My Journey: Positive Outlook For 2013

GREAT job on executing your plan! The exercise portion is phenomenal, and your loss to date is inspiring to everybody. As far as the outside walks.... I've been craving moving some of mine to the great outdoors lately... I just like the idea of getting fresh air at the same time. Keep it up!!
 
Thanks for the nice words Don. In all honesty, it's VERY hard for me to think of myself as an inspiration to anyone. If I am though, really it's flattering! :)

Unfortunately, I didn't do my exercises yesterday. We ended up with some company that we weren't expecting. I tried to eat well, but I know I over did it. I didn't pig out or anything, but I know I was slightly oer my calorie count for the day. Oh well, I've been doing great so one day of over eating won't kill me.

To help make up for it, I already did my treadmill for the day. I walked 4.25 miles and burned 650 calories. After my legs rest up a little while I'll be bringing my dogs for a walk. I know the walks will be at their pace, but I should still be able to burn more calories. I'm also getting back on track with my eating so I really don't feel too bad about yesterday. :)

I weighed myself this morning and the scale said 212.8lb. :)
 
I'm learning that the only way I'm not going to eat junk food is to not have it around. Period! I bought two jars of macadamia nuts around Christmas time (before I started on my journey to lose weight) so I could make some cookies for the holidays (that's my job for our family get together). Well I only used one jar then. I decided yesterday to make another batch of cookies so I'm not wasting the jar. Needless to say, I ate way to much cookie batter and way to many cookies. I'm kind of hating myself for it, but once they're gone - they're gone! The good news is when I bake stuff like this I always bring a plate in to work for my coworkers. I brought a lot of cookies in this morning and they're going fast. There's only about half a dozen left which I'm NOT taking home. So, yeah... I'm not doing anymore baking or anymore junk food shopping until I know I can trust myself. Clearly I'm not there yet. :(

I haven't updated for a few days so here's what's been going on. Monday I burned 562 calories on the treadmill. I did great food wise too, but can't remember exactly what I ate. I just know I was under my calorie limit. Monday morning I weighed in at 215.2lb. Yesterday I stopped at 602 calories on the treadmill and was doing great on my food intake until I started making the cookies and then all hell broke loose on me. Yesterday I weighed in at 215.8lb in the morning. Today I'm mixing it up and will be trying tae bo instead of the treadmill. I have no idea if I'm going to like tae bo, but I want to do something different. The treadmill's just getting a bit too monotonous for me. This morning I weighed in at 215.0lb.

So anyway, that's the scoop. I don't know how many of you are actually following me, but I want to keep posting so I have a log to follow for myself.
 
MandyH said:
Thanks for the nice words Don. In all honesty, it's VERY hard for me to think of myself as an inspiration to anyone. If I am though, really it's flattering! :)
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Maybe you're like me in that you compare what you ARE doing with what you believe you are CAPABLE of doing (or maybe not?). In my case, I remind myself that even though I may be older and fatter than everyone else in here, there are potentially DOZENS of people lurking who either are older, heavier, in worse shape, or simply just struggling with weight loss more than me for whom I may be an inspiration. You ARE succeeding. You're living better now than before you started. That's an inspiration to many others who have yet to take their first step.

MandyH said:
I'm learning that the only way I'm not going to eat junk food is to not have it around. Period! So anyway, that's the scoop. I don't know how many of you are actually following me, but I want to keep posting so I have a log to follow for myself.
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Amen to that. Look, I understand that it would be ideal if I could simply say no all the time, but life has proven that to not be the case for me. So, I remove the temptations. I'm following you! Keep it up.
 
It definitely helps to just not have that stuff around. It's easy to say 'no' one time in the grocery store, but it's nearly impossible to say 'no' a thousand times when it's sitting in your cupboards.
 
Try to keep raw fruits and veggies around for when you get a craving for a snack :)

Also, I have a "goal weight" bracelet on every day. Its a small fashionable black band with 3 silver numbers! I leave it on my right wrist since I usually grab food with that hand. Prior to making the bracelets I would write my goal weight in marker if I was in a place that I might cheat.

Great job on the treadmill! Keep up the great work! :)
 
Thanks Don! You have a great way with words and are a great motivator! Weight has been an issue for me for so long that my self esteem has greatly suffered. As I'm sure most of ours has. It's just hard to feel like someone admires or looks up to you after you've felt beaten down for so long.

Cory, I definitely agree with that! I can not wait for those cookies to be gone! I had a few earlier today, but have successfully fought off the urge for more tonight. We don't have many left here at the house so I should be safe from pigging out on them. :)

alotofbliss - I love that bracelet idea! Are you asked a lot what it means? It's definitely something to think about!


Well, as I mentioned earlier I skipped the treadmill tonight and did some Taebo instead. I thought it was very cool and fun, but I must say that some of the moves they do... wow... I don't know he does them! I must be one of the most uncoordinated people on the planet! LOL

The only thing I don't like is that I have no clue how many calories I burned! I worked up a good sweat, but not as much as I do on the treadmill. Then again, I'm usually on the treadmill for an hour and the video I used on youtube tonight was only 42 minutes long. I felt the burn in my arms, abs, and legs so I know I did something good! I'll give it more time and practice to see if I can get better with it. :)
 
Hey Mandy! That's awesome. Adding variations to your workout will help you not get bored! I also struggle with the calories burned thing when I do my DVD work outs. I'm thinking of getting a heart rate monitor for that but they are quite expensive, especially because I just want the one I can wear as a watch, not the band. My workout DVDs are so hard too! I feel like I'm either seriously out of shape (95% true) or these people are super humans. Luckily, as we continue we will get better at it, so keep it up and look forward to that!!

About the bracelet, sometimes I do get asked, depends on who asks me I will tell them the truth or make up some random reason for the numbers like an anniversary day (160 - april 16). We had to buy the beads online.. Apparently silver number beads are not normal.
 
I'm having a great day today! I had two of my cookies from this week as a cheat, but the good news is that they're ALL gone! No more cookies in the house! No more temptation! :) Aside from the cookies, my day has gone great for food. For breakfast I had oatmeal with some strawberries on the side, morning snack was the cookies, lunch was a salad, and my afternoon snack was a handful of pretzels. For dinner I'm going to get a 6" sub from Subway and there will be NO snacking tonight!

At work I tried finding ways to burn more calories. I have a desk job so it's hard to do anything to burn any calories, but I think I did burn some off. I got up frequently and walked around the building. I did a few sets of 12 reps of just standing up using only my legs to get up. I also just finished an hour of filing which required me to bend over and get up several times. It may not have burned many calories, but definitely more than I usually do.

OH! During my lunch hour I went home (as I do every day) and played with my dogs outside. More calories gone! Yay! :) Tonight is grocery night and it's supposed to be my rest day, but I'm tempted... so tempted... to try taebo again. We'll have to see how it goes I guess. I'm also a huge Boston Bruins fan and they're playing tonight so it'll be hard to tear myself away from the tv while they're on. :)

Tomorrow should be much better for food. No more cookies. Groceries tonight so I'm picking up some more fresh fruits and veggies. I'm also going to run to the store after work tomorrow to looking a heart rate monitor and some exercise DVDs. I'm so determined to keep going with this. The only downside is that I'll need to start buying some new clothes pretty soon. I HATE clothes shopping with a passion, but then again maybe once I'm thinner and don't have to shop in the mens section anymore I'll actually start to like it! :)
 
YAY! No more cookies! I am so grateful for my last diet that pretty much changed my grocery shopping for ever. Enjoy your dinner, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Subway even though its not AS great as Jared claims.

Playing with the dogs is cool and will definitely help you burn calories! If you're soooooo tempted to work out, I dare you to do it :)

I don't enjoy clothes shopping either, yet. I would try a consignment shop for your "in between" clothes so you don't have to spend so much!

You have a great tude lady, keep it up!
 
I love Subway too! So convenient and cheap too. Makes a quick and easy meal. :) I said I wouldn't be snacking tonight, well I ended up having a little something, but it was healthy! At least, MUCH healthier than what I used to snack on. I ended up chopping up a few strawberries and had some fat free cool whip with them. It was pretty delicious! LOL

I didn't workout tomorrow, but I'm thinking I might try to do the treadmill in the morning Sunday and then taebo or an attempt at Insanity at night. We'll see how that goes.
 
MandyH said:
Thanks Don! You have a great way with words and are a great motivator! Weight has been an issue for me for so long that my self esteem has greatly suffered. As I'm sure most of ours has. It's just hard to feel like someone admires or looks up to you after you've felt beaten down for so long.
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Thanks, Mandy! Eating is a very emotional subject to me (like it is to many people in this forum) and I get pretty excited talking to people who are taking their efforts to lose weight and/or get healthier so seriously. I don't know you, but I wonder if you're like me (something tells me you may be) in that you are your biggest critic. There's one mean, uncompromising jerk in my life who has been sure to tell me where in life I am lacking... and he's me. I'm better at deflecting compliments than most people, I think. Learning to lighten up and give myself credit for my accomplishments losing weight has taken a concerted effort this time around. I'm trying to learn to be nice to myself and cut myself some slack when things don't go well.

By the way, I wanted to tell you that I really like the way you're mixing up your exercise! Walks, playing with the dogs, TaeBo, treadmill. Good job!
 
Mandy, I know how both you and Don feel. My dad tells me all the time that I'm harder on myself than anyone else would ever be.

Anyways, sounds like you're doing pretty well with the exercise! And doesn't it feel good not to have temptation foods in the house?
 
Mandy ~ I, too, ending up snacking @ like 9:30 to some smartpop popcorn. It was only 100cals but I still felt a little guilty. Your snack sounds yummy! I would prefer dipping in yogurt over cool whip but still sounds yummy!

Sounds like you're good for exercise! Keep it up! I did my insanity this morning, modified some of the moves cause I'm still not a super human. I can see that I'll be getting better at it as time goes by, and I look forward to that!


Don ~ Your support is awesome! It is true that we all have to really give ourselves credit for the effort and not be so hard on ourselves when we're not perfect! If all of this was so easy, we probably wouldn't be in this situation!
 
Well, so far I'm off to a great start. I had a packet of oatmeal and about an hour later I had more strawberries with a little bit of cool whip. I have a sliced granny smith apple on my desk ready to go when I'm ready for another snack. I'm a moron and forgot my salad at home so for lunch I'll be having a Smart Ones frozen dinner (chicken parm at 290 calories). Afternoon snack will either be pretzels or honey roasted peanuts and dinner is still up in the air, but I'm thinking I'll have my salad.

Don, I am definitely my own worst critic. Everything I do I critique to no end. I've always been pretty hard on myself. I have been trying to loosen up on that and I do feel it's getting better. Especially while I'm seeing progress. I just feel better physically, mentally, and emotionally.

As I make more progress I'm finding that I have more energy. I feel that mixing things up is important so I don't get bored and decide I've had enough. I'm determined to NOT let that happen though. I'm sticking with it this time. I really need to. That's the truth!

Cory, not having those cookies tormenting me last night and this morning was a great feeling. I'm getting back on track today and I'm pretty excited about it. The next couple of days may be tougher though since I'll be home. I find I eat much healthier during the work week since I'm at work the majority of the time. I'll be working on getting better with my home eating too.

Megan, I'm not much of a yogurt person. I really have to be in the mood for it. Cool whip on the other hand, I could probably inhale a whole bowl of it alone. I've always loved that stuff! Thankfully it's a pretty low calorie addition and I exercised some self control by only taking a few spoonfulls instead of half the bowl like I used to do! LOL I also love having sugar free jello with milk. Yum!

Tonight I'll be doing tae bo. I'm hoping to pick up a DVD instead of using Youtube. I think having it on the tv instead of a small computer screen will help. We'll see! I'm also hoping to pick up a HRM watch if the store has them in stock. :)
 
Oh I am sure it will be better. I do insanity on the computer and its annoying, especially the volume. I doubt my neighbors would appreciate waking up with me @ 6:00pm to Shaun T. Haha.

Sounds like you are making great decisions so far! Good for you! I'm glad you have more energy! It always makes for a better day!

Have fun tonight! :)
 
I found a DVD at WalMart for TaeBo so I grabbed it and did it tonight. Totally kicked my arse! LOL I did good until some of the faster cardio moves, but I feel as though I did the best I could. I also ended up just jogging in place during some of it because certain moves are hard on my knees. I have arthritis so I have to be careful not to push them too hard. All in all it went well AND if this heart rate monitor watch is accurate I still burned.... are you ready??... 733 calories!! That's a huge number to me so I'm pleased. :) Tomorrow I'll be doing the treadmill.

Oy... I'm beat, but it feels good!
 
GREAT that you're finding workouts that are killing you, as long as you're having fun and it isn't turning you off to doing it again. Are you definitely arthritic? I thought I was pre-arthritic... until I cut gluten and ALL of my stiffness and pain went away... in 2 weeks. It was an amazing transformation for me, and I've talked to 3-4 other people who had the same reaction to cutting their gluten.

Keep up your great work, Mandy. You are doing really well.
 
Don, unfortunately I am definitely arthritic. After nearly two years of pains that would come and go I was officially diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a couple of months ago. My rheumatoid factor was extremely elevated. The meds they have me on now are doing a great job, but after a good workout I am a bit sore.

Thanks and I'm definitely going keep at it. I weighed in at 212.8lb this morning. I was hoping to be lower, but I'm still making progress which is great!
 
So my left ankle was bugging me early today. I decided earlier I was going to skip the treadmill today. Then towards the afternoon, early evening I noticed it wasn't bugging me anymore so I said the heck with it and got on the treadmill for an hour. I walked at my usual 3mph and was at a 4% incline for most of the walk. I did get up to 6% for about 15 minutes before lowering it again. I feel better knowing I got my workout in. :)

Now I have questions for you gurus.

My treadmill, which does not take personal info like age, weight, etc, says I burned 442 calories. My new heart monitor watch, which only takes your gender and age, says I burned 839 calories. Now this is a HUGE jump. How would you figure this? Take the average between the two to be safe or go with the watch since it's taking some info into it's calculations?

I did check my heart rate several times during the workout (according to the manual for my watch the more times you get your rate checked the more accurate it'll be in your calorie count). They both showed pretty much the same number. The treadmill kept calculating about 4bpm higher than the watch so it's not a huge difference.
 
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