reclaiming our house and just having fun together. I'm a little sad that they're back at their dad's now but we're all practically counting down the days until summer vacation. I can't believe that it's a mere 6 or so weeks away!

As for me and the health and fitness side of things, it was a bit rough. I discovered that while Roger wants to workout for me, his imitations of the guy in the dvd are just too funny. I end up laughing instead of actually working out. I did sneak in one workout while the boys were off reading though. Nutrition was also a bit rough this week due to my kitchen still looking like an explosion happened in it. To make matters worse, the boys and I assembled a new bookshelf for in there. That meant everything that had been sitting in that corner is now scattered all over the kitchen. It's ok though. As I tell the boys, it's progress. It's progress towards our greater goal of making our kitchen a functional space. Plus, the kitchen would have been back together this weekend except I ended up taking a paying job that I could do here from the house. Messy kitchens will wait.  Paying jobs won't...lol

So, here's my rundown for the week:
Average Daily Water Intake: 56oz
Workouts: 1.5 level 2 walking dvd workouts + 200 wall pushups
Weight Change: -3.6 (current weight: 284.4)
Overall Weight Change: -7.4 pounds


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How would you like to alter your family’s nutrition and eating habits? Do you have a plan to do this?

Our big thing is being able to get enough produce. It's rather expensive here and it's been a struggle to get enough healthy foods into our diet. However, now that the weather is warming up, we're talking about putting in a small garden. It wouldn't meet all of our produce needs but it most certainly will help!

 “I wrote this blog post while participating in the Mamavation Blogging Carnival for a chance to win an Orville Redenbacher’s Very Important Blogger Gift Basket.” 

Jim's Week in Review ... a little early again.

OK, here we go again. Shorter, early, and kinda dodgy. Last weekend, I was on the road helping my best friend move his daughter into a new apartment. It was a long weekend of eating out and eating junk food in the truck during the 7 hour drive. I also went totally off my meds during the weekend, which was not an act of will but rather because of lapses due to the weirdness of the weekend. My water intake dropped BADLY over the weekend as I shifted to caffiene-laden drinks to keep myself going. As for exercise ... spending 6 hours or so moving two 20-year old girls is plenty of exercise. I didn't make it onto the bike or elliptical, but I am trying. This weekend (actually Thursday through Sunday morning), I will be in Wausau, Wisconsin for the annual conference of the Ice Age Trail Alliance. There will be a hike on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which will be some nice exercise. We drive out Wednesday night, and we will drive back on Suday afternoon. My stress level is über-high due to being in between two weekends back to back on the road, AND, while I was on the road last weekend, someone tried to break into my townhouse, so I have a broken and boarded up dining room window waiting on the insurance company to approve the repair and the window company to build the replacement. This of course, only two weeks after someone broke my passenger-side front door window to steal the GPS out of my golve compartment. So, what did all this do for me weight-wise? Well, on Sunday when I got home was UP about 4 pounds, but after all the junk food worked its way through my system and my meds were back in my system and my eating was better, my weekly total ends up being 272.4, which is a LOSS of .6 pounds. Yipee for me! Next week, I will be blissfully back on schedule, which means I will have a normal week in review post on Friday, and hopefully I will be able to report another loss. Until then, eat right, move around, and happy losing!

Mamavation Monday - Out of Control

Happy Monday, world. This is not going to be an easy post to write. I'm about to open myself up in a way that maybe I haven't before. I hope that you'll stick with me until the end.

I realized something last night. I've been out of control and probably a little bit in denial about it. It's not just my weight loss. It's pretty much run over into every area of my life.

My house is a disaster. I've joked that if someone came in, they'd say it ought to be condemned or that I ought to be on an episode of Hoarders. This is an exaggeration, of course. It's not like I have things in piles above my head or even up to my knees. However, the place is a total disaster. There isn't a clean dish (or not many) in the house. Things have been thrown everywhere.

As for my weight loss, it's not a loss. I gained another 2.2 pounds this week. That means I'm only 3.8 pounds under where I started. I've spent the last week in denial as I let the old habits creep back in. I stopped eating breakfast. I did wall pushups but not enough to prevent a loss. I ate pretty much whatever I wanted. I totally sabotaged myself.

The thing is....and this is the hard part of this....I know why I did this. Two weeks ago, my heart was badly broken. Even though chances are I didn't really do anything to cause this (it was an issue of circumstances), psychologically I went into what I dub scared little girl mode. I shut down. Inside my head, I heard don't lose the weight. Stay fat. Nobody wants a fat girl and you'll be safe. Nobody will hurt you like that again. He's losing huge amounts of weight. He's popular and someday he'll be famous. Of course he didn't want you.

I heard it and I listened to it. Then you add in the knee injury and I wallowed in it. I had every excuse for why I couldn't do things. My weight loss cheerleaders weren't around much this past week and I didn't realize how bad I'd gotten until one of them texted me to apologize for that. My response was it's ok. I haven't done much to cheer for. Umm..wow.

On one hand it was the honest to god's truth. On the other, just how bad am I feeling about myself that without thinking that's my response? So, here I am. Essentially, I'm starting over again and I'm scared. I'm scared that I won't be able to get past this knowledge that losing the weight might open me up to more pain. I'm also scared that I've lost this person forever. You see, he was possibly my best friend before all of this happened and I want that back. Honestly, looking back, we made much better friends than we might have made anything else and I can't live in what might have been. However, I can desperately miss one of my number one cheerleaders and friends.

I don't know if this post is different than any of my other posts. I know that usually I'm upbeat and positive and that is part of me. However, that's not where I am today. Today I realize just how bad things are. I've realized that my mental and psychological state over the past two weeks (and over a good portion of my life) is tapping me on the shoulder saying hey, you need to deal with me too. The diet and exercise is great but you have to deal with the abuse of your past before you can truly move on.

So, this is me...raw and a little more open...and wanting to move on.

Average Water Intake: 56oz
Workouts: 40 or so wall pushups a day
Weight Change: +2.2 (up to 288 again)
Overall Weight Change: -3.8 pounds