Lori

Aaron is out of town, well out of the country actually, and it's always harder when he's out of town b/c my parents want us to come over there more often. My parents' house is like a mecca for cookie and candy lovers. And I have a hard time saying no to everything. Plus, when we do eat over there I don't get to decide what to have, so that can be hard too, plus I can't go to the gym while he's gone. He still has another week in Amsterdam. :(

This morning was pretty good actually though. I was 182.8 which is 1.2 lbs down from Tuesday last week. I also keep track of my weight on my whiteboard on the fridge and from 2/7 to today, I have lost 10 lbs. Not too much considering the time frame, but at least it's nice to see it coming off. I always have a hard time losing the weight while breastfeeding, so I'm just happy to see it go down. Hopefully this next week won't be too bad and I'll still be able to lose.

Wow

I had no idea you guys were blogging again until I talked to Mallory the other day for the first time in months.

Truth be told, I got bored with the blog last fall because I was pretty much the only one posting. I know several of you were pregnant. And then there was the holidays. And then I was being a hermit. I'm trying not to be a hermit anymore. It's not healthy.

So here's where I'm at right now: my eating is fairly under control. The last couple weeks have been a little rough, but I seem to be maintaining. I haven't weighed myself for a few days, but my last weight was 158.6. That's up a little over a pound from my lowest weight of 157.2 about a month ago. I exercise at least four times a week, alternating cardio and strength workouts. Sometimes I go to bodyflow at Golds. Right now I'm so sick of the gym I'm having a hard time going to classes. But my friend Amanda and I started playing racquetball a couple times a week and it's been a really great cardio workout and it's really fun.

I've been participating in the 12 Week Challenge at Golds, which ends April 12. My goal was to get down to 145, which isn't going to happen, but I would like to get under 155 by then. That's not much of a loss from where I'm at now, but that's not really my point. What I'm trying to achieve (and feel I've gotten a good start on) is a lifestyle change. I'm not trying to lose weight for the sake of losing weight. I'm trying to be healthy and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. I'm not even tracking my food and I'm eating things that are good for me, but also good (I hate egg whites. They're disgusting.) I feel good and want to keep going in that direction.

So, I don't know how often I'll post on here. I'll try to check in a few times a week and at least comment on your posts. I'm really proud of you all for getting back on the horse, so to speak. I don't have the same challenges (mainly children and husbands) that you all do and it's probably quite a bit easier for me to focus on me. I do have some healthy food ideas, but I'll post those another time.

Wow. Chili's.

Went to Chili's and it was TERRIBLE. We didn't know where we were eating but ended up at chili's. Justin and I shared an appetizer and then I had a beer and fajitas. Yikes the half of the appetizer that I ate was more calories than my dinner and pretty much all fat. So I am doing ok today. I need to drink water.

Mallory's Friday

Today was pretty good so far when I got up this morning I was down1.2 pounds which was nice. I drank a ton of water yesterday. I also got in my calorie burn which was nice, even though I made a cake. The cake just turned out kind of yucky. So that's good at least I don't feel like I need to eat anymore.

Today's goal:
drink water
Track

Cassa's check in

I have done really well so far.  The damage over the weekend was only 1.6 pounds.  So now I am back up to 190.6.  I feel like I will never get below 180...grrr...  Tuesday when I said I wasn't going to be able to work out I actually ended up going to Body Flow with a friend.  I'm glad I went because it felt so good.  Then yesterday I did a class called Floor Barre then did about 2 miles on the treadmill.  My eating is good.  Last night we were at a pinewood derby thing and I had a chili hot dog...But I was so proud of myself when I went to get a soda and I put half diet in my cherry pepsi!!!!!  Wahoo!  And it still tasted good.  My goals today:

Drink 5 glasses of water
Stick to South Beach food

Mallory's Weigh In

Today I was 243.2. That's down .4. So I have been not eating as well as I should. There was the oreo incident then we have eaten out a few times. So here we are. Since I turned my bodybugg on I haven't really lost weight but I think I am working in that direction. I have felt really good about Zumba so that's good.

Today's goals:
Drink water
Track food

Blog vs Facebook

I'm wondering if it would be easier for us to blog like normal or to transition this over to a facebook (closed) group. So many times I just want to "like" a post or comment, lol.

Oh, but now that I'm thinking about it, Cassa - you deleted your FB, right?

Lori's Update

I was finally down today to 184 which is just a pound down but we had been eating out a lot and I was up a little. I'm glad it's down but sad that the weight isn't coming off quicker. I finally bought a pair of jeans this weekend b/c I literally cannot fit in any pants besides one pair of maternity pants (that don't have a panel or anything) and my workout pants. It was sad - I bought a 16 and before getting pg I was wearing an 8 or 10 depending on the brand. I don't know how other women seem to lose their baby weight so quickly and get back into their clothes right away. Right now I would give almost anything to be able to do that.

Anyway, as you can probably tell, I have a lot of negative things always bouncing around in my head. I'm trying to work on that but it's a struggle.

I've been faithful about going to kickboxing twice a week and this week is spring break for my mom so she's going to watch my kids twice more so I'll be able to go four times this week. The bad news is that Aaron leaves on Friday for a week and a half and my mom will be back in school, so unless I pay $9 (gulp!) for daycare EACH TIME I GO, I won't be going to the gym. I really wish the daycare was cheaper. I know I need to exercise to get the weight off and also I know it would be especially good for me while Aaron is gone to get a break, but seriously, $9? That's crazy talk.

Mallory's Weigh In

I had a little incident with some mint Oreos. I know better than to buy them but I did anyway. So yesterdays weight was 242.6 not up or down. Today's plan is to get my house in order and then the kids have an appointment. I was at Zumba last night and although it's still hard for me, now I know most of the steps and I feel good there. Today's plan drink water and track.

Cassa's update

I have been so crazy busy this past week.  I was down 2 pounds on my last weigh in bringing me to 189.  However....this weekend we went on a trip to see a dear friend.  I love her so much, but their eating is so out of control.  I don't judge her or try at all to suggest she live differently because this works for her.  But we ate so much crap.  My body didn't respond well to this at all.  So, I'm sure I am up but I had a fabulous time.  This week is spring break so my family is home but I am going to persistent that we stick to a good eating menu.  I am not going to be able to make it to the gym today because I have got to get my house in order this morning and I have a ton of lessons and rehearsals this afternoon.  But, I will eat right.

Mallory's Weigh In

I weighed this morning and I am down to 243.6 which isn't much better than yesterday but it seems better somehow. I weighed myself this morning and I am down 5 pounds in two weeks so that's ok.

Today's plan:

Stay within calorie goal of 1300
drink three bottles of water (96 oz)
do Zumba if Justin doesn't have a mtg.

I am so frustrated

So my last weigh in was two pounds lower than this morning's weight. Grrr. So now I am back up to 244.something. I didn't even look at the decimal because I was so upset. I thought I had been eating well, although I hadn't been tracking. So I guess that tracking is what I need to do. I weighed everything this morning and now I am drinking water. I did turn my body bugg back on so I am tracking on the bodybugg website which means putting all my foods in. At least the ones I had already put in are still there.

Carrie's Monday

I didn't weigh in this morning because after a week with my husband I know I'm up. So I'm starting over today. I do have to go in to my old job a couple of days this week so I hope that doesn't throw anything off. I'm hoping that stabilizing my diet will help Hanna sleep better. I think my breast milk has been making her unhappy. My goals this week are to get to the gym at least 3 times, drink 3 Nalgenes a day, and track my calories. Totally doable!

Monday Monday, dum dum, dum da dum dum

This morning I weighed in at 185.0. I'm super glad to see it continue to go down! Today I'm going back to kickboxing. It seriously kicked my butt on Thursday. I mean, I expected it to, but not as much as it did. At one point I started to get lightheaded and had to really slow down. Ah well. It'll get better... hopefully it'll start to get better today. :)

Mallory's Thursday

So, it's supposed to be beautiful today here. It looks great already and I am going to find the sling for the baby and take them to the park. I need to make a grocery list and do a million other things but I think mostly I need to be active. Lori asked me about my bodybugg and I think I am going to renew my subscription. If I do that I will not track on livestrong anymore which kind of makes me sad because I have a ton of foods put into it. I weighed myself this morning and I was down again to 242.0 which is better but reaffirms that salt is the devil.

Today's plan is to drink water
Track what I eat
find my bodybugg watch
walk to the park

Lori's Update

Sorry, I know my posting will be pretty erratic just b/c of my schedule and the demands, but I'm going to try to post once a week or once every two weeks.

I had more steroid injections into my spine on Monday and my back still isn't feeling great. I'm hoping that it'll continue to get better. I also had my 6 wk OB apt on Monday so now I am clear to exercise but was just told to take it easy with my back. Today I am going to go to kickboxing for the first time in probably 3 months.

My weight today was 186.4, so it's coming down, just slowly. I think that's 1.6 lbs down since this time last week. My dr also put me back on my glucophage (which he took me off of right after birth), so that'll help regulate my sugars and I'm hoping it'll help me lose weight faster. We'll see.

My eating has been pretty good, although I find it hard to track. I just need to not eat at my parents' house... they have girl scout cookies. At least I just had two on Tuesday - I could eat the whole box in a matter of minutes I'm sure. ;)

Carrie's Monday

Sorry, a little late! My weight was 267, so a 3 pound weight loss this last week. Actually, Im pretty surprised since I only got to the gym twice because Hanna had a little cold and I didn't want to take her to the kid's club. Hopefully, this next week will be ok, but my husband is off for the week and it is always hard to eat well when he's home.

Cassa's Monday

Day 1 of the 50 pound campaign began bright and early.  I did 3 miles around Sherwood Park.  I probably was able to jog 1 mile of it off and on.  Then I went and did body flow at Crossroads.  I also ate well.  I had steel-cut oatmeal with truvia and almond butter for breakfast, almonds for a snack, protein shake post workout, salad for a late lunch, and eggs and sausage for dinner, and sugar free chocolate pudding for dessert.  I still haven't been able to grocery shop, but I was sick and tired of waiting.  I didn't weigh myself mostly because I forgot to do it at the gym because I don't have a scale at home.  I had a diet soda and a good amount of water, but probably not enough.  Despite the bad day I think I did well....The bad day consisted of being rear ended and my dog tearing apart my blinds.  Tomorrow is a new day!!

Mallory's Monday

So I gained this weekend. Not sure how much of that is salt so I am going to drink some water and weigh again tomorrow. I am hoping that it wasn't really an 8 pound gain. On the plan for today: track, drink water, Zumba

Cassa's Progress

I am going to begin the South Beach lifestyle on Monday when I have more money to purchase good food.  Which means I will take the weekend to prepare my kitchen and make a menu.  My sister left today so I feel like I can get back to my normal routines.  Today I went to the gym and did the treadmill, with lots of hills, for 40 minutes.  I wanted to do 60, but I couldn't do anymore.  I feel pretty accomplished with the 40 minutes.  I haven't been eating very good today, but it all goes on Monday!!!

Eat Less, Move More! Hilarious!

Cassa's Goals

I am so glad we are doing this again.  I really enjoy reading what everyone else is doing, because it gives me hope to keep going.  I am currently at 190 pounds and I have  goal of dropping 50 pounds by December 31.  My sister and I have an arrangement that if I lose 40 pounds she will stop drinking coffee, 50 pounds will be the coffee and she will read 1 chapter of spiritual reading a week, and any pound over 50 will be attendance to an additional religious activity.  This really gives me great motivation to make better choices.  I did the South Beach diet starting January 1 and I did really well on it.  I lost 4 pounds my first week!!!  I was so excited and kept going for several weeks then some emotional stuff came up and it overwhelmed me so I stopped.  That's going to be my hardest thing, not stopping when emotions get high.  I need to stay centered.

My other goals will be to blog each day, stop drinking sugared sodas, workout atleast 3 days a week, and train for a half marathon.  (I HATE RUNNING)  My kitchen isn't ready yet for South Beach so tomorrow my 2 year old is spending a couple of hours at his Grandma's, so I will be doing some preparation.  I will let you know what I am doing along the way.

Carrie's Goals!

It feels so good to be able to try to lose weight again! Being pregnant was wonderful and I enjoyed it thoroughly (as much as you can), but I'm ready to get this party started. Lucky me, I weigh less than before I got pregnant. Unlucky for me, I am still very overweight!
I had a breakthrough this last week. I keep trying to figure out where the need to eat comes from, why I am constantly running from being and feeling healthy. I don't know about any of you guys, but I have been chubby since I was 8 years old, and that is when my mom put me on my first diet. Since then I got made fun of for my weight and it resulted in failed diet, after failed diet and getting fatter and fatter. I have now figured out that I associate dieting with feelings of inadequacy's and being miserable, feeling like I was never going to be worth anything unless I was a size 0.
Now that I am an adult my thinking has changed from being thin to being healthy. That is my goal, I want to be healthy. I want my BMI to be where it is suppose to be and in order for that to happen I need to lose at least 100 pounds. Wow, that seems CRAZY! I figure baby steps is the only way this is going to happen. I am definitely not planning on losing all this weight by the end of the year, but I would like to have at least 50 of it gone.
I am now a stay at home mom and so there is no excuse to not be going to the gym and eating well. I have the time to put towards this goal and now is the time to accomplish it.
My start weight at the beginning this week was 270. I have decided to only post my weight on Mondays, but I will still be weighing everyday. My goals are to get to the gym 5 days a week and do 45 minutes of cardio and muscle specific weight training. I am excited to be on my journey to getting healthy! I hope everyone has a good week.

Lori's Goals

So I'll take this minute to post too. I technically have 36 lbs to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I started back at the gym two days ago. I am not technically cleared for exercise, so I'm just doing the elliptical and taking it kinda easy. I'm hoping that I'll get some calories burned and some endurance back before my OB apt (March 1st) and then I can start back with my classes (although I know it's going to kick my butt!). Since I'm breastfeeding, everything I have read says not to cut calories too low or your milk supply will suffer. I tend to not lose weight, or at least much, until I stop bf-ing, so I'm sad about that but don't know what to do otherwise.

Anyway, my goal is to get back to pre-pregnancy weight, which was 152, which is losing 36 lbs. My goal is July 13th, since that's six months after Gage was born. I believe that's about 8 lbs a month, which seems a little high for me still breastfeeding, but nonetheless, it's my goal. I'm cutting out processed sugars, drinking lots of water, and keeping my fiber and protein up. I also plan on going to the gym a minimum of 3 times a week, hopefully 5.

Mallory's Plan and Goals

So my plan is to eat 1250 calories, track, blog, weigh daily (for now unless I get discouraged), cut out processed sugars and drink 3-4 bottles (which are 4- 8 oz glasses each). I gave up caffeine about 2 weeks ago so I am staying away from that and I think it has helped me not have so many sweets cravings.

I also am going to try to incorporate things I like into my eating plan. The last weight I lost I ate pretty much egg whites and chicken and let's face it, nobody really wants to eat that for the rest of their life. So although I plan on eating some of that I am going to try to eat other things too. At the suggestion of a facebook post I ate a granny smith apple with 2 tbls of peanut butter. When I went to track it I was saddened by the amount of sugar (18.4 g and almost half of my goal for a day) but it was all in the apple except 1 g in the peanut butter. I was surprised at how full I feel now.

I am going to Zumba 2 times per week and walking or doing an exercise video 2 times per week. I was reading on livestrong about eating back your calories from exercising, does anyone have any opinion on that? My opinion was why would I ruin all of the hard work I had just put in. But they were saying it's not really so much about exercising to burn calories as it is exercising to raise your metabolism and build muscle and then you will burn more calories everyday. They also compared exercising without eating more to writing a check on an account that has no money in it. It will hurt you in the long run and be impossible to build muscle because your body won't have enough fuel and will eat muscle instead of building it.

I guess we all just have to find what works for us because there are so many different opinions out there. Anyway. My goal is to be under 200 lbs. This means a 41.2 pound weight loss. I am not going to set a date I would like to have the weight lost by yet because I need to think about it. Anyway those are my thoughts for today! I hope everybody has a great day!!

Hello out there

Hi ladies,

I'm sorry I really fell off the band wagon.  I have been setting some new expectations of myself and wanted to see if you were still out there.  Which I see the last post was last September.  I have a goal to drop 50 pounds by December 31 and would love some cheerleaders in the background.  Is there anyone else that would like to continue this blog???

Cassa