Change is Hard.

Yesterday in the afternoon at work I started feeling nauseous. I had a 7pm appt so I decided to skip my workout and go home until the appt. After the appt I felt better so I worked out.

Today, started feeling nauseous again. 100% not-pregnant if you were wondering. But who knows why? I don't.

Anyway, I was feeling really tired too, yawning all afternoon (then realized I never finished my morning coffee, so I think that's why I was so tired all day). I was trying to push myself to go to the gym, telling myself I had to go, etc. Then I asked a co-worker what she thought. She said, "you know, when I feel that way I don't go. I want the gym to be something I want to do, if I force myself to go when I'm feeling like you are I start to hate it."

That was the most perfect thing to hear. I'm trying so hard to change my attitude toward the gym and then I get this black & white thinking, like I have to go. I've missed one day this week (hangover on Sunday) and if I miss today but go the rest of the week I'll reach my goal of going 5 times this week. But I've also allowed that some weeks I will only go 4 times and that's okay.

I'm still working on that stationary bike. I'm up to 10 min sustained on level 3 two times in 30 minutes. But it's HARD. My heart-rate got up to 167. So I do 5 min Level 2, 10 min Level 3, 5 @ 2 and then 10 @ 3. I met with the trainer again. It went much better this time and he split my routine up into upper and lower body like I wanted.

Anyway, I want to feel good about my choices, and start to think differently, not this on-or-off mentality I've had for so many years. So, weigh-in tomorrow. Let's hope the three holiday parties don't stop me from losing at least a little this week.

Seriously, how good does this feel??

It feels friggin' awesome!! I am below 200 pounds! I am lower than I was when I finished Body for Life a couple of years ago. I lost 3 pounds this week. I'm so happy but I need more time for it to sink in. Thank you all for your support, encouragement, etc.

I've been exercising 5 times a week, working out pretty hard. I want to avoid burning myself out though, like I think I did with BFL. Any suggestions?

Grateful for my body!

Another great day at the gym yesterday. I again increased the work on the stationary bike. I alternated between Level 2 and Level 3 every 5 minutes. I could barely do Level 3 for one minute the first time I rode it, now I can do 5 straight, 3 times! And my heart rate is not getting up as high. So, I did 15 min on Level 2 and 15 on Level 3. My current goal is the whole 1/2 hour on Level 3. I think I'm going to stick with this pattern until I feel I've mastered it before I up what I ask of my body too quickly. I am so impressed with it though, seems to be responding to the bike much faster than I would have thought.

On a different note, I purchased a Christmas party dress. It's different than anything I would have worn last year! It's a red halter dress and I'm going to wear it with a black gauze-type shawl. I'll post pics after the party next weekend. I bought a Spanx (I bet the ladies know what this is) to smooth out my tummy. I'm so excited!!

Speaking of pics, here's one taken as I was leaving for the gym yesterday. Can you tell I'm losing weight? Miguel LOVES the double peace sign so I did it just for him.


Hope you all have a fabulous week!

Food for Thought

Lost 2.8 at WI this evening. Feeling pretty good! I'm .4 pounds away from dropping under 200 pounds. It's been too many years since I've been under 200. I think I was in the 190's when I met my husband 6 years ago. Next week I'll be there for sure!

I will get there eventually...

So here's how I'm doing the upright stationary bike:

min 1-5: Level 2
min 5-10: alternating minute-by-minute between Level 2 & Level 3
min 10-15: Level 2
min 15-20: alternating again
min 20-25: Level 2
min 25-30: alternating again

The bike nearly kills me, sometimes my heart rate gets up to 167! This is after 30 minutes on the elliptical and my thighs buuuurrrn on the bike. On the elliptical I alternate between going forward and backward (I switch every minute) so that works the thighs too. I cool down with a 5 minute walk at the end of all this madness.

I haven't hit the weights at all. I had that initial training session and since have just been doing cardio. I guess I'm not ready? I like weights but right now the cardio is wiping me out. We'll see I guess. I think I'll meet with the trainer and have him revamp the weight training program to something quick that I can do after cardio but that won't take an hour.

Whew! I am excited to go to weigh-in tomorrow (always feel like a heifer when I write that) at weight watchers. I wonder how much I've lost this week. I'm pretty excited at the prospect of dropping below 200 pounds. When I did BFL at the end of '05 I peaked at about 203 or so. When the BFL 12 week cycle was over I dropped everything and promptly gained the weight back. As I keep saying, this time my weight loss is really about maintenance and not about loss. I don't want to do this again.

I got on my (probably grossly inaccurate but close-enough for me) Tanika body fat scale the other day. It said 43%. Hey, less than 50%.