Sunday Weigh In

Wellllll....

I went from last week's 178.4lbs to 176.8 ... a loss of 1.6lbs! YAY! Last week I had gained a pound from 177.4 up to 178.4 so over the last 2 weeks I am down just a little over half a pound... but a loss is a loss ya know?!

Yesterday I went over to the gym and rode the recumbent bike 12miles in 46mins and 45secs...
SHAPE said it was a 1 hour bike ride day but I really did not feel like doing a full hour! On my way in I saw posters for this race where you have to bike 10 miles, run 3 miles and swim 350yards.... so I decided to see how long it would take me to bike 10 miles.... in all fairness I should have been on an upright bike... I will have to try timing again on the right bike, but I did the 10 miles in 38:08 which I was really proud of... I decided to do another 2 miles at a slower pace to get some extra time in.... it was really easy to get through this time... i think it was because I was focused on the distance not the time... I mean, I was trying to get through the 10 miles fast, but focusing on how far I had gone and now how long I had been riding made things breeze by...

Overall I feel really great... I still am not a huge fan of exercising.... but I feel better about my body in general...

And I think I lost another 1/2 inch off my waist... down to 31.5 inches... I will post updates on my measurements next weekend!

Thanks for reading guys!

Just keep swimming.... Just keep swimming...

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming....

Yep! I went swimming today.... in this pool here:



It's in the very expensive gym that i wanted to join a while back... I have like 15 pre-paid visits, so I decided i could cash one in to go for a swim... I honestly CANNOT believe that I actually went... I thought I would be getting off at 2:30pm today, but I forgot that since Monday was a holiday we only get to leave at 3:00pm... lame... I had planned on rushing to the pool, getting my swim in {Swim day according to SHAPE}, rushing home to spend 'us' time with my boyfriend before he went to work and then maybe going shopping for some quick deals...

Well, since I did not get off at 2:30pm I decided to just go home to see the boy... I thought that i would skip the gym and maybe just play with my Wii Fit... So I had some 'us' time with my boy and packed him a lunch (so as to avoid him eating at the BK) and he reminded me that I promised to drop off his medical forms for his doctor to fill out (something about family medical leave... idk, but his work required it because he was too sick to work 6/27-6/30)...

So I drove to Rite Aid... got some sweet deals and then drove to the doctor... when I was there they told me that since they were just a clinic they did not have to fill out the forms... aprox. WFT?!? the doctor that saw my boyfriend was on duty and he was refusing to fill out the form! I am beyond pissed! Who the heck else is going to fill it out? And he HAS to have it filled out to get his leave approved to not get in trouble (read: FIRED) at work... But Rite Aid and the Doctor are right next to the gym and since I packed my swim bag and had it in the car (GO ME!!) i stopped by for a swim...

I cannot believe I got in my swimsuit and actually let people see me! Yikes! but i felt really good, even though I swam like a drowning victim... I swim like a rock... hahahaha! But I did 8 laps (16 one-ways) and then got the heck out of dodge!

I smell like pool!!!
It's great!

8 POUNDS of Popcorn?!?

So a brief update to start.... YES! I went to the gym... did 38minutes on the bike... not because I couldn't go longer, but I was running short on time and my co-workers were leaving... I did hit a wall at about 20 minutes but i pushed past it! YAY!

As for the title... Yes! I bought 8 pounds of pop corn... weird thing is, if you ate the entire jug it would only be about 3 pounds worth of calories... What happens to the other 5 pounds?!

I find air popping my own pop corn to be fun, exciting and surprisingly delicious! and it is super low cal for the volume of food you get to eat....

Also, today is day 3 of not drinking soda! wahoo! I am not aiming for any specific number of days, but I had noticed that the more often I drank my diet soda the more I wanted it.... and I also craved sweets, but was never really satisfied by whatever 'sweet' thing I chose to calm the craving... I will probably have some tomorrow... but the good news is I have been drinking water like crazy... probably too much... does anyone know how much water is too much?

{side note: I have had blood work done to test for diabetes (in the past - maybe a year ago was my most recent test) and they always come ack negative.... healthy as a horse actually, except the extra weight}

I {Hate} Exercise

There! I said it!

I hate exercise... hate it... I dunno...

Pretty lame huh?

*ps: I loved that this pict came up when I google Image searched for "GYM"

Well, I went to the gym yesterday, despite my now obvious hate for exercise... but yes, I went...

About 3.. 4.. i dunno 5 months ago I ripped a page out of a copy of SHAPE magazine... it had a monthly calender on it that listed what exercises they thought you should do that day... Why did I rip it out? Well, first - it was MY magazine... I do what I want! And second - it was designed to train you for a triathlon. So each day you either swim, run or bike....



Now I realllllly am not the kind of person you'll see in a race anytime soon. I dont even own a bike! But I was getting pretty worn out of only using the elliptical when I went to the gym... in fact, the elliptical helped me lose a lot of weight... and at one point I was up to using it for 60mins a session with 5 sessions a week... talk about your fast course for a burn out!

So I figured that this triathlon training would help me mix things up exercise wise... welllll apparently not because i am just now getting around to using it! But better late than never... right?
So yesterday I 'Ran' for 30 minutes... which actually was more like a fast walk for 4 minutes and running for 1 minute.... so maybe I ran for 5 minutes total, but I did 1.75miles in 30 minutes... not bad... The SHAPE calender called for 20 minutes of jogging/Running so I hope 30 minutes of walk/run counts... oh well i guess...

Today is suppose to be 40mins of biking... but conveniently i forgot my gym bag at home... I hate exercising SOOOO much that I asked my wonderful boyfriend to bring it to my office... yep! I am one lucky girl to have such a supportive man in my life... so in roughly 2 hours I will be biking my way to 40 minutes!

Impulse Buy?

Sooooo....

I am SUPER exhausted... ever have one of those days? yea well I am having one of those months!

I decided that I am going to have to hit the gym [or do some form of cardio] in order to get my scale moving again... Before I started this challenge, I was just controlling my diet to lose weight... which DOES work... anyone can lose weight by just watching what you eat.. BUT you will not lose as fast... and once your body adjusts to your new ways of eating then you'll be forced to mix it up...

So that is where I am... I have to mix it up... my low calorie and semi-carb-phobic diet is just not going to cut it alone anymore! I posted before about joining a gym that costs roughly $300/year ($375 if I get a couples membership)... but i have to face it, my boyfriend is NOT going to the gym with me... he works 5 x 12hr shifts minimum per week and doesn't have the time. Plus, skinny-with-out-trying runs in his family (PLEASE GOD LET OUR KIDS GET THOSE GENES!!) so he doesn't really need to... sure he would tone up and just be that much more sexy... but he REALLY does not need to go, and honestly does not have the time...

So I am alone... *so sad*

Well, back in March I was going 2-3 times per week for 30mins with my -grandmother- of all people! She has lost a ton of weight (not that she -needed- to) by doing the elliptical which is good for her knees... I got sent on a month long assignment out of state and when I came back I just never started going again... plus, to go with her means hitting up the gym at 5:30pm every night for only 30mins and I never feel like going... and I have to drive against traffic to get to her gym... and it costs $4/visit .... blah blah blah... excuses I know...

So my solution?

Well there are a few guys in my office that walk like 3 blocks from our office to a local gym @ lunch... Planet Fitness....

It is really inexpensive, I'm talkin' $10/month and $40/year in other fees... so for less than the cost of 4 visits to my gma's gym I can go to this one on my lunch break... AND it is kind of a win-win scenario in that I will actually be taking my lunch! My employer insists that everyone works 8am-5pm which is 9hours... 1 hour for lunch of course... but no one ever takes an hour to go to lunch! so you end up 'donating' an hour of your time since the start and end times are not flexible really.... so this way I will not be exhausted by the time I have to go to the gym, I will use my lunch break for ME and I will have gym 'buddies' to encourage me to go...

And you can cancel without penalty anytime... blah blah... very loose and inexpensive contract...

I am excited!

Winner... Winner...

So I know I have left you guys hanging.... sorry about that!

Okay first order of business... Who Did I Lie To?

Some people did guess it correctly... after I gave a hint... Not sure if the hint really helped or not, but yea... I kinda lied to the chick at the DMV.... I had to get my Alaskan Drivers license switched to a Utah Drivers licence... She was just so judgmental... and I was mad at myself for gaining so much weight. I think I was about 200lbs... up from 160ish... I was trading my Alaska license which said I weighed 167lbs for a Utah license that would say I weighed 200lbs? I DONT THINK SO! So I lied... 178lbs was acceptable I guess....

So this week I guess they aren't posting results... but yea I will fess up... yesterday I hopped on the scale and weighed 178.4lbs...

gained a pound.... big whoop.... I knew it was not going to be a big loss week... and I will try harder this week!

Oh and my wonderful boyfriend and I bought a Wii yesterday... and I am super excited to try out my new Wii Fit.... if anyone is looking to get a Wii Fit it is $100 @ Toys R Us BUT you can use a 20% off coupon which is probably the best deal you'll find on it....

Oh, and we have winners to announce!

#9 - Greenmountianwife who said:"I already know who you lied to, so I won't post it and spoil the fun. But congrats on no longer being a liar!! :)"

#8 - Jeannette who said: "I follow all the other girls. :0) Y'all are doing great things! Today I commented on Nikki's blog."

You guys have 48hours (12pm 7/7) to contact me with your mailing address so I can send you your $5 Subway Gift Card!!

Thanks everyone!

laura(dot)newsol(at)gmail(dot)com

What Are You Looking For?

I hope no one is reading along with Win Lose or Blog because they think we bloggers can do no wrong.... that we always make healthy choices and are super-duper motivated to exercise and lose weight...

Yea, I'm excited to be losing weight... and I love that there are like 20 people following along to push me back on the right track... but I am not perfect... and I make a lot of choices that I'd never want people to copy...

I really don't have the best relationship with food to be honest... I am SCARED of carbs... I did Atkins back in High School and ever since I remain leery of carbs and their super-human ability to plump-me-up!

I also developed some bulimic tendencies in college... gross right? It is weird how the mind works... I seriously think of it as an easy way to 'reverse' a mistake or diet slip up... which in reality it really isn't *easy* and is extremely unhealthy...

Since graduating from college i have battled urges/compulsions to revert back to old ways... and to be honest, I do not always win the battle... but I am trying... really!

Yesterday my wonderful boyfriend and I bought new bedroom furniture and spent all day away from home... my safe place with all my diet foods... we ended up at our favorite Mexican restaurant and rather than order a salad I ate my favorite meal and mindfully enjoyed it...

To add insult to injury, I was seriously craving ice cream, so we made a stop at Orange Leaf - a self-serve frozen yogurt store where i made up an 11oz bowl of deliciousness and my wonderful boyfriend and I sat down and enjoyed our food and each other's company....

Did I have bulimic urges.... yea a little bit... but I chose to purposely step off the 'diet path' for the night and that these were things I WANTED to eat... plus I did not feel like I had *over* indulged so I battled my urges and won... We really had a great night...

And this morning? the scale read 177.4lbs ... no damage done... so why did I even waste the time worrying over it?

Treats really ARE okay... when they remain treats and not everyday food choices...

Oh! and if anyone would like an additional entry for the Subway GC Giveaway you can take another guess at 'who I lied to'... just leave another comment on that thread... hint: I had never met the person before.