The more things change, the more they stay the same.

My oh my, has my life changed since my last post (shamefully over a year ago). My girls are growing up like little weeds with something constantly being scheduled on their behalf. Alyssa will be entering the 1st grade in August & Liza will be starting Kindergarten. We've just wrapped up a successful softball season & a great musical for both the girls in June. We also redecorated the playroom this past week converting it into a bedroom for the girls - I've never seen little girls so excited about a new bedroom. It was precious! Our biggest change, was the addition of our "surprise" baby, Branham. He was born in January this year. We've had a pretty hectic 2012 so far - a pretty rough birth (I ended up with an emergency, unsterile c-section), Brock got mono, I had a severe infection (hospitalized for 6 days), two kidney stones (which required I have surgery 3 times when Branham was 6-8 weeks old), and did I mention that Brock got mono (turns out it lasts forever for adults - at least the feeling like poo on a stick part)? Anyway, we seem to be on the mend (except for Brock, but hey - 6 months down & approximately 6 more to go before he feels normal again according to the other adults we know that have had it).

Of course, with all this change, some things have managed to stay the same. I'm still struggling with my weight & needing to get healthy. I started this blog quite a while back to serve as a motivational/accountability tool for me to get my stuff together & get my health back before it became too late, however, I've allowed life to get in the way & have not prioritized like I should/needed to. As they say, if at first you don't succeed - try, try again. That's where I'm at - ready to try again. I will say that I had the most success from a health stand point when I was blogging regularly. I felt like I had people to be accountable to & that helped to motivate me towards my goal. I realize that I probably have all of 2 people who are probably interested in my goings on now, but we have to start somewhere.

I'm back approximately to where I started weight wise (which I will be willing to reveal at a date in the future when it is just a bad memory). This means I need/want to lose around 80-90 pounds to really be happy/where I need to be. I'm not ashamed to ask for help - so please, feel free to encourage me all you want along the way. I realize that for me, it starts with exercise. I think I remember what constitutes that. I will certainly miss having my sweet friend, Lana, here in town to help me this time, but I will be channeling her all the way - LOL. I just have to remember that I'm capable of doing much more than I give myself credit for & I can't take the easy way out just because it hurts/I'm tired/insert your own lame excuse here.

Well, I guess I better get off to bed since the girls have swimming lessons in the morning. Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted (no, really I will this time).

Hello Again, Again!

For the few of you who may still have any desire to know what's going on with me, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or anything. I have decided that it's about time that I revive this old blog & let it do for me what I intended when I started it - serve as motivation & accountability for me. I have been a slacker - basically for the entire year of 2010. I did what I typically do and let my life be an excuse for not meeting the goals I have. 2010 was busy - the girls have been in dance class and gymnastics, I've been coaching JV cheerleading at the high school where I teach, Alyssa had her first role in the Nutcracker at South Jackson Civic Center, plus all the normal day to day things that we all have going on. So, I have constantly told myself that I didn't have time to go work out or cook a healthy meal & I've been a bit of a slug.

Well, 2011 is here & I have new goals for myself. I'm done whining about not having time & going to find it - or make it. I have to make my health a priority before it is too late! I'm not setting the kind of example for my girls that I want them to follow & my understanding is that the same gender parent has the most influence on children - so it's time to influence my beautiful girls in the way they should be. Once again, our Marcrom's Pharmacy is getting ready to kick off their Lose to Win weight loss competition, and once again I believe that I'm going to participate, but this time, I want to do more than just walk through the motions - I want to actually compete! I'm changing teaching assignments in my building & cheerleading is almost over for the year, so I'm hoping that also helps me put priority of the things that I should. For any of you who are left, please pray for me. I need all the help I can get!

Hit the double digits!

Well, I've been working hard in the gym for four weeks now & I can certainly tell you that when I take a rest day, it feels kinda funny like I should be working. It is all slowly paying off. Monday mornings are my official weigh-in day & today I was down 10 pounds since I got started. Although I'd like for it to come off a little faster, I'm good with this. I realize that it took time for me to put this much on & will take time for me to eliminate it also. I also realize that I still need to do some major tweaking on how I eat. Although I am making better choices, I am not being very disciplined yet. I need to make an effort to keep up with my calories & how many grams of fat/carbs/protein that I'm taking in to make sure that I have both my exercise and diet working well together. Well, I'm off to enjoy what's left of this snow day. Hope you all are off to a great week!!

Progress

Monday morning are my weigh-day, so Monday officially marked week one on this massive endeavor. I'm proud to report that I'm down 4.5 pounds. I did some kind of work out 5 days last week. When I initially met my friend, we started with approximately 30 second jog/60 second walk intervals for 20 minutes after a 5 minute warm up walk and finished with a 5 minute cool down walk before heading to weights & this week that has progressed to a 60 second jog/1:10 walk for the 20 minutes of intervals. I'm hanging in there as far as weights go too, however, I will admit that my arms & chest are definitely my weak areas.

I'm so appreciate of my friend who is willing to take the time out of her schedule to help me. She has truly been so motivating for me. The entire experience is teaching me a lot about myself already and this is just the beginning.

On another note, the 4th Annual Marcrom's Pharmacy Lose to Win Challenge is getting underway & I'm going to participate again. I will admit that I wasn't as committed as I should have been when I did it during the fall of 2008, but they have revamped some aspects of the contest & I am definitely working on revamping my mindset about food, exercise, and what I am capable of accomplishing.

Well, I'm outta here, but I'll keep you posted.

Slow & Steady

I've met my friend that's helping me with this huge endeavor both Monday & Tuesday nights to work out. Both days we've done a walk/jog session for about 20 minutes with a 5 minute warm-up and another 5 minute cool down. We've also spend 30 minutes each night doing weight training. Monday was arms & chest and WOW! I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to turn the steering wheel when I left the rec center. LOL. I actually came home & told my hubby that he would need to put the chicken I had marinated in the fridge in the oven for me because I didn't think I could raise my arms that far. After a hot shower the soreness was more tolerable, but definitely still there. On Tuesday we worked legs, which made me sore, but I don't have nearly as much trouble with legs. On Wednesday, I was supposed to meet her for a 5:30 am class, but I was still trying to get my lesson plans done for school and was afraid I'd be late for my morning supervision, so I bailed on that one. Anyway, it's still early, but I'm already feeling a little better. I haven't had a diet soda since Sunday & the headaches have almost gone away totally. Well, time for me to go, gotta enjoy the snow day I got from school!

Getting Started - FINALLY!

It took me some time to get things lined up with my friend who is going to be training me and with all the holiday things going on, I'm really just getting started today. I began today only drinking water and if you know me, this is a BIG one. I rarely drink anything other than Diet Pepsi or Diet Sundrop. Although I'm not pulling in a lot of calories with these, I know I'm not getting enough (ready any here) water. Also, my friend reminded me that the aspartmine in diet sodas do make you crave more sweets & I definitely agree. Besides, all those chemicals can't be good for me and that doesn't even take into consideration the bloated feeling from drinking all that stuff. Of course, my 3-day headache has begun as I knew it would, but at least in a few days the headache will go away & I will be on my way to a healthier me. I've been pretty careful about what I'm eating & I'm logging everything. We had inservice today, which gives us a rare opportunity to go out for lunch, but I resisted the urge to go eat Chinese with my coworkers and came home for veggie soup and a salad with some lean protein. I start my workouts tonight, so I'll keep you guys posted. Hope you are all having a great start to the year!

Back to the Drawing Board.

Ok, I realize that my last post was in June & since it's been so long, no one other than me is probably going to be reading this blog, but I'm going to use it anyway. If nothing else, it will serve as an online journal for me. It's back to the drawing board for me. I've let life get in the way of me trying to healthy & have done what I've always done & gained back the losses that I had made & am once again in the position that I need to start over.

After much thought, I've realized that I've tried nearly everything. I've done the low carb, no carb, grapefruit, Nutrisystem, LA Weight Loss, & Weight Watchers diets (just to name a few). I've purchased oodles of workout videos & equipment that promised amazing results in no time. I've even tried to just eat healthy on my own & get some regular workouts in. It's not that none of these things work, it's that I haven't made them work for me. The common factor is that I don't stick to anything on my own. I make some good losses - 20lbs or so, then I gradually, for no good reason, quit & go right back to where I was (or worse).

So, as I sat here thinking about the fact that I can't go on certain rides at an amusement park with my kids because I know I won't fit, or that the seatbelt in my friends' cars are a tight fit & worry about how much longer it's going to be before I can't get them around me anymore. I thought about the fact that I have to think about what direction I'm going to walk around my classroom to check my students' progress because I can't fit between some of the computer stations and how I'm constantly waiting on one of them to get mad at me and drop the F bomb in the middle of class (and I mean calling me fat). Although my husband has never been anything but supportive, I worry that he's going to get sick of being married to someone who is so different looking than the girl he first fell in love with.

Then it hit me. The one thing that I've never tried is a personal trainer. In the past, I couldn't have afforded it, but since I've gone back to work, I think I will be able to swing it now. I've contacted a girl who is amazing. She has set and exceeded so many goals for herself & I just know that she can help me now. If you are a Biggest Loser fan, I would describe her as a mixture between Bob & Jillian and exactly what I need. She's agreed to train me & now I'm just waiting on her to get herself organized & tell me when we are starting. I'm so excited that I just don't know what to do with myself. Once we get started I'll be posting my progress, until then I hope you all get another chance to do whatever it is that you didn't accomplish the first time (or 2nd or 3rd, etc if you're like me). Have a great evening!