#GetHawt Friday 004 – That Ain’t Workin’

I’m not sure I have much to contribute this week – I’ve managed 3 workouts, a dance rehearsal, pretty good on the caloric intake…overall probably my best week so far. One really cool thing I’ve decided: there is no spoon. Oh, wait, I mean: there is no elevator. I’ve been religiously using the stairwell to my 3rd floor cubicle-land :) Yay me!

Oh – well, there is that ONE thing – all this stupid ass sitting at my desk all day. I need to start doing some chair exercises or coming up with more excuses to get up and go on walkabout for a few minutes here and there.

See more about #GetHawt here at Jen’s blog

Rollercoaster week 3 of #GetHawt

Apparently, I have the much sought-after skill of precognition and I posted last week about a new tool I’ve been using for this week’s #GetHawt  assignment.

This week has been quite a rollercoaster of a ride. Monday started off slow and I half-heartedly thought about logging my weekend activities in my myfitnesspal app. (on a side note, if you want to buddy up there, I’m listed as trybl_dance). I did not make it to the gym.

Tuesday was a total bust. Not only did I NOT log anything, I took the kids out for McDonalds and I ATE A QUARTER POUNDER…WITH CHEESE. I only sampled about 5 fries though, so I feel that was at least showing some restraint. You guessed it – no gym Tuesday. However, I did force myself to pack up the remainder of the Christmas items and take ALL the boxes back to the basement AND put them away.

By Wednesday, I was kicking myself HARD. I mean, really, how bloody difficult should this be anyway? I hate this spare tire I’ve been carrying around. I hate the way I feel when I see myself in pictures. I’m tired of being the ‘fat’ one when I’m standing next to my friends. So, I went back to my log and at least managed breafast and lunch entries – both very reasonable meals. Then, I went home after work and ‘worked out’ by playing Dance Central 2 on the Kinect with my son. Try the ‘Hard’ level some time…holy crap!

Yesterday, I finally made it to the gym. I logged 1.6 miles in 25 minutes, so I felt pretty good about that! I ate a very sensible lunch, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to log my ‘salad’ entries. There is an option to create a ‘meal’ in the app, so I should devote a few minutes to creating my regular salads to make it easier.

Today I also made it to the gym and managed another 1.6 miles. My newest goal is to figure out what reading I should be targeting on my heart rate monitor to ensure I am burning FAT. My cardio is pretty good, so I’m not really trying to work in that zone. I want to burn the FAT.

My biggest downfall, though, is the Mocha/Iced/Frappe coffee drinks. I’ve had three this week, and I know I have to stop that….and I had been doing soooooo good….Back On The Wagon.

You can catch more #GetHawt goodness on Sarah or Jen’s blogs.

Logging and Blogging

My first full week of participating in the 2012 edition of #GetHawt I feel did get off to a good start. I realized that after repeated suggestions to write down everything I eat, maybe I should actually give it a try.

I installed this great little app on my Android phone: myfitnesspal

It’s super simple, but a really great tool.

When I loaded it in, it asked a few basic questions – starting weight, age, level of activity, goal of how much to lose per week. I’m starting off conservative at 1 pound per week. The app calculated I can have 1200 calories per day.

Every day, I add in anything I’ve eaten and it keeps track of the calories, water and any exercise I can fit in as well. What’s an extra bonus, is that there is a Nutrients section, so I can see where my problem areas may be in getting too much or too little of any given thing (ie: Saturated Fat).

As these things go, it’s not perfect, but it does have one amazing feature that I wouldn’t want to be without – a BARCODE SCANNER. That’s right, I don’t have to go searching for foods, I can just scan the barcode and voila! It’s entered for me :) I do like this feature a lot!

So, I still haven’t had the heart to weigh myself. I don’t know if I actually lost anything this week, but I have been very cognizant of watching what I’m eating and I’ve managed to get in a few workouts (including some play time with the wee ones).

It feels like I’m off to a great start!

#GetHawt 2012 Edition

So, last year, I started (and failed) in an attempt to blog about my journey to get into better shape.

We’re back at again this year – hosted by the lovely ladies Jen McCown and Sarah Strate!

Like so many others, I’ve had ups and downs with this whole ‘post pregnancy’ weight/body image business. BUT…my youngest is now three. I can’t believe that this is post-baby weight any longer, even though that’s when it appeared. Time to face the fact that I’m getting older and genetics and time are not exactly on my side. Still, I refuse to give up the fight!

So, the plan. And goals, yeah, goals, those are good!

Goal – hit the 130 mark (Jen, right there with you on that!). Even though I HAVE managed to lose about 5lbs since last year, bringing me to 140, I would still like to see 120 or even 125. However, I’m going realistic and making 130 my first goal. Hey, I’m only 5-foot nuthin’, so I should be around 115 anyway.

How will I get there? I have been working on this for some time and I know I still have further to go:

1. Add more vegetables and fibery fruits to my diet. So far, so good – it’s salad every day and a side of veggies with whatever I get at the lunch cafe.

2. Drink more water. I’ve been lax here and resorting more to tea (with just a touch of honey, though!). Time to kick caffeine out the door…

3. Improve my workouts. I bought a heart rate monitor last fall (thanks, Yanni!) now I just need to make sure that the heart rate range I *think* is correct is really what I should be working at.  I’ve been doing about 1.5-2 miles on the treadmill at the office during lunch about 3 days per week. I’d much rather be in a zumba class, though. I try to throw in about 10 minutes of ab work at least twice a week.

Wish me luck!

Week #009 for #GetHawt

My week started off on vacation in Florida with my mother and my sister. We were celebrating mom’s 60th with her – sans husbands and kids – at her request. At work, I’ve been focused on a client project on-site and with a hellacious commute, usually taking me about 2 hours to get home in the evening. THAT puts a damper on workouts at the gym, let me tell you! Definitely not in the beach ready state I had hoped for.

So, here I am in sunny, beautiful Ft. Myers Florida and I’ve relented and put on not just a bathing suit, but a two piece number. I’ve never really had any issues with the upper portion of my torso, but the bottom half has haunted me since puberty. I’m curvy and I know that. I just wish the bottom was a bit less curvy. So, instead of the bikini bottoms, I have these great swim shorts I wear. I didn’t feel too bad wearing my suit of choice, but standing next to my stick of a sister, I perceived myself a cow. The kicker came when we decided to sign up for a parasailing ride. If you are ever thinking “that sounds like fun” it definitely is! Do it! You Only Live Once was the company we used and they were great (with a great slogan to boot). So, they need to know how much of a difference in weight the two of us are in order to balance the rigging and bring us in safely. I have NO idea how much my sister weighs, so we have to compare numbers.

I WEIGH THIRTY POUNDS MORE THAN SHE DOES.

Gulp.

All the sitting around and eating out (plus a few drinks each day) didn’t help either I’m sure. Although, I did make an effort to eat salads and enjoyed a lot of seafood. We spent a lot of time driving around and I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I was happy to have a few hours to myself in FL after dropping them off at the airport. I walked, and walked and walked! A bathing beauty I am not. Give me a trail to explore, a beach to roam, or a hill to climb and my spirit soars! Don’t get me wrong, it was a GREAT vacation with just the three of us and we got caught up on years of stuff in just a few days. I just wish we could have been a bit less sedentary.

I doubt I lost anything and I’m too bummed to hop on that scale this week. I totally failed on the ‘get more sleep’ part too.

Still working on it – maybe a little down, but certainly NOT out :)

Moderating #GetHawt this week

Hello fellow #GetHawt bloggers! It’s time for GetHawt Friday #009 (and #010 next week!) – Just a quick reminder that while Jen is out, I’ll be moderating our blog party for the next two weeks.

Feel free to link back or comment here, and I’ll write up all the trackbacks on Monday :)

Dance, run, swim, whatever it is you do, keep on keepin’ on!

Still working toward #GetHawt

Okay, this just SUCKS. Yeah, that’s right SUCKS.

I just celebrated my 40th birthday. My plan was that I would be back in at least decent shape after birthing two rather large children on my slight 5′ nuthin’ frame. I wasn’t going for beach babe, or even swimsuit worthy…just…more healthy and smaller. I had planned to lose a total of 25lbs, starting with a small goal of 10.

I believe I’ve accomplished the ‘more healthy’ part at least. Back in February, I joined a local gym. I signed up for a 12 week class. I worked my ASS off. Really – I ran, I jumped, I lifted, I drank copious amounts of water and worked up a sweat I had no idea I was even capable of. That was all well and good, but you know what? I didn’t lose ONE DAMNED pound. Nope. Nada. Zilch. Admittedly, I’m stronger, though. I’ve moved furniture around the house, carried in two gallons of milk in one hand and 4 bags of groceries in the other, and various other tasks that I wouldn’t have managed beforehand.

But the POUNDS, people! The POUNDS! WHY? WHY! WHY?

I’ve pontificated round and round in various circles. I know there are some key factors still at play:

1. Sugar. Evil stuff. I love it.
2. Lack of veggies. I have a few I like.
3. Bad sleep habits. Bed before midnight? Yeah, right…kiddos up at 6am though (if I’m lucky)
4. Fast Food. It doesn’t really even taste that good, right?

So, here I sit. Still at 145.

I promise, I’m not going to stop at McD’s anymore. I know it’s convenient. I know it’s fast. I typically don’t even get the fries and I never drink soda anyway. No more burgers. No more fries. I’m done.

This week, I’ve attempted to cut out sugar. If you’ve never tried that – it’s HARD. I’ve failed at least once every day, but in the end, I’ve cut out probably 80% of my sugar intake. We’ll see where that leads.

My latest workout craze is Zumba. I’m a dancer, so it’s not difficult to follow, but whooo! what a workout :) We burn 600+ calories in an hour!

Thanks to Jen for the #GetHawt movement!

#GetHawt Inaugural Post

Okay, I’ve been tagged (more than once now!) by my fellow #GetHawt tweeps, so I started this blog mostly as a place to track my progress (or lack thereof).

So, full disclosure:

Current weight = 143
Body Fat = still unknown, but i’m sure it’s up there

This week so far I’ve missed my Monday workout due to commuting. If I’m lucky, I’ll work something in tonight. Definitely will make it to Zumba on Thursday. Sadly, will NOT make it to the core class following Zumba due to my birthday and my dancemates planning a dinner for me. Yeah, like THAT’s going to be lowfat….NOT!