Struggles on the road to health

My problem: I'm bored

I've been totally slacking on my workouts. For the past week or so it's just been getting harder and harder to drag my butt up out of bed and do anything in the morning, or after work either, for that matter.

I'm suffering from workout burnout...at least that was my theory. I tested that and it turned out to be true.

See, I found these 10 minute cardio workouts on sparkpeople.com the other day, kind of by mistake. I found 'em while at work, then planned to go home and do them rather than hit another 20 minutes on the bike (which I'd been dreading all day long).

The idea really excited me, and I couldn't WAIT to go home and get it done. They kicked my butt, made me breathe hard and made muscles I THOUGHT I was using sore...

So I'll need to continue doing them, or find a workout video, ASAP! :hurray:
 
Made it through the holiday without any gains! Yeah!!

I've also started running, and I think I might die. Since I started I've been coughing non-stop, and it's almost like it's harder to breathe all the time. Maybe it's all in my head. Hopefully that'll go away.

On a very positive note, the husband FINALLY decided to give working out and watching what he eats a try. He's been using the bike at home, and we're going to finally go and buy a set of weights to use at home this weekend. We're also looking at an elliptical at home later in the month, or in February. He said he's going to give it a few weeks and see if he sees any results. He's been hitting the bike pretty hard nearly every day, which is great for him. AND he's been taking more consideration with what he eats, and trying to eat less junk and more real food.

Here's hoping he sticks with it!!!
 
Hi Mindi,

I guess I've been on hiatus from here, just been around reading here and there. But I missed out on your Thanksgiving post. It seems that when people do things like lose weight and those around them are in the same place that they were, then they see it as a type of threat. I know when I first started losing weight (when I was around 210), my dh's family (especially his grandma), kept telling me I was getting too skinny. I'm right now at 158-160 and this was about 20 lbs ago or so - (at 5'3" no way am I "too skinny".)

Then, his sister would get on us about what we were putting on our plates - "I thought you were on a diet?" Really angered me. :cuss:

Anyway, just wanted to give you kudos. I am so proud of you! I hope that your dh sticks to his weight loss efforts.

I need to get back to exercising. I don't think I've done anything in a month or so. I did manage to keep my weight down over the holidays - no gains. But due to not exercising, I "feel" fatter.

I bet you look super-fine in those size 4s! Have you done much clothes shopping lately?
 
I know what you mean about "feeling fatter" when you don't exercise, Sweatpea....I just feel like a big lump of blah when I skip a day.

In fact I did go shopping for some pants on Saturday, and bras. The bra shopping was depressing...let's just say I'm seriously giving initial consideration to some augmentation in that area.

But the pants...man...I thought I had it bad 80 pounds ago! I'm 5'9" tall, and when I wore a 16 or 18 I never had an issue finding long length pants. Now..none. I went to a ton of stores. Average was too short at any place but Wal-Mart. And there were no long lengths in any size smaller than a 10.

Then I was trying on different styles of the same brand of jean....in "classic fit" I wore a 6, in another style it was an 8 and in a third it was a 4. In one other brand of jeans I wore an 8.

Whoever made up the clothing sizing guide for women should be shot!!
 
Note to self...

You've come a long way! It's crazy that every time I picture myself in my mind, I see me at 220+ pounds. I hauled out the tape measure last night, for the first time in many, many months...the last measurements were actually only a couple of months into weight loss, before the end of 2007

I started at 225-230 lbs, and now I'm 138.

I started at 36 inches around my waist, and now it's 27 inches.

My hips were 44 inches...now 36.

My neck was 13 inches...now 12.

Maybe, since I can't see it in my mind, the numbers will help me visualize the loss...
 
New favorites....

Totally in love with Dannon Light & Fit yogurt. 110 calories in 1 whole cup. Not as filling as a meal, but an AWESOME snack that I can eat in conjunction with bananas, etc., or by itself. Need to find new flavors, though...my grocery store only has vanilla in the big tubs. Maybe they'll get new flavors in the little ones....

Also loving those little Crystal Light water flavor packet things. Was seriously struggling since the taste of my old reliable bottled water has changed. Only 5 calories per packet. Yum!

I've also decided to look into purchasing a couple of workout videos to tie into my weekly grind...Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and a Tae Bo DVD or two...Anyone had experience with those?

Oh, and the husband fell off the workout wagon after a week. But at least it's still on his mind....
 
Hi Mindy,

I hear you on the pants/clothes thing. I'm no where near your size, but find it's harder to find clothes now then when I was heftier.

Kudos on all of your progress!

I've heard the 30 day Shred is a good one. I've done Tae Bo too. And it does give you a good workout, just couldn't stick with it, since at the time I was also doing martial arts. And it's just not the same. Plus I kept thinking I should just be doing my forms and forget about the Tae Bo. So that's what I did.

Anyway, you can go to Collagevideos.com and they have reviews plus video clips. I generally can find the videos cheaper elsewhere though - like Amazon.com or Overstock.com

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the video advice, sweatpea! I'm thinking I'll get the 30 Day Shred and the Tae Bo bootcamp videos, and throw those in a day a week or so each to keep me from being so bored! Right now I'm so sick of my workout that new songs on my Ipod can't even get me going after Monday. Today I'm riding the bike for 30 minutes, and I couldn't force myself to do more than 10 this morning, so I'll probably split it into 10 more at lunch and 10 or 15 after work. Blah....

collagevideos.com, here I come!

Oh, and they're making me SO mad at work! For weeks over Christmas I did ok not eating too many sweets, etc. Now they've gone insane and put little bowls of miniature Snickers, Reese cups and things everywhere! I've got to pass three bowls of the stuff AND a key lime pie on the way to the bathroom! I've been giving in but it's GOT to stop.

My weight is being weird, recently, and I think I can attribute it to the chocolate I've been snacking on. It's not going UP, per se...it's just fluctuating a lot between 138-141. Never above 141, but back and forth. This also started at the same time I began eating 100 calorie English muffins with fat free cream cheese for breakfast...but that doesn't have a lot of sugar or too terribly many carbs in it. Maybe I need to lay off those, too...
 
Well, I'd call yesterday a success, when it was all said and done. I got over being lazy in the afternoon and went to finish my workout at the little gym I go to. There was a lady already on the one elliptical trainer, so I hit the bike there for 10 minutes while I waited on her. Well, she wasn't done when I finished that 10, so I got on the treadmill.

Last time I was on the treadmill was the first time I ever ran on the thing, so I held onto the handles. AND the lady who runs the place was there, literally sitting one foot behind me and watching the whole time. Made me self-conscious. Anyway, she wasn't there this time, and the woman who runs things at night was on the other treadmill next to me. But I walked one lap, ran 2 1/2 and finished the last half walking as a cool-down. In all I did a mile in 11 minutes. Whoo hoo for me!

I felt SO good when I got done! I'm wanting to do the same thing today. Hit the bike this morning for 10 minutes, and I'm going up there this afternoon to maybe do the elliptical for about 10 minutes then a mile on the treadmill. I want to work up to an entire mile jogging on the treadmill, and then I'll go from there.
 
Had a depressing week (the anniversary of my mom's passing), so the running took a dive. I'm hoping to get back into it ASAP, though...

Had my first flat-out mean comment the other night. Went a little like this:

Her: "Mindi! Are you still losing weight? How much more are you going to lose?!"

Me: "I'm not losing anymore...I stopped at 140. I've actually probably gained a little the past few weeks."

Her: "Good. You need to gain more. You know you looked good at first, but now you look too thin, like you're sick."

Then she just walked away.

I wanted to whack her! But I didn't...

I also discovered over the weekend that there's a second food I must add to my "It's not allowed around me EVER" list.

:drool5: It's "pink stuff," aka Ambrosia or whatever your family calls it. It varies. You know...that stuff made with cool whip, cream cheese, pink coloring, marshmallows and fruit. The husband had a craving for some when we were going through my grandma's old recipes. So I made some. He ate a little bit...I couldn't stay OUT of it!! I made it with sugar free stuff, as much as possible, but it still came out to 130 calories per half cup. I ate about 3 cups yesterday probably.

But MAN it was good....:drool5: I ended up tossing it all in the trash so I'd stay out of it...even the little serving sized bowls I'd kept for myself for today. Can't be trusted...

So that's now food number two on my "NO!" list, along with mozzarella cheese sticks...


OH...and the husband....grrrr....

I'm pretty much getting tired of being his maid. He leaves his clothes and socks wherever they land when he takes them off. His work shirts are in the middle of the bedroom floor...his socks all over the living room. He won't pick up his empty cigarette packs, water bottles or anything. He hardly ever takes his glasses to the kitchen.

Well, last night after picking up another load of water bottles from his bedside table, I was upset. I made some comment about being treated like his maid instead of his wife, and he said "If you think you've got it so bad, pack your stuff and get out."

What?!

I went to bed mad and woke up that way this morning. I mean...I don't mind doing the heavier cleaning. I don't expect him to get up and clean the kitchen or bathroom or anything...but he COULD help me keep the living room straight and pick up after himself, just to help out!

I repeat....grrr....
 
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Hey Mindi,

As far as the comment, people generally get weird about other people's successes - it means they have something they feel inferior about and then have to find something "wrong" with you. Just brush it off.

As far as your husband, eh... I don't like it when people talk like that to each other. It just puts fuel in the fire. I too would be upset by comments like that. Is there something else going on in his life right now? Something that is bothering him?

I mean you can always try the "super" nice tricks. Like going out of your way and being nice to him to see if that changes his ways towards you. I know it sounds sappy, but it does work. Even when I'm grumpy my dh finds something nice to say to me - maybe not in the moment, but whenever the moment passes and it's ok to start up a new conversation.

In our relationship, I'm sometimes the "mean" one - and if dh is then it means that something else is bothering him.

Good luck and I'm going to say a prayer for you.

(((Hugs)))

Lyndy
 
Thanks for the support, Lyndy!!! (love the name, btw!!) We talked about it last night, and he explained that his comment didn't mean what I took it to mean. He has a problem sometimes with things not coming out the way he intends them. Or so he says...but we worked it out, and he's going to at least give a try to picking up after himself better. Which is all I can ask...it's a work in progress!

Today is icy and cold. Rode the bike at home this morning, and will probably finish up this afternoon rather than make the cold, icy trip to the workout center. Most likely the same scenario tomorrow, before this all clears off...

brrrrr....
 
Too much snacking!

And I'm not talking about approved daily snacks, either...I'm talking extra random crap from up here at work that's not planned....like chocolate covered pretzels, mini chocolate bars, crackers, etc. I estimated yesterday that I'm maintaining at 30 minutes of workouts 5 days a week, with 1,650 calories (planned) per day...and an estimated 150-200 extra calories in JUNK!!!

That means I can eat that extra 150 or more in REAL food that has a purpose, and still maintain! I sat down to plan today with that in mind, but it's SO hard to make my food journal on Sparkpeople go above the 1,650-1,700 it's been at so faithfully for a year. I guess in my head the extra calories didn't count because I couldn't "see" them online.

It started out innocently enough before Christmas...a pretzel here, a cracker there. Then as weight didn't come back on I got more comfortable with snacking and added a second pretzel, and then a Hershey bar mini, then some crackers...and so on. Even when I wasn't hungry or wanting ANYTHING I was eating. I've been fluctuating from 138-141 and back since all that started, too, where I was steady at 138-139 before.

So it's NO TO SNACKS THAT AREN'T APPROVED from now on, for me!!!

And I'll work at adding calories...
 
Good gosh I'm freaking out! I'm trying to get up JUST above 1,700 calories, recorded, today...without any snacking. So far so good on the no snacking...but I can't STAND to see the calories so high. I keep taking it down a notch...just a habit I guess!!

Maybe I need therapy....
 
MindiK said:
Thanks for the support, Lyndy!!! (love the name, btw!!) We talked about it last night, and he explained that his comment didn't mean what I took it to mean. He has a problem sometimes with things not coming out the way he intends them. Or so he says...but we worked it out, and he's going to at least give a try to picking up after himself better. Which is all I can ask...it's a work in progress!

Today is icy and cold. Rode the bike at home this morning, and will probably finish up this afternoon rather than make the cold, icy trip to the workout center. Most likely the same scenario tomorrow, before this all clears off...

brrrrr....
Click to expand...

Well that's good that you and your dh talked about it. I never told you what my name was? LOL I thought I had because of the similarities!
 
MindiK said:
Good gosh I'm freaking out! I'm trying to get up JUST above 1,700 calories, recorded, today...without any snacking. So far so good on the no snacking...but I can't STAND to see the calories so high. I keep taking it down a notch...just a habit I guess!!

Maybe I need therapy....
Click to expand...

I'm a snacker. I know that's one of my problems. But, I also don't think you should deny yourself stuff either. I mean if you have worked the snacks into your routine and it worked - as well as the good stuff too - then keep doing what you know works!

Well got to go to bed now, not even sure if I'm making sense!

:seeya:
 
You probably did tell me your name....I was having one of those days, the other day...

You may be right about the snacking, though...I'm having SEVERE issues with forcing the calories up over 1,700 per day, visibly. Maybe just cut BACK on my number of snacks...but keep up with what I'm doing? I re-did my calculations yesterday and even at my bottom number I'm within maintenance range. So maybe it'll all work out...

The birthday is Monday...having the cake argument right now. I basically can't have one that has sugar in it, so I'm trying to figure out some alternative. Just don't want to make it myself...though that may be the safest option.
 
I'm going to tell you Happy Birthday early, just in case I forget!

Happy Birthday!!!!


My anniversary is Sun. so we might go out of town, I don't know we haven't decided officially what to do yet.
 
Gosh, I haven't updated this in forever and a day. Still maintaining, and haven't lost more weight. So that's good. Just busy at work. Or as busy as I can be. We've noticed this year that everything is slow. With the economy the way it is, people just aren't DOING anything that can get in the paper. Even a lot of the clubs we could always count on for news aren't even meeting right now. And the paper each week is so small because nobody will buy ads. Kind of a scary time.

So I'm staying as busy as I can. The workout is old and boring. I'm using the bike at home, and going to the gym to lift weights. I got so sick of the elliptical I couldn't stand it anymore. At some point this week I'm going to order "Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred" and another of her videos..."Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism." Both got overall really good reviews on collagevideo.com, so I'm gonna try 'em out for some variety.

Oh, and my husband broke my bike. In his brief stint riding it, he didn't like how far up the seat sat. So rather than move the seat back, he pushed back hard against the seat back and bent it backward. Then I couldn't ride it comfortably anymore, so I had to keep pulling it back up. Well, it snapped this week, so I'm riding a recumbent bike without a back. Not very comfortable at ALL.

I may start hitting garage sales and see if I can find a treadmill for pretty cheap...just for a little more variety. That way I can run at home without having people at the little workout center stare at me. It just gets awkward when people watch me run. That's why I won't go do it. Can't use the track either...track season at school.

Anyway, that's where I am! I'll update again soon!
 
Hi Mindi!

Well I'm glad you haven't vanished.

I've decided I really need to quit with the snacks. It worked for me a few months ago, but right now I just can't seem to shake the snack thing.

So far so good today!

I only ate one cracker w/ peanut butter and banana slice at school today (in between breakfast and lunch.) And when I got home I had a quaker oats bar. I am striving for no snacks after supper to see how that goes.

Sorry to here about your bike. Hopefully you can find something to replace it.

I bought the Shred video a few weeks ago, but haven't attempted to put it in the dvd player, but I have heard it's a good one!

Congrats on maintaining! :party:
 
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