WLWed: Trying Again With Something New

It seems like every time I write over at this blog, I have to say - yes, I'm still here!  When nothing much is happening in my weight loss journey, then I tend not to write about it.  I never totally give up; I just flounder sometimes.  I lost my motivation a couple months back as there were no real results to speak of.  I've been fluctuating between a couple pounds up and a couple pounds down, but overall the same or a pound or so higher than when I started following Weight Loss Wednesdays with my sweet encouraging friend Alicia.

So I decided to try something a little different than my usual.  And normally I write about my plan and then follow through.  But this time I decided to give it a try first and see if I could do it.  And I have been!  And my weight is down a teensy bit!

I decided to work out for at least 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week.  That is crazy for me - I only have ever worked out 3 times a week at most and never saw the point of working out that much!  But it seems that my metabolism is practically nonexistent so I thought I should try doing something that would give it a boost daily.  My plan definitely involved some prayer - I had to pray for strength and to stay committed to exercise because this just isn't in my nature.  I've started my 3rd week of this!!

The first week - I worked out 7 times in 6 days.  Woo Hoo!  Then last week I worked out 6 times in 6 days.  This week so far I've worked out twice in 2 days.  The first week I did it - I only lost .5 lb.  That's no surprise to me.  Every time I start exercising my weight either doesn't change or increases - always frustrating, but I didn't let that stop me.  Last week led to a loss of 1.5 lbs so I'm glad I stuck with it!  Now I wish I had taken measurements at the beginning, because I think I can see a slight difference in inches.  I'll measure this week so I can keep track of that too.

I'm not doing any special diet with it, though I have cut out most evening snacking and am trying to increase my water intake.  When I exercise, I feel like eating healthier and eating less, so I figure that part will take care of itself.  Though I think eliminating afternoon iced coffees would also help!  :)

Don't think I'm doing some crazy workouts like Insanity or something - I'm just not that in shape!  Twice a week I go to an hour-long Zumba class at the gym and the rest of the days I'm doing a variety of 45-50 minute workouts off of Instant Netflix.  There are a couple of 10-minute solution workouts I like, a couple of Crunch workouts, etc.  I never do the same one 2 days in a row.  One is mostly cardio, one is sculpting with hand weights, one is Pilates, one is a good overall workout mixing all kinds of techniques, and I keep trying new ones too.

I notice that I feel better, have more energy, feel a little firmer, and my posture has improved.  Those benefits in addition to a bit of weight loss will help me to keep it up!  I plan to keep it up this whole month and then see where I'm at and what changes I need to make.

How are you doing?  Have you added exercise in for your weight loss journey?  Have you asked the Lord to help you on your journey?  I could not have kept up this consistency of exercising without Him - have never done this in my life!

Don't forget to stop by Confessions of a Snowflake to be encouraged on this Weight Loss Wednesday!  And link up your own posts there!

Have a healthy day!
Lisa  :)

WLW ~ I'm Still Here

I haven't posted in a while, but I really am still here and trying to lose weight!  I'm always happy when I can join in for Weight Loss Wednesdays with my sweet friend Alicia.  I'll give you quick updates for the past few weeks.

4 weeks ago ~ After my feasting during my birthday week, I gained 1 lb - no surprise!  I didn't exercise much that week either.

3 weeks ago ~ More eating unfortunately and still not much exercise and guess what - gained 1 more lb.  Ugh!

2 weeks ago ~ Even though my Dad visited and we ate out a lot, we were fairly active and I maintained - no gain, no loss.  Better than gaining!

1 week ago ~ Didn't track my eating and only got in a couple of Zumba classes.  I maintained again - no gain, no loss.

This week ~  I really didn't do anything different and could only make it to 1 Zumba class.  I did skip dessert a couple of times and snacked less in the evenings.  Surprisingly I lost .5 lb!  Well it's something in the right direction anyway.

Obviously I'm not working very hard at this and I need to get back on track.  I need more exercise and I need to do something about food.  I can't seem to get motivated.  I'm thinking about what I want to do over these next few days to get back on track.  I definitely need to drink more water and stop snacking in the evenings.

I'm not giving up though - I keep trying!  How are you doing with your weight loss and exercise goals?

I love that Alicia reminded me that we can do all things through Christ.  Stop by her place and get some encouragement - it's good to have the support of friends through this struggle!

Have a healthy day!
Lisa  :)

WLW ~ Getting Behind

Hello friends!!  I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while!  I have still been working on my weight-loss efforts and very slowly, and I mean s.l.o.w.l.y. losing weight.  I'm so glad that my friend Alicia is still having Weight Loss Wednesdays!

I'll try to give you a brief summary for each of the last 4 weeks...

3 weeks ago:  Exercised several times, didn't track the food that much, but lost 1 lb!

2 weeks ago:  Tried to add in additional home workouts and managed to pull my neck muscle during a 30-day Shred workout.  Couldn't do any exercise for about a week!  Wasn't very careful with food either since I was hurting.  But I did lose .5 lb!

1 week ago:  Back to exercising, still wasn't watching food very much and was focused on my sick kiddo, but I lost .5 lb again!

That brings us to today and looking back over the past week.  I did 2 Zumba classes and 2 home DVD workouts for last week.  I ate fairly healthy for dinners, but I think the snacking in the evening got to me.  But amazingly, I still lost another .5 lb!  Told you it was slow - LOL!  So I'm down a total of 4 lbs so far, but I wanted to hit 10 by this time.  Some people lose 4 lbs in a week, so it's always hard for me to go at this pace.  I've been doing good with exercise and plan to keep up with it, but I really haven't been paying much attention to what I'm eating.  Most of the dinners I cook are already healthy (and most are found on this blog!).  It's when we eat out or friends go out to a birthday breakfast or we go overboard with unhealthy snacks that gets me into trouble.  It doesn't take much of that for me to gain weight!

As much as I would like to be better about the food right now, it's my birthday week and I'm enjoying it - though I am limiting how much junk I'm having.  I do plan to go to Zumba classes Friday and Monday and go for a walk Saturday and hope that will help counteract the birthday badness when I weigh myself on Tuesday.  We'll see!

How are YOU doing?  Don't give up!!!  Hang in there, no matter how slowly the weight comes off, no matter how many times you slip up during the week, no matter how much you think you just can't do it - YOU CAN!  Ask the Lord for help - He will help you to be strong and to keep going in this journey.  This is not easy and we will make mistakes because we are not perfect and that, my friends, is the way it's supposed to be!

Confess - did you already give up?  Start again!  Lisa said so - LOL!  And if you are hanging in there, even if it's by a thread - you get a huge pat on the back from me!  :)

Thanks for stopping by friends!  Let me know how you're doing!  Stop by Alicia's place too - it's nice to be encouraged by friends!

Have a healthy day,
Lisa  :)

WLW ~ A Better Week

It's Weight Loss Wednesday again (I'm super late, but posting anyway) - hosted by my sweet and encouraging friend Alicia from Confessions of a Snowflake!

This was a better week for me as I did some tracking of my food and paid better attention to portions.  I even had a dinner with 16 people in our home and LOTS of good food, but controlled my eating (even had dessert).  I only got in 2 Zumba sessions during the week, but I think all the cleaning/cooking for the dinner burned a few calories too!

I lost 1.5 lbs for the week!!  Woo Hoo, but that's only a net 1 lb loss for 3 weeks.  I am always happy to be down at all, but it's the ridiculously slow pace that does me in.  We'll see how this next week ends up.  I've already been exercising more, but the scale is just not moving.  I do feel better when I exercise more though!

How did your week go?  Keep it up!  It gets hard, but the end result (being healthy and feeling better) will be worth it - no matter how long it takes us to get there!  :)

Link up your own weight loss posts for Weight Loss Wednesday at Confessions of a Snowflake!

Have a healthy day!
Lisa  :)

WLW ~ Struggling

I did not have the best week and that is no surprise for me.  I tend to rebel at my own weight-loss efforts, thinking that I shouldn't have to always be so careful about what I eat or have to make time for exercising.  But those things are good for me!

I didn't track my food at all during the week and ate out a couple of times.  I only made it to the gym once for a Zumba class.  I knew I would have a gain for the week.  And did I ever!  I gained 2 lbs.  Ugh!!  So I gained back what I lost the week before plus extra.  So this week is like starting all over!

On a side note, I ate some really salty foods the couple of days before I did my weigh-in.  I knew I was retaining some water, especially since one ankle seemed a bit swollen.  That is a good tip - watch out for too much salt!  We all need salt, but sometimes when we focus on weight loss, we end up eating things with hidden sodium.  If you're eating a lot of soups, frozen dinners, or reduced-fat foods - check the sodium amounts.  A long time ago, I was surprised to discover that a Caramel Frappuccino Light at Starbucks (it used to be my go-to diet treat, but now I try to avoid fat-free foods and artificial sweeteners) was really high in sodium.  Read your labels and look at nutrition guides!

I know that having a bad week is the sort of thing that makes some people quit, but not me.  I'm not happy about it, but I will try again this week!  I went to another Zumba class Tuesday night; I'll do a workout at home today and I've got my tracker out right now with my breakfast written down.  Already an improvement over last week!  :)

I know it's very hard, but we can do this!  Don't give up!  Be encouraged!  My friend Alicia is so encouraging - stop by her place for Weight Loss Wednesdays!  You can link up your own posts too!

Have a healthy day,
Lisa  :)

WLW ~ A Good Start

Welcome to Weight Loss Wednesdays - hosted by my friend Alicia - except that it's already Friday!  I was too busy to post this week.  So a little late, but here we go!

I said this would be a week of transition and I was right.  I tracked my food and ate healthy part of the time and I ate the wrong stuff and too much of it part of the time. I'm still trying to get completely on track.

I did start going to the gym though I need to go more.  I went twice to do the elliptical machine and then Monday night I went to a Zumba class!  That was so much fun, but SO hard!  My calf muscles have just now recovered!  I hope to go to another class tonight in fact.

So what about weight loss?  I actually had some!  I lost 1.5 lbs for the week!  I'll take it!  Any loss at all makes me happy, but I need to keep it up.

I'm just focusing on a smaller short-term goal right now.  My birthday is in about 6 weeks and I'd like to lose between 10 and 15 lbs by then.  That should be very doable if I just stay.on.track.  I have trouble doing it on my own, but I know the Lord can help me!  All I have to do is ask.

I'm so encouraged by Alicia's weight loss posts at Confessions of a Snowflake - be sure to stop by her place!  She said that it's about perseverance - so true!

What are your short-term goals?  How did your week go?

Have a healthy day,
Lisa  :)

Weight Loss Wednesdays ~ I'm Baa-aack

Well hello friends!  I never really meant to stop blogging here, but I was stalled in my weight-loss journey and then I gave up blogging for a while.  I'm refocusing and restarting the weight-loss journey.  I plan to post here at least once a week, joining up for Weight Loss Wednesdays with Alicia and maybe other days to share healthy recipes as they come up.

I'm so proud of my friend Alicia at Confessions of a Snowflake for starting her journey and sharing about it so openly on her blog.  I really appreciate that she asked people to join in because it was just the push that I needed!

I'm just now getting back on track so this will be a week of transition for me.  I started Weight Watchers online yesterday (I've done WW many times and had good success in the past, but like anything else it will only work if you are ready for it) and am learning the new Points Plus program.  I will eventually list the Points Plus values for my recipes in addition to the old WW points that are currently listed.  So I have no weigh-in results for you since I just started (re-started).

Hubs added me to his gym membership this past weekend - yikes!!  That means I really have to go now - LOL!  I went for the first time today.  I really didn't want to - the old self-conscious thing was kicking in.  But I was DEtermined to at least get there today and walk in and get on the elliptical machine!  And I DID!  Woo  Hoo!  That is progress for me.  I did about 30 minutes on the machine and nothing else 'cause I want to ease into it.  Oh and I should mention that I WALKED to the gym - yes I did!  Such a looonnngg walk - took 7 minutes from my front door to the gym door - LOL!

I'm happy with my start, but the food thing isn't going to be easy.  I'm having a hard time being disciplined lately.  I should have some goals set, but I don't yet.  I'll share some goals next week, Lord willing.

Anyway, that's where I'm at right now!  Thank you Alicia for doing this!  Stop by her place to see how her journey is going and to get some encouragement.  And you can link up your own weight loss posts too.

Thanks for stopping by!  Are you on a weight loss journey?  What successes did you have this week?

Have a healthy day,
Lisa  :)