No More Playing Around...Time to Reach My Goals!!!

Lyadeia

I did Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps today, and all that good feeling I was having about improving from the month 1 workouts quickly went away. I forgot how hard that workout is, and I totally sucked at some of the moves! I want to be able to do one arm push-ups like Demi Moore in GI Jane, and I know that it takes a lot of work and practice, but I only did 5 today and they were on my knees. I guess that's not too bad, but still. I know where I need to improve!!!

My weigh-in at work wasn't the happiest of times either. I hate that scale! There is definitely something wrong with it anyway. The first time that I stepped on it this morning, it wouldn't equal out at all...I got the thing down to 135 and I was like, um, no, this thing is broken. So I stepped off and reset the sliders and tried it again. This time it was saying like 144.5 pounds. Ugh! It's got issues anyway like I mentioned before, so I don't count that weight as anything at all except at work in the contest. I wish they would let me use my weight from the scale at home, but they said it don't count cause everyone has to use the same scale. Shoot, I will let them all step on mine, but I wanna use it! :bigsmile:

How are your workouts going?

pamp1emousse

3% body fat reduction in one month is amazing!!! Well done :happy: As is the 2.5 inches lost. The scale will catch up for sure. Surely weighing everyone at work in their clothes after they've eaten & drank something isn't exactly very precise... well they'll be able to see a difference like 2.5 inches no problem! Even if you can't see it on the scale...

I want to learn how to do pushups too. I can do about 3, 5 with crappy form. Not very impressive! I'm thinking of getting a personal trainer at some point, just for 2 sessions, so that I can make sure I'm doing everything with good form. My strength training is going quite well though. The sets are getting longer/weights getting heavier so I'm happy. Looking forwards to maintenance so that I can actually increase my muscle mass - Even though I see a big improvement, I'm still not particularly toned :grumble:

On a more positive note, less than one week into making sure I eat my BMR and I've lost 2 pounds! I'm set to only lose 0.8 a week and I definitely don't overestimate my portions so I have no idea what's going on, but I see it as my body repaying me for having gained 7lbs over xmas for just a few lousy days of (massively) overeating and then having to spend the last month losing it again (granted, most of it was water.. but 3 about 3lbs was actual fat)! Woohoo. I'm in a valentines day challenge so I think I'll carry on until vday, lose what I lose and then begin maintenance.

I'm supposed to go to the gym today, but my mum keeps hassling me that I'm exercising too much. I'm trying to explain that 5-6 times a week for an hour (30-45 minutes of cardio, 15-30 minutes of weights) is NOT excessive - it's pretty reasonable for someone trying to get/stay in shape. Am I mad/deluded?? I want to be fit! It's not even all about weight-loss. I plan to exercise at least 4x a week forever - I feel great when I know my body is strong and healthy and can do what it was built to do. Hmph I think I should be being praised for my efforts! Not made to feel like I'm some sort of obsessive! (I'm really not)

Anyway, rant over... thanks for listening

Lyadeia

Congrats on that weight loss!!! That's why I was upping my calories, because I *thought* that the 1200 that MFP set my goal at was my BMR...but after doing lots of research all over the place, I discovered that my BMR is actually closer to 1435. So I thought that I was eating over my BMR when I was eating like 1325 calories, but I wasn't!!! I was probably in the beginning stages of starvation mode without knowing it. I was still losing, because you don't stop losing or start gaining in starvation mode, but it does slow things down...I lost 1.5 pounds in each of the first 2 weeks and then 1 pound over all in the next 2 weeks. I read that starvation mode can kick in at about 10 days of undereating...so there you have it. So I bumped everything up to about 1550 or so a day, and hopefully at the end of this week I will start seeing a drop in the weight again!!!

I remember the last time that I went for a goal of a 28 inch waist and I had started out around 32 inches. It took me 120 days or so to get there...so that's like the end of April or so this year in comparison since I started out at 32.5 inches. My birthday is May 16. So my new goal is to have a 28 inch waist by my birthday. I truly think that is possible since I am sooo determined to do this and I refuse to "cheat" myself by having bad food or missing workouts. I will schedule something nice on Valentine's Day and a piece of candy or something like that on Easter, but there's no point in going overboard. Besides, after eating clean since January 3 and having Shakeology nearly everyday, I don't even have those bad cravings anymore like I used to. YAY!!!

And I think you are right about the amount you exercise. I think that is a perfect plan for someone who wants to be fit and in shape! That is definitely not excessive. I think that excessive looks more like 2 hours a day every day of the week. And I have known people to do that, too, and I thought they were CRAZY! :bigsmile:

See you guys tomorrow. I am not working tonight so I am trying to get some things done around the house. :flowerforyou:

PJilly

Hi there! I’ve not done a very good job keeping up here. So many threads; so little time.

I find that getting enough water, and getting it early enough in the day, just makes everything that much better. Workouts, eating, mood, motivation, you name it.

Lyadeia, I think upping your calories is a good idea. It can be tricky finding that sweet spot that’s exactly right, but I’m convinced it’s worth trying to figure out. You’ll get it! For me, if I’m feeling restless and having a hard time sticking to my calories, that’s a signal that I need to increase them slightly. Just a little more food earlier in the day can make a huge difference in how I feel in the evening. That and getting plenty of water in.

That’s so awesome your body fat percentage and waist size went down. Congrats! It sounds like someone needs to toss that work scale out the window, though.

Xmaxine89, the vet never figured out what was wrong with our dog, but he’s been fine for a week now, so we’re just crossing our fingers and hoping that it was just some bug that’s never coming back. I am so happy he’s himself again!

Congrats on the weight loss. That’s quite a accomplishment! More strength training could be just the perfect thing for you now. You may find you really enjoy it one you feel what it does for you. Sorry your mom’s giving you grief about the amount of time you’re spending exercising. I think what you’re doing is very reasonable, especially if you’re making sure to take a rest day or two each week.

You’re both doing really well. Keep it up!

I’m just sort of cruising along. Food and workouts are going great. Life is busy. On that note, I’d better go get my day started. Have a great one!

Lyadeia

I've been feeling pretty good this week eating a little more. I don't know if I necessarily felt better than when I was eating 1350 calories, but at least I don't seem to feel bloated or anything right now.

I was really pushing hard in today's workout. I did Legs & Back and my heart was pumping hard! I was out of breath a couple of times, but I didn't go past any limit or anything. I was just working really hard and it felt pretty good. I was able to push out more pull-ups than before (still technically assisted, since I am using a resistance band to step on, but it is not as much assistance as putting my foot on a chair). Hopefully by the end of this phase I will only be using the band and perhaps by the end of the round in total I can do a pull-up without any assistance at all. My goal for the end of the year is to do at least 5 unassisted ones, and this is a great start!

I am running behind on things that need to get done before work...I've only got 2 more hours to take a shower and get ready, cook dinner, and fix my snack and other meal to take to work let alone clean up. I sent Justin to Wal-Mart, so at least that's taken care of. I detest working third shift!!! It's so hard to get anything done!!!

Lyadeia

I had my first cheat meal of this round last night. I was just craving some pizza so bad and I didn't have any dough made, so I went to Pizza Hut last night. I ate just 3 pieces of pizza and some breadsticks, and it was over 1800 calories total! CRAZINESS!!! I enjoyed it though, but it caused me to not workout at all since I was stuffed last night when I got home. I am eating low calorie today and then will be back to normal tomorrow. I drank water with the pizza, though, so it's not like I was totally bad and had some Coke with it. I was extremely thirsty afterwards and literally drank 6 cups of water after finishing the meal.

But we all need cheat meals every now and then to stay sane and to remind us of why we don't eat like that anymore. When you go a very long time without that kind of stuff and then you have it as a cheat meal, it is totally different than having a cheat meal every week or so because it doesn't affect you so much when you have it more often. You can really see how processed garbage food really hurts your body when you get your body used to eating healthy for at least a month before you have something different. Then you just learn really quick why NOT to have that crap anymore!!!

Lyadeia

Well, last week I lost between half a pound and 1 pound...still a loss, but sheesh, does it honestly have to come off sooo sloooooooooooow?

At any rate, I am now at 140.8 pounds which is still a loss but not really to my first goal of 140. Perhaps at the end of this week I will be there? Let's hope so.

I know that losing the last 10 or so pounds is hard and it can go real slow, but it would be nice to have at least 1 pound per week to make my psyche happy, lol. :flowerforyou:

Lyadeia

Well, one arm push-ups still suck, but I did do better on most of the other exercises. There's got to be an easier way to do those one-arm push-ups, but I haven't figured it out yet, lol!

I am really excited about tomorrow. Thank goodness it is a day off work, but besides that, I am going out to get stuff done for my wedding. I picked out the bridesmaids dresses already and I am going to go out with my best friend tomorrow to get a dress for her daughter to be the flower girl. And we're finally going to get me registered. I have to think of some stuff that I want...I mean, all I can think of is kitchen stuff, but there's got to be more. You know, there's tons of stuff that I want to have but when someone asks me I always draw a blank! It's kind of annoying, haha.

Well, I hope you guys are still tearing it up. I can tell that I am losing weight, but I wish it was coming off as fast as I know that it can go on. Wouldn't that be nice? :bigsmile:

pamp1emousse

Woah, well I'm pretty impressed about the fact you can even do one! I'm still struggling with normal pushups
I went to the gym yesterday and got some help with my squats because I know I do them wrong - turns out I have unnaturally weak quads and glutes Gutted. I swear after gymming for 6 months now I should be able to do squats!!! Ugh. Anyway, practice practice.

Your wedding?! O wow I didn't know you were engaged! CONGRATUALATIONS :flowerforyou: When is it? Dress picking sounds so much fun. Have you got your wedding dress yet? I know what you mean about the presents thing, I tend to draw a blank when offered gifts too. What about pretty lamps, decorative stuff, vases, coffee table books etc?

If weight came off as fast as it came on.... I think if I was offered 3 genie wishes that would DEFINITELY be one of them. I gained 7lbs in THREE DAYS of xmas binging (was 5 without the water weight). Gross no? And it took 1 month to get it off :grumble:

Well done on your loss! I've got a feeling I might not lose at all this week - I had a big loss last week and that wonderful 122 seems to have disappeared off the scale - haven't seen it since Thursday! I had a lot of sodium and alcohol over the weekend tho so it may be that... here's hoping for a very pleasant surprise in the next few days :drinker: I'm starting to get really restless now that I'm so close to goal, especially since I know 1lb won't make a difference to how I look. But I feel that I should get there, as there were so many times I wanted to give up and the idea of what an achievement losing that last stone is kept me going - I can't stop one pound short now!

Hope everyone has a good day

PJilly

Hey, you guys. I've been sort of slacking. I have had a triple whammy: (1) feeling sick, (2) recovery week last week (that was timely, with the feeling crummy), (3) husband's birthday and all the eating/drinking that goes along with that.

So I'm back to my regularly scheduled workouts (a hybrid of mostly Slim Series, with a little Slim in 6, a little Yoga Booty Ballet, and a little stationary bike) and my healthy eating. I haven't stepped on the scale since Friday. I'm sure my weight is up. The jeans were feeling a little snug last night after eating dinner out. I still feel a little under the weather, but I suspect my poor eating didn't help that any.

All the wedding shopping sounds so exciting. When is the big day? Ours was a LONG time ago. Next month is our 21st anniversary. I can't believe how fast time flies, but I am very happy to say, I'd do it all again. I hope you feel that way in 21 years. :-)

Hope you're all having a great week so far!

Lyadeia

I'm getting married on July 10 this year. :flowerforyou: :bigsmile: :happy:

I actually bought the wedding dress back in 2008, lol. I *knew* that he was the one for me, so I prepared early, haha. I bought the prettiest dress in the store, and it is still the prettiest dress I have ever seen. :glasses: :bigsmile: It is a size 8, and I know that it fits me right now...I am just hoping that I don't have to have it altered a size down...I mean it would be cool to have to reduced to a 6, and that's where my body is headed right now, but I don't want to have to pay the extra money, lol. :blushing:

I picked out the bridesmaids dresses so now we just have to make appointments to get them in the store and try the dresses on and bring those home. We picked out the flower girl's dress today and only have to get a sash for it that matches the color on my dress. (My dress is pure white with a marine blue sash that wraps around the back and then becomes part of the train...hard to describe without pictures... :blushing:

I had fun pointing the scanner at all the things that I want to get...but I am wondering how many people will just come up with their own gift ideas anyway? LOL! :bigsmile:

Oh...and I do think that 1 pound CAN make a difference on how you look, especially when you are right there at your goal weight. If an obese person just lost 1 pound you couldn't tell, but someone who only needs to lose a few really shows every loss. I lost less than a pound last week, but I can see and feel a difference in my stomach and hips compared to 2 weeks ago. :flowerforyou:

I hate that you were feeling sick Jill. I haven't had a normal nose in a month or so. When I feel better, someone at work gets sick and lovingly passes their germies. I haven't been really sick since before Christmas, but I would really like to be 100% again. I think as soon as the weather gets warmer it will be easier to stay healthy. And yeah, recovery week does help me slack off...and I hate it! I always try to spice up recovery week, but it just doesn't seem to work. I know that I need it so I don't burn out, but sometimes I just feel really lazy that week. And I wouldn't worry about the birthday celebration. It's just a once a year thing, so I think we're allowed to enjoy it. :bigsmile:

I have been back on my game since that cheat on Saturday. Everyone was talking about cheating on Superbowl Sunday, but I actually did great on that day. It was the day before that got me, lol. I think as long as I keep my diet on a good steady pace for the rest of the week I should start seeing bigger weight drops. But as long as my inches go down, I won't worry too much about it. I would just really like to see some differences for that contest at work! Oh well. I knew going into the contest that I didn't need to lose as much as the others. But I sure do hope they do this the fair way by calculating the percentage of weight lost according to starting weight, because 5 pounds off of me is a lot more than 5 pounds off of someone who weighs like 300 pounds to start out with!!!

I am going to get ready for bed. I hope you guys have a great night/morning/whatever it is. Dang you third shift! :bigsmile:

pamp1emousse

Aww that's so sweet! Well I'm sure you'll great regardless of what size the dress ends up. July 10th - Ooo not too far away! How exciting :happy:
Yeah they definitely should be doing it all as a percentage - doesn't make sense otherwise! (although I think that even percentages aren't quite fair - still easier if you're bigger to begin with. There should be 2 leagues... although then it just gets pedantic and potentially a bit insensitive...)

I'm now slowly raising my calorie allowance as I approach my goal weight - although I don't actually know what I'll maintain at! I guess I just need to experiment. All the calculators which take body fat into account say like 1500 whilst the ones that don't say 1750. Here's hoping for being the exception to the rule :drinker: I looked in the mirror and realised I really do have a lot of toning to do though. And I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to strength training! I'm happy with cardio and food, but not that... Learning curve I suppose :ohwell:

Well done for being good on superbowl sunday! Lots of people seem to have been talking about it on MFP - it wasn't really a very big deal here as far as I understood lol. We did have some big rugby match on saturday tho, but can't say I'm a rugby person. Really never got it.
I've got some big nights out coming up this month so I'm going to have to be careful and not get carried away thinking "yay I'm almost at goal none of this matters anymore :drinker: :drinker: :smokin: " which I know is highly likely And my job (which I've been waiting to start at since OCTOBER) starts next week ( ) which means far less gym time.. I may take up running outside again and bodyweight exercises at home when I cba to trek to the gym...

Have a lovely day!

Lyadeia

YAY!!! I finally lost a whole pound instead of a fraction of one. WOO HOO!!! Now I am below 140 into the 130s. I can taste that goal weight now, lol. :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

PJilly

YAY!!! I finally lost a whole pound instead of a fraction of one. WOO HOO!!! Now I am below 140 into the 130s. I can taste that goal weight now, lol. :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

Congrats! I didn't get on the scale this morning, as I ate and drank entirely too many calories this weekend. I did that last weekend too. That's not how I usually behave, and I need to nip this in the bud immediately! That said, I don't feel too bad about it. I've been mostly good for a year and a half now, so a couple of blown weekends in a row aren't going to matter much in the big picture. Now if I keep it up, it will matter, but I have no intention of doing that.

Hope you're all having a great start to the week! I had an awesome workout today, so I think I'm going to be just fine.

Lyadeia

Jill, it's great that you can have some not so great days and still not feel bad about it. I think that is real success right there. Most people have those bad days and then start feeling horrible about themselves and it starts a downward spiral. It's always great to be able to rise above that, though!

Today...or should I say last night...me and Justin went out for our Valentine's Day dinner at Red Lobster. Surprisingly enough, it didn't totally kill my nutrition plan. I mean, I was way over on calories, but nothing like I was thinking. I had the Ultimate Feast which is a ton of food for sure...but according to the website it is really only 600 calories total for the whole feast, yet I didn't even finish because I was full. I also had a salad, cheese biscuits, and half of a lobster pizza with 2 Mai Tai drinks...but still, even with all that food, my total for the day was still only 2200 calories (really less than that actually, since I didn't finish dinner). I had a worse day than that last week when I went to Steak and Shake and had some chicken fingers, fries, and a milkshake! Seriously, that meal from the fast food place was about 2000 calories in itself but I ate a lot more than day before then...and I still lost a pound last week. So this meal didn't hurt me at all, I think. Sure, I was over on calories, but it wasn't all that bad all things considered. Maybe it's cause it was all seafood instead of fried garbage. Either way, now that I have logged it all I feel a lot better about it. I was especially worried about the drinks because they tend to be high in calories, but this wasn't that bad. I could have saved about 400 calories just drinking water instead, but I haven't had anything to drink since last year and I think every now and then isn't bad at all. Why would we be so strict as to cut out everything that we enjoy forever?

Back on track tomorrow, though, with 1595 calories planned yet an awesome 45 minute Turbo Kick workout to burn off the carbs I ate today. Plus, I am checking out a new Gold's Gym being built close to my house. I am looking forward to that!!! Have a great day/night everyone!!!

Lyadeia

Stupid TOM has me feeling really bloated right now. Every other month I retain more water than the Hoover Dam, but at least that means next month when I take my final measurements for P90X I won't be as bloated. It's annoying how my body likes to screw me over every other month like this. I know that I am not gaining fat or anything, but it's still a downer when your jeans tighten up anyway.

They are considering making us go to 10 hour shifts at work. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing right now. With a 10 hour shift, I will have less time to do anything at all on the days that I have to work because after I am done working out, I will only have 1.5 hours to shower, get ready for work, cook dinner, and prepare my foods that I will take with me to work. And that will totally suck meaning...when will the house get clean? When will I have time to go to the store? Cause right now I have nearly 4 hours to get things done. But, it also means that I only work 4 days a week and will have 3 days off. I'm just worried that all this stuff that I normally get done throughout the week will just build up waiting on my days off and I won't feel like I have any days off at all since I have to spend them cleaning, shopping, and doing all the other stuff. So the vote is still out for me. I'm also worried that my days off will suck. They are going to do it by seniority, and I am in the middle...so all the older folks will probably get Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and I will be stuck with something retarded like Tuesday-Thursday. And going in at 9pm means I can't even go to night services at church so I wonder if my pastor will know if I exist anymore? Ho hum.

But at least I am still doing good with my nutrition, and I am still working out. I expect to see a drop in weight once again as long as the bloating goes away by Monday. Let's hope!

PJilly

That is a dilemma. It would be nice to have another day off, but 10-hour days sound pretty brutal to me. I guess if you don't have any choice in the matter, it doesn't matter whether you think it's a good thing or a bad thing.

I don't know what is going on with me, but I have been absolutely famished lately. I've been trying to eat at a small deficit to get the last few pounds off, but I'm much hungrier than I used to be. I've binged the last couple of weekends, and the scale has been moving in the wrong direction. I've decided, at least for now, to bump my calories up to what I think maintenance would be and not worry about that last 5 (or 7, depending on the day, lol). I'm even going to go change my goal on the ticker to be 140 instead of 135 because, for now, maintaining IS my goal. If I decide I'm ready to start losing again, then I'll go change it.

Of course, being a woman and all, I reserve the right to completely change my mind at the drop of a hat, but for this moment, this feels like what I need to do to keep my sanity.

pamp1emousse

10 hours is loads!
PJilly - lol totally relate with the changing your mind whenever thing! sounds like a good plan though.

I hit goal a few days ago! woohoo! On the down side, I comfort-binged for the first time in months and months last night :frown: I've had manic chocolate eating sessions, but not because I was upset. Dissapointing... but o well. I'm slowly raising my calorie allowance to find my maintenance so I figure I'll just not raise it this week and hopefully that'll repair the damage (it was also the first time I haven't logged in about 2-3 months but I wouldn't be surprised if I was 1500 over maintenance :noway: ).

I've got really lazy with my strength training recently... I've only been to the gym once this week because my job has FINALLY started (yay :happy: been waiting months!), so I've just been too shattered, but I just did a little run, 3 sets of pushups and I was on my way lol. I think I'm going to set myself a challenge to do pushups, tricep dips, leg raises and all those exercises you don't need equipment for at home when I wake up in the morning. That way, when I make it to the gym I don't feel that sense of dread that I'm going to have to stay for ages. Naturally I didn't do it this morning so I'll start tomorrow

Lyadeia

Wow, this week was totally lazy for me. I am actually upset at myself for not eating right on a couple of days and missing my workouts. Because of it I am feeling bloated. I am not looking forward to tomorrow's weigh in, because if I am still bloated, then the numbers won't really tell what is going on with my body fat. So if I bounce back up in weight, I won't even record it, lol.

I still haven't done my Legs & Back workout for the week, and I decided that I will most likely do it this coming week, probably on Tuesday. Each of the other days I will be doing some heart pounding, calorie burning cardio since it will be my second recovery week of the program. I just want to get in all the strength training days so I don't miss out on any of that. I have to go out on Monday and probably won't be able to workout that day because of time...so that will be like 4 days straight with nothing. I haven't gone that long since last year and it makes me so mad at myself. I guess we all have times like that, but it's really frustrating when it happens to you.

You know this will be the first time that I have actually completed an entire round of P90X in a couple of years? I have been doing the workouts off and on but haven't actually done the program completely in a very long time. You just get so much more out of it when you do the whole 90 days. I will buckle down and get back on track with the workouts on Tuesday, though. I will do at least 6 workouts this week with the one on Sunday being like those "last chance" workouts before the Biggest Loser weigh-ins. It is next Monday that I have not only another weigh-in, but also an inches check and a body fat check. I know that the way I measure body fat isn't 100% accurate, but I still don't want any bloating to play into the figure at all.

I am going to have to figure out what program to follow after I finish P90X. I was thinking doing a combination of ChaLEAN, RevAbs, and Brazil Butt LIft. But I don't want to miss out on my Turbo either. I guess I will get them all out and concoct some sort of program for me later. I can't wait until Gold's Gym opens, though, because I fully intend to use the weight machines and do the P90X routines on them. But they don't even open until July. At least I am prepared. I like being a "charter member" lol because I got the cheap-o rates. I might even get refunded if they hire me to teach Turbo! Let's hope, let's hope! Cause then I would get paid to do those workouts. That would be awesome. I love being paid to do something I love to do. I would love to make fitness my career, but I have to get paid A LOT to make the change. Until then, I will be happy working part-time at it. :flowerforyou:

PJilly

10 hours is loads!
PJilly - lol totally relate with the changing your mind whenever thing! sounds like a good plan though.

I hit goal a few days ago! woohoo! On the down side, I comfort-binged for the first time in months and months last night :frown: I've had manic chocolate eating sessions, but not because I was upset. Dissapointing... but o well. I'm slowly raising my calorie allowance to find my maintenance so I figure I'll just not raise it this week and hopefully that'll repair the damage (it was also the first time I haven't logged in about 2-3 months but I wouldn't be surprised if I was 1500 over maintenance :noway: ).

I've got really lazy with my strength training recently... I've only been to the gym once this week because my job has FINALLY started (yay :happy: been waiting months!), so I've just been too shattered, but I just did a little run, 3 sets of pushups and I was on my way lol. I think I'm going to set myself a challenge to do pushups, tricep dips, leg raises and all those exercises you don't need equipment for at home when I wake up in the morning. That way, when I make it to the gym I don't feel that sense of dread that I'm going to have to stay for ages. Naturally I didn't do it this morning so I'll start tomorrow

Congrats on hitting goal! :drinker: Good luck with maintenance and also figuring out a good workout routine combined with your new work schedule. It sounds like you have a great plan. You could add squats and lunges in there too. I love me some squats!