Body Revolution

Monday I started Jillian Michaels Body Revolution, I am following the exercise program but not the meal exactly.  I am counting my calories and trying to eat more natural, less processed things.  My hours at my new job are 9 to 6, I started out 8 to 5 for training and job shadowing but this week started my regular hours, I am using the extra time in the morning to exercise.  Sleeping is one of my favorite things in the world, so it was very tempting to just sleep in, but I like to make my husband's lunch and make sure he gets breakfast, so sleeping in really wasn't an option. When he starts summer vacation, he's a school teacher, I'm going to have to make sure to get motivated to get out of bed.  I will be able to sleep in more than I do now.

For the first two weeks of the program you do Workout 1, Workout 2, Cardio 1 and repeat with one rest day.  Normally I rest twice a week, so this is different for me but it's 90 days I can do it.

• Monday, started with getting on the scale and being my highest weight ever so that is enough motivation to get moving, also my engagement ring doesn't fit right now and I'm not paying to get it re-sized.  Workout 1 was enjoyable and I was sweating and sore by the end of the day, but I am very out of shape.  I ate well and stayed within my budget for calories.
• Tuesday, I was very sore starting the workout but I pushed through and finished it.  Workout 2 felt more challenging than Workout 1 but it could be that I was just sore.  I almost fell down the stairs going to work and sitting down and getting up were painful. I had no desire to eat dinner, I had a small snack and I should have eaten more but I just wasn't hungry.
• Wednesday, I cheated and took a peak at the scale, I had already worked out and drank coffee and 32 ounces of water and I was already down 4 pounds!  I really enjoyed the Cardio 1, I had read a lot of blogs were people didn't enjoy the workout, I may feel differently after doing it for a month.  The workout seemed to help with my sore legs, I'm still sore but it's manageable.  

This pattern will repeat for the next 3 days, the weekends will be a challenge for me, I tend to sleep in and get off a schedule.  I also graze when I'm bored, I'm not too worried about getting the workout in on Saturday and in this case Monday for the holiday.  

It's Been Awhile

It has been a really long time since I've blogged.  I was in a funk and not happy with a lot of things in my life and didn't have a lot I wanted to share.  I'm happy to say I've made some changes and I feel like myself again and I want to get back into my blog.  Last month I got a new job, so far so good, it's been a great change of pace.  I've moved form a very corporate environment to a smaller family run technology company.  I really couldn't be happy with the change!

I totally fell off the wagon and gained all the weight I had lost back and more.  My new job has cut back on my stress eating and I've started using the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution Program.  I plan to start posting about my journey through this 90 day program.

I did set a few goals for the year and I've done well working on them.

Goals for 2012:

1. Get a new job, after I had my first long Thanksgiving weekend in my life and the crap I had to put up with to get it, I told myself I am never going to work Black Friday again.  Check!
2. Read 112 books this year.  56/112 ahead of schedule.
3. Lose weight and get in shape.  I'm working on this.
4. Read War and Peace.  
5. Upload more pictures to Mimi's photo frame.  This has been a total failure and I need to work on this. 

I hope to be posting about my Body Revolution journey, books and cooking more often.

Happy New Year!

So 2010 was crazy, some bad and lots of good things happened to us, which kept me from my blog, I defiantly failed that resolution. I did do well on trying to eat well and exercise I lost 30 pounds, the last few months of the year I wasn't great but tomorrow I'm back on full force and hopefully my life will slow down a little bit.

Highlights of the year my BFF and college roommate Amanda had a beautiful baby boy Rowen, my SIL got married, we sold my grandparents house, JT and I bought and paid for two new to us cars in cash, we refurnished our apartment and we had a wonderful holiday season.

So here are my goals for 2011...

1. Eat right.

2. Exercise 4 times a week.

3. Save money.

4. Cut down the food budget especially in regards to snacking.

5. Try to have a baby.

6. Finish my desk and dresser.

7. Read 50 books this year.

8. Blog on a somewhat regular basis.

9. Visit my parents more often.

10. Worry about myself a bit more than how other people feel, I have a bad habit of not telling people how I feel, stretching myself too thin to help others and I am finding more and more I am getting nothing out of this.

Confession/Update

I've been a really bad blogger! I guess I really failed on that New Year's resolution, there's always next year. I have been maintaining my current weight and exercising but undermining all my hard work my emotionally eating, there is my confession, I try to fill the void with food and it never works and I should know better by now. I picked up "Breaking Free from Emotional Eating" by Geneen Roth from Amazon, it came in the mail today and I'm really hoping I get at least something out of it.

I've been very busy with the two weddings I'm in starting in two weeks, I hope

all my other friends and relatives elope! My college roommate is going through a very difficult time, she lost her father, had a baby and is dealing with a major MS flare up. It's so hard to see somehow you lived with, partied with and enjoyed your college years with suffering so much, I know this w

ill pass for her but I would do anything to take away her pain including

taking it on myself.

I will leave you with a couple of pictures from the recent wedding festivities! I promise I will blog more!

The first pictures is from my SIL bridal shower in June, the second picture and my friend Alison and I on a booze cruise around Portland Harbor and the third picture is all of us at her party.

Before & After

I don't have a picture from when I started back in November but I'm using my engagement photo, which was my largest ever when I weighed in at 230 pounds (OMG I know).Before:

After: 5/3/2010

So far I have lost 35.4 pounds, almost half way to my goal weight and almost 50 pounds from my before picture. I know I have a long way to go but I am very proud of how far I have come and it's been worth it all! I can now put on a mini gun show!!

Quick Update

I've been a bad blogger but I just wanted to pop in and give a quick update on my progress. So far I've lost 30.5 pounds! The last couple of weeks I've been a little bad mostly on the weekends, this weekend was especially bad. I just ate my way through the entire weekend, my best friend's dad passed away very suddenly on Thursday so it's been a rough weekend to say the least. I did still exercise and really that's half the battle. I'm going to be back on track tomorrow. I am starting the 5th week of training for a 5k ran, with c25k. I signed up for a race on July 11th, I hope I'm ready but I'm going to be so very slow and that's okay!

My friend is also having a baby in less than two weeks, so this makes this even harder. I'm also in two weddings this summer and the business of those is starting to pick up. I promise to be back soon with many food posts!

March: My least favorite month of the year

I'm planning to make this March better, we spring ahead and Spring finally arrives, I've been at my current job for 2 years the end of this month, I really do love my job even though it can be stressful. It's just a really long month with not a whole lot to look forward to.

So I've been doing good with my diet, not great but good, I've been doing great with exercise. Four days a week I go to the gym at work and busting my butt on the elliptical and then doing the 30 Day Shred after work. Saturdays I got and do an hour of intense cardio and weights, I rest Thursdays and Sundays. I'm really enjoying (?) working out and am really noticing a difference.

I've lost 18 pounds since I started watching what I eat in early November, I know I could have lost more but I've sabotaged myself with all the junk in our apartment. So tonight I came home from work and threw away every single thing that was bad or junky away, mostly it was my husband's stuff, but I will eat things I don't even like when I get desperate on a diet. He needs that stuff even less than I do and I've been enabling his bad habits. So all the junk is gone! I'm recommitted to my lifestyle change.