Another 2 lbs. gone forever!!! :o) Great news considering the fluid retention I have going on right now from my little friend (cycle) visiting me. HA! That makes my total weight loss 23 lbs. since Apr 1, 2003. YaY!!! :o)
My little friend will be gone in a few days, so hopefully my next weigh-in will be even better.
Well, my cycle is here again (as of today) and, as usual, my appetite has diminished over the past few days. My weigh-in is tomorrow and I'm almost certain this will affect it...I just don't know how much. Oh well, oh well...we'll see tomorrow, huh? HA!
I've decided to make a couple of changes in my activity schedule. I'm still not feeling as balanced as I think I should, so I'm going to discontinue the weight training at the gym (for a while...not sure how long) and focus more on my yoga practice. Since, among other things, yoga and meditation enhance and bring balance to the mind as well as the body, I believe my time will be better utilized (at this point) practicing yoga on a "consistent" basis. I'm very grateful that I'm REALLY getting a handle on my eating and the water is just second nature to me now, but there's still that body-mind-spirit-soul connection element that needs to be addressed. I will most definitely resume my weight training in the near future, but I'm feeling a strong need to sincerely commit myself to establishing a regular morning yoga, meditation and prayer time, which will undoubtedly have a positive influence on all areas of my life.
As I was reading Yoga For Life this morning I was deeply moved by this wonderful and quite profound quote. I've definitely taken this one to heart.
"Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves, too...all sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. The whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."
I'm still around. Just kind of busy working on a couple of projects, finishing my spring cleaning and getting things sorted. I'm still doing pretty well with my eating transition so far. Hit a bit of a rough spot a couple of days this week. It's PMS time again and I tend to eat more at the beginning and then my appetite usually dissipates for a few days afterwards, so overall I'm still on track. Well, I think so anyway. We'll see on Monday, huh? LOL
I've noticed that my muscle mass is definitely increasing to the point that I can see and feel the difference. I'm not sure if it'll be reflected on the scale on Monday, but if the scale doesn't show much of a loss, I'll know it's mainly due to all the weight training and walking. My clothes are fitting looser already. As a matter of fact, I can now easily fit into a pair of jeans that just a couple of months ago I could barely get up over my hips and was totally unable to zip up. I couldn't even get the two sides of the zipper anywhere near close enough to zip 'em. There was about a 3 inch gap in between...and I was squeezin' my butt off and still couldn't zip 'em! HA! Well, I'm comfortably wearing those jeans again (totally zipped without squeezing and using a coat hanger), and now they're starting to get a bit loose. YaY!!! :o)
Since I didn't really follow through with my little detox plan past a day and a half last week, I found a new way of detoxing that doesn't require me to fast or disrupt my normal eating habits. Actually, I've known of this product for many years now and have used it a couple of times a few years ago, but it just dawned on me to start using it again. It's called "The Ultimate Cleanse." I started it yesterday and I'm already starting to feel a difference. I'm looking forward to seeing how this enhances my system.
Not much else going on right now. Jus' continuing to work my plan! Going back to bed now.
Wishing everyone a Happy Friday and a smooth, relaxing weekend. :o)
Big thanks to my buddy, Michelle, for reminding me to replace guacamole with salsa. Sometimes we need an outside perspective to help us see things clearly. Well, I made the salsa tonight, and BABY....it is OFF THE HOOK!!! And it hasn't even marinated overnight yet. I decided to make my own so I could control the salt and fat content and I'm so glad I did. It's completely fresh without a bunch of salt and NO preservatives. I found a bunch of SUPER kool salsa recipes at Texas Cooking.com. This is the one I used. I can hardly wait to make the cantaloupe salsa next. Man, I could live on this stuff. It's awesome, has a WHOLE lot fewer calories and fat than guacamole (only about 100 calories per cup), and it is VERY satisfying for me. Now I can munch till my heart's content. YaY! Thanks again, Michelle...good lookin' out, chica! :o)
Not a lot of time to blog right now, but things are going pretty well so far. I think I've gotten a grip on myself enough to get this detox plan underway. I still haven't written it out, per se, but I have a pretty good idea in my mind about how I'm gonna do it. I started out the morning (around 9:30) with 32 ounces of lemon water (the juice of 4 small lemons). Drunk it straight down for a quick flush. I didn't feel hungry, so I skipped breakfast. I had a Green Magma shot (4 tbs. mixed with 2 oz. of water) and freshly juiced carrot-apple-lemon-lime-ginger juice with protein for lunch. (I just love my Champion juicer!) Of course I'm also drinking my water along with this. I haven't figured out what dinner will be yet, but it'll probably be some type of veggie salad and perhaps a bit of brown rice, with fresh fruit for dessert. I'm almost certain that my evening snack will be more juice with proten.
I managed to get to the gym for my weight training yesterday to make up for skipping it on Thursday. I also walked a mile as warm-up. Felt great...as usual. I did my yoga today and I feel soooo good. YaY! I plan on getting in my 2.6 mile walk this evening around 6:30 to make up for the one I skipped Wednesday. I also have quite a bit of house cleaning to do (which will be more exercise), a couple of errands to run, and my hair to wash and set. Going to my favourite health food store this evening after my walk to pick up more veggies, fruit, a new yoga mat, and a few other things.
That's it for now. I'll probably be back later this evening to post my stats and food log.
Things started off pretty well this morning with the detox plan, but by afternoon I got carried away with the guacamole. HA! The only good thing is that at least the guacamole is made totally from vegetables. The bad news is that I shouldn't have had all those dang chips! What the heck is my deal??? LOL Oh well, oh well.
I believe I've gotten it out of my system now and am moving forward with the detox plan. I will finish writing out the plan this evening and do my best to stick with it for at least three days...more if possible. Man, this is NOT easy!
Yesterday, I found several awesome recipes that I'm definitely gonna try very soon, but after thinking about my current condition, I decided to postpone my little food fest for a while. I didn't exercise again yesterday, but this time it was because of procrastination. I just didn't feel like doing it, so I didn't. Well, after I thought about it for a while I realized that not only had I forgone my routine again, but I'm also retaining a bit of fluid again and I've been munching a LOT lately. Then it dawned on me that I may need to be cleansed...at least somewhat.
As badly as I want to try those new recipes, I've decided to shut down the continuous munching and detox myself. I think it's more important that I give my system a break for a few days and rid myself of as much toxic buildup as I can. This should help get rid of the munchies and strange cravings. Starting today, I'm going to start detoxing for a 3 to 7-day period (depending on how long I can take it). I'm not exactly sure what the eating/drinking plan will be, but I know that it'll probably start with brown rice, limited raw fruit and veggies and then transition to juicing fruit, veggies and various herbs together, along with drinking herbal teas, etc.
I still have a long way to go, so it's waaaaaay too early in the game for me to start trippin' with my program, which I plan to see through to the very end. Be back later after I set up the plan. I'll probably post it here.
It's been a few days since I blogged, but I'm still hanging with my program. I've been pretty busy with other things and so far, there are no major occurrences on the weight management front to report. Yesterday was a bit strange...I snacked half the night. I'm glad I didn't let it get too far out of control. I ate relatively healthy foods, but I need to figure out what the real deal is. Other than that, things are still going pretty well. I took yesterday off from exercising to have a midweek break. Sunday is my scheduled off-day from all exercise. I think I'm gonna make Thursday a scheduled off-day from walking (but not from weight training) for a while. I'll only work out on those days if for some reason I have to skip a planned workout day. I believe this will help my overall progress. I'll track it for a few weeks and see how it works out.
I'm starting to get a bit bored with my food lately, so I think it's time for me to whip up some new recipes to make things interesting and more satisfying. While looking around on FoodFit.com, I found a couple of recipes that look really good. One is Ginger-Lime Chicken Teriyaki with Orange Salad and the other is Bombay Curried Chicken. I think I'll stop and pick up the ingredients for both recipes on my way home from the gym this evening. I love curry and haven't made a curried dish in a long time, so I'm looking forward to this one. I also love Asian food and I was just craving some yesterday.
Well, that's it for now. I may be back later.
Happy Thursday! :o)
Namasté!
[EDIT-11:55am] Okay, I just found Saturday night's dinner recipe, Balsamic Grilled Flank Steak with Shiitake Mushrooms. I love shiitakes and this sounds like it'll be perfect served with steamed asparagus spears and a bit of wild rice on the side...yummie! :o) [/EDIT]
I lost another 3 pounds during week 4! YaY!!! :o) I'm sooooo excited for me! I worked very hard again last week and it paid off again. Yippie!!! Although I ate fewer calories during week 4 than in week 3, the scale registered less of a loss. I know this is partially due to the fact that as I get smaller, at certain points the weekly losses will be less. I think another variable in the equation is that the effects of the weight training are beginning to kick in. I'm starting to build more muscle and lose fat simultaneously, and since muscle weighs quite a bit more than fat (and the scale cannot distinguish the difference), it appears that I'm losing less than I actually am. I expected this, so I'm not alarmed. Actually, I am quite pleased, especially since I can already see results, particularly a loss in my waist. I still haven't found the tape measurer (I'm gonna pick one up this week), but I can see (and feel in the way my clothes fit) the difference in my stomach...it's gone down quite a bit.
Note: Before I joined the support group and started recording my stats on April 14, I had a six-pound weight loss from Apr 1 thru Apr 13, but until now, I hadn't included that loss in my stats. I decided to include those six pounds at the top of my "Statistics" page to more accurately reflect my total loss to date...19 pounds!
I am sooooo motivated right now, especially with all the plans and goals I've set for myself. I'm truly looking forward to seeing my progress and reaching each and every one of my goals. Thank you, God, for helping me wake up and smell the coffee...'cause the kitchen was definitely on FIRE...fa' sho'!!! LOL
Wishing everyone a productive, disciplined week. :o)
I've not felt well all day. I felt just fine yesterday, but now I feel tired and sluggish and I'm not sure why. I don't know if I've become addicted to caffeine again and need it to get me going or if I exercised too much this week without taking a day off in between or if I had too few calories for the week. Could it be the sugar I've been using in my coffee and tea this week? I don't normally use sugar, but I did this week. Perhaps it's a combination of all of the above...I just don't know. One thing I do know is that my circadian rhythm is ALL jacked up because of all the late nights I've been having the past couple of weeks. I REALLY need to get that in check. Like a knuckle-head, I was up till 4am this morning, slept till around 8:15, watched Recess (my favourite cartoon), fell asleep again around 9:30am and didn't wake up until nearly 2pm. So I slept for a total of about 8.5 hours, but since my rest was broken, it wasn't as refreshing.
I probably need to eat more calories, but I'm just not very hungry these days, and when I am, I can't eat much in one sitting. I guess I could force myself, but I see that as being counter-productive. I don't know what to do other than maybe eat higher calorie foods. I'll have to think about this one some more. I intentionally didn't exercise or do yoga today, which may have been a big mistake. Perhaps I should have gone for a short walk or practiced yoga for a bit to get me jump started. Actually, I didn't do much of anything today. I didn't even do my hair, which is in dire need of my attention. I mostly laid around in bed napping and watching TV off and on. This SUCKS! Now I'm waaaaaay behind on my "to do" list and I don't know how long it's gonna take me to get caught up. Needless to say, I won't be lounging in the park this weekend! :o(
I didn't have any coffee or tea today, but I was tempted to have tea this evening. Perhaps I should have. I did manage to pray, read the Bible for a bit this afternoon and make some deviled eggs afterwards. That was all I really wanted to eat and I didn't eat anything else until they were ready. They were definitely worth the effort...I LOVE deviled eggs! I'm just now starting to feel a bit better, but I am still rather listless. Oh well, oh well...hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. I'm gonna do my best to be in bed before midnight tonight so that I can can rise and shine by 8 in the morning.
Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there...and to you single dads, too! :o)
Nothing much goin' on right now. I'm just coolin'. Relaxing and enjoying the evening. Had a nice 2.6 mile walk this evening with my Miss Daisy (my neighbour, friend and H-Town mom). There's a cool breeze blowing this evening, which made the walk even more enjoyable than usual. Felt great! Afterwards, we went to Palais Royal to exchange a purse she bought earlier today and decided to shop a bit. We ended up buying the same purse...a cute little striped straw bag that is so cute for summer.
My body is finally starting to adjust to all the walking, yoga and weight training, so I'm not as tired as I was when I first started. I'm already feeling lighter on my feet, and my flexibility and range of motion are increasing beautifully. We even added another lap to our evening walk, so now we'll be walking 2.6 miles (instead of 2.2) for the next couple of weeks. Each lap is approximately .44 miles. After two weeks we plan to add another lap which will make it 3.08 miles. Two weeks after that, we'll add a final lap for a total of 3.52 miles (8 laps). That's as far as I plan on walking during my weekday walks. After I've walked the 3.52 for a couple of weeks, I plan to start a training plan that will help me transition from walking to full-fledged running in 10 weeks. It's been more than 7 years since I had a good run and I am sooooooo looking forward to getting back into it. I can hardly wait! Here's the plan:
10-Week 5K Training Plan
Before you start with this schedule, get your legs ready with eight days of walking: walk for 20 minutes a day for the first four days, then increase to 30 minutes a day for four more days. Now you're ready to begin with week 1. Each week of the program, do your run/walk workouts on Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat, and take Tue, Thur and Sun off.
Week 1: Run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes. Repeat 5 times.
Week 2: Run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes. Repeat five times.
Week 3: Run 5 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes. Repeat four times.
Week 4: Run 7 minutes, walk 3 minutes. Repeat three times.
Week 5: Run 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Repeat three times.
Week 6: Run 9 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Repeat twice, then run 8 minutes.
Week 7: Run 9 minutes, walk 1 minute. Repeat three times.
Week 8: Run 13 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Repeat twice.
Week 9: Run 14 minutes, walk 1 minute. Repeat twice.
Week 10: Run 30 minutes.
Note: After completing week 9, if you feel tired, repeat week 9 before moving on to week 10.
After I complete the 10 weeks, I intend to start training for my very first 5K (3.2 miles) run. Yep, I have a 6-week training schedule for that, too, of course! LOL I'm not gonna post it here yet, but if you want, you can find it at Runners' World Online, which is also where I found the 10-week plan. RW is one of my favourite magazines and their site is awesome.
Well, that's all for now. Gonna go put on some smooth jazz and kick back with my new yoga book, Yoga For Life.
I am thankful for another beautiful day. Thank you, God, for EVERYTHING! Please help me remember to ALWAYS let my light shine...no matter what! :o)
"I feel worthy to enjoy and accept the fruits of my labour. I will not hide my light under a bushel so others will not feel insecure around me." ~ Jewel Diamond Taylor ~
The last few days have been very good...almost too good to be true. I'm doing better with my yoga since I changed my routine and I'm starting to get into a groove...I've done it three days in a row. I've been walking consistently and I did my weight training at the gym again today. Both the walking and the weight training are getting easier and easier each day. Everything is getting easier! I sure hope this lasts.
My eating is starting to taper off quite a bit. I don't know if it's the exercise, the water, both or what, but my appetite has been down to its lowest level in YEARS!!! I'm not having nearly as many cravings, and when I do, it's mostly for yogurt or fruit. This is amazing to me, especially after having been a HUGE eater and a covert junker for soooooo long. HA! Yesterday, I was thinking that perhaps it was the caffeine in the coffee and tea that had my appetite down, but today I didn't have either and I'm still gonna have to force myself to eat my planned snack so my calorie count for the day won't be too low. It was only 1,025 yesterday, so I figured I should at least get it above 1,300 today. I'm just not hungry and that just freaks me out! LOL It seems the less I eat, the less I want to eat.
I guess my mind and body are finally starting to cooperate with each other. Kinda reminds me of one of the quotes I have on the site.
"As we begin to refine our thoughts...the actions themselves become refined."
That's pretty much it. I really think I'm starting to settle into my groove. All else is well. I'm just cruisin' along right now and it feels lovely! :o)
Unbelievable!!! I lost another 5 pounds last week. *doin' my happy dance - again* I am overjoyed to see the scale moving in the opposite direction for a change. I don't expect to continue seeing these larger-than-average losses for many more weeks, but they sure are nice to see right now and they definitely help my motivation.
I worked really hard last week and I'm soooooo grateful! I walked five days, instead of just two, for a total of 13.3 miles for the week. I sucked it up and got to the gym twice and managed to do my yoga yesterday. Thank you, God! With the exception of one day (last Wed) I stayed the course with my eating, which seems to get a little easier each day. Drinking the water has almost become second nature to me now and my body seems to be adjusting well. I don't have to visit the ladies' room nearly as much as in the beginning. HA!
Kudos to the Pals4Life crew for the tremendous effort we've all put forth so far. Great job, ladies! We are all true Weight-Loss Divas!
I'm looking forward to seeing what happens this week. I'm going to do my best to hang tough!
Wishing everyone a productive, stress-free week. :o)
I made it to the gym yesterday and just as I thought, I felt MUCH better when I was done...so much so that I went for a 2.2 mile walk after my workout. I even shopped a bit after my walk. I picked up some flounder fillets which I plan to broil with lemon-butter sauce. I need a break from the chicken. Now if I can just get my yoga goin' I'll really be doin' tha dayum thang! HA!
I think I've figured out why my yoga practice is suffering. It's too hard! While the tape I am using is excellent, it is too advanced for my current level of fitness and it's also too long - 45 mins. I know that for yoga to be effective it must be practiced regularly, so I need to start with a regimen that I can do on a daily basis (or at least 3 or 4 times a week) without feeling exhausted. I decided to put together my own 20-minute program that includes a few basic poses and breathing exercises. It consists of 5 mins. of general stretching as a warm up, 10 mins. of specific asanas (poses), and 5 mins. of relaxtion to cool down. I'll do this for a while and see how it works out.
I was looking through the Gaiam site last night and saw an article that recommended doing the following for 20 mins. a day. These are the asanas for my new practice until I reach a higher level of fitness.
The article also recommended the "Shining Skull Breath" breathing technique. I'll finish up with this.
Sit comfortably, either in a chair or cross-legged on the floor. Keep your spine straight but not rigid.
Inhale deeply through your nose, then exhale quickly through your nose, contracting your abdominal muscles.
Release the contracted muscles and quickly draw air back into your lungs.
Repeat this quick contraction/release cycle 15 to 20 times in succession. Each exhalation is about one second.
Okay, I'm off to give it a shot. I think I'll also take a long walk along the bayou this afternoon. A nice change from the track I normally walk. Be back later to update my logs.
I'm feeling soooooo sluggish today...I feel like crap right now. LOL I don't think I rested well last night since I went to bed with those hard @$& magnetic rollers in my hair. Yeah, I don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon. Actually, I haven't felt like doing much of anything for the past two days, but at least I didn't feel bad. I am truly the quintessential night owl and I think all those late nights I had this week are starting to take their toll on me. Plus, I may have eaten too much cheese this week. I normally don't eat cheese very often, but I've been really feelin' the Mozzarella lately and I think I need to cut back. I also need to take my vitamins consistently and stop skipping days. Oh, and I think I'm startin' to get just a little bit bored with all this CHICKEN!!!!
Although I really don't feel like it, I think it would do me a world of good to exercise today. And perhaps doing a little yoga will help this backache I have going, along with a good deep-tissue massage. If this continues, I think I'll have to break down and get the massage on Monday. Yeah, I think I'll get up and go to the gym now and see if that helps. I have waaaaaay too much to do to be sitting around feeling bad and complaining about it...plus...I DO NOT like whiners, so let me CUT this crap right now! HA! I'll be back later to finish updating my food log and stats.
Wishing everyone a relaxing, pain-free weekend. :o)
Namasté!
[EDIT - 3:50pm] Ya know, I could just kick myself for allowing my weight to BLOW UP like this. It is such a hard JOB getting this weight off and it's gonna take soooooo dang loooooong!!!!!!!! What the heck was I thinking??? AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Forgive me for screaming...I think I'm over myself now. :o)[/EDIT]
Today was a good day. I did well with my calories and water, and I walked 2.2 miles. Yesterday, I allowed myself to indulge with the Merlot again. It was nice. I've decided not to omit my beloved Merlot altogether since that would be unrealistic for my lifestyle. Instead, I'll just continue to cut out the zoo-zoos and wham-whams for a while and see how that works. I'm so glad I got over my recent ice cream sandwich madness. HA! I took yesterday off from exercising because my calves were a bit tight, but I plan on hitting the gym tomorrow. I have a very uncomfortable crook-like feeling in the middle of the right side of my back and when I twist it hurts so I bypassed my yoga today (now it's my poor little yoga practice that's suffering - LOL). I was up quite late last night still doing my spring cleaning and I don't know if I over did it with the cleaning or what, but I sure hope it goes away by tomorrow so that I can have a good workout.
I kinda-sorta updated the Before & After section of the site. LOL I used virtual models to represent my current and normal (goal) weights. Even using virtual me was difficult for me to do right now, but I just bit the bullet and put it out there. It's not pretty, so be forewarned! HA! I hope to update with actual photos in a few weeks. I was quite surprised at how close the virtuals are to how I actually look, especially the hair. I had my hair cut a few weeks ago and now it's about that same length and the style is pretty darn close, too. Amazing! As can be seen by the "goal" virtual me, I'm not trying to get skinny (I definitely wanna keep my curves), I just wanna get back to my normal, healthy weight so I can look and feel my best.
Other than that, nothing major going on...all is well. I'm having a relatively early night for a change :o)
Not the
average girl in the videos, that's for dang sure. Lover of
jazz, good wine, green and chai teas. Sometimes serious, often
playful, always intelligent. Strong at times, weak at
others. Decent looking on the regular, sexy when I wanna
be. Hater of BS and drama, minder of my own bizness. Still
not satisfied? Click here.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?'' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't
feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us. It's not just some of us; it's in
every one of us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
—Marianne Williamson
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& Props
Affiliations
Graphics/site
design by DivaFlava.com (Uhm, that would be me)
Not the
average girl in the videos, that's for dang sure. Lover of
jazz, good wine, green and chai teas. Sometimes serious, often
playful, always intelligent. Strong at times, weak at
others. Decent looking on the regular, sexy when I wanna
be. Hater of BS and drama, minder of my own bizness. Still
not satisfied? Click 
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