Arggggh

First off, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We had a really good time at my parents. It was a very relaxing day full of overeating, watching football, and good times with family.

I don't usually work out on Mondays because I work in the gym daycare but I happened to look for my sneakers to wear there anyways. Turns out, I forgot them down in Groton!! Major bummer! So, I have two choices....go down tomorrow and snag them OR buy a new pair. Augh, with Christmas coming I really don't want to buy a brand new pair. I'm thinking I'll probably just head down and snag them. Booooooo!

I ate very healthy today though, something I've been struggling with. I have a really bad sweet tooth...and it's probably helped pack on the pounds. For dinner tonight, I made whole wheat rotini pasta in spaghetti sauce with lean ground turkey mixed in! A lot of people don't realize that portion size is a big deal. A portion of pasta is ONLY a cup! Doesn't seem like much, especially when you compare it to what you've been eating previous to that.
Also, for anyone who loves Dunkin Donuts...they have a egg and cheese wake-up wrap that is fantastic! Low calories, low fat....great snack for those on the go!!

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

I started off the day with my own little turkey trot :) I wanted to put in just a quick workout so I could still get my exercise in for the day. I did a quick 4 minute warm-up, ran a 1/2 half mile without stopping (7.5 minutes), walked a 1/4 mile, then ran another 3/4 miles (repeated this twice), and finally did a cool down of 5 minutes. I'm really proud of being able to run without stopping for that long. I know that won't seem very long to the avid runner, but it's a small victory for me!! As for nutrition today, I didn't follow any plan. I think it's unfair to limit myself on such a prominent holiday for eating. I'll hop back on the WW bandwagon tomorrow!! The holidays can be a very tough time to lose weight, but I'm determined to stick with it.

On a different note, I'm very thankful for my beautiful little family. I'm hoping to better my health so I can give them all I have for years to come :)

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Off Day

I took today off from running :) My body definitely needed it because my knees were very sore as were all my joints. I did some good stretching though, so hopefully that helped!

Today was my weekly shift to work in the gym's daycare. It's a great deal. I work for 2.5 hours/week and we get our gym membership completely free. Saves us almost 100 bucks/month!!For those out there who don't have the time to workout because you have kids and think it's too pricey to pay for a gym with childcare, look for a center that allows barter memberships! It's totally worth it! My husband, Nathan, has been waking up early before work and hitting the gym. I'm very proud of him and the dedication it takes to be able to pull yourself out of bed at 5:15am every morning!
Anyways, I plan on always taking Mondays off because after working in the daycare for 2.5 hours it would be too long for my kids to have been in there. Dominic usually wants to leave after being in there for 2 hours anyways!

So tomorrow I plan on going in and running again. I'm aiming to be able to stay on the treadmill for an hour this time. The last workout I was on it for 37 minutes...so hoping for another 23 minutes!! Wish me luck!!

Feelin So Good

Ran today!! Yes, on a Sunday!! I really didn't want to but I need to stick with what I said, and I said I'd run today!

So, today was a great workout. I warmed up with a walk for 5 minutes.

Then, I alternated walking for 1.5 min and 2 min running. Except for the 1st half of the workout, I did everything on a 3 incline! Then for the 2nd half of the workout, I lowered the incline down to 2, but upped my speed a tiny bit :) Then I did a 4 minute cool down.

I successfully stayed on the treadmill today for 37 minutes!! That's 12 minutes longer than yesterday! I'm incredibly proud of myself and feeling great! I'm taking a day off tomorrow, and plan on running again Tuesday!!

First Workout

Just a little weekend update :-)

It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and I felt motivated! But, we are away at my parents house helping out for the weekend. Luckily, they have a treadmill in their basement!!

So, I went down and did a quick warm-up. I stayed on the treadmill for 25 minutes, alternating walking for 1 1/2 minutes and running for 2 minutes! Afterwards, I felt amazing! It made me remember why I need to keeping doing this day in and day out. Step 1 of getting into better shape has been initiated....what's next?

Running tomorrow!! Hopefully for a just a little longer than today!

How to Be A Loser

So, here's how it breaks down :-) Weight loss is so simple, in theory. Intake less that what your daily recommended allowance is and exercise, and you should lose weight!
Here's a great website to help with counting calories.
http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/
You simply make a profile, enter all your info, and it calculates how many calories you should be intaking a day to maintain or lose weight! It has most items already in their database so all you have to do is search for the right one. They also have an app for iphones for quick accessibility. Personally, I've decided to try Weight Watchers! They use a point system based on calories, total fat, and fiber in each food. You try to stay within your point limit, but if you need to exceed that or feel like treating yourself you have a weekly allowance of extra points if you need to pull from there. Also, they teach you about healthy portions and how to make healthier choices than the ones who are currently making. Two of my friends have been incredibly successful with WW. One has lost over 100 lbs and another is almost up to 15 lbs lost. WW has an online program and one where you go to weekly meetings. You can even choose to go to both if you want to! It's not too expensive either. WW online only costs me $16/month.
Ok, so you get the bottom line, right? Take in less calories than you put out, and you'll lose weight.

So last night I said I'd make some personal goals to start out with and post them so everyone can follow along. I am going to be posting two different sets of goals. There will be one for fitness and one for weight. According to the CDC website, to get to a healthy BMI (body mass idex), I need to lose anywhere between 60-95 pounds. I chose a number right in the middle of that. I would ideally like to lose 75 pounds. This is going to be my long term goal. And the only way to get to my long term goal, is to make short term goals to keep myself motivated.
My first short term weight goal is lose 5% of my body weight by Christmas.
So that means I expect to lose 10.2 lbs in 5 weeks. I think that's a totally reasonable goal!
One thing I also learned from Pam (my previous trainer, who I'm probably going to reference a lot!) is that you shouldn't always look at the weight just by number. Pay attention to how your clothes fit. Are things getting looser? These are always good signs. As we know, muscle weighs more than fat. So sometimes you can get easily discouraged if you don't see any changes in terms of weight, but chances are you gained muscle and lost fat, which is equally as important!

For this reason, I bought a special body composition scale that measures:

• weight
• muscle mass
• water %
• body fat %
• bone mass
• visceral fat (the fat around your abdomen)

I think that's about enough info to throw at you for the day :) To cap it off I'll reiterate my goals, and leave you to ponder!

Short Term Goals

Lose 5% of my current body weight ~ 10.2 lbs

Run a mile ~ by Christmas

Long Term Goals

Lose 75 pounds

Run a Half Marathon Next October

I'm also going to have my hubby take a before picture of me, so that when I get going I can post updates for everyone to see!

A Weight Loss Journey

So after creating this blog over two years ago, I finally figured out what I'm going to do with it! I'm going to give an in depth look at my own personal weight loss journey as well as give out advice to those who can relate to my personal struggles. It will leave me accountable for working towards my goals since everyone will be able to follow along. I also want to direct some advice to mothers with families who are constantly on the go! It can be hard to lose the weight when life is so hectic, unless you are willing to completely dedicate yourself to making it happen! I fully believed my previous trainer when she told me that weight loss is 90% mental and 10%. It's all about being mentally ready and knowing that you CAN overcome your obstacles! This blog will include everything from workout ideas to making healthy eating choices. I recently signed up for Weight Watchers and plan on fully including that in my daily nutrition routine :) Please, if anyone has any ideas for my blog, I'd love to see your comments! That's it for now!! Tomorrow will be my first real post with my goals, total pounds that I want to shed, inches I want to lose, and lots of other goodies!