Regarding Puberty and Other Things!

So I think my daughter's hit puberty. She argues with me about that which I consider to be a sign.  She'll be 11 at the end of March and she's argumentative as all hell lately.  Don't like this, don't want to do that, (insert wahs and cries here).  It might not be noticeable physically but I think all signs point towards it rearing its ugly head and I'm so not ready for it.  I wonder really who goes through puberty, them or us?

I didn't make any big New Year's Resolutions this year but am just trying to keep things in perspective and be in control of what I do and who I am.  Does that sound weird?  I think it probably does but I just want to be the best that I can be in whatever I do whether its planning things better, being more patient, snacking less, cleaning more, etc, etc.  With that in mind, I'm pretty happy with how productive I've been since the weekend.  I got a few things done that needed doing and I'm in the middle of a ginormous filing project and moving around 15,000 or so pieces of paper. (I'll only just briefly mention that I hope to find my kids birth certificates that aren't in their usual location for some bizarre reason and I'm not going to get all in a tizzy about it either, its just not worth it as they will show up in the most unlikely of places).

Part of this is doing a few things for myself.  I ordered a Becky Higgins Project Life kit and received it last week!!  I'm tres excited and have already started organizing it.  I don't necessarily know if I plan to document every single day but I will do it my way and it will be great!

So last Wednesday, I stepped on the scale which is something I haven't done in a long time.  I was down .5 lbs to 119.5!  Very happy even though I haven't been *trying* to lose weight on purpose, I've just been trying to watch what I eat - no snacking in the evenings is a big one for me.  Last night I did my first EA Active Workout in just as long and today, my balance board had some shall we say issues.  It warned me of low batteries but didn't die on me.  However, it did indicate that I'd lost 4.9 lbs since last time!  Um....no, I don't think so.  I tried again and this time I lost another 2.2 lbs.  Hmmmm...I say we'll scrap this one and start from scratch with new batteries maybe tomorrow.

And tonight since both kids have activities which don't involve me, my husband on his way to taking the boy to JackRabbits hockey, will drop me off at the Y where I will continue on my C25k path.  I find running on the treadmill so much easier anyways so we'll see how it goes!

The Monday Project - All About Me

Call it what you will, its homework and I am totally admitting right here, right now, I haven't been a good girl this week. I've had a cold since Tuesday and just haven't felt like exercising, getting on the scale or doing really much of anything.

But for me, that's all part of it. I can't say as that I have a defining moment or a rock bottom moment. For the past year or so, I've known it in myself that I needed to make changes. I was aware of it but for the longest time I didn't do anything about it.

Like many people, I gained my weight after I had kids. With my daughter in 2000, I gained 27 lbs which for me is considerable as I'm such a small person. I lost it all the next day - literally. You never would have known that I was pregnant. Then I had my son in 2003 and that was a bit different. I gained about 30 lbs but it didn't disappear quite so easily - I think sometimes our bodies have minds of their own.

I've probably hovered around 140 lbs for quite a while which is not bad...but not great for someone of my height and while I'm active, I'm not actively active if you know what I mean. So I made a change. But in this case, it was something I wanted to do and I was ready to do it.

I'm a firm believer that with any kind of addiction, problem, whatever, the person needs to want to get help or change themself and its the same with weight loss. If you're not truly there and ready to do it, it just ain't going to work. Ask any of the contestants on The Biggest Loser - they really needed to be ready to change.

How was I ready? Ah, back to the whole mind over matter thing. I stopped snacking at night so much and noticed, rather quickly that because I stopped, I wasn't hungry anymore in the evenings. This was *huge*, I'm sure of it. The snacking is bad and for me, I'm a sucker for salty snacks like chips and the like but if you don't buy it, you can't eat it. (But we won't talk about the Xmas holidays will we?)

Coke. Its Evil Incarnate and I'm addicted and while I totally admire those of you who cut caffeine out of your life, I can't. I don't drink coffee and I rarely drink alcohol so coke is my one big vice but if I limit it to 1 per day, I don't feel so bad about myself and really why should I? I need to be healthier and still have some joys in my life food wise and if a coke a day is one of them, I'm okay with that. Slurpees, same thing. Love them, can't drink them so I have 1 a week and boy does it taste good.

I bought EA Sports Active back in the late spring and I just can't say enough good things about this program. It is truly a good workout and loads of fun and the best part is that it really does make a difference. I did two 30 day challenges with the original and I contribute my weight loss over the summer and fall to this and my determination to stick with it. More Workouts which came out in November is equally good and even better, I would say. I just completed the 6 week challenge on it and Wow! Did I ever sweat!! I encourage anyone who isn't sure to purchase this program and try it for yourself. Like anything, you get what you give into it but if you only have 20 minutes a day, that's all it takes and I guarantee, you will do more than you think you will. I myself, am going to head downstairs right after I post this to do a workout for the first time since Monday. I need to get back on track and I will. Today.

I hope to be down a few more pounds by the end of this challenge and even meet my goal but if I don't, I just know that I'll need to keep plugging along, putting one foot in front of the other and keeping my "mind over matter" mantra at the forefront of my mind. And you can do. Do whatever works for you to get it done but more importantly ask yourself this - Are You Ready?

Join us over at the Sisterhood to Re-think your Shrink or even if you just need some inspiration, I know you will find it there!!

I'm Going Down, Down, Down, Down

Quick post. Really.

Weighing over in the blue corner is Tobey "I'm short but I'm feisty" with a current weight of 124.3 which is -1.3 lbs from last week's weight of 125.7!

Given that I've been indulging, and not exercising as much, I'm totally thrilled with this but I really have to get back on track. Been feeling so meh the last few days that I just haven't been able to get into it.

Gotta go. Got things to do!

Whoa, Really? For Real?

I will admit to not having the best restraint this past week and indulging a bit. One thing I am grateful for is that I'm not a cake fan. You can bring in cakes, pies, jellied desserts and the like and really, I won't "bite" (pun intended). Not a huge, huge fan of chocolate (I'll eat it but only in small portions) and cookies the same thing. But with all the snacks and foods coming through work, its hard to resist all of it. And I made nuts and bolts the other night and I admit to being totally addicted to them but I wanted to bring some in to work and give some to the kid's teachers. I think the fact that *that* time of the month is on its way doesn't help with my willpower either.

And for the first time yesterday, I skipped my More Workouts challenge workout. My tummy hadn't been doing well for most of the day so I just didn't feel like working out after the kid's concert last night! (which was quite entertaining, I must say)

So with trepidation I stepped on the scale this morning totally expecting some kind of gain and imagine my surprise when there was a loss! And a loss of -1.1!! Total shocker but I'm really pleased so some of the guilt can go away now, thankyouverymuch!

At the start of the Shrinkaversary challenge I weighed 130.1 and I'm happy to be weiging 125.7 which is a difference of -4.4 pounds! Go Me!!

Sadly, I have not logged as many miles in the Globetrotting Challenge as when it started. Crappy weather here makes for walks outside non existent. My total mileage was almost 79 miles (I missed logging a mile in there the other day). I need to get back to the Y and on that treadmill. Its supposed to be only -11 tomorrow which is perfect Winnipeg weather but alas, there's a staff luncheon that I might have to go too.

Hugs congrats to everyone who participated!! You are all winners and all the "hookers" over at Shrinking Jeans are the best! You've inspired me, made me laugh and made me want to keep trying! Thanks so much and let's keep on movin'!

Conversation in My Head

There's me this morning after hitting the snooze button again, lying in bed with the cat curled up all snuggly beside me and me thinking:
I need to get up to weigh myself... as I drift back to sleep once again....

Now fast forward to my hubby shining a flashlight on me saying "You'd better get up, we've had a power outage"
Me: "Huh? What time is it?"
Him: "I have no idea" and off he goes to find out. He shuffles back in "Its a few minutes after 7"
I continue to lay there and then the cat takes off and I ponder:

Gee, I better get up to do my weigh in. Wait, there's no power, I can't fire up the Wii (I use the balance board being blind as a bat, I couldn't possibly read a scale...what am I gonna do? (major dilemma, I know)...

And it was solved by the power coming back on and me galvanizing into action and tromping downstairs to do my ritual. And I wasn't looking for miracles this morning as I knew I'd indulged more than once. What can I say, I'm weak.

But I was pleased to see a .2 decrease, down from 127 to 126.8! I'll take it and work harder this week and not indulge! Any kind of progress is good progress. And really, how can you not be inspired by last night's Biggest Loser Finale?? They're all winners!!

And then there's my mileage which has slowed down somewhat due to the cold weather (we don't have Snow Days or Cold Days here) that we have to suck up and it got awfully cold, awfully fast. Today is -34 with the windchill which is damn cold. The kids likely won't have outdoor recess at school but I digress....my current mileage total is 72 miles. If the weather warms up a bit, I'm planning a nice long outdoor hike on Sunday to find a couple of geocaches!

This Just In...

...its Wednesday and Weigh In Day and although I didn't have a big holiday to contend with last week, my willpower wasn't amazing over the weekend so this morning I was surprised to find myself down -1.1lbs to 127 from 128.1! Woot! I swear that not snacking at night makes a *huge* difference!

My mileage is at 64.83 miles. I haven't been walking as much as our weather has changed from nice to chilly and really, I much prefer walking outside. If I could only get to that treadmill at the Y....

Putting Myself Out There!

Here I am on Day 6 of the 60 Day Challenge and one day after the weekly Wednesday weigh in. Yes, I should have taken this pic *before* I started the challenge but ah, I forgot. See the bulge in the middle there? Yeah, that one. That's what I'm trying to get rid of. Its been there for a while, for too long so slowly I'm working on it. And I got a compliment today from someone who said I looked great and that just made my day! (Thank you if you are reading this!)

At my weigh in yesterday I was down from 128.7 to 128 - a -7 decrease and I will take it! I also noticed today how my sides look a bit different, more defined. This too, makes me feel good, makes it seem like I'm actually doing something and its paying off.

Just like everyone else who is trying to be healthier, I can only do what I can do. I can't go to the gym for hours on end, everyday but I sure can take a class or two and turn on that EA Sports Active - More Workouts and get a good workout and get my blood pumping and sweat my little heart out! And I could probably do more. There's definitely no "last chance" workouts in my future but I sure admire the people that do them. They inspire me to at least do what I can do, for ME! I do a lot for my family , especially my kids and it can be exhausting. But since I've been doing more for me, I sure feel a lot better about doing things for them. Going for that 6km walk isn't going to make me feel guilty because I need to do it for me and for them and its something that I can feel good about! And for you "sisters" who've been doing the turkey trots and the 5 k runs lately, I cannot tell you how inspiring that is also! Keep it moving because you are inspiring others to want to get up and move just like I hope I am inspiring others to move.

And on that note, its getting late and I must get thee to bed! The morning comes early and I have a date with a certain Wii! Nite!

PC Chips Be Damned!

And they should be damned, they are *sooo* good! But that's neither here or there.

Remember last week when I weighed in at +3.3 (132.7) lbs and was freaked out and was sure it was an anomaly? Well this am in my haziness I hopped on and my weight is now 128.7 for a difference of......(Price is Right style, where's Bob Barker when you need him?)....-4 lbs!! Squee!

And I should be down. I've been walking like a maniac, Zumba'ing and trying my best to stay active. Since last week, I've logged 33.31 miles and am hoping to keep racking that up!

The best part is I feel so much better! I find myself not getting so tired in the middle of the day and not wanting to crash on the couch early in the evening! Its great and I'm going to keep going so yay me!

Crutch Boy, Wagon Rides, and Weigh-Ins, Oh My!

Twas a beautiful weekend here in Winnipeg in November...which I didn't get to enjoy much of. Saturday kept me inside with kids indoor activities, ending off with my son injuring his right leg/knee....which landed us in the clinic on Sunday for a somewhat fast diagnosis of a sprained ligament. Um, really?? Needless to say my nice walk opportunity flew out the window.

Monday turned out to be a beautiful day and I wasn't letting a boy on crutches stop me from enjoying this day so I loaded him up into a wagon, (all 55lbs of him) which I felt silly doing since he's 6 years old, and gave him his sister's iPod and grabbed the camera and off we went. St Vital Park was busy on this day (and I will only mention once how shameful I find it that so many people leave their leaves at the curb....but I digress...). It was good to get out, even though I got the "when are we going back" more times than I cared to hear.

Tuesday I found it hard to haul my butt out of bed to do a morning workout but when I came home, I tackled Bob's Boot Camp video and then later I did a 20 minute walk/run! Felt great and was confident about my weigh in Wednesday morning.....

...and crash and burn! I weighed in this morning at +2.4lbs!!!! WHAT??? I need a new scale. WTF is that? I'm pretty sure its screwing with my head and simply doesn't want me to get below 130lbs. I'm deflated and defeated but feel more motivated than ever. Bring it on and so far today, I've done just that, walking over 6 miles! Here's to more miles and the Globetrotter Challenge!

Weigh In #1

So, I've been busting my hump this past week walking, running, my 30 day challenge workouts, Wii Fit Plus and today was weigh in day for the Sisterhood . Sigh. Whaddya know, I'm up .2 lbs from last week to 130.3!!

Now this 130 lbs weight seems to be my nemesis. I can't seem to get below it, no matter what I do. I've been flirting with it for awhile now. I guess I have to work just a bit harder.

Anybody wanna buy about 10 lbs of Halloween goodies? Varied selection at a low, low price. No offer refused.

Shrinking?

So yeah, I didn't do a weigh in yesterday so I did it this morning after my EA Sports Active workout. I'm at 130.1 which is -2 from my previous weight from Monday. Every little bit helps so I'm happy with this. Also instead of sitting on my butt last night, I did some exercising, burning over 100 calories between Wii Fit Plus and EA Sports Active. Yay me.

Tonight's the big Halloween Dance at school and I don't know if I should be looking forward to it or dreading it. Its family oriented which is great but I always end up with a crying kid for some reason or another. It usually centers around not winning something but this year there's no silent auction (phew!) so that's one less thing to cry about. And if I have to explain one more time that not everyone can win the spot dances, I might just blow.

Shrink-a-Versary Extravaganza Challenge

I'm all over this and excited to try another challenge along with my EA Sports Active workouts! Come, join us!