Exercise Commitment

Exercise is a four letter word to me.

I KNOW it's good for me.

I KNOW it's important for lasting weight loss maintenance.

I know.. I know.. I know..

But I still HATE the first step from sedentary to active lifestyle. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

It is amazing how difficult it can be to start an activity routine, but how easy it is to fall out of one. And how easy it is to make excuses to put off starting again.

I can't afford the gym.

It's cold outside.

It's hot outside.

I'm tired.

We don't have room for a treadmill.. elliptical.. whatever..

I'll start Monday.. the 1st of the month.. New Year's Day..

Enter: my new exercise BFF!!! This little machine packs a surprisingly effective full body workout into a tiny package. You can feel the twisty motion toning, your whole core is naturally engaged because there is no upright bar or handles, you can get an arm/shoulder/back/chest workout using the resistance cords. Just amazing!

I had big dreams of stepping through a whole episode of The Blacklist.

Dreams is the key word.

Maybe one day soon, but for now I had to stick to 20 minutes. And those 20 minutes were broken down into two 5 minute bursts and one 10 minute burst with a minute or two in between. But OH I am SO in love! I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone who doesn't know where to start.

Related side note: I am currently about 252 lbs give or take due to TOM and a new exercise routine, the machine max weight is 250. I have had NO issues but I do make sure not to turn the resistance up too much so I don't blow the hydraulics.

Because I wanted to get 30-40 minutes of activity in, and it was NOT happening all in one shot on the stepper yet, I decided to do a little yoga. I found a great 20ish minute video online that was great for me as a beginner!! I loved the instructor. She was real. Immaculate shape and beautiful. But definitely real.

I actually loved the routine so much I got up early this morning to do it. I felt so refreshed and ready to take on the day!

Added bonus: TOM came with almost NO cramps!! Maybe a coincidence. Maybe not. But I am quite satisfied, so....

CAN I COMMIT TO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 5 DAYS PER WEEK?! 

Let's find out...

What are some of your favorite activities?

Why Does the Weeknd Have to END

Happy Monday!!

Back to reality after a family, fun, and food filled weekend! I haven't blogged in a few days so I apologize in advance if this is a bit lengthy.

First off: I was very happy with my Friday WI. Down 3.4 lbs and almost back to that 40 lbs loss mark!!

I am starting to think the week I had the 4.8 lbs loss that brought me to the 40 lbs may have been a fluke, like maybe I was dehydrated or something, because I VERY quickly put 5 lbs right back on, and have been having a heck of a time getting it back off.

Another theory is just that I had a couple weekends of debauchery that resulted in some much expected pounds packing on.

This weekend I was faced with a bunch of family time, which usually means FOOD. LOTS of GOOD food. I decided to be proactive and take most of the cooking into my own hands so I could control what went into everything.

Saturday was my mama's birthday dinner. For an app/snack I made this AMAZING Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip, served with pretzel chips. For the mail course, Skinnytaste's Chicken Francesefor dinner, since mom is a huge lemon chicken fan. Served with some fresh broccoli, rice pilaf, and a sprinkling of shaved parmesan, it was a huge hit! And for dessert, Pink Lemonade Cake with fresh raspberries and Cream Cheese Frosting!! I slightly altered the cake recipe first, by making it a cake instead of cupcakes, and I added a box of instant vanilla pudding to make it extra moist. Everything was incredible.

We also had probably the best cocktail I have ever had or made ~ a bourbon blackberry mojito!! Crushed ice, 2 oz bourbon (we used Jim Beam), muddled mint leaves and smooshed blackberries to taste, top with ginger beer and OMG enjoy!!!! My hubby found the best light ginger beer. Fever Tree Naturally Light, which is only about 90 calories for a whole bottle.

In the morning we made omelettes and toast and COFFEE, then set out for round two of family time!!

At my in-laws we have to cook for a few more people: mom, dad, SIL, BIL, niece, and twin nephews. We decided on Cider Glazed Pork Roast with Apples, Sweet Potato and Sage. I have been wanting to make this for weeks now!! The only alterations we made were more sage because we love it, and I doubled the glaze recipe because it just seemed like it needed more.

My sister in law made a drool inducing apple pie that I am SO PROUD OF MYSELF for NOT having more then just a bite of mu husbands because I was comfortably full!!

So overall the weekend was a great success. I did use all of my weekly points. And I did show a 2.5 gain as of this morning. But I'm sure it was mostly water weight and it will even out this week. I have a nifty new exercise toy I'm going to try out and report back on this week, so hopefully that will help too!!

I hope everyone has a super awesome week!!

Stay shiny!! :D

Confession of a Daily Weigher.

Good morning!!

Has everyone had their coffee yet?? Mine is cooling down right now.

So this morning I couldn't help myself ~ I hopped on the scale. I tell myself every single day to stop weighing myself every single day. In a way though, I feel like it keeps me accountable. When I feel like I'm really OP I love weighing every day because I usually see a tiny loss. Or a maintain which is equally as awesome in my humble opinion. Sometimes when I had what I consider to be a "bad day" I like to WI the next morning as well to see the damage.

On occasion this can backfire. I see the damage and get discouraged. Then I stop daily weighing in favor of eating everything that comes into my line of vision for the next few days. This happened recently, hence my 5 lb gain a couple weeks ago. Luckily this is rare, and I feel I'm getting good control of it this time around.

Today was a good daily weigh. I've almost lost the 5 lb I gained after a couple bad weeks. So.. happy dance! We'll see what Friday brings. I'm considering getting a little calendar and recording my daily weights. I don't want to get obsessive or anything but it can be interesting to see any patterns that emerge, especially around TOM which is generally either a horrific gain or an amazing loss for me. Weird.

In other news, I saw the prettiest little rainbow spot on my way home from work last night. It was like a little beacon of positivity that made me smile. I got a pretty great picture of it that I wanted to share.

Doesn't it make you smile? Don't you feel happy and warm and positive just looking at it? Like a mosquito attracted to a flame.. maybe it's just me..

Anyway.

There's my rambling for today! My coffee should be almost ready to drink!

I hope everyone has a super happy day!!

This Is My Life Right Now.

Ahhhhhhh.... Saturday Morning.

I spent most of my working life in jobs that required me to work, or at least be on call, on weekends. Since starting a Monday thru Friday work schedule I feel younger me on Saturday mornings ~ wake up late.. lounge around in my PJs with my hair a mess.. soaking in the warm sunshine and morning air pouring through the windows.. savoring a big cup or coffee.. music in the background.. all alone with the furbabies while my husband is out golfing..

Times like this I feel so genuinely happy and thankful for everything I have. I forget about every single stressor or insecurity or negative thing in my life and just drink in the good.

I wish I could bottle this feeling and have it with me all the time.

I got a little carried away there.. aaaanyway.. In the midst of my fairytale morning I found myself snapping back to reality and getting a little hungry. I wanted something light and sweet and delicious. I did the dance between staring into the cabinets and staring into the fridge.. and I threw together the greatest little snack!

I just had to share!

I shall call it.... Fairytale Morning Fluff (ok so the name may need some work)

4 Tb Cool Whip Free

2 Tb PB2

1 Cup grapes, halved

That's it!! A sizeable bowl of guilt free sweetness! The whole recipe is 2PP if you enter the ingredients separately, 4PP, or roughly 240 calories, if you use the recipe builder.

I entered them individually. I'm greedy with my PP.

And now, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my hopefully happy weekend!

Happy Saturday Morning!!

It's The Little Things..

Happy Friday!!

I have had a rough couple weeks. This is partially why I decided to start blogging, which is something I have never done before. There is such an amazing community of people here, and I feel like sharing my story a little bit at a time will help keep me accountable, and nurture my success.

About two weeks ago I had a BAD day, and as I always have in the past, I let it get in my head. I let it be an excuse to have a couple more bad days. I told myself "I'll start again tomorrow" (or Monday.. Friday.. or next week.. ) and that was that. After a few days of this I abruptly change my mind. I started to feel awful ~ almost like I had a *food* hangover!

Not only did I stop what I was doing, I went back and tracked EVERYTHING (to the best of my recollection) I ate over those three days. Now this next part is utterly embarrassing: I was NEGATIVE 212 PP, or roughly 13,000 calories, for the week!!!! Ouch.

I took the hit and started fresh the next day. On Friday ~ which is my WI day ~ I showed a 4.6 lb gain. It was SO expected, but still so hard to see.

After all the hard work I had put in. After hitting my 40 lb mark recently. After all the good.

I had nobody to blame but myself.

This week I had a much less bad week. I went to a wine tasting fundraiser with a group of my girl friends ~ which was so much fun. I don't make enough time to spend with them. We tasted all kinds of amazing wines, and a couple liquors. Then a couple of us went out to karaoke since my hubby was the DJ and ended the night with singing and dancing (and maybe some nachos.)

Monday I woke up with a cold, so I have been nursing that all week. I've also been concerned with how many PP my sugar free cough drops and Nyquil have been using!!

This morning I apprehensively stepped on the scale and am happy to report a 0.2 lb loss.

Today I have a new appreciation for tiny losses.

I love my tiny loss.

(((( 0.2 lb loss ))))

This Time I Will Not Fail!

Hello all!! I am starting yet another weight loss journey. This time is different. This time I'm over 30, married, working a good job. This time I'm not letting every little "slip" devastate me, because this is a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix.

I have been overweight for as far back as my memories will take me. I have been on the smaller side of overweight, and the not-so-smaller side. This past winter was bittersweet for me. I married my best friend. It was the happiest day of my life up until then, and I was at my heaviest weight I had ever been. With the stress of planning a wedding and (at the time) working in a call center, I just didn't have it in me to get fit for the wedding on top of it all. Lucky for me, I didn't feel like I had to either. My friends and family and husband love me no matter what.

But now it's time for ME to love me.

I have been plucking away since February, and have lost about 40 lbs so far ~ which feels amazing, but I still have about 90 lbs to go to get into a healthy weight range.

I'm just putting myself out there and hoping to motivate and be motivated.

Feel free to add me as a friend! Lord knows, I can use all the help I can get!