Motivation Monday

Wowsers. My kids are on an Inspector Gadget kick. I totally blame that for my wowsers habit.

Let me just be real - last week suuuuuucked.

Sara got sick early Thursday morning with the dreaded stomach flu. All of my laundering and Clorox wiping and Lysol using was all for naught and I ended up getting sick in the middle of a fund raising event for the Y on Friday night. I'm a fun girl that way.

But even before that, I was struggling. I think my iron is low again because my energy level is in the crapper. This week in P90X-land, it was rest and recovery week.

HA! Don't let the phrase fool you.

It was neither restful or recovery oriented.

And, for the first time since Christmas, I missed my Thursday through Saturday workouts. It was awful. I do not even want to try to explain how much missing those workouts tortured me.

Time to take a deep breath and attempt to be rational. I tried to stick to the schedule, but it just didn't work out  and I did manage to drag myself to Zumba on Sunday. It was really, really hard but I gave it my all.

I'm not sure what the heck has happened but ever since Robert left, I'm all schedule oriented which has never been my thing. It's spooky.

Of course, now it's Monday but tomorrow is also end of the month. I weighed and took measurements today and my four week total is......15 pounds and 15.5 inches.  I was hoping for more since there was very minimal food intake Thursday through Sunday, but it is what it is. And 15 pounds in a month is nothing to sneeze at. For real.

I'm looking forward to the new week and starting the new phase of P90X. Unfortunately, that still includes YogaX. And Plyo. That's in addition to a bunch more different types of push ups and pull ups and all sorts of fun new stuff.

On the brighter side, I bit the bullet and registered for Zumba instructor training this week.

Because of that I actually watched myself in the mirror at Zumba this afternoon. I figure if I'm going to expect  others to watch me Zumba then I need to know what they'll see.

Have I mentioned that I prefer not to look at myself in the mirror as a whole - especially when rapidly moving so that the jiggly parts jiggle. But it wasn't as bad as I feared. My feet do this really weird floppy thing, though, which would have made me giggle had I not still been gasping for air. Also? My collarbones are HUGE. (And, um, YAY that they show up these days, right?!!?!)

See you next week if I'm still alive. HA!

Motivation Monday - BOOYA Plateau!

How's THIS for motivation?

On January 2, I started a fitness challenge. I'm doing P90X, following a basic TeamBeachBody nutrition guideline, using Shakeology and going to Zumba three times a week.

Week one: way sore, only lost two pounds. This brought me to the weight number I have been battling against for the last year and a half.  Maybe I've lost inches. ::crosses fingers:: Nope.

So I have a choice - leap of faith, trust the plan, stay on my current path or give up and be at this same weight this time next year (or heaven forbid even heavier). Yeah. that made it easier.

Week two. Last Thursday, I had a doctor's appointment. One where I knew I'd have to be weighed. Five weeks prior was my last appointment and the doctor mentioned that I'd gained a few pounds. And um, yeah, it was before the holidays so I can't blame Christmas or New Year's.

I hadn't weighed since that Monday so I really had no idea what my number would be and I was determined not to be stressed about it. It is what it is, and even if I haven't lost any more than the two pounds from Monday, at least it was two pounds down.

So I hop on the scale and move the weight to where I thought it should be. Too heavy? Sa-weet! Slide it down, slide it down, slide it down. Five pounds down.  By the doctor's record, I've lost 13 pounds in five weeks. And today when I weighed in, I was hoping that my scale  - which tends to weigh me a couple pounds heavier than the doctor's scale - reflected that same number.

Well, it didn't.

It was two pounds LESS.

::sprinkler:: ::running man:: ::MC Hammer U Can't Touch This::

Should I dare take measurements? Romi used to weigh and measure me every two weeks when I was working with her. I had a general idea of what my measurements were (mostly my waist measurement), so imagine my surprise when I had lost inches in my chest, waist, hips, thighs (TWO inches in EACH thigh, thankyouverymuch), biceps and calves. 9 inches in total. Ten pounds in total. In two weeks.

Yeah, I'll take that. I'll take that all day long. Good bye plateau. I will not miss you. Buh bye!

All pumped up that I now weigh right around what I did on my wedding day - ten years ago - I headed to the gym to do the chest and back workout.

Woooooooooweeeeee! What a struggle I had today.  Everything felt so hard, but I looked back at my records and I'm steadily improving. And the sweat was actually rolling off me. Attractive.

I went to Zumba this afternoon and was drenched in sweat after that class too. But I loved it. Tomorrow is freakin' Plyo. I do not love plyo, but I'm determined to master it.

Can't wait to see what next Monday brings.

Motivation Monday

As part of my January fitness challenge, I weighed in this morning.

Down two pounds. I'll take it! It's not a Biggest Loser kind of number, but hey - two pounds is nothing to sneeze at. I'm trying really hard not to focus on the numbers because that ALWAYS derails me. I could write posts after post about it. Sigh. Actually, I think I have already. A-hem.

Anyway! Moving on. Where was I? Two pounds, yay me.

P90X. Let's do some talking about P90X, shall we? I've dabbled in P90X off and on for over a year. I've done all the weight routines many, many times, but I've had very limited experience with the dedicated cardio. I call it dedicated cardio because in all honesty, if you are doing P90X correctly it's all pretty intense cardio - even the Yoga....err...excuse me..Yoga X. Or as Tony would say, Yoga X, brother.

Tony and I are having a bit of a love hate relationship these days. I love him, my muscles pretty much hate him.

Why is that, you may be wondering?

I'd be delighted to tell you. Push ups. Pull ups. Squats. Lunges. Jumping. Oh how I hate, hate, hate the jumping. Especially when squats and lunges are combined with jumping. Plyo is the devil. The devil that's an hour long. Jumping jacks. Whom ever thought up jumping jacks should have been shot. In the foot.

Seriously though, it's been a week. I lived past the first full week. WOOT! On Thursday, I was so sore I wanted to cry when ever I tried to stand or sit or breathe.

BUT! Today? I was looking forward to the workout. Have I improved in a week? I certainly feel stronger. And six or seven people have told me I looked thinner or smaller in the last week. God Bless all of you, by the way. You made my middle aged self so happy!

Oh - and here's my official "before" picture. We took it New Year's Eve. When I saw it, I wanted to cry. I thought I was further along than this. I guess that just means there's more room for progress, right?

Motivation Monday - Free*

On the workout front, I kicked booty last week, working out five of seven days. 

However, on the weight loss front, I did not kick booty. I was up three pounds from last week. Then again, I was eating everything in sight and then some. So it kind of figures. 

The YMCA's in this area just rolled out a new program called Free*. You earn points for working out, volunteering, etc. One of the ways to earn points is to journal about your journey. I'll be blogging about it for the next six weeks. I mean, hey, it's worth 30 points a day if I read the point grid correctly. I hope that by doing this, I can head back down the path I'm supposed to be traveling and getting myself back on track.  

For today, I've done a really good job. I'm doing a modified version of the Fat Smash Detox, allowing myself some protein every day and only following it for a week versus 10 days. After that, I switch back to the eating plan that always works for me (when I follow it) and I should have no trouble meeting my 20 pound weight loss goal by the end of the year. Well, 23 now. 

I also did an intense interval workout with Robert this morning (jogging and mountain climbers included, yo) and then I went to Zumba this afternoon. The indoor triathalon is in Feburary and I really want to be in good enough shape to finish it and post decent times. I was planning on going to a Zumba certification class in December, but when I went to register today, it was sold out. Bummer! So, I'll just have to catch the next one. 

Motivation Monday

I'm actually posting this on a Monday!

Progress.

First the bad news. All that frat boy eating I did last weekend and the weekend before? Yeah, well, it showed up as a three pound weight gain this morning. Well, that and the complete lack of daily workouts. (Only two days last week - shame on me! Shame!)

Bummer.

I even peed, showered, and weighed again to make sure. Yep, three pounds up. But - I've got no one to blame but myself.

Yesterday involved a trip to Sam's Club. I sent the rest of the family across the street for frozen yogurt while I wholesale shopped. And I resisted the HUGE bag of peanut butter M&M's which, in my humble opinion, is the best thing ever invented...even with their artificial colors, flavors and high fructose corn syrup. That right there? Should have been worth at least a pound on the scale. (oh wait...what if it was?!?! Yikes!) Moving on...

Interestingly enough? Our Sam's Club carries Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Coke, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero, but no Pepsi Max, which is Robert's favorite thing to drink.

I'm feeling a little sore today from our workout yesterday. My biceps are slightly achy and my butt is reminding me at every given opportunity of my 10 mile bike ride. Serves me right!

I did make it to the 4:30 Zumba class today. I even participated. At the end of the class someone asked me if I come to Zumba often. I said I used to, but I'm determined to get back in the habit. She said the same and mentioned she looked at the clock 30 minutes in and thought about leaving.

ME TOO!

But neither of us did. So that should count for something, right?

My weight loss goal for next week is to lose the three pounds I've gained back.

See you next week!

Maybe I should make it motivational Tuesday...

In my defense, I was on the road this yesterday returning from a much needed girls weekend with one of the most awesome women I know - my friend Chris. 

So I didn't weigh in until this morning. 

Down two pounds, for a total of 8 so far. I'm really happy with that, mostly because I really indulged this weekend. I also have no idea how that happened.

Dinner at The Melting Pot? Yes, please - and that absolutely included dessert of chocolate fondue. 

Sample of fudge? Uh, heck yeah! 

And I had the best grilled cheese sandwich of my life at a tiny little bakery/cafe shop in Gatlinburg, TN called The Picnic Basket. Wheatberry bread and cheddar, in case you were curious. If you are within a 50 mile radius, for the love of all that is holy, go and try it. It was so good, we went back the next day and ate there again, only we mixed American and Cheddar for round number two. And it was just as good. They also sell various butters - pumpkin, sweet potato, apple... and all sorts of jams, jellies, and marmalade. This is in addition to the cookies and chocolate goodies they offered. 

Seriously, if you EVER get the chance...go by there. And don't forget The Melting Pot in Gatlinburg. It's recently built, the staff is amazing, and the food...oh. my. goodness. So, so yummy. 

I'd love to tell you that I spent all last week working off my anticipated weekend calorie intake, but I didn't. To be honest, I can't even remember my workouts last week other than Thursday when Kristine and I did an upper body workout (including pull ups) that reminded me of itself for a couple of days afterwards - but in a very good way. Didn't do a lick of hiking in the mountains last weekend. We did some walking, if you consider walking from shop to shop a valid form of exercise walking. 

Next week - my goal is four pounds.  And about the weekly picture? Our camera is non-operational at the moment.