Play-doh's Journal

[happymo4]

Hi play-doh! Your exercise is so awesome! You are doing great! I feel like I have my exercise down too but my problem is that I eat away at least half of my workout when I get home... I need to cut out my little extra snacks here and there and hopefully I will see the numbers start to drop again. You are doing awesome with your running!! Good for you resisting the ice-cream, I totally get the sad feeling. I get that too. I just have to keep reminding myself that I will be able to have my treats someday, just not right now because I need to get to goal. We can do it!!
Maureen

[play-doh]

Thanks Maureen! I appreciate how you always "get" what I'm going through. Thanks for the encouragement!

Well, I'm at that point where I feel like I want to give up. I'm not giving up, but this is where it starts. The scale is telling me I weigh 147 and my clothes are no looser than they were a couple months ago. I've eaten well today and I ran my 4 miles. I even got the treadmill up to 6.5 an hour but averaged right at 5.5 for the whole 4 miles. I felt good.

My eating has been spot on. I did drink some tea that had sugar in it, but I only drank half and saved the other half of the bottle for someone else. It didn't spark cravings, thank goodness.

Today was typical:
1/2 cup kefir (for my stomach)
B - 2 wasa crackers, 2 lf cheesesticks, 1 T. hummus
L - turkey wraps (now I realized I had no veggies at either meal, but that's very unusual.
S - tea w/ sugar, followed later with my usual green salad with roasted pepper, chickpeas, yellow squash and about 2 T. blue cheese dressing
D - Turkey chilli

Tomorrow I go out of town for a week to visit relatives and to go to a conference, so I'm nervous about what to expect.
I hope to just be careful about what I eat and get at least a couple of good runs in.

I'm trying to stay focused on my new running goal: run 3 miles in less than 35 minutes.

[play-doh]

I had a dream last night that I saw an old boyfriend of mine. In real life this boyfriend used to bug me about my looks, worry that I'd someday get fat. In the dream he was super fit and buff (I wouldn't be surprised if he is in real life too) and he looked me over as if to say, "See I told you so," and then started giving me fitness tips. Then he said to me, "How do you think I look?" and I said, "You look like a whole lot of vanity mixed with OCD." Good one! I wish I could be such a smart @ss when I'm awake!

Anyway, I'm off this morning to a place I used to live, the town where that old boyfriend lives, and while I doubt I'll run into him, I always feel regretful that I didn't get this weight off since my last visit there. It's that feeling of regret, regretting that I quit, that gets to me. Everytime I get into a routine of weight loss and don't see much success, I give up and then, six or seven months later I find I've put on a few more pounds and then start to panic again. This journal which is several years old is evidence of that pattern.

So, I might as well not give up. Just keep going and do the best I can. Keep exercising, keep eating well. Maybe just not stress about it.

I'll be back next week. Have a great one, everyone!

[happymo4]

Love, love, love your post.....you say things that I think all of the time, especially the regret that if I only did well awhile ago, this moment would be so much more fun. That is how I have been feeling lately. I really could enjoy life and relax so much more if I could get some of these pounds off. The extra 15 lbs. on my short frame are definitely getting in my way. I need to get rid of them. We have to still have fun though while we are saying goodbye to them! Enjoy your week!
Maureen

[play-doh]

My eating hasn't been going too well but I'm keeping up with my running.

I got the Complete Book of Women's Running from the library and there is a training schedule that I'm kind of following. She suggests running for 30 - 40 minutes every other day for three days and then running a long run totalling 4 days a week of running. I can add some strength training on my days off if I want.

Today I warmed up by walking 5 min. at 4.1mph, then I ran at 5.6 for 20 min. (I got tired) walked at 4.1 for 5 min, then back up to 5.6 for 5 min. Which means I ran 3 miles in 35 minutes! By the end of the summer I'd like to run 3 miles (a 5K) in less than 30 minutes. So, I need to start trying to get up to 6.0 mph. Oh, and I did not add hills, so that makes it easier, of course.

[happymo4]

Awesome job on the running! That is so great that you found something that you love and are so excited about. You are going to get under 30 minutes before you know it, especially if you add some strength training in. The strength training really helps with running a lot, even if it is push ups and lunges. Your muscles will store up so much energy to use during your runs! I am so much like in that the working out is the easy part but the eating just undoes the weight part at times. I am hoping that I can do better this week now that my life is settling down. good luck beating your time!
Maureen

[play-doh]

I haven't been around in the past few weeks and usually that is a sign that I'm not eating well. Yep, that sign reads correctly.

I just don't know what happens to my focus sometimes, but it seems that I forget to take care of myself, or maybe it starts to feel useless, or maybe I just don't truly care at times. I don't know. But for the past few weeks I've been such a slacker. I've had a few good workouts but haven't made any effort to improve my times or to up my weights on strength training. It has been really hot, for sure, but on the occasion that I have worked out anyway on those hot days, I've been really glad. Sweaty, yes, but glad.

I still have a little more than a month to go before school starts and I go back to my teaching job, but I'm already feeling the stress of having so much work to do before that day. My biggest goal is to finish the revision of my book so my agent can send it out in September. That's my number one goal. I am fairly focused on it, but feeling a little bit stuck at the moment. My head just isn't clear. Maybe I'm overwhelmed with all that I still need to do to make the story perfect but I just need to lay out the story's problems and fix them one at a time. I'm still doing the major overhaul changes now and WOW I see such a great difference in the story! I'm so happy with it!

So my eating/exercise problem is that I keep telling myself that as soon as I finish my book I'll be able to focus on my weight loss again.

But what I REALLY need to do is to maintain some level of focus on both. My husband comes home today after volunteering overseas for the past three weeks and I'm hoping that having him back will help. He will be able to help drive kids hither and yon and allow me to lock myself up in our room in the evenings and at the weekends. This will make a huge difference in getting the writing done. I'm not sure how it'll help with eating better and exercising, but maybe feeling like I'm accomplishing something will help me get focused on other things.

My summer goals were to finish the revision of my novel and to lose ten pounds. I still have time to get them both done!

[happymo4]

Hi Play-doh! I am so happy to hear from you! I am in the same rut as you are. I don't understand how I can be so motivated one moment and lose it the next. I was thinking, though, that at least we keep trying and that is a good thing. If I totally stopped caring I would feel even worse and I would definitely be even madder at myself. I am going to go back to not looking too far ahead and just doing it meal by meal and REALLY try hard to make the smart, healthy decision. It is so hard with the summer and company and all of the kids in general. My life is all about the kids right now and I am totally missing my little bits of alone time that I used to motivate myself. I think when your DH gets home, everything will be a little better. Let's do this 10 lbs thing together. We have to have it off by fall so that we can get some new cute jeans! Have a great week!! Good luck writing!
Maureen

[play-doh]

Ten pounds, Maureen, that's all! We can do this! I've got pom poms in my hands and I'm cheering for both of us. Cute jeans, here we come!

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon and the clouds are gathering up for yet another big dump on us. I have a chile relleno baking in the oven, courtesy of Kaelyn's Kitchin, and I'm looking forward to eating it later.

I just now came THISCLOSE to grabbing a beer out of the fridge, but I changed my mind. I must remember how I did that.

[Beaching It]

Include me in your 10 1bs goal Play-doh and Maureen!!! Play-doh, I don't think I've posted in your journal before, but I've been here for a couple of years as well and I was reading through your posts and can relate to you. I struggle as well, as Maureen well knows, and it's a day at a time for me. I've been able to maintain 10-15 1b weight loss on SB but I bounce around, up and down with 5-10 1bs that I can't seem to keep off!! It's very frustrating and I know you know what I mean.

Anyway, nice to meet you officially. I'm Lisa - AKA Beaching It, and you can drop by my place any time.

[play-doh]

Hi Lisa! I feel like I already know you because I've been a lurker on your journal for a long time. too shy to say hi though, I guess.
Anyway, I'm glad you said hi first. Yes, you, Maureen, and I, let's definitely see if we can get these 10 pounds off by fall. Shall we give ourselves a deadline or is that too much pressure?

I will cross-post this into your journal just in case you don't see it here.

[Beaching It]

I posted in my journal to you but will say it again here... I've been trying to lose this 10 1bs for a year now... I would like to lose it by Oct.13th - my next planned get-away with DH to Vegas, or a short Bahamas cruise out of Miami. I would hate to go on that trip this heavy...

Hope you're having a great week. I've been to the gym 4 x already and am so happy about that. Crazy heat wave here!!!! Gym is great for A/C work out. Don't know how those crazy runners can do it outside!!

[play-doh]

I like the October 13th goal date for our ten pound loss. That does sound doable. Let's get it done!!!

Yesterday was my 48th birthday. I ate well all day and even ordered an arugala salad for my dinner. I have made a vow to start drinking less cocktails, beer, and wine. But, of course, it was my birthday and my husband ordered us a really nice bottle of red wine... but starting today. I'd like to just have wine about twice a week. That sounds reasonable. We skipped dessert last night at the restaurant, so I still have candles to blow out and cake to eat. I'm not really in the mood for anything sweet today but I don't want to disappoint my children. So, whatever it is they have for me, I'll figure out a way to just eat a little bit.

Oh, and my kids are taking me shopping for new running shoes today! Now that's something I really need! Yay!

[happymo4]

HI Play-doh! I was going fo a jog on the beach the other day (even though I am not supposed to be jogging ) and you popped into my head! How are you doing with your running and everything? I just started to run again for stress relief and I keep telling myself that I will stop when I get to maintenance, whenever that will be. I am really trying to do well and weight is VERY slowly starting to come off. Hope you are doing well!!
Maureen

[play-doh]

School started mid-August and my wonderful work-out schedule has dissolved. I'm struggling to get a couple of workouts in on weekdays and one or two on weekends. I don't like being so busy that I have to neglect myself! I have been eating good breakfasts and bringing good lunches to school though, so that's something positive. I'm eating tons of salads for both lunch and dinner. But that's not enough for me, I've got to exercise. I can honestly feel some weight creeping back on me!

Well, I guess I'm officially in menopause. Wow, I'm really sad about it. I had no idea I'd feel this way, but it's a hard realization that I'm changing and, of course, aging. The worst part is that my body will feel really PMS-like and then nothing happens. I'm bloated and crampy and then there's no relief from it. Plus, the middle of my body is so tight and thick. It's just not wanting to go away. I don't know what more I can do to keep my body slim. It's so frustrating!

today I ate:
B - 2 eggs, 1 veg sausage, 1/8C. lf cheese, salsa
Snack - 1/2 balance bar
L - Salad: spring greens, 2T. sundried tomatoes, 1/4 c. garbanzo beans, roasted broccolli, 1/2 c. lf cottage cheese, balsamic vinegar
S - 1/2 peach
D - tofu, broccolli & cauliflower, with peanut butter sauce
TONS of water!!!