Should I even bother?

I've been trying to lose weight for years and like most people, it just comes back in even greater amounts. Since having a baby last year I have managed to keep a consistent weight, and one that is even lower than before I got pregnant, but I really, really, want to lose more. I managed to quit smoking to have a baby and I'd like to be able to get rid of this weight that makes it hard to get around. I want to be able to carry my child for a few more years and I don't know if I can do that while hauling my own fat ass around too. So I'm going to try again.

Goal 1 Achieved

Current weight: 189.5 lbs Goal: 190 lbs maintained for one week Reward: New stockings I think some Havana Heels are in my future!

Post-baby body

I only gained 20 pounds during pregnancy, and lost it all almost imediately. Unfortunately, I was at 198lbs when I got pregnant so I was starting obese. One thing you don't often hear in the talk of losing baby weight is the number pregnancy does on your shape generally. As fat as I am, I was never this doughy until having a child. I can tuck it in, compress it and otherwise try to hide it behind clothes, but that dough is still there, lurking. Spouse looked at me last night and asked if I was "cooking another one in there." He is never having sex again.

Goal 1, Update 2

Current weight: 189 lbs Goal: 190 lbs maintained for one week Reward: New stockings Must maintain now.

Goal 1 - Update

Current weight: 190.5 lbs Goal: 190 lbs maintained for one week Reward: New stockings Very close. Need to actually change diet and exercise for things to happen. Been busy with move.

Goal 1

Current weight: 193.5 lbs Goal: 190 lbs maintained for one week Reward: New stockings

Day off

Work was closed today due to the storm, which unfortunately turned to rain early on. I did day 3 of Jack and then 30 minutes of Wii fir this morning, but no stairs. The only other real exercise was trudging out through the rain and deep puddles of slush to go buy milk and other provisions for a day in (eg cocktail ingredients).

Snowy Day

I trudged through the cold and beginning flakes of snow this morning, but not before doing my Jack LaLanne and nearly an hour of Wii Fit! Given that I was feeling a little ill again before lunch I opted to postpone the stairs until after, but then only managed the 6 flights.

Tomorrow is a snow day. While I can still do my LaLanne "Trimnastics" and Wii Fit, I'm stuck with our three flights of stairs in our apartment building. Given how hard it's been for me to do the stairs, this might not be a bad thing. If I can do the stairs twice I'll be happy.

Stairs: I am not the master

I got rather inspired by the recent stair climbing post by Bitch Cakes and thought it might be good to try some stair climbing here at work. Originally I was planning the north stairwell from basement to top, four flights, starting with one flight on Monday and working up to five on Friday. Today, the first day I was to attempt, it occurred to me to try the central stairwell which is six flights (yes, there are additional stories in the middle of the building.) Let's just say I'm happy I started with one. While I'm sure I can work my way up, I may resort to the shorter stairwell until I'm fitter.

In addition to the stairs today, I got my ass out of bed early so I could start week 1 of Jack LaLanne before work. He starts things off rather easy so it wasn't a real challenge to start my week. It even got me warmed up enough to do 30 minutes of Wii Fit after while listening to the news. So today I've not only managed to get all my exercise in before noon, I got in more than my typical goal.

Exercise Goal for the rest of the week:
Jack LaLanne every morning
Stairs (four or six flights) every late morning/early afternoon, increasing by one repetition each day (six flights today, twelve tomorrow, etc). If I have to rest on a landing, that's okay.
At least 10 minutes of Wii Fit either before or after work.

Wish me luck!

All right Jack, you talked me into it

Or: Maybe you can live to 96 too.

My challenge is to follow Jack LaLanne's 6 week exercise regimen.

Exercise

Before Christmas, and after my last doctor's appointment, I told Spouse nag me to exercise five days a week. The run up to and after Christmas were dead losses, but we did manage to come up with something that would work for us where I exercise for 30 minutes and he practices piano for 30 minutes (he's exercising too, but since that's not part of the deal I don't nag.)

I am happy to report that I have exercised every day so far this week (beginning Sunday) for a minimum of 30 minutes. I've even bought a new sports bra that actually WORKS so can do some of the more aerobic Wii Fit exercises. In fact, I have mainly been doing aerobics (since I CAN), but last night went for yoga and strength so I can mix things up a bit. I will probably incorporate some pilaties and/or belly dancing for more variety.

I can't say I've been looking forward to exercise (it has, after all, not even been a week), but I do feel so much better after I do it! It's just the forcing me to do it I still need help with . When I get home from work, the first thing I've been doing is getting into my workout gear before having a chance to sit down or prep dinner. I know that if I do anything else first I will kill any possible motivation. The trick for me seems to be just get it out of the way first thing (well, first thing in the evening as there's just no way I could do this in the morning.)

On the food front, I've been baking bread, made some more butter (not a particularly good batch this time, unfortunately) but have been using lots of veggies in dinner. Plus I've brought my lunch to work every day this week. I'd like to get the exercise to start being a habit before I try doing much more though. That said, I put on a skirt this morning that's usually a bit tight even with a waist cincher. This morning, no cincher, it zipped right up with a heavy shirt TUCKED IN! Maybe this exercise thing ain't so bad after all.

190.5

I had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago that showed fatty liver (my fois is gras) so now that's one more thing saying LOSE WEIGHT!

I've asked Spouse to make me exercise 30 minutes 5 times per week and he's been quite god about it so far. We've even had negotiations about days I want off or how I can trade one activity for another. While I'm not thrilled about having to exercise, I do notice how much better I feel after I've done it. Eventually it may get to a point where I look forward to it, but I don't see that happening for a while.

Brunch
scrambled eggs with leeks and spinach
tea with 2% milk

Snack
Cider down the pub

Dinner
veggie pizza (whole wheat crust)
salad

190.5

BREAKFAST
tea
egg and cheese sandwich

LUNCH
leftover homemade lasagna

190

BREAKFAST
tea
toast

SNACK
Tea and biscuits

LUNCH
convenience food, microwaved frozen lasagna

DINNER
Proper home-made lasagna (albeit with jarred sauce)
wine

189.5 - Weigh-in Day

BREAKFAST
grapefruit
tea
egg and cheese on croissant

LUNCH
BBQ tofu
Quinoa
broccoli
pumpkin pie (damn you pie!)
fizzy water

188.5

BREAKFAST
scrambled egg with spinach
toast
tea
water

188.5

BREAKFAST
Pink grapefruit (can one even buy white grapefruit anymore?)
Tea
scrambled egg with spinach
toast

LUNCH
Salad of veggies with hard boiled eggs
tea
biscuits (2)

DINNER
"chicken" pot pie
rum and diet cola

191.5

I was 186.5 on Saturday. Let's pretend it's Saturday today.

BREAKFAST
Quorn sandwich (1 slice of bread)
tea

LUNCH
Another sandwich (2 slices of bread)
water
Nice cup of tea and a biscuit


Okay, two biscuits

DINNER
Another Quorn sandwich (with spinach in it this time)
cider

188

BREAKFAST
tea
toast with honey

187.5

Sick again. Throat is sore, probably from the acid reflux (or whatever you want to call it) over the weekend.

toast with honey
tea
veggie calzone
water with bitters
plain water
ice cream