Lovin' the Measuring Tape

Yes, indeed I am! The scale isn't nearly as encouraging as I wanted it to be. But I started taking measurements, and that requires records. I am reminded why it is that we liked records so much when I worked at IDTC: they make little progress real, keep away discouragement, and keep the goal on track! They make progress visible.

So, here is my progress:

Weight: down 3 pounds
Waist: down 1/2 inch
Hips: down 1 3/4 inches!!!
Thigh: down 1 inch.

I'm so excited about these numbers! They are 2 weeks worth of time, and I was feeling rather blah about the weight, as I'm not into new numbers yet, nor am I below 200, and I had hoped to be. However, I AM about 10% of the way to my first goal. And when I make it to that goal I'll have my doctor call in some fertility drugs! Wooooot!! Talk about your non-food rewards!!

Happy New Year!

So I too have made a bunch of New Year's Resolutions. And I, just like Kate, have felt like in the past they have lasted until about Jan. 2. So this year I have a system. My nerdy list making self and I got together and made The List. I have about a dozen resolutions, broken down into 3 catagories (Spiritual, educational, and other. Yes other. Creative. I know.) I also have a calendar just for me with The List pinned up next to it and color-coded sticker system to keep track of progress. Yea for shiny stars! 

I have to admit, I may have been a little over ambitious, but for the moment, other than one of the goals, I feel like they're actually things I can do. I'm going to exercise hard 3 times a week. I'm going to eat more veggies and only 1 dessert a week. (That's the one I'll have issues with. Last week it was 3. Still improvement though, so we'll keep it and keep moving.) I'm going to the temple once a month, I'm reading my scriptures every day, and I'm going to give everything I need to - time, effort, and most importantly, prayer - to the lessons I have to teach. And any other calling I'm asked to do for that matter. I'm going to go to school in the fall and get amazing grades. And I'm going to win the scholarships audition this spring. That one also may be difficult. But, I've talked to a friend of mine who graduated from the same school and now teaches voice lessons and I'm gonna have a few lessons. Kinda feel like as long as I put tons and tons of good hard work into it, if I don't win, I'll be ok. 

So there you have it. The bulk of my resolutions. And how are things coming? :) Pretty well. Dave and I have an appointment at the Redlands Temple next Saturday, and last week I went to the gym Thursday and Saturday. I actually bought veggies other than corn and green beans (which were never eaten before anyway. Hehe.) and I ate them! I had to teach the all young women Sunday since I was the "guest speaker" and, granted it wasn't a perfect lesson, but I tried hard and it even went pretty well! So I think this week I can give myself a huge pat on the back and maybe even a WHOO-HOO!!! :) Sorry for tootin my own horn a bit, but I'm feeling kinda proud. 

It sounds like everyone else is doing really well so far as well! I hope we can all keep it up! :) 

100 Push-ups Program: Any Takers?

So, muscle burns more, looks better, and push-ups do a fine job of building not only the pectorals & triceps (chest & back of upper arms), but also the core: the belly & sides of your body. Plus, it should make it easier to lift heavy stuff. Not to mention the coolness factor of being able to say that you can do 100 push-ups!

So, I did the initial test today and barely made it into their "level 2" category doing some knee push-ups. (They also suggest several other varieties for those who can't do knee push-ups, up to and including wall push-ups.) And there was no nose scraping the ground here either: I don't generally manage to make a very deep push-up. But I did do 6 of them before I felt like I wasn't going to get any further without risk of suddenly introducing my nose to the ground.

So, now that I've taken my test, I can start the program. I'm debating on if I want to do level 1 or level 2, even though I technically did enough to "qualify" for level 2. But the worst case scenario is to re-do the first week, which wasn't a problem when I was doing the running! (Speaking of running, anyone want to start that with me again? I'm missing it, and more importantly, I'm missing the results it was getting me.)

So, I like the Monday-Wednesday-Friday idea they have for when to do the push-ups, and if I wait until Monday to do it, maybe someone will do it with me? Buddies are always nice. A built-in cheerleader. Anyone wanna play?

Good Morning Y'All!

So Rits made the comment that the rest of us aren't blogging, so I thought I'd start this EA session. (exercisers anonymous) Hello. My name is Emma. And I haven't exercised for 2 days. And before that, well. Let's just say it was a little while. 

But. Saturday I tried the running thing Rits is doing. I don't think I followed the format very well. Due to the lack of light - thus not being able to see my watch - and the lack of a stopwatch, I just kinda did a couple of sets of running for what seemed like a minute... ish. And then walk till I felt like I could go again. And I think overall it went pretty well! I ran/jogged 4 times, pushed pretty hard, worked hard, and didn't die! :) I like that last part the most. Dave and I went for 25 minutes without doing a warm up and we went about a mile and a half. So I think that works out to about a 16:20 mile. That's not too bad right? I don't remember what Rits was getting. Seems close...? So we'll call it good and start at Day 1 again tonight to try to get on schedule it being Monday and all. 

Progress Report:

Exercise in the last week - 1

Pounds lost - 4

Inches lost - Gotta find that measuring tape

New Goal - fit into a new temple dress by Nov. 6th. I went looking this weekend for a new one since mine is getting big and I found a really pretty one that's a size large and I almost fit. So I want to buy it before Kate's wedding. 

Getting Frustrated

Definitely. Getting frustrated. My water weight is out.of.control. I'm not loosing. I did horribly this weekend. (I expected that, and I'm not sorry that I went down to Kate's place.) So cheer me on girls, it's taking longer than expected for the water weight to get stable. I don't actually know how long it took last time, because by the time that I started loosing weight I'd already gotten the whole drinking water thing down pat and I didn't like to be without it.

I must say that I love the idea of non-food rewards! I talked to Andy about it this afternoon, and we're going to set aside some money to do that with. Right now I'm thinking dies for my new die-cut machine. Those are not terribly expensive, but they don't typically come in sets so each one has to be purchased individually (I'm thinking they're about $10). I'm going to treat myself to one every 5 pounds. And at no other time. That's going to be the hard part, especially with spirits kind of low right now.

So cheer me on girls, I'm in a tough spot!!

Tickers N Things

Emma mentioned that she wanted a ticker. I've seen cute ones from the Ticker Factory, and thought about doing up a ticker for myself today, but didn't because I haven't weighed myself yet: I don't want to have any more scale shock than I have to so I'm waiting a few days before I get on there! It looked like the Ticker Factory only has wide ones, so maybe what we can do is I'll set the blog to have only a few posts on the main page at any given time, and folks who want tickers can put them down in the bottom section? I'll fix things up so you guys can add your own stuff to the bottom and side.

I went shopping this afternoon, and I got sooo many veggies and fruits. I'm excited to get to eating healthy again! If nothing else good (weight-wise) came from that vacation, at least I'm at home again and really in the mood for good food right now! I'm going to round out my veggies selection at the farmer's market tomorrow morning, and I may head out to the local strawberry U-Pick place in the morning and get a bunch of strawberries. Several of my girlfriends have been out and it's a very kid-friendly place: they have signs encouraging you to bring your kids back looking like they've been eating all the berries they can handle. It's the same place that we went in the fall to get our pumpkins & they were really nice.

Something good goin' on

So, since posting that very silly blog about making salads, I've been making myself make and eat salad at least once a day. Initially it was really not appetizing. Really not. I did ok during the week because I took salad and that was my lunch, period. But that first weekend it was quite difficult to convince myself to eat it.

However, it has surprised me how much easier eating salad has gotten. This past weekend, I ate it (with crispy chicken thrown on top) 'cuz nothing else looked good! Woah! I found myself wanting to eat it!! (and perhaps crispy chicken isn't the best thing to throw on top.. but I let myself do it on the weekends as a treat to me) :) The rest of the time it's all about cauliflower, carrots and almonds. And I'm finding that it is tasting SO GOOD!
I know, crazy talk! But, it's a good good thing :)

I made myself a Workout Diary to prep for the wedding. I wrote out a workout regime for every week from now 'til then - with little boxes to check off when I do it (for the nerdy list maker within) and I set the goal to lose 30lbs in 20weeks. I'm not going to freak right out if I don't make it, I imagine that I'll get pretty crazy near the end with all the other stuff going on.. BUT goals are great to have out there. And if I don't quite reach it, but I lose some and get more toned, I'll still be quite pleased with that.