A Long Time Comin'....

So I know I've been a slacker in the blogging department, but honestly, not a whole lot has been going on. My exercise has been slacking lately, mainly due to the difficulty of waking up at 4:45am each morning, as opposed to being able to sleep in until 5:50am. That extra hour really helps. Last week I found it very hard to get myself to go walking in the evening, however, I have at least done that much this week. I've only been getting in a little over 2 miles in during the evenings, but I am really hoping to get going on a morning routine so I can start getting my mileage back up to at least 6 miles a day. At any rate, things in the exercise department have changed drastically due to the start of school and new schedules. I know that once the weather gets cooler, I will have time made available during the day for walks, but right now because of the heat I am limited.

With that said, I have also decided to switch up my eating plan after the pitiful .2 lb loss last week. I ended up eating McDonald's for breakfast that day, and then in the afternoon I got myself a Chocolate Blast from Baskin Robbins, followed by a pizza dinner that evening. Yes, I know that was bad, but, I'm human, and this is a tough struggle--DAILY. Did I feel guilty after Friday's events? Yes. But the important thing is I'm learning and I picked myself back up, got my senses back, and on Sunday the food choices were once again on track. However, Monday I decided to switch up my eating plan by switching from the Weight Watchers Flex program (where you count points for what you eat) to the Weight Watchers Core Program, which is where you eat from a list of Core Foods and you do not have to count points or calories. You eat what you want from the list until you are satisfied....not full or stuffed, but satisfied. You still exercise portion control, but you are filling your body with only foods that are good for your body-whole grain pasta, brown rice, potatoes, fat free daily products, eggs, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, oatmeal, soups that are not creamy (and doesn't contain things such as pasta or other non-core items).

I expected there to be a weight loss for sure, because if after switching things up, if I didn't see one, there was going to be a fight between me and my scale. However, I did NOT expect to see the awesome results I have seen so far. Since Monday morning, I am down 4.6lbs. The weight loss was like this: Tuesday down 1.6, Wednesday down 1.4, Thursday down 1.4, today down .2 Now while I was really not expecting a large number again today, I do know that it may have been possible to lose more than the .2 today because yesterday I did have some things that weren't quite core, such as a small bowl of cereal, a latte WITHOUT sugarfree syrup (bleh), a small bowl of a pasta and chicken dish that is made with a garlic cream sauce, and a good serving, or serving and a half, of these little bee shaped graham crackers. So, I do believe that the bad carbs and the sugars are really influencing my weight loss. I am SO happy with the results I've recieved this week because it really was a long time coming. I mean in one week I've lost close to what I've lost in the last 5 weeks combined. I felt defeated each week as I see others with losses of 2+ lbs, people in different shapes and sizes, different ages, different heights, different everything seeing a decent loss BUT me. Well, not this week folks. Gabbi's back in the game.

On top of my awesome week thus far (which isn't over until Monday since I am switching back to Mondays due to the plan switch occurring on Monday), I have reached some goals I have set for myself. One, I have now lost the most weight ever since trying to diet all these times during the last 5 years. I think the most I ever made it down was 27 lbs before Nate, and about 22 lbs last year. Today I am at 28.6lbs down. Second, I have mini-goals for each new weight range of 10 I get out of, ie, 130's, 140's, 150's.....you get the idea. Third, I have reached a weight I haven't been in almost two and a half years and its equal to the lowest weight I've been since Grace was born (which I must add that the actual lowest weight is about 9 lbs. less than where I'm at now, but all the gaining occurred AFTER Grace was born anyway.....so its the lowest since the gaining part). Fourth, I tried on a pair of jeans I wore when Ray and I dated and probably up until a month after we got married. When I wore them, I was about 20lbs lighter than I am now, but when I started this journey, I was not able to pull the jeans up all the way, nor come close to buttoning them. I tried this again some time during as well, and no luck. But now I can pull them all the way up AND button them. They are still a little tight, but with 10-15lbs I may be wearing them again. =) And last but not least, I had my very first non-family member ask me if I was losing weight today and she told me I looked good. Man, that is an awesome feeling, because when you are losing the weight, its really hard to "see" it the way everyone else can. You "feel" it but seeing it really makes you feel wonderful. So its an especially good feeling when people who don't see you everyday notice a change.

So needless to say, I've lost 4.6lbs this week, I've reached some goals--some really awesome ones-- and people can see the changes. Not much more could go better this week. Well, I suppose if Dairy Queen Blizzards suddenly became good for you and had 0 calories that would shoot my week right out of the water. But seriously, the best thing of all, is that little by little, day by day, I am FINALLY starting to feel like Gabbi again.......

Been Tagged.....

First, my weight yesterday morning had me down ONLY .2lbs. Yippee. (Yes, I am being sarcastic there).

Second, My sister-in-law Wendi told me I was tagged in a comment on my blog here. I went to her blog and found out what that meant because I had no clue. Apparently I'm supposed to write 8 things about myself, which I always find quite hard to do, and then I'm supposed to tag 8 other people. Unfortunately, not all of my friends have blogs, nor do they check them frequently, so I must resort to other methods of tagging to get a total of 8 people.

So here it is:

The Rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things, and it could be a myspace blog, too) and post these rules. (**if you’re a non-blogger, you can email them or send them a myspace message!)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Eight Random Facts/Habits About Me:

1. I have some weird eating habits. For instance, I like lettuce but only in salads and not on sandwiches, unless it's a Twister from KFC or a Citrus Chicken Wrap from Crispers. I like Mayonnaise on hamburgers, however only if its just mayo and nothing else. Its either ketchup OR mayo, not both at the same time. I think thats enough examples for now.
2. I broke my arm when I was about 21 months old, and I remember exactly how it happened, telling my parents my arm was hurting, and even being taken to the doctor. Strange, huh?
3. When I was 5, I was riding bikes with a neighborhood boy when I decided that I thought it would be fun to crash my bike into a plastic garbage can. I fell, however, before I made it to the garbage can due to my bike tire hitting a rock and throwing me off of my bike, chin first into the ground. I narrowly escaped stitches, getting butterfly bandages instead. Oh I also got some really cool Barbie toy from the store for getting hurt so bad.
4. I can water-ski. I actually LOVE water-skiing, although I haven't been in years. I can start from within the water or off of a dock. I have been able to, in the past and not so sure if I could do it again, drop one ski while skiing and cross over the wakes on one ski (slaloming).
5. I used to be a pretty good archer, too. Again, haven't done it in years, but I loved archery. Man do I miss summer camp.
6. I used to eat Liverwurst when I was a child. Ah, no wonder.......
7. My front teeth were chipped when I was 9 while I was swimming in a pool. Another boy jumped on my head, causing me to hit my teeth on a metal ladder. My right front (top) tooth was chipped pretty badly, while the left one was chipped as well but only a small amount. I didn't get my teeth bonded until I was about 15 or 16 years old, and have had to have them rebonded twice since. I just had a root canal and a crown put on the tooth that was badly chipped, although I had to have the crown redone once already and I am about to get it redone once again due to color issues. Thank goodness I don't have to keep paying for the new crowns.
8. I was recently reminded of how easily I tan. While I did get a little burned last weekend on one of my walks, my shoulders are now almost as dark as the rest of my arms, and my strange triangular burn is now a strange triangular tan line. Tanning easily doesn't help a person who knows its not good to be in the sun too long to actually stay out of the sun. It's actually more encouraging to go into the sun more often. Tanning easily is actually a curse.
   

I'm tagging:

• Sara
• Carrie
• Katie
• Beth
• Crystal
• Tara
• Brandi
• Tessa

Grace's First Day of School

So, it's not her first day of Kindergarten, but it seems that way. This is the first time Grace will be attending a school and not a preschool, and its her first time going 5 days a week full time. Last year started out with 2 full time days and ending up with 3 full time days the last half of the year. She was really excited and she just looks so stinkin' cute in her uniform. Anyway, I know you're really just interested in the pics of Grace and not me blabbing my mouth away, so here you go:

All ready for school:

Ready with her backpack:

Ok, time to walk out the door:

In the school parking lot:

On the way in to school:

In her classroom:

Caught off guard playing. Already she thinks she owns the place =) :

Am I Crazy??

Yes, I think I may be.

Lately I've realized that I get pretty upset if there isn't time for me to go walking. Picture a little kid on the floor of a grocery store, kicking and screaming and flailing their arms all over because they didn't get what they want. Well, thats not me. But I am still pretty peturbed. What happens is I have every intention of waking up at 6am to do my walking, but then once the alarm goes off I say, "Hey, I'll get to it later." Then later comes, and there just isn't time. Then I get frustrated. I suppose its good that I am craving the exercise, but here's where the crazy comes in. Today, time was made available around 12:15pm for me to walk, however, since I absolutely HATE walking on the treadmill (perhaps if the treadmill was located in front of a TV instead of a mirror, I may like it more), my only option was to walk outside. Not just any ordinary outside.....but "midday, summer hot, hottest time of the year in South Florida, very humid, feels like 100 degrees" outside. And if you know me, you know I am as anti-hot as they come.

So yes, I guess I've become a little crazy.

I walked 3 miles outside today. I need to do several more miles today but I was pressed for time, and by the end of the third mile, I had about all I could take of the heat. I must admit, I got a little arrogant during the first mile. I barely even broke a sweat and thought, hey, this ain't bad. No problemo. I could walk all day. Things, however, suddenly changed during the second mile, but still very tolerable. The last mile was the hardest when I was completing the last half mile, I decided to walk through the hallways throughout my complex as much as possible on the way back home. If I had to walk in the heat that last half mile, I may have ended up calling Ray to come get me because I'm not sure I would have made it all the way back.

At any rate, I pushed on and did what I set out to do. I had a goal to walk the entire 3 miles, and I wasn't going to give up until I was done. And that made me proud, because if you know me, you know that the old Gabbi would have grumbled about walking half a mile in the heat, let alone three. And all this after my walking in the heat encounter last weekend, to boot.

The one drawback was I think I may have gotten a little sunburned. Now to me, I still try to think logically about the sun, and how its not good for me, etc, etc. However, there's still the part of me that loves how I look with a tan, and how much I just want to get one, no matter what. But let me tell you, theres nothing nice about a strange triangular farmer's tan. Once this sunburn turns brown, I'll have one of those for sure.

Here is my strange, triangular sunburn on my shoulder

Another view:

After my workout:

I have no idea:

A New Trend??

This morning I was a little apprehensive with getting on the scale because quite honestly, it hasn't been treating me very nicely lately. I worked my butt off this week, figuratively and hopefully a little literally. I started being really good with my water intake, although that just started 2 days ago. In the last week, I've walked 37 miles, which is far from what I've ever walked in that past, and I'm even missing some miles as I wanted to try to complete an average of 42 miles per week. At any rate, I was hoping for something awesome this week, and well, I may have gotten just that. While its not crazy awesome as I would have liked to have seen a number double to what I got, the number I got was certainly WAY better that what I've been getting. The number...................2 lbs down. Yay! In the last 18 weeks, this will be the fifth time I've seen a number with a 2 or higher in front. Everything else has been under 2......13 weeks or less than 2, while watching everyone else I know blow past me with their weight loss has been a bit discouraging. But perhaps this is my season to kick it up into high gear. Maybe the extra walking and the water is the trick. Who knows. What I do know is I will see how this week goes, and if its the same of better, than I know I'm doing something right. If its worse than this week, well, there will be some changes in the diet department for sure.

I had a battle with myself a few days ago. I don't know what came over me or what set off my thoughts, but I said to myself, "Why are you doing this? You should just give up. There's no sense in continuing on." But I told myself that was wrong, and that I would not quit. This is a lifestyle change, not a diet. I will have to watch what I eat for the rest of my life. Now granted, my limitations won't be as strict once I'm maintaining and not trying to lose, but let's face it. My metabolism's not going to get any better and I'm going to have to constantly keep my food in check. But it's all worth it in the end. =)

So now I'm down an even 24lbs. That puts me at 6lbs away from my next goal, being 30lbs down, and some more progress pictures.

Feeling Good

Ok, so after I posted my last blog, I started getting comments from people about what a great thing it was I am doing and I thought, "Uh oh, what did I get myself into?" But that's just what this blog is for; accountability. If I were to keep this to myself, I would tend to slack off way more. But by blogging it to the world, it keeps me on my toes, striving daily to complete the task. It's going to be a challenging one, for sure. Walking 6 miles a day, 7 days a week, for 12 weeks is no walk in the park. Well, it could be a walk in the park, but not an easy walk in the park.

Since Thursday, I have walked 11.75 miles. Two on Thursday, 6 yesterday, and 3.75 miles so far today. I will be doing another 2.25 later on, but time ran short and I was not able to do all 6 at one time. I've decided that I enjoy walking outside more than I like to walk on the treadmill, so at 10am this morning when I set out to go walking, I did just that; walking outside. Since I've given up excuses, it didn't matter that it was hot out and that the sun was blazing away. So I walked 2 miles outside, and realized I was just about dead. I was so hot, I was so red, and I think I may have gotten some sun, too. So I decided to finish up in the gym here in my complex and walk on the treadmill in the AC. Hey, at least it got done, right? Also, I discovered that I enjoy walking on certain treadmills more than others. The gym where I live has two different types of treadmills, with three treadmills total. The one I've been using is big and bulky and harder to keep my balance without holding on, yet the one I used today is smaller and it just makes walking seem as if it's on solid ground. While I like this treadmill way better than the other one, I still enjoy walking outside, because the constant changing of scenery makes the time go by faster.

While I must say that I am pretty worn out after my walking sessions, I feel REALLY great. I remember these feelings after soccer practices where we would work so hard, feel so tired during our workouts, but when we were done, man, I would feel like a million bucks. That's how I feel now. I feel like I am really accomplishing something, and I am. I still love my elliptical workouts, and when I get more time, I will be resuming that for a change in routine. I also will still be doing the walking/running thing eventually, once I start building up some endurance with the walking. This week I will be adding crunches, squats, lunges, and push-ups to the mix, as well as some yoga to help with the stretching my body needs with walking so much. I hope to stay on plan with that, but I will have to let you know how that goes.

On another note, I mentioned I wanted to walk 500 miles by October 26th. The reason for this is on October 26th, I will be going to Las Vegas for 2 days to meet up with the people in my support group. This is exciting because not only will we be meeting in person, but we will all be a lot healthier and more in shape than when we first met. Also, from Las Vegas I'll be going to California to visit my sis-in-law and her hubby for a couple of days as well. I'm really excited, as this is a much needed vacation!

I Will Walk 500 Miles.....

On Monday, a new show will premiere on ABC called Fat March. This is a reality series where the contestants, as a team, must walk 500 miles from Boston to Washington D.C. The prize is 1.2 million dollars that is split by the 12 contestants. However, if one quits or if the team votes someone off, the prize money to be split is reduced. There are two trainers; a female trainer named Lorrie and a male trainer named Steve. Steve is actually from Vero Beach, FL, but more importantly, the weight loss group I belong to had gotten to know his sweet wife, Bonnie, who has been giving us advice and tips on everything weight loss related. Steve is quite busy right now with the premiere looming, but some of the group have gotten to know him as well. They are the most down-to-earth, sweet, kind, giving people I've had the privledge of knowing. They really want to make a difference in America and help people lose weight and get healthy.

A friend of mine from the weight loss group, Beth, has decided that she wanted to walk 500 miles by October 26th, inspired by the show. So what did I do? I decided that I would, too. Now this is going to require commitment, but at the very least, I deserve to commit to myself and my health. And what better way than to commit to my health and fitness than walking an average of 6 miles a day for the next 83 days?

So, under my weight loss ticker at the top, you will see a new ticker that will be updated daily with the mileage I've accumulated so far. Since I just started this yesterday AFTER I had already walked 2 miles, I wasn't able to get any more mileage in yesterday. This morning I already walked 3 miles, and I will do another 3 sometime today. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt 5 miles straight. I'll let you know how that goes.

The show, Fat March, is relaying the message to America that you can lose weight by eating right and walking. Get off the couch and at the very least, start walking to get healthy! And apparently, we will see great results from these Fat March folks!

In other news, today was weigh day for me. I'm down .6 lbs, bringing me to an even total of 22 lbs lost. I'm not super happy about the result, but I'm not that upset either. I know this hasn't been the best week for me as far as exercise goes, but now I have no excuses with my 500 mile challenge. I'm working on my water intake and eating every 3-4 hours. Thats my focus with my eating plan for now.

Stay tuned......

AND WATCH FAT MARCH ON MONDAY, AUGUST 6th AT 9pm EST/8pm CST ON ABC!!

Tweaking

A weight loss journey is all about trial and error. You are going to find eating and exercise plans that sound good on paper, but for one reason or another just doesn't always work out the way you think. That is why some people have great successes on some diets but not others. That's why what works for you won't always work for me. Why? Because just as in anything else, our bodies are all unique and respond in different ways to different things. Its the same with an exercise plan. What's going to be the most beneficial for you and your body may end up causing me trouble. Our bodies require different conditions to fuel our bodies properly, and while most of you already know this, it is something I've really experienced first hand.

I have been thinking hard about what it is I am doing different this time than I did a year ago on WW. It seems something must be different, because my losses are lower than compared to a year ago. During my first 8 weeks on WW last year, I lost 17lbs. Compare that to losing about 10.6 in the first 8 weeks this year. Another comparision: my percentage lost last year after 8 weeks was 8.13% versus a mere 4.91% during the first 8 weeks. That's nearly double!! After 17 weeks on, I am just barely over that first 8 week percentage. It's pretty frustrating because while I know I'm different from other people and the losses they see, I am not different from myself. I haven't had any changes to my body since my last try at WW to this one. So what's going on?? I've looked over my food journals and I'm either eating about the same or better now. I have found two differences between now and then, and while I'm not really sure they'd make a difference, it's definitely something to take into consideration. First, on WW when you exercise, you can earn activity points (AP's). Based on your weight, the duration of exercise, and how intense it was, you earn a certain amount of points. Basically, you earn points, which means you get to eat a little more. Last year, I usually ate my AP's. So perhaps, and this is just a theory I came up with a second ago, that when you exercise, you help your metabolism run. When you eat, you help your metabolism run. Maybe when you exercise more, and then you eat more, your metabolism runs better. I guess that might not be true for everyone, but maybe its what my body likes. We'll have to test this.....see.....trial and error.

Second, my exercise last year consisted of pretty much only walking and yoga. I did do some videos I have here, but it wasn't always consistent but the walking and the yoga were almost daily. My exercise now has been walking/jogging and elliptical, which could be raising my heart rate too high. From what I've heard, the best range to burn fat is in the 65-75% of your maximum heart rate, and on the elliptical its almost at 85%. Now granted, the cardio I am getting is certainly beneficial, but it might not be the most efficient for my body. So, I am going through some trial and error periods now, and I am going to try just walking and some yoga, and maybe a video or two for a couple of weeks and see how that goes. I am also going to try eating some of my AP's and see what that does. So, I'm tweaking my plans and will hopefully see some favorable results. I would still like to end up running, but for now, I need to find out what's best for my body during weight loss-mode. Eventually, if this is what my body favors, I will get more into running in maintenance-mode. We'll just have to see.