Plateau!!

I hate weight loss plateaus.  I have had a rough couple of weeks as far as losing more weight.  I had a death in the family a couple of weeks ago and didn't get to the gym for a week- or use my food journal.  Thankfully I did not gain anything - but I did not lose.  Last week I got back on track as far as the gym is concerned but I have had trouble with food.  So yesterday I buckled down again and started paying better attention to what I am eating, and began to count more closely again.

I really need to get back in the zone- and a big part of this is that I need to get to the grocery store.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Dedication!

Hello! Happy Monday!

This past weekend was great.  I woke up early Saturday and Sunday and went to spin class.  And Sunday I did something I haven't been able to go yet!  I took a 9:30 spin class, followed directly by an hour Cardio/ Weights Class.  I was so proud of myself.

I am another 3.5 lbs down this week which is great.  I am so excited to be seeing results from all my hard work.  I am finding that I am a lot stronger and I am able to do things that I did not think was possible when I started this journey.

So I tried a new recipe on Saturday.  I made Low Fat Baked Ziti with Spinach.  I got the recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes and it was DELICIOUS and pretty easy to make.  I want to try to make something new at least once a week.  Having tasty and healthy options makes such a huge difference.  It gets monotonous having grilled chicken and salad all the time.

And a Year Later...

Okay, so last year I started this blog to keep track of my weight loss and to encourage myself and others to stay with it.  Obviously I wavered on my commitment and got wrapped up in other things- I accepted that I was bound to be big and gave up.  Than in October I got fed up with myself and I joined a gym.  It was the start of my latest journey and I could not be happier.

I started to take classes at the gym, spin class and cardio classes and I was going around 3 or 4 times a week and I was feeling great- but nothing was happening- I had maybe lost about 3 lbs.  So I started to really pay attention to what I was eating.  I bought the Biggest Loser Food Journal and began to count my calories.  The food journal is such a wonderful tool.  It lists almost every type of food you can think of in the back with its nutritional facts.

Since the beginning of February I have been using my Food Journal religiously, I bring it everywhere I go- and I plan ahead.  I bring fruit, low fat yogurts, 50 calorie string cheese, Fiber One bars to work so that I have healthy snacks with me at work so I won't be tempted. And I do 60-90 minutes of cardio 5 times a week. As of this past weekend I have lost my first 10lbs!

There is no motivation like hitting your first major milestone in weight loss.  Whenever I feel like I want to cave in and eat something fried (and delicious!) or I feel lazy and want to skip the gym- I think that I can lose ANOTHER 10 lbs in a month.

Anyway- the moral of the story is I am back and I am finally on the right track.  And I am looking forward to exploring this new healthy lifestyle with followers!!

No More Excuses!

My roommate and I have been trying all these different ways to lose weight (and they've all been the "easy"ways out), and they don't work.  This morning we both agreed that we are fed up, and we are going to do it the healthy way.  This is going to take determination and patience, but we have each other and believe me we have determination.  So I suggested we start a blog cataloguing what we eat, our activities and our weight loss.  I know that I do better when it becomes  project (like a blog).  We have come up with a routine that we will follow together, along with our own personal diet and exercise.  

1) Weight Watchers:  We have both joined Weight Watchers online.  Ideally the meeting work better, but the meetings also cost more, and we are on budgets.  So we are following WW online, and we are going to have our own meetings every Sunday morning at 11.  We will weigh in, talk about food we like that worked, and what didn't work and then we will make a healthy, tasty breakfast together.

2)Getting Active: We are going to start to walk together at least twice a week to start.  We will start with a mile and make it a little more each week.  We decided that instead of sitting on the couch and talking about our days, we are going to do it while we walk!

3) Healthy Cooking: We are going to cook more- order less.  We will be taking recipes from healthy books, WW online, other weight loss blogs and trying out new and healthy ways to eat the things we love.  For example we have already decided that tomorrow we are going to have Mexican Night, using fat free cheese, making our own fresh salsa and guacamole and controlling our portions.

4)Individual Exercise: Along with our walks, we are going to be active and exercise independently .  For example, I am going to try out a new work out video I got- the Pussy Cat Dolls Workout DVD.  I will let you know if it is enjoyable, fun, and how I feel after it.

I feel really motivated and I really think that having my roommate as my partner, and sharing everything that I do with readers is going to push me to do my best.  This weeks goal is to get started- have a healthy week and lose 2-3 lbs!