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Posts Tagged ‘exercise’

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July holiday. If you’re not in the US, I hope you still are having a great weekend! I had a lot going on the last few days, especially since my boss decided to close on Friday (unpaid day off) instead of just Thursday. We were able to fill those days with food, family, and fun.

I missed my three days a week writing goal, only writing two days. But my word count was 2831, so that wasn’t too shabby. I would really like to hit over 3000 a week, but I’ll take what I got. It’s been a busy week. πŸ™‚

I haven’t walked on the treadmill for the past two days. I have a problem with my foot sometimes where a sharp pain will shoot through the top of it when I’m walking, and it’s so bad, I almost fall. This is a problem that usually lasts two or three days. The odd thing is that this time, it’s the other foot. I didn’t go to the gym, either. I have no excuse except that the gym is about 20-25 minutes away. I live out in the boonies. The reason I use that gym is it’s conveniently close to where I work, but I haven’t worked the past few days. I’ll get back on track tomorrow. Hopefully, my foot will be well enough to walk on the treadmill today.

How did the rest of you do last week?

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Finally! My plateau seems to be over, at least for now. I’ve been struggling with the same 2-3 lbs., going up and down, up and down, until I thought my head was going to explode. It would have been easy to just quit, believing that my workouts weren’t doing any good, my change in habits not helping. But I kept on even when I was feeling a little discouraged. Because you know what? Things would have been a whole lot worse if I went back to my old habits. And the perseverance has paid off. I was happy when I got back down to my lowest weight. So I was even happier when I saw, this morning, that I had lost even more. So this is a lesson to all of us. Don’t give up. Don’t think a plateau means you’ve stopped losing weight. Maybe it’s just your body resting for a bit. If you do hit a plateau, you can sometimes get past it by eating things a little differently. For instance, you can cut down on carbs and eat more protein. Or you can do exactly the opposite, cut down on protein and eat more carbs. Change which veggies and fruits you eat. Drink more water. Just do something DIFFERENT. This has always helped the Weight Watchers members I taught when I worked there. But the most important thing is to not get discouraged. If you continue to expend more calories than you take it (unless you’re eating too LITTLE and your body thinks you’re starving it), you’ll eventually lose the weight.

I also want to invite all of you to comment here about your own weight loss/healthy living struggles. I do want to encourage anyone who needs it. Sometimes just putting it out there and sharing with others helps. So every Friday, when I post Fitness Friday, feel free to share your own stories in the comments. Let’s do this thing together, okay?

I haven’t been sharing stats since my weight has been all over the place and wouldn’t settle down. But I’m back to sharing now. So here it is.

Stats for this week:
Beginning weight: 193
Today’s weight: 169
This week’s loss: 2.5 lbs.
Total loss: 24 lbs.

P.S. Update on my dogs. My old dog, Chipper came back yesterday, and he’s still home. However, Duke did not come back. We looked again at his broken harness, and both hubby and I determined that it HAD been cut. So someone must had tried to steal him that night and just couldn’t get hold of him, and it might be those same people that have him now, although there’s no way to know. We’ve canvassed the neighborhood, and no one will claim to have seen him. 😦

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Weight loss can be so frustrating. I’m continuing to work out with weights four days a week. I added an extra five lbs. to some of the machines yesterday, so that was cool. I’ve been walking on the treadmill for 15 minutes in the mornings. I WAS walking about 45 minutes in the evenings, too, but my foot has been acting up again. It’s usually better in the mornings, but by the afternoon, it’s hurting too much to walk. This is a chronic problem and usually goes away on it’s own in about three days. I’m also eating less and TRYING to eat better, although eating better is a slow going thing. But I’m STILL not losing weight, even with all these changes I’m making. I sticking right at the 172 mark. The scale goes up and down all week, only to settle at 172 on Fridays. Maybe I’ve just hit a natural plateau since I lost so steadily for the first 21 lbs. I saw this happen a lot at Weight Watchers when I worked there. I’m not giving up. I know it has to come off eventually. If you expend more calories than you take it, you have to lose weight, right? I just need to make sure I’m eating ENOUGH. If you don’t eat enough calories, you body thinks you’re starving it and hangs on to fat. I’ve seen this happen, so I know it’s true.

Some pretty good news. Most of you know I was upset because hubby got disqualified from a great paying position in the company he works for due to some *#&$*&#$’s who have a beef with him. And then they put him on second shift on an entry level job with low pay. Well, apparently, human resources (I expect there was some help from the union) said they couldn’t do that. So, even though he couldn’t have the premium job back, they had to let him choose from three different jobs in the plant. Now here’s where I can show you what a decent human being my husband is. There was one day shift job he could have taken, but he would have bumped several people out of their jobs into other jobs, which would have made them unhappy. So my husband took a job where there was actually an opening. He’s going to be back on third shift (YAY!) and making about the same as he was before he got that better job. Thanks to all of you who sent good thoughts and prayers our way. πŸ™‚

I actually wrote on my WIP last night…the first time in over a month.

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This week has been so hectic with Vacation Bible School. My usual schedule is to work out during lunch 4 days a week at the gym, alternating arm work and leg work. Today is arm day. I HATE arm day. I feel like such a wimp. I LOVE leg day. I feel more powerful on leg day. Anyway, I usually walk on the treadmill at home in the evenings for about 45 minutes (long enough to watch a show on Netflix). With this hectic week, I’ve skipped two days of walking. By the time I get home, and get stuff done, it’s 9:30, and that’s way too late to walk if I plan on getting any sleep. So I’ve been walking about 10 minutes in the mornings to make up a little of it. I actually RAN for one minute of the 10 this morning. My legs didn’t like it. LOL

I mentioned last week that I had gained 6 lbs. My weight has gone up and down all week long. I learned in my 15 years experience at Weight Watchers, that it’s not good to weigh every day while losing weight. Once a week is best. But I just had to know what was going on with my weight. This morning, I was back down to within 1/2 lb. of my lowest weight, so I’m back on track. I would REALLY like to get down into the 160’s next week. *crosses fingers*

Okay…time to go work out those arms! Ugh.

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Ha! I bet that title got your attention. What in the world do sweat and Supernatural have in common? Well, I’m about to tell you.

I always hook up my headphones to my iPad and watch Netflix while walking on my treadmill. I’ve had this show queued up on Netflix for a long time. My daughter-in-law likes it, and we usually have the same taste, so I thought I would give it a try. I’ve seen two episodes, and I am in love with it. It’s my kind of show!

So, the sweat part. It helps to watch Netflix while I’m on the treadmill because my mind always has to be doing something, and walking is kind of mindless. But I can’t help but feel the sweat, even when I’m concentrating on the show I’m watching. I HATE to sweat. And yet, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I do. That means I’m exerting myself enough, because I really don’t sweat that easily (except when I have hot flashes). Some more good news…my homemade deodorant is holding up through all the sweating. All it contains is coconut oil, arrowroot powder, and patchouli essential oil. It’s supposed to have baking soda, too, but it makes me break out, so I had to leave that off. But it’s still working. I smell like patchouli! πŸ™‚

Speaking of homemade. I just dusted the furniture with homemade furniture spray. I’m washing clothes with homemade washing powder. Later, I’ll wash my hair with homemade shampoo and moisturize my face with homemade moisturizer. I’m loving this natural stuff!

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Yeah, that was me totally freaking out when I got on the scale this morning. I knew I had gained a couple of lbs. on vacation…you know, all the lying around on the beach, no exercise, eating more than usual. I had weighed a couple of days after I got back. No big deal, right? But when I weighed this morning, I had gained a total of SIX lbs. What the heck?

Okay, breathe, Lauralynn. This week I REALLY worked out with weights. I pushed myself more than usual. I walked on the treadmill at home every night but one, for 45-50 minutes (long enough to watch a show on Netflix). Remember a while back when I talked about how your muscles actually filled with water when you first start working out? Oh, how I hope that’s what happened. A weight gain that fast makes no sense, otherwise. I’ve exercised more this week than I have in YEARS. That’s got to be it, right? Can you tell I’m still freaking out?

I will NOT cry. I just need to keep exercising, keep eating like I should, and the weight should start coming off. My clothes don’t feel tighter, so that’s a relief. This, too, shall pass.

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I’m not going to post stats because I’m in a big hurry. I’m trying to go on vacation tomorrow, and a bunch of stuff has fallen into my lap (not literally, lol) at work. Stats haven’t changed from last week anyway.

I went to the doctor yesterday to get my prescription for my insulin so I won’t run out on vacation. My doc is out “indefinitely” because he hurt his foot, so I saw a nurse/practitioner. She was so pretty I wanted to smack her. LOL. Seriously, she was very nice. She looked at my last A1C test and decided she wanted to do another one. It’s not high like when I first found out I had diabetes (it was over 13), but it was still 7.2 and she wants it to be under 6.5. So if this test still shows it’s high, I have to up my dosage of Metformin, which is the medicine I take in addition to insulin. It helps the insulin work better. I don’t know if she will up the dosage of the actually pill, or if I will have to take 3 instead of 2 a day. Grrr. Anyway, since my husband’s illness, I’ve been under all kinds of stress…emotional, physical, financial…and I just haven’t been as careful with my eating and exercise. So my weight loss has been at a standstill. I really need to cut down on fats. That’s my main problem. I just like so many fatty foods. I don’t like veggies much at all, and I don’t like too many fruits. I may just have to start choking some things down whether I want to or not. Bleh. Or at least make a list of veggies I DO like and concentrate on figuring out different ways to eat them. Okay let’s see, onions, cucumbers, lettuce…that’s mostly it. I like squash, zucchini, and okra…but fried. *shakes head in exasperation*. I DO like beans (legumes, not green), so I need to substitute those for meat sometimes. I need help here! Does anyone have any good recipes involving onions, cucumbers, or beans???

At least while I’m in Florida, I’ll be eating seafood instead of beef. I LOVE crab! My friend whose family is going with us owes me a couple of dinners because I sold her my cat cage, so it’s going to be crab legs, baby! LOL

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Finally, I wrote one day last week! Saturday, I wrote 2038 words. So I’m breathing a sigh of relief. I was beginning to think I just couldn’t write anymore, but I think it was just all the stress worrying about my husband, worrying about finances, worrying about everything. Well, I shouldn’t use the word “worry”, I guess I should say concerned. Worry shows a lack of faith. But none of us are perfect, right? So, yeah, I guess I was worried. But hubby is feeling SO much better. He’s pretty much back to normal, at least on the surface. I know the clots are still there, but his last chest x-ray was better, and his blood is finally thinning like it should. That was a real concern. The doctor made him do some things like walk briskly up and down the hallway to see if he had shortness of breath, and he passed that test. So he is definitely much better. Yay!

Next week, I plan to get back to the gym for weight work. Then, in the evenings, I’ll either walk on the treadmill at home or ride my bike (if I can find the pump to air the tires!). I want to combine the weight and aerobic exercises and get back to healthy living. And I’m going to try to get back to writing at least three days a week, then go up to four. Hopefully, life will get back on track!

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After all the eating hospital food and fast food, after all the stress eating, after the lack of exercise for over two weeks…I just knew my weight had to really be up. I wasn’t really worried about it, because taking care of hubby was first. I knew I could get back to taking care of me later. However…drum roll, please…I only gained 1/2 lb. Only ONE HALF. I am very, very pleased. I should have gained more. I even had four slices of pizza last night. But I’ll take that number, and I’ll work to get back on track and start losing again.

Stats for this week:
Beginning weight: 193
Today’s weight: 172
This week’s gain: .5 lbs.
Total loss: 21 lbs.

And now for the interview. I’m being interviewed today by the lovely Jamallah Bergman, author of several romances, including her latest one, The Admission. Jamallah is a wonderful lady with a great sense of humor, and I was so pleased that she agreed to interview me. So without further ado, here is the link to the interview.

Interview

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Now that my husband is back home, I’m going to try to get back to a semi-normal life. I haven’t written or exercised in a couple of weeks. I haven’t been eating right. Let’s face it, who can eat right when they’re stuck at the hospital? Not only is there not a lot to choose from (the hospital cafeteria hasn’t been open for dinner), there’s also the stress that makes you want to eat comfort food. You know, like burgers and pizza. So this week I want to get back to good routines. That includes getting back to the FlyLady way of getting one’s house de-cluttered and cleaned.

I also want to again thank everyone who has donated to Kait’s Fundrazr campaign for me as well as those who have stopped by my blog to send good wishes. Sometimes I don’t know how much to say about all that.

When it rains, it pours. During my husband’s hospital stay, our garage door has stopped working. I’m having to manually raise and lower it, and it’s hard because it’s not really made to be done that way. Also, this morning, the sprayer on my kitchen sink came off. It can’t be put back on because the end that goes into the pipes is broken. What this means is that the faucets don’t work either. When I turn on the faucet, the water comes out under the sink. So that’s going to have to be fixed. And…I have a shower head that you can take off and hold in your hand. The hose that connects it to the shower is leaking so that half the water is being wasted. This means getting the garage door fixed, getting a new sprayer, and getting a new shower head (it’s only a couple of months old-I should have invested in a better one). Grrrrr. But on the bright side…my husband is still improving. πŸ™‚

I hope the rest of you are getting some writing done. Maybe this week, I can, too!

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