Quickie

Ok, so my weigh in was yesterday. I'm back up to 180. I'm definitely bummed out, but (like most) not surprised. I gotta get back in gear.

The good news is that I'm back on my schedule for running and hitting the gym. I still want to get ST in as a regular routine. I've got it mapped out, and I start it up, but I keep falling off the ST'ing waggon. Every time I look at my flabby arms, I think that I could be seeing some definition. UGH, I just need to do it.

OK, SO BOO on the weight gain. YAY on getting back on routine. YAY for getting my head back on track with eating right (the past couple days I've done well), and BOO for not getting ST'ing in my regular routine.

I think I need to work on the BOO's a bit harder!!!

Where's my head been?

Over the past 6 months of my adventure, I've learned a lot. But the most important thing I've learned about weight loss and getting fit isn't about eating right and exercising. Don't get me wrong, eating right and exercising are the basics and the fundamental parts of weight loss and getting fit. But it's not the most important thing I've learned in the last 6 months.

Even though I've changed my diet, and developed a great exercise routine. If my head isnt' in the game, then the effort I've put in is nearly worthless. Let me explain; I'm tired and exhausted. My new habits are telling me to get my butt out there and get some exercise done. So I go, but I make excuses to walk. Or, I make a nice big salad for lunch and enjoy it very much. But then I eat a couple of crackers. A couple ends up being the entire box, along with some cookies, bread, and candy.

So, if my head isn't in the game, my reasons for being healthy are being followed by excuses for unhealthy actions. I need to get my head back, and get it back for good. It seems that one day I'm right on, but the next I'm completely off course. What do you do to keep your head in the game?

You ever feel like when you decide to get back into the swing of things that it's more like a swing and a miss? Today definitely felt like it. I went out for a run, but ended up having to walk almost half of the 4 miles. It wasn't horrible, but with my little pulled muscle, and just feeling drained my body was burnt out from the start. My head was in the right place, but my body was just simply left behind in bed.

I'm actually quite excited about this week. Weddings have slowed down, and I'm able to put more time into getting a few things done around the house. Today, however, I have to schedule time for a nap. As I'm writing this, I've screamed at the kids and the dogs. I think Momma's a bit cranky. My wonderful little girls kept me up a long time last night due to monsters, so I didn't get very much sleep. Oh well, It's really not a problem as long as I can sleep.

Got this pic from here.

Well, I got my work out in. I need to get some clothes folded and put away, and the toilets cleaned. Other than that, today's goal is a nap. I think I need it.

OUCH!

I know that I'm not the only accident prone person out there. But there aren't a whole lot of people who actually have the talent of getting hurt like me. (Yes, I know there are many of us, but we are very rare.) I hurt myself today on my run. That's not so interesting, but how and what I hurt is interesting. I was running around the gate that keeps vehicles off the running path, and while dodging it, I pulled my oblique. OUCH!!! This was right at the beginning of my run, and it wasn't too painful so I just ran through it. Now, after I have stretched and cooled down. I can hardly walk! I'm not injured, but I need to keep the muscle quiet for today. OUCHIE!

Today started off great (even with the ouchie, it was a very good run) I woke up to a thunderstorm, and then on and off showers throughout the morning. About 10am I decided that I wasn't going to give up my run because of a little rain. The truth is that I'm not that sweet, so I won't melt. Also, I thought about another blogger; Sammie. You can find her blog HERE. She really is an inspiration. And the specific post that made me go for it in the rain was HERE.

Also, I saw this picture on facebook. Can you tell me what your excuses are after seeing this?

Got this pic from this site.

Kind of puts a few things in perspective doesn't it.

Holy Zumba

Yep, today was the first day back to Zumba. It seems that they have come up with some new stuff during my little hiatus. I knew/remembered about half of what we did. It really doesn't matter because I had a TON of fun and worked really hard. According to my schedule, I have abs to do, and I'll get that done this afternoon.

I decided to take my family out to dinner last night, and we really enjoyed ourselves. My little girls shared one of the kiddo meals, but the waitress made them BOTH the deserts even though they could have shared it just fine. I was pretty proud of myself. I splurged on some chips and salsa, but ate a half salad as my entre'. I was feeling full, but not uncomfortable and I really happy. I was able to treat myself with a appetizer, but not overdo it with a bunch of crap. My husband, on the other hand, stuffed himself with bread, fries, and a half a club sandwich.

I have yet to count my calories, and that is a HUGE part of my weight loss. So I have to get it started today.

So this week my goal is to count my calories every day, and take my vitamins (so important).

I'm back, and I'm back at it!!!

That's right!!! I'm back on my schedule, and I'm making time for me and my exercises again! OOFTA that time off was actually nice. But, being back into the swing of things feels so much better. I haven't gained weight, but I definitely feel MUCH MUCH flabbier.

I talked to my husband last night and I told him how much I REALLY wanted to get serious again, and I needed his support. He said he was good to go with what I needed, and he was completely in on getting back on track. I am even planning on kicking him out in the evenings to go play basketball at the gym. He feels so much better when he does.

When you have a team pushing for the same goal, it is so much easier to stay on track!!

Just a quickie

OK, I know, I've been crazy busy!!! I haven't even had enough time to THINK about a "real" workout. I've been going nuts working weddings these past couple of weeks, and it looks like I have one more crazy week ahead of me. All I do all day is iron, or decorate. I've been ironing linens for about 8 hours each day! And these weddings I average walking 11 miles during the decorating process. So, I haven't been doing NOTHING, and I'm really sorry I haven't been able to check in to other blogs. It's going to change here soon.

Anyway, I thought that since my usual weigh day is Thursday I'd see if I'm still on track. I haven't stepped on a scale in about two weeks. Today's weight is  176.0!! NOT BAD for not being in my correct frame of weight loss mind. It's been two weeks since I worried about what I ate. So I'm loving that the hard work I've put in this year to loose those 20 lbs has paid off, and has been life changing instead of a simple diet. Well, back to the grind. If you want some wedding pics to look at, please check out our facebook page;   http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/LK-Events/201764407663

The Vegie Update

So, this week I've been Meat Free! I'm doing great! I'm smack dab in the middle of my busiest two weeks of the year with decorating weddings, and the meals aren't that healthy. But I've been doing fantastic at making sure that I'm skipping the meats. I have admit that I've had a TON of support by my wonderful husband, and friend/business partner. It's nice that they are also watching out for me.

Today, while decorating the wedding, my friend/business partner had to rush home for something and asked if I wanted a sandwich. I said yes. She looked at me and shook her head. She said, "Well, if you're not eating Bologna, do you want a mayo sandwich? I just don't know what to feed you anymore." -Cracked me up. She ended up bringing me a good granola bar. YUMMY!

Then for dinner I picked up a pizza on my way home. I asked my husband what he wanted, and he said, "I really don't care, but could you put pepperoni on my side?" I said NO So he settled for ham. But he really was willing to eat a cheese pizza if that meant I didn't have meat. (I ended up having a fully veggie side)

Well, here I go, into my first weekend and things are looking pretty good.

Running Vs Walking

I often wonder what is overall better for weight loss and exercise. I have heard A LOT of pro's about both running and walking. I have never made any decision on what is better; Running 3 miles, or speed walking 3 miles.

Although I haven't heard any major CON'S about either in the form of exercise and importance, I've heard a TON of propaganda in articles steering the reader towards a certain direction.

Sorry, let's back track a minute here and see where this discussion came from. I went on my "run" today, and it felt TERRIBLE!!! I haven't exercised since last Wednesday and I felt lazy and worn out. I could hardly move my legs forward. I "ran" about 2 miles, and decided to speed walk the last 2 miles. Obviously walking was much easier on me, but I did notice some good differences. It felt as though more of my muscles in my legs were being used and felt like it. I don't think I slowed down much at all. I pushed hard and held a very fast walk. We all know I'm a pitiful runner, I have very bad joints. So is a good hard speed walk better for me?

I read a few articles online this morning and found a huge variety of opinions. I found one that claimed if you're walking hard and fast (not lallygagging), then your walk can be comparable to a jog. The next article I read made me feel foolish for even thinking of walking. If I were to read between the lines I'm sure it said something that only those who need to loose an excess of 50 lbs should consider walking, and then work up to jogging as soon as possible.

I found today a good hard fast speed type walk pretty tough this morning. I know it would have been difficult for me to carry on a conversation. How can that be bad? My joints feel much better too. I have very little pain right now.

Here are three articles (out of the hundreds that I scanned, and many that I actually read) that I thought were helpful.
http://www.healthyexerciseworld.com/running-vs-walking.html
http://www.therunnersguide.com/runningvswalking/
http://health.ninemsn.com.au/whatsgoodforyou/theshow/694482/walking-versus-running-151-whats-better

My Conclusion -
Walking or Running - If you do it right, it's going to benefit you in some great ways. You will burn somewhere around 2x's the calories if you run instead of walk. But if you are keeping a strong fast speed walk, then you'll burn almost the same amount of calories in the same distance as a jog.

So, is walking a waste of time? - HELL NO! But do it right! Enjoy yourself, but don't be in day dream mode.

What a weekend

WOW!!! I'm back after an epic weekend. I met up with other Motorcycle Riders from Montana at our B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S. Nationals. We took some AMAZING rides around the area and a simple great time. Late nights, and crap food.

That brings me to a question I was wondering before we went. How did I do on my diet? What diet? Really, though I didn't worry about what I ate, and I know I definitely went backward a little bit, but that's ok. As I have said before though; the habits I have established here at home definitely showed there. Even if I didn't eat very good, I did eat and drink less. Which also means that I didn't have to worry about hangovers since I wasn't getting drunk. That was definitely nice.

So, today starts a new venture for me and my husband. Due to his fight with Gout (which was REALLY bad this weekend), and other illnesses; this house becomes 90% meat free. I say 90% because I'm not cooking meat anymore, but that doesn't mean we are totally vegetarian. I'm not going to tell my husband he can't go out for a nice steak once in a while, but it's important to take a large portion of protein out of his diet. Also, no more beer. We really don't drink very much at home, so this won't be a bad at all. I am excited to start this.