THEY'RE BAAAAACK!!!!!!!

Two things I adore have made their ways back into my life!!

Numero uno.  KETTLE BELLS!  And man.  It came back with a serious punch to my fat ass.  :

I got to the workout facility when everyone else was warming up.  Our changing room really only has two private spaces to change.  When I got there, it was oddly crowded, so I just went to the bathroom.  As I walked  into the room, I understood why.  I think there were ELEVEN people there today!!!  Eleven!  We NEVER had more than five last session.  It was really great to see so many people in there, sweating ourselves silly.  When I went to grab a bell, I didn't see any 15-pounders.  Bummer - that's all I've ever used.  So, I went with a 20.  Let me tell you.  5lbs makes a HUGE difference.  I was DYING.  I was working my muscles overtime, and it was kinda nuts.  Every move was so much more difficult because of the extra pounds.  By the end, I was just hoping it would hurry up and get over so I could go home and be sore.  :)

The funny thing, though, is that I was stronger.  I was able to hold a plank.  Some of the moves I KNOW I couldn't do last year, I could do tonight.  Like planks.  I've never really been able to do them.  We don't really do them in my yoga class unless we're focusing on abs.  I pulled 'em off for the whole 30 seconds.  It might not seem like a lot to a lot of people, but that's HUGE for me.  I was shaking toward the end of the third plank.  I was also able to do a pile of mountain climbers (HATE).

It was a rough workout, but the 600 cals I blew?  Yeah.  I'll take 'em.  And can't WAIT until next week!

Next up?  SHAPE!!!!!

That's right, kids.  The class that started it all!  I genuinely thought it wasn't coming back after it closed up last time.  Enrollment was low, and I think appreciation of the class was even lower.  Not for me, but for others who didn't take it quite as seriously.  I mean, I had a solo class once!  I was the only person there.  That's nuts.  Anyway.  I'm so excited that it's back.  Lynda is even leading it again.  From what I hear, it sounds like the format is going to be slightly different, and I think I like that.  Don't know if you know it or not, but I'm *kind of* an over-sharer sometimes.  The format of this new version sounds a little like it'll be more open; more time for discussions and things that the participants have learned.

Unfortunately, I'm traveling for work tomorrow, so I have to miss out.  Coworkers A and S are taking the class again though, so I'll have some note-takers.  :)

There you have it - two things I LOVE are back in my life.  SO EXCITED!

Anything new (or returning) for anyone out there??

The 30-Day Challenge...

Um, okay.  First off, sorry for not posting this earlier.  Like so very, VERY many things in my life, I'm late.  To those of you who know me, this should not come as a surprise.  :)  In my defense though - we had three later dinners and a closet to clean out that prevented the posting of this bad boy until now.  So, enjoy.  PS - this is exactly as I had written it, so it still sounds like Anniversary day.

One of my FB friends has decided to get a grip on her life. Now, I don't really know her too well (I was friends with her sister in HS), but I know she really wants to make changes in her life. She's been struggling but has shown how much she wants to make a change by giving herself a 30-day challenge.

So, I though to myself, "on this, your one-year anniversary of blogging, why not do it too?" SO, I'm going to. I'm going to challenge myself to a throw-down of wills. Me vs. Other Me.

Here are my challenges (in no particular order):

• Blog daily about what happened that day. My successes, failures, and how I felt today. Pay attention to how certain foods make me feel and the rush of working out (or guilt of not...).

• MEAL PLAN, SUCKA! Seriously. Stop talking about doing it, and do it. Once a week.  Four times a month. It's not hard. I have 18,000 magazines. 99% of them have recipes therein. USE THEM!!!

• Remember that one bad decision does not a whole day ruin.  Yeah, it was dumb to have some chips (Why can't I quit you, Lays Classic?!), but that doesn't mean that I should also have a giant burger and some cookies because I already blew it.

• WORK OUT.  Like I mean it.  The five-per-week rule must stand.  I've done about 50-50 for the month of January.  I want to make it 100% for the month of February.  My health depends on it, man.  I'd like to make it so that exercise = at least 500 calories of burn.  This means that yoga nights need extra Kinect or DVD time.  The 200-ish calories I burn there are great, but more is always better.

• Practice calm time.  Really, really try hard to destress.  Take time to just breathe and remember that low stress = low cortisol and that low cortisol = weight loss.  Breathe, breathe, breathe.  Maybe consider meditation?  Or, just learn how to chill out.  :)

• Be more firm in my food choices.  Don't let my cravings or lack of menu knowledge ruin things for me.  Going to Wendy's for lunch?  Just get one of their great salads or a baked potato.  Don't eff up and get the damn deliciousness that is the W burger and some of those delish fries.  Just keep it simple and remember how much you want this!

• Which brings me to the last item.  Remember how much you want this!  Remember why you're losing weight. Make a list of reasons.  Revisit said list as often as you need to.  Make up new reasons.  Tell people your reasons.  Ask them to help you remember when you need it.  Keep the list with you everywhere you go.  Pull it out if you need to.  Just remember it!

So, there you go.  This is my 30 day challenge for myself.  It starts January 31.  Who's coming with me??

Kinecting the dots.

Yeah.  I'm that frickin' clever.  :)

I vowed in this little New Year's post that I was going to work out five times per week.  My plan was a Sunday through Thursday attack, leaving me open on Friday and Saturday, in case I wanted to have some fun or have a bit of a loungy day.

Week 1 = bust.
Week 2 = success!
Week 3 can still = success!  But I have to work out Friday and Saturday.  Eek.

I took Sunday off because it was my birthday.  My 30th birthday.  I needed some time to be depressed.  Oh, and to shake off the cute little hangover that I had gotten at my awesome surprise party the night before (thanks, Mr. P!!).  Sunday's lounging carried over into Monday laziness.  Bummer.  But, I got myself in gear tonight (and my hubby!) and had a nice sweat sesh on the XBox Kinect system.

Lemme tell you about this system.  It's kinda awesome.  I love(d) my Wii, but this little fella is sweet!  I love how it follows me around, and love how I can get a serious burn with that thing!  I had my HR up to the "Extreme" sector - 80-90% of my max.  I hit that burn for a good 10 minutes, and it was glorious.  I was all kinds of wheezy and sweaty.  It. Was. Awesome.  Even Hubbs got into the groove!  We played "Adventures" and some tennis.  (I whopped his ass in tennis, in case you were wondering)  During the dodgeball game that we were playing, there are some down times.  We were jogging pretty swiftly during those times.  Burn, baby, burn!

Anyway.  I pretty much just wanted to pat myself on the back for the 5 days next week, and get myself pumped up for the 10 days in a row that I'm planning on working out in the next...10 days.  Eek.

What up with you, dear readers?

PS - tomorrow is my 1 year anniversary of the blog!!!!  I'm not really sure what I'm going to do, but it's going to be some kind of post of fun.  :)  Stay tuned!

Holy. Shit.

Yeah, I know.  Curse central.  :)

So, my girl Jill (not Michaels) and I have been kind of been collaborating on this weight loss thing.  She's trying to drop the lbs, I'm trying to drop the lbs...it's a natural progression that we would try to drop the lbs together.  We spend a whole lot of time chatting about recipes and myfitnesspal and working our buns off (literally and figuratively).  So, at the end of this past week, we were talking about how you can tell you've lost some weight.  The thing about losing weight by eating well and working out together is that sometimes it's hard to know for sure that you've lost weight.  The scale doesn't always show your success when there's a workout involved.  Thank goodness for the growing muscles, but the frustration of not seeing the numbers go down can be a bit irritating.

You have to learn to trust what the 'ol body is telling you in these kinds of instances.  You have to look at how your posture has improved from all the locust yoga poses you've been doing.  Notice how you don't need lotion/water/butter to get a ring off your finger.  See how an over sized sweater you've always loved just looks frumpy now.  Flex those biceps and show off the triceps that you didn't even know existed.  Feel how your jeans are filling out, instead of bagging on your non-existent ass directly out of the dryer.  The very hot, clothes-shrinking dryer.

One of the most startling things for me has been really seeing the number of notches I've put into my belt.  I haven't worn a belt for as long as I can remember.  The plain truth is that pants were always too tight to warrant a belt.  Never had a need for it.  ...aaaaand, no one except the plus-size stores sold the belts I'd need to be wearing.  Man, that sounds just sad to say it out loud.  Anyway.  After I lost my first maybe 10lbs, I bought myself my first belt.  I wasn't ready to trade in my now-too-large pants for a smaller model.  The most logical thing for me to do was get a belt.  The only belt I found that I liked well enough to spring for was a brown leather number from Old Navy - on clearance and in a size that was too big.  So, I had my in-laws bring over a leather punch that they had, and popped three new holes in the belt.  I figured that two of them would be too small for a while, cut off the end that I wasn't going to use, and called it a day.

Some people save a pair of their gynormous pants so they can shimmy into one leg once they've hit their goal. Some people take a million pictures along the way.  Me?  I've got that belt.  And that shirt that I still can't wear.  I decided when I punched the fourth hole in that belt that I would hold onto it and use it as my guide.  As my giant pants leg to shimmy into.  I have visions of me needing to loop it halfway around myself again someday.  I see it tied instead of looped.  I can't wait.

I've punched four more holes in that belt.

Back to the beginning of the post.  I was telling Jill about the belt, and showed her last night.  I love positive reactions, and she gave me one!  It's pretty nice to be reminded every once and a while that you're doing something good.  Thanks Jill!!

Oh, and in case you were wondering - the number of inches between the original hole I used (for the record, it was the SMALLEST of the original three!!) and the one I'm currently using (the smallest of the remaining!) is five and a half inches.  FIVE AND A HALF INCHES!  How dang crazy is that?!

Anything exciting to share, my five or six readers?  :)  How do you keep track of your losses?

Back in the saddle again!

MAN.

I sort of feel like I'm starting over from the beginning again.  All that time off (to the tune of about 3 weeks!!!) has pushed me back to the point of practically being back to square one.  Imagine, if you will, me banging my dumb head on the keyboard saying, "STUPID!  STUPID!  STUPID!"  Because, man.  That's pretty much what I am.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Oh well.  Live and learn, yeah?  Yeah.

The learning that's taken place is that consistency is key.  Don't be ditching out on your workouts.  Maybe ditching out on the perfect eating if you really have to.  BUT DON'T DITCH THE WORKOUTS!!!  Starting from the beginning again is dumb.  And totally counter-productive.

I did the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred again tonight.  Like, really did it.  Hard stuff.  I like the concept of these little workouts.  Three circuits of three minutes of strength training-two minutes of cardio-one minute of abs.  Everything from side lunges with arm movements to jumping jacks to all kinds of crunches.  I like that she's all about not taking breaks while you're kicking your own ass.  I mean, it's a 20-minute workout.  There's really not a whole lot of reason to take big breaks in between the circuits or moves.  BUT, in those 20 minutes, if you really push yourself, you get SUCH benefits.

I'm feeling it already.  I can't wait till tomorrow.  :)

So, for week 1 of 2012, I didn't do such a great job of working out.  I logged my meals, and sometimes it was a great day and sometimes it was a shat day.  I've tried to keep a positive attitude - telling myself that I can do this and I will be more determined.

Just because I wanted to do a better job of posting pictures to keep people entertained, here's one of me on NYE.  Happy new year, friends!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Happy 2012 all!

In fine tradition, I'm going to make some resolutions!  This year, I'm pretty determined to actually follow through on these.  I mean, I'm going to be 30.  In 14 days.  (*sob*)  It's about time I learned how to follow through on my New Year's Resolutions.  Apparently, the tradition of New Year's Resolutions goes back to ancient Rome.  Like, BC-ancient Rome.  Since I couldn't find any other history to contradict this one, I'll take it.  I wonder how many of the ancient Romans made their Resolutions and subsequently broke them?  Who else is willing to bet that's as long-standing as the tradition to make the Resolutions?  :)

At any rate, I'm going to make some Resolutions for 2012.

1)  I will be a better communicator.  Anyone who is unfortunate enough to be a friend of mine knows that I SUCK at communication.  I don't answer my phone, I don't make calls...essentially, I *kind of* expect everyone else to make the steps, rather than do them myself.  I'm going to get better at not doing that.  Better at not sucking.  ha.  In fact, I've already made a pact with one of the besties to be better at communicating (she sucks too, but nowhere near as much as I do!  ha).  We're going to put in the effort to call one another once every two weeks.  In that same line, I'm going to call my mom more often.  Even if it's just a two-minute check-in phone call, I'm going to call her more often.  I miss her.  Anyone else want to try to talk more?  Huffster, my new computer has a camera - we can Skype!  :)

2)  I will do a better job of appreciating the things I have.  Like most people, I can sometimes have a tendency to think more about what I want than about what I have.  I have a lot.  I have so much more than plenty of other people.  That's something I'd really like to work on.  There's no reason I shouldn't be thankful for what I have.  I'd like to try to kind of carve out a little time every day to think about what I've got, and be thankful or appreciative for it.

3)  I will be a better wife.  Sometimes, I catch myself slipping into Nagtown.  I don't want to be there.  I don't want to be that wife.  I want to be a great wife.  The kind that takes time to show her husband how much she loves him.  I have never subscribed to the "marriage is hard work" mindset.  Despite not believing that, I can believe that it takes hard work to keep yourself a good spouse.  Being married to Mr. P is easy.  He's a dumb boy a lot of the time, but he's so easy to love.  I need to remember that, and make myself easier for HIM to love.

4)  And last but not least.  I'll get my head back in the game.  I've been slacking quite a bit lately - from writing on the blog to tracking my food.  What does that translate into?  Weight gained back.  SO FAR, it's not enough to make me panic, but I know that, if I don't get back on the wagon, it's gonna be trouble.  So this Resolution is to exercise five days a week.  My goal is to do some form of working out Sunday through Thursday, leaving the weekend open for other stuff (like cleaning the house or shopping, both of which still burn calories but aren't a 45-minute workout).  I'm hopeful that the classes offered at work will resume ASAP so that I can take those again.  I miss my yoga!!  :)  On top of the working out, I want to get back on the food tracking train.  In a big way.  I want to be a meal planner, and eat my veggies and stay away from crappy food.  I want to do my weekly grocery shopping mindfully and get only what I need - staying out of those inner aisles that are chockablock full of crap.

This is the year, kids.  I'm determined to make this the year that I take much longer strides with my health and achieve all my goals.  Let's do this.

What are your Resolutions?

Man, I'm frustrated.

I just have been feeling like I'm going backwards lately. I've gained a couple of pounds back, and can't seem to shake any, despite four-times-per-week workouts and doing a decent job of eating well.

I don't really know when the backwards progression started either. Thanksgiving? Halloween? BEFORE???!? It's frustrating as hell to be trying as hard as I feel like I am, and not getting anywhere but the way I don't want to go.

I wonder if I'm being too forgiving with my portions? Or, if I'm having too much of an "I worked out, so I can pig out" attitude? Maybe it's that I haven't been really strict on making sure I get a ton of fruits and veggies?

All I know is that my little sister's wedding is FAST approaching and, at this rate, I'm still gonna look like total crap. And that pisses me off. Not in the "I'm mad so I'm going to work harder" way, either. More like in the "Eff it all" kind of way...

I need to get my groove back, Stella style.