Feeling better & making a plan.......

I'm feeling better now that I have had 2 colds back to back in the last 2 weeks. Not fun. I'm feeling run down but getting back to myself.
Everyone is making plans for Thanksgiving Day eating. My plan will be to eat what I want without going over board. The key is to only eat the things I really, really want (for my body) I love veggies and turkey! As for the sweets I will be choosy and just a small amount to be satisfied. If I go over my calorie amount I'm not going to beat myself up. I will be back on plan the next day and moving in a forward motion.
My weight has been sitting right around the same for a while now and I need to figure out what to do to give myself a boost to lose another 25-35 pounds. I will be looking into some different exercise DVDs.
Does anyone have any good ideas for a plateau boost?

trying without ceasing....

I have chose to make my weight loss journey a life change and with that I am not on any "diet". I am continuously trying to make good, healthy choices regarding the food I eat and the activities I do. I mess up all the time!!! But, I am still trying without ceasing! I am never giving up...even though some days I really feel like it.

I have been feeling really guilty that I don't really deserve the HYC badge that I have. Every time I lose enough to get it, I gain a little bit back. So, I am debating on how long I should keep it up with out really deserving it. Part of me really wants to keep it up because I did work hard to get it but, the other part of me says no, you don't deserve it because you didn't work hard enough to keep it.
Ooooooh, the agony. :)

I had a challenging workout last night...mentally and physically challenging. I had to remember and perform part of what I learned for my Black Belt test. I have not done any of it in 2.5 months, I have been working on all new moves. I made it through. Then in the second class I got to work on my current moves and teach some stuff to a new student. It was great!

I'm off to look for a healthy lunch choice.....wish me luck.

weigh-in Day...

Today was weigh-in day for me and I stayed the same. I'm not surprised that I didn't lose, I had a bad week last week. I am so glad I didn't gain though.
Today is a busy day for me and I'm feeling a bit scattered so far.
I'm looking forward to training tonight....Tuesday was a good workout and I'm hoping it will be a good challenge tonight too.
My calorie choices for today have not been the best so far but, I still have time to make good choices. I had a cheese bagel w/fat free cream cheese and sausage for breakfast. I also had a mocha and doughnut for snack. Lunch and dinner are yet to be known. Better choices I hope.

Have a great day!

Last week...

Last week was not so good. Weigh-in day was depressing....I gained 1.5 pounds! I'm getting so tired of losing, gaining. losing, gaining. Over all I'm still going down but, I wish I could be more consistently losing. I'm in a slump. I am having a hard time making good choices throughout the day. Feeling emotional last week too.....and that doesn't help anything!!!!

Ok.....I'm feeling a bit better this week. Three days of making great choices in a row. My calories are on track and I got in 2 hours of good training last night and looking forward to another 2 hours tomorrow night. I'm trying to get myself into a habit of getting in a workout on my off-training days. I used to do this when I first started losing weight but got out of the habit when I started training everyday for my blackbelt. Now I need to get back into the workouts that I did before. Last Monday I did circuit training and loved it but, couldn't do it this week because my kids needed to be somewhere else at that time. I will try to do it again next Monday after the karate class that I teach in the mornings.

I am so thankful for all of you out there that struggle with the same things that I do. Good days and bad days we are all still trying to keep our heads above the water.

The lesson of the day at karate was:

We are responsible for how our day goes.
If it is raining we can be sad that it is wet out or, we can be glad that the grass is getting watered.
Instead of whining that you have to go to work, be happy that you have a job.
Instead of grumbling that you have to clean house, be thankful that you have shelter over your head.
It really is true our whole day revolves around our attitude about everything.

I'm having a good day today! I hope you are too.....and if you aren't, there is still time to turn it around. :)

Training secrets and weigh-in Day...

Yesterday was weigh-in day. I lost 2.8 pounds this week. It feels really good to have a loss after staying the same for 3 weeks. what feels even better is that I am back down to 75 pounds lost!! I only saw it for one week in September then gained 2 pounds back and stayed the same for awhile after that. I am so happy to be back to 75 pounds lost. Now I just need to keep it off!
I got a new HYC badge and added a healthy heart to my healthy hearts chart. I also got to check off another goal. (I added a few more goals so I would have something to work towards too.) I took a new picture of me 75 pounds down.

I got in a bit more exercise this week outside of my training days since my training intensity has gone down. And the number of days per week that I was training has gone because 2 of the 4 I am teaching now.
Sooooooo...........now that I am on the subject of training............I have been feeling guilty for not sharing with you more about my training. I trust you with my eating habits but not with my training.....what's up with that?? Well, I didn't share in the beginning because I struggled with other peoples comment when I would tell them so I just decided that I would keep it to myself. But now I realize that was based on my insecurities. I know none of you are judgmental and would only support me. I did start another blog about my training but, I rarely write on it now...... one day I will have the whole story down for you to read. I accomplished a major goal this summer and really want to share it with you.

I EARNED A BLACK BELT IN KARATE !!!


Yes, you read it right. Me, a 45 year old overweight mom of 4 got a black belt in karate last month. I have trained for 5 years to get it. The last 8 months have been the most intense training ever to finally go through a 2 hour test to get my black belt.....and I passed!!! (part of the reason I have not had time to blog) I know you will all forgive me for not sharing and I will be free to share more about it now that I have that secret out in the open. When I first started I was at my highest weight and any time I would tell someone that I was doing karate they would just look at me and say..."you???? , don't you have to be in shape to do that??? So, I quit telling anyone and started getting in shape while I was doing it and lost 75 pounds in the process.
I would love to answer any questions you might have about what I do...please ask.

So now you know that is why my training has decreased....I have started a new rank, first degree black belt, and it is less intense than the highest degree of brown belt.......for now that is .....while I am learning the moves. And now that I have a black belt I can help teach new students. It has been so much fun helping people learn the moves. I love teaching.

I have gained so much from doing karate. I think the number one thing has been confidence !!!! Confidence that I can do it and it has helped with my weight loss so much! I train with a great group of people for the most part....there is one that gives me a bad time every now and then but, I have learned that even physically fit people have insecurities about themselves and like to put others down to make themselves feel better. I just need to push on and be happy with myself and the things that I'm not happy with I am trying to change. And besides....I got my black belt now....ha ha!!!!!......Oh, sorry did I let that slip out??? I will work on my attitude! :)
There has been a lot of ups and down though the process of training for a black belt for 5 years with physically fit people and teenagers with attitude. I am trying to write it all down and if I ever get it down I will share it with you.

I had so much fun telling you all the good news I almost forgot I was going to to write about the bad eating day I had today. My meals were healthy but, I had some really unhealthy, high calorie snacks today....like cinnabon "center of the roll" cup with a hot mocha at mid morning and a bit after that I had a cookie. Then I told myself "ok, everything is fine I will eat healthy the rest of the day......and I did.....until dinner time, I was snaking on cheese and crackers while making dinner. I don't snack while I cook anymore. And then after dinner I caved and had ice cream and another cookie. I better not keep this up or I will lose that nice new badge.

Tommorow will be a good day!!

Tuesday training day...

I get to go train in a couple of hours. I'm so excited to get to train tonight. Last week I only got to train one night because the other class was cancelled. I really miss it when I don't train. No matter how I'm feeling when I go to train, I always feel better afterwards. I can see how people get addicted to exercise or running....it makes you feel so good.

I went to visit a friend today and had a nice visit and a cup of tea. It's amazing how people treat you different when you lose weight. She thinks I have somehow changed and I'm not the same person, like she doesn't know me anymore. How can losing weight make me different.....I still feel like the same person inside.
Has anyone else had this happen to them?? How do get them to see you are still the same friend?? It is affecting our friendship.

Well, I better eat lunch and get ready to go.
Hope everyone is having a great day!

A great day for a walk...

Today was a great day for a fall walk. My daughter and I went for a walk today. We took the dog with us and my son went half way with us. It was very refreshing to breath in the fall air. I love this time of year. I really do not like the hot weather of the summer. I have been tolerating the heat a lot better lately though......maybe because I have lost weight or maybe because I make myself work out in it.....who knows?? This summer I did double training classes at 5:00-6 pm and 6:00-7pm when the heat is so bad in the building....no air conditioning what so ever!!!! HOT HOT HOT! sweat, sweat, sweat I only felt like passing out 2 times through the whole summer. I stayed on track today and had a great walk!

Good Friday...

Today was good. I ate well, stayed in my calorie range, drank my water, and got in a bit of exercise. I can't believe I did all of that in one day....I'm so proud of myself. It's been a while since I've gotten everything in that I need to do in one day. Mainly I lack in daily exercise, and then there is the daily strugle with the calories but, I am not giving up. I am worth taking care of myself. I deserve to be healthy. ;).
I can do this!!

Weigh-in Day...

So, here it is again..... weigh-in day. It seems to come so quickly sometimes. Ok...I'll get it over with.....I stayed the same again. I am disappointed but, not at all surprised.
I've been telling myself that I need to make some changes to get the ball rolling but I'm just not making progress. I have some good plans in my head, I think, just not put into action yet. I'm not giving up though!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went to train on Tuesday night and worked hard...that felt good to get that in but was overall in a down mood and feeling stressed. No training class tonight...it has been canceled. I'm bummed about that today. I went yesterday morning to teach and had a blast. I'm really liking teaching the new students and when I get a chance I love to help fine tune the ones that have been there awhile, like I did on Monday.
My goal is try to get in more exercise this week and keep on my calorie count as usual.
I did make more time to blog this last week and I'm glad for that......the inspiration and encouragement really helps.
I can do this and I'm not giving up....I am worth it!! :)

Hope everyone had a better weekend than I did! I haven't been feeling very good this week and I'm extremely tired. I already had a migraine this morning.....what a way to start a Monday!
I have really been trying to curb the sweet cravings but, this morning I gave in to temptation.....I started the day with half a brownie and a cup of mocha.
I better get ready to go, time is ticking away and I have a training class to get to this morning so I can help teach. (Tomorrow I will go to train)
Have a great day!

Weigh-in Day...

Well, I think the sweets are catching up to me. I Stayed the same this week....no loss, no gain though either. I will need to work harder this next week if I want to see a loss. I think I need to do some changing around again of calories and exercise. Or maybe it's that I just need to get more serious and motivated. I don't mind small and steady losses but, I'm really slowing down here. I need to do some reading about how many calories I should be eating to lose weight....I know most of you are good at this...how do I keep the weight coming off?? What is the lowest amount of calories to be eating and still be healthy?? I always heard you should never go under 1200 but I'm getting close to that and I still have quite a bit of weight to lose. How do I keep lowering it?

I went to train tonight for about 1 hour & 45 min. with some stretching in there. I had a good time. I am a bit sore from my arm curls yesterday though. My goal is to get back into 2 classes by next week then I will get in 2 hours of training twice a week and then try to get in 30 minutes of some other movement on the days I'm at home. We'll see how that plan works out.

Healthy lunch followed by chocolate....

I did it again after lunch. I ate a healthy lunch and then ate a bite of brownie and a small piece of chocolate. I am going to keep working on this. I did not go on a sweet binge so I can be happy about that.

I am not training on Wednesday mornings any more because I am now teaching. I have a new beginner that I help teach things to. I still do warm ups with everyone but not a full hour of training. When I came home I did some arm curls and leg lifts today as I watched The Biggest loser. I did about 40 minutes. I feel good about doing that and not just sitting there. I am working on getting in some exercise at home again. Last night I had a good training hour and worked on a lot of new things.....laughed a lot trying to do new things but, laughing burns calories too......right???