30DS + pics

I took photos of myself January 4th to see what I look like head to toe. Not a pretty sight :/

I took photos of myself February 27th, almost 2 months later and 10lbs lighter. The only difference is in my abdomen and my back :/

I started Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred yesterday to try to tone a few things up. All of my weigh sits in my lower body and I NEED to get moving to get rid of it.

The following photos are my pics of me from Jan 4th and then Feb 27th. They aren't pretty, but that's exactly why I took them - As self motivation. As you can see, I've only lost weight in my mid section and maybe a little in my arms.

Time to get working HARD. I'm hoping for some results from JM 30DS. ANY results I'll be happy with!

Pics on Left - 166lbs. Pics on Right - 156lbs

Tummy is tighter. I am finally rid of my 'outie' belly button.

My legs appear thinner from this angle, but still wide :/ Tummy is better.

Less rolls in my back now. Arms appear to have slightly less of a sag to them. Hips are still too wide :/

Lost weight?

In my previous entry, I went on and on about how I didn't log my calories, or even really watch what I ate during the past week. Somehow I managed to lose over a pound, without trying. Thinking back, I didn't go overboard any days over the past week. I know I ate what I needed to and didn't pig out on junk food or make poor choices. I think having stuck to my calorie count for those 2 weeks initially helped my stomach realize what a proper portion size is, causing me to stick to proper serving sizes.

I'm proud of myself. I had the perfect opportunity to pig out. I almost always gain back about 5-7lbs when I don't log my foods because I LOVE FOOD. Instead, I managed to lose weight.

I am motivated now more than ever. I can do this and it won't be difficult since I seem to have taught myself some better habits already.

I raised my goal weight from 130.9 to 150.9lbs for right now. In 10lbs I will weigh 150lbs. Before pregnancy, the most I ever weighed (in 2007) was 150. I managed to lose 25lbs in just a couple months only by counting calories, no exercise. If I can just hit 150lbs, I KNOW I can do it from there because I've DONE IT BEFORE. So for now, I set my goal to 150. I will adjust it from there to sort of fine tune my looks later.

Cannot feel sorry for myself

So here I am, sitting here feeling sorry for myself. I was doing great from January 1st through January 13th. Then I got sick :/ I'm breastfeeding and became severely dehydrated due to an infection and antibiotics. I had a horrible scare one morning while feeding my baby girl (won't go into details) so I had to force myself not to limit food intake to make sure I was well nourished and fully hydrated.

I felt amazing having stuck to my diet 'since the beginning of the year.' Then I had to screw it up and not log food for about a week. I feel mad at myself for allowing myself to become ill. If I had stayed healthy and on top of taking care of myself as well as dieting, I could still be on top of my calorie counts from the beginning of the year.

This has been eating at me all week. I keep telling myself, "I'll get back on track tomorrow since it's a new week." or "I'll get back on track next Tuesday because etc. etc. etc." Well this ends now. I feel Sunday's were good days to start because it's easy to see a 7 day streak, but who cares about an easy to see day of the week? Tomorrow is Saturday. I'm back on track as of Saturday.

I can't keep sitting here, hating my body more and more every day while I'm not doing anything to fix it. Moping about is NOT going to make me feel any better. Neither is stuffing my face.

I have a tendency to lose weight easily without exercise so I'm going to focus first on limiting my calories (WHILE STAYING FULLY HYDRATED) first.

So the new start date of this year's diet will be:

January 21st.

I can do it :P I look forward to sticking under my calorie limit for weeks at a time. No reason to quit now!

Challenge

I read a forum on MFP in regards to motivators in getting in extra exercise and decided to tweak it and use it to my own advantage. The poster stated she used Facebook 'likes' to tally up total number of miles she would run in the month of January. For every 'like' over a 24 hour period, she would run a mile in the month of January (she said she had 91 'likes' so, therefore, would run 91 miles).

I decided to use that idea to add a special Challenge exercise to my nightly routine. I'm going to tweak it as I post throughout the week, but the idea is as follows:

Challenge Day #1 of 7: For every 'like' this status gets by 7pm today, I will do a set of crunches (a set being 30 seconds of crunches) tonight during my calisthenics workout.

Challenge Day #2 of 7: For every 'like' this status gets by 7pm today, I will do a set of squats (a set being a group of 10) tonight during my calisthenics workout.

Challenge Day #3 of 7: For every 'like' this status gets by 7pm  today, I will do that many extra minutes of cardio tonight during my calisthenics workout.

Challenge Day #4 of 7: For every 'like' this status gets by 7pm today, I will do that many sets of tricep dips (a set being a group of 10 at 65lbs) tonight during my calisthenics workout.

Challenge Day #5 of 7: For every 'like' this status gets by 7pm today, I will do 3 sets of that many lunges tonight during my calisthenics workout.

Challenge Day #6 of 7: For every 'like' this status gets by 7pm today, I will do that many sets of crunches (a set being 30 seconds of crunches) AND that many extra minutes of cardio AND that many sets of squats (a set being a group of 10).

Challenge Day #7 of 7: I'm going to comment below several different extras to add to my workout. Whichever gets the most 'likes' will be tonight's challenge exercise! See Comments and start 'liking!' (Ends 7pm).

Today is Day #1. So far I have 17 'likes' meaning I've got to do 17 sets of 30 second reps of crunches. Youch! I'm going to divide out the 17 sets into sets of 5 (I normally do 5 sets as it is). I'll do 1 at the beginning of my workout, 1 in the middle, then 1 at the end. Then the odd amount leftover I'll do before bed.

Curious to see how this will turn out! Basically I'm targeting a specific area of my body each day and letting my Friends on Facebook help decide how many I should do by challenging me with 1 more set by their 'liking' of my status.

Hope I'll be able to sit up tomorrow!!

Looking back.

I have 33.3lbs left to lose.

In order to keep myself sane and see that number as something 'do-able' I break it down in my mind based on previous experiences with weight loss.

The most I ever weighed over the years prior to pregnancy was 150lbs. I put myself on a diet and lost 23lbs in a couple of months' time. This was only a couple of years ago. I was not exercising, just counting calories.

I will weigh 150 in just 14 more lbs. From there I only have 20 more to go in order to reach my goal of 130. I've done it before, EASILY.

I also compare my previous weights with times I was happy with myself. These times I felt I should lose some weight, just to be more fit or 'skinny' but I didn't feel overweight. I was happy with myself.

On my wedding day, I weighed 144lbs.

Our October 2010 trip to Hawaii I weighed 138lbs.

 Even if I can just hit these previous weights sometime soon, I'll be happier with myself. To weigh less than 141lbs will take me off the 'overweight' list.

I can weigh what I weighed on my wedding day in 20lbs. I can weigh what I weighed 10/2010 in 26lbs. My ultimate goal is 130lbs. This is mainly to give myself more wiggle room away from the 141 overweight mark.

Seeing my weight broken down puts things into a more do-able perspective. I can do it. It's really not that much weight and I can do it in just a few more months' time.

If not now, when?

If not now, when?

Exactly. I'm sick of this 'new' me. I want a change. I feel myself postponing again and again. 11 weeks postpartum and I've lost approximately 40 pounds with another 40 to go. One day I'm great and I stick to all of my goals, the next I'm raiding the fridge as though I'm going to starve to death.

This ends now.