It's MONDAY Again!

This time I am in a much better mood!

My weight is up... boooooo!

But that is okay... I was SUPER busy at work so this post is WAY late!

I did go to the gym today... since I gained weight I was super motivated to run hard and fast! I started my run today at 5mph and went for 7minutes before slowing down!! That is INSANE for me ... INSANE! I never run more than 2-3minutes at a time so... insane!

I managed to run an entire mile in less than 12 minutes! FASTEST EVERRRR!

YAY ME!

Goals for this week are:
1. NO Fountian Soda... NONE!
2. No Candy... few Carbs...

Thanks for stopping by guys! Hope you have a fantasic week!!!!

Boo!

Ugh... so weigh-in for shrinkvivor this morning.... was not happy to see 170.8lbs on the scale but I submitted it anyways! I am sure I am just retaining water or something and did not actually gain 2lbs in 2 days...

Are you participating in Shrinkvivor? What team are you on?

I'm part of Tribe Copper! YAY!

I love having the extra support that these types of challenges create!

well.... here goes!

YAY Another Monday!

No.... I am not really excited that it is Monday... AGAIN... haha

Actually I think the only really fun thing about Mondays is the Mamavation post/comments/commenting on other's posts!

I decided to get my butt in gear and post... even though I have been pretty down lately I cannot keep using that as an excuse to be a bum!

Not gunna lie... did NOT have the best week last week, or really the week before!

But, even though it appears I have gained weight:
1. I am still under 170lbs!
2. My American Eagle Jeans fit today {freshly washed&dried} without a fight! And they're already sorta loose!!

I am really not sure what I am doing with this whole weight loss thing... I was going to keep my post short, but I literally just decided to vent... so here goes:

*I am NOT a runner... I am quite bad a running! I am also NOT a tweeter {someone who tweets?idk} ... I really needed a treadmill, and shoot, winning one was pretty much ideal... so I had to get twitter so people could tweet for me and so I got a twitter 'handle' that was treadmill related... Mostly I don't run... and to be quite honest, treadmills are my least favorite cardio machine... but I really think it is one of the best forms of cardio, and an area that I have a lot of room for improvement in... the elliptical and bikes have gotten too easy... 30mins is no longer a challenge on them for me... If I am going to keep losing weight I NEED a challenge... so running... there we go... But I am really not good at it... I can run at 5.5-6.5mph for 2.5 mins before I need to slow down to less than 4mph for a few minutes... So I have been doing a lot of intervals trying to increase my stamina....

I can really relate my 'weight loss journey' and a lot of what I read about other's journeys to my 'running' intervals... Everyone wants to jump on that treadmill and just run full speed for the full 30 minutes... when in fact it is just not going to happen for a first timer or someone just starting out... Same as a full life-style change... 100% healthy eating 100% of the time is like trying to run at 6.0mph for 30minutes your first time on the treadmill... you are just setting yourself up for failure... but just because I can't run the full 30 minutes doesn't mean I am going to give up and hop off... no, I will jog if I can or walk if I must... but my body will complete the full 30minutes... It's the same with eating healthy I think... or any other healthy habit... You probably aren't going to be able to do 100% your first try... but eventually it gets easier... you can run further or longer... you have more healthy recipes or snacks on hand.... you don't need 3 sodas a day, maybe 1 a week is fine... I am sure you see where I am going...

I feel like the last month or so I have really pushed my body to lose every pound it could in that time frame, like sprinting during my run... and I went all out and gave everything I could... but I think my body is trying to tell me that it is time to jog for a while... So I am not going to push myself to go all out... I plan on maintaining healthy habits; drinking water, exercise and incorporating fresh foods in my diet... but I promise myself that I am not expecting weight-loss nor will I be upset with 'maintaining'... I think that with my current stress level and mood swings that this is really the best thing for ME.

Hope everyone has a super fantastic week!

A few shout-outs:

YAY Stephanie H for being Sista of the week! You totally deserve it!

YAY Chefs Choice for being our wonderful and generous sponsor AGAIN! My boyfriend realllly loves their steaks ~ I got a coupon a while back that bought us a half dozen little fillets and he inhaled them!

YAY Rachel Steffen and GretaB for snapping me out of my funk last week! I really appreciate all the supportive comments from all the Sistas! LOTS of Love!!!

Mamavation ... Tuesday?

Yes, Yes... I know... it is not Monday... and I am late...

Well, actually, I had planned on writing in yesterday, but I was SO BLAH.... like super DOWN and just really did not feel like sending extra negative energy out into the world... yesterday all I wanted to do was bitch and complain.... and cry... and sleep...

In college I was 'diagnosed'[read: no one really cared what was wrong, just wanted to medicate and send you on your way] bi-polar and I do not currently take meds for it... I decided I wanted to manage my moods myself, rather than take pills which REALLY did not help anyways, usually made things worse!... So for the most part I control my moods with (extreme coupon)Shopping and Exercise...

I do not know whats got me down lately... probably stress... money, work, significant other.... same problems everyone has! Nothing special or life threatening... just enough to bring ya down... and for someone with tendancys to stay down, not always the best thing!


Oh man... So last week... well;

*I went to the gym 5 times! YAY!

*Did not do so well with the soda intake... I feel like the soda is inhibiting me from losing, cant quite pin point why yet... but I've been feelin' like its really not helping!

*Drank TONS of water... no problem there!

*Eating.... was for crap this week! Low on calories in general... but i did manage to finish off a giant jar of Jif peanut butter... I am talking 6,600 calories!! YIKES!

But I think my body enjoyed the extra calories because I managed to see 166.4lbs on the scale Saturday morning! YAY!

I am super frustrated though... my body is hovering between 166 and 170... depends on the day, time and potty breaks... I really am not sure how I am going to get through this 'plateau' I seem to be chillin' at...

I really need to revamp my whole life-style right now... I've lost just under 40lbs since Easter [did I mention I STILL feel HUGE?... more now than ever, oddly enough]... but the things I did to lose the first 40lbs really aren't going to be what takes the next 10-20-30lbs off... I need a better approach to eating and more than just cardio on the exercise front....

I am just not too inspired right now :(

I have decided that I would like to try for a BMI in the Healthy range... so atleast 24.9 (so 149lbs for my height)... but really more like a 24 (or 144lbs)... before my 24th birthday!

I like that goal :)

24 by my 24th

That's 18-23lbs in 14 short weeks!! or 1.3-1.6lbs per week! I know that's within the 'healthy' weigh loss rates... but it is going to be a HUGE challenge for me because I think my body is use to being heavier... and really has never been below 160lbs in my entire post-middle-school-life!

I'm up for the challenge though!

My Blah Monday!

I am so BLAH today!

Made it to the gym... worked pretty hard... 30minutes on a weird stair-stepper/elliptical machine...

Pretty sure I gained weight this weekend... I didn't bother weighing this morning... no need to bum myself out!

But, I did slide into my America Eagle jeans without even trying! You know where you have to wiggle, suck it in... and sometimes even lay on the bed to get them to zip? Yea well, NOT TODAY BABY! I was worried they were going to be tough, but it was great to slide them on, button and go...

So yay for the non-scale victory.... I am sure that after going to the bathroom (a la
@ljenator) the scale will be back to normal... that is as much as I am going to say!

Well, this week's goals are:

More water, Less Soda!
No Cheating on my Eating! (Except 1 treat!)
Keep Working Out!
Shooting for 166lbs by the end of the week!

OH! and I placed my order with CSN Stores after winning $150... I bought:
- A 30lb weight vest
-A Fitness Ball (21'')
- An Abs DVD workout
- A 14lb medicine ball with handles

The vest came on Friday and HOLY COW! I got it to remind myself what it feels like to carry an additional 30lbs around (since I've lost 38lbs so far)... it is SO heavy! What was I doing to my body?!?

Mamavation Monday! - Another week later...

I am exhausted! Posting late-ish Sunday night because I am going to be swamped tomorrow at work! Work has been INSANE lately... and I am overwhelmed... and worried I won't be able to do everything that is expected of me... Plus, a coworker that was fired back in January continually comes back to haunt me! He over-road an equipment list for an entire chip plant that I have to recreate this week! We're talking ALL the equipment, parts, valves, etc to make a million dollars worth of chips per week... so I have to re-do that list ON TOP of the other 40+ hours worth of work I have this week! I'm stressin' just thinking about it :(

Okay!

So Last week I was able to stick to my healthy eating all week... made it to the gym 4 times (30mins each!) even though I had to brave torrential down pour one day!... Did NOT make it to Friday without soda... made it to Thursday night... which was pretty darn close!

My wonderful boyfriend and I are celebrating our 1 year anniversary today! A year ago today I had asked him out to dinner and we went to a little sub place called Jimmy Johns... So today we went and say Despicable Me ... it was AWESOME!... but it made me miss my best friend who lives in NYC... the main character of the movie is SO my friend in 15 years!

As for the pounds... this morning I was 167.4lbs!!! YAY! I was 170.6lbs and sad last week, so I am super psyched!! That's a 3.2lb loss for me! I haven't been this small since I graduated college over 15 months ago!! Roughly 5lbs lost since the @SmoothFitness treadmill and 11.8lbs since joining Mamavation!

So I am the smallest I have been in a long time, but I am just not seeing it... does that make sense? I mean I must be smaller... smaller clothes are fitting... but I am still the same shape just a slightly smaller version... it's tough, but I am trying to stay motivated!

MORE Water this week... I am doing really good with keeping my water intake up...
MORE Exercise... again, at least 4 trips to the gym @30mins each...
BETTER eating... I am going to try to snack/graze less... maybe chew more gum until the cravings pass...

Wish me luck! I'll be doing the same for you!!


Oh. BTW.I.Won.Mindy's.$150. CSN.Stores.Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!
YAY free fitness gear! or who knows what!

And CONGRATS to @ShawneeH for being Sista of the week! Way to go girl!!

AND... thanks to @EarthFootwear who is kindly sponsoring this weeks blogging carnival! YAY! They're giving away 2 pairs of their AWESOME shoes on top of the prizes for the move it & lose it campaign prize which was $500 and 2 pairs of shoes! Tune into Mamavation TV to see who wins!

20lbs from Normal

So this morning I weighed in at 169lbs! YAY! back into the 160's... *barely*

I was doing my normal blog rounds and then hopped over to Mamavation.com to see if there was any new content and there was! 3 new posts! YAY!... well, The second post was an update on the Move It or Lose It Challenge sponsored by EarthFootwear. They're giving away $500 and a pair of their shoes to the person who loses the most weight during the competition! WOW!

Well, I wasn't part of Mamavation when they started the challenge, but I wish I could have been! What a fantastic prize! On top of losing weight too!! Then I started thinking... the lovely lady in first place right now has lost 13.33% of her body weight!! {CONGRATS!}

For me that would mean losing 22.5lbs! YIKES! I already lost 13ish pounds for Win Lose or Blog so another 10 pounds from that weight if you start there {159 after everything is said or done}... But if I try to lose 22.5lbs right now would that even put me at a healthy weight? I am staring at my body thinking 22.5 pounds FROM WHERE!??

Not to mention I am at my body's happy weight... you know that plateau you hit because your body is comfy there... so pushing myself lower is going to be a challenge {not that I'm not up for it... just much harder than the first pounds lost}

169 - 22.5 = 146.7lbs

WHOA! I have never been that small before {NOT currently either... this is just mathematical dreaming}

But for my height - 5'5" - depending on the day that puts me just barely in the healthy BMI range... just barely? Like the BMI professors think I could get EVEN smaller and still be healthy? Wow!

But yea... the point is that I am still 20 pounds from Normal BMI #'s ... bummer... we'll get there sooner or later ... :)